Four or five years ago I was perusing the archives at the Ohio
Historical Society in search of ancestors. I already knew that my
family line could be traced to the mid-1800's to a couple counties in
southern Ohio. I was reading a history of Meigs County produced for
the American Bicentennial in 1976. Several individual family histories
were recorded. I went back to the "t's" and was pleasantly surprised
to find an entry under "Trainer." As I began reading, my pleasant
surprise turned to outright joy.
There was a picture of an old farmhouse, and these words at the
beginning of the paragraph, "My great-grandfather, James Trainer
(1803-1875), justice of the peace and veterinarian, married Mary
Patterson (1809-1886) in 1828. My grandfather Hiram (1845-1918), was
the eleventh of fourteen children born to this Irish couple." I knew
that my great-great-great grandfather, Mathew (1835-1918), had a
brother named Hiram and a father named James. I looked at the bottom
of the article for the author's name...it was Ada Belle Robinson
Trainer. It said she was residing in Lancaster, Oh in 1976.
I went to another side of the archives and retrieved a Lancaster phone
book. Her name was listed and there was an address! Several days
later I found myself walking up a driveway to a fading green house,
wondering who I would encounter. I didn't even get a chance to knock
on the door, because a little old woman came around the corner of the
house, watering can in-hand. I surprised her, but she quickly
recovered, and I introduced myself. I love to do this...to see a
person's face when you bring up a name from their past and they slowly
make the connection. We are related!
That Spring day I began a relationship with Ada Belle Robinson Trainer
that continued until March, 2005, when she passed away. We
enjoyed hours of conversation together (which she allowed me to tape).
She brought out old photo albums, newspaper clippings, diaries, and
family heirlooms. Ada Belle was a family historian's dream come true.
She kept notes of each days events, saved everything, and had an
incredible memory for people and events. Over the course of many
visits our relationship grew to the point that she brought out the real
treasures...the family Bible of James & Mary Trainer, of Hiram
& Eliza, of Harry and Alma (her parents), and pictures of each
couple. They were absolute gold. She had her father's diaries....over
30 years of daily entries from 1914-1945.
Through Ada I discovered a farm my family never knew existed. James
first came to Ohio in 1835. He built a cabin in Meigs County and lived
there with 12 children, before building a house in 1849, and having two
more children. That house stands to this day, and I have been in it.
The name "Trainer" is barely legible on the barn door. It was farmed
by two more generations before Ada and her mother had to sell it in
1949 due to her father's early death.
My direct line left the family farm in the second generation and moved
north one county. They pursued a life of farming, working in brick
yards, clerking in stores, driving trucks, and various other blue color
jobs. Somehow the family branches lost track of one another in just a
couple generations. My grandfather had no idea there was a homestead
in Meigs County; he didn't even know he was Irish.
But because of Ada it all came together. I visited her briefly on the day before she died. The rest home where she was staying had called to let me know
she would not live many more hours. She could barely talk, but managed
some "yes" and "no" answers to questions. Her breathing was labored
and we both knew her life would soon end. I quoted Psalm 27:1, touched
her hand, and told her to rest, as I slipped out of the room. The next day her daughter called, "Mom is gone. She asked for you to do
her funeral."
So on a clear, spring morning in March 2005, I stood beside Ada's casket in
Athens, OH. I celebrated her life, and reminded a handful of people
about her faith, and trust God that I will see her again someday.
Since there were hardly any family members left, I helped bear her
body to its final resting place. Then Linda and I went home. We
saw Ada's picture in our living room, paged through the family Bibles
she entrusted to our care, and thanked God for paths that crossed in His
grace.
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