Present Past

Twenty years or so ago when people found out that I liked to do genealogy, most of them didn't know what it was, and those that did couldn't understand why I wanted to do it.

For those that couldn't figure out why in the world I wanted to know about my family history I would ask them if they had ever wondered where they came from. Most of the time their answer was "yes" and after I talked to them about it for a few minutes they would become very interested.

I love teaching genealogy to people and will talk about my family history to anyone that asks....or doesn't :-)

What Does Our Family Have To Do With the Great Seal of the United States???

Here's a bit of trivia for you - Who designed the Great Seal of the United States?

Answer - Charles Thomson. (Yes, it's spelled right)

And he's related how?, you ask. Well, he's my 6th great-grand uncle.....which means he was the brother of my 6th great grandfather, David Thompson. (Yes, it's spelled right.)

Sit back, kick your shoes off and I'll tell you the story...............

A long, long time ago, in the very early 1700s to be exact, in County Londonderry, Ireland a family by the name of Thomson lived. However, just because the family lived in Ireland, and some of the children were born there, they were actually Scottish.

A little info here - many families from Scotland moved, or were driven out of Scotland, and went to Ireland due to religious persecution. The term Scot-Irish was given to them. HOWEVER, they were NOT Irish. The true Scot-Irish NEVER intermarried with the Irish and kept their Scottish bloodlines true.

Anyway, back to the story............

Charles Thomson was born in 1729. He had two or three brothers, one of which was David. Their mother died sometime around 1739 and his father and the boys left Ireland for America. The father died at sea and the boys were left orphaned and penniless and when they reached America they were seperated.

Not much is known of how my David had to spend his childhood, but he acquired land in Frederick County, Virginia (now Mineral County, West Virginia) in 1749. In this same area, five miles from David's home, were the Thomas Hanks family (Grandfather of Abraham Lincoln)and Rebecca Bryan Boone's parents. (Wife of Daniel Boone) David farmed and raised a large family of 8 children with his wife, Mary. Their son, David Jr. was my line.

However, this story is about my 6th great-granduncle, Charles. You notice that Charles and David spelled their last names differently. Charles chose to keep the original spelling of the name and David chose to add the "p".

When Charles was seperated from his brothers after landing in America he was cared for by a blacksmith in New Castle, Delaware and was educated in New London, Pennsylvania. In 1750 he became a tutor in Latin at the Philadelphia Academy. He was also the founder of a group that became the American Philosophical Society. But that's not all...............

Charles was a good friend to the Indians and during the French and Indian War he was an opponent of the Pennsylvania proprietors' American Indian policies. He also became a leader of the Philadelphia Sons of Liberty. And that's not all.............

In the 1770s he was a leader in the revolutionary crisis. John Adams refered to him as "the Samuel Adams of Philadelphia." He also served as secretary of the Continental Congress through it's entirety (15 years). Along with John Hancock, who was the president of the Continental Congress, Charles' name appeared on the first published version of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776. (He signed as secretary) Charles was also considered "The Prime Minister of the United States" as he was so involved in the conduct of foreign affairs. And that's not all...........

Charles was also the most responsible for coming up with the Great Seal of the United States. It seems that three seperate committees had tried to come up with a suitable design for the national seal that would satisfy the Continental Congress and they couldn't do it. Charles took it upon himself to take designs elements from the three committees and combined them into one work. Once he had the basic idea, William Barton refined it and the Congress accepted it and that's what serves as our national seal today.

From other sources ---

Charles Thomson – Principal Designer of the Great Seal
Although few people today have heard of Charles Thomson (1729-1824), he was one of America's most significant and influential Founding Fathers – a man very well qualified to translate the idea and ideals of America into symbolic imagery.

As the only Secretary of the Continental Congress for its entire fifteen years, Thomson was a tremendous unifying factor. He kept the minutes of all sessions of Congress, including special minutes of all the secret affairs. His journals and files became the archives of our nation.

From www.greatseal.com --
"No person in the world is so perfectly acquainted with the rise, conduct,
and conclusion of the American Revolution." – John Jay

Not Your Father's Secretary
Before the Constitution took effect in 1789, the Continental Congress was both the Executive and the Legislature. There was no President of the United States, only a President of Congress (elected by Congress).

Thomson's job combined what are now the domestic duties of the Department of State, the duties of the Secretary of the Senate. and the Clerk of the House of Representatives.

"It's as true as if Charles Thomson's name were on it."
As Secretary, Thomson's name was regarded as an emblem of truth. In all the factional disputes of the Revolutionary period, his judgment was respected. During the rumors and uncertainties of the Revolutionary War, Thomson helped the Continental Congress retain the faith and support of the people by insisting that full and honest reports be issued, under his signature, concerning all battles and engagements whether won or lost.

His reputation was such that his reports were in great demand. When a Congressional paper appeared containing his signature the expression was frequently heard, "Here comes the Truth."

Ranked closely to the President, Thomson stands to the right of John Hancock in the painting of the Declaration of Independence seen on the two-dollar bill. In fact, Hancock's and Thomson's are the only two names on the Dunlap broadside, the copy of the Declaration printed the night of July 4th – the only version made public for the next six months.

John Adams said Charles Thomson was
"the Sam Adams of Philadelphia, the life and cause of liberty."

Thomson was keenly aware of the slavery problem.
Writing to Jefferson in 1785: "It grieves me to the soul that there should be such just grounds for your apprehensions respecting the irritation that will be produced in the Southern States by what you have said of slavery. However, I would not have you discouraged. This is a cancer we must get rid of. It is a blot on our character that must be wiped out. If it cannot be done by religion, reason, and philosophy, confident I am that it will be one day by blood.

He was largely responsible for the establishment and continuation of the American Philosophical Society, a key vehicle for colonial communication and unification. A man of high intelligence, Thomson was avid promoter of useful knowledge – especially scientific agriculture, which he put into practice on his farm for thirty years.

And, last but not least, Charles Thomson purchased a farm that another one of my ancestors had settled on. Rowland Ellis, my 7th great-grandfather, built the house and farmed the land that Charles Thomson eventually bought and lived out his life on. The farm is near Bryn Mawr, PA.

If you ever need to do a report on someone for history, this is your man.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

In honor of St. Paddy's Day I thought I'd try to write something about one of my Irish ancestors, so I've decided to tell you a little bit about my 6th great-grandfather, Nehemiah Hutton.

Nehemiah was born in County Cavan, Ireland about 1690 to Thomas Hutton and Sarah Starkey. At an early age Nehemiah, who was a Quaker, left Ireland and sailed for America arriving here on 5 January 1716. He settled in Chester County, Pennsylvania and aquired 250 acres of land there. In 1723 he married Mary Miller, also from Ireland and also a Quaker, at the New Garden Monthly Meeting in Chester County and they proceeded to start a family.

It seems Nehemiah, being a "typical" Irish man, liked to partake in the spirits once in awhile and in 1724 this got him in trouble with the church. ---------

Quaker minutes: "10 Mo 12, 1724: 'Whereas Joseph & Nehemiah Hutton being both overtaken in Drink in ye County of New Castle & have condemned ye Same Under their hands which papers were read heere to ye Satisfaction of this Meeting & Appoints Benjamin ffred to read ye Same in ye Next first dayes Meeting.'"

Nehemiah lived until about 1735.

The David Frantz Family

My great-grandma was Minnie Martin.....Sarah Minnie Frantz Martin to be exact. I only remember meeting her once when I was young. She lived in Indiana and we lived in Ohio, so it just wasn't possible for my mom to visit her grandmother much.

Minnie married Cleve Martin......George Cleveland Martin to be exact, in 1911. My grandfather, Galen Cleveland (he hated the name Cleveland) was their first child. Minnie was born and raised in Greenbrier County, West Virginia and was the daughter of Abraham Frantz Martin and Lovie Alice Puckett.

The Abraham Michael Frantz family lived at the bottom of Martin Mountain in a large white house. Abraham and Lovie came from different backgrounds as far as religion goes. Abraham was raised a "River Brethern" or "Dunkard" as they were called then. (Now they are simply known as The Church of the Brethern) Lovie was raised Missionary Baptist. This could have been a real "fly in the ointment" for the couple, but when brought to meet Abraham's parents they found her to be above reproach in every way and religion was no longer a problem. Abraham became a preacher of the Brethern faith and it's said that he married and buried more people than anyone during that time. He was an accomplished man and had a love of learning. A Brethern church was built for him on his farm and the pews were hand made by one of his boys.

Abraham was the son of David Frantz and Sarah Ann Golespy (Gillespie) and was one of 19 children that had been fathered by David. Sarah herself had 9 of those children and David's first wife had the other 10.

David is the first Frantz in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, coming from Boones Mills, Franklin County, Virginia shortly after the Civil War in 1866. The family had grown so large and the land in Franklin County was so bad that David couldn't feed or cloth his children. He had heard tales of the fertile land across the Blue Ridge Mountains and decided to travel there to see for himself if he could provide for his family better there.

After traveling a long time David came into Greenbrier County. He knew that this was were he was meant to raise his family and he started looking for a place to live. He happened upon a large brick home, found out it was for sale and purchased it right then and there. This house, called Grandview, had been built by Captain John Young, brother to my Anne Young who had married Robert Thompson (parents of Margaret Katherine Thompson who married Pere Warner Martin).

David's granddaughter, Ada Frantz (sister to Sarah Minnie Frantz Martin) described him in a story she wrote as a tall man, big boned and slow moving. A deeply religious man, he always carried his Bible with him - a German Bible. He spoke fluent German and read the Bible to his grandchildren at every chance. Except for his reading, David was a quiet man and never lost his temper or raised his voice. His wife, Sarah, called him Davey. Sarah was just the opposite. She was short and plump and was a bundle of energy - always the first to rise.

Two More Reasons People Should Do Genealogy

I'm going off on a tangent with this one.

The first reason - I've always thought that genealogy should be taught as a required course in school. It should be taught to go along with the history classes. How many kids do you know that are actually interested in history?? Not many. I know very few genealogists who don't have a love of history and their love of history evolved with the search for their ancestors. Once you find out that one of your relatives fought in the Revolutionary War you WANT to find out more about that period of history. I think kids would develop a great love....or at least a better liking.....for history if they knew that one of their ancestors had been involved in a particular time period.

The second reason - my daughter, Chelsea. You see, Chelsea has a very rare medical condition that is genetic. We're not 100% for sure yet - but it's looking more and more like Freidricks Ataxia. The most noticable symptom? She walks like she's drunk all the time.....no balance or coordination. She didn't start to show any symptoms until about age 16.
When you trace your family history it's important to trace the medical genealogy of your family too. When I was 12 I was diagnosed with Graves Disease (Hyperactive Thyroid). I remember the doctor asking my mom and dad who else in the family had Thyroid disease and they both answered "no one that we know of". Thyroid disease is hereditary. It runs with diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.....I got the thyroid problem and my sister has the arthritis....we're just waiting for the diabetes to show up. Remember my last blog when I talked about not knowing my grandfather's sister? Well, guess what.........she had Graves disease too.
If we don't trace the medical genealogy how are we going to know what to warn our kids and grandkids about? An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and if they know what to look for maybe they can head off the problem before it gets a good start on their life.

Family Quarrels Lead To..........

I mentioned before that my grandfather always told me he didn't have any family left. I just always assumed that the rest of the family had stayed in Europe and died there. I don't remember him ever even mentioning his family. My grandfather died in 1977.

Fast forward to 1993......

I was visiting my grandmother one day and I was clearing off the table in preperation to eat some lunch with her. I picked up the bills and papers she had been working on and noticed a letter she had been reading. The return address on the envelope said "Bob Loos" and he lived in Novelty, Ohio. WHAT????? Who was this Bob Loos and why did he have my last name and why was he writing to my grandmother???

I asked my grandmother who he was and she told me, very nonchalantly, that he was my dad's cousin. Again....WHAT???? Dad had a Loos cousin I had never heard of?? What was going on? I asked her how he was related. She told me that Bob's dad had been my grandfather's brother. For the third time.....WHAT????? My grandfather had a brother??? Oh yes, and another brother, and a sister too. Ok. Last time....WHAT???? She didn't seem to want to tell me anything more about them, so I let it go, but the wheels in my mind were spinning.

After lunch she went upstairs. After a few minutes she called me up and I found her sitting in the spare room on the bed. She had an old shoe box next to her and she pushed it towards me. I looked at it and then at her and she motioned for me to open it.

I opened the shoe box not sure what I would find. When the lid came off there, on the top of the pile of things in the box, were people I didn't know nor had ever seen staring out at me. The people in the picture had names written by them, in my grandfather's handwriting. He was one of the boys in the picture. The rest of the people were his family.....his dad, mom, brothers, and sister. My grandmother then told me that I should have this box full of pictures and wouldn't say much more about it.

I carried the box downstairs and then copied the address for Bob Loos down and as soon as I got home I wrote to him. I introduced myself to him - told him who my dad was and who my grandfather had been. Not long after I sent that letter Bob mailed me back. He introduced himself to me and told me about his wife and his girls. Then he started telling me about the family I had never known. He even told me that my grandfather's sister, Mary, was still alive. Wow. I had Loos family and they were all here in Ohio. Wow.

One question still loomed in my mind....what had happened to the family that lead my grandfather to tell me that he had no family and that they were all gone?

Bob sent me my grand-aunt Mary's address and I sat down to write to her. I took great care in the wording of the letter and in telling her who I was and how I had come to find her. She was very elderly and I didn't want to shock her with my sudden "appearance".

Almost immediately I heard from Aunt Mary...a seething, horrible, mean letter. I was shocked, I was hurt, and in the end I was mad. She had basically told me that I was the scum of the earth and she never wanted to hear from me again. Aagain, I was mad. I might be a lot of things, but scum of the earth is not one of them. So, I wrote her back....and was very sweet about it. I explained to her that I had not intended to dredge up a lot of bad memories for her and that I had no idea about any family rift or what had happened, and, most of all, I was not involved in that rift as I was two generations away from it. I stamped it, sent it and figured that that avenue of my new found family was now closed.

Imagine my surprise when I got the sweetest letter, about a week later, from that same aunt who had all but condemned me to hell. She apologized for her first letter and began to tell me about herself. We carried on the exchange of letters until
1997.

It seems that my grandmother and grandfather had caused some trouble in the family by borrowing some money that never got paid back, and for a few other things too. Aunt Mary hadn't spoken to my grandfather for years and years and neither had her brother or her mother. Basically, I suppose, my grandfather had been dead to them because of the "problem".

There's a lesson to be learned here. Nothing should ever come between family. At least nothing that lasts forever. My grandfather suffered at the "loss" of his family, though he never said so I know he did. My dad suffered because he never got to know his own grandmother or his aunt and uncle. I suffered for the same reason...I never got to know my family. I was denied the opportunity because of some stupid quarrel in the family.

No one should ever be denied their right to know their family. Period.

Music

As you have probably noticed, I've added some music to my blog. One of the songs is a song that means something to Paul and I. Some of them - like Crosby Stills Nash and Neil Young are what I loved growing up. Others, like Springtime in the Rockies hold a very special place in my heart because a grandparent sang these songs to me as a child.
Enjoy the songs here. Every one of them mean something to me.