52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

          In July 2018 I finally made it to a Hinch reunion (as they say, it was far piece from ND to TN!). They has been going on since 1928 or so, but this is the first one I was able to go to. As I was signing in, I flipped through a 3-ring binder with some old photographs and used my phone to capture the images and description. Since that time I have been attempting to authenticate them, as they seemed too good to be true.   The photos were of my 2nd great grandparents, William Hinch and Annie Sherrill. On Annie’s lap was a child 1-2 years old. William was born in 1826, and his wife Annie was born in 1829. They were married about 1846, so about 16 years before the Civil War.   My 2nd G-grands) William Hinch and wife Annie Sherrill Hinch, taken 1859-1860 , Someone had written below the photographs “William Hinch, father of James Hinch, and Ann Sherrill Hinch, Baby Tom”. My research told me “baby Tom” was Thomas Hinch and he was born in 185...

         Ancestral places are what shaped our ancestors, their lives, and the lives of their children. So is it possible to choose one that matters more than any of the other places? It isn’t possible for me. So instead, I am going to do a little play on words for this week’s post.   The place that matters most to me is the grey matter in my brain that holds the memories of all these places.           I remember Atlantic City, where my mom and grandparents lived. What grand times we had there, with days at the beach, supper at the Morton Hotel, walks on the boardwalk, buying salt water taffy (who's was the original?), Mr Peanut, the rolling chairs, sleeping in my grandmother’s room with the window open and smelling the breeze from the ocean. It was an amazing time. Of course this was before gambling was started, and most of the old hotels and buildings were torn down to make way for the casinos. Such a great loss.   ...

         When I first started my family history “hobby” about 15 years ago, I learned by just jumping in and researching, as did many of us. I remember the first time I ran across a name in my dad’s family line in an old MS-DOS printout that a relative had sent me so many years ago.   As I was flipping through these printouts of descendant and family group sheet reports (which I did not even understand at all), I got so very excited when I saw the name Andrew Jackson Hinch. Were we related to Andrew Jackson? Well, as it turned out, no. I think there was an in-law David Crockett Knox in there too. Stewart Hinch and Rebecca Sherrill, our dad's parents. Possibly wedding day December 1904 But I did learn that it was a “thing” (and maybe still is) to name a child after a well-known person, such as a famous president, founding father, or maybe an impactful preacher, with maybe the hope that they would encompass some of the traits of that person. Some of t...

Our own Decoration Day memories - May 25, 2026 Here are the beautiful memories that you shared with me to help celebrate Memorial / Decoration Day. I have added a couple of my own. I am sure you all have many memories of this day, both joyful and sad, and no matter which kind, keep remembering and share them with your family.  “I remember when my cousins and I went to Dollywood in Tennessee and we went on all the rides together.”   - Avery At Pigeon Forge, listening to Bob singin' and pickin' ! “I have fond memories of the Holland American cruise with Gigi, you and Dad, Jim, Alda, Andrea, Lisa, Bob, Donna, Graham and Chris.”   - Steph “One of my favorite memories is the whole family going on the cruise.”   -   Graham 1998 cruise    "Jim said he remembered the time that our dad balanced a bowl of tomato soup on his head!  And he did it, until he didn't !!  - He was always balancing and piling up random items on the dinner table." -  Jim...