Dear Ancestor

Veterans Day and Remembrances

Today I wanted to write a little about the service of members of my family. My Grandfather, Marion Bud Glover, served in the Army during World War I. He enlisted on June 5, 1917, in Los Angeles, California. He was gassed while in service and his lungs were severely damaged and he had problems from then on. He died 3 years before I was born. I have the 48 star flag his coffin was covered with. It is one of my most prized possessions. Here are his enlistment papers.

My other Grandfather, James Arthur Harrison, also enlisted on June 5, 1917, in Erath County, Texas. He also served in the Army during World War I. He was a small man from a tiny town in West Texas. He served under Black Jack Pershing.  He was in the infantry and walked half way across Europe with frost bite. He had problems walking from then on and suffered what they called shell shock back then. Here are his enlistment papers.

My father, Bert E. Glover, served in the Navy during the Korean War on a minesweeper. His oldest brother, Marion Bud, Jr., served in the Marines during World War II and was a pilot on landing craft. His other brother, Butler James, served in the Army and Air Force. He served at the end of Wold War II, during the Korean War and Vietnam Wars. 

Though they all came back home, some were never the same. Buddy was always on edge and when there was a loud noise he would just go back to his days in the service. BJ was so ashamed of the way the American people treated Vietnam vets that he chose to live in Europe during the best years of his life. My father was blessed to return pretty much like he was when he went in.

Friends of mine from the neighborhood I grew up in served in Vietnam and some paid the ultimate price. Some were disabled but made it home. I thank them all for their sacrifice and their family's sacrifice by their service to our country. We all should consider ourselves  BLESSED to live in this country where we have the liberty and freedoms that they fought and died for.

Today remember those that have served and that are still serving today. Say a prayer for them all and thank a veteran.

From the Bible of Sanders Glover

This is some of the best stuff to find. Loads of information here. 

Sanders Glover(4x GG), Son to Joseph(5x Great Grandfather) and Ann Glover, was born Thursday Morning 20th December l759 at Ponpon

Lydia Tucker Daughter to Capt. Thomas and Mary Tucker was born 2nd July 1767-Four o'clock in the morning In Charles Town

Sanders Glover was married to Lydia Tucker 8 o'clock Tuesday Evening 18th day of May In the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred & Eighty Four - by the Rev. Mr. Monrow- In Charles Town

Mary Eliza, Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born 8 o'clock Tuesday Morning-the Eighth of November In the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and Eighty Five at Ponpon

Sanders(3x GG), Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born 8 o'clock Saturday morning the Fourteenth day of June In the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred and Eighty Eight. In Charleston- Rhodia Ann Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born 14th March 1790. Nine o'clock Sunday Evening In Charleston

Rhodia Ann. Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover Departed this Life the 15th June 1790 half past 5 o'clock Tuesday Morning Aged 3 Months & one day & Buried In the old White Meeton Yard In Charleston

Lydia, Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born 25th Nov. 1791 Seven O'clock Friday Evening at Ponpon

Mary Tucker Mother to Lydia Glover Departed this life the 1st August 1793 at 4 o'clock Thursday Morning at Ponpon & Buried In the old White Meeton Yard Charleston aged 65 Years.

Hannah Caroline Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was born 14th January' 1794 at Nine o'clock Tuesday Evening at Ponpon

Thomas Worth. Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover. was Born Seven o'clock Saturday Evening being the Twentieth Fourth day of December In the Year of our Lord one Thousand Seven Hundred and Ninety Six at Goose Creek

James son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born at four o'clock. Tuesday Evening being the Eighth day of January in the Year of our Lord one thousand Seven Hundred & Ninety Nine at St James Goose Creek

James Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover departed this life the 28th April 1799 Sunrise Friday morning at Goose Creek & Buried at Grove Hall. In St. James Goose Creek

William Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born at Six o'clock Wednesday Morning the 5th February 1800. at St. James parish Goose Creek

William Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover Departed this life Saturday 12 o'clock In the Morning aged four days & Buried at Grove Hall In St. James's parish Goose Creek the 9th Feb. 1800

Ann Ross Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born at four o'clock Tuesday Afternoon being the 4th August 1801. In the parish of St. James Goose Creek

Ann Ross. Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized. In Charleston by the Rev. Mr. McCaully 14th November 1801

Charles. Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born at half past Seven o'clock, Monday Evening the 5th day of March 1804. In the Parish of ST. James Goose Creek

Mary Eliza. Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Married to Capt. James Kennedy 1st day of May 1804 at Goose Creek by the Rev. Mr. Porgson

Charles. Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized In Goose Creek parish 1st May 1804 by the Rev. Mr. Porgson

Mortimer, Son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Born at Eleven o'clock Thursday Night being the 10th day of March 1808. In the parish of St. Dennis's & St. Thomas's

Mortimer , son to Sanders & Lydia Glover departed this life the 15tb October 1811 Monday Morning 12 AM

My Dearest Child thy parents Care
for the they Mothers heart is wrung
thy fond remembrance I will bear
breath shall cease ere life be done

L Glover

Lydia Caroline & Ann Ross Children to Sanders & Lydia Glover over the Cow Pox
Lydia. Hannah Caroline. Thomas Worth. & Ann Ross. Children to Sanders & Lydia Glover. Got safe over the Kin Pox March 1803
Lydia -Hannah Caroline - Thomas Worth - Ann Ross-& Charles- children to Sanders & Lydia Glover got safe over the Hooping Cough In June 1804-at Goose Creek

Sanders Glover Father to those Children departed this life on the 25~ of October 1814 Aged 55 years of an Apoplectic fit.

Snatched from this world in one short night, My Dearest husband, kindest friend, And gone, I trust, to Realms of light, to heavenly Joys, that never End L.Glover
Hannah Caroline Glover Departed this life on the 2nd day of November 1816 Aged 22 years

Ah why my Dear Child do I weep
For the, in thy Messed Abode Who art now lying sweetly asleep, In the arms of your Saviour & God L. Glover
Ann Ross Glover Departed this life on the 30th of October 1823 Aged 22 years & seven Months~torn from the fond Embraces of her Affectionate Mother to that of her Saviour on whom all her hopes were Centered L Glover

Mary Eliza. Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized at Goose Creek by the Rev. Mr. Elliton In the year 1787 June

Rhodia Ann. Daughter to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized In Charleston by the Rev. Mr. Holendshead June 8, 1790

Sanders son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized at Ponpon by the Rev. Stewart. December 1790

Lydia & Hannah Caroline. Daughters to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized 31st day of May 1795. In Charleston by the Rev. Mr. Holendshead


Thomas Worth son to Sanders & Lydia Glover was Baptized March 1798. In Charleston by the Rev.' Mr. Holendshead.

Louis de Lestarjette 5x Great Grandfather

Louis de Lestarjette was born in France and immigrated to America sometime before the Revolutionary War. He traveled with Captain Cochran and each would marry an Elliott sister. Elizabeth Burnham Elliott   would marry Louis. They would go in to business together, shipping goods to Europe from the Carolinas.

When Benjamin Franklin was in Paris to negotiate assistance from France he sent a letter to him offering his services as a translator. After working with Franklin in December 1776 and January and February 1777 he would return from France and join the militia in South Carolina and fight along side Colonel Joseph Glover. Louis and Elizabeth would have Sophia who would marry Joseph's son Sanders.

I found this letter during my research of my family tree. I had no idea I was part French. Here is the letter.

From Louis Lestarjette

als: American Philosophical Society

[Before December 15, 1776]

Honourable Sir,

I take the liberty of offering you my best Services in this kingdom being extremely well versed in both English, and French languages, especially in the French as my mother tongue and brought up in the College of the four Nations at Paris where I was eight Years. Capn. Cochran and myself married two Sisters in South Carolina. I came over with him in the Vessel which he commands, merely to serve the Province in doing the affairs of that Vessel, and explaining to the French merchants the nature of our trade, and the manufacturing the different goods proper for that Country. I have fulfilled my mission, and Capn. Cochran can inform you of my Character. Mr. Dean also has seen a Sketch of my abilities in Paris where I went with Capn. Cochran, and was constantly with Mr. Dean for whom I interpreted the different transactions that were going on at that time. It is not the case with you, Sir, Speaking and Writing the French language properly; but your time will be so much taken up at Paris in matters of Conversation that it would be morally impossible for you to undergo the whole fatigue. I speak and write the French language, I may Say with elegance, and I have nothing else in View in offering to Stay with you, than to Serve the just Cause of America which is become my native Land. It is neither necessity or any motives of interest that lead me to open myself to you on that Subject. I am well Settled in Charlestown where I have a wife and two Children in whom I place all my happiness, and who I dare Say long for my return, but Sir, I would sacrify many enjoyments of life to be attached to so illustrious a Gentleman engaged in so noble a Cause, and whom the whole world admires. The Vessel I came in is to Sail in about a fortnight. Only Say a word, and I’ll Stay. I may venture to advance that you could not easily meet with a French American of my Capacity, and to whom you may entrust the most Secret affairs. I am with the most profound Veneration Honourable Sir, Your most humble Servant.

Lis. Lestarjette

Addressed: The Honourable / Doctr. Frankling

Notation: Lestargette

Lestarjette, Louis 

South Carolina merchant.

Colonel Joseph Glover 5x Great Grandfather

Joseph Glover (1719-1783) was born in Edonton, North Carolina and married Margaret Kelly. They became the parents of nine children. He moved to Colleton County, South Carolina where Margaret died and he remarried Anne Wilson Doughty in September 1751.

He acted as appraiser on a plantation after the death of William Singleton in 1744 which is where he found the home where he lived for the remainder of his life. His numerous descendants live throughout the United States.

He served in the Continental Army as Colonel of the Colleton County Regiment. He continued to hold that post after the first Council of Safety was formed in the same year. At the beginning of the American Revolution, Colonel Glover was Senior Officer of Militia in South Carolina in charge of munitions west of the Edisto River. During the war, he outfitted his own three-masted square rigger as a “Man of War.” His ship was later dismantled and sunk in the channel of the Charles Town Harbor, along with other vessels, under instructions from the Second Provincial Congress, in the hopes that the entrance of the harbor would be so obstructed that the British fleet would not be able to enter and attack the city.

In addition to being a soldier, Colonel Glover was a churchman and a lawmaker. As vestryman of St. Bartholomew’s Parish, he was elected from the parish to serve in the Legislature in 1781.

Next Sanders Glover 4x Great Grandfather  *(if I can find anything about him)

Charles Worth Glover *6x Great Grandfather

Charles Worth Glover was born on  April 23,  1688, at Varina Parish, Henrico, Va. He married Sarah Sanders (circa 1713) at  Henrico, Va. Charlesworth Glover died on 28 December 1732.

Charles and Sarah had four children: 
Charles Worth Glover, Jr. born October 22, 1721, at Longpoint plantation near Charleston, SC, William Glover, born September 7, 1724, at Ft. Moore near Savannah, Ga., Mary Glover, born July 31, 1726, at Dorchester, St. George, SC, and Thomas Glover, born April 27, 1730. Out of these four children, the only one known to bear issue was Mary.

Charles had a brother Joseph. Joseph Glover married but his wife's name is unknown and records show she died in childbirth on June 8, 1719, at Chowan, N.C.. Joseph Glover died that same year, but his son survived and was believed to have become a ward of his
uncle, Charles Worth Glover. That son was Joseph Glover, who later became a colonel of the Colleton County, S.C. Milita during the Revolutionary War.

Joseph is my 5x Great Grandfather and he is next.

William Glover, 7x Great Grandfather

William Glover was my 7x Great Grandfather. He was born in Rappahannock County, Virginia in Farham in 1653. He was an attorney and had a long career as a public servant. He was selected as acting deputy governor following the dismissal of Governor Thomas Cary. His tenure was marked with continuing tensions between Anglicans and dissenters that eventually led to Cary's Rebellion.

In 1688 he was a resident of Henrico County, Virginia, where he served as a justice. He was evidently married to Mary Davis and possibly had three sons by her. Glover was also the guardian of John Davis of Henrico County, Virginia. By 1707 he was remarried to a woman named Catherine and had a daughter by the marriage.

Glover began his government career as a clerk for the courts, council, secretary, and the Crown. From 1700 to 1712, he participated on the executive council as a member or as president. While on the council, Glover had his share of foes not afraid to speak their opinion of him. In 1700, James Cole was accused of offering “several abusive indignities to the Honorable Wm. Glover Esqr.” Six years later, James Norcome received “ten lashes on his bare back” for saying “very scandalous words and expressions” against Glover and Christopher Gale.

However, Glover’s greatest challenge came from Thomas Cary and the uprising that he led. The disrupting effects of the Cary Rebellion [essentially a religious quarrel between Quaker and Anglican, or Church of England, political factions] on the life of Bath and the Pamlico region can hardly be exaggerated.

While Cary was in South Carolina in 1706 and 1707, Glover served as acting governor since he was president of the council. In October of that year, John Porter, who had been sent to England to present grievances to the Lords Proprietors, returned with Cary’s suspension and authority to chose new council members and governor. With Glover still presiding, Porter convened the new councilors and had Glover elected as chief executive. Cary and Glover attempted but failed to resolve their dispute.

Glover like previous governors called for an oath of office which kept Quakers out of public office since their faith does not allow for the swearing of oaths. By the summer 1708, Porter called a meeting of current and former councillors and declared Glover’s election illegal. Porter then decided to support Cary after the former governor changes his position about oaths. The events resulted in two men claiming the governorship, causing turmoil and violence for the colony. One contemporary account called the actions taken by both sides “liker the freaks of madmen than the actions of men of reason.” In October 1708, both sides tried to settle their difference in the assembly following elections that had rival delegates going to the assembly. Unfortunately for Glover, Cary’s supporters controlled the assembly and elected him president. Glover went to Virginia claiming that Cary wanted “to take away my life.”

Glover served on the council from 1711 to 1712 under Governor Edward Hyde, who assumed the governorship from Cary. During Hyde’s tenure, Cary led an armed uprising against the government, but Glover apparently was not an active participant in the suppression of it.  I have found multiple years for his death, 1712 and 1713, both in North Carolina.

Next: Charles Worth Glover, 6x Great Grandfather

I discovered when the Glovers immigrated to America

Today doing a little research on my family tree I  discovered when the Glovers immigrated to America.

I knew they weren't on the Mayflower and that he was here before 1637 because he was married in Virginia in 1637 to Mary Booker. So I did a search for passenger lists from ships between the Mayflower in 1620 to 1637 and found a great resource at http://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm. I found record of a passenger list from a ship called the Assurance that left London, England on July 24, 1635.

On that list I found a Richard Glover age 24, which from the information I have on him would be about right for him in 1635. He was born in Yelden, Befordshire, England on May 10, 1611. He would live a long life for those days. He was aboard a ship in Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia that was lost at sea in 1684.

I cannot express how much this discovery has meant to me. I only wish I could have found this information while my parents were still alive. I can't guarantee you will find similar stories about your ancestors buy I know you will enjoy what you do find out. I use archives.com for my research and have had pretty good luck with it. It is only $49 a year and is cheap compared to the more expensive websites online.

Good luck and good hunting.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Bud and Bess Glover, 1921

My father would have been 82 on September 28th. He was born in DeLeon, Texas to Bud and Bess Glover in 1931. He had two older brothers, Buddy and BJ. His father served in World War I and was gassed by the Germans and had problems with his lungs from then on. Buddy served with the Navy during World War II as a pilot of landing craft in the Pacific Theater of operations. BJ served in Germany at the end of World War II and after 13 years left the Army and enlisted in the Air force. He would serve in the Air Force for 12 years, most during the Vietnam War.

My father served in the Navy during the Korean War aboard a minesweeper. While in the service he noticed how much fun the barber had with the men as he was cutting their hair and became a barber when he was discharged.

He met my mother and after a short courtship they were married in 1955. I am the oldest of their children and I have a brother, Jeff, and a  sister, Lisa. My mother worked for Sears and retired from them when my sister was born. So they raised us on a Barber's pay and we never needed anything other than what they provided.

He worked as a barber for nearly 40 years in Irving at Cliff's Barber Shop. This November marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination in Dallas. My father had cut Oswald's hair before that day and was interviewed multiple times by FBI agents after that day. When he was interviewed by the newspapers in Irving and DeLeon, when he moved back to his hometown, he never mentioned that fact.

He was a devoted husband and father and worked 6 days a week to provide for us. He would get one week a year for vacation and he would always want to get back to work by that Saturday. He just couldn't pass up his biggest day of business. They took us camping most of the time and took us to the Capitol in Austin once. He was a great grandfather to our kids and always watched movies in his room with my son when we visited.

He knew everyone in Irving and DeLeon and talked with them all. I find myself doing that from time to time now. I was shy as a kid but as I grow older I seem to be more talkative to people like he was. My number one goal in life is for people to think of me what they thought of my dad.

We lost him 10 years ago this passed March to cancer and not a day goes by that I don't think of him. I think of him when I watch football, when I watch a John Wayne movie, when I hear some old country music, when I cut my hair, etc. I can never really get over losing him but am able to get up every morning go to work because of the examples he set. I try and be as good a husband for LeAnn and as good a father to BriAnne and Harrison. I thank you for all you taught me Dad and for all the love you showed me even though I went through a rough patch. I hope I make you proud.

Love and miss you Daddy. I am proud to have your name and hope you are proud of what I have become.

Today is not my Fathers Day

Today is not my Fathers Day. It will never be about me on this day. It is for my father and LeAnn's father. My Father's Days are June 1st and June 2nd, the birthdays of my son and daughter.

We spent a day with LeAnn's father on Saturday. We took the pontoon out on the lake and watched my daughter and her friend walk on the beach we went up to. He smoked a brisket all day while we were on the lake. The brisket was awesome by the way. It is always great to spend time with Nathan and Glenda.

Many of you know that my father passed away in 2003 on March 18th. I try and forget that today is Father's Day. I usually don't celebrate it by doing anything special, much like he did by the way. He was a very unassuming man with a heart of gold. He treated everybody the same, whether they were family, friends or a stranger. He treated them all with respect and courteousness.

My hope is to someday live my life as close to the way he did as possible. I know it is very unlikely that I will ever live up to his standards but I will always strive to do it. He accepted me for being me and all my mistakes were part of that. He never missed a chance to say he loved me and I will forever be grateful for that. It taught me to always let people you love and care about know how you feel about them.

I miss him terribly and will probably never get over the loss but I know he would want me to.
Therefore I live each day with him in my heart and thoughts. I can count the number of days I have gone without mentioning him on one hand. He is the reason I am who I am. He was a great husband, a great father, a great uncle, a great friend and most of all a great man.

There are more blogs I have written about my father. Read them if you haven't please.

My Father's Connection to History

In Memory of My Father

The month of my mother

Memories of my mom cover every type of activity I was involved with in my early life. Some good, some not so good. She was our protector, doctor, teacher, coach, cook but most of all she was an example. She rushed to our defense when we needed it, she took care of our cuts and bruises, she taught us how to waltz in the living room, she taught us how to catch and throw a baseball and football and she made the best meals next to her own Mother's food.

She fished better than most everyone I have ever met. She would always catch the biggest catfish. She lived for Tiger, Longhorn and Cowboy football games. No one was brave enough to sit next to her on the couch. There are pictures somewhere of her watching the Cotton Bowl game in 1970 all alone in the living room. She would almost be sick after a loss. Every sport that means anything to me today I owe to her.

Another thing she loved was music. When she was younger she sang in church with two of her cousins. She loved the 50's groups and her favorite all time was Marty Robbins. She would always watch him perform waiting for him to crack up and marvel at how he would not lose his place in the song he was singing. I have more to say about my mother but will leave them for a later blog. I will post of few of the songs I remember her liking to end this blog.

A little about my mother

My mom, ,me and my sister Lisa

I am not a fan of the month of May. My mom's birthday was the 13th and she passed away on the 23rd. That's not even counting Mother's Day. There were so many good times on those days and many others but in 2009 all those things were wiped from my memory. She spent her last birthday and Mother's Day in the hospital with medical problems but she would not want me to dwell on that last month so I will look at the better times we enjoyed with her.

My mother, Tina De, was born May 13,1936 in Erath County, Texas. Her parents were James Arthur  and Emma Harrison. He was a veteran of World War I and a farmer. They grew peanuts in the sandy fields around their home. My mother and her sisters all worked in the fields hoeing the weeds and picking the peanuts. The sand would get so hot it would leave blisters on their feet but somehow she never lost her love of working in the yard, in fact later when us kids were all grown she would get mad if we mowed her lawn for her.

She went to school in Comyn until they closed the schools down and then she went to Dublin High but her parents transferred her to DeLeon High School after a disagreement with a grade in a class. She skipped second grade and went on to be Salutatorian of her class. She became an accountant at a bank in Comanche and lived with her older sister Oleta and her husband Wayne during this time. After she met my dad and they were married they moved to just outside Ft. Worth in Handley while my father completed barbers school. 

Once he graduated he got a job at a barbershop in Irving and she went to work for Sears and Roebuck in the accounting department. She would work there until my brother was born when she retired became a stay at home mother. Living on only a barber's wages in those days couldn't have been very easy. I  can't ever remember a time when we needed much more that what we had. My parents each taught Sunday School at Plymouth Park Baptist Church and were founding members of that church. My parents also had a deep love for music and shared that with us all the time and we would even dance around the house from time to time. 

My mom taught me and my brother how to play baseball and football since our dad worked daylight to dark 6 days a week. She took care of our injuries and helped us with our homework. She typed our essays and was great at math. She was a huge sports fan, mostly Irving Tigers, Texas Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys. She would get so worked up watching a game that she would get sick if her team lost. We made sure to give her a wide berth at home on the couch when one of these games was on. She was also a big baseball fan. She got this from her father who would listen to Yankee's and Dodger's games on their radio. She passed all her love for sports to me. She gave everything she had into raising us kids and would do anything in the world to help us out if we needed it and did from time to time.

When my sister was born in 1966 we moved down the street into a bigger house and that was the only time they moved in my first 40 years. When my sister started school she went back to work doing accounting for X-ray companies. She would work mostly in that field until she retired from Davenport Dallas X-ray Company when my dad got sick with cancer. Then they moved to their hometown of DeLeon where they would each spend the rest of their lives. 

My father passed away March 18th in 2003 and she would spend the next 6 years alone in the house that my dad had grown up in DeLeon. We visited her every other weekend and she would always be waiting for us with a pot of coffee and her big smile when we walked in. We would sit on the porch talking about what had been going on in her life but what she really wanted to talk about was her grand kids. Each Saturday morning you could count on her waking up and making a great breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, sliced tomatoes, cantaloupes and biscuits and gravy. Her gravy was it's own food group. I am so blessed that she taught my wife LeAnn how to make her gravy so I can still enjoy it.

There was so much I was looking forward to doing for her but she got sick and in a matter of weeks she was gone. It was shocking to me that it had happened the way it did. Her mom's side of the family all lived long lives in to their 90's and we all  took it for granted that she would too but she had been having small strokes and no one knew about them. When her gall bladder gave her problems she went to the hospital and they found that she had blockage in her arteries in and around her brain. The worst of the blocked arteries was her carotids in her neck. 

They told her that they couldn't do surgery on her gall bladder because of the chance for an aneurysm. They said that her chance to survive a cleaning of the carotid to unblock the flow of blood was slim but she chose to have it done and we all prayed for the best. She survived the surgery and was in great spirits the next time we saw and even was eating her first real food since going into the hospital. That was the last time we were able to talk to her since she had a stroke the following day. They told us that there was slim chance she would improve and my mom had chosen to not receive life extending medical care and we all were with her when they cut the feeding tube and turned the oxygen machines off.

When I woke up the next morning she was gone. It was a blessing for her that she didn't have to live a life where everything would have to be done for her and I know that but it was still a hard thing for me. I have hardly been able to go to that house and it was always a special place for me and my wife. My brother Jeff's family and mine carry on our family tradition of the holidays and spend more time together than we have in the past and my sister Lisa and I talk more lately than we ever did since we were kids. I think that would make her happy. 

We will never be over the loss of her but we will always have the lessons she taught us and the memory of her dancing with us in the living room to "Put your Little Foot" and the way she screamed our names during football games as kids. She was a great wife and mom and I only hope to pass a portion of what she taught us on to my kids. If I can do that I will feel I am a success as a parent. I love you Mom. We all love you and miss you very much.

Her favorite was Marty Robbins

My dad played this song often for her on Mother's Day and I wouldn't feel like I finished it without including it here. Enjoy.

Ancestors records of military service

My grandfather PaBud's registration card from 1917
I never had the chance to meet him. He passed away
3 years before I was born. I have a 48 star flag that covered
his coffin. One of my most prized possessions.

My Grand Dad's registration card from 1917. He walked across Europe with frost bite so bad
he could hardly walk after the war. He also suffered from PTS occasionally. He passed away just
before my 10th birthday.

Besides these great Americans, my father and his two brothers all served in the Military. The oldest, Buddy, piloted landing craft in Italy and then in the Pacific theater during World War II. BJ served in the Army during the end of World War II and then with the Air Force during Korea and Vietnam. My father was in the Navy during the Korean War. 

Though they all came back home some were never the same. Buddy was always on edge and when there was a loud noise he would just go back to his days in the service. BJ was so ashamed of the way the American people treated Vietnam vets that he chose to live in Europe during the best years of his life. My father was blessed to return pretty much like he was when he went in. 

Friends of mine in the neighborhood I grew up in served in Vietnam and some paid the ultimate price. Some were disabled but made it home. I honor their sacrifice and their family's sacrifice by fighting to keep our country the way our Founders wanted it to be. We all should consider our self BLESSED to live in this country where we have the liberty and freedoms that they fought and died for. 

This weekend take a minute and say a prayer or just have a minute of silence for those that paid the ultimate sacrifice if not to make us the country we are today but to help spread the freedom that we enjoy today. 

My own personal Father's Days

Harrison and BriAnne(BiBi)

I have always considered the next two days as my personal Fathers Days. It's not because of gifts I receive each year on those days. It's because of the gifts I received 22 and 18 years ago, our son and daughter. I remember those days almost like they were yesterday. 

LeAnn and I were at some friend's of ours when her water broke about midnight. We went by the house to get her pillow and the bag she had packed for the event. We then headed down the road to Grand Prairie Hospital where the long ordeal began. We were put into a room and test were run. Since she had not yet started dilating or having contractions we were told to get some rest. She was in a bed and I was in a chair but neither of us got much sleep with the nurses coming in ever so often to check on her status.

It was like that for most of the next 18 hours till one of the nurses came running in and said they were going to have to do a C-Section to get our son since his heartbeat had begun to slow. She was rushed down the hall to get prepped for surgery and I was told to sit in the room. Then a nurse showed up and gave me some scrubs and told me to change. As I nervously changed from my clothes I was worried if I could make it through the birth. I always had a difficult time watching videos of friends surgeries and had even passed out during a movie. I was a little squeamish about blood to say the least.

In about 20 minutes the nurse came in and told me to follow her. She took me to the delivery room where LeAnn was all covered and people were standing all around her. I was told to sit by her head and talk to her. She was shaking so I thought she was cold but she said it was from the drugs they gave her. I held her hand and talked to her until they were ready for me to watch.

When told to stand up I was amazed by how unfazed I was by the scene in front of me. They had already did the incision and were reaching in to grab our son. As they brought him out and I told her he was beautiful. A nurse brought him over to me and told me to go with her to be weighed and measured. As we were walking down the hall the fire alarms went off, kind of a warning for things to come with Harrison. They measured him, weighed him, printed his feet and put a bracelet on his leg all while I was present to assure us and them there was no mistake later.

When we left to take him back to the recovery room where they had moved LeAnn we were met at the door by firemen with axes and hoses standing on the other side. We stood to the side and left after they had all entered and walked down the hall to give Harrison to LeAnn so she could hold him for the first time. It all became real at that moment and I can't explain the anxious joy that I experienced.

For the record there was no fire in the hospital that night. Some kid had just pulled the alarm in the hall outside the nursery.

From that moment on everything had changed. We had become a family and everything I did from then on was for them more than it was for me. Four years later, almost to the day, we were again in a hospital delivery room. This time she was scheduled to be induced early in the morning. I think she got her first shot at 7 in the morning. The next 12 hours were the most emotional and exhausting time of my life. Watching her struggle with the pain and contractions over and over wore me and a friend of ours out and I was doing next to nothing.

A friend of ours and her father were in the room with us. Lorie was there by request and Nathan was in the room checking up on her for the families. When it was time for the final push the nurse left to get the doctor but before leaving told her not to push. Yea, right! When she began pushing Nathan was on the phone with LeAnn's mom, who was home staying with her mother who was ill at the time, and was blocked from getting out by all the other people in the room so he got the show of his life from the couch in the room. When BriAnne was born we knew that instantly she was going to be the last one. We had our boy and we had our girl. Nothing else was needed. We were complete.

This Saturday Harrison is 22 and Sunday BriAnne is 18. It is hard to believe that our kids have grown up so fast into these amazing adults they are today. It seems like it was just yesterday I was dropping them off at daycare with their bottle of Coffee and Cream. Today as parents we couldn't be prouder of either one of them. They are both independent thinkers and remember most of the things we have spent years teaching them. I love each of them infinitely more than they will realize until the day when they have the joy of parenthood. I look forward to that phase of our lives. Together with LeAnn I think we will make perfect grandparents.

PS: Back to her first pregnancy with Harrison, the friends we were hanging out with that night, we saw them pretty regular from the time we started dating and all through her pregnancy. That night her water broke was the last time we ever saw them. They must have moved during the first 2 weeks to a month after Harrison was born and we have yet to hear any news about them since. It's like they disappeared off the face of the earth. I have looked for them on Facebook often but to no avail. It's weird how friendships end sometimes but this is the strangest I have ever heard of.

My father

My Dad, Bert E. Glover was born September 28,1931 in De Leon, Texas. His father was WW I veteran Marion Bud Glover and his mother was Bess Estelle Pilcher Glover.  His father was gassed in WW I and never really recovered from it and as a result he couldn't work enough to support their family. So Dad worked from a Cushman Scooter delivering milk as a kid and dropped out of high school in the 11th grade to help the family through some hard times.

Dad joined the Navy in 1949 and went to boot camp in Chicago. When he got out of boot camp as a fireman second class he was assigned to the USS Macomb DMS 23. On the Macomb Dad was sent into the Mediterranean to recover mines left over from WW II. On the cruise he went to Libya,  France, Italy, Lebanon and Tunisia. Dad was honorably discharged on December 31,1953.

The Flag that covered his
casket during his funeral

Letter from President Bush

Not to long after he got home Dad met my Mom, Tina De Harrison and they were married on January 4, 1955. While in the Navy he became acquainted with the barbers and liked the conversations he had with them while getting his hair cut and decided that is what he would do for a living. For the next couple of years while Bert was going to Barber School they lived in Handley, Texas. After graduating they moved to Irving to work for Cliff Shasteen's Barber Shop. He would work for Cliff until he passed in 1991 then he took over the shop for the next 5 years.

 I was born in 1962, my brother in 1964 and my sister in 1966. We lived on the same street for 35 years in 2 houses. Dad worked 6 days a week and took one week of vacation a year. This gave me the work ethic that made it possible to get to where I am today in my profession. We weren't rich by any means so when we were younger we went fishing a lot and picnicked at area lakes on the weekends or just took a drive into the country for entertainment. Sometimes we would go to Great Southwest Airport and watch planes land and depart. One of the biggest times we had was going to the drive-in and watching a double feature. It was always fun and all about spending quality time with the family.

One of Dad's joys was listening to his antique radios and finding some song he hadn't heard in years. He would also listen to the Grand Ole Opry and Roy Acuff. He would imitate Bashful Brother Oswald, Acuff's dobro player, making us all laugh. His favorite was Hank Williams Sr. though and he had all of his records. Sometimes he would get his fiddle down and try and play with them or try and teach us to play. These were good times.

As a kid, Dad was a huge fan of Gene Autry and Roy Rogers movies. As he got older he loved John Wayne movies and passed that on to his kids. He would also enjoy the occasional Chuck Norris and Steven Segal movie and after my son Harrison was born, many times you would find them in his room watching a  movie together.

Dad was well known in our town. He cut some of the police officers and most of the football players and coaches hair. He had cut three or four generations of some families.  He would be interrupted often, when we went out to eat, by his customers and would spend 30 minutes talking to them and would eat his dinner cold much of the time. He loved high school football and could tell you who was the head coach of lots of schools across the state. I went to my first football game when I was little over a month old with my parents and my dad and I went to many more till he was diagnosed with cancer. Going to the football games was something we looked forward to all year till football season started and I missed it once he couldn't do that much walking any more.

He was a great husband to my mother and she was a great wife to him. They were perfect examples of  a successful marriage and I think that is why none of us kids has divorced. We saw them work through their problems and never quit loving each other. He was a great father and would do anything that was possible to help us when we needed it. He would do the same for his 3 grand children.  The thing about my Dad was he never missed a chance to tell each of us that he loved us.

His parents on their
wedding day in 1921

       
When he was nearing the end and chose not to go through the chemotherapy any more we would sit at the dining room table drinking coffee and talking about my future. He begged me to quit smoking and told me he was proud of the man I had become. Our last visit I could tell he was very sick and I told him he didn't have to keep fighting for us, that he could go ahead and rest for now. On the next Tuesday, March 18,2003, when I got home from work my brother called me to tell me that he had passed away. We had his viewing the following day which turned out to be the first day of the Iraqi War and on the next day he was buried next to his Brother and Grandfather.
         
Dad, we will always miss you till our last breath and will love you for eternity. I am always striving to live up to your standards that you set as a man and father. I fear I will always fall short, but people tell me more and more that I look and act just like you. That makes me smile beyond belief. Thanks for all you provided for our family but mostly for just being you.

There is a bronze marker
at the foot of the grave.

My father's connection to November 22,1963

Bert Elmo Glover 1931-2003

Although my father grew tired of talking about it after many years of interviews by FBI agents I still find it interesting to know that he had cut Oswald's hair before that day in Dallas in '63. My father's barber chair sat in front of a sink and mirror just like many did. Above the mirror was a picture of the frigate he served on in the Navy during the Korean War. So my father knew something about serving our country.

He would tell us when we were young that he cut Oswald's hair and we didn't understand the meaning of it. I would see Frazier, the man that took Oswald to work that day, in his shop from time to time when I would be there sweeping the floor or the occasional shoe shine. He was a distant man who would not join in the conversation when there was others present but when he was alone with my father they would talk and laugh and enjoy each other's company. I think in some small way my father knew what time answering the same questions year after year had done to him.

When he talked about Oswald he said they would have lively conversations about politics and that once or twice they had to ask Oswald to leave. My father didn't take fools well. Though a Republican, at least I believe he was, he had respect for President Kennedy due to his service in the Navy during World War II and the other barbers did too and they didn't allow anyone to talk down about him or America too often.

Oswald's wife was staying in a house around the corner from the barber shop with Miss Ruth Payne. I met Miss Payne a couple of times too at football games or at diners where we would go eat for lunch. She was a nice woman too.

Back to the FBI interviews now, when I first started searching for our family tree I found an odd link that said Warren Commission on it. I didn't pay it any attention at first then I opened it and couldn't believe what I saw. It was my dad's, Buddy Law's and Cliff Shasteen's interview reports.(report is linked here) I  read it and printed it out and took it to work to show my co workers and when I was off that night I took it to my parent's home to show them. He wasn't interested at all in it but my mom did read it that night.

My father was a barber in Irving,Texas for over 40 years and many times had cut hair of 3 generations of the same family. They all called him Bert and he knew each of them by their names too. He would talk about high school football, fishing in the gravel pits or local politics since his boss was a city councilman in the city.

When he retired my brother brought his son to see him for one last haircut and I was there for a burr for old times sake. I haven't grown my hair back since and now I'm not sure it can grow long enough to not be called a burr.

The day after he retired he went to the doctor and they told him he had cancer. He had the surgery to remove half of his lung on the day the plane crashed on Long Island in New York. We watched the news while he was in surgery. He would go on doing his chemotherapy treatments for about 18 more months. My parents even moved back to his hometown for retirement and drove the 250 miles round trip to get his treatments for a while.

He knew they weren't working and decided one day that he had had enough of them and that drive. He met it on his own terms and was ready for whatever would come his way. The weekend before he passed we sat at the dining room table and I told him I was sorry for disappointing him when I had and I also told him he could quit fighting it whenever he was ready. Leaving them after our visit that weekend was one of the hardest things I have ever done.

Anyway, that next week on Tuesday my brother called and told me he was gone. The next night while we were at the viewing the Iraq war started. My brother in law Rick was in the Marines and stationed at the Pentagon working for intelligence at the time and told us that he could tell us now that it was started. We sat up late into the night talking about my day and watching the news show us what was happening in Baghdad.

I know I have rambled but I thought I would talk about the man my father was for a bit after telling you about the biggest bit of history of his life. My father never knew the things that I found out later about our family tree which include an interpreter for Ben Franklin, Revolutionary War Colonel in the militia, Civil War Colonel and even a martyr in England for religious reasons by Bloody Mary. Somehow he lived his life like the people I have learned about since his passing by serving this great country and teaching Sunday School for a time. He was always happy and would talk to a tree if it said hi to him. I live each day trying to be like him but I will always fall short of that goal. I love him more and more each day and talk about him more each day too. For me it doesn't get easier to live without him. Every time there is a John Wayne movie on or I hear a Hank Williams Sr. I think about the times we had just talking and watching a movie or sitting and listening to the Grand Ole Opry and he is with me.

Happy Anniversary LeAnn!!

Happy Anniversary LeAnn!!

LeAnn and I in 2009

     I have been blessed to be married to LeAnn for 21 years now. We were married on November 14, 1992(Valentines Day in November). She is a gift from God that I needed at a time when I needed it most. She gave my life meaning and a purpose. It hasn't always been easy but I wouldn't trade the last 21 years for anything. We have 2 great kids, Harrison and BriAnne(BiBi), and a beautiful home. I even have great in-laws. Without her none of this would have been conceivable for me.

When we first got together friends of ours would tell people we knew that there wasn't anyway that this would last. They didn't see the friendship that turned into love. Over the years we have become closer and closer and now can read each other's minds in some weird way. She is the rock of this relationship and always tries to keep me from being my negative self. My love for her is endless and grows each and every day.
   
I U Sweetcakes!! To the moon and back!!

Harrison wanting us to pick him up

"With this ring, I thee wed..."

Following the preacher with Jody and Jeff past my parents

LeAnn being escorted by her Dad

With my parents afterwards

Military Service from Revolution to Viet Nam

Military Service from Revolution to Viet Nam

     

      Many of you know that I have been working on my Glover family tree for about 15 years now. Today I have been thinking about why my family is in America. I have written here about Robert Glover and how he was executed as a  religious heretic during the reign of "Bloody" Mary. Within another 100 years the Glover family had immigrated to Virginia in America after fleeing England for Holland. I have yet to find the year or which they immigrated but happened about 20 years after the Mayflower. They had to run away from their home due to religious persecution and found a home where they could practice whatever faith they had.

      After they immigrated to Virginia during the next century they started moving South, first to North Carolina where William Glover was Governor before the Revolutionary War. One of his sons, Joseph, was a Colonel in the South Carolina Militia during the American Revolution. Also during the war Louis Lestarjette acted as an interpreter for Benjamin Franklin in France in later 1776 and the first few months of 1777.

       After the Revolutionary War Col. Joseph Glover's grandson, Sanders II, married Sophia Lestarjette, Louis' daughter, and migrated to Tallapoosa,Alabama. When the Civil War broke out he was acting as armament officer for the Confederacy where his job was to keep the forces armed. He died as a result of a battle in Henrico County,Virginia in 1862. His children moved first to New Orleans where my grandfather Bud Marion Glover was born in 1894 and then finally to Texas where my father was born in 1931.

My father, Bert Glover, 1949

                Both of my Grandfathers served in World War I in Europe and one of them suffered mustard gas poisoning but survived for another 40 years and one of them suffered from Shell Shock and frost bite. My dad served in the Navy during the Korean War but on a minesweeper in the Mediterranean. His oldest brother piloted a Higgins Boat in the Pacific Theater of war. He was present during Iwo Jima and Guadacanal. His other brother started serving in the Army during the police action in Germany after the War and served 12 years in the Army there. When Viet Nam was ramping up he left the Army and signed up with the Air Force and served 11 more years.

               All in all it's a pretty distinguished line of Glovers I can call my ancestors. From religious martyrs in England, Revolutionary War patriots, CSA commanders and veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. I am honored to call them my family and can't wait to find out when and where exactly my family immigrated to the new world about 500 years ago. My hope is as you read this you get curious about your own family and begin the rewarding experience of researching your tree. Let me warn you that it is very addicting.

               

This picture is of my Great Grandparents Butler Osborne Glover and Hassey on their wedding day in 1875.








This one is of my Grandparents Bud and Bess Glover on their wedding day in 1921.

Louis de Lestarjette's letter to Ben Franklin

Louis de Lestarjette

This is a letter I found online while researching my family tree. I was flabbergasted to find out I was part French. I hope you enjoy it.

From Louis Lestarjette

als: American Philosophical Society

[Before December 15, 1776]

Honourable Sir,

I take the liberty of offering you my best Services in this kingdom being extremely well versed in both English, and French languages, especially in the French as my mother tongue and brought up in the College of the four Nations at Paris where I was eight Years. Capn. Cochran and myself married two Sisters in South Carolina. I came over with him in the Vessel which he commands, merely to serve the Province in doing the affairs of that Vessel, and explaining to the French merchants the nature of our trade, and the manufacturing the different goods proper for that Country. I have fulfilled my mission, and Capn. Cochran can inform you of my Character. Mr. Dean also has seen a Sketch of my abilities in Paris where I went with Capn: Cochran, and was constantly with Mr. Dean for whom I interpreted the different transactions that were going on at that time. It is not the case with you, Sir, Speaking and Writing the French language properly; but your time will be so much taken up at Paris in matters of Conversation that it would be morally impossible for you to undergo the whole fatigue. I speak and write the French language, I may Say with elegance, and I have nothing else in View in offering to Stay with you, than to Serve the just Cause of America which is become my native Land. It is neither necessity or any motives of interest that lead me to open myself to you on that Subject. I am well Settled in Charlestown where I have a wife and two Children in whom I place all my happiness, and who I dare Say long for my return, but Sir, I would sacrify many enjoyments of life to be attached to so illustrious a Gentleman engaged in so noble a Cause, and whom the whole world admires. The Vessel I came in is to Sail in about a fortnight. Only Say a word, and I’ll Stay. I may venture to advance that you could not easily meet with a French American of my Capacity, and to whom you may entrust the most Secret affairs. I am with the most profound Veneration Honourable Sir, Your most humble Servant.

Lis. Lestarjette

Addressed: The Honourable / Doctr. Frankling

Notation: Lestargette

Lestarjette, Louis 

South Carolina merchant.

Acted as an interpreter for Franklin and Silas Deane in France (December 1776- January 1777). Sailed for South Carolina (February 1777), then returned to Nantes (August 1777). Served in a South Carolina militia regiment (1780) with my 5x great grandfather Col. Joseph Glover and one of his sons. 

I left the language the way I found it in Ben Franklin's papers.