52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

          Both sides of my family have a bunch of music genes that run through our blood! I’ve talked before about my mom’s mom (Florence Koetzle)   being quite artistic in her sewing and oil painting, but mainly our artistry is in music on both sides of my family.   On my dad’s side, my cousin told me Rebecca Hinch (Grannie) had a beautiful singing voice. She would often sing along with my cousin Eldeena. Grannie had an old pump organ in their bedroom (I guess that was the only room that could accommodate it), and my cousin would play hymns on it when she was a child. No matter how busy Grannie was ( and she was very busy) she would stop and sing hymns along with her. She particularly remembers the hymn “Jewels, Jewels, Precious Jewels.” What a sweet story that is! So many relatives I meet now remember and mention that pump organ in the bedroom.   Grannie (Rebecca) and Grandpa’s (Stewart) four children, Roy, Lowell, Roscoe (my dad) and L...

          My parents, Dot and Roscoe, were married at 4 PM, October 16, 1943 In Margate, New Jersey. Those are the facts. We all have facts like these in our family trees. What makes that day come alive are the details which I was fortunate to uncover in a few newspaper articles that described their wedding. And I was able to tie that information to details in Roscoe’s letters home during WWII. Admittedly I have had these newspaper articles for a few years, but never really dug into the details until this week. The things I missed, or didn’t put together until now are pretty fascinating. Having this specific topic “wedding bells” gave me a reason to dig deeper. I am sure glad I did.   Dot and Roscoe's wedding 10/16/1943 Margate, NJ My mom’s father, C. Wilbur Harley, was the church organist in the Margate Community Church where Dot and Roscoe were married. For some reason, I had it in my head that Dot’s father would need to play the organ for her wedd...

          As we grow older, I suppose it is natural to think about attending family reunions.   We want to gather with families, particularly family that we don’t often get a chance to see. And I also think that it is natural to want to share these reunion experiences with our children and grandchildren. We want them to meet their relatives, share in the stories that are part of their heritage, and understand where they came from. And we also want to be remembered by the younger generations, and I think attending these reunions together is our way of helping cement those memories and family ties. Location of the Hinch reunion every year 2nd Sunday in July When I personally think about a family reunion, I always think about the annual Hinch reunion - my dad’s paternal line. This Hinch reunion has been an annual occurrence since around 1925. It originally started as a birthday celebration of James Nathan Hinch, my great grandfather. It is believed that...