Morgan Monks
March 20th 2014
Subject: Genealogy Chart

Dusting off the Past


     As I found and researched a little bit about my family it was really informational and it helped me understand a little bit about my ancestors especially because I have only met a few of them. Most of my great grandparents died before I was born or when I was a baby. The other ones lived so far away I rarely saw them before they past. Looking at the genealogy charts gave me a little bit more information into their lives.
     One of the interesting things I did pay particular attention to was the age at which my grandparents died at. There was the untimely death of my fathers mother Artha at 52 from breast cancer which I knew about, but also I learned several of my great grandparents died at a young age as well. My grandfather on my mother's side's parents died at 53 and 68. I was curious about these instances and my grandfather informed me that both of his parents had serious substance abuse such as smoking and alcohol and they died from the affects of that. I never knew that about my great grandparents and it really put into perspective maybe some of the reasons why my grandpa does some of the things he does. He has a hard time getting rid of things so I think that maybe that has a little bit to do with the loss of his parents at a young age along with his brother. Learning this information gave me a little bit of insight into the life of my grandfather.
     Another thing that was interesting to me was where my family is from and where that led them to stay for their lives. On my fathers maternal side most of his family is from Arizona and that is where a large portion of his extended family still lives. In fact my uncle recently moved there to be close to family. My fathers paternal side is from California however and that is where his family has stayed for a long time except when my father moved to Nevada when he was in high school. On my mother's side it rather similar on her maternal side. My mother, grandmother and great grandmother were born in Nevada in the Las Vegas area and my great grandparents stayed there their rest of their lives. The interesting thing is my mother's paternal side. They seen to come from a much different area, the east. I asked my mother what led them to the west because that is closer to where they died and she informed me that when the depression hit her great grandparents left the east to the mid west for more financial opportunity. Looking at where my family came from helped me know just a little bit more about them and gave insight into some of the trials they had to face.
      Another thing that is rather interesting that is shown on a genealogy chart is the passing down of names on my mothers side of the family. For starters I was given the name Morgan from my mother. Her maiden name is Morgan. She did this because she was named after her mother's maiden name Shelley. One thing I don't notice however was that my mothers middle name came from my great grandma Alice Reba Mhoon.Another interesting thing I had never noticed before is my fathers middle name came from his grandfather Arthur which is where my fathers mother'so name Artha came from.  Although I don't plan to name my first daughter my maiden name Monks, I do want to look at my ancestry and find a family name to incorporate into my future family.
    Overall being able to look at my family ancestry really made a difference in the way that I look at my family. I learned a lot about my families past but also thought of things I want to incorporate into my family's future.

Morgan Monks

Informant: Jason Monks

Date retrieved: 3/1/14

Title: A Short Engagement 

Genre: Family story and legend 

Informant: The person who I heard this story from is my dad Jason Monks. The story has been passed down from my father's side of my family. It comes from 6 generations back and has been one of my favorites from that side of my family. 

Context: the story actually comes from an autobiography from my ancestor Lewis Barney. My dad and older brothers have read the book, however I have only read a little bit of it. The story of Lewis Barney's life I will share I heard from my father. My dad often will share a story of one of our ancestors when the subject comes up and this one seems to be told quite often even though everyone in my family knows what happens. We have the book written by Lewis but it is also available online by searching biography of Lewis Barney.

Lewis Barney 

Text: In 1825 Lewis Barney's mother died when he was 17 years old. After her death he and his father Charles would go on trips and leave the younger children at an aunt's. However two years later his family decided to travel west. When the family was preparing to begin their journey his father Charles was approached by a young woman the same age as Lewis. She wished to travel with the family to the west however Charles told her it would be unsuitable and improper for a single girl to travel with them. The next day she came back and pleaded with Charles to take her out west with them. Charles then proceeded to tell the young woman that she could come with their family if she would marry him. Without hesitation she agreed and that same day they went down the road to the Smith home and were married. 

Texture: This story is my favorite because I find it rather funny. When I was first told the story I thought that this is the point of the story when Lewis would be married considering the fact that the young woman was his age. It is funny however because someone who could be his wife ends up becoming his step-mother. Considering the time frame this type of occurrence really wasn't out of the ordinary but when you actually look at the age gap it is rather odd. Considering that Lewis had older siblings his father must have been over double the age of his wife and yet she willingly married him. 

Meaning: Although this story doesn't have much sentimental meaning to me, I do find it rather cool that I have stories preserved from my family's past. I know many do not have many stories from their past family to share and think of and I am grateful I have them. And although the story isn't some amazing rescue or battle story it is just as special or even more so because it is a story of everyday life. It's about how a girl became a wife and mother and although that is probably not how she wanted her story to go, it showed how important going west was to her that she made a sacrifice. This story teaches me about sacrifice. And sometimes it is better to give up something we want (such as finding love) for something better (her new life out in the west). That's why I love this story so much. 

Bonnie Moore 

English 2010-027 @ 10:30

Morgan Monks
Informant: Shelley Monks
Date: taken November 2013

Title: "One Crazy Family"

Genre: Family Picture

Informant: I received this picture from my mother who sent it to me via email. The picture was taken by a good family friend.

Context: This family photo was taken during the week of the 2013 Thanksgiving. My entire immediate family (along with my older brothers and their wives) were all in Henderson Nevada for Thanksgiving at my aunt's house. My mom instructed us what group of colors to wear and we spend a long two hours of picture taking and cheesy smiles. Finally we were allowed to take a funny picture and this picture was the result of that.

Text: On the far left of the photo the couple of the man in the white shirt and the woman in the maroon shirt are my brother Kelby (age 21) and his wife Shelby (18). The older couple to the right is my dad Jason (45) and my mom Shelley in orange. The two little ones below them are my adopted sisters Makenna (9) on the left and Malia (6) on the right. The next couple is my oldest brother Kegan (24) and his wife Sasha (23). The second little grouping is my little adopted sister Maggie (5) and adoptive brother Kooper (7). The last grouping on the right is my little brother Kaden (16) and I (18). That all adds up to the whopping total of a dozen. With all the new additions to my family including adoptions and marriages my family has doubled in size within four and a half years. It seems as if with every family picture the camera has to stand back farther and farther each time.

Texture: The thing that I really love about this picture is the individual aspect of it all. Each person in the photo was able to do their own face and pose and with knowing that individual person it makes sense. Take my younger brother Kaden for example. His purposefully goofy face shows exactly his personality. He normally will try and be very 'cool' but then one second later he is a complete goof ball. The same goes with most of all the other people in my family it just takes a little analysis and knowledge about the person.
I also have a strong connection to this photo because for one this picture is the last photo my family will have with all of us together for what could be about four years. It seems as everyone gets older its just harder to get everyone together on one place. And out of all the family pictures we took that day, this one still is my favorite. I think it is because it shows the reality of my family. We are a just a bunch of goofballs who love each other a whole bunch.

Morgan Monks
Professor Bonnie Moore
English 2010
January 14 2014


Family Definition

1. Oxford dictionary definition

noun (plural families)
1 [treated as singular or plural] a group consisting of two parents and their children living together as a unit:

"Definition of Family in English ." Oxford Dictionary . Oxford University Press, n.d. Web. 9 Jan 2014. <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/family>.

2. Family Household (family) : defined in 2000 by the the U.S. Census Bureau:

"A family includes a householder and one or more people living in the same household who are related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. All people in a household who are related to the householder are regarded as members of his or her family. A family household may contain people not related to the householder, but those people are not included as part of the householder’s family in census tabulations. Thus, the number of family households is equal to the number of families, but family households may include more members than do families. A household can contain only one family for purposes of census tabulations. Not all households contain families since a household may comprise a group of unrelated people or one person living alone." 1.

Price , J. United States, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC . US Department of Commerce . Census 2000 Profiles of General Demographic Characteristics. 2001. Web. <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/ProfilesTD.pdf>.

Morgan Monks
Informant: Shelley Monks
Location: Monks Family Cookbook
Date collected: January 25 2014

                                                         Oatmeal Cookies from the Past




      The above recipe has been one of my favorite cookie recipes since a young age. It has been in my mother's cookbook ever since my parents were married twenty five years years ago. The family recipe actually came from my father's older cousin Kim Sadowski. She gave the recipe to my mother as part of a wedding gift along with many other recipes. She is an amazing cook and her specialities range from Hawaiian cuisine to the ordinary chocolate chip cookie. Not only is Kim an amazing cook, but she also loves sharing her talent with others.
        It seems whenever my family visits her home no one leaves without a full stomach and a bag of goodies for the ride home. My father believes his cousin's love to help and give to others came from my grandmother. My grandma Artha helped raise her younger cousin Kim over many summers and taught her many life skills, one of those being cooking.
       The fact that my grandmother taught Kim how to cook makes this recipe and all of Kim's recipes more meaningful to me. My grandmother died at 42 from breast cancer so the only thing I have from her are stories and her old possessions. Her cooking skills were passed on as well through Kim so in a way when I bake her food It is almost as if my grandma made the cookies with me. Not only does this recipe come from my grandmother, but also the skills of cooking that continues to be passed down.

My One Big Crazy Family