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Announcing...
the
2017 DOUGLASS FAMILY REUNION
-
Sunday,
July 2, 2017
-
Presque
Isle State Park (click here
for map & park info)
-
Erie,
PA
- Save the date!
This is the somewhat on-again, off-again
reunion of the descendents of....well, sorta those of Royal
Manville Douglass, but really all those of Josiah Breese
Douglass...but we're ALL family so it's really for everyone in
the Douglass/Redner/Breese family tree!
We have
managed to keep this on an alternate year with the
Redner-Douglass reunion at the old homestead (i.e., Sabinsville,
PA) -- making it easier for all cousins to join us, so please
do! Also, please forward this to anyone who may be
interested and is not on our list, put it on your facebook
account if you have one, etc.
A BIG thank you to my
brother Dan for getting the ball rolling on this. (Josiah
Douglass > Royal Douglass > James (Jim) Douglass > Dan
Douglass) I will be the contact person so keep this address
in your email and pass it along to kith and kin. (Snail
mail to 374 E. Franklin St., Horseheads, NY 14845.)
Thank
you all and looking forward to July 2nd!!!
2016
REDNER-DOUGLASS REUNION (July 16, 2016) [report to come]
POEM
-- This from Emily Douglass House; she wrote it some
years ago after looking through her grandmother's old photo
albums. Her grandmother, Theresa Fundurulic Douglass (my
mother) passed away on July 3rd of this year. Emily read
this at the memorial service.
Memories
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A dusty chest lies long forgotten,
Memories within it hide.
I lift the latch, and blow
away
The dust and years and peer inside.
A stack
of albums – frayed and brown,
The pictures – dim and
gray,
Transport me to a world gone by,
An ancient,
buried day.
I open one, then flip the page,
A face
stares up at me.
Gone the wrinkles, silver locks,
A
child now is she.
I turn another couple more,
The
years drift slowly by,
A wedding dress with puffy sleeves,
A stoic-looking guy.
An infant on the crinkled
page,
Precious baby blue,
I turn a couple pages more.
Now suddenly – there’s two!
I shuffle through,
and gaze and stare,
A birthday, Christmas morn,
A
party, smiles, cake and gifts,
Another baby born.
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First words, first steps, first day
of school,
The days slip by like sand.
From carriage
to a cap and gown,
A
ring upon the hand.
A few more leaves – so wrinkled, brown,
The
faces come and go,
The ancient history falls away,
These
smiles – ones I know.
Each paper leaf – a treasure
store
That breathes to life the past,
Transforming
dreams and memories
To something that will last.
And
as I gaze I slowly find,
A world I never knew –
The
world behind my grandma’s eyes
Is suddenly mine
too.
Theresa
Douglass (ca.2000)
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You
can visit Emily's website/blog at
mosaicsoftheheart.wordpress.com/
July
18, 2012 – In loving memory...
On
Wednesday the Douglass clan lost one of it best. Eunice
(Anderson) Douglass passed from this world into the waiting arms
of her Savior after a years of sustained illness. Eunice was a
devoted mother, setting aside her potential career to stay home
and raise her boys, homeschooling them through all twelve grades.
She was an accomplished 'cellist and played wonderful piano, gave
lessons out of her home, and played at church. She taught all her
boys to play as well.
Eunice and Steve came into
our lives unexpectedly when were visiting area churches. She came
right up to us, asked if we were related (we didn't realize it,
but Steve and I are second cousins), and welcomed us to her home
for Sunday dinner, notwithstanding the fact that her home was in
the middle of being renovated. Eunice's faith and devotion to
motherhood inspired my Linda; her generosity was such that she
came with is to Washington, DC, as Linda was undergoing her
cancer treatments; Eunice chose to leave her family for an
extended season to homeschool our children, freeing me to be with
Linda at Georgetown University Hospital. Such was her selfless
attitude! She will be sorely missed. (Posted 7/21/12)
July
9, 2012 – WOOT!
WOOT!
Lots
of happenings in the Lancaster branch of the clan -- i.e., Steve
and Cheryl and family. First, Emily is engaged! She
has been dating a fellow since a little before Hannah's wedding,
whom she knew for some years before. He's actually an
actor, when they were youngsters they probably were in the plays
and such that Steve's kids were involved with. He has a
ministry of presenting the Bible dramatically, i mean, not simply
acting out Bible stories. His website is piercingword.org
-- there's a picture of him if you scroll down a bit. He's
pretty busy from what i understand!
Not to be
outdone, her sister Hannah -- married last September to Phil
Weaver -- is expecting! While we can't show you pictures of
the baby, but we can show some pictures of the wedding.
DO
send any more news so it can be published -- photos as well!!
Just use the "Contact Us" button on the left.
June
3, 2012 – BACK
IN BUSINESS - a REUNION - and a BIRTHDAY BASH!!
Wow
-- it's been nearly two years since i've touched this website.
The principalship has been nearly all-consuming but it's paying
off. Things at school are going very well. With
summer "vacation" (HA!) coming, i'm hoping to get
hopping on this website once again -- perhaps at a slower, but
steady pace. Lots has happened and i hope to have that news
and some pictures up - so stay tuned regularly. But for
now, make plans to attend this summer's Redner-Douglass
Reunion.
Bernita writes:
"Just
a short note to let you know that we are planning the reunion for
this year. It will be on July 21st ( the third Saturday). Again
it will be held here on the family farm. Please pass this along
to all that are interested. I'm sure the kids will be getting
more information out, but we wanted to make sure everyone would
have time to plan. We would love to have at least as many
attending as were here two years ago."
Fortunately,
the "Douglass Reunion" that's been held at various
locations since the late 1990's has switched back to meeting
every other year, so it looks like even-numbered years will see
the clan gather at the old homestead in Potter Brook, and the
even-numbered years we will gather at various locations. If
anyone can send some pictures and text from last year's reunion,
please do!
Becky Hill also writes to invite us to
a milestone Birthday
Party:
Greetings
all,
Mom,
Ella Mae Holmes Baker Peters, will be turning 95 next February.
It is a milestone of a birthday to celebrate, but a rotten month
here in Ohio, so we decided to have a 94 1/2 year birthday party
on Saturday August 4th in Tiffin, Ohio.
Specific
details are still fuzzy, but it will probably be an open house on
that afternoon.
I
wanted to let some of you know in case you might consider coming
so that you could save the date. Mom has cut back on quite a few
of her activities and doesn't travel much, but still loves to see
old friends and visit. Or get cards in the mail if you can't come
(can be sent to my address and we'll give them to her as a
bundle) or emails - yes, she still does play on her computer.
Brother
Frank and Judy and hopefully, brother Howard, will be here from
Florida - and hoping Carrie will be able to make it from New
Orleans. Nathan and Laura and their 3 kids live 25 miles away, so
they will be here. More details will be forthcoming as the date
approaches, but if anyone has any questions or comments, let me
know.
Thanks
for being her friend (or family). We're so proud of her as a
Mom.
Love
Becky
If
you would like to write Ella Mae or Becky, send me an e-mail (see
the "Contact US" link at left). Likewise, let me
know if you would like Becky to send you the address and details
of the party. (Obviously, we don't want to put private
information on the internet.)
September
6 – Swamped!
No,
i've not forgotten this project -- i had laptop problems for a
week or more, plus i just was voted in as principal at our little
school -- i've been on the job two weeks, and that means TONS of
work. So -- hang on, there is more i have to put up but it will
take a little time before i can get to it. I mean, i'm
still not sure i have a History teacher and not sure about
another hire -- and school starts the day after tomorrow!
August
12 (PM) – Civil
War letters of James Douglass being uploaded
Becky
has been re-editing the good work done by one of Charles &
Bernita's (grand-?)sons of James Douglass' letters home.
James was drafted but was refused due to deafness. His two
brothers went in his stead, but later (at about age 45!) James
joined. He took
sick and fell out of rank and lay and day and a night in a wet
cornfield, was rescued, and hospitalized, later in life being
confined to a wheelchair from the experience (p. 13 of the
history). Link is on the sidebar at left.
ALSO - if
anyone has some good photos from the 2009 reunion in Springfield
(or the 2005 or 2007 reunions) to share with all, kindly e-mail
them to me, as I only have a few decent ones. They are for
pages like the 1983 and 2003 reunion pages. Thanks!
August
12 – Douglass.50webs.com
is now a FULL SERVICE WEBSITE!!!
50webs
had a web hosting plan too good to turn down, so this is now our
permanent home! This means we are able to put pdf's on the
website, high-res pictures, and a LOT of stuff. Long and
short of it, this should only get better!
August 11 – Newest
Douglass and digging deep for warmth...
Keith
Douglass sent some pics of his family. Good grief, i don't
know the name or the birthdate, although i gather it was within
the last three weeks. The connection is:
JAMES
> JOSIAH > FLOYD > PRITCHARD > STEVE > KEITH
That's
Steve and Eunice Douglass who are Keith's parents; Keith's lovely
wife is Lisa.
Also,
Paul
Bartow's
HOUSE got 15 minutes of fame! Seems the local TV cameramen
were quite interested in his geothermal heat system -- but not in
getting any pics of the fam. 
Click here
for the video.
Good
Grief! I didn't intend this to be a Douglass Family News
site, but, hey, why not include what's happening across the
fam?
August 8
– Wedding Bells and Webbing
Blues
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First
the good news! The second wedding this summer, Matthew
Wade Douglass married Laura Heffner this past Friday just
outside Lancaster, PA. Laura is a wonderful young lady
with an excellent taste in music (they had a great jazz
ensemble playing standards at the reception
). Again it was great to see a couple kids go about it
the right way. That's Dad and Mom (Steve and
Cheryl) cutting a rug, with the other newlyweds James and
Becky in the background.
For the genealogical
connection, it's:
JAMES
> JOSIAH > ROYAL > JAMES B. > STEVE > MATTHEW
Steve
is my brother, along with James Daniel Douglass up in
Syracuse.
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The
bad news is that Netfirms, who hosts this website, has been
unable to resolve a critical issue, and our usual location is
down. Hence, we are ALSO located here at this location
hosted by 50webs. Sooner or later I hope to have one GOOD
website, so stay tuned!
July
31 – Whatta find!
Relative narrowly escapes death
at Custer's Last Stand...
...well,
134 years ago, that is. It seems our ancestor John Breese,
Jr. had a grandson Malcolm ("Malcomb" in the history,
p. 15) who was working in the employ of the impetuous general the
day he order an attack on Indian forces forty times bigger than
his. The description of his siblings residing in Buffalo and the
other other in Wilkes-Barre (history says "Easton,"
some 70 miles away) seems to indicate our cousin's story is
coming to light! Find the article here.
July
26 – Wonderful Big
Weekend!
So
- THIS is what's kept me from working on the website the last few
daze:
I hope you don't mind the personal note; i figger some would like
to see a picture. That's the new Mr. & Mrs. Schiavone
in the center (Becky and James) with Ruth on the far left, then
Susan, me in the back, and Jim peaking out from behind Seth.
James is a wonderful young man who fits right into the family,
and it's been such a blessing to watch two kids do it right.
:-)
July
22 – Big
Weekend
Tomorrow:
rehearsal and dinner, and Saturday i "give away" my
youngest daughter -- into trusted hands, i am glad to say.
This is my first wedding as a father and i am excited, to say the
least!
Yesterday
Paul Bartow sent a link to a nice article about cousin Ella Mae
Peters - check it out here.
Also yesterday i found another treasure trove at my mom's
(Theresa's) -- Grandma Ruby's scrapbook, the 10x14 picture of
Uncle Artman in his flying suit, etc., -- stuff i knew was there,
plus more. Hope to eventually share things as appropriate.
For now though -- wedding bells take precedence. :-)
July
19 – Online Family
Tree!
Thanks
to Becky (and Andy) we now have both an easy-to-use online family
tree and a rather exhaustive GEDCOM downloadable file. Click on
the "Family Tree" link at left.
July 18 –
1893 Journal of Ella
Douglass
Thanks
to Becky (Hill), Ella Pritchard Douglass' journal, centering
around 1893 but including additional material is now online (see
link at left). Many of her entries are in verse! Thanks to Paul
Bartow for help with names of people pictured on the 2010
Redner-Douglass Reunion page (link at left). One “mystery
person” left to name!
July
17, PM – 104th
Redner-Douglass Reunion @
the Douglass Farm, Hector,
PA
…....And
what a day it was!! I wish everyone could have attended; it was a
great blessing for me to be there, particularly since i've just
been retyping that section of our history and the details of the
family who settled there are still fresh in my mind. Cousin Becky
(Hill) and i had a field day scanning old photos, and Bernita
Douglass provided us with Civil War letters from James to his
wife, both scans of the originals and transcriptions!! We saw the
old family cemetery and Bernita pointed us to a website listing
those buried there. En route home, it was moving for me to stand
in Sike's home lot, the spot where Grandpa Royal ran around as a
boy growing up – and see the ruins of their barn, their only
building left on the grounds.
…....How
good it was to reconnect with Charles and Bernita, and to meet so
many wonderful relatives for the first time (well,maybe i met
them when i was a boy, idk). I only wish i had more time to visit
with everyone...but word is spreading about the website, so
hopefully some of us will continue to connect via email and this
website.
…....Pictures
aplenty taken (click
here), and much information gleaned. All will glean much as
so many have been so willing to help in various ways. Thank you
all!
July
17, AM – New Look, and Lookee!
…....Hope
you all like the new look! Also, you can take a look at the old
Douglass Family History my Grandfather Royal did (link on left
sidebar). It's in pdf and NOT done yet, but take a look. It will
eventually have a print version and another with active
hyperlinks. It will also have an update section added at the end
covering the last 50 years.
July
16 – Writings of Ella Pritchard now available!
…....The
scanner issue was resolved today (mine is on its last legs, but
Seth's worked GREAT!) - so, now we have a pdf file of writings by
Ella Douglass and others from as back as 1888. Click the link to
view, right-click the link and choose “save as” to download
the file to print and keep. It's not a perfect scan job but quite
readable. I hope to put some of this on its own web page.
•
LINK
TO “Old Writings”
PLEASE
BE PATIENT! THIS IS A BIG FILE (2 MB)
July
15, 1:57 AM:
…....Computers
are amazing things. No matter ho much you know, there's always
more to learn. I've been wrestling a lot with scanning and OCR
(in Linux, of course!!) and trying to decide the best way to put
some of the material on the web. Keith was kind enough to
transcribe the writings of Ella Pritchard Douglass and others,
but that was years ago on an old MacIntosh he had. I have the
floppies and hope Uncle Hugh still has his old Mac in working
order in the attic; alternatively, i may simply scan the hard
copies and make a pdf.
…....Uncle
Hugh and i spent a lot of time together Tuesday gleaning over the
history and papers i have (Ella Pritchard's autograph copies,
Grandma Ruby's diaries, etc.), then went to his place and
unearthed a veritable treasure trove of old papers/letters going
back as far as 1851! Browsing thru them, one can see Grandpa
Royal “did his homework” and that others older than he had
been keeping track of such things and helping him.
…....All
this work has me convinced to join him going to the
Douglass-Redner reunion this weekend in Potter County, PA. I
don't think i've been there since i was 12! Ella Mae and Becky
Hill will be there likewise; i am hoping to glean some
information on preserving and cataloging this treasure, as well
as gaining insight and gathering stories about the wonderful
heritage we have.
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