Cindy's Puzzle

             After my mention of the “Hill Cookbook” my cousin, Cindy, asked about some notes she has that were handwritten by Grandma Smith.  The notes are recipes used in the “Hill Cookbook”.  The cookbook was put together by the granddaughters of Eliza Coykendall Hill in 1949 and the names on the list are those of her daughters, daughters-in-law, and granddaughters. 

It is like a jigsaw puzzle dumped out on the table.  Some of the pieces are recognizable, some not so much.  We sort of know what the resulting picture will be, but not totally.  Let’s see if we can put this together.  This is not intended to be a full list of family members, but an identification of the women mentioned in the cookbook.

Note:  I will put given name at birth in “()” and “= “denotes marriage.  I will use “Mr.” or “Ms.” if the first name is not known and "?" if last name is not known.  

George Hill (George H. Hill) = Jane Hill (Eliza Jane Coykendall)

They had Frank Hill (Frank Given Hill), Lee Hill (George Lee Hill), and Laura Hill Crone (Laura Louetta Hill)

Frank Hill = Maggie (Margaret Jane Murphy)

            Myrtle Hill = Elon McVey

            Dorothy Hill = Clifford R. Edwards

 Lee Hill =Aunt Jennie Hill (Aledia J. ?)  His first marriage was to Hattie Johnson (Harriett E. Johnson).

            Anna Hill = Fred D. Rauch

Laura Hill = Marshall Crone

            Ernest Crone = Emma Belle Howard

            Lena Pearl = Edward Brasel

                        Maurice Brasel = Frances?

                        Edyth Brasel = John Grimm (Helen Grimm is John Grimm’s mother)

                        Janell Brasel = Mr. Berger = Mr. Ronk

                        Helen Brasel = Fred Del Principe

            Jessie Crone

            Frank Crone = Bessie Ellsworth

            Marie Crone

            Fred Crone = Hazel Cook

            Iona Crone = Fulton = Davis = Smith

                        Margaret Fulton = Richard Noble

                        Paul Davis = Alice Davis

Ralph Davis

                        Laura Ruth Davis

                        John Smith = Carol Kirby

                                    Cindy Smith

                       

These are the pieces left over that I don’t know where to fit in:

Catherine Edwards

Mrs. Donald C. Edwards

Mrs. B. H. Rauch

Mrs. R.L.Harder

When I showed this list to my mother, she commented that many people she knows are missing.  Remember, this is a list of mostly women descendants of Jane Hill.  Also, this is dated 1949.  With her help, I have added some names that are not in the book, to make this list a little bit clearer and added a couple who were not in the family in 1949.  There are many more of us since 1949.

I am still working on this.  Ernie Crone had children not mentioned and Fred Crone has a daughter, Lorraine, who might be in this picture somewhere.  He also has sons.   I have no idea who Mrs. Harder is, and I am working to sort out the Edwards and Rauch ladies.

I love jigsaw puzzles, but when some pieces drop to the floor, or pieces from other puzzles get mixed in, it takes a little longer.  I am always happy for help.  I will update this page as I learn more.

Crone Family ~~ Characters Welcome!

If my project of tracing my roots was a cable network, “The Crone Family” would be USA: “Characters Welcome”.

This might be the hardest for me to begin to share because this is the grandparent I knew best, and yet have accomplished the least where research is concerned.  I don’t want to dwell on her, but rather her roots.  When I began working on my search of family history she was available and very willing to answer questions and scratch her memory for me.  It is difficult because right at the beginning, in her lifetime, in her immediate family, were two tragic deaths.  Her father and sister both died in untimely accidents.  I will share these stories with you, but not on the same day.

When my brothers, Scott and Mark were in school, each one, on separate occasions had the assignment “to write about a family member”.  They each chose Grandma’s brother, Uncle Frank.  He was a character.  At some point in their lives when Uncle Frank was alone and Grandma was alone he moved in with her on the farm.  We lived nearby for a year and were able to get to know him. 

At the time we had a Chevy station wagon.  The kind that the third seat faced backwards.  My memory is of Uncle Frank, who was getting up in years, climbing into the back seat of the station wagon and singing “Ring-o” all the way to town.  I don’t know if he knew the words or faked it until the chorus.  “Ring-o”.  It wasn’t about the Beatles. It was a song Lorne Greene put out about a cowboy.  Here is a link.  When we got to town we went to an ice cream parlor and he played it on the juke box the whole time we were there.

Uncle Frank put spinach on his hotdog and told us it was an Irish Hot Dog.  He would stand on the back porch and throw a handful of coins into the grass and have us scramble for the change.  On the Fourth of July he was riding in the back seat of the station wagon, again, to go and watch the fireworks.  Do you have a memory of Uncle Frank?   Share it with me so I can post it here.

Marshall Crone was married to Laura Hill.  Laura’s middle name was Louetta.  Her mom’s best friends were Lou and Etta.  Thus baby Laura’s middle name: Louetta.

Grandma Smith was the youngest of their seven children.  Three of her siblings had no children, but the children of the others all spoke lovingly of Aunt Ione.  It will be fun to find these cousins, where ever they are now.

I found a story about her father, George Hill, floating down the Ohio River to come to Illinois.  I plan to offer up some of the history of this part of the country, as it was settled largely as payment for military service.  This story was recorded in a cookbook put together by his granddaughters.  Get ready granddaughters of Iona Crone Fulton Davis Smith.  When I get to the Hill’s and share this story and recipes with you I hope you will share one of your recipes and we will put together the follow-up cookbook.  I am not sure we will ever make the recipes found in the old cookbook, but they are very interesting historically. It was George Hill who was remembered by Grandma as an invalid, having suffered wounds during his service in the Civil War.  I have his military record and will be able to tell you more about this character.  She said one of his children was born before the war, one during the war and one after the war.

George Hill was married to Eliza Jane Coykendall.  (Sounds like Kurtendall.)  I have been able to trace this family a little bit.  It looks like they go back to New Jersey and perhaps New York City when it was just beginning.  I feel certain we will find Coykendalls in the Civil War and perhaps in the Revolutionary War.

Marshall (also called Mark) Crone’s father was Elijah Crone.  Grandma knew he came from Pennsylvania and thought there was a spelling change from Krohn at some point.  My very early research showed him in Juniata County, Pennsylvania, but I am sorry to tell you I have lost that piece of information.  Since then, Cousin Gary Crone has done a lot of work on this family.  While primary evidence is elusive he has put together a good case for a connection to a Crone family in York, Pennsylvania.  What he has done is astonishing and convincing.  I hope to be in touch with him and share his thoughts on how Elijah goes to Illinois.  Perhaps the DAR genealogist can give us her thoughts on his deductions.

Then there is the Muckey Family.  Elijah Crone married Susan Muckey.  This family came from New York State and has the only Rev War soldier I have found, so far.  The catch to this is that he was a Hessian, hired by the British and captured during the Battle of Trenton on Christmas 1776.  I feel a history lesson coming on.  History changes for me when I find things like this.  I had an ancestor who not only fought at that battle and was captured; he was fighting for the English! 

Lots of characters to tell you about. 

I haven’t said much about Grandma Smith here.  I am hoping you will share your memories of her with me and the week of her birthday in May I will put up stories and photos of her.