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!

Never Ignore a Prompting

If I still had my blog entitled "Promptings" in an active status, I'd publish this brief story on it. But I discontinued using it as I retired and turned my attention to other things. 

Today my husband and I made a trip to the neighboring town of Nampa, Idaho to shop for a tool shed. It's our habit to visit Nampa 2-3 times each month. I shop for $1-$2 books at the Deseret Industries Thrift Store while my husband ventures across the parking lot to the Lowe's store!

It was Lowe's where we were going to hopefully purchase a small tool shed, so my husband suggested I take a few minutes first and browse the books at 'DI'. I had been there recently and was not expecting to find a new book to buy. And I only shop for books related to the subject of my LDS Church. At this point in my life, I want to spend my reading time LEARNING and I am always happy to learn more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our plan for life here on earth and life in the hereafter, etc. 

As my husband finished his quick visit to Lowe's (we went back later to buy the tool shed), he came into DI and stood by me to see if I was done shopping for books. At the same time I told him I hadn't found anything new, I noticed a colorful book that piqued my interest. It was titled "Why I'm a Mormon". Well, I KNOW why I'm a Mormon, but as I browsed through the Table of Contents I saw many popular names listed who had contributed to the book, and I became curious to read their reasons! So I put the book into my shopping basket.

Here's the back story: I have 678 religious-topic books in my home library. I got to the point where I couldn't remember if I had a book or not, as I shopped the books shelves in the store. So this Spring I typed up a list of the books in my library and saved it to Dropbox, so I could refer to it from my phone as I browsed the books in the store. 

This afternoon as I grabbed the above-pictured book off the shelf, my husband said "Are you sure you don't have it?" I replied "Oh no, I've never seen this book!!" But....I felt prompted at that moment to grab my phone, open the listing and double-check. MUCH to my surprise, it was listed! I already owned the book.

I was reminded to always listen to mental or heart-felt "Promptings". 

My Reading Keeps Connecting Me to the Richards Family

Two days ago I added my most recent post to this blog and told of my connection to a Richards family who were early leaders in the history of my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

This year in our Sunday School class we're going to study the Book of Mormon in depth. I was blessed last week to find this book at Deseret Industries in Nampa, Idaho, where I frequently have the privilege to buy religious books for $3.00 or less!

As you can see, "A Case for the Book of Mormon" was written by Tad R. Callister. I feel especially drawn to this author as I had the opportunity to hear him speak in a church service many years ago when I lived in Canon City, Colorado. This afternoon I sat down to read this book and was amazed that I had only gotten to page 4 !!! when I read that Tad Callister referred to his ancestor Willard Richards while discussing the authenticity of the Book of  Mormon. This chart show his connection to Willard Richards, as well as his connection to me. (I'm the Mary R. Margheim at the lower left). 

I love discovering "connections" and then creating the charts to illustrate them. I'm just amazed (but I'm easily amazed!) that I was so fascinated last Saturday by the book I had just bought that I wrote about it in my previous post. It was formerly given as a gift by Mr. and Mrs. Franklin D. Richards. 

And today I picked up a new book to read and discover another connection to this Richards ancestry! 

This Book Spoke to Me Right Off the Shelf

Since I'm now retired, it seems I've picked up a new hobby of buying books at Deseret Industries in Nampa, Idaho. They range in price from $.75-$3.00! At this point in my life, the only subject matter I'm willing to spend my time pursuing is Religion and the many topics it encompasses.

I was drawn to this book for several reasons. It's in very good condition, was published in 1955, and was autographed by Helen and Franklin D. Richards on June 11, 1960 as a gift given to "The McCarreys". I immediately recognized the name "Franklin D. Richards" as a former Apostle of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

When I got home I did a little research on this Franklin D. Richards, who I learned was the GRANDSON of the Apostle Richards. Without going into a lot of detail, I will show you the results of my quick research. One thing I've learned about myself during my years of doing genealogy research is that I'm very interested in, and amazed by, family connections.  So I worked up this chart showing how I'm connected to this Richards family. I'm the Mary R. Margheim at the bottom left. 

This chart shows that my cousin Robert Lund Judd was married to Louise Richards, the great-granddaughter of Franklin D. Richards and Jane Snyder.

I also learned that Franklin D. Richards' grandson by his wife Nancy Longstroth was LeGrand Richards, the well-known author of "A Marvelous Work and a Wonder". That was one of the first books I read after joining The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1994.

I feel blessed to have discovered this autographed book this week and blessed that my husband encourages me to buy books to which I'm drawn! As a side note, I might add that while I'm shopping for books, he walks across the parking lot to the Lowe's store and indulges his passions too!