Hello and Welcome to G Day!
Name:
Gertrude Barton Thompson
Vital Information:
Gertrude was born on 5 April 1895 in New Hampshire and died on 25 November 1980 in Vermont.
Relation to Me:
Paternal great grandmother
Tidbits/Characteristics/Commonalities:
Though I never got to meet Gertrude, I feel a kinship to her based on the stories two of her grandsons have so generously shared with me. In the early days of my DNA surprise I was hungry for knowledge of who these strangers-turned-kin were. I didn’t just want names and dates and photos and health history, I wanted to know who they were as humans on the planet, what they liked and didn’t like. Gertrude’s grandsons (my bio-father’s cousins) were so very giving of information and I am so very grateful.
As I’ve found with many women of her time, she was quite a spitfire who knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. She was also a teacher, pianist, avid reader, and family historian (to an extent).
It is her handwritten documentation of her Thompson line which has helped me fill in a few gaps, answer a few questions, and ask a bunch more. The English, the Irish, and the Scottish lines of the family are all mentioned within a few short lines and all garbled together under the umbrella of “a certain Captain Thompson” from who knows when 😉 But she did go into more detail about her parents and her grandparents, and for that I am so very grateful.
One of my favorite stories about her is as follows:
We never went to grandmother’s house for a bountiful holiday meal – or for any other meal. Grammy did not like to cook. Cereal, sandwiches and canned soup were her staples. After lunch, she would close the door to the kitchen and forbid anyone to enter for 2 hours. It has her time. I violated the rule once and there she was at the kitchen table reading the newspaper, drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette. And I was thrown out.
I, too, enjoy my Me-Time 🙂 And I’d like to think she and I would get along just fine if we found the opportunity to fold time and share a cuppa.
In Your Research
Did the women in your family like to cook special meals, or did they keep it simple like Gertrude? Did they hold firm boundaries? Express their creativity?
Housekeeping
My theme for the 2025 A to Z Challenge is Kin! The first names of direct lineage kin, to be more specific.
I’m spending the majority of the month focusing on the first names of many of my direct lineage kin. I’ll include their full names, any vital information I’ve found in my research, their relation to me, any fun tidbits/characteristics/experiences, and any commonalities I may have gleaned between myself and them.
In a couple of cases, where I have not identified an ancestor whose first name starts with a particular letter, I will choose a unique middle name, a direct line surname, and/or ancestral lands/places of significance.
Pop over here to read my full theme reveal: A to Z 2025 Challenge Theme Reveal: Kin
Pop over here to visit our host and see what they’re up to throughout this year’s challenge: A to Z Challenge
If you’re visiting from the A to Z Challenge please leave a comment so I can visit you, too! If your comment bio doesn’t link back to your site, please feel free to add the link to your most recent post to the comment field so I can be sure to find you.
Thanks for being here! See you again soon!
Onward,
Melissa
Very interesting, thank you. The women in my family liked to cook meals that were too complicated, something that set me off in the opposite direction – easy and simple
There’s got to be a balance in there somewhere, right? 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
My maternal grandmother was a wonderful cook. My grandfather had worked in kitchens on trains and ships and taught her to cook after they married. He always cooked the turkeys on Christmas and Thanksgiving. She prepared the rest.
My paternal grandmother always had a table full of people and liked to have enough food for all.
I have to say neither of them only prepared the basics. Neither of them smoked and I can’t imagine either in the kitchen alone like your grandmother did. However, your grandmother certainly was active in other areas throughout her life. Amazingly so.
What a wonderful experience to be surrounded by people who loved to cook (and cooked well) and brought everyone to the table. I became our family’s Matriarch at 29 and have worked very intentionally to shift our family culture around food and togetherness, even going to the extreme for a while of cooking elaborate meals all.from.scratch. I’ve come back to center with age knowing I simply cannot do it all alone 😉 It is interesting to think about the choices the women in my line have made given their times and opportunities.
I like finding relatives that are “spitfire,” especially women from the periods our great grandparents grew up and lived in.
Same! I love knowing that they live on in me and give me strength when I need it most 🙂
It is a pity you never got to meet her.
My maternal grandmother enjoyed cooking and I particularly remember cooking cakes with her. My paternal grandmother was not so interested but I do remember her making shortbread – no other sort of bisucuits or cakes. Her dinners were much plainer than my maternal grandmother.
So interesting to see how everyone’s family is different in how they approach meals! There are just so many factors at play!
Gertrude sounds like a delight!
I truly believe she was 🙂