Extraction Program

In 1978, LDS Church President Spencer W Kimball introduced the extraction program to members of the Church. President Kimball said: "(W)e are introducing a Church-wide program of extracting names from genealogical records. Church members may now render second-mile service through participating in this regard in extracting these names in this program supervised by the priesthood leaders at the local level, where you will receive further details."

Muriel became actively involved in the extraction program. As far as I can remember, she would look at reels of film in the Stake library and would record the names and information so that it would be readable for others looking for the information. She became very expert at reading and transcribing Swedish records. Probably she did extraction from other records, but I remember her talking about learning to read the archaic writing in the Swedish records. She also had enough command of the language to translate the information into English. Before she died in 1982, she became a worker in the temple in the Seattle area. Although she continued to work at the railroad company, she found time in her free time to serve in the temple.

Last March our bishop challenged our ward to become involved in the indexing program that has replaced the extraction program. I tenatively started working on the computer and learning how to read Scandinavian and Germanic names in unreadable handwriting. And fortunately some that is much easier to read such as this draft registration card. Currently cards are available from both New York and New Jersey.

No longer do people wishing to contribute to the work of Family Research need to go to a library. I can open my laptop computer wherever there is the internet available. Whether I am at home or traveling, it is convenient to spend a few minutes or an hour doing some indexing work for the Family Search website.

Today I received this email from the Family Search newsletter:

Good-bye to Family Record Extraction

This month’s newsletter is dedicated to the thousands of workers who participated in family record extraction since it was introduced by Spencer W. Kimball in 1978. Some extractors participated early in the program, transferring the information from paper or microfilm to printed forms. Later extractors typed the information directly into a computer program. The workforce continues to grow, and the use of technology continues to accelerate as we transition from family record extraction to the online FamilySearch indexing program.

FamilySearch is deeply grateful to all who were dedicated to making family record extraction so successful. Some workers have moved on, others have served faithfully for years, and some are newcomers. Regardless of experience or position, each participant labored to accomplish this great task of sharing family history information.

Over 100 groups, including six correctional facilities who devoted themselves to the extraction program, have now made the switch to FamilySearch indexing. We know this was not an easy change for some and we thank you for your patience and dedication to this extraction, and now indexing, initiative. If you or someone you know worked with the extraction program and need help to make this transition, please contact FamilySearch.

Sitting at the Front of the Bus

In September of 1966 Muriel and Bob and their two younger children moved to Columbus, Georgia. Bob took early retirement from the Royal Canadian Air Force and accepted a job as the seminary teacher and custodian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building in Columbus. Muriel was a smart and talented woman and it was a pretty good bet that she could find a pink-collar job wherever she went.

I was seventeen and in my last year of high school in a new school and a new city. There is no doubt that I was about as self-absorbed as most teenagers are, if not more so. I do remember Muriel/Mom telling us about a language challenge in her new job. She told her boss, "When I answer the telephone, I cannot tell if the caller is saying that she is Mrs or Miss Soandso." Her boss didn't hesitate. He told her to go ahead and just write a note that Ms Soandso had called. In 1966 Ms was not in common use. We all laughed at his answer probably not realizing that shortly his solution would become a banner word of the growing woman's movement.

I don't remember ever wondering how Muriel got to and from work every day. We owned one car. A small VW beetle. Recently my brother John came to visit and he mentioned that Muriel had ridden the bus to work every day. She sat in the front of the bus and was the only white person on the Columbus, Georgia bus.

We had just moved from the Montreal area where traveling by bus was part of every day life for most people. The only practical way to go from The South Shore where we lived to the the island of Montreal was by bus. Today the subway and bus system are crowded with commuters in Montreal. The subway system stops in Longueuil on the south shore of the St Lawrence and from there you hop on the bus to travel further. Big city traffic is so often snarled that public transportation is an asset.

However, in Columbus it apparently was the transportation of only the Black population. I can easily see my 'mum' sitting at the front of the bus being carefully watched by the dark eyes behind her. John commented that she always sat at the front. I assured him that was where any sensible female traveling alone would sit. That is where I sit if I can when I am alone - close to the bus driver. It had nothing to do with being white in the south where Muriel was concerned.

As I learn more about Muriel, my admiration grows. What an incredible woman she was. How fortunate I am to have been her daughter.

Chinese Food

When Muriel was about thirty she went to work for a sales company. She had four young children and was looking for ways so supplement the family income. At one time she demonstrated the use of a sewing machine in the homes of new owners. Another job was selling stainless steel cookware, Rena Ware. At that time the big selling point was that it was 'waterless' cookware. You could cook your vegetables with a lot less water than most pans on the market and thereby retain the vitamins instead of boiling them away.

As her youngest child, I have memories of going with her when she demonstrated the sewing machine. However, the pots and pans are only the stuff of stories brought home by Mom.

On one occasion Muriel drove to Toronto for a sales meeting with other people marketing Rena Ware. Although I was very young, I had the impression that the group consisted of men, most of whom had served on missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Now that I am older, I can easily visualize a group of returned missionaries who were looking for a way to put their door-to-door experiences from the mission field into a means of supporting themselves and their young families.

The group went out to lunch at a Chinese restaurant. I am not sure if the Asian food was a new experience for Muriel, but she readily related a story about being the center of jokes. The other salespeople tried to persuade her that the unique spoon that came with the soup was not used in the traditional way. Instead of drinking out of the bowl, you filled it up and then drank the soup from the small grove in the handle.

Muriel's account of the lunch brought vivid pictures to my mind and still today I can easily imagine her being gently teased by this eager group of young men. I recall being so concerned about her as she told the story. I didn't want her to do anything that would embarrass her or make her look foolish. I didn't realize at the grand old age of five years, that Muriel could carry most situations off with grace and could laugh at herself.

History or Legends

Tomorrow morning Eldon and Diana Neves are going to fly to Africa to serve on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They will be serving in Sierra Leon. It will be a very different world from their ranch in Utah. Eldon is the other grandfather of my tiny granddaughter Lily Katherine Neves. Eldon usually wears boots, a hat for shade and a graying moustache. Lily has adored her grandpa and his moustache. He would get down on the floor to talk to her and she would immediately reach out to touch his moustache.

A week ago he shaved his moustache off, in preparation for serving as a missionary. The first time that Lily saw him she was a little frightened because she did not know who he was. Even after seeing him several times without his facial hair, she still reached out looking for his moustache today when she said good-bye.

My little granddaughter's attachment to her other grandfather reminded me of a story that Muriel/Mom used to tell about her grandfather Will Harkness. Will was a tall handsome man who served for awhile as a sheriff. He reminds me a lot of Eldon Neves.
If I remember the story correctly, Will Harkness had lots of brown hair but as sometimes occurs he had a contrasting moustache. One day Will decided that he was going to have his red moustache dyed brown to match his hair. When he got home from the barbershop with his brown moustache, instead of running to meet their dad, his children fled in terror. They cried and wanted to know where their real father was. The next day Will returned to the barbershop to have his facial hair returned to its original color.

Several years ago, I had a chance to visit with Muriel's brother Archie. He was the last surviving sibling of her family. Since it had been years since Mom had told me about the moustache, I asked him about his memories and he told me he didn't recognize the story. I have a feeling though that my vague memory of this story of Will Harkness is true. His tiny dark haired wife always said that he was the most handsome man in the world.

Muriel's Memories

While visiting Margaret Brooks recently, I got a copy of Muriel's Memories. The memories consist of five handwritten pages in Muriel's writing. The pages are of memories from her childhood and are so vivid that I have no trouble visualizing her and her family. Unfortunately the last page must have been on a larger page because portions of the sentences on the right and left are missing. The following is my typed copy of the first four pages of her remembrances:


Muriel's Memories

I'm not certain whether some of the early recollections of my childhood come from remembering or from talking about them with other members of the family. I remember there was a trapdoor into the basement in our house on Elm Street – there was also a china doorknob on the bathroom door.
I can remember visiting Uncle Frank when we lived in the house Ruby and Bob Barfus now live in. He worked in the mill and they were very well off. Doug had s many toys and Uncle Frank had a crystal set everyone was excited about. You listened through earphones.
Uncle Frank had some racing dogs which he used to pull us home on the toboggan.
Verna Tool had a beautiful doll that I fell in love with. She had received it for Christmas. Uncle Ted let me take it home since I didn't want to part with it. Mother and Dad spirited it away while I slept and returned it to Verna.
Hazel can tell more about our move to the hill since she was in charge of Margaret and I. I remember how exciting it was as the house hadn't been cleaned very well and there were so many interesting things left behind – picture developing powder that exploded.
Mother and Dad bought the cows when we lived in the house next door. I believe they bought them down from Tilley. I well remember one of the cows had long horns as she bunted me and tossed me in the air. I was given a re mule's calf we called Pud. I remember a birthday party the folks gave me – I believe my sixth – Bud was invited, we had jello and I received a top you started with a string. It was my job to wash the dishes. I didn't wash the bowls or kettles so had to boil more water and start over. When pouring the boiling water into the dish pan, everything tipped over. I cut and scalded my foot. I remember crying for a doctor while mother and dad saw to my injuries. I was 5 or 6 at the time.
We couldn't move out of the house next door fast enough as it was infested with bed bugs. On hot nights we'd move out of our beds and sleep anywhere – on the grand piano – on the landing. I used to walk in my sleep. I always slept with Hazel – she said I got up on the narrow foot railing but woke up when I stepped on the cold vent in the bathroom.
When we moved to the hill, there weren't any fences so the older children would have to herd the cattle and babysit Margaret and I. Hazel would read to us under a gunny sack shade that was made by propping sticks. We had one horse that would always lie down in whatever water we came to - slough or creek. As children to mount the horse, we'd have to walk miles to find anything to stand on. We had a little black horse “Tiny” that we could do anything with – crawl under her belly etc. We also had a horse “Doll” that pulled a 2 wheel cart. One day out on the prairie where they were cutting sod – I found some spoons and pretty containers so decided to bring them home. The rattle of the containers spooked the horse and she started running and didn't stop until she lost one of the wheels turning into the barnyard.
One of the scary times was when Hazel got kicked in the eye by the horse. Hazel always read to us. We had an old kerosene lamp off a car that we'd light so she could read after the light was turned off.
We four girls slept in the room Margaret still has. Marg and I would play cutouts with paper dolls from the catalogue. We also played with colored marbles – the dolls were the children. Everyone had to pick their way across the room since we had the floor marked off in the room in houses etc.
One of my nicest memories is of the warm comfortable feeling I had when my father carried me to bed. We had one of the first radios on the hill so Grandma, Grandpa, and Bud would come over to hear the Chicago barn dance. A bed was made on the dining room table for Bud, Marg and I to sleep on. At first we didn't have any furniture in the dining room and living room. Then when Mother and Dad had enough money to pay cash they bought a dining room suite and a chesterfield suite. Our evenings centered around these two rooms as we did homework and listened to the radio at the same time.
I remember I was visiting Lavoys when the backroom was built on. It must have been in the process of being built for sometime but I remember how I suddenly realized how much had been accomplished when Lavoys brought me home early because I was homesick.
Another warm memory is of mother singing to us while she cooked especially at Christmas time making the cake and her date filled oatmeal cookies. We'd coax her to sing “The Letter Edged in Black.” the three “friskies” promising we wouldn't cry. We always cried. I also remember borrowing books from the library and reading to mother while she sewed.
Dad had a beautiful singing voice but most of his singing was done while milking the cows. He used to wake Marg and I with “the bell she blows – the whistle she go by” “oh how I'd hate to go to school today.”
We always won the prize for being the first shipper to the dairy on Christmas Day – Marg and I got the family up at 3 a.m. It seemed like forever until we could go to Grandma's to see what Santa had brought Toots, Len, Jim and Bud.
I remember Grandpa Toole coming home from the movies and telling mother the show – acting out the parts – while mother ironed clothes. I always went over to Grandma and Grandpa's on my birthdays and would stand shyly at the door waiting to tell Grandpa it was my birthday. He'd give me a dime – then I'd run home. When Len and Jim were courting and brought Verna and Mabel home, I stood at the door – they'd give me a piece of cake and I'd dash home to share it with Margaret.
Marg and I were together all the way through school except in grade 8 when they decided to separate us. Oh how I cried. That was the only year we had a girl friend – besides each other.
Other beautiful memories are of Momma rocking me when I was sick or had earache. I remember having earache and having a hot iron wrapped and put under my pillow. She also rocked Margie and sang to her. As a wee tiny girl Marg would fall asleep with her hands at Mother's neckline.
There are memories of Margie leading me to school in the winter as my glasses would frost over with having a scarf pulled up over my mouth and nose. Of sticking my tongue on the rail of the Dunmore Hill creek bridge. Of freezing my nose, morning, noon, and night until it was a little red ball. Of sliding down snow drifts until our clothes were wet then sneaking home and changing clear to our long underwear and hoping Momma wouldn't find out so we'd be spanked. How in the spring we'd chase minnows in the creek by tucking our dresses in our matching panties driving the minnows into the sacks the boys held. We filled the water trough and every jar we could find with pollywogs and minnows. Then the folks would have to clean the water trough.
How wonderful it was to get out of those long underwear come spring. Oh the bumps the folds make under our lisle stockings when we had to fold the legs to make them fit tight.
Remember the time I won the money at the carnival - $50.00. Marg and I each got a new blue cardigan and the folks bought a box of apples.
We'd like it when Mom went to town – she'd always bring home a treat. Maybe she'd go once or twice a year – an occasion. Dad took the milk to the dairy...and bought lots … used to keep the walnuts, coconut etc locked up in the drawer of the bureau – we'd sneak it and eat it then there wouldn't be anything when baking time came.

Photographs of Muriel and Margaret Toole

As far as I know, these photographs were taken about 1941 or 1942.

Muriel and Margaret Toole painted by Margaret Brooks

Painting of Muriel as a Child by Margaret Brooks

I am grateful to Wendy for sending me this picture of Muriel's grave.

Muriel Isabel Fisher

Muriel Isabel Fisher, 59, of Maltby, died Aug 3, 1982, in an area hospital due to injuries sustained in an automobile accident.
Mrs. Fisher was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Nov. 20, 1922. She was married to J. Robert Fisher, Nov. 19, 1942 and came to Snohomish County 16 years ago from Montreal, Canada. She had traveled extensively with her husband who was a member of the Canadian Armed Forces. She was a member of the Monroe Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, she had been a Temple Worker in the Seattle Temple and was a member of the Genealogical Society.
She leaves her husband, Robert at home; two daughters, Margaret Duce of Everett and Elaine Fry of Provo, Utah; son, John Robert Fisher of Lethbridge, Alberta; her mother, Ruby L. Toole of Medicine Hat, Alberta; three sisters, Aletha Baumback and Margaret Toole, both of Medicine Hat, and Hazel Grusendorf of Rosemary, Alberta; brother, Archie Toole of Ottawa, Canada; 15 grandchildren (including one grandson serving in the mission field in Costa Rica); also numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by son James Edward (Ted) in 1972
Funeral services will be held Saturday, 10 a.m. in the Monroe L.D.S. Chapel on Tester Road with Bishop James F. Smith officiating. Dedication of the grave will be at I.O.O. F. cemetery following the services.
Visitation, Friday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Purdy and Kerr Chapel; Saturday at the Monroe L.D.S. Chapel 9:15 a.m. until service time, at which time family will receive friends. Arrangements by Purdy and Kerr Chapel, Monroe.

Take a letter, please

I just got a new Toshiba lap top computer. It is really nice and I am starting to get used to it. One of the new aspects of this lap top is that there is a ten key pad. It means that the alphabet pad is a little offset from the center of the screen so I am just starting to get used to it. When I saw the ten key pad, I could not help but think about Mom. The pad would have made her job when I was a teenager so much easier.

After high school in Medicine Hat, Muriel completed a business program. She learned how to do Gregg shorthand and to type. She worked as a typist for many years. When she worked at St. Hubert Air Force base close to where we lived in Longueuil, Quebec, she was a statistical typist. That meant that she was fast and competent at typing numbers on reports. If you look at a keyboard, you will see all of the numbers across the top of the keyboard. In those days there were no keyboards that included a ten key pad.

While we were living close to Montreal, Muriel took a night course in which she learned how to do key hole punching. The cards with rectangular slots cut into them were the first step towards businesses becoming computerized. Muriel always kept up with what was happening in the business world. When she moved to Everett, Washington in 1967, she was able to get a job working for the Northern Pacific Railroad (it later became the Burlington Northern)as a key punch operator. She worked on the evening shift from 3 in the afternoon until 11 p.m. I worked from 8 to 5 and I really missed being at home at the same time that she was.

Over the years, I have had moments when I have thought, "Wow, wouldn't Mom love this new genealogy program!" or " wouldn't she love this new computer program!" Then I remember that she is living these days in a place that must have the most phenomenal technology.