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7 July 2007 Click
on the pictures to enlarge them.
Greetings again from New Mexico. Unlike last year, the state has had greater
rainfall. A follow-on to the heavy snow we had last winter.
Derry’s first real snow.
DERRY GROWS UP
In our Christmas newsletter we told about getting a new family member. We
brought Derry, a toy poodle, home in September. This month, July, Derry will be
one year old. He is now full grown - about 7 pounds. In the winter, he went to 8
weeks of puppy training. We were probably learning as much as he was. We are now
just completing another eight weeks of intermediate training. He has learned a
lot and has also brought a lot of life to our house. Derry has his own page on
our website HERE. In the
spring, he took his first motor home trip.
A JOURNEY TO FLORIDA
For a couple years, we have wanted to make a trip to Florida. Except for a brief
visit to the panhandle of western Florida in 1993, we had not spent much time in
the state since Robert was stationed there in 1985-86. Springtime is a good time
to go to the South so we planned our trip for March & April. We headed east on
17 March. After staying at Amarillo and Lewisville Lake, Texas, we arrived at
Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 19 March. In Vicksburg we had lunch with Susan Barnes
who had moved from Albuquerque several years ago. Then we began to follow the
trail of Robert's great-great-granduncle, Henry Shubert. Henry was a soldier in
General Sherman's army during the American Civil War. Robert has two original
letters that Henry wrote to his sister, Eliza Shubert Malseed, Robert's
g-g-grandmother. He also has copies of six other letters that Henry wrote. The
oldest letter was written after Sherman's army failed in its attempt to attack
Vicksburg via the Chickasaw Bluffs. Henry's letter describes the attempt. Henry
said, “…it aint very pleasant for to have booms shells & Bullets flying around &
whizing about a persons head I dont mind the cannon Balls for a person can dodge
them.” Robert had also found a copy of an old map that showed where Henry's
regiment, the 29th Missouri Infantry, was camped near Chickasaw Bayou. We drove
out to the site and took pictures of what is now drained farmland as well as of
the Yazoo River that the Union Army used as a passageway to the Bayou.
Henry’s campground at Chickasaw Bayou.
The Union army returned to Vicksburg months later and eventually captured the
town on 4 July 1863 after a siege. We toured the National Military Park and left
copies of Henry's documents with the park service office there.
Scene on Vicksburg battlefield.
Our next stop was Auburn, Alabama. The US Air Force had sent Robert to college
at the university there. Robert got his bachelor’s degree in Aerospace
Engineering in March, 1977.
Samford Hall – icon of Auburn University.
We toured the university campus and met with two of Robert's AE professors who
are still teaching.
John Cochran, now the AE Department head, shows us the wind tunnel control room.
Reminiscing with Prof. John Burkhalter. We look more alike now!
After Auburn, we headed north stopping briefly to visit Steve Dunn, our former
music minister, who is now living near Birmingham, Alabama.
Linda with Steve Dunn and children.
Then we crossed the Tennessee River and arrived in Huntsville, Alabama. Another
of Henry's letters was written just before he crossed the Tennessee further
downstream at old Chickasaw, Alabama. (Now the site of Riverton, Alabama.)
Huntsville is the home of the US Space and Rocket Center since it is adjacent to
Redstone Arsenal and the Marshall Spaceflight Center.
New Saturn V exhibit.
We stayed in the campground at the center and spent a full day touring the
exhibits. The Center's 360-foot-tall Saturn V rocket is visible for miles. We
also toured around the historic Twickenham district of Huntsville.
In the South in March the Dogwood trees are in bloom and we enjoyed seeing them
on our drive through several States. Other trees that we enjoyed seeing in bloom
were Redbuds and Tulip. Wisteria plants were also quite prolific.
Full-size space shuttle exhibit.
Several other rockets.
Home in Huntsville’s historic Twickenham District.
Dogwood blossoms.
The next stop after Huntsville was Chattanooga, Tennessee. On the way, we drove
through Woodville, Alabama, where Henry camped in the winter of early 1864. We
have a copy of a letter he wrote from there. Henry's unit fought in the battles
at Chickamauga and Chattanooga's Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, as well
as at the nearby town of Ringgold, Georgia. We have a copy of a letter he wrote
after Ringgold and before going to winter quarters in Woodville. In Chattanooga,
we visited AMG International. The AMG publishing department has published John
Malseed's two books (An Overview of The Old Testament and An Overview of The New
Testament.) Rick Steele, who had edited John's Old Testament study book, gave us
a tour of the facility.
Showing Rick our work on John Malseed’s books.
After Sherman's Army left winter quarters in Woodville, they headed toward
Atlanta, Georgia. Our next stop was at Marietta, just northwest of Atlanta. Near
Marietta is Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park. Robert has an original
letter that Henry wrote from Kingston, GA, just before he got to Kennesaw
Mountain. We also left a copy of Henry's documents at the park headquarter, and
they told us where Henry's unit was camped before the attack on Pigeon Hill.
There is a housing development located at the site now. Since we were near
Atlanta, we spent a day at the zoo and enjoyed seeing the baby Panda that was
born there recently.
Baby Panda sleeps like a log on a log.
General Sherman's army left Atlanta and marched toward the sea, arriving at
Savannah, Georgia, on 21 Dec 1864. We have a copy of a letter that Henry wrote
after arriving in Savannah. We followed Henry's route and arrived in Savannah on
29 March. We camped on Tybee Island and enjoyed touring the city and Fort
Pulaski.
Derry’s first beach experience on Tybee Island.
When the Union Army destroyed this corner of Fort Pulaski with rifled cannon, it
spelled the end of all such fortifications.
One of Savannah’s many squares.
Another square.
One of many old homes.
We gave a copy of Henry's letter to the Savannah History Museum. From Savannah,
Henry headed north, but we headed south. Transcriptions of Henry's letters are
posted on http://robert.malseed.com under:
/genealogy/robert/shubert_research/henry/henry_shubert.htm. We stopped in south
Georgia so that we could spend a day at the Okefenokee Swamp Park.
Okefenokee Swamp Park greeter.
The swamp is the well-known home of Pogo.
It had been about 21 years since our last visit to central Florida so we next
spent a couple nights in Winter Haven next to an orange grove. The smell of the
orange blossoms each evening was overpowering.
Orange blossoms.
Bok Carillon Tower.
While in Winter Haven, we spent a day at Historic Bok Sanctuary. It is a
favorite place of ours in Florida. Robert has been there at least 5 times. It is
at Mountain Lake, the highest point on the Florida peninsula. We enjoyed going
through the gardens and seeing the profusion of flowers and listening to the
carillon bells being played. Here are just a few of the many photos we took.
Some flowers in Bok Sanctuary.
Pond by the tower.
Our next stop was in Miami. Robert wanted to stop there to visit his fourth
cousin, Melissa Wolin, a g-g-granddaughter of Henry's brother Garrett Shubert.
Melissa and her mother, Dorothy, have many old Shubert family documents. We
scanned several of the older ones that would be of greater interest to Robert's
other Shubert cousins.
Visiting Dorothy and Melissa Wolin.
Miami was the farthest destination on our trip. From there we headed up the
coast and camped at Patrick Air Force Base.
Our Trek camped at Patrick AFB.
Just south of there we visited one of Roberts more distant cousins, Dolly
Lauricella, a descendant of a John Malseed, born in Ireland about 1805-07.
(Robert's ancestor, John Malseed, was born in Ireland in 1790.)
Robert with distant cousin Dolly Lauricella.
Just north of Patrick AFB is Kennedy Space Center. We spent two days touring it.
Kennedy Space Center.
At the Vehicle Assembly Building.
We next stayed in Winter Garden and visited Sea World and Robert's first cousin,
Bill Malseed.
Entertained by dolphins at Sea World.
With cousin Bill Malseed and wife, Jane.
Heading west, we then spent a night at Manatee Springs State Park. We watched
some manatees in the Suwannee River, and then we went swimming in the spring.
The spring at Manatee Springs State Park.
The next day we went to Ochlockonee River State Park. The park is the home of a
rare white squirrel.
White Squirrel at Ochlockonee River State Park.
Ochlockonee River State Park.
Trolling for Alligators.
Our final stop in Florida was near where Robert was stationed in 1985-86. We
camped at Rocky Bayou State Park, and went down to see the beach on the Gulf of
Mexico. We also visited the U.S. Air Force Armament Museum near Eglin AFB. At
the museum you can see many weapons that Robert used to work on.
Museum exhibit of a GAR-1D Falcon missile. Robert worked with Falcon
missiles from 1960-69.
In 1993, we had camped on Dauphin Island at the mouth of Mobile Bay in Alabama.
We wanted to pay a return visit so we stayed there two nights. On the west side
of the campground we hiked the trails of the Audubon Bird Sanctuary and enjoyed
the birds and other scenery.
Derry on Dauphin Island Beach.
On the east side of the campground is a study center which includes the
Estuarium, an aquarium dedicated to study of the Mobile Bay estuary. In 1993 the
Estuarium was under construction so it was nice to see it completed. On the east
side of the research center is Fort Gaines, one of the two old forts that
guarded the entrance to Mobile Bay. We enjoyed touring it again.
Pelican dives for his dinner.
Our next major stop on the trip was in Austin, Texas. We were there to go to the
Texas State Archive.
Texas state capitol building.
Robert had discovered that his g-g-g-grandfather, John Malseed, who was a
shoemaker in Philadelphia, had been awarded a contract by the Republic of Texas
to supply 2,240 pairs of boots for the Texas Infantry. We wanted to see the
contract and get a copy. It was a thrill to hold the actual contract that John
Malseed signed in November 1839. He provided the boots and was paid $3,347.99
for them on 28 January 1840. Robert had no idea that his ancestor manufactured
boots in large quantities.
The contract signed by John Malseed.
Fredericksburg, in beautiful Texas hill country was our next stop. There we
toured the National Museum of the Pacific War. We also attended a reunion of the
525th FIS (Fighter Interceptor Squadron). Robert had been a member of the
squadron in Germany from 1965-1968.
Reminiscing at the 525 FIS reunion.
After the 525 FIS reunion, we drove to Breckenridge, Texas, so that Derry could
have a reunion with his parents, Beauty and Raggs. Pam, the breeder, was also
happy to see Derry, and gave him a bath and haircut.
Derry meets Dad, Raggs.
Derry meets Mom, Beauty.
After another over night stop in Lubbock, Texas, we arrived home on a very windy
23 April. Derry seemed to enjoy the trip, and liked traveling in the motor home.
NEXT TRIP PLANS
After we arrived at home, we learned that an event we were scheduled to attend
early in August had been cancelled. Therefore, we were able to arrange to go on
a cruise to Alaska with several friends of ours from church. We are now looking
forward to that trip which will begin on 26 July. Just prior to that, we will go
camping at Navajo Lake for 2 days with Linda's brother and sister-in-law.
THE BOTTOM LINE
We continue to be thankful for the Lord’s provision for us. We trust in Him, and
pray that you will do likewise and enjoy a wonderful summer of 2007.
Love,
Robert & Linda
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Page last updated:
09 July 2007
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