How often have we heard someone say, "She looks like her mother, or he looks like his grandfather?" Just last week my daughter-in-law, Melissa, stated that my granddaughter, Jude, looks like a certain relative. With that in mind, I ask each of you, particularly my sons, nieces and nephews: "Who do you look like?" Below are some early photos of your ancestors (although it seems a little strange that I am someone's ancestor.....I'm not even 60 years old.)
 |
| Charles Cash Rampton at 16 months |
 |
| Blanche Worthen age 1 |
 |
| Lois Fae Linnebach age 1 |
 |
| Charles Cash Rampton Jr. age 3 |
 |
| Charles Cash Rampton III age 1 |
 |
| Richard Arthur Rampton age 1 |
 |
| Roger Lee Rampton age 1 |
 |
| James Glen Rampton age 1 |
Below is a picture of Travis when he was about 1 year old. Compare that to Grandma Lois's (Lois Fae Linnebach) baby picture. I think there is a resemblance. When I look at a picture of my niece, Angie, I see a striking resemblance to my Grandma Blanche (Blanche Ruby Worthen.)
 |
| Blanche Ruby Worthen early 20's |
Is this all just genetics or is it something more? I don't know. In addition to passing on those dominant and recessive genes to us, were we acquainted in our pre-mortal existence? Were we friends? I am confident we knew each other there. Some patriarchal blessings state that a person was able to choose their parents there. Mine does.
In addition to having physical traits passed down to us by our ancestors, I can make a case that behavioral traits can also be inherited. Here are three examples (not all good):
My Mom's father, Grandpa Joe Bush (I don't know why we called him that.....his real name was Arthur Phillip Linnebach....everyone called him Art) was an avid lover of birds. Family lore has it that he raised fighting roosters in his early days. When I was young I remember his many parakeets, parrots and cockatoos. But later in his life he began to specialize in the breeding and raising of rare pheasants. Below is a copy of a sheet of his stationary listing his many pheasants.
He was a member of the Avicultural Hall of Fame. Many of you know that I enjoy photographing birds and have traveled to many places to get a good shot. Check out my Flickr.com page to see some of them. Grandpa Joe Bush died in 1969. Had I only had my present interest then, and a good camera (not my Kodak Instamatic), think of the great photos I could have taken in his back yard in Sandy, Utah. My brother Richard, seems to have inherited a greater portion of Grandpa Joe Bush's love of birds. For over 15 years he has bred and raised African Gray Parrots at his home in Phoenix, AZ. By the way, Richard's middle name is Arthur. His love of birds..........just a coincidence?
Example Two: My Dad, Charles Cash Rampton, Jr. used to tell us a story about our Grandpa Cash, his father (Charles Cash Rampton.) I've never been able to verify this, but according to Dad, Grandpa Cash was expelled from the University of Utah. Seems that one day he was leaning out the second story window of the science building holding an eye dropper full of nitro glycerin (liquid TNT). When a coed would walk by he would squeeze out a drop that would fall to the sidewalk below and explode, scaring the young woman. Great fun, right, but university officials frowned on such activities and booted him from school. So, he went to work for Walker Bank and retired a Senior Vice-president. This love of explosives seems to have passed on to Dad. To this day, he delights in telling the story of a summer job he had as a teenager in central Utah as a surveyor for the State of Utah. He and the guys he worked with were responsible for checking out how much ore was brought out of certain mines so proper taxes could be assessed. One day they were working in a canyon where a road was being built. That evening the miners and road crew had all gone home, leaving behind their tools, bulldozer and a box of dynamite. The surveyors were still there since they did much of their work once the miners went home. Imagine their surprise when they found the unguarded box of dynamite. And they just happened to have a 22 caliber rifle. They started out placing single sticks of dynamite on rocks and shooting at them. The explosion they made was exciting but soon got old. Then someone, and Dad never said who, had the bright idea to place the whole box of dynamite under the bulldozer, shoot it and see how high up the bulldozer would fly. Well, that's exactly what they did, the bulldozer flew about 10 feet in the air and landed upside down and then slid down into the creek. Needless to say, they didn't go back to that job site the next morning. Like father, like son. But the affinity for explosives does not end there. My son, David, is as good a young man as there is......Eagle Scout, 4 years of seminary, assistant to the president when serving his mission in Brazil, college graduate, etc. But, all that notwithstanding, he has been in trouble with the law twice in his life, both times for illegally discharging fireworks and other related items. I will spare you the details, you can ask him if you would like, but I hear tell that if you place a quarter stick of dynamite under a trash barrel and light it, the barrel shoots pretty high in the air and makes a noise like a gun shot. Three generations of TNT fanatics. Coincidence or something more?
Last example: According to the autobiography of my great, great grandfather, John Worthen, he joined the church in England after his mother gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon to read while he was recovering from an ankle injury (seems he was run over by a cannon.) He and his family immigrated (or emigrated, not sure which is appropriate) to the United States, arrived in Nauvoo, worked on the temple, was driven out by the mob and prepared to move west. John and his family had no money for an outfit and would probably have to go by handcart. But, the last sentence of his autobiography states: "Played a game of Yewker with the Gentiles until I made a fit out." Yewker is a card game similar to poker and his winnings allowed him to purchase a wagon and oxen. Well, John Worthen is not the only gambler in family. One of my weaknesses is playing the California Lottery. Every time the jackpot gets over 50 million dollars, I will buy a ticket. I am yet to win, but I use the example of John Worthen to justify my indiscretion. Coincidence, or just two guys hoping to get lucky, one who did and the other who did not.....yet? Decide for yourself.
If you know of other similarities, either physical or behavioral, with your ancestors, feel free to share in the comments box.
 |
| Travis Michael Rampton age 1 |
