Caroline Maria Hansen is my great-great-grandma. She was an incredible knitter and received many blue ribbons because it. She was also able to use some of that money to support her son on his mission. She was also a terrific gardener. Because of her calling as a RS officer, she would use her horse and buggy to travel the two-three day trip to visit other towns and the women there. She served in the RS presidency for 25 years.
Patty Bartlett Sessions is my 5x great grandma . She was known as Mother Sessions and was asked by the prophet to be a doctor and midwife for women. She delivered nearly 4,000 babies in her lifetime and was even sealed to Joseph Smith. I had the special opportunity to learn more about Patty while serving in the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters while on my mission and show people her journal/delivery book. She told the women of the Bountiful RS, “I have got the feeling in my bosom that if I hold out faithful to the end it will be a happy end."
Ethel Thomas is my great grandma from my dad's mom. She was a music major but was always very shy to share her musical abilities with others. Actually, she was very shy and preferred to stay behind the scenes for most things in life. She had grown up in the great depression, and therefore was always very careful with her money. She was always extremly kind and friendly to others and was always willing to help those in need. She was known by all for her love to serve. She worked for the UT state government for a time. She constantly encouraged her children to excel in education. She was a wonderful wife and mother, and she always supported her husband. My grandma told me that she constantly believed in herself, because her mother did as well. "You can do anything you set your mind to" was her motto in life. She was also a great primary children and loved having children around. My great uncle, Tom, was diagnosed with MS around his 20s, and my great grandma cared for him until the day she died. She was extremly devoted and dedicated.
Mary Emeline Johson is my great grandma from my mother's side. She was the only girl in a family with 7 brothers. She had a very kind heart. After a divorce with her first husband, she married a man who had 7 children. She instantly took on the role of step-mother for them and cared for them in the best way she knew how. Though those 7 kids were never kind to her, she continued to love them. Her husband died soon after their marriage, therefore leaving her very poor. My grandma told me how she never went to the doctor or the dentist, but that "Emma" had such a strong faith in the gospel that she never worried. Because the priesthood was not in her home, she would use consecrated oil, put it on my grandma's head, and say a prayer. "Her faith could move mountains." She was always willing to step in and serve, and she had a heart of gold. She always helped people and let them feel loved around her. She never had an easy life, but she was always positive and kind.
Vada Worthen is my great grandma (my grandpa on my mom's side). She was an excellent wife & mother. She was a hard worker and walked everywhere. When she served in the RS, she would walk nearly 45 min one way to help and serve her sisters. She was an incredible cook. (My grandpa went on for about 5 minutes just on her cooking and his favorite dishes of hers.) She was always willing to help others and was always the first to take food over for others.
Through doing this assignment, I was able to reflect on my own life and the type of legacy that I want to leave behind. What do I want to be remembered for? How will people describe me once I am gone?
I could incorporate this assignment into my English class by having my students do the same thing. They could do research on their family tree and where their family came from. They could find similarities between them and their ancestors. They could write about their own type of legacy that they want to create. I didn't think of this until it was practically too late, but I think I would have my students create a powerpoint of their research as well. I loved calling my grand parents and getting some of this information. It was a little difficult getting pictures and creating a collage but after some time I was able to figure it out. I mostly had to do it all on my phone because my computer wouldn't let me save pictures from family search. So I had to screen shot and crop into frames, download the family search app and a picture frame app, and do some edits.
Awesome amount of research! Family history is a cool angle to go with this, what do you think about students finding things in popular media that the identify with as well as their own genealogy?
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