I'm Sure They Had Sweet Spirits

Picture of the Day for 9/22/2012. In my neck of the woods, we say a person must have a "sweet spirit" if they are homely as a mud fence. I was going through some of my parents' papers yesterday and came across some pictures of my ancestors which made me conclude that I come from a line of women through my dad's paternal line who must have had very sweet spirits.

This is my great-great-great-great-grandmother Nancy McCleve. She was born in Ireland and emigrated to Utah in 1853.

Nancy McCleve's daughter Sarah married Brigham Young's oldest brother John Young. I showed her picture to a couple of people and they both said, "That's a woman?" Sad. 

Now here is where we start getting to the Merrill line. Sarah McCleve Young's daughter Lydia married a Marion Merrill.

And Lydia Merrill had a daughter Madelon who married her first cousin Frank W. Merrill. Madelon was my great-grandmother and mother to my dad's father Irvine Merrill. She died at age 91 when I was just a few years old in the mid-1960s. I remember her quite clearly. She used to wear blue "Aunt Bea" dresses and it was quite the production to get her up the stairs to the living room where she would be ensconced in front of the fireplace in one the dining room chairs. I was too young to appreciate her, but I hear she had a cute sense of humor. My mother once commented that she thought Madelon never was a beauty. Then a few years later, my mother commented that I most resembled Madeon. Oops. I'm sure she did not connect the two statements, but I sure did!

I hope my ancestors aren't shaking their fists at me from the "other side." I'm sure they were great women and I wish I could have every single one of them! And tomorrow's blog entry will prove that I can be self-deprecating about my own appearance.