Wordless Wednesday - Claude Oran McGuire home

The Claude Oran McGuire home in Morton, Ray County, Missouri.

Follow Friday - The Virginia Wall Story

During my visit home over the holidays my grandma loaned me a book. This was pretty amazing, as we had never shared books before. But my grandma knew that I would like this book because it had a genealogical flare and, most importantly, that flare included our family.

I'm referencing The Virginia Wall Story, a book by Bonnie Mitchell about Virginia Wall, a lifetime Missouri educator. Mitchell traces Virginia's life through the aid of her memories and diaries that she kept her entire life. The book traces a little bit of Miss Wall's family history and then follows her life as a high school educator.

Miss Wall was born in Morton a small hamlet in Ray County, Missouri, which is the small town that my grandma was born in. We are distantly related to Miss Wall...our joint ancestor is my 5th great-grandfather. But her stories from the 1920s through to today of life and educating in a small town are insights into my family and how they would have lived in the same town. Miss Wall was a high school English teacher at Chillicothe High School in Chillicothe, Missouri for 45 years. And while my mother went to a different small town high school, I can't help but think that the lifestyle would have been very similar to what Virginia writes about and now I have insight to my mother's school days that I didn't have before.

The best part for me about this book were the references to my own family. In 1951 Virginia was busy doing her usual singing for life's important events: "During Christmas break Virginia sang for a wedding at Morton Church and the next day she sang there again for the funeral of the bride's grandfather." This was my grandmother's wedding on December 31, 1951 and the funeral following was her grandfather, Claude Oran McGuire.

Virginia's family were farmers, like most of their neighbors. In the book she makes mention of my great grandparents, Clifton and Hazel White, as friends that rented a portion of the Wall family land. In August 1962 she mentions: "The next day Virginia and her mother made a trip to Richmond to visit friends and learned that Mr. Clifton White's mother had passed away. Mr. White was farming the Wall ground for Mary [Virginia's mother] and Virginia. On Sunday Virginia sang for the first service at church and then she and Mary went on to Hardin for dinner at the Rhodes home. That afternoon Virginia sang for Mrs. White's funeral at Morton Church."

In 1974 Virginia mentions the Whites again: "Late in February, Virginia received a letter from Clifton White in Morton. He had decided to build a new home on the property he had purchased from Mary and Virginia and learned he needed the original abstract. Virginia made a trip to Hardin to retrieve it from the lock box there. She was delighted that these friends would enjoy the lovely view she and her family had loved for so long when the Wall family lived there."

I know where that land is and I have been in the house built on it, one in which my great-uncle and great-aunt still live. But now I know who had that land before. Each mention is small, but altogether they mean genealogical gold. I've learned little details about my family that no amount of documentary research would find. It is mentioned in the book that Miss Virginia Wall was hesitant to write a book about herself...after all, who would read it? My answer to Miss Wall is anyone interested in the minute details of a person's or town's life...that is just about every genealogist I know.

Author's Note: Miss Wall was persuaded to write her life story because all proceeds from the sale of the book go to the not-for-profit foundation The Virginia Wall Scholarship Fund. For more information on the book or the scholarship fund write: Virginia Wall Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 463, Chillicothe, MO 64601.

Wordless Wednesday - Bruna McGuire

Bruna McGuire, date unknown, taken in Ray County, Missouri

Wordless Wednesday - McGuire family

Virginia, Margaret, Florence (Coffman), Claude, Hazel and young Margaret McGuire, taken around 1930.

Military Monday - A military connection comes full circle

My family has deep military roots and many connections to the state of Virginia. In fact, I have found a connection that came full circle at the marriage of my great grandparents.

My great-grandparents, Hazel McGuire and Clifton White were married January 16, 1932. Both of their families came to western Missouri from Virginia. Hazel's line came through Kentucky and Clifton's came straight from Virginia. Both lines were from the western portion of Virginia, mainly Roanoke, Augusta and Botetourt counties.

Alexander and William McClanahan were brothers. William was born in Augusta County, Virginia. I do not know much about his older brother Alexander other than his military service. He fought in the Indian Wars, the Battle of Point Pleasant and was awarded his own regiment during the Revolutionary War: 7th Regiment, Virginia Volunteers. He reached the rank of Colonel.

James McGuire was a private in Col. Alexander McClanahan's regiment. Assigned to Co. D, 7th Regiment, Virginia Volunteers upon his enlistment on March 6, 1776.

Pvt. McGuire and Col. McClanahan shared the same military experiences then 156 years later their descendants would marry. It truly is a small world.

Wordless Wednesday - A Sweet Toddler

Sweet Toddler, possibly Margaret McGuire circa 1915

Our National Parks - Tuesday's Tip

My family and I just returned from a terrific vacation to Orlando. To get there, we drove 900 miles across six states. We always budget quite a bit of time for our drive to and from our vacation spot because we inevitably find great places to stop. On this particular trip we drove through Vicksburg, Mississippi so we had to stop at the National Park Service's Vicksburg National Military Park. One of my Civil War ancestors, Samuel O. McGuire, was captured by the Union just east of Vicksburg at the Big Black River.

We were not able to stay long at the park because we arrived around 4 p.m., just prior to closing, but we had a wonderful time viewing the park movie, visiting the gift shop and driving the self tour around the park. Our tour of the park reminded me of the importance of National Parks in preserving our history, and in turn, helping us to relive our ancestors' experiences. When I learned that my ancestor was captured outside of Vicksburg, I began reading many books and stories of the battles there, but those accounts are nothing compared to walking the land. I was able to see the steep hills, feel the heat and see the trenches (which are still there) that he had to contend with. None of which I could grasp through a book.

Started in 1916, the National Park Service manages 84 million acres of land, 2,461 national historic landmarks, 582 national natural landmarks, 393 national parks and 40 national heritage areas (as of 2008). The Service's mission is "to care for special places saved by the American people so that all may experience our heritage." That is a mission that should be near and dear to any genealogist's heart. Walking through any one of our National Parks or Landmarks is a phenomenal way to walk in our ancestor's footsteps and should be considered when planning research trips or vacations.

For more information about the National Park Service, explore their website. Each of the larger parks and landmarks have their own page with historical information and numerous photographs.

St. Patrick's Day - Our Irish ancestors came here, I want to go back

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays. What can be better than celebrating my heritage while sipping on a cold beer, I ask you? My Irish ancestor, James McGuire, was born in 1747 in Fermanagh County, Ireland, and came to America just prior to the start of the Revolutionary War, which he fought in.

Being a military family, we have been given many wonderful opportunities to travel. A few years ago were were stationed overseas and were able to travel to Ireland for a week long visit. We started in Dublin and then headed to Northern Ireland, which is where my lines emigrated from. It was wonderful to walk in the footsteps of James McGuire and realize what a difficult decision it must have been to leave such a beautiful place.

So today I will eat my cottage pie and soda bread and wash it down with a Harp. All the while drinking to James McGuire. He came here to America, but I want to go back.

Wordless Wednesday - Missouri Farmer

Claude Oran McGuire, born in Ray County, Missouri in 1874 and a farmer all his life.

Tombstone Tuesday - Samuel O. McGuire and Frances Wall McGuire

This is one of my favorite headstones and I have to think my ancestors for putting birthplaces on it! The stone is located in Lavelock Cemetery, just north of Hardin, Missouri.

Surname Saturday - McGuire

Here is a fact sheet about my direct line of McGuires. I have removed any living persons for privacy reasons.
McGuire Line

Treasure Chest Thursday - Aunt Margie's Quilt

My grandmother has begun giving gifts from her home for Christmas and the holidays. I think it is a great way to clean house. She doesn't really care about keeping the items anymore and it saves quite a bit of money. I have not asked for anything from her house, although I have seen lots of treasures I would love to have. This past Christmas I was surprised to be given a quilt that she had shown me a couple of years ago. I am a quilter myself and had thought this quilt was so beautiful...definitely the best Christmas present I could have gotten.

The quilt was completely hand-stitched and hand-quilted by my great-great Aunt Margaret McGuire Underwood. I do not know when she quilted it, but it was prior to her death in 1995. My great-grandfather, Clifton White, bought his sister-in-law's quilt at an estate sale for $300 and gave it to my grandmother. I do not know if Margaret worked from a pattern or designed it herself, but I do know that the hand quilting is so good that one could confuse it with machine work. I envy her skill.

I knew Margaret, but only as well as any child knows an older relative. We often made visits to her house in Hardin, Missouri and I remember thinking what a nice house it was. It had wood paneling and a fireplace. Margaret and her husband, Orville "Pete" Underwood, married when they were both forty and they had no children. They ran a store in Hardin, Missouri called Underwood Mercantile. My mother fondly remembers going there to get fresh meat and cheese. I learned today that Margaret had been married prior to Pete. Her first husband, Dave Bullock, passed in 1950 from a heart attack. Now that I know the kind of skill my aunt had, will have to look for more of her handiwork at the local historical society.

I am so very proud of my quilt. I wish that I had been a little older, and more mature, when I knew Margaret so that I could have learned quilting skills from her. No one creates such a beautiful thing without passion and I look forward to applying that passion to my own quilting. I appreciate her inspiration.