Hallsted Memories

2021 I decided to spend the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend visiting relative grave sites.  I had to limit myself to just the Hallsted side of the family as I come from a very large family.  It would take more than a weekend to do both sides of the family.  Yes, I do realize that Memorial Day is designated for military remembrances, but I decided to honor my relatives as well, some of whom did serve in the military. 

So, at 1 pm on Sunday, May 30 Pete and I took off on a 90-mile loop to visit all the grave sites of immediate family members.  Most of them I knew where they were located, some I had to do some research to find, but I found all of them on my list.  Here we go, not in the order of our drive, but rather in order of oldest to most recent.

Just to provide a little back story, according to the research I’ve done over the years, a single family, the head of which was Jonas Halstead, was at Hempstead, Long Island, New York, twenty odd years after the Dutch made the first settlement there.  But exactly when or how or from what places these Halsteads came to America, except in once case, is unknown.  The Dutch began their explorations in 1602, so the Hallsted name has been in North American for a very long time.

Proceeding with the present-day story, my great grandfather James W. Hallsted is buried at the Westboro Cemetary in Clinton County, Ohio.  He died before I was born so I never knew him directly.  His first wife died in childbirth so it was his second wife, Sarah A. Berger who was the mother of my grandfather, Harry Harrison Hallsted.

                        

I do have memories of Grandpa Hallsted.  I was six years old when he was killed in a car accident on his way to Maysville, KY.  My clearest memory of him was watching him roll cigarettes at the kitchen table.  I remember that he was a very quiet man, never spoke unless there was a need. 

 

        

Marie Tullis Hallsted was my grandmother, his wife.  Again, she passed before I was born, actually, when my Dad was 5 years old.  She was struck by a foul-tipped baseball when she was 7-months pregnant and died 3 days later. 

        

Ralph Hallsted was Dad’s younger brother who died from typhoid fever just months after this photo was taken. 

        

Edna Ruth Hallsted was Harry and Marie’s first-born child.  She filled in the ‘mother’ role after Marie died, until she married in 1935.  She was an awesome aunt and someone I dearly miss.

        

        

Ruth and Uncle Cliff had three additional children who did not survive to adulthood.  One was a stillborn child.  Carl and Harry were killed in a car accident when they were still children.  I remember both with a smile on my face.

                       

    

Rosalee Hallsted Satchell was the third child born to Harry and Marie.  I have very fond memories of Rosalee and thank her often for a dear pet I received from her. 

    

                   

When Aunt Ruth married Clifford Brown, Grandpa Hallsted remarried.  His second wife, Espie Strider was the only grandmother I ever knew and someone who again, was very dear to me.  She and Grandpa had 2 children who grew to adulthood. 

Joann was a dear aunt and I think of her often. 

 

 

And finally, as far as aunts and uncles go, there was Dale Hallsted.  The youngest of the Hallsted children who survived to adulthood.  Dale died of cancer in his early 30’s and because he was so close to my Dad, in his final days he asked to travel to Florida to be with Dad.  The evening of his arrival he passed.  Those days are an indelible memory for me.

 

        

Finally, on our tour of grave sites in 2021, we found the grave site for my cousin, Helen Burton, who is the most recently passed of our Hallsted family.  Helen died on February 16, 2021 from cancer.  Her passing is so recent that her marker has yet to be updated.

                          

     

 

It was a lovely way to spend the day and turned into something of an adventure, attempting to find all the grave sites.  But now I know where they are and can make the visit again sometime in the future.

There may be some who do not understand the desire to make such a visit, but to quote my dear Aunt Ruth, “For me, it is visiting dear friends.” And it was.