Month: July 2020

My Autobiography In 300 Words

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

I’ve started writing –  I was born in Boston Massachusetts on December 7, 1936.  My 3 older siblings had gone to school that day per usual.  My sisters Ruth and Nan were 6th and 5th graders in Payson Park Elementary School. They were called to the principal’s office and given the happy news that they had a new baby sister.  Ruth suggested that I be named Janet

IMG_0003   my mother and father, married on December 28, 1935

IMG_0002 Spring 1937  on our back door steps                     my mother holding me, my siblings seated from left to right Nan age 9, Bob age 12, Ruth age 10.     I need Ruth to remind me of the cat’s name – possibly Blackie

Electric Cars

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

The trivia question in this morning’s edition of the Daily Chronicle (an in-house publication here at Ida Culver House Broadview) – the question was “Who invented the electric car?”  Answer – A. William Morrison  B. Robert Anderson. C. Thomas Edison

The correct answer is B.  The Scottish inventor Robert Anderson in the 1830’s

This little bit of trivia sparked (excuse the choice of words) a memory.  Years ago in the 1940’s if I remember correctly I used to see an electric vehicle parked in the driveway of a house across the street from the Longfellow House on Brattle Street in Cambridge Massachusetts.  Not far from Harvard Square.

Now the sad thing is that my sisters Ruth and Nan are no longer alive to help verify or contradict this memory.  I miss them!  And reaching further into the past my mother and her father are of course long gone as well.  My grandfather in particular could tell me in detail about this black car.  He lived in the Commander Hotel nearby.2019_07_25_12_10_37.pdf000Longfellow House

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Collecting More Ancestors

~ Janet McKee ~ 1 Comment

I’ve recently added to my ancestor numbers.  My family tree now has 21,181 people on the branches.  I’ve identified individuals as far back as the 13th century.  e.g. a 20th great grandmother born in 1285 in Selkirkshire Scotland – Isabella De Synton

My ethnicity reported in an earlier blog has now been altered slightly – has Ancestry devised new and different tests on the saliva sample I sent several years ago?  So now instead of having Norwegians in my past,  I am told they lived in Sweden.  So why did I attend Norwegian language classes?  All along I should have been studying Swedish.   My teacher has sent condolences re this new information.  Well at least I’m still in Scandinavia.

Vikings

Vikings

Virus News From The Lofoten Islands

~ Janet McKee ~ 1 Comment

Our knitting friends Arne and Carlos caught the dreaded Covid virus and Carlos in particular had a very bad dose.  He and Arne have gone north to Lofoten to continue their recovery.

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This image could hardly be further away from the Lofoten Islands but it is sort of similar.

A Memorable Day – July 4 1978

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

On July 4, 1978 our family was granted membership in the American Club, Gulshan, Dhaka, Bangladesh.  A bumper day.  Membership in the American Club opened up our world in Dhaka.  It was such a significant venue  for making new friends, the opportunity to play tennis and squash, a place to dine out, a place to swim in an outdoor pool, a place to celebrate special holidays, etc.  Open that gate and in we tumbled – and spent the next 4 1/2 years.

Cat on Watch

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

Cat (and dog) on watch

This is a postcard from my postcard collection.  I can’t make out the postmark but it looks like it was written in Pittsburg in 1908.  The writer was leaving the next day for Columbus.  She? and her companions were having a very nice time.  (A typical message on a postcard)    So they were in Pennsylvania and returning or going to Ohio.  It was sent to someone a man or boy (a grandson?) in Hammond Indiana.

Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

Born On The 4th Of July

~ Janet McKee ~ 1 Comment

My grandfather born July 4, 1874

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Alfred William Friend  born July 4, 1874  died August 4, 1957

The baby pictured above is my mother, born April 7, 1912.   holding her is her father Alfred William Friend.  He was age 38 and already the father of twin daughters born 1907, a year after he married May Belle Willis   They married twice in October 1906, a marriage in Boston and a marriage in Minneapolis.  Red tape when you move and get married at the same time.

More Family Photos

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

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A young dad – my grandfather Alfred W. Friend with his 3rd daughter Dorothy, a newborn in April 1912

 

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3 daughters, Elizabeth, Alice, and Dorothy.    With their father in Omaha.  1920 approx.

 

 

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Dorothy and Elizabeth taking photos on tour in England, summer 1932

 

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My mother Dorothy, Auntie,, Aunt Libby, hunt Alice

Me Janet, Kitty, Betsy, Bill, Bobby

 

 

  Grandma Friend as a young mother in Minneapolis Minnesota.  She is holding me as a newborn and one of the twins is standing beside us.   1912

 

 

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My grandfather and his sister (Auntie) outside our house in Belmont Mass   1951

Auntie died in 1952 at age 78    Grandpa died in 1957, at age 83