I Want to Go "Home"

Last week, my friend Tipper at Blind Pig and the Acorn wrote a post called "The Daffodil." She says, "Each spring, I ponder the Daffodil blooms I see in fields or in wooded areas - in other words blooming in the middle of no where - yet sending out a strong and mighty signal that someone once lived there."

She can tell where her grandparents, great-grandparents, and other ancestors lived by watching for the blooming daffodils.

I have thought so much about her story this week. Tipper lives in the place where her family has lived for generations. Her past is such a big part of her present.That's something I've always longed for. I've always wished I lived in a home my ancestors built. I want an attic full of old things that I can search through. I want to feel the past.  I want to know where I came from. 

Most of my ancestors came West with the Mormon Pioneers between 1850 and 1885. They left behind their homes, their farms, and even their families. They settled in these valleys of Utah and Idaho in sod huts and log cabins that are long gone.

We frequently make pilgrimages to these places - we visit cemeteries and feel the land under our feet. We tell their stories, and we remember.

But I want more. I want to know about my distant past. Where did those pioneer ancestors come from?

Today I found out.

As I was thinking about Tipper's daffodils, I pulled out this picture from one of my mom's scrapbooks, and got to thinking....

(Photo courtesy of Dawn G. Perkins)

What is Ceres, Virginia like now? Are there any daffodils growing where my ancestors used to live?

My ancestors left Ceres, Virginia in 1881. I know that my great-grandfather, Henry Clay Heninger, came to Utah. And I know his parents - my great-great-grandparents - James Preston Heninger and Louisa Catherine Groseclose Heninger came too.

Who did they leave behind? What was their life like in Virginia?

I started doing a little online searching....and this is what I found.

I have an ancestral Home!

At Dean's Corner, Dean (my distant relative), tells all about my Groseclose ancestors - things I've never known before! I knew some names and a few dates, but very little about them - especially that their HOME IS STILL STANDING and being lived in.

It even has an attic filled with treasures!

The house was built by Peter Groseclose, Sr. (my 5th great-grandfather) in 1793, who built it for his son, Henry Groseclose (my 4th great-grandfather). It sits on land that was part of a land grant to Peter Groseclose signed in 1785 by the Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry.

I have an ancestral home!  I can feel my roots pulling me back - back to a home I don't even know.

And it all started with a little daffodil.

The Groseclose clan is having a family reunion this summer. Should we go?!

Photos of Groseclose Home courtesy of Dean's Corner - www.deanscorner.net

Comments

[Thomas MacEntee]

What a great story! It can be heartbreaking to not be able to "go home again" as they say - I keeping wanting to return to the home of my great-grandparents in Grahamsville, New York where I spent wonderful summers.

I think you should make a trip to Ceres and then report back to all of us. These trips are great for not just one's genealogy but for one's soul as well. I should know - in October 2008 I was able to walk in and around the house my 9th great-grandfather built in New Paltz, New York. It was an amazing experience.

[Thomas MacEntee]

Here is a link to my trip "back home"

http://destinationaustinfamily.blogspot.com/2008/10/freer-low-house.html

[JoLyn]

Thanks for the link - I will check it out right now. What an amazing experience it must have been - 9th great grandfather...that's awesome!

You've convinced me. I MUST go! And I can't wait to tell you all how it went!

[Lorine McGInnis Schulze]

Great story JoLyn - very uplifting and you told it beautifully. You must attend the reunion, you'll kick yourself forever if you don't. I attended a reunion many years ago for a branch of my McGinnis family I had not even known about - my great great grandpa's brother, who changed his name spelling to McInnes. even tho I did not know one soul at the reunion, I went and had a fabulous time PLUS I heard stories of my ancestor and his bond with his brother. Please go, and then blog about it

[Janet Iles]

Yes, you should go. We want to hear about your adventure.

When you are there, also think about what life was like when they lived there and what it was like to leave.

I like how you linked your yearning to find the ancestral home to Tipper's story about the daffodils.

[JoLyn]

Thanks for telling me your experience, Lorine. You are right - it will be so worth it!

[JoLyn]

Thanks, Janet. That's a great way to think of it - can you imagine leaving the place and people you love, knowing you'll probably never see them again?

[Jenny-Jenny]

Beautifully written! I want to go with you.

[Pam]

Absolutely you should go to the family reunion. Even if you don't know anyone else, bring your family history books and walah...people will come to you to see what you have (bring plenty of paper for those updates on your new found cousins)! What a wonderful story and I too can't wait for the reunion blog!

[Dirt Princess]

JoLyn that is wonderful! I always think of homes that once were when I see daffodils, daylilies or irises.

You should definetly go! Get back to your roots :)

[Jenny-Jenny]

The daffodil pic turned out great.

[Tipper]

Makes me feel so good to know I inspired you to check into your past!! I think you should go to the reunion-how could you not now that you know thats part of your home? I hope it works out to where you could go-and find out even more!!

Thank you for the kind shout out-really does make my day!

[JoLyn]

Thanks Jenny! Let's do it!

[JoLyn]

I think you took it! :)

[JoLyn]

Thanks for getting me thinking! And I'm always a big fan of the Blind Pig!

[JoLyn]

I think you've all convinced me...I think it will be awesome!

[JoLyn]

What a good idea - I will be prepared. Who knows what exciting things I'll find out!

[Mike J]

That's pretty darn cool Jo!

[Tipper]

JoLyn-Just stoppng by to say HELLO!!

[Jenny-Jenny]

I just tagged you on my blog. Hope you're feeling better

[Kay]

I nominated you for the "One Lovely Blog Award"

[Amy Crooks]

What a wonderful post. I'm still searching for such places in my history, though a couple weeks ago I finally found a picture of the Beason home in Georgia. the home my ggg grandfather Curtis Beason built. Now I'm still trying to find if it is still standing. But that's as close as I have ever come. You have inspired me to keep digging. Just like you my family picked up and moved all over the place and never saved much of anything to pass down to future generations. I also long for that attic full of treasure, but I fear I may never find it.

[Raymond M. Groseclose]

I too am a Peter Groseclose descendant. I am a descendant of Peter's son, Peter, Jr. Peter also helped Peter Jr. build a house which is still standing, but sadly is not lived in and is in deteriorating condition.

Your writing about your "Henry" connection hit home with me. I think your ending, "I can feel my roots pulling me back - back to a home I don't even know", is beautifully put. I too feel the pull of Ceres.

I drove through there a couple of years ago, by myself, and walked through the cemetary. It was about an hour before sunset and I had the most relaxed feeling as I took in the beauty of the surrounding hills. I thought, "I understand why Peter chose to stop here as he made his way from PA down the Great Wagon Road".

Interestingly, my great grandfather, Rev. D. B. Groseclose, married his distant cousin Mary Jane Buck. She was also a descendant of Peter, but of his daughter Margaret. That makes me one of the only Grosecloses that can trace their origins back to one of the females. Girls are very hard to trace, as you know, because they gave up their maiden names and owned no property.

I am glad I stumbled across your site and another cousin.

Raymond Groseclose
Asheboro, NC
coachg@triad.rr.com
or
rgroseclose@ncmcs.org

[Wendi]

I really appreciated this post. My dad is a big history buff and enjoys telling stories of our ancestor, Fielding Garr, who settled Antelope Island back in the day. :)

[Aimee Haag Raleigh NC]

Hello, That is my family's home. Partena Elizabeth Groseclose was my great grand mother.I grew up going there in the spring and summer months. I always played in that attic cause it had old harnesses and stuff in it and I do the horse thing. any way kinda funny running across your page and seeing pics of the house on it!

[Lisa Russell]

Hi This is also my ancestral home, my grandmother was Dorothy Louis Groseclose andher grandfather and grandmother Thomas Hudson Groseclose was from ceres. If you have since this originalposting gone to visit, I would love to hear more about it! If not go! We are in St Louis and dream of a very long extended road trip visiting our ancestral homes.

[Daniel A. Brock, III]

I appreciated seeing your posting about Ceres WV. I just returned from our Groseclose Family Reunion in Martinsville, IN. I also am related to Peter Groseclose and saw pictures of his home and tombstone today for the first time. I hope to attend the national reunion in June or JUly of next year.

I'd be happy to share information with you as I am able. My grandmother was Iva Ruth Groseclose - her father Jacob Harvey Groseclose