Happy Heavenly Father’s Day to two of my paternal first loves – father, John Willie Taylor, and grandfather, Willie Taylor, and . . .
. . . to two more of my maternal first loves -grandfather, Joseph Chapple, and great-grandfather, Richard Smith.
On this day (May 23rd), 101 years ago my maternal grandpatents, Joseph Chapple and Estella Smith were married by Justice of the Peace, Leon Lush, in Houston, Harris County, Texas.
This Memorial Day I honor my maternal and paternal ancestors (veterans and non-veterans) virtually with the launch of the – Claiming Kin Virtual Cemetery– at FindAGrave.com! [1]
I actually established this “on-going” virtual cemetery New Year’s Day of this year, but did not want to release it online until –
1) I had 20 or more ancestors listed
2) I had a chance to verify each ancestors’ connection to me and my family
The purpose of this new virtual cemetery is to link the interments of all my maternal and paternal ancestors together despite the geographical location of their graves. Those of you who have been following me for a while know FindAGrave.com is one of my favorite online resources to use with my family research. I started creating virtual cemeteries last year with the launch of my “on-going” Chapple Family Virtual Cemetery and when I see the number of visits that post has received via my blog’s Google Analytics dashboard widget and Feedjit live traffic feed, I hope that this post about this new virtual cemetery will do just as well too!
According to the Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, on May 5, 1865, Decoration Day was established for our nation to decorate the graves of veterans with flowers. The first observance of this federal holiday took place at the Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. But by the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 across the United States. By 1971, the US Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday and it was at that time that it would be observed on the last Monday in May.
With so many Americans honoring the deaths of love ones who were not veterans on Memorial Day, in December 2000 Congress passed and the president signed in to law — “The National Moment of Remembrance Act” — so that veterans are particularly not forgotten on this national day! [2]
The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation.”
To my family and friends, have a wonderful Memorial Day and if time allows, visit a local cemetery today! If you cannot make it to an actual cemetery, then I invite you to take a virtual stroll through the Claiming Kin Virtual Cemetery by clicking the link or the graphic above; feel free to leave virtual flowers if you like!
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Source Citation:
1. Taylor-Harris, L. (2013, May 25). Claiming Kin Virtual Cemetery. Find A Grave – Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=vcsr
2. U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. (2012, November 30). Memorial Day History. Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. Retrieved May 25, 2013, from http://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp
Well almost wordless . . .
The Chapple~Smith Family Dinner my brothers and I hosted on 2 December 2012 was a HUGE success! It was wonderful seeing cousins (along with their adult children who have children of their own) I had not seen in many years. But what made this afternoon such a special one for all the descendants was spending time with their oldest “living” Chapple ~ Smith family member — my Mom, Carrie Chapple Taylor! So below are a few photos of mom –who celebrated her 84th birthday this past October– with family members who arrived early for our dinner event!
Mom with her oldest great-granddaughter, which happens to be my “mini-me” (Bowie Family)!
Mom with another one of her beautiful great-granddaughters (McLemore Family)!
Mom with her great-nephew, Bernard, and great-niece, LaJuana (Armstrong & Jean Families)
The Armstrong and Jean Families
Mom with her nephew, Ralph and niece, Bettye (Marshall Family)
My brothers and I are rounding up the Chapple ~ Smith descendants for a Family Dinner Saturday afternoon, 1 December 2012, that we hope will parlay into many family gatherings and reunions for years to come. I sent the invitation below to relatives and 30+ have RSVP that they’re coming. So I’m very EXCITED about seeing my family!
Claiming Kin Genealogy 