#2 on the list

September 19, 2014
Friday

Dear Readers,

It's Friday in Seidler Dogdom and, as usual, my pups were up wayyy early for their potty call and breakfast. I was laughing though because they were tippy toeing to the house avoiding the puddles left by last night's rain. After breakfast I took them one by one out to the grass and they hopped back to the cottage on the pathway pavers. They looked like a bunch of fuzzy frogs. Simple joy to start my day for sure!

It's seemed odd not to have my usual cup of coffee this morning but I had to be at the endoscopy center in Waco early for the EGD. I was sort of apprehensive about having a camera stuck down my throat to take photos but I made it through OK and will go back in a couple weeks for the results. Dr. Boss took a couple biopsies and I had some scar tissue in my esophagus so he widened that area. Eating should be better. I'm a little woozy today and since I'm not supposed to do much, I figured I couldn't get into too much trouble clacking away on my computer!

Hmmm... I am continuing on with my list of five famous people I would like to have dinner with. I set Jesus at the head of the table so let's see who I am going to sit next to Him on the left. You're going to be surprised at this next one ~ it's my maternal great grandfather, Rollin Joseph (RJ) Hall (8/14/1837 ~ 9/20/1923). I am choosing him because I don't know much about him yet what I do know intrigues me.

RJ Hall on the right
Civil War

I had planned to do research on my mother's family this summer scouring the historical records kept in Morris, MN. Unfortunately, I was unable to head north and will need to save that for another day. The Internet has been an invaluable tool.

There are some interesting facts about my great grandfather that would make him a wonderful dinner guest.

(1) RJ was a Sergeant in the 92nd Infantry of NY serving in the Civil War. Internet records are so awesome ~ I was able to read about him suffering a head wound in battle and follow the day to day activities of his unit. I have a fife that was his and every time I pick it up I wonder who has held it before me and what battles it was played in.

HALL , ROLLIN J.—Age, 24 years. Enlisted, October 10, 1861, 

at Potsdam, to serve three years; mustered in as sergeant,, 

Co. E , October 30, 1861; promoted first sergeant, no date; 

transferred to Co. D, June 11, 1863; wounded in action, June 

I, 1864, at Cold Harbor, Va. ; transferred to Co. K , September 

1, 1864; mustered out with company, January 7, .1865, at 

Albany, N . Y . 

Battle at Cold Harbor, VA

I am so excited about the trails left on the Internet. I looked up the Battle at Cold Harbor, VA on June 1, 1864 and could get a play by play account of what my GGrandfather was facing. How about that!!

(2) He was in Chicago with his family on the way to Minnesota when it burned in 1871. Helen Swan wrote about his son, Ernest, in the book, MY FRIEND ERN, and one of the stories was that of Ernest as a boy and what he witnessed in the fire.

(3) RJ came to Minnesota as part of the Yankee group called the St. Lawrence Colony that left New York. His daughter, Grace, wrote the book, THE WADSWORTH TRAIL, which outlined so much of what the pioneers went through to establish homes.

(4) He was a trail blazing pioneer and man of influence : Assistant Superintendent of Forage ~ MN; and, member of the State Agricultural Society representing Stevens County attending the National Congress (Agriculture) of the United States, again representing Stevens County and Minnesota.

(5) He taught the indians how to farm and was the local go-to dentist for the area. (I remember as a kid looking at his dental tools that were kept in an oak secretary in the living room at the farm.)

What I don't know is what kind of man he was regarding his relationships with his parents, wife, and children (Philo and Mary, Emma Jane, Ernest, Grace, Harry~my grandfather, Lester, and Fay. All the personal stuff has faded away hidden by the annals of time.

I think there was a portrait of RJ hanging in the farmhouse but that may be wishful thinking. In researching, there are only a couple that I've found including the one above. My great grandfather is the man on the far left of the above photo ~ my grandfather, Harry, is standing next to him then there is my great grandmother, Emma Jane (she sure was an itty bitty little lady!). This is the farm house that I remember growing up and can tell you about every nook and cranny not only in the house, but the orchards, outhouse, shed, garage, silo, barns and other buildings. All this because one man had a vision and traveled cross the country to make his dreams a reality. 

Since Jesus loved nature and the land, I would imagine that He and GGrandfather would have much to talk about. Since I love gardening, I would be picking his mind about how to make things grow AND since I love history, I would want a play by play account of the Civil War and the true life of the pioneer and, most importantly, the value he placed on family. To be honest, I want to know where he is. Paradise with Jesus? I pray so. As a Christian, I am always concerned about the salvation of my family. Life on Earth is but a moment in time compared to eternity.

It has always been my nature to get to really know people. My favorite people are the most colorful ~ those that have been overcomers, movers, and shakers ~ men and women of vision and purpose. Maybe after reading my blog, you, my Readers, will make up your own dinner list. Believe me, it will really get the gray matter working!!

Miss Dottie

Dear God,
Thank you for all the advances in medical diagnostics and the opportunity to take better care of my body, mind, and soul. I am reminded every day how fortunate I am. It would be so easy to gripe, moan, and groan about my lot in life but what good would that do? I pray for those like me who want to grow and serve, then grow and serve some more. I thank you for my interest in knowing my ancestry for it is their genes that fill my body to make me who I am. I pray that if my Readers are wondering why they are they are, that they take a gander into the shadows of their own heritage. It was Winston Churchill who said, "The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." That certainly has been true in my case. I couldn't fix what I didn't know was there. I couldn't fix it when I found out; however, I was able to let it go and move on and that has made such a difference. I pray for courage, strength, and momentum for those whose eyes peruse my blogs. Lift my brothers and sisters up out of the pits of life and how them a new way. My head is still kind of woozy, my throat hurts like the dickens, and, good grief, what did they stick down my nose this morning? This too, shall pass!! Tomorrow will be a better day. Amen, dear Jesus, Amen!