The Letter H -- Family History Through The Alphabet

The Letter H

H can be for Haka, Happy, Home, Honorable, Humble, Healing, Hungry…

I was blessed to be raised in a Happy Home we were taught to Humbly live a life Hungry to be Honorable – – an environment that was soothing and Healing as one faced the dangers and heartache of growing up.


Today I would like to dedicate letter H to Henry Hixon Hamon, my grandfather. Grandpa Hamon was born – – 1900, in – – New Zealand. Henry Hixon was the great-grandson of Tunewha (toon-ee-fa) one of the great Maori chiefs during the Maori Wars with the British over misappropriated lands.

He was a man of great faith and I have to believe that the spiritual giant my father is has a lot to do with his father and their forefathers and mothers.

Henry Hixon and Edithe Violet had 12 children survive. A cousin in Australia told me that my grandparents had a way of nurturing their children such, that every one of them were convinced that they were their parents favorite.

I was about 12 years old and we were living in Calgary Alberta, Canada. All my life I'd heard about my grandpa Henry Hixon Hamon– and what a great man he was.

I had met him in New Zealand when I was about two years old and had no recollection of him or grandma who passed away in 1970 when I was 10.

Again, around the time I was 12 I got an insatiable hunger to meet my grandfather --but it looked like I might never have that opportunity in this life. I couldn't shake the feeling and took to praying about it--every night for three years I prayed that I would get to meet him.

Then when I was 15 years old we got the news that the family in New Zealand was sending grandpa over to spend a month with us. To this day reflecting on that experience warms me all over.

I had a nice transistor radio I really enjoyed and I gave it to grandpa to remember me by. About six years later my sister got to spend a year in New Zealand. She would tell me how grandpa loved that little radio and listened to it all the time. Grandpa Hamon died in 1987 in New Zealand– – but he walks with me still.

Family members in the photo--thank you Sarah Chapman for providing this beuatiful picture
Michelle Chapman, Kirsty Chapman, Bruce Chapman, Josh Chapman-Bradshaw, Brylee Chapman-Ramsay, Grace, and Sarah Chapman


























http://www.tattooforaweek.com
http://losetheexcuses.blogspot.ca
http://fergie.ca
http://www.concierge.com/

One of the best Tools for Family History and Genealogy

One of the best tools I've found for Family History and Genealogy is the Flip Pal. It's what my husband calls "The Affordable Portable Scanner."

Flip Pal Attributes
Mobile
Versatile
Easy and Quick to Use
Keeps Your Memories Safe
Accurate

For more information go to Scaneasy123.com (http://scaneasy123.com/index.html)

Kelly Hamon

What are you creating? What's most important to you?

We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. Chuck Palahniuk 

 

What are you creating? 

What's most important to you? 

Images

http://inspirationaldaily.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/there-is-only-one-happiness-in-life-love-and-be-loved-2/

http://liveruralnl.com/2011/07/24/family-the-cornerstone-of-our-lives-society/

The Letter C---Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge

 

The Letter C

When I think of the letter C, I hear the song "C is for Cookie" sung gruffly and energetically by Cookie Monster. I still remember the first time I ever heard that silly song - I was the nanny for a young child. This little boy used to watch Sesame Street every day like clock work. One day this song comes on--and it has been stuck in my head since. I thought I would share the joy/agony.

Excuse the tangent I just went off on, but honestly that's what I think of every time I think of the letter C, hahaha.

When it comes to family history, C is for Christmas. When my cousin and I    were little girls we could always count on getting two types of gifts from my Great Great Aunt Ruth Teschner and my Great Great Aunts Meta Hammer (nee Teschner) and Gertrude Nisely (nee Teschner); clothes from Great Aunt Ruth and an embroidered pillow case from Great Great Aunt Meta and Gerty.

I guess I should back up... to me - family history isn't just genealogy, which many people see as trying to find old records of old ancestors. 

To me family history is a combination of 1) genealogy: uncovering the past and where I come from and 2) relishing, preserving, and focusing on the family we have now: taking pictures/scrap-booking, family get togethers, etc -- and 3) preserving our day for future generations: through journals, scrapbooks, pictures, traditions, etc---so in essence I think of family history as the past, present, and future.

So today's post is about a tradition that happened every year as I was growing up, but didn't really appreciate until the season of that tradition was gone.

I didn't appreciate her thoughtful gifts of clothes so much until I got a little older - and actually cared about what I wore. Aunt Ruth had great taste, she always bought the clothes from JC Penny's which was a big deal back than. Christmas eve I was allowed to open one gift and in hopeful anticipation of getting P.J.s  I always opened Aunt Ruth's. 

Great Great Aunt Meta and Gerty always gave us hand embroidered pillow cases, many times our names were embroidered. They were so pretty, I wish I had kept them, but I was too young to really understand or appreciate the gift, but now I love to continue the tradition with my niece.

 
Kelly Hamon

Image
http://www.kimberlykalil.com/2011/05/me-letter-c.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonnetofthemoon/3729224173/
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye8mB6VsUHw

The Letter B---Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge

The Letter B
I chose this picture of the letter B because some times doing family history is like a maze, you never know what's just around the next turn.
 
One of the turns I took looking for this relative was searching the internet for information and serendipitously finding pictures of family grave stones on a great web site called findagrave.com.






The Letter B is for Burger. My 6th great grandfather's name was Zachariah Burger. Zachariah lived from 1761 to 1836 and was buried  in Terpenning Family Ground Cemetery,   Esopus, Ulster Co., New York. 

 

With a little googling I learned that he had fought in the Revolutionary War, an exciting discovery for a patriotic American.  

I am grateful to live in a country where I can practice my religion freely, speak freely, and enjoy an element of security from tyrannical rule. I have always admired the founding father's for having the strength to fight for their liberties, as well as all those who have paid for our freedoms with their blood. 

Freedoms I partake of daily. Finding that one of my relatives fought in the Revolutionary War made my heart well with pride. Made me want sing - Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" and wave a flag.

When I think of the insurmountable challenges Zachariah Burger and those who have fought to keep America free faced and overcame- I find myself looking at my trials differently because I know if I am brave and stand up for what is right - freedom can survive and thrive. 

The letter B leaves me proud of my country, freedoms, and family.

Kelly Hamon

Images
http://www.findagrave.com/
www.printactivities.com
http://uda3mau.blogspot.ca/2012/11/best-american-flag-hd-quality-rate-9.html

The Letter A---Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge

The Letter A

This kind of reminds me of Sesame Street, when they would say "and the letter today is" and "brought to you by the letter..." then they would have all kinds of things that began with that letter--it was fun as a child thinking about all the things that day that began with that letter.

It also reminds me of a game that I made up when I was taking a trip up to Toronto to get tickets for Phantom of the Opera with a friend of mine---he wanted to be more than friends and I felt a bit uncomfortable on the drive back home so I made up the game I called The Alphabet game. Every one (if you have more than 2 people in the vehicle it makes it fun) in the car in turn has to say one word that begins with the beginning letter, which we all know is A, none of the words can be the same, and when some one can't think of a word they loss the round and need to move on to the next letter---you keep on playing until the last letter. It's a great distraction and that's what I needed on my trip home.


As for our alphabet challenge it's not to distract but have some fun with family history.

When I think of the letter A and family history I think of one of my  great grandmother's Augusta Meyer.

Augusta Meyer was born February 1872 in Germany she married one of my great grandfathers (Charles Witt)  in 1894 in America and had 7 children.

I've found a couple US Census records with her and her family
US Census 1900
US Census 1910

I get so excited when I find records about my family, because it makes them more real to me, not just people on my family tree or a pedigree chart, but real people who lived, breathed, wept, loved and laughed just like me----that are a part of me even though I may have never known them.

According to one of the census records she was called Gusty, I really like that, Gusty has a ring to it, it makes her seem to me a bit whimsical. Maybe it was a childhood nickname or maybe her sweetheart, my great grandfather called her that in way of affection. I believe one day I will be able to ask her.

Kelly Hamon

Image: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Brought_to_You_by_the_Letter_A

Family History Through The Alphabet Challenge--The Beginning

 I just ran into this great idea from the blogger at Genealogy and History News. That blogger suggested the idea way back in May, but since I just found it---let the challenge begin.

The challenge was to use every letter in the alphabet some how every week about family history.

Resources
Image:  http://tinyurl.com/7h7ov5b