Another Sterling Sill Book Reveals a Cousin Connection

I seem to be on a roll here with Cousin Connections discovered in my purchases of books by Sterling W. Sill. During my most recent visit to the Deseret Industries Thrift Store in Nampa, Idaho, I found 3 books by Sterling and of course grabbed them up at $2.00 each. In my previous blog post I explained my discoveries from my research into a book's former owner, Ross E. Butler. 

Today I'm sharing what I discovered from my purchase of the book The Upward Reach. 

Amazon offers this introduction to the book: This volume is made up of fifty-two different, interesting, uplifting and highly motivating discussions based on Victor Hugo's thought that, "Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come." It is thought that for many people who are interested in raising the spiritual level of their lives and in bringing about a more substantial general success, that a regular weekly association with this stimulating book will prove most valuable.

After I lifted the book from the bookshelf, I opened it to leaf through it. I saw this name label inside: 

I recognized the Fullmer name as one I had entered into my genealogy database. Of course I could hardly wait to look into the connections when I got home. 

Sure enough I found a connection! This chart shows that I discovered that my (adopted) son is a 4th cousin, two times removed of Darrell D. Fullmer.  

I know this won't strike most people as significant. But I'm always easily amazed when I discover "Connections"!

One of my Favorite Authors Links Me to More Cousins

In my most recent post, I shared my discovery of LDS author Sterling W. Sill and my newly discovered connection to him as my Cousin. On my latest visit to the "religious" book section at Deseret Industries in Nampa, Idaho, I discovered THREE more books by this wonderful author! I purchased them at $2.00 each! They are "The Glory of the Sun", "The Upward Reach", and "The Miracle of Personality". 

Before I put any new purchase in my shopping cart, I open it and leaf through the pages. I noticed in the book above that the former owner stamped his name on the first page. 

Since I live right across the Snake River from Ontario, Oregon, I was very curious to see what I could learn about this "Ross E. Butler". And boy! was in in for a surprise! The information I found showed me that he and I are distant cousins and that his wife is a distant cousin of my husband, William Thompson. I've illustrated this in the chart below. 

As I read further about Mr. Butler on his FamilySearch.org page, I learned that he joined with friend F. Nephi Grigg and his brother Golden Grigg to form the company that became Ore-Ida Foods, Inc. I was just blown away! Ore-Ida Foods is also in Ontario, Oregon, right across the river from me. 

I've often commented that "I'm easily amazed"! I'm happy that I'm the kind of person who would look inside this unknown-to-me book and discover the name of its former owner, then research that individual to learn more about who owned and surely read this book. 

Of course I couldn't stop with Ross Erin Butler. I had to see what I could learn about his friend and partner Francis Nephi Grigg. In the chart below, you can see that I'm the 9th cousin one generation removed from Nephi's wife Addie Crummet Grigg (pictured below). 

Now that I've made these interesting connections to fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and learned great things about them by reading the 'Memories' posted on their accounts at FamilySearch.org, I need to put my laptop down and read my new books!

I Found My Cousin Connection to a Favorite Author

I prepared this chart that shows me (Mary R Margheim) as a descendant of Steven Flanders and Sarah Blaisdell. You can see that Rosel James Hyde was also a descendant of Steven and Sarah. Rosel was married to Jane Driggs. Their photo is shared directly below their names on the chart. You can also see by looking at the descendants of Austin Cowles and Phebe Wilbur, that Sterling W. Sill is also a cousin of Rosel James Hyde. So Sterling Sill and I share Rosel Hyde as our cousin. 

You'll notice that I have Jane Driggs's name in red, and it appears at the top left again. This time it shows that Jane is a cousin of my husband, William Thompson, as they are both descendants of Urial Driggs and Hannah Ford.  

The chart at the bottom of this post shows the direct connection how Sterling Sill is my 7th cousin twice removed!

I only recently learned of Sterling W. Sill as I discovered a book he authored named "The Majesty of Books". It's pictured below. I'm a book lover and as I've aged, I've selected books by LDS authors as my primary reading material. As I've begun to read Sterling's "book about books", I realize I found the written word that stimulates and agrees with my philosophy on many topics. I love what he has to say and how he says it. 

My greatest wish now is that I'd have known about this book while my dad was alive. He was a "semantics" person and loved the study of "words". He became a member of the LDS Church late in life and would have LOVED reading Sterling Sill's book. He certainly would've seen the MAJESTY in it! And he'd have been very proud to learn of this great author and fellow Church authority! I'm blessed to have found it at the nearby thrift store Deseret Industries. I will have it read by Thursday, August 8 in celebration of what would have been my father's 103 birthday! But it's a Keeper and I'm sure I'll refer to it time and again. Such value for the $2.00 I spent to purchase it!

The SWEET Family Experiences Weren't Always Sweet

In my previous post, I wrote about the discoveries I made when my husband and I visited the Montour-Sweet Cemetery in Sweet, Idaho. We enjoy visiting the graves and reading headstone engravings. Every single one tells a story. I photograph as many as I can on a single visit and upload the ones who are members of families who are listed at familysearch.org.

Our most recent visit to a nearby cemetery was to the Mann Creek, Washington, Idaho Cemetery.

I was amazed to find a headstone there that was for a member of the SWEET family!

The headstone on the left above is for Sarah Dreamy Mullenhour Sweet (1858-1906). (Isn't that a cool name?!) At right above is pictured the headstone for her son Bert Sweet (1888-1958). Many of the headstones in this cemetery are marked like Bert Sweet's, with an aluminum plate screwed into a concrete block, with the name and date hand tooled.

As I searched for a listing for each of these individuals on Family Search, I discovered an astounding story! Sarah was married in 1878 to Francis Marion Sweet (1857-1905) and together they became the parents of 10 children between 1878-1900. There were 2 newspaper clippings already entered in the Memories section for Francis Sweet. And they were heart-wrenching. You can read them here.

www.familysearch.org/tree/personal/memories/L85N-C6Q

I'm happy that I'm able to subscribe to Newspapers.com. I searched for Francis Marion Sweet and found an abundance of articles that I was able to add to his Memories at FamilySearch. In brief, this is the story they tell: 

This was published in the Topeka (Kansas) Daily Capital, Dec. 6, 1905. 

I prepared this chart that shows my Cousin Connection to both Ezekiel Sweet, the Founder of the town of Sweet, Idaho, and to Francis Marion Sweet, the subject of this blog post. 

I feel blessed that my interest in Genealogy leads me to discoveries like this. I realize that every person buried in a cemetery has a story besides just the name and dates engraved on their headstone. And one discovery leads to another. So when I found Francis Sweet on FamilySearch, I discovered the events that led up to his death. Further searching of newspaper articles provided very interesting details. The story aroused compassion, sorrow, and my interest in the entire Sweet family, as I gave thought to what Sarah "Dreamy" Mullenhour Sweet experienced toward the end of her life and what their children experienced in their lives.