The picture below is from July, 1936 when Diane was 2 months old.  Ruth Kellogg (30) had driven, Kenny (4), and grandmother Lottie (49) out to Elgin.  They were visiting Ruth's brother, Jimmie (25), in a mental institution.  He was diagnosed as a schizophrenic as a teenager.


Here are some short entries from Ruth's diary.  She was now the mother of 2 children - an infant and a 4-year-old, Kenny.  If you have ever leaped from 1 to 2 children, then you know what a big jump that is.  Ruth and John lived in a flat above her parents at 5458 W. Iowa St. in the Austin section of Chicago.  Lottie did help with some babysitting from time to time.  Her father, "Papa", was always a calming, steady influence.

Sunday, June 1, 1936 - "CHILDREN'S DAY.  I sent Kenny to Sunday School with the Allens.  At 4:45 we went for Children's Day exercises.  Had baby Diane dedicated with Cradle Roll members.  Had Allens to dinner."
Baptists are "dedicated" when they are named.  Later they are baptized, immersed in water, at around 12 years old when they are aware of the decision they're making.   The Allens were neighbors and close friends of Ruth and John, but soon moved to Reading PA and then on to Texas a few years later.

Monday, August 10, 1936 - "After we were in bed last nite it poured & blew terribly & a tipsy doctor skidded into our car at curb.  Funny.  I awoke John & he had to call garage to get bumpers unlocked."
Interesting that Ruth thought the "tipsy doctor" was funny - maybe because of the locked bumpers.  She was brought up in a non-alcoholic family as was John.  

Saturday, August 22, 1936 - "Went to show & left baby with John.  Kenny with me.  When we got home, she was crying in the dark while John slept on the back porch."
This was probably John's way of showing me who was boss.  He was reared in a more harsh time for children, having been born in 1899.

Friday, August 28, 1936 - "John had bad smash up with car on way to work.  Says a milkman was in way & he didn't see the other car soon enough.  Both at fault."

Friday, September 4, 1936 - "Had to bail John out of jail at 9:45 tonight.  Lucky for him I had saved $70.00.  The other fellow in accident served warrant & John has to go to court."
On the following day when they were leaving for Ann Arbor MI to see John's mother and stepfather,
Ruth mentions that John returned the money, so apparently the court felt it was not his fault.

Sunday, September 13, 1936 - "Rained hard & long today, but we started for Elgin to see Jim at 2:15.  He was fine & we all ate downtown & drove around.  Home at 8:15."
Jimmie did have shock treatments at Elgin, but I am not sure just when.  His first flare-up was at church as a teenager, so 9 or 10 years earlier.  Mental illness was not understood at all at this point or even 40 or 45 years later when he was placed in a mental hospital in Florida.

The Merediths at Baron Lake MI in 1916

"Summer 1916, Rutlage's Resort, Baron Lake, Mich" is on the back of the picture in my grandfather's writing.  Brought up in Berrien County on the southwest corner of Michigan, James R. Meredith loved the green forests and the lakes, including the big one, Lake Michigan, that formed the western edge of Michigan. 

Jim didn't have a middle name, so used "R." as his middle initial.  I've always thought it was because of his grandfather's name.   
Benjamin R. Meredith from Kent Co., Maryland had that initial.  Did it stand for a name?  Maybe.  Born in 1801, he was a soldier in the Florida War and the Black Hawk War.

Jim and his wife, Lottie Weekes Meredith, did travel from Chicago back to Michigan often to see his family at this stage, only married 11 years (Nov. 23, 1904).  Jim was doing well,
after moving to the big city, Chicago, for a job and a better life.  In 1916 he was working for a major company, Western Electric, where he would be employed for the rest of his life.

The small woman seated between the two children must be Jim's mother, Ruth Parks Olmstead Meredith, age 68.  She appears in another picture a few years later.  The girl is Ruth Viola Meredith, named for both grandmothers, at age 10.  The boy is James William Meredith (5), who is named for his father and his mother's father, William Walter Wilson Weekes, from Wilkes-Barre PA.  They called him "Jimmie."

Standing behind them are two women I'm guessing are a cousin and an aunt of the man in the middle, Jim Meredith.  Lottie, Jim's wife, wasn't in the picture.  Maybe she was behind the camera.

This is a casually posed picture with three of the subjects looking off to the right side, drawn to something - a dog barking, laughter, someone heading their way.  Young Ruth, my mother, looks strikingly like I did at about that age, right down to the somewhat bored vibes.  It looks like there's a house or a cabin behind those pictured.

Pictures from the past give you a feel for what life was like, but dredge up more questions than answers.  They make me want to study further what life was like at that time and especially for my ancestors.

Ruth's Life Changes Again in Florida, 1983 Diary

The Pellettieres seen in 1981 in the family room in front of the fireplace in Palatine.  In 1981 Cindy was 14, Diane and Dan 45, Lynn 15 and Kate 11.

I've just gone through many of Ruth's diaries in her late 60s/70s and found that as her life in Clearwater became secure, there were few mentions of the family back in Illinois.  I think she was still sending a gift and card for birthdays, but there is no mention of that either or of the birthday itself.

However, to be fair to Ruth, she had had some major developments in her 70s.  She was very slowly moving into dementia, though the early signs of it were easy to mistake for just aging.  Her brother Jimmie, a schizophrenic, was placed in a mental hospital far from Clearwater after having a breakdown.  He had been living in a small house in nearby Largo with his mother, Lottie Meredith.  Lottie was 96 when the following diary entry was written and was living in a nursing home close to Ruth and John.  It happens that July 13 was granddaughter Cindy's 16th birthday.

Wednesday, July 13, 1983 -  "I spent 2 1/2 hours with Mom.  Pushed her down halls and into Rec. Room briefly.  Watched her eat sparingly of her lunch, which has at least 5 items plus coffee.  I got back here by 3:45 & J. took off in car."  It sure gets a work-out between us."

Thursday, July 14, 1983 -  "Had my hair done - first since Perm last week.  Looks good - Mary is perfect after all these years doing it for me.  I give her a good tip too.  I no sooner got home than J. took off with car on errands.  In afternoon he walked  to and from town for exercise!"

The Kelloggs each had a car from 1942 to around 1980 when John decided they should sell one of the cars.  John was a month from his 84th birthday when he walked to town.  I recall his walking to the library from the Horizon House on the causeway all the way into Clearwater, both for exercise and because he loved to read.  John was not easy to get along with and very strong in his opinions!