Has it really been since December that I posted anything on the Henderson Blog? I mean, I knew it had been a while, but December?
I apologize to one and all, but I've been distracted by life and haven't made time to do this -- one of my favorite things. But I feel invigorated, having recently spent the weekend in Cody, Wyo., with cousin Marsha Jones. We spent a night going through old family photos and histories and genealogy -- I'll soon be posting some of this at the Henderson Family Reunion website, and focusing on some specifics here on the blog.
Not only did Marsha put me onto some things I hadn't seen before, but when we attended the Burlington, Wyo., July 24th celebration I met up with Margaret Lafallotte, who is pointing me in the direction of a McIntosh/Caldwell coalition of family members who apparently have a treasure trove of family history, gedcom files and photos. So, we're on our way to more knowledge about our ancestors.
One of the curiosities Marsha and I pondered was the "discovery" that our great-grandparents Hyrum and Julia Henderson moved around a lot in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Theirs was the family unit that lost six children to a diphtheria epidemic in 1880 within three or four weeks -- this was before Grandpa Dave was born in 1883. The family was in Idaho in 1879, then Vernal, Utah, in 1880, then the Bear Lake, Idaho, region in 1881 and back to south central Idaho in 1883. We're hoping to come across some history that tells us why they moved so much during that short span of time.
In the meantime, I'll be visiting Vernal for work later this month, and plan to visit the cemetery where those six great-aunts and -uncles are buried to photograph headstones. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a local newspaper that was published in that area during 1880 that might help tell us the story of the deaths and/or possible wider epidemic. I'll keep looking.
Now, you're probably wondering who's in the photo. It's a young Grandpa Dave Henderson. I've cropped his image out of a larger one taken at what appears to be a campsite. It's just one of the little gems I brought home from Wyoming.
