#52 Ancestors 2021 Week 50 Lines: Charles Orwig and the Pennsylvania Railroad

 

The Pennsylvania Railroad (Pennsy) was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia PA.  By 1882, it had become the largest railroad and the largest transportation enterprise in the world. 

Over the years Pennsy acquired, merged with or owned at least part of 800 other rail lines and companies.  At the end of 1926, it operated almost 12,000 miles of rail line and in the 1920's carried nearly three times the traffic as other railroads of comparable length. 

The route map below shows the reach of the Pennsy from the east coast as far west as Chicago and St. Louis. 

Pennsy's famous "Blue Ribbon Fleet" included such service as "The Broadway Limited" between New York and Chicago and "The Spirit of St. Louis" between New York and St. Louis. These streamlined trains featured a classic Tuscan red livery with gold pinstripes and an interior that was decorated in yellows and blues.  

The Broadway Limited ca. 1955

For more than 40 years, my sons' great-grandfather, Charles Edward Orwig, worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad, most of that time as a car inspector making sure that the trains were operating safely.  Charles was born in January 1887 in Union County PA, the son of Nelson Baker Orwig and Sarah Amanda Boyer.  In 1907, he married Margaret Florence Yoxtheimer with whom he went on to have 11 children, the youngest of whom was my sons' grandmother, Shirley Ruth Orwig. 

About 1910, when the Pennsylvania Railroad decided to construct a new classification yard at Northumberland, Charles was part of the crew that installed the tracks.  (A Classification yard or marshalling yard or shunting yard is a railway yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railway cars onto one of several tracks.  First the cars are taken to a track called a lead.  From there the cars are sent through a series of switches called a ladder onto the classification tracks.  Larger yards put the lead on an artificially built hill called a hump to use the force of gravity to propel the cars through the ladder.) The Northumberland Classification Yard, completed in August 1911, contained an area of 700 acres with 70 miles of track, round house and shops. 

Northumberland Roundhouse

With the completion of that yard, Charles and his family moved to Northumberland where he began working for the railroad, first in the shops as a repairman (identified in the 1920 Census as a car repairman in the railroad industry.) 

Later (1927), he was promoted to the inspection division and moved to the Berwick yards.  (The 1930 Census shows him as car inspector for the steam railroad.)

Here is how one writer described the inspector's job:

The car inspector is one railroad man who is always "looking for trouble." He is also looking for ways to promote safety. His job is to examine the cars to make certain that they are in good condition, or to discover defects which might lead to accidents or delays. He must have sharp eyes, keen ears and an alert mind as he goes up and down the train tapping wheels and axles and looking for defects.

This picture shows the car inspector examining the journal box to see if it is properly packed with oiled cotton waste. A journal box which is not adequately packed and oiled is likely to become overheated from friction, and this may make it necessary for the train to stop until it cools off.

Incoming passenger and freight trains at important stations and yards are examined carefully. Under, around, inside and on top of the cars the inspector clambers, his expert eye searching trucks, gears and other parts for signs of defects. Inside the cars, he notes the condition of roofs, walls, floors and doors. He reads the "air date" to see if the air-brake apparatus has been cleaned within the year. Tests are made before each train leaves its home terminal and when cars are added to or taken out of the train to see that the air-brake system is functioning properly.

At almost any hour one or more car inspectors may be seen about the station and yards of important terminals, carrying their kits of tools, and their lanterns at night, testing brakes and hose connections, examining journal boxes or listening for flaws as they tap their hammers against wheels, pipes and couplings. Cars which do not meet the severest service requirements are ordered out of the train for repairs. Every effort is made, however, to keep loaded freight cars moving and to avoid delays which might damage the contents of the cars or cause inconvenience to the consignees. Of course, many cars travel empty on their way to pick up loads. Such cars can usually be sent to the repair tracks without undue inconvenience. (The Catskill Archive).

The Berwick yard, where Charles worked, was also connected to the American Car and Foundry company that actually built train cars, so Charles would have been able to see rail cars under construction as well as in operation. In the drawing (ca. 1906) below, you can see the rail yard in the background behind the factory. 

Charles retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1955 after 44 years of service to the company.  His grandson, Bob, can remember riding the railroad as a boy with his grandfather. 

Charles Orwig lived in the same house in Northumberland PA from 1911 until his death in 1968. In his spare time, he loved to work in his garden where he grew vegetables that provided many meals for his large family. 

Orwig Family ca. 1950

#52 Ancestors 2021 Week 32 In the City: Scriveners in Baltimore MD

 

Baltimore, Maryland is my hometown.  I was born there at Mercy Hospital in 1948.  But long before I showed up, many of my Scrivener ancestors had called this city home.  

My 3X great-grandfather, Benjamin Gaither Keene, moved from Dorchester County on the Eastern Shore of Maryland to Baltimore about 1860 and died there in 1865.  He and his wife, Susan Tubman McMullan, were buried in the cathedral cemetery.  Their daughter, Marie Louise Keene, married my 2X great-grandfather, Andrew Jackson Gwynn, in the Baltimore Basilica in 1868.  

Mt. Saint Agnes

Even though the Gwynns spent most of their married life in Spartanburg SC, they sent their daughter, Louise Carmelite Keene Gwynn, back to Baltimore for her education at Mount St. Agnes College, opened by the Sisters of Mercy in 1890 in the Mount Washington area of Baltimore.                                                                                                                                          

My great-grandfather, Frank Phillip Scrivener, was born in Anne Arundel County MD in 1865 and educated at Glenwood Academy in Howard County MD (where he won the gold medal for Mathematics in 1881).  By 1896, he and his two youngest brothers Jonathan and Kent, were living in Baltimore.  Frank was an accountant for the Joseph Gottschalk Company, a well-known importer and distiller of fine liquors with its own distillery at North Saratoga Street, specializing in Maryland Rye. Frank worked for Gottschalk until his retirement in 1928.

 

Gottschalk Distillery

Frank and Louise met in Baltimore, although I do not know the story of their meeting, and married at Louise's sister's home in Upper Marlboro in 1899.  The Scriveners lived in Baltimore until about 1930, raising their only child, Frank Phillip Jr., my grandfather. They moved to Prince George's County MD after Frank Sr.'s retirement. 

I would like to show a little of the Baltimore that Frank and Louise and their son, Frank Jr., would have known during their 30 years in the city.  

After the Civil War, Baltimore industry gathered momentum. The city's connections to the Bay’s fishing industry and the fertile farmland around the Chesapeake Bay helped to concentrate canning factories around the harbor’s edge. In fact, by the 1880s, Baltimore had become the world’s largest oyster supplier and America’s leader in canned fruits and vegetables. In addition, Baltimore was America’s ready-made garment manufacturing center and the world’s largest producer of umbrellas. More than two million immigrants landed first in Fells Point and then in Locust Point, making the City second only to New York as an immigrant port-of-entry. Most new arrivals promptly boarded the B&O Railroad and headed west, but many stayed to create a colorful tapestry of vibrant and diverse neighborhoods. 

City Hall 1873

This growth, however, placed great pressure on Baltimore’s physical infrastructure, and City officials responded. To accommodate this growth, Baltimore expanded its size from ten to thirty square miles in 1888, and still later expanded to 90 square miles.

While horsecars and later trollies expanded Baltimore’s physical reach, steamships and railroads tied Baltimore to the global economy. The B&O Railroad connected Baltimore to the West; the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad connected the City to Philadelphia; and the Maryland and Potomac Railroad connected Baltimore to the South.

As of 1893, Baltimore had more millionaire philanthropists than any other city in America; moreover, through the benevolence of four Baltimoreans, modern philanthropy began. 

In 1866 the Peabody Institute opened with a music school, an art gallery, a lyceum, and a library more comprehensive than the Library of Congress. 

Peabody Library

Pratt Library Mulberry St.

Picking up on these themes, Enoch Pratt founded the City’s library system, donating a whopping $1 million gift to Baltimore to launch the nation's first free library system. In 1886, the central branch opened on Mulberry Street, replaced in 1933 by the current building on Cathedral Street.  Given Louise Scrivener's deep interest in American history and family history, and her strong advocacy for various causes, including women's suffrage, I'm quite certain she did research at the Pratt as part of her speech-writing. 

William Walters and his son Henry Walters founded the Walters Art Gallery in their Mt. Vernon home in the late 19th century and about 1905 added an elaborate stone pallazo-style structure in order to allow the public to view their collection.  At his death in 1931, Henry bequeathed the entire collection of more than 22,000 objects plus his home and gallery to the city of Baltimore. 

Wealthy merchant Johns Hopkins envisioned his legacy as a hospital and medical school tied to a university, a radical idea in the late 19th-century that later became the model for virtually all academic medical institutions. At his death in 1873, he left a bequest of $7 million to the university and hospital that would bear his name.  At the time, it was the largest philanthropic bequest in American history. The hospital, completed in 1889, was considered the largest medical facility in the country with 17 buildings, 330 beds, 25 physicians and 200 employees. 

Penn Station 1911

At the dawn of the 20th century, Baltimore’s population reached over half a million. Hundreds of passenger trains were funneled through its five railroad stations; 13 trust companies controlled large areas of Baltimore manufacturing; 21 national banks and 9 local banks controlled Baltimore’s financial interests; 13 steamship companies were engaged in coastal trading; and 6 steamship companies connected Baltimore to foreign ports. Technological progress, economic restructuring, and an increasing population placed great pressure on Baltimore’s urban fabric.

After the Great Fire of 1904, which fortunately for the Scriveners did not reach their part of the city (See The Scriveners and the Great Fire of Baltimore), the downtown smoldered for weeks. The fire consumed 140 acres, destroyed 1,526 buildings, and burned out 2,500 companies. Baltimore quickly began rebuilding, and dozens of buildings were being constructed a year later. Ten years after the fire, Baltimore’s downtown was completely rebuilt. In all, the fire made way for several significant improvements to the downtown: twelve streets were widened, utilities were moved underground, a plaza was established, and wharves were rebuilt and became publicly owned. The fire also led to stricter fire codes for Baltimore and national standardization of fire hydrants and fire-hose connectors. 

The drawing below shows a birds-eye view of the city in 1911 about 7 years after the Great Fire of 1904. This is the Baltimore that the Scriveners would have known, a city of about 500, 000, the sixth largest city in the country. Democrat James H. Preston was mayor from 1911 to 1919. 

Emerson (Bromo-Seltzer) Tower

If you look closely, you can see some landmarks that would have been familiar to the Scriveners, like the 15-story Emerson-Bromo Seltzer clock tower to the left of the harbor. Built in 1911, it was the tallest building in Baltimore at the time.  It was modeled after the Pallazzo Vechio in Florence and built for Captain Isaac Emerson, the inventor of the headache remedy.  The building originally featured a 51-foot revolving replica of the blue Bromo-Seltzer bottle which was illuminated with 596 lights and could be seen 20 miles away. The four-faced tower clock, which displays the letters BROMO SELTZER instead of numbers was designed by Seth Thomas and was the largest 4-dial clock in the world. 

Toward the upper middle of the drawing, you can pick out the famed Washington Monument at Mount Vernon Square, which has graced the Baltimore skyline since 1815, the first monument to honor George Washington.  It was designed by American architect Robert Mills, who later went on to design that other monument in the District of Columbia. 

And if you really squint, you might pick out the Beaux-Art bulk of Penn Station (then known as Union Station) in the far north distance, newly opened in 1911. 

Frank and Louise lived at 105 E. Lafayette Avenue, near Green Mount Cemetery and a few blocks from Penn Station.   I have marked the approximate location on this contemporary map, north of the Bromo Seltzer Tower and the Washington Monument. 

Here is a picture of Louise with her only son, Frank Jr., in front of their house in1901.  Notice the classic white marble steps/stoop typical of Baltimore. Upon their installation in the 1900’s, white marble steps were felt to add an instant element of class and swankiness to otherwise working-class homes. Housewives would scrub the steps every weekend to keep them gleaming.  It's likely that Louise and Frank joined their neighbors in a little stoop-sitting in the humid Baltimore evenings. 

I also have another picture that shows a little of the interior of the Scriveners' home, decorated in a typical Victorian style and crammed with pictures and knick-knacks. That dresser against the wall is still in the family.  

The house at 105 is no longer standing, but here is a contemporary picture of its near neighbors in the 100-block of East Lafayette, so you can get a little feel for the style of the classic Baltimore row house.  This block is a little more upscale that some of the working-class neighborhoods where the houses were just four rooms.  The Scriveners' home was three stories in height and three bays wide. They had a first-floor parlor with a side hall, backed by a dining room, with two bedrooms above. A narrow rear wing provided space for the kitchen on the first floor and more bedrooms on the second and third floors.  Every room had at least one window—except the bathroom, which usually made do with a skylight. In row houses of all sizes, front doors are dauntingly narrow.  An alley usually ran behind the row of houses to provide service access. 

Apart from the monuments and public buildings, Baltimore also provided the amenities of ordinary life for the Scriveners, schools, churches, markets.

Although they may have attended some special services at the Basilica of the Assumption, Baltimore's

Cathedral, the Scriveners' regular parish was St. Ann's on Green Mount Avenue, a few blocks from their home. Frank Scrivener Sr., raised in the Anglican Church, was baptized a Catholic at St. Ann's Church in 1905. Louise Gwynn was a devout Catholic. St. Ann's was established in 1872 by a generous donation from William Kennedy, captain of one of Baltimore's famous Clipper ships.  Caught in a raging storm off Vera Cruz, Kennedy vowed that if his anchor held, he would build a church in thanksgiving.  He made it safely back to Baltimore and kept his vow, naming the church after St. Ann, patron of sailors.  The anchor from his clipper ship still stands next to the cornerstone of the church. 

Baltimore's Lexington Market, founded in 1782, is America's oldest market, built on land donated by Revolutionary War General John Eager Howard. By the mid-19th century, it was unquestionably the largest, most famous market on earth. When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited the market, he proclaimed Baltimore "the gastronomic capital of the world."  By 1925, there were over 1000 stalls in 3 block-long sheds. Anything Louise and Frank might have needed in the way of food was available just a few blocks from their home. 

The Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, where my grandfather Frank Scrivener Jr. attended school, was founded in 1883.  By 1913, the school had relocated to a site a few blocks from the Scriveners' home. Poly was considered one of the country's outstanding engineering high schools and Frank went on to a distinguished career as a highway engineer. 

Baltimore Zoo at Druid Hill

The Scriveners lived just a few blocks from Druid Hill Park, one of the first large public parks in America.  Established in 1860, its 745 acres includes the Druid Hill Reservoir and what was then known as the Baltimore Zoo (now the Maryland Zoo).  Established in 1876, the Baltimore Zoo received its early animal collections from prominent Baltimoreans who wanted to enhance the experience of nature in the park. The park is also home to the nation's second oldest Victorian glass conservatory.  The park's winding roadways were a popular place for young drivers to learn their driving skills and it's possible that young Frank Scrivener was among those who practiced in the park and even more likely that he was among the hundreds who flocked there for sledding in the winter. 

Babe Ruth's team at St. Mary's 1914

Finally, I think it is worth mentioning that George Herman "Babe" Ruth was a contemporary of the Scriveners, living in Baltimore where he was born in 1895.  

At St. Mary's Industrial School, George found his passion for baseball and was offered a contract by the Baltimore Orioles in 1914, at the same time acquiring his nickname, Babe, in reference to his youthful appearance. 

Frank Scrivener Jr. 1908

Babe played only a few months in Baltimore before being traded to the Boston Red Sox.  However, knowing that my grandfather was a very athletic young man and interested in baseball, I feel certain that he saw the Babe in action at old Oriole Park. 

The Baltimore that the Scriveners knew was a thriving, dynamic city that offered its residents a wealth of opportunities and amenities. 

#52 Ancestors 2021 Week 49 Homemade: Ma Summers' Quilt

 One of the biggest homemade projects I ever participated in was the creation of a quilt for my Grandmother Evalina Sasscer Summers (known in the family as Ma Summers).  

My sister Louise had read an article about creating a memory quilt. We loved that idea and proposed to the family that we should make one of these as a present for our grandmother. Amazingly enough, my aunts and cousins bravely agreed to go for it. My sister and I shopped for the material and prepared a plan for a 24-square quilt, assigning various families to each square. Each square was supposed to represent something that reminded us of Ma or would be a happy memory for Ma. Since my grandmother had nine children and a large troop of grandchildren, there were plenty of families to go around. We sent out the squares in September along with instructions and suggestions.   Then we crossed our fingers. 

It took a great deal of coordination and some frantic reminders to get all the squares made and then sewn together and actually quilted onto a backing.  I remember sitting in my mother's living room with a number of my aunts and cousins and a few family friends recruited for the purpose putting together the final product.  As I recall, we finished it just in time for the family Christmas party in December 1981. Here is the picture of Ma opening the package. We had managed to keep the project a secret and I think Ma was genuinely surprised. My sister had written a poem which she read to go with the opening of the quilt, but that epic work is sadly lost in the mists of time.  

Truly a labor of love, but the result was quite spectacular and my grandmother loved it.  Here she is showing it off the next summer at her birthday party.Five of her nine children and several of her 50 grandchildren are helping her with the display. I am in the back in the purple shirt.

In the interests of preserving an important piece of family history, I thought it would be fun to review the different squares in the quilt.  Each one has a special family memory.  (With thanks to my Aunt Louise and a number of my cousins who shared their memories with me to fill in some of the details.) 

This square represents Mount Vernon, done by Joyce and Tommy Summers. At first, I was puzzled by this square, but then my cousin Tommy reminded me that their house was across the river from Mt. Vernon and in the winter with no leaves on the trees, they had a view of the estate from their front porch.  

This square was called "Ten Little Indians" and represents the ten children of my Aunt Evalina (Bennie) Summers Hall Mitchell.  Their initials are embroidered around the square.  

This square from Uncle Hill Summers' children, Carol, David, and Chuck, represents Ma's devotion to her "stories" in the afternoon soap operas.  If we should happen to be visiting when her show was on, we would have to be very quiet in the house so as not to disturb Ma's enjoyment and never ever interrupt her until there was a commercial break.  

This square was done by my mother, Anne Summers Scrivener, and represents Ma Summers birthday, July 5.  But we often celebrated with a July 4th theme.  And there was usually a very fancy birthday cake which Ma would slice up for everyone, surrounded by a gaggle of her grandchildren eager for a piece. (I notice in most of my pictures of the cake-cutting that my son Matthew manages to get himself right up front and center.)

This square was made by Pat and John Summers and represents their family talents as ice skaters. According to my cousin June, Uncle John took up skating in his 30's as a way to relax and the whole family joined him, skating and competing and participating in ice shows.  Their oldest son John Summers and his partner Stacey Smith, coached by famed Ron Luddington, were three-times national ice dance champions and skated in the Winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980. Ma was a huge fan and travelled to New York with John and Pat to cheer for John.  The rest of the family was glued to the TV watching the ice dance competition and for me, it started a life-long interest in the beautiful sport.  John and his partner competed against some power-house Russian teams as well as the British team of Torvill and Dean (who went on to revolutionize the sport) and Americans Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert.  They finished in a very respectable 9th place. 

This square represents Ma's youngest son, Robert. Uncle Robert was a man of many talents.  However, I'm fairly certain that Uncle Robert did not create this square himself, although I don't know which of his sisters helped him out.  In any case, the square brings up memories of summer crab feasts out on the lawn at Ma's house.  Tables covered with brown paper and piles of steamed crabs smelling of Old Bay.

This square was done by Louise Summers Dwyer, representing the Dwyer family's time spent in Germany.  Here is the story according to Aunt Louise: 

Uncle Gene was working for a firm with a contract to provide payroll services to the U.S. Army. The Army paid for our transportation and moved us to Germany.  And so the Dwyer family moved to Karlsruhe Germany in March of 1967 with our five small children.  We rented two apartments across the hall from each other, but shared a common balcony for quick access.  One of the apartments was our bedroom and laundry quarters, and the other apartment contained our living, dining, kitchen and spare room. In October of 1967, Mom and Dad and Aunt Eunice flew over to visit with us for two weeks.  Mom, Dad and Aunt Eunice took some trips touring Bavaria, and also enjoyed a Rhine River cruise up to Cologne and back . Dad was so interested to see tobacco hanging in the barns out in the country near us. We returned to Virginia unexpectedly in Sept. of 1968, as we were scheduled to stay for 3 years. DeGaulle and his gold amassing caused a gold flow problem and we were sent home early.

This square, done by my sister Louise, is a reminder of Ma's Christmas present to her grandchildren:  pajamas, which she made herself.  She kept this tradition going for many years, but as the number of grandchildren got to 50, she eventually was not able to keep up.  

This square, representing Uncle Tommy and Aunt Joyce's children, is the magic candy dish. It was always sitting out in the living room and it was a great treat when Ma or Pa Summers would lift off the ceramic lid and let us choose a piece of candy.  No matter how many times the jar was passed around, it never seemed to be empty.  I recall that it was usually filled with brightly colored hard candies. 

This square depicts Uncle John Summers, a Navy pilot, and Aunt Pat, a professional ballerina, who also used her skills to train ice skaters. I can remember an occasion when Uncle John landed a helicopter on the lawn at Ma's and allowed his awe-struck nieces and nephews to sit inside the machine.  

From Margo and Paul Summers, the children of Uncle Paul and Aunt Mary.  According to Cousin Margo, this represented a family Christmas tradition: 

On Christmas Eve, Ma and Uncle Robert would come for dinner at our house.  Dad would often serve roasted goose that he or Uncle Robert had gotten.  Paul and I would sing Christmas songs for them and we always read the nativity story from the Bible at the table.  

I made this square for my younger brothers, Phil and Dave.  Ma was a great fan of crossword puzzles, and I was always intrigued by the challenge of fitting the right word into the grid. 

This square shows the seven Dwyer children gathered around the Christmas tree.  It brings up memories of Christmas at Ma and Pa Summers with dozens of cousins sitting on the floor in the living room waiting anxiously for their name to be called for a Christmas present. And the mounds of paper as we ripped open our packages. The parents sat around the edge of the room sipping their eggnogs. (And Uncle Robert made a spectacular and heavily spiked eggnog, as I discovered once I was old enough to drink it.)

Christmas at Ma Summers' house

My cousin Wallis Hall Cain did this square, representing Ma and Pa Summers' house on their farm outside of Upper Marlboro.  It was the scene of many, many family gatherings: weddings, funerals, birthdays, reunions of all sorts. In summer, the great-aunts would usually gather in the shade of the screened porch to survey the action outside.    Wallis said that she particularly remembers learning to play croquet on that lawn and Uncle Robert showing us how to use a bow and arrow.  Most family gatherings, at least in summer, featured thick slices of watermelon and if we were lucky, homemade ice cream from the big old-fashioned churn that various uncles would take turns turning the crank.  I also have a strong memory of playing "Whose Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf" in the evenings as Uncle Gene Dwyer would hide in the bushes and jump out to scare us as we would circle around the house. 

Aunt Evalina and John Mitchell did this square representing the name of the Summers' home: Maplehurst.  According to Aunt Louise, the family moved to this home in 1944, leaving behind a small farmhouse with no running water and no electricity, with three bedrooms for the eleven family members.

 "Mom and Dad and baby Robert in one bedroom, the four girls in the next bedroom, and the four boys slept in the last bedroom in a pair or twin beds !! On the first floor was a parlor which was mostly kept for use on Christmas, Easter and the occasional family guest.  Our Aunt Mary (Dad's sister - a nun - Sr. Ange ) would come for a visit during the summer, and the parlor became her bedroom. The  dining room was used for meals, and as our homework and living room as well. It had the large walnut dining table that we all knew at Maplehurst later.  Then there was a kitchen with a large wood stove that never went out year after year.  There was also a small back porch with a pie safe that held food. " 

So spacious Maplehurst was quite a move up in terms of amenities for the family. (I believe that pie safe travelled to Maplehurst as I can remember it on the back porch there.) 

Maplehurst was named for the ring of maple trees in the front yard encircling the house.  After moving there, Aunt Louise said her dad planted a second semicircle of young maples beyond the first trees.  Maple trees do not have a really long life, and he wanted to continue the idea of maple trees at the home into the future. Around that same time, Pa bought and had planted the long line of pine trees along the fence line separating the front lawn from the pasture next to the lawn. 

Those gorgeous maple trees shaded those many family gatherings.  In the back, Ma raised chickens and had a large vegetable garden. 

This square was done by Uncle Hill Summers and Aunt Frances, representing the tobacco barn at the farm.  Uncle Hill was very involved in the tobacco farming and marketing with Pa Summers. You can see some tobacco hanging in the barn to dry.  The barn was a favorite place to play, although the adults did not always approve.  Cousin Margo remembers a time when a group of cousins decided to walk out on the roof of the lower shed portion of the barn.  When one of the parents spotted them, they all came running down the road to the barn to get us off of there. We always told the story later that there was a nasty bull in the paddock below.  (I later discovered that snakes liked to hang out in the barn.  If I had known that earlier, I would never have been caught in the barn.)

This square was done for the children of Frank and Patricia Gaegler.  If you spent much time at all at Ma and Pa's house, you would inevitably see the adults make up a table or two of bridge.  And they were quite serious players.  As the oldest grandchild, I was once or twice dragooned into taking a fourth seat, once I was a teenager. But it must have been a sore trial to whomever was my partner, because I was certainly not in the adult's league. I never really advanced beyond the rudiments of the game. 

This square was done by Cousin Eddie Summers and his wife Judy.  Ma Summers was a voracious canner.  She had a huge pantry off the kitchen that was always filled with colorful jars of applesauce, peaches, green beans, pickles, jams, etc. Especially in the winter, these jars formed the basis of many family meals. And almost every meal included a dish of Ma's pickles.  This was a habit that my mother also continued, and I have not-so-fond memories of hot summer mornings in the kitchen peeling the skins from boiled tomatoes and filling canning jars.  I have to admit, though, it was great to eat the jam and applesauce and salsa later. 

And speaking of food at Ma's house, Ma's custard was the highlight of any meal. It filled a hugh bowl and there was usually some of Ma's jam to fold in.  This square was done my sister Maripat Rogers. Maripat finally managed to wangle to recipe from Ma, although she swears that Ma left something out, because it is never quite the same as Ma's. (maybe a difference in the fresh cream Ma used.)   But it's still a treat when Maripat makes it.  

This square was done by Aunt Patricia Gaegler.  There was a running family joke that Ma was always out somewhere and loved to travel but insisted that she was "always home. " 

This square was done by Aunt Mary and Uncle Paul Summers.  Ma Summers was a huge Terps fan (University of Maryland). According to Cousin Margo, "we used to go to the Maryland games with Ma, Aunt Eunice [Ma's sister], and my father.  He would pick them up at Ma's house and they would have a big thermos of hot cocoa.  My father brought a flask and spiked their cocoa to help them 'stay warm' during the cold weather games. " 

Ma Summers was always very interested in family history, and I was lucky enough to inherit many of her notes and clippings and photographs so I could continue the tradition. This square from Rob and Anne Marie Scrivener shows the Summers Coat of Arms.  The motto [Mens Sibi Conscia Rest] translates, roughly, as "a mind conscious of its own integrity." 

Here is the original Anne Marie was working from. 

As I mentioned above, I inherited my grandmother's love of family history, so I thought this family tree was a good contribution for me to make to the quilt.  This shows my great-grandparents in the roots, my Summers grandparents in the trunk and their children, my aunts and uncles in the branches.  Plus my own family in the tire swing. 

So many happy family memories captured in this quilt. Although the quilt backing was damaged over the years and had to be removed, the quilt top is still in good shape after 40 years and stored safely at my sister Louise's house to provide family history to future generations.  I'm glad I had a chance to tell the stories and again thanks to all my cousins and my Aunt Louise for sharing their memories.