The Search Continues

Well, so much for my plan of staying home today and working on the information I collected yesterday and trying to get myself organized with a list of questions to ask the relatives when we see them. Gene’s conference call turned out to be mid-afternoon and with the sun shining this morning and a forecast for rain tomorrow, we decided we would take advantage of the good weather and drive into Newark again to find the second house he lived in as a child. Close by is the cemetery where his parents are buried.

Gene (baby) and Doug at the house we saw yesterday.

It was a good trip. We went to the cemetery first and visited a while at his parent’s grave site. With a little help from the grounds people, one of whom has been working at that cemetery for 33 years, we were able to quickly find the grave sites of Gene’s paternal grandfather, two uncles and an aunt. I don’t want to get into the Curps just yet because the majority of the Curps are buried near Cincinnati and will tell those stories when we get there. It is confusing enough with so many Ashcrafts to deal with.

We had to make 3 passes before we were able to locate his boyhood home. The neighborhood has changed a great deal in 50 years and the only thing that helped us to find the house was the driveway. There was a circular driveway then and it is still there today. Unfortunately, we were unable to get a picture because the street was very busy with no place to pull off for a few minutes. We felt a little uncomfortable pulling into the driveway, especially since the circle went practically upon to the porch. So we passed by a couple more times at 50 miles an hour and stared as best we could.

Down the street from the house was a market which was there when Gene was living in the neighborhood. Gene went in to get a coke and felt compelled to relate this story which happened when he was about 7. His dad took him in this very store one day to buy a cold drink. With drink in hand, little Gene stuck the straw in the bottle and began to suck, and suck, and suck to no avail. With one last suck the fly which was either lodged in the straw or in the bottom of the bottle made its way up and into Gene’s mouth. I didn’t ask and I don’t want to know what happened to the fly after Gene bit it in two with his little baby teeth.

Gene about the age of the fly incident

Farther down the road is Ye Old Mill, the Velvet ice cream plant. Yes, they were making ice cream today and yes, we had some. We went there, not for the ice cream (well not entirely), but because we had a photo of a Reid family reunion which was at Ye Old Mill in 1934. Shelda Ashcraft was a Reid. That is a very large family that I know very little about.

Reid Reunion at Ye Old Mill in 1934

Because we did this instead of staying home this morning, I got behind in my chores for today. While I am writing this story and trying to get it posted, Gene is being a super husband and doing the laundry. Divide and conquer—we do it often.

Ye Old Mill today

Tomorrow, I’m taking my pile of pictures to Doug’s house in Lancaster. I’m hoping he can remember who some of these folks are.