Dating in 40's

One of Mudge's brothers had just gotten a camera.

From left to right:

Ira Love

Michael McGinty

Dorothy Love

Uncle Buck

Here is a pictures of Louis Deroin (aka Buck) and Jack Deroin. The first was taken in 1942 and the second in 1948. They are both uncles of my grandmother (so they are my great-great-uncles).


Left to right: Dorothy Love, Jack Deroin and Betty Love

Huckleberry and Bingo

Here are two of the McGinty family pets:

I love my furry friends and these two characters look bright and full of energy. I never met these two but if you have any stories please add them to the post. :)

In this second picture it looks like Bingo is just a puppy.

A couple more pictures of Papa as a little boy . . .

Since Papa is wearing the same outfit from my previous post I think that this one was taken at the same time when he was 16 months old.

From left to right: Jerry, Jane and Michael (Papa)

Thanks to Uncle Micky for sending me these pictures!

Knute Robley and family

I finally found the book!!! This is the picture that I was planning to start the blog with but I searched for days and I could not find the book that it is in.


This particular picture is of my great-great-great (yes 3 greats) grandfather on the Robley side. I love it so much because it is so old and because there is such a striking resemblance between Knute Robley and my dad.

Back Row: Anne Sophie b. 1865, Edward b. 1869, Reier Anton b. 1867 and Carl Johan b. 1863

Middle Row: Marit (Mary) b. 1843 and Knute b. 1839

Front Row: Emma Marie b. 1874, Oscar b. 1881 and Hannah b. 1877

Knute Robley is the last Robley in my direct line to be born in Norway . . . he arrived in Wisconsin in 1854. Knute and Marit both lived long lives but the younger generation suffered in the wave of consumption (tuberculosis) that swept across the country in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Anne Sophie died Sept 6, 1893 leaving 2 young children and Hannah followed soon after on Nov 12, 1893 at the age of 16. Edward passed away the following year on Aug 23 1894. Emma was 25 when she died less than a year after her only daughter was born. Oscar was single when he died at the age of 23 in 1905. In addition to these losses Knute and Mary lost 3 other children at very young ages prior to this picture.

It is hard to imagine living in times when there is so much loss. Immigrants who leave their homeland due to poor living conditions, endure an arduous journey across an ocean, work hard to make a home and then lose most of their children at such young ages.

Dorothy McGinty---School Days

I love these early pictures of my grandparents . . .

This picture was taken May 18, 1939 at my grandmother's school. My grandmother is the shortest girl . . . she is somewhat in the middle of the picture. Along with my grandmother is her sister Irene (I believe the girl furthest to the left), her sister Mabel (furthest to the right?) and her brothers Ira and James (not sure on those 2).

The schoolteacher was Helen M Koch.

Anybody recognize this little guy . . . ?

Michael Joseph McGinty

16 Months old

Taken @ December 1929

New Years Greeting card

On a sad note Papa did have an older brother that he never met. His brother Joseph was Sioux City's New Year Baby in 1927. Here is a transcript of the newspaper story from the time:

Sioux City's New Year's Baby Dies
Paying but a short visit on earth, Joe McGinty, Jr., Sioux City's only New Years's baby, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe McGinty, Route 1, Leeds, passed away at 3:30 o'clock Saturday morning.
Born on New Year's, Baby Joe was the first baby to arrive in Sioux City in 1927. His arrival was premature and he spent the few days of his wee life in an incubator. Until Friday evening it was believed that he would live and then the weak little life grew fainter and gradually came to an end Saturday morning.
Joe was his parent's only child.
Funeral services were held at 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon at Kidd's undertaking parlors. Rev. A.J. Lynott, of St. Michael's Catholic church, conducted the services. Interment was at Calvary cemetery.

Add-on to Cora's Story

Tonight I was showing Mudge this blog. In case you have not guessed Mudge is one of the culprits who locked Henry in his car. Mudge said that Henry was nice until he drank and then it was a different story. When Ma would see Henry going home after drinking in town she would send kids down the road to Cora's house to make sure that she was ok. Mudge remembered one time in particular (she was @12-14 years old) when Henry had Cora in a corner and Mudge had to pull him away.

Jumping ahead to the present here is a pic from last years Robley Family Reunion in July at the lake in Pelican Rapids MN. It is 11 degrees in South Dakota at the moment so this pic really makes me long for summer. The reunion was held on a perfect summer day . . . not hot and a nice breeze off the lake. Just for some more weather envy here is a pic of the view:

Cora Love

Originally I had a different picture in mind to start this family tree blog but I cannot remember where I put the book that the picture is in. Grrrr!

This picture is of Mabel (Love) Hawes with Cora Love in the background and it was taken in Bozeman Montana in 1939. Cora is one of my great-great grandmothers on my mother's side.




I think that Cora's story must have been amazing. Cora was born February 20, 1858 in Rockford Illinois to George and Mary Snyder. She married Joseph Love and had five surviving children: Lydia (b. @1878), Alice (b. @1881), Mabel (b. @1885), James (b. 1886) and Ruth (b. @1893). Joseph died February 2, 1896. So Cora had to support a family of five on her own in her late thirties.

Cora's son James eventually married Mabel Ruth Deroin (who will always be "Ma" to me) on July 12, 1922 at the age of 35. I never knew James but I have been told that he was a very quiet man . . . Ma must have really livened up his home for him. He looked very kind in the pictures that I have seen of him. I will post more pictures of James as I get them scanned in.

I believe that it was sometime around or after James married Mabel that Cora remarried a man by the name of Henry Francisco. Henry was a drunk and apparently not well liked. The kids of James and Ma would lock the doors of the car when Henry was inside. Remember . . . this was back when cars were a newer thing and Henry in his drunken state would not remember how to get out of the car. No surprise that Ma had spunky kids.



One more detail . . .



This is a copy of the WWI draft certificate for James Love. On the draft card James claimed exemption from the draft due to his dependent mother. I imagine that Cora relied quite a bit upon James as he was growing up to help support both her and the family. According to the draft card James was of medium height, stout (yes it was either slender, medium or stout for the choices), blue eyes and brown hair.

If anyone would like a copy of any picture please let me know.

I am once again organizing the family tree research . . . making sure that I have copies of all of the available historical documents such as census records, marriage certificates, newspaper stories, etc that I can find and also scanning in all of the pictures that we have. Once I am finished with that I plan on making a family history book at http://www.ancestry.com/. The examples that I have seen look very professional. If it turns out well I will let everyone know in case you would like to purchase a copy. In the meantime I will post pictures and or documents here and there with a bit of story if I have it. If anyone would like to contribute any pictures or stories please let me know.