Roberts Roots & Branches

is in the mail.  

http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~raymondfamily/2002_0620%20Mormon%20Trail/images/html/06200004%20Old%20bridge%20to%20Ft.%20Laramie.html "In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future" Author: Alex Haley

Kudos goes out to the Lincoln County Historical Society http://lchs.zenfolio.com/p175119300 photo from:  http://www.kemmererhs.org/headstones_shell.html This web site has now linked together obituaries, marriage certificates, and headstones for Kemmerer, Lincoln, Wyoming.  I found the site easy to use and navigate, however marriage certificates are blurry when you download them.  Go check out this site and leave a comment so they will know what a great job they have done!!!

http://images.google.com Monday, July 4--Independence Day marks an anniversary and a birthday for our ancestors. 116 years ago on Monday, July 4, Isaac Roberts (10) and Janet (16) Howie were married. Two years later, July 4, 1897 their second son, James H. Roberts (24) (my grandfather) was born. Both of these events, the marriage and James' birth took place in Trimdon Grange, England, but Isaac was an American citizen.  He obtained his citizenship and then went back to England where he married Janet and worked in the Durham County coal mines.  Why did he go back to Durham County and not Staffordshire County--the county he immigrated from in 1886?  Did he have family in Durham County?  Did he have a job secured in Durham before he left?  So many mysteries left to the puzzle. . .

(Picture taken by Athena Lott Nieman) Here is a picture of my newest little grand-daughter.  For her blessing, my daughter asked me to crochet her a dress, and then my daughter asked her mother-in-law, the baby's other grandmother to crochet her a bonnet to match the dress.  My daughter wanted her daughter to have a special keepsake from both of her grandmothers.  What a special idea and what a special way for this little girl to always have something special to remember her two grandmothers by. What christening or blessing keepsakes or traditions does your family have?  Has the item been documented through a letter or journal entry?  I encourage you to write down today any special memories or traditions your family has.  These memories that you have that are special and close to your heart NEED to be shared with other members of your family, otherwise when you are gone, they will ONLY be in your heart.

 I haven't been blogging much on this site, and I haven't been doing any research.  However I have been very busy.  I have continued to update the Frontier Mine No. 1 disaster blog at:  http://fronterminedisaster.blogspot.com/ .  I first learned about this disaster back in 2000 when I was doing research in Kemmerer about the John Richard Roberts(8) and Selina Parker(162) family. I have been drawn to this story and the accident.  During the time I lived in Wyoming I collected and gathered information about the disaster, and then for my History of Wyoming research project I wrote a research paper on the affects the disaster had on the community.   I have always felt like this story has to be told and shared. There are some remarkable stories sprinkled in the newspapers during that time period.  There are accounts of hero's, family tragedies, and an insight in to the coal mines and coal mining communities during that time period.   Because I have gathered so muc