Sort of a Mystery of Charles and Carrie Baird

I haven't used this blog much but I have been collecting "stories" about my ancestors through genealogy. I thought I might share a few. This is about my great-grandparents on my mother's side.

Sort of a mystery of Charles Boettner Baird and Carrie Chapman Young Baird and their son, Douglas Baird Wright

I grew up with the story that Grandpa Wright's parents were killed in a car accident and made him and his sisters orphans. As the story goes, they went to live with a neighbor and one day another neighbor looked over the fence and said you have too many, we will take the little boy. And that was how Grandpa Wright went to live with the Wright family. Being a kid, I never thought too much about it. We had met his two sisters, Aunt's Charlotte and Idabelle. Both were married and had a good life.

Since becoming interested in genealogy all the main "characters" have died and I have been piecing things together. The story was not too far off as it turns out.

Using Ancestry.com, death records and census records I have found that sometime between 1900 and 1910 Charles Baird and his wife, Carrie, died. The 1900 Census shows them living at 129 Carr Street in Los Angeles. When I found this census I was surprised to find that there was another child, a girl, named Elizabeth Mary Baird! I'd never known this.

By the 1910 Census, their daughters, Charlotte and Idabelle had gone to live with the Vawters. Charlotte and Idabelle Baird are listed on 1910 census as "Wards," living with the Vawters at 504 Cherry. When looking at a map during that era this was just a street or two over from Carr Street.

Their son, Charley Baird (seems to have been born Charles or Charley in late 1900) went to live with the Wright's. The Wright's house at, 128 Carr Street, was just across the street from where he lived with his parents before their death. So maybe the "over the fence" comment is not too far off.

Douglas Baird Wright abt. 1955

Charles, renamed Douglas by the Wright’s, is listed with the Wright's as an orphan on the 1910 census and as their son on the 1920 census. The Wright's had no children and, as we were told, always wanted a son named Douglas. In the 1920's Douglas officially changed his name to Douglas Baird Wright.

Their oldest daughter, Elizabeth Mary Baird, was 17 in 1910 and I couldn’t find her anywhere in the Los Angeles area during that time frame. After much searching I finally found her on the 1910 Census living with a Boettner relative in Brooklyn, New York.

By the 1920 Census Elizabeth was shown as Mary E Montane, having married Peter Montane sometime between 1910 and 1914 when I found her on a passenger list returning from Cuba to New York.

The 1930 Census shows she married at 17. She and Peter and their only daughter, Charlotte are now living in Santa Monica, probably to be near her brother and two sisters.

All of the children remained in the Los Angeles area. Douglas lived in Newport Beach, California for a while in the 1930's, building the third house on Lido Isle and living there for a many years while maintaining a Chicken Ranch on Santa Isabelle St, in Costa Mesa, California. During WWII they lived on the ranch. Douglas and his wife, Mae, eventually moved back to Los Angeles County.

Looking through old pictures recently I found some old notes that said that Grandpa Wright's "real" parents are buried at Rosedale Cemetery in Los Angeles. As the note says Charles died of TB and Carrie "died of overwork." I called the Cemetery and found that Charles Baird was interred on 8 January 1902 and Carrie Baird was interred on 29 Jan 1904. They are both at same place in the Cemetery. I am trying to track down their death certificates, I wonder what they will say?

Finishing is over rated . . . or is it?

I am a quilter. Well, if truth be told, I am mostly a quilt STARTER and fabric collector. This last year, attempting to finish my sewing room, I have found SO many unfinished quilt projects! There must be 30! I love to take classes and learn new techniques and I seldom finish the project started. Why do I do that?

We draw names in our family for Christmas and I was making a quilt for the person I got. That was one finished quilt a year. Now everyone has a quilt . . . what do I do now! My nephew, Casey, says he got the first quilt so it is his "turn" again. LOL I like that. He liked the quilt I made for him and wants another.

Of course my grandson, Robert, thinks he needs a new quilt. Well, maybe he does. The quilt I made for him is "Buzz Lightyear" and I gave it to him when he was four. He's now 12 and four inches taller than me and he's worn out the quilt. In fact I have it here to fix . . . one of the fabrics, only the yellow in one block, has disintegrated. Literally disiningrated. I think I will put on a new binding too. The quilt has been loved to death over these last eight years. That makes me very happy.

One year at Road to California . . . my friend Pat and I LOVE to take classes there . . . I decided to make all the class quilts out of the same fabrics. That way I could combine them into one quilt and call it my Road to California Quilt. Great idea, huh? Is it done? Of course not. I just can't win.

I still don't have a quilt made for our bed! It seems that the only way I can finish a quilt is to give it away.

Last year at my guild we had a challenge to complete five UFOs (unfinished objects for those that don't know). I had my list and my good intentions. That's all. I didn't get one done. But, of course, I did start a few more.

I am still working on getting my quilt studio (doesn't that sound more fun than bedroom!) organized. I have 48 baskets with fabric all sorted by color, kind etc., it takes up a whole 10' wall. But, I am at a standstill . . . I have at least 10 more boxes of fabric! What to do, what to do? My sweet husband says buy more baskets! I think make more quilts.

Maybe the answer is . . . give away (or finish?) the ones I've started!

Another Jonas Brother’s concert ! ?

Yes, as I told the person that asked that question. My granddaughter loves Nick Jonas and I love her. As long as she still wants to go places with me, and I am able, we will go places and do things. We always have a good time and I do like to hear them. The music is loud, like all concerts, but at least you can understand the lyrics and they are clean.

Grandchildren and grandparents have a special bond. I know I don’t have to explain it to other grandparents. They already know it. When grandchildren are small, you get to hug and kiss on them all you want. Usually. As they grow older, not so much with the hugging and kissing but they are developing into real people. They have opinions. Many of them are very well thought out. If you are lucky, they like to talk to you and tell you things and ask questions. Some questions that don’t have answers are the most interesting. Sometimes they don’t want answers, they just want to know what you know, or don’t know, as the case may be. Many times I have thought, "you know that?" They can be full of surprises

Going places, having conversations, playing games, just hanging out, all good ways to keep in contact with your grandchildren. Let them know you love them and are there for them. All kids need others in their lives that they can depend on, that will love them unconditionally. I have that with my grandchildren.

Oh, and note to self . . . be sure to bring earplugs!

You're how old?

Yesterday was my birthday! I am happy with my age, 62, and can't believe I've made it this far. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy about it, very happy about it. But I feel like I'm still looking out of 20 year old eyes and I'm always surprised when I look in the mirror and see the older me (AND more of me). But I accept myself just the way I am. I learned a long time ago that you make your own happiness and as my mother always said "If you're not happy, it's your own fault." These are words I've always lived by.

My brother, Dewey, with our mother, Alice, at our sister,
Nina's recent wedding.

My mother is now 84 and still a kick-in-pants. She has dementia, remembers our names, sometimes can't remember which name actually goes with which person. But her sense of humor has not diminished. She loves all babies and will ask any parent "How much for the kid?" When we go out we have to watch her like a hawk. One time a hostess directed us to a table by saying "Take any seat you'd like." My mother reached over, grabbed her butt, and said "Is this seat taken?"  Luckily the young woman must have liked (and understood about) little old ladies because she brushed off my apology with a quick, "don't worry about it."

My daughter, her family and I, took her to lunch for her birthday. It was a great surprise party for her. She just kept being surprised every time we told her it was her birthday. I gave her a gift in a gift bag and she kept finding it, opening it, and being surprised what was inside. We had a great time and although she doesn't remember, her great-grand children do. They are making the memories for her. While somewhat dismayed about the repeated questions that they've just answered, they answer again and again with a smile.

And great-grandma Alice just keeps smiling.

A water leak!

We have had sooooo much fun here the last few days. Their was a pinhole leak in the pipe to the front bathroom shower. It was a small spray. We had it fixed. BUT, the wall board is WET. Capital letters WET. We had a company here that put dehumidifiers and an air filter in the bathroom and my closet. Oh yea, I had to empty my closet, it shares a common wall with the bathroom. The dehumidifiers and air filter had to be on for 72 hours straight. They make a lot of noise, and they are in our bedroom. The only bedroom with a bed. So we spent three nights at a nice Fairfield Inn. We are home now, the equipment is gone. The wall in the closet is dry but the bathroom still has two walls that are not dry and under the flooring is still wet.

Of course we have insurance and it will put it all right, but the time, worry and aggravation are the pits. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

I'll look on the bright side . . . tomorrow my sister, Nina, is getting married.

SewCalGal Pets on Quilt Show

I love this blog, Insights from SewCalGals. They are having an online quilt show, Pets on Quilts. This is the quilt I have entered.

To Some I am Aunt Bonnie, to others I am Lalo

Not coming from a large family, I have only one niece and one nephew. Neither were taught to call me Aunt before my given name. They both just call me Bonnie. My cousin David's children, which are my second cousins (I think), were taught to call me Aunt Bonnie, go figure. My grandchildren, of which I have two, a boy (12) and a girl (15) both call me Lalo. I know, strange. When my granddaughter was first learning to talk it seems I was always telling her "Grandma loves you." She would try to say love you and it came out la loo. When I would prompt her to say "Grandma" she would say "la loo" which morphed into "La Lo." So I am Lalo to my grand children. My grandson wants to call me Grandma now, but keeps forgetting. Oh well, I always wanted a nickname growing up . . . and not Bon Bon.