Julie's Rose, Reflections While Growing Up On The Farm

Julie's Rose, Reflections While Growing up on The Farm

My sister, Mary Ellen, sent me this book and I read it in two days. The setting is very near Russia, Ohio, where I grew up. The book brought back lots of old memories.

There She Goes...........Little Miss Chick!

There She Goes..........Little Miss Chick!

Eliza Gariety riding on her royal float with her royal court of little girls.

This parade was today, June 12, 2010 on main street in Versailles, Ohio. I've noticed by studying this photo of Eliza on the float that the civic fathers of Versailles now call Little Miss Chick by a new title, Little Miss Poultry Days. I'm an old timer and I prefer the old title Little Miss Chick. To me it is like changing Coke to the New Coke or Chevy back to Chevrolet and screwing up that song line: "I drove my Chevy to the levee......"

Here Eliza is getting her winning sash and crown from last year's adult Miss Chick. This occurred this past Friday night after the 25 little contestants competed for the judges' votes by speaking to the crowd. Now see the sign in the background that says Poultri Gras.

Versailles, Ohio as well as the neighboring towns of Frenchtown and Russia (Roo-she) were settled by French immigrants from eastern France. Our paternal great, great grandfather, Jean Baptise Caritey I (John Baptiste Gariety I) came from Frahier, France which used to be a part of Alsace-Lorraine but later became its own province or department known as Haute Soane.

My goodness look at that tall vase of flowers behind Eliza. Why it is almost as tall as this little five year old girl. Eliza is getting to be an old hand at these pageants. Last year when she was four she was crowned Little Miss Apple Fest.

And here is Eliza with all her winning loot. Is that a Care Bear in the picture? By the way Eliza's older sister Brooke Gariety for whom I wrote a recent blog post about her 2010 graduation from Russia Local School was also Little Miss Chick when she was five years old.

Here are Eliza's very proud parents: Greg and Connie Gariety. Greg Gariety is my nephew and my only Godson.
Final Note: When people ask me why I have lots of roosters and hens in my kitchen here in Virginia I always reply that I was born and raised near Versailles, Ohio, which is known for its Poultry Days Festival every June.

Donald Arthur Doliber

Donald Arthur Doliber

Retired High School Principal

Active Genealogist in Essex County Massachusetts

Last Wednesday Jack and I attended the November meeting of the Manassas chapter of NARFE (National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees) and were delighted to hear Donald Arthur Doliber speak to our group about genealogy research in a speech he entitled "Airing the Family Laundry". By the way Donald is the twin brother of David Doliber who is the secretary for our local chapter of NARFE. And here they both are in the photo above. They look like twins except that David now sports a beard while Donald is clean shaven.

Donald kept all of us very entertained while speaking of some of the interesting characters he had found in the Doliber family tree: pirates, prostitutes and someone with an inherited psychiatric disorder. Donald told us that doing family genealogy is fun but be prepared for some shocking discoveries. But whatever you do don't try to hide the facts whatever they may be. Your descendants will appreciate it if you tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Donald's talk made me think of a blog I sometimes visit: Brush Strokes From The Heart.
Well wouldn't you know it that this past Thursday I discovered something on Brush Strokes From the Heart that fit right in with what Donald Doliber was saying to us on Wednesday. He said there are three main documents for family records: birth records, marriage records and death records. Of these three the most accurate record is the marriage record. The most inaccurate record is usually the birth record for many times it is created and filed long after the person is born.

If you now go to Brush Strokes From the Heart you will learn that the blog writer's husband, Don, has just recently learned that he has been celebrating the wrong birthday. For 71 years he celebrated his birthday on December 14. Just recently he learned that his birthday is actually November 14.

I don't know what I would think if I discovered my birthday was not really my birthday. Strange. And that would throw you astrology buffs a curve ball too!

Click here to go to Brush Strokes From the Heart: http://brushstrokesfromtheheart/. blogspot.com

Then look for the blogpost for Thursday November 19. Enjoy. Wanda is quite a good writer and painter. Most of all she has wonderful Christian outlook on life that see her thru good times and bad.

Sunday July 26

This is the last Sunday in July for 2009. Wow! Summer is flying by quickly. It is also the last day for the famous Tour de France Bike Race for 2009. I have enjoyed watching the riders bike thru France. Beautiful landscapes from the mountain alps to the flat farmlands featured each day and charming old towns and villages in the midst of it all. My favorite day was when the riders rode thru French-Comte where both my material and paternal ancestors immigrated to the U.S. Both the Dapores (Despoires) and Garietys (Cariteys) came from Frahier, France which is in French-Comte and not far from the city of Besencon, France where the race rode thru the city and to the finish line for the day. I've learned that Besencon has been a famous clockmaking center in Europe for generations. Probably because French-Comte is very close to Swizerland which is also a famous clockmaking center for Europe.

Since I'm talking about my French ancestry I want to acknowledge a lady from my home town of Russia, Ohio who is doing research on the local St. Remy Catholic Cemetery in Russia, Ohio. Becky Plieman is the lady's name and she hopes to create an online database for the local church that will include the names of all those buried in St. Remy's Cemetery with history and photos. Quite a big project to say the least. But Becky has come across some interesting info.

The first person to be buried at St. Remy's is a man by the name of Pierre Joseph Stanislas Roy (Roi) who was buried in 1852. Pierre Roy was from Belfort, France ((I've been to Belfort!) and came by ship to America in 1848. While on the ship Pierre's son, Stanislas Roy, was born. Stanislas Roy grew up in Ohio and became a soldier. He fought with General Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn and was one of the few to live to tell about it. He also served with the military in Maryland, Missouri, Arizona and Cuba. I believe that Stanislas Roy is buried in a cemetery in Greenville, Ohio.

I love history and research and can't wait to find out what Becky Pleiman discovers next. And if by chance you have some info on St. Remy cemetery and the people buried there that you think might be of interest to Becky in her research please contact her by snail mail. I know any letter addressed to Becky Pleiman, Russia, Ohio would reach her because it is a small village post office.

My World Tuesday = My First Cousin's Memoirs

My father Leo came from a very large Ohio family---twelve children. I have just recently discovered that my first cousin, Edna Wise, who I believe still lives in or near Fort Laromie, Ohio wrote and self published two small memoirs of growing up as a farmer's daughter during the Great Depression. Edna Wise was the youngest child of my father's older sister, Alice who married Ben J. Poeppelman on December 23, 1928. Alice died unfortunately of cancer at the very young age of 36 and she left her husband Ben to raise with the help of hired girls and then his next wife her six children including Edna Wise. Edna was her mother's youngest child and she was under two when her mother died.



I never had the opportunity to meet Aunt Alice but I certainly do remember as a young girl visiting Uncle Ben and Aunt Genevieve who was Uncle Ben's third wife. (Uncle Ben's first wife also died quite young. ) Anyway Aunt Genevieve was a widow with children and Uncle Ben was a widower with children so they married and blended their young families.


Uncle Ben and Aunt Genevieve owned a farm in Shelby County that was at the end of Schmitmeyer-Baker Road. Whenever my Dad took me to visit Uncle Ben and Aunt Genevieve he said we were going to the Laromie Reservoir and that we would probably have some fish for dinner there. In those days people didn't call to say they were coming for a visit after church on Sunday. You just showed up and the people were expected to provide you with dinner. Well, for one thing a lot of folks still didn't have phone service yet and if they did, it was one of those wood boxes with a hand crank that was attached to the wall. Party line too!) Can you imagine doing that today. No way! And if you did show up at someone's house unannounced, you know what would happen. There would be a quick call made to the local pizza joint for carry out pizza.


So I remember Uncle Ben's farm that was just several hundred feet away from the Loramie Reservoir. In her memoir Edna Wise says that the reservoir was actually right behind their barn. I also do remember Uncle Ben as being a very nice and kindhearted gentleman. I know he was one of my Dad's favorite brother-in-laws. But honestly what I remember most about Aunt Genevieve is that she was built like Dolly Parton in the upper torso. In fact, she looked like Dolly Parton on steroids if you can envision that! Aunt Genevieve was a fine cook. She could take those fish that Uncle Ben caught and cleaned that very afternoon and fry them up so that they were scrumptious. Of course she had plenty of baked potatoes and garden vegetables to go with the meal.


You will not find Edna Wise's two books on Amazon.com since they are self-published and printed. You need to know someone who lives in Ohio who knows someone who knows Edna who can get you a copy of a book for eight dollars! My contact for the two books was my only sister, Mary Ellen who lives in Tipp City, Ohio but who has high school friends near Fort Laromie and Minster who helped her get her copies and my copies. Thank you Mary for sending these to me!


Here are the titles of the two memoirs:
Memories of a Farmer's Daughter During The Depression, by Edna Wise


What I Forgot the First Time, Sequel to Memories of a Farmer's Daughter During the Depression, by Edna Wise.



Soon as I heard these book titles I knew I had to get copies and read them. It seems like what goes around comes around again like the Great Depression. I enjoyed reading these books very much. They are written in the folksy style that Old Man Lincoln sometimes uses in his blogposts. And what intrigued me was the similarities of experiences Edna and I had growing up on an Ohio farm even though we were close to 17/18 years apart in age. Here are some of the topics Edna Wise writes about in her two books that I could really really relate to:

Gathering eggs from the chicken house in hem of skirt or apron.

Having a hen who wanted to peck your hand when you went for her eggs under her. Ouch!

Killing and cleaning a wild rabbit for fried rabbit dinner.

Memorizing poems in school.

Having Catholic catechism classes in a public school.

Using the outhouse after dark.

Spending the summers weeding the garden, picking wild berries and canning up fruit and vegetables from the big garden.

Cooking and baking on a big black wood coal stove and using a pot-bellied stove to heat the entire house.

Digging out a cellar for the existing farmhouse.

Using the corn crib in the summer as a playhouse.

Feeding the hobos that infrequently stopped by for food.

Knowing that all the neighbors could listen in to all your phone calls on the party line.

Being extra good when Dr. McCorkle, the Superintendent of Shelby County Schools, visited our classroom unannounced.

Finding sassafras root bark in the woods and using it to make sassafras tea.

Not sitting with our parents in church but up front under the watchful eye of the nuns.

Butchering hogs in the late winter and hanging the hams in the smoke house.

On butchering day having blood pudding made from the pig's blood.

Creating corn shocks after husking the corn in the field.

Keeping fish in the cow tank by the barn to grow larger before killing and eating.

Hearing about driving a team of horses down the road. Both my Mom and my older brother Paul did that. Now it sounds like a scene from that old TV series Little House on the Prairie.

I hope I didn't bore you with my Ohio farm stories of the 20'th century. Now please go visit some My World Tuesday blog memes featuring what's happening right now around the world in the 21'st century by clicking here:http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Leo A. Gariety Weds Theresa Dapore August 3, 1926

Formal Wedding Portrait
Leo A. Gariety and Teresa Ellen Dapore
August 3, 1926
St. Remy Catholic Church
Russia, Ohio







This is my mother and father on their wedding day 82 years ago today.
My father had his hair slicked back and was wearing a three piece suit My mother wore a short flapper dress with a long veil that had fresh orange blossoms in the headpiece. White hose and shoes completed her ensemble.She carried a large bouquet of long stem roses. The bride's younger brother, Lawrence Dapore, was the best man for my father while the groom's younger sister, Viola Gariety, was the maid of honor for the bride. The officiant for the ceremony at St. Remy Church was Father Ratterman.

My mother always told us children two incidents that occurred on her wedding day that she did not like. One, when the photographer was taking this photo her headpiece fell forward across her forehead and it looked like she was peeking out from her veil. She always remarked that someone should have noticed this and pushed the headpiece back a bit. Two, Father Ratterman who was known for having a very quick temper became angry with the young servers when it was time to present and bless the bride's wedding ring because they were being slow. So after he blessed the ring he threw the glass holy water shaker on the church sanctuary floor where it shattered and broke into a million pieces and made a loud crashing sound. This incident shook up both my father and mother who would always remember and tell this story with distaste. Today it makes me think of the breaking of glass at a Jewish wedding ceremony.

Turner School in Willowdale Circa 1909

Click on photo to enlarge picture.

Photo of children attending the Turner School in Willowdale, Ohio. It was a one room school with just one teacher. This photo was probably taken when both my mother and father were in the lower grades. Probably around 1909 or 1910. My parents are in the front row. Mother has her hair parted in the middle and she has on a white pinafore. My father is the second boy from the far right and he has on a dark jacket.

John Baptiste Gariety and His Five Sons

John Baptiste Gariety and his five sons standing in front of the barn on the family farm. From left to right: Francis Gariety, John Gariety, father John Baptiste Gariety, Julius Gariety, Lawrence Gariety and Leo Gariety.

Lawrence Gariety at age two was stricken with a childhood disease either diptheria or scarlet fever, which affected his hearing and speech and he was deaf and dumb all of his life. He never married but lived with brothers and sisters till his death on March 16, 1972.

John Baptiste Gariety Family Circa 1910

The John Baptiste Gariety Family Circa 1910. Middle row: John and Mary Elizabeth Gariety seated. Back row: older children standing from left to right: Lawrence 1895; Francis 1883; Florence Ragon 1900; Elizabeth Mary Utz 1880; Margaret Mary Pepiot 1885; Emma Mary Monnin 1887; Alice Peoppelman 1897; John 1889; and Julius 1893. Front row: two youngest children seated from left to right Leo 1903 and Viola Luthman 1905. The twelth child, Clara, 1891 died in infancy and is not pictured.

John Baptiste Gariety and Mary Elizabeth Francis Gariety

Jean Baptiste Gariety II who was later called John Baptiste Gariety II with his wife, the former Mary Elizabeth Francis.

1693 - 1926 The Despoire Family Tree

Now we are climbing the Despoire (Dapore) family tree from 1693 to 1926 when my mother married and changed her name from Dapore to Gariety.
1. Jean George Depores, born circa 1693 in Frahier, France married Jenne Marie Pelletier.
2. Jean Pierre Despoire, born July 16, 1731 in Frahier, France married Therese Pequignot on June 8, 1751 in Frahier, France.
3. Jean Joseph Despoire, born March 11, 1769 in Frahier, France married Jeanne Antoine Ballay on August 7, 1799 in Frahier,France.
4. Joseph Athenuse Despoire, born July 11, 1802 in Frahier, France married Francoise Scholatique Poly on February 23, 1824 in Frahier, France.
5. Justine Despoire, born November 26, 1829 in Frahier, France and immigrated to the United State thru New York somewhere between1848 and 1854. There is written records that he also used the first name of August and Eustin concurrently once in the United States. Justine Depoire also dropped the "s" in his surname. He married Malinda Lallemand February 11, 1861 at St. Remy Church in Russia, Ohio.
There is evidence to indicate that Justine served with the Fifth Ohio Volunteers in the Civil War from November 1861 to November 29, 1864 when he mustered out at Columbus, Ohio.
6. Frank Joseph Dapore, born January 25, 1866 in Darke County and married Mary Ellen Turner February 16, 1892 at St. Remy Church in Russia, Ohio.
7. Theresa Ellen Dapore, born October 19, 19o2 in Darke County and married Leo A. Gariety August 3, 1926

1490 - 2008 The Caritey Family Tree

We will climb the family tree and find some folks. We will find big apples, little apples, bad apples and good apples and a good story or two about each one. We begin with Jean Caritey in Vesoul, France who was born in 1490 approximately---before Christopher Columbus discovered America! Here we go.

1. Jean Caritey, born near Vesoul, France in 1490. Married who and when?
2. Nicolas Caritey, born near Vesoul, France about 1510. Married who and when?
3. Humbert Caritey, born about 1560 married Claudine Melay.
4. Valentine Caritey, born about 1590. Married who and when?
5. Valbert Caritey, born about 1635 married Anne Monier in Villersexel, France in 1660.
6. Jean Claude Caritey, born 1676 first married Marie Roy in Villersexel in 1704? When Marie Roy Caritey died, Jean Claude Caritey married Francoise Despore in Frahier, France around 1710. This shows a link to
my mother's Despore (Dapore) family tree.
7. Etienne Caritey, born May 3, 1712 married Eve Pequignot in 1740.
8. Francois Caritey, born in 1752 married Jeanne Francoise Pequignot in 1791. (We are now up to the American Revolution.)
9. Jean Baptiste Caritey, born July 13, 1796. This is our ancestor who immigrated to the United States in his old age after his first wife died. He lived in Frahier, France and married Francoise Josephine Grisey in 1830. They had eight children but only three survived to become teenagers. When his first wife died and the potato blight was sweeping through the French countryside killing both the potato and wheat crops, Jean Baptiste Caritey booked passage to the port of New York from a French port. On the way to America Jean met and fell in love with Rozella Rosen on board the ship. They landed in New York. They got married. Rozella got pregnant. Jean found a job as a day laborer digging wells in New York City to save money to send for his three teenage children in Frahier. Meanwhile the immigration authorities had misspelled his name so that now he was registered as Jean Baptiste Gariety. Then tragedy struck. A well that Jean was digging caved in and Jean was killed. His widow had to strike out for western Ohio where she knew there were French communities and Jean Baptiste had a cousin, Augustin Caritey. Rozella became a servant to a French family in Frenchtown, Ohio but when it came time to give birth to her dead husband's child, she walked from Frenchtown, Ohio to Newport, Ohio through the snows of January to give birth at Augustin Caritey's farmhouse. Rozella gave birth on January 20, 1856 to a boy and named him Jean Baptiste Gariety. Later the Jean would be Anglicized to John. Rozella later married a Miller and had four more children.
10. Jean (John) Baptiste Gariety II, born on January 20, 1856, married on January 20, 1880 Mary Elizabeth Francis at Holy Family Catholic Church in Frenchtown, Ohio.
11. Leo A. Gariety,born November 23, 1903 on a farm near Newport, Ohio married Theresa Dapore on August 3, 1926 at St. Remy Church in Russia, Ohio. Leo Gariety had 11 siblings: Elizabeth, Francis, Margaret, Emma, John, Clara, Julius, Lawrence, Alice, Florence and Viola. Leo and Viola were the two youngest children. The only child still alive is Viola Gariety Luthman who will be 103 this fall.
12. Joann Gariety, born on the farm near Russia, Ohio married Jack L. Shipley of Hale, Missouri on April 15, 1974 at St. Sebastion's Catholic Church in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Joann had three older brothers, Paul, Carl and Harold and one older sister, Mary Ellen.
13. Jennifer Mary Shipley was born in 1976.
13. Jeanine Marie Shipley was born in 1980.

French Ancestory In Ohio

When you think of New Orleans you think of the French culture there. Same thing goes for Montreal, Canada. But did you know that there is a long and vibrant French culture in western Ohio? The following four communities in western Ohio have many folks with French heritage: Versailles, Frenchtown, Newport and Russia. And let's all learn to pronounce Russia the way the locals do: Rue She or Roo She. Now, let's consider these town names. Versailles makes sense and so does Frenchtown and Newport but how on earth did Russia get in the picture? Because many of the first immigrants that settled here were French soldiers that had fought in the Napoleonic Wars and had marched to the Ukraine to fight. When they came to western Ohio in the wintertime and snow was on the ground it reminded them of the Ukraine so they named their village Russia.

If you were to visit Paris and the Arc de Triomph you would see inscribed on the monument the name of a French general who fought under Napoleon: General Grilliot. There are many Grilliots in these four communities and they can trace ancestory to General Grilliot. Here are some more common French names in this part of Ohio: Cordonnier, Francis, Guillozet, Goubeaux, Gasson, Magoto, Monnin, Monnier, Pequignot, Pettijean and Reboulet,

Now Joann's maiden name was Gariety. That doesn't sound too French does it? In fact, one of her brothers once remarked that we must be Irish since we have a name that ends in "y" to which her father replied: "Well, how come my parents always spoke French at home and I didn't learn a word of English till I went off to that one room schoolhouse called Turner School near Willowdell, Ohio for first grade in 1909?" So the Garietys didn't know too much about their French ancestory until some of their relatives in later years did research and published family histories.

Joann now has two family history books that she dearly cherishes:

A Book of Genealogy of the Carity and Gariety Families of the United States and the Caritey's of Frahier (Village) in Haute Soane, France From 1721 A.D. This book was a combined effort of Norbert Gariety (my first cousin), John R. Gariety of Casper, Wyoming and Claude and Pierre Caritey of Frahier, France.

Dapore: The Descendants of Joseph Athenuse Despoire in America, 1846-1987. This book was the combined effort of Marsha Sorrell and Juanita Gerling.

When you were reading these two book titles you may have picked up on a very common problem when shaking your family tree for names. Names were frequently, for no rhyme or reason, changed by the immigration authorities in New York City. For instance, Caritey became Carity and Gariety; and Despore became Dapore.

From these two family histories we learned what we suspected but couldn't prove before: that both sides of the family came from France but not from the Alsace-Lorraine Department but the Frenche-Comte Department which is just twenty miles east of Swizerland. But what was really surprising was the knowledge that both sides of the family came from the same village in France: Frahier in Haute Soane. There is even evidence that a certain Caritey in Frahier married a certain Despore!