08.13.08
Harrod
Yesterday morning was a rare treat. I spent the morning in the genealogy department at the library surrounded by family history books and my trusty Pinky.
I’m working on gathering my documentation for my DAR application, and did find some more specific place names and times yesterday that should help with that process. Of course, I kept heading off on rabbit trails. It’s almost impossible for me not to! I love history, and my favorite part about family history is the way that you can see the larger historical events play out in a family or community.
As I worked on my Harrod history yesterday–my great-grandmother was Alta Jane Harrod Ruhl (in the picture with my great-grandfather)–I kept getting pulled into peripheral lines reading about soldiers and pioneers. It’s so cool when disparate family lines criss-cross and I find that my fifth great-grandfather on my father’s side, Levi Harrod, who fought in the revolution, and his brothers knew my first cousin nine times removed on my mom’s side, Daniel Boone.
I found my husband’s grandmothers maiden name, Garriott, intermingled with some Harrods in southern Indiana and several other names that are significant in my research, giving me more rabbit trails to follow.
Bethany and I are going to Salt Lake City at the end of the month for a convention, but I am hoping to be able to squeeze out a little bit of time to visit the Family History Library, although I don’t have any illusions that I’ll actually have time to get any research done.
05.07.08
Significance of family history
This post is from my main blog, but I thought that it would be good to post it over here, too.
I knew when I posted my last post that I might get a response like I got from one friend. I just didn’t think it would be so fast. “What difference does it what their great-great-grandparents were doing? I don’t even know who mine were.”
Maybe you have to be into family history to understand why the reality that someone owned my friends gg grandfather was so significant to me. Maybe not.
I know who my gg grandparents were. I know details about their lives. I’ve spent time searching for facts, details, stories, pictures, and places related to their lives. The decisions they made about where to live, how to live, and how to raise their children made an impact on their families that still goes on.
Louis and Wilhelmina (Pracht) Bracht were both born in Germany, married in Ohio, and moved to Indiana. Louis was a farmer. His last farm sat at what is now the corner of Coliseum & Lima in Fort Wayne. The house where he spent his last days is still standing in a Fort Wayne neighborhood. They had 11 children and were active in the German Reformed Church.
Heinrich and Wilhelmina (Kruetzman) Hildebrand were both second generation Americans, born in Allen & Adams counties. Their parents were among the founding members of the German Evangelical & Reformed Church in Magley, Indiana. Heinrich fathered seven children and also raised an orphan girl. The family still farms the same farm and my grandparents lived on land passed down from Henry. Henry died young-ish and Wilhelmine lived out her life in the home of her newly wed son Otto and his wife Flora, my great-grandparents.
Reuben and Margaret (Steele) Beery both came from families that have been here since before America was a country. On his mother’s side, Reuben was descended from Kings George’s Virginia land agent. Daniel Boone was his sixth cousin. They were active in the Brethren church and Reuben was a prosperous farmer. Reuben was born in Ohio, while Margaret was born in Adams County, Indiana. They had 11 children.
Joshua and Nancy (Mowery) Bright also came from Ohio. Joshua’s family had been in America sine the early 1700’s and he was also a farmer. His will was a beautiful confession of faith and hope that his family would continue in that faith. They had 14 children, with only three dying in childhood.
This is just one side of my family. I “know” my other four great-great grandparents, too. They were all farmers. My gg grandparents, Colonel Ellsworth and Samantha (Hubler) Ruhl were Lutheran and I’m grateful that I have ended up with that heritage.
These aren’t some people from the past who are of no further importance. Their lives impacted mine. When my friend mentioned, so matter of fact-ly, that she had found some information about her gg grandfather’s owner it made the whole reality of slavery seem even more awful than it always has.
10.26.07
I love cemeteries
Okay, I may not love all cemeteries, but I love the country cemeteries where earlier generations of my family are buried.
For a history buff like me, who is also part of a close family, family history is a natural interest. I have been researching for over 10 years now, but moving to northern Indiana five years ago really reinvigorated my searches. Both of my parents are from the county to the south of Fort Wayne, and the last immigrant ancestors of mine arrived there in the late 1840’s. Our families were among the early settlers of three northern Indiana counties: Adams, Allen, and Wells.
This gives me an enormous feeling of connection to this part of the country. I love finding the homes that family members lived in, seeing the churches the attended–and often helped build–and walking through the cemeteries where they were buried. I love finding newspaper snippets about their comings and goings, reading their letters, and seeing their names on old plat maps.
I love the cemeteries for their serene country settings. I love the signs of the faith that was an important part of their lives. Their are eight of them that I know pretty well, now, but each time I go I seem to make a new connection. There are a few I have yet to find. A beautiful fall day is the perfect time to go search.
My great-great-great grandparents, Joseph and Anna Harrod moved here from WiIlliams County, Ohio.
Their son Enos and his wife Hester have one of my favorite headstones. Enos and Hester’s daughter, Alta Jane Harrod Ruhl was my great-grandmother and I was named after her.
