#52Ancestors-Heirloom

My Heirlooms

This is a Summer Girls #2 cast iron stove with the patent date of December 26 '93 (1893). My father gave this stove to me. He said it came from his grandparents home. They were Freemont Floyd Utter,1886 - 1940 and Lucina Ada Hopkins 1890 -1955.

 The little windows are made of isinglass.

These are two tea towels that my grandma hand embroidered. Her name was Dorothy Louise Marlin Boorsma 1913 - 2003. They were made circa 1945. When grandma died, we had to sort through some of her things. We found these towels. No one really wanted them except me, so now they have new life on my  kitchen wall.
(One has slipped a little, I will have to fix that)

Also handed down from my mother, is my Grandma Dorothy Boorsma's wedding ring and her art deco watch. Dorothy Marlin married Louis Boorsma July 1931.

This locket was my mothers. Her mother, Dorothy Boorsma gave it to her, and now I own it. Those two pictures in it are of Dorothy.

 In this picture is my mother's (Marilyn Boorsma) toy jacks she used to play with as a little girl, in the 1940's.

In the same picture, is a sweet little cupid jewelry box that my father bought for me, when I was a little girl. He often had to be gone for the whole week for his work. Several times, he brought home little gifts for me and my brother. It is still a special little treasure!

                                                                                       

This is my baby bracelet that was put on me by the nurses at Blodgett Hospital, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My mother took it to a jeweler and had the beads restrung on this wire bracelet, after the original string disintegrated.                                                                         

                                                                                           

#52ancestors-Favorite name

In talking about the writing prompt "favorite name",with my husband, he reminded me about the name Foster. And I am glad he did.
 My Foster surname had become a favorite middle name for three of my male ancestors and one sibling.The first Foster in my tree is Eleanor Foster, also know as Ellen. She was born 22 February 1794 in Virginia. Married John DeArmond 21 August 1817 and died 23 Apr 1859.

Their marriage was performed by John's uncle, King DeArmond. King also married a Sarah Foster to John A George. Could Sarah be Eleanor's sister?

Ohio, County Marriage Records, 1774-1993

1850; Census Place: Division 10, Berrien, Michigan; Roll: M432_346; Page: 194B; Image: 386

Eleanor Foster DeArmond Grave

John and Eleanor's son, William DeArmond, married Clarissa Brown. And their son was named Camlin Foster DeArmond.  

 I have written about Camlin in a previous post linked here :#52ancesters-Start

Camlin (pictured above) married Clytie Agnes Harris and they had several girls, one of whom was my grandmother Dorothy May DeArmond.

The picture above shows my grandparents (Dorothy May DeArmond and Earl Howard Utter) newly married, I assume.  The were married on 21 June 1929 in Steuben County, Indiana.

Allen Foster Utter

Earl and Dorothy had three boys, Earl Jr., Allen, and Gordon. My dad's,(pictured above) full name was Allen Foster Utter. I assume he was named after his grandpa Camlin Foster DeArmond.

My dad married my mom,on July 25, 1958 and had first (me), Michelle Lynne and my brother with the middle name of Allen, and third...

Christopher Foster Utter

23 Sept 1965- 11 Feb 1966

 My brother Christopher Foster was born with with more rare form of spina bifida. My mom describes it as looking like a little blister with a white cord. A few days later he would show signs of also having hydrocephalus. 

At eleven days old he had surgery to cover up his open spine and at eighteen days old he had surgery to install a Holter valve for the excess fluid on his brain.

 According to my mom the valve was the size of a car fuse and had plastic where the glass would be. The valve (Spitz-Holter shunt) was implanted behind his ear with a tube to his brain to collect the fluid. The opposite end of the valve had a tube to a main vein to take the fluid to his heart for dispersal and removal. My mom had to push on the valve to move the fluid from Christopher's brain to a vein.

 Because he kept growing he was producing more spinal fluid, so he had his third surgery just before Christmas to repair the valve.

Sadly, Christopher's spinal defect was in the center of his back and as he grew that repaired area stretched from top and bottom. His little spine severed and he passed away. My mom didn't get much time with her little boy, what with him in and out of hospitals and two older children at home needing care. And the after affects of this family trauma would span many years for her.

Today as I finished up writing this story, I took a closer look at the dates and amazingly this is the exact day my brother Christopher died, fifty-two years ago.

 After Christopher died and some years later, my parents had two more boys with the middle name of Allen.
Christopher Foster was the only and is the last Foster in our family, but maybe another generation will pick up the name and use it again.

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks- Start

My grandmother was Dorothy May DeArmond Utter. Grandma lived at 163 Holly Street in Wyoming, Michigan.She was born in 21 May 1911 in Ionia, married Earl Howard Utter in 21 Jun 1929,but had a rough marriage and they were divorced 1 Dec 1947,in Kent county, Michigan. She mostly raised her children alone. Her three boys were Earl Jr. born 12 February 1930, Allen Foster (my dad) born 23 November 1932 and Gordon Fredrick born 1 October 1937.

Earl Jr. had child onset diabetes and died of it on 20 June 1964. Gordon died 22 February 2017.
 Grandma Utter worked at A&P Bakery in her early days and later on was a alterations seamstress for Herpolsheimer's store in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. She was very skilled with all things domestic... cooking, crochet, sewing, gardening. She attended a Wesleyan church.

When I would go to visit her,I was drawn to a special photo in a silver frame of her parents. She had it on her TV and I thought Grandma's mother was so beautiful!  Her mother's name was Clytie Agnes Harris and her father's name was Camlin Foster DeArmond.Clytie was a female barber in Greenville, Michigan and Camlin was a mechanic in the same area. I wonder if they met because he had come to her for a haircut? Camlin was 39 and marrying for a second time when he wed 17 year old Clytie on13 September 1905 in Greenville, Michigan.

My Grandma (Dorothy Utter) told me that her mother Clytie would tell her about coming up from Indiana to Michigan in a wagon.  I had only ridden in cars so I thought that was a magical story!

I remember meeting her once as a child, at a family reunion. She was horrified that my mother had painted my nails red and warned that I might " go to hell". My mother was equally horrified at that statement. My dad remembers being forced by Grandma Clytie to be baptised several times in the Grand River in Ionia, Michigan. She had some strong religious opinions, that is for sure.

 As I got older I told my Grandma that I would love to have that photo someday. She died 22 Aug 1986. When we cleaned out her house, I came across that photo and asked  if I could have it and that is how it became mine. It is a painted photo and some of it is flaking off so I need to get it restored. I will try to get that done in the next 52 weeks as well.
These were the people that gave me a "start" in my interest in genealogy and photo preservation. #52ancestors