Van Gorder - Artist

I am gathering all my photos to go through them again and I came across this painting which was saved throughout time by my family members... So, a quick search does not help me discover who this artist was. It never struck me as a particularly fabulous painting... but it was saved, so it had to have meant something to someone...

So, was the artist special to someone in my family? Did a family member pick up the painting at a street fair? (When did artist street fairs begin?) Is Van Gorder a cousin of some nature?

I have sent an email to a living Van Gorder in wikitree. We will see if I get a response. Who knows what I might learn?



The painting measures a whopping 5" x 7".

Could the scene be upstate New York in the Fall? I am sure there are plenty of other places where this might have been composed.... but given where my family lived, I make the preceding guess. If anyone can help, I would be grateful!

Exciting Breakthru

Life is good.

I was contacted by a cousin by marriage through wikitree yesterday. Though I learned I have missed the opportunity to speak with a relative who loved to talk about the Maher family, I have gained some information about a branch of my tree which had grown cold. And I have learned where many relatives are buried.

I have made some speculative stories about my great Aunts, Lillian and Roberta.

I have also come up with a theory about how Florence and Herb met; something I now must explore. I will share more as I uncover, but I have always been confused as to what happened to Karolyn and how/when Herb meets my grandmother Florence. There is a Lee in the Maher plot. Might Herb have visited a Lee relative for a holiday event and met Florence there? Could be. I mean, Herb didn't meet Florence in a bar or on-line.... so how did they meet? A family gathering would be very appropriate. Herb was living in New York City without the rest of his family who were in Troy, NY. Of course, this Lee in the Maher burial plot has not yet shown up in my tree... but maybe a little more digging and time will tell.

Birthday for a member in my German Family Tree

Auguste Louise Henriette Charlotte Busse

A 2nd cousin 4 times removed....

But today is her birthday.

I am trying to include her family tree, but it may not be working...

embeddable family tree updated live from WikiTree

Wikitree

I have gotten behind on Herb's letters because I am awfully surprised not to have letters from the Fall of 1917 before November. I need to take the time spreading out his letters around me with a scanner near by to sort through everything I have. That may not happen for a couple of weeks.

In the mean time, I have been researching a German branch of the tree. I am hindered by a) my internet connection and b) the fact I do not read German. I found that one cousin - Ida Heitmann - but I have plenty of others who were living in Germany at the time of WW1. (I told my nieces that we had neither Nazis nor slave owners in our family; I trust that statement remains true with this additional research. Certainly it's true on our paternal line - one good thing for having no wealth....)

I have been doing my best to add deceased family members to Wikitree. I am also learning about widgets. I just wanted to add this one below - for the fun of it; see what it looks like and what it does.

Join me @ WikiTree