Remembering My First Home with Tom & Tina

I am looking back at some of the homes we owned over the year and found the first house we bought. It was only 1,400 square feet of living area, plus a basement but it seemed big to us when we first bought it. I think our house payment was $88.00 a month when we bought it in 1972. This picture was taken in January 1973. I could not find a front view in the summer. We spent five wonderful years there, and I remember watching Tina walk to the bus her first day of high school. It was sad, and I shed a tear, to know she was growing up so quickly. Thank you, God, for allowing me to retain my memories. The house was located at 13 Gloria Lane, St. Peters, Missouri. The house was active with our daughter Tina and her friends going and coming. My parents came up to visit every eight to ten weeks. Our friends from St. Charles visited often and I remember our New Years Eve party we gave in 1975! That is a story of its own.

I began researching my family in this house.  I had no idea how important genealogy would become in my life.  It led to my presiding over Scott County Historical and Genealogy Society, writing the Scott County Newsletter for five years, and serving on the MissouriState Genealogical Association in Columbia, Missouri for several years.

My father, Curtis H. Cline, planted a tree in front of the house.  We drove by the house in 2006 while we were in the area, and the tree was as tall as the house.  I wish my  Dad could have seen it before he died in 2002.  Tom and I built the house and the three of use visited it every few days until we signed the papers and moved in.  I enjoyed sharing my life with Tom and Tina in this house.  I hope the owners that followed us enjoyed it too.

Developing Your Family History is Gratifying

To me, family history is the most fascinating story individuals can read. Or, where no family history exists, to discover it for themself and then write it.    
I remember the time I received my first requested military pension record. It was for William F. Cline, my paternal great-grandfather, pictured to the right. I learned that he was five feet ten inches tall, had a fair complexion, blue eyes, and light brown hair. Wow! I am five foot eight inches tall, have a fair complexion, am blue eyed and my hair was blonde when I was younger, and now I am brown headed.
To my knowledge, the best, and often the only place, to gain the knowledge of ancestor's physical description is from military records.
  There are billions of records, including military records, on-line through Ancestory.com, Findmypast.com, WikiTree.com and other on-line genealogy sites. These sites have annual fees to use their alphabetized and multiple historical databases. Are they worth the cost? You bet they are! Experienced genealogist, like myself, remembers the need to get in a car, drive to a distant courthouse, and often courthouses in other states, to learn, or confirm, information on ancestors. Once there, genealogist comb through county record book, after heavy record book, to learn birth, marriage, death and property records on our forefathers. Then genealogist would rent a motel room in the local county seat, or in a nearby town. Many county seats of government are in or near the center of the county and are small towns. Many do not have motels or other services for which most Americans are accustomed. Only once was I lucky enough to stay with a relative I only talked with by telephone, before my visit to where some of my ancestors lived. That was a treat, and I will always remember, and appreciate, the hospitality George and Brenda Kreig showed me in Ft. Branch, Indiana. They own a family farm north of Evansville, the county seat of Vanderburgh, Indiana.
  I am still working on the follow-up Blog of the Price Family that lost their house and the lives of family members in the Killer Tornado back in 1916. With the ability today to view period, and specific newspapers, and federal census records, writing non-fiction histories allows us to learn far more than expected. It is very gratifying to use documents and papers to bring the lives of our ancestors into readable existence. 
  To travel from county to county and other states in pursuit of family history is expensive. When you travel alone, it can also be lonely and costly. With the existence of Ancestory.com and related websites, the family historian can now develop their family history from the comfort of their homes.