Vera Fisher Elliot

Vera was Della's sister.

She married Virgil Elliott and they operated a grocery store in Fairfield, the county seat of Wayne County, for many years. (Remember that the Fisher homestead, near Golden Gate and Ellery, is actually in Wayne County rather than in Edwards County.) After they closed the store, she worked as a dispatcher and secretary for the county sheriff.

She had three sons, Bob, Vernon, and Ray. I met Ray during my recent trip to Albion. He still lives in the area. I have been emailing Bob, who retired in Virginia.

Vera died at the age of 73, probably of a stroke.

Ray sent me this photo in 2021. Beautiful!

Obituary of Mabel Fisher Reid

Mabel was Della's sister.

She was a teacher for a couple of years. She and husband Earl ran a country store for 25 years known as Black's store. According to my uncle Don, it was a large room attached to their home.

She had three children: Herschel, Hubert and Hazel.

She lived to the age of 85.

Obituaries of Emily Fisher Smerdon

Aunt Emily was my grandmother Della's sister.

She lived to age 82 and raised 4 kids, including the three daughters... Helen, Ethel and Margaret Ruth... who visited with me in Albion recently.

Ralph and Emily Fisher Smerdon's 60th Anniversary

A wedding anniversary article from the local newspaper provides another resource for documenting the history of a family.

I met my dad's cousins, Helen, Ethel and Margaret Ruth on my trip to Albion this summer.

Their parents are deceased, but were able to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary before they passed.

What I particularly like about these announcements, other than they aren't obituaries, is the pairing of a current picture with one of the couple when they were younger.

From this article, we also know that Uncle Ralph was a farmer, and that they lived their entire lives in the area around Albion.

I wonder if they went to school together?

It would be nice to have a collection of all of the newspaper articles documenting a "milestone" anniversary of couples in the Dixon family tree. For that matter, a copy of the engagement and wedding announcements would be great also. Once they were digitized by scanning or copied via a digital photo, they would be preserved for the historical record. Then our babies of today would be able to read and see what their ancestors looked like at different ages.

Good Times With Uncle Earl

We all need an Uncle Earl.



My Uncle Don wished I had been able to visit with his cousins Hershel and Hazel, the kids of his Uncle Earl and Aunt Mabel (Fisher) Reid. Mabel was my grandmother Della's sister. He ran a sawmill operation. They operated Black's store, which is a place I failed to check out when I was in Albion recently. He also farmed.



And uncle Earl introduced his nephew Don to the joys of driving.... at the age of 10 or 12!



Here's Uncle Don's email:



It was too bad that neither child of Aunt Mabel could be at the outing. Hershel is the boy and Hazel is the girl. Hershel lives on the farm that belonged to Aunt Mabel and Uncle Earl Reid. They ran a country store and ran huckster routes around the county area. Years ago when Mother and Dad took we kids to see our relatives, I would go on the route with Hershel to deliver groceries and trade them for eggs, etc. Hershel would let me drive the old pick up truck when I would have been around 10 or 12 yrs old which was a real treat for me. Don't know if the old country store is still standing or not but if it is, you should take the time to see it when you return. The store was attached to their home and it was one large room. The neighboring farmers loved to come by the store and chew the fat. There was an old fashion gas pump out in front of the store which you could see the gas in the top of the pump.

The Smerdon Family

I believe that Margaret Ruth shared this family photo with me. It's a picture of her family.

On the front row are Ralph Smerdon, Emily Smerdon (Della's sister), and Margaret Ruth.

On the back row are brother James (now deceased), Helen and Ethel.

Uncle Don helped me to identify his Uncle Ralph, Aunt Emily and his cousins.

Margaret Ruth, Ethel and Helen all visited with me during my day in Albion!