A Real Kentucky Nut Case.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life and I am feeling so good this morning.

Well, before I get into the Pocahontas line, which will probably be tomorrow afternoon, I wanted to post this about my grandpa Harrison.  This article was posted in the pages of Kentucky Explorer magazine about two years ago.  This was told to me by my mom and I wrote it up and had it posted.  Hope you enjoy it.

A Real Kentucky 'Nut' Case!

This story takes place in Garrard County, Kentucky around the October or November, 1927/1928 time frame. My grandpa, Green Franklin Harrison, was born in Jackson county, Kentucky, but had moved to Garrard county to work for his father-in-law, Joseph Oder Hardin. By this time, he was married and had four kids, Andrew Joseph, Norman, my mom, Frances, and Mary.

A little background history lesson. A man by the name of Coy Sanders had opened up a little country general store which served the Scotts Fork area. He later sold the store and property to a man by the name of Ike Dunkin. The house that my grandpa was renting was owned by Mr. Dunkin. My grandpa was the only one in the neighborhood who owned a team of horses and a wagon. So once a week my grandpa would get a list of the needs for the store from Mr. Dunkin, and then would drive to Lexington to place the order and pick it up to take back to Mr. Dunkin. It was a long drive by wagon so grandpa would spend the night at Mrs. Gatewood's Boarding House in town before returning the next morning to Scotts Fork. For this service, grandpa was paid $1.75 a week.

Comes late October or early November, one Sunday evening when grandpa had some extra time on his hands, he walked up the creek to where there was a Shag-bark Hickory tree growing. He had been past it a few time earlier and a lot of the 'Hicker' nuts had fallen off of the tree and were laying there on the ground. The squirrels had been at some of them and had even carried some away to be burried for later food.

Anyway, grandpa gathered up a galvinized bucket full of the nuts. He took those back to the house so he could take of the outer husks and then dry them out. Grandma would use these in her Christmas candy that whe would make each year. Grandpa had grandma put an old rag on the attic floor where he could spread out the nuts to dry. The attic space was used as storage. Grandma had all of her canning supplies up there. There was an old Oak barrel up there where she kept her canning jars so they would be all in one place.

Normally on Sunday morning, grandpa and his family, along with grandma's mom and dad and their family would walk back home after Church services at the Scotts Fork Christian Church. This walk was a time to catch up on what was happening in the family. My grandma asked her sister-in-law if she was finished canning. She said she had to stop because she had run out of jars. Grandma told her she had extra jars and she was welcome to use what she needed. She said she would be by the next day to get them.

The next morning her sister-in-law showed up to pick them up. Grandma led her up into the attic to get them. They had to step around the hicker nuts to get to the oaken barrel of the canning jars. Now grandma's sister-in-law borrow the jars, but, she was always trying to cause trouble.

The next time her sister-in-law went to the store to buy something, she told Mr. Dunkin that Green Harrison had about five bushels of hicker nut up in his attic. In truth, he only had that one galvinized bucket that he had picked up.

During this time people did not light up their lanterns at night trying to conserve on Karisene. So, after supper everyone would set out on the front porch. One evening the Sheriff came by looking for my grandpa. He got a summons to appear in court the following week, he was being sued by Mr. Dunkin for the hicker nuts!!!

The day came for grandpa to go to court in Lancaster. He dressed up in his best Sunday clothes, and shined shoes. As he was leaving, my grandma was cring and was worried sick that grandpa was going to be put in jail. Grandpa told his family not to worry and he would be back before sundown. So, off he went walking to court.

Just before sundown, the family was setting on the front porch waiting. Well, they looked up the holler and here come grandpa with a smile on his face and a spring to his step. It was a beautiful sight for his family. He gathered everyone around him and told them what had happened.

After the judge took his seat, the prosecution presented its case. One question the judge asked was if he had specifically told grandpa not to pick up the nuts. He said not derectly, but he said he told Leme Hardin, my grandpa's brother-in-law. Leme told the judge that if he was told this he could not remember. Grandpa told the judge that the only reason he picked them up was they were just laying on the ground going to ruin.

The judge brought the gavel down and said that grandpa was innocent and that the case was dismissed. Grandpa went up to the judge and asked him how much money he owed the court. The judge told him he didn't own anything and that “he had never heard the like on his entire time on the bench.” He was laughing.

Grandpa had one milk cow which he kept in Ike Dunkin's barn, so he would have to go down there to milk the cow each day. After his appearance in court grandpa started carring his pistol with him to milk the cow. Grandma was worred about this but grandpa said he was just being careful and was not going to take any 'lip' from Mr. Dunkin.

Sure enough, one evening later Mr. Dunkin came to the barn as grandpa was going to milk. He asked grandpa if he was going to give him one half of the nuts. Grandpa looking him right in the eye and told him he was welcome to one half of the nuts because the tree was on his land. If he wanted them that bad, he should come to the house and pick them up. “But,” he said, “if you come by the house make sure that he was there. If it was only his wife and family at home when he come by, I'll hunt you up and kill you.” Mr. Dunkin never showed up to get his hicker nuts.

Grandpa had to move the milk cow to a neighbors pasture and barn so he would not have to pay Mr. Dunkin extra to keep the cow there.

This picture I am posting is of my grandma and grandpa along with my brother, Lowell, 

my cousin Benton Travis Harrison, and my aunt Mary Harrison.  This picture was taken in the early 1950's in Dupont, Indiana at my uncle A. J. Harrison's house

Til the next time, live large.

Jim

Grandpa and Grandma Harrison.

Well, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life and I am feeling good.  I hope and pray that everyone of my family and friends are also doing okay today.

Grandma and grandpa Harrison, that would be my mom's mother and father.  Green Franklin Harrison and Lillie Ann Hardin.  My grandpa was born soon after the end of the Civil War, in 1886, in a little cabin in Jackson County, Kentucky.  My grandpa came from a "small" family, he had one brother, John Lewis Harrison and two sisters, Rachael Jane Harrison and Deliah Harrison.  Deliah, we did not know about until I started doing research.  She was a 'wild' girl, and died of Consumption or TB in 1917. But he had a whole passel of step-brothers and sisters, about 12 all told.  I guess this is why he left home as a young man and moved to the neighboring county of Gerrard to work for his future father-in-law, Joseph Oder Hardin.

I don't ever remember life without grandma and grandpa living with us.  Before I was born, my dad had a truck farm, growing fruits and vegetables to sell in the big town of Lexington.  Grandpa worked for my dad and his brothers on the farm.  One day on the way to town there was an accident.  Grandpa was setting in the passengers seat of the truck.  The truck was being driven by one of my uncles.  The truck took a curve to sharply and the door swung open.  This was in the days before seat belts was in vehicles.  Grandpa fell out and hit his head on the side of the road.  He was in a coma for about two weeks and the doctors thought he would not live.  When he pulled out of the coma, they found out that his ear drums had been broken and he was hard of hearing.  This being the case, he could not find work anywhere.  So when my mom and dad bought a farm in Jennings County, Indiana, grandma and grandpa moved with us.  My dad said as long as he had a roof over out heads and food on the table they could stay with us.  And that they did.

What do I remember most about my grandpa?  Well, there was family stories that he had American Indian blood flowing through his veins.  Grandpa was a small man, maybe 4'8" or 4'10" at the most.  He had high cheekbones and was dark complected. He truly loved the outdoors.  He had a green thumb, and was so proud of his blackberries and his garden.  He could get anything to grow.  Grandpa had a home remedy for any aliment. He taught he how to hunt and fish.  Even in the winter he had to be out and about.  Each winter he would run a trap line to catch mink, fox, muskrats, raccoons, anything with fur he would trap and stretch the hide over a board to cure so he could sell the fur.

Grandma Harrison was a big help to my mom there on the farm.  If mom and to run into town for dad, grandma was there to take care of us while she was gone.  If mom was not there, grandma was.  You could take that as a given.  Grandma would read us stories out of the Bible she kept at her bedside.  We used to love that and could hardly wait to see the color illustrations of the stories and the way that she brought life to them.

Tomorrow or the next day I will try to get to the story of Pocahontas.

Until then, live large my friends.

P.S. This is a picture of my Grandpa and Grandma Harrison taken in Lancaster Kentucky at their wedding in 1913.

The family Strieff.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, and the lady Cards are number 2 in the women's NCAA basketball. How do you like that, number one and number two in the nation.  It must be something in the Louisville drinking water, no other way to explain it, other than they are the best. Way to go Cards!!!!

Now, the family Strieff.  It is quite interesting how I ended up following up on the line in the family link.  My dad's cousin, the daughter of his mom's sister found out that I was going to Germany to do some work for the Government.  She asked me if I could do her just one tiny favor while I was there.  It turned out to be for the whole time I was there, a little over a year.  She was wanting me to find a graveyard and some links to the name Strieff while I was there.  She told me that she had traced the Strieff line back to Alsace Lorraine and that the only other information was the Jacob Strieff's dad had served in the French Army during WW1 and was buried in some graveyard in a little village of Villars, France.

the company I was working for in Germany was a strict believer of never working on weekends.  So, they told me that I could use the company car that I had signed for which carried all of my electronic test equipment in the rear for my weekends anywhere in Europe as long as I paid for the gas with my own money.  Not a problem.

Do you realize how big Alsace Lorraine is?  It is fairly large once you are on the ground and that Villars is a common name of a few villages in France?  So, for the first two months, on the weekends I was on the road traveling through out Alsace Lorraine and France, walking through graveyards.  After about two to three months of this, I could the frugality of my search.  I needed more information if I was make any headway.  I got on the phone and let her know that I was not giving up on the search but was going to curtail it some.  Cut back on the number of trips.  She said that this was okay with her and if she got anymore information she would let me know.

She passed away before I finished my tour in Germany and before I could finally break through with this family.  Nobody else in her family was interested in finding out this family information but I believed I owed it to myself and to her to find out what I could.

After I came back to the US and semi-retired for health reasons, I became serious and bought a Delux membership to Ancestry.com. Even with this I was still behind the curve and could not break through.  Then one day I decided to Google in the last name, and up popped a French home page with the last name the same.  After working for a little with the translator, come to find out that he was a genealogist, looking for the same name I was working with here in the States.  After a few exchanges of e-mails, we realized we were working on the same family.  He had all the family tree from France and Germany and had lost the family after they came to the States.  Was I ever amazed!!!

The picture I am attaching today is of my paternal grandfather, Oliver Hiram West, on the left, and his father-in-law, Joseph Grosser on the right.  This being their relationship, they looked enough alike to pass as brothers.

Till the next time, live large my friends.

PS. If anyone of you have any questions just post them and I will answer it if I can.

Basic family information.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life, and the Louisville Cards are the NCAA Champs.  Am I feeling good or what? This is truly a new day.

I am thinking that the best way to start this new Blog is to get the last names down and their origins, or where does the names come from.  My last name is West.  Most genealogist say the West name comes from England where it depicted people who lived west of the main settlement.  But, that is only a general rule.  I believe that my West family had its origins in Germany, France and maybe just a little English on the side.  I have traced my dad's line back to about 1770-80 To Pennsylvania, where I have hit a brick wall and can't seem to break through. My dad's name is Victor (NMI) West.  (NMI) is military speak for No Middle Initial.

My dad's dad, or my paternal grandfather was named Oliver Hiram West and his mom's name was Margaret Strieff.  Both grandparents was born in Kentucky.  Oliver Hiram West's father and mother, my great-grandparents, were Hiram West and Martha 'Mattie' Parker, both born in Kentucky.  My dad's mom, Margaret Strieff was the daughter of Jacob Strieff and Barbara Grosser.  Jacob Strieff was born in Alsace Lorraine, which could have been either French or German, depending on who had control of the region.  Both French and German are spoken there.  Barbara Grosser was born in Bavaria, Germany.

My mother's name is Frances Harrison.  She was born in Garrard County, Kentucky to Green Franklin Harrison and Lillie Ann Hardin.  The Harrison family line came to Kentucky from the Jamestown area of Surry County, Virginia.  The Hardin family came to Kentucky from Culpepper County, Virginia. It is through the Harrison line that I am related to Matoaka Pocahontas, with the christian name of Rebecca.  And it is through the Hardin family line that I am related to the King and Queen of Denmark.  All the information will be provided through later Blogs.  I am going to attempt to attach a picture of my mom and dad soon after their wedding in Lexington, Kentucky.

Till next time, Live Large!

My ancestry.

Hello everyone,

Well, it'a a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life and I am feeling really great at this time.  I am going to start up a new blog about my family tree, the many branches, and right to the roots.  I guess I should start at the beginning, why I got interested in my roots, where my family roots started as best as I can figure out.  Basically I will give a brief overview of where my roots started out over the Atlantic Ocean.

Why did I get interested in my family ancestors?  It started out as a grade school project.  Either Mike, my son, or Michelle, my daughter came home from school one day and said that they had a project at school to trace back their family tree.  So naturally this was a 'daddy' question and not a 'mommie' question.   I had not problems on my maternal side of the family, my mom's dad and mom.  They had lived with us all of my life and  I grew up with them.  My dad's mom and dad died before I was born so I had to ask my mom their names as my dad had already passed away. So I got the grandparents on both sides of the tree and there it set. It set for about 10 years before I was again involved with it.  I was on my way to Germany and my aunt wanted me to do her a favor and see if I could find some of her people while I was over there.  They were from Alsace Lorraine, which I discovered flip-floped between France and Germany for ownership.  I will cover my research there later on in the story as it develops.

Some of the places I have traced my ancestors to is Jamestown, Virginia, USA,   Germany, England, Norway, Denmark, France.  And there were some highlighted names along the way, Pocahontas here in Virginia, some Barons and Knights in Germany, Dukes and Ladies in England, and even the King and Queen of Denmark.

So, hopefully, I will be able to start my writing journal tomorrow or the next day.

Till then my friends, live large.

Back home again.

This blog will take a departure from my normal blog as I have not posted in a while and I want to tell everyone why this is so.

Thursday a week ago, I had an accidental fall at my house.  I was carrying a bowl of brown sugar mixed with mustard that I was going to use as a glaze for ham that I was going to cook.  When I started to fall, I dropped the bowl to the tile floor and it broke into a million pieces.  I then fell down on the tile and my right knee hit first with me finishing the fall on the hand and right arm into the broken glass.  I am taking blood thinner so when I saw all the blood on my right arm and hand, I called 911.  Well the first EMT personnel showed up five minutes later and stopped the bleeding.  They then took me to the ER at the local hospital.

At the ER they put about 10 stitches in my arm, cleaned up my knee, and sent me home.  I had had a bad experience with this hospital before and I was not going to take the chance that something like that would happen again.  I went to the ER at the VA hospital in Tucson Saturday morning.  They said the arm looked okay but I was getting some swelling on my knee.  They took three x-rays of my knee, which made a total of about 7 with the ones taken at the hospital in Sierra Vista.  No broken bones and no broken glass in it either.  So they bandaged me up and sent me home.

Wednesday morning I got up and my knee and leg was swollen where I could not get around very good.  So, back to Tucson.  I set in the ER from 3:00 pm until about 10:00 pm before the doctors could look at me.  One look and they admitted me into the hospital.  More x-rays, no broken bones, no infection showing up in the knee joint, etc.  Just a bad bruise up front.  They started giving me antibiotics through an IV and I was resting up.  Yesterday afternoon (Friday) they took out the 10 stitches in my arm, gave me some antibiotic pills to take, some pain killers, etc.  I was discharged yesterday afternoon and Mila came and picked me up.  I arrived back home at about 4:00 pm yesterday.  It is sure nice to be back home again.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life . . . Well my friends, till I get to felling better and the next blog, the Lord be with you. Have a blessed season and a Happy New Year.  God bless.

Wilkommen nach Deutschland!

Guten Morgen! It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life my friends, wake up and take time to thank God and smell the roses along the way.

I always wanted to go to Germany all my life and after spending about 17 years in the Army, getting out to work at Civil Service for four years, with just a few trips to teach the U-COFT in various military bases in Germany.  After I started working for the company who underbid General Electric I was finally being stationed to Germany.

There was two main reasons I wanted to go to Germany.  The first was when I was a young lad, I remember visiting with my dad's folks in Lexington, Kentucky.  On the rare occasion when we stayed over night, I can remember setting at the breakfast table being served Black Forest Ham along with over easy eggs.  When the adults were at the table and wanted to say something not for little ears, they would speak in German. I didn't know what it was at first so when I asked my dad on the way home he told me it was German. That started me wanting to see Germany first hand.  Secondly, when my kids were young as a part of a school project they had to list their ancestry back as far as they could.  Of course they came to me.  I did some research into the family ancestry and I was hooked.  I took it all, hook, line and sinker.  In my research I found that my dad's folks came to America in the mid-1700's from Germany and Alsace-Loraine, France.

As I stated before, my headquarters over there was in Grafenwoehr, but I made my headquarters out of Vilseck.  While in country, I rented a small but nice room in the Gasthof Goldener Greif in Edelsfeld, Germany.  I was over there alone so the one small room was nice, in a nice, quite town.  On Saturday morning when I was not on the road tracing down ancestors, I was at the local soccer field, cheering on the team from Edelsfeld.

A little over half way through my obligation to the company, my daughter, Michelle had graduated from High School and she came over to join me in Germany.  I was sending just about all of my salary home to Mila so I could not afford two rooms at the Gasthof.  I got to looking around at found a nice up stairs, two bedroom efficiency apartment in Dorfgmund, Germany, which was half way between Vilseck and Grafenwoehr. This suited us just fine.  We only had German TV there but there was a VHS hooked up to the TV.  I picked up a Walt Disney film, Pete's Dragon, at the PX in Grafenwoehr.  Michelle and I just about remembered all the songs and words to it because we played it so much.

I was busy with work during the week but on weekends we traveled to different places sightseeing.  I never did get into the Volks Marches over there like so many Americans.  I was mainly interested into family history.  Mila did finally come over to join us there but she was cold and bored with the place so she went back  to Sierra Vista to get ready for us when my time was over on the contract.

On one of my trips to Germany, I was there to see the Wall come down and many other interesting things. I visited many places while I was there, Berlin, Bonn, Frankfort, Baden-Baden, Heidelberg, Stuttgart,  Nuremberg, Munich and Hamburg, just to name a few of the towns I worked in.  I visited in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. I did get to see Europe.

I will update you on what has happened since I have returned on the next blog. Til then . . .
Auf Wiederschen . . .