First trip to Chester, NH

A quick refresher:  Our ancestor who first came to Detroit and settled this land is my Four Times Great Grandfather, Nathaniel Basford.  It is his and his wife's and daughter's headstones that we have in the barn that we WILL put into the renovated Basford Family Cemetery one day, hopefully soon.
Nathaniel's father was Ebenezer, his mother Mehitable (Young) Basford.  Ebenezer's father was Jacob (the younger), who died fighting in Canada.  No one knows where his body is buried.  Jacob's father was James and James' father was Jacob (the elder).
Based on Aaron's research they also died in the Chester, NH area.  I did not find their headstones today but I did find Ebenezer's and Mehitable's!  It's not say they aren't in the Chester Village Cemetery but, if they are, their headstones are not legible.  I suspect they're probably buried in an old family cemetery.  I wonder if there is one near that house we found -- the 3rd oldest in Chester, owned by a Mary Basford who married a Lane.  I think I know which Mary Basford this is but the records aren't good enough to prove it...yet.  This house sits on Route 102 at the corner of Lane Road.
So I'm going to share here the photos I took of the Basfords I found in the Chester Village Cemetery, as well as a couple of pictures of old buildings in the town center -- or what was probably the town center back in those days.  It's the Congregation Church that our ancestors would've gone to and a meeting house across the road, all at that intersection where the village cemetery sits.

Food, Family and Fire, The Trifecta of a great day

Saturday May 16th, 2015

Hannah and I went to Detroit to see the family for a day of clearing for the family cemetery.  It is part of the deed of the Basford property, on the most beautiful piece of land I have ever seen.

A wonderful few hours of walking in the woods with Hannah and Mom, Hannah asking lots of great questions about what she saw and Mom telling her many of the same things she taught me at the same age. At one point, Hannah holding my hand and her gram-gram's hand.

Zeb bought a new gas grill which Kimmy, Wes and Zeb spend a few hours putting together. They put in the pick-up truck to move out to the bonfire so  H got her first ride in the back of a pick-up and is now sold that its the way to travel!

Uncle Wayne,  Zeb, the skidda, and chainsaw started clearing.  Aaron and Jen arrived. As a side note, if anyone hasn't been watching Aaron and Jen's year of fitness and health, you have to go check our their Facebook pages, truly amazing!

I, Grace, twisted my ankle on my second trip out in the field as part of my master plan to not have to work so I set up near the grill but no I didn't cook.  Aunt Ginny arrived driven by McKenna with her newly acquired license.  Jeremy and JJ's and children arrived by bike and ATV.  Great conversations about where the road used to be, where the different generations ice skated in the field, where the paths between the farm and the "little" house were and who used them along with current activity of cheer-leading, who has a girlfriend (wont embarrass Ian) and how many kiddos graduate next year from the family. There was plenty of food, beer and fire

As I write this, I try to think if there was something remarkable about the day that makes it worth a blog and I realized yes, Family. No One cares if you comb your hair (ask Hannah) or if you have a huge hole in the butt of your pants (ask Zeb), they just care. No matter how long since you have seen each other, you belong.   

Nathaniel Basford has the right idea, live there, die there then let your body go back to the land there

It's part of me and I'm part of it

An Ode:

My grandparents were the salt of the earth kind of people, the kind who would literally give you the shirt off their back.  They never had much more than this land but it's all they needed.  It was a part of them and they were a part of it.
I don't have any but it's always been a part of me and I'm part of it.

What A Great Reunion!

Stanley and Geneva would be very pleased.  Before I say anything more, I just want to thank all of you for coming and just being you.  It turned out to be one of the best get-togethers every and best Labor Day Weekends ever.   I also want to plead if anyone else has pictures besides Chris and Mom, please share them.  And if you have a little tidbit to share about the get-together, we'd love to have you write a little piece on here, or at the very least leave a note as a comment to this post (just click on "comment" at the bottom and if you don't have an account, choose "anonymous" and leave your initials at the bottom of your comment.)  Karen, I think everyone deserves to hear the skinny-dipping story.
Between the great cooks, great story tellers and great softball players, we have the best family ever.  I really don't have a lot to say except to thank everyone again and ask for pictures.  There are a few people missing from the ones I've been given and too bad we didn't get around to taking a family shot.  I was going to list everyone who came but the pictures tell that story better than a list, although, like I said, the Michigan Basfords are missing from these pics, as are Em and PJ off the top of my head.  So again, if anyone has a little story to tell about the get-together, please share it.  I'll help in any way you need.

Freshly-hayed fields

It's that time of year again, hay season.  It's one of my favorite times of year around here because you have wide-open fields and reminds me of my youth (why is always your youth you're reminded of?)
It mostly reminds me of the endless hours playing baseball in those fields with other family members and other kids from this end of town.  A field, a bat, a ball, a few gloves and a handful of kids was all you needed to play and we played often.

I've also been known to hit a few golf balls around in these fields and, of course, countless walks and other youthful endeavors.  Have you ever laid out in an open field at night and gazed at the stars?  I also remember getting paid a couple of hay seasons helping Mr. Walker, I think it was, hay the fields, which was hard, hot work but the payoff was a few bucks to spend and a new ballfield to play in.  Then there's always that great smell.
Anyone else have similar or different memories about this or anything else regarding the farm or being a Basford?  Would love to hear from you.  Please leave any comments you have here in the comment section of this post or whichever one you're commenting on.  Please check and see if you've read every piece that's been written here.
Looking forward to seeing many of you at the get-together at the end of August.  Anyone want to volunteer to write about it and share the pics here?

Memorial Day

Everyone knows you can't rely on my memory but wasn't it Memorial Weekend that we had the Basford Family get-togethers at Manson Park?  (maybe it was July 4th)  Anyway, not that it's the first time but sitting here this morning is the first time in quite a while that I've been struck by how much I miss them still.
Imagine how different but still great it would be to do that again with hopefully all hands on deck.  We have adults in the family now, some with their own kids, who don't remember those.  That's a shame.  No disrespect to my Uncle Wayne's family gatherings -- they're great -- but nothing compares to those days of yore.  Is there any way we could try to do that again, with lots of advance notice, even if it was just once?  This Memorial Day is probably too soon but I would like to stoke this idea while it's fresh, or definitely next year.  Below is a picture of Stanley Jr taken at one of these.

Notice the farm that no longer exists

And just briefly, while I'm on the topic of Memorial Day, let's not forget those loved ones who are no longer with us and try to take a little time out of our busy lives to not only remember them but to ensure that their graves are maintained.
This is a link to a great piece that Aaron wrote on this topic a couple of years ago.  I think it worthy of a reread.
Lastly, since I'm writing this on Mother's Day, maybe it work spark someone to write a short piece about their mother...there are certainly many to choose from in this family.

Forgotten Treasure

Kim brought me a whole bunch of photographs that her mom has had since our divorce (and I will share some of those at a later date but not here) but that's not what this is about, though included in those was this great picture of "Gram and Gramp" when they visited Maggie and I in California in late Sept of 1987.  I know exactly when because I still have the ticket stub from when we took them to a Padres game, a game that the SF Giants clinched the division title.

What this blog post is about is to share with you a letter from Gram to Maggie and me that was included in this stash of pictures.  I can tell you when the letter was written because it mentions that Lynnsey was recently born.  So it's likely Sept-ish of 1985.  You can decide when you read this wonderful letter thanking us for giving them tickets to see West Side Story at the Waterville Opera House.

 

It is just so charming and heartfelt and SO Gram.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do again.

  Finding it is just like getting an awesome and unexpected Christmas present.