This past month I have started the overwhelming process of working on my family tree on Ancestry. It's been over whelming because you start off with hints, and the you follow the leaves till you run out of them on part of the family tree. Then you start looking at extended family hints and then you have lost count how many cousins you have seen and how many articles you have read. You like get really into it for a few days and then you need a break. I have learned a lot about my family so far, and there are a couple of things that I am going to be looking into this year but it will take a bit before I can do that.
Let's talk movies first. The movies that I have chosen this year to go along with this are going to be movies all about family. Some are classics, some of new but they are all about family. This month I knew I wanted to watch Little Woman. I was originally going to do the classic movie version but I ended up doing the 2019 version instead.
The story of the March sisters is a classic tale of how wonderful a simple story of what life can be. The love, tragedy, the silly, the fun. All of it can be summed up and loved no matter what your walk of life is like. Births, deaths, parties, sadness, hardships are all part of the experiences we all have in the this life and they all create memories that we can all understand. This is what Little Women shows and this is what it helps us to remember when we experience it again.
I really love this story and I really loved watching the new take on the movie. Not much was changed and the telling of the story was more in flashback form rather than telling it from start to finish. However, I liked the flashback take on it because that is what a family tree reminds me of. A Flashback on family, or parts of use that live on from other family members that you never got to meet. People that you hope look down on you and are proud that they played a part in your existence. That even sometimes you find that you find parallels that you didn't see coming.
The first person in my family tree that I would like to introduce is a man that before I had access to the tree on a subscription had me chomping at the bit to find out more about him.
The is my Great-Great-Great Grandfather Henry Frillman.
He was born in 1843 and died in 1932. He had 10 Children and seems to had a good life while he was alive. He fought in the Civil War and witnessed the first World War. I Found out some places where he had lived, and things like that. The first thing I saw on the list that I wanted to get more information on was the fact that he was a Postmaster.
I didn't really find out much more, other than confirming that fact with my grandma, that it's true. He was a postmaster. The reason that I wanted to know was because of the projects I am doing this year I will be visiting the post office the most in my whole life this year. Also, I have the very weird love for the movie series from Hallmark called Signed, Sealed, Delivered and I really just want to know more when I found out he might be one.
I am very lucky to have really great records and details about his time in the Civil War. I found out he was a Union Soldier that volunteered out of Ohio. However, his records show something really touching to me. He was part of the 15th Ohio Regiment in the Civil war. This regiment has been a lot of places during it's time in the war. They were in the Battle of Shiloh, Liberty Gap and The battle of Chickamauga, just to name a few. However, from November 28- December 8 in 1863 they were apart of the March of the relief of Knoxville, Tennessee. My three times great grandfather was in the same city that I live in and hold near and dear to my heart.
What I love about Knoxville that there is history everywhere. You turn a corner something has happened there. We have had artists, authors, and many historical events take place here! I am not from here. My family is not from here. We ended up here over 20 years ago and I have loved living here. I never thought that I would have any relationship with my beloved city other than being apart of the history being made now. When I found our my three times great grandfather was here I cried. Was it for a terrible reason as war, yes. However, never in a million years would I have ever thought that I could have walked the same streets that he did. I mean where my parents live they are a stones throw away from where soldiers where known to be marching and fighting. For all I know my grandfather could have been standing in the same grass that I used to play in growing up. He could have leaned against the same tree that I used to climb. It makes me want to find the streets and places that his regiment was known to walk to get to Knoxville and follow it just for a bit. I might do that at some point this year. There is a Historical Marker in Maryville that says where they gathered to come to Knoxville. I will try and see it myself.
The other fascinating thing I found out about his service is that that next July his regiment was there at the Siege of Atlanta. That is more wildly known as the burning at Atlanta. The one thing that we have seen in many movies and have read in many books, my grandfather was there to see it. Again, when I go to Atlanta I will have to look at it in a new light. I will want to research more about it and find where his regiment may have been for that too.
However, the greatest thing I was able to find is something I can not believe. On Ancestry someone had a picture of him.
Henry Frillman is the man all the way to the right. My linage comes from Henry's youngest child Ester Frillman. Although she is not pictured here her brother Edward is. Edward is all the way to the left. Edward was the oldest of the children. In the middle there is Edward's son Elmer, and in his lap is his son Robert. In below is the only picture that I know to have of Ester with her daughter Gladine. Gladine is my great grandma, she is on the right, who I was very blessed to have met. I am sure there are more but my mom doesn't have all of the documentation.
You can see a family resemblance of Henry, Ester, and my grandma sis.
Finding our this bit of my family has really mad me excited to see what else I can find. I did do a DNA test and I am waiting to get those results back. However, I am found some other characters in the family. I have some great stories that my dad has told me that I want to record and maybe put on here. I also have a few mysteries that I might share too. All I know is that I have been wanting to do this for a number of years and I am so glad that I am finally able to actually put it together and find out more of what makes me who I am.
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