Minnie Rose Johnson

 On April 21, 1887 Minnie Jones was born in Sandy Fields, NY.  She was my maternal great grandmother and the desire to learn more about her and her life has led me to my life's work, genealogy and family history.  

I never met Minnie, she died before I was born.  I was lucky to hear many great stories from my aunts, my cousins and my mother.  I was luckier still that the cousin who had many of her photos stored in the attic, shared them with me.  

Minnie has what I imagine would be a very hard life. She was born to a single mother, widowed before age 50 and raised her family through the depression and world war. Her home town, Sandy Fields and its neighboring towns full of family and friends were washed away to make room for Harriman State Park. Yet, every photo I find of Minnie, she is smiling her wide, happy grin.  

Finding documented evidence of Minnie's life has been a genealogical challenge! But what I have found has been revealing, in every census, Minnie lives with her husband and children, but also has her mother and several other family members living in her house.  

Today, when I asked my mom, her granddaughter, how we should celebrate Minnie and she said, "We should go berry picking."