52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

         I thought a long time about which recipe to write about, and in the end I chose Granny Hinch’s Peach Cobbler. The thing is I don’t have the recipe, only the memories of eating it. Heck, there probably wasn’t a recipe actually written down anyway. Not my photo - its from Google, but its close to how I remember it. You see, Granny was raised in very rural Tennessee, and I’m sure learned to cook by watching and doing how her mamma did things. And since she was the oldest daughter, I also imagine she helped out a lot in the kitchen.   “Granny” (Rebecca Catherine Oxier Sherrill was born in 1885 to George Akin Sherrill and Flora Ann Thurman Sherrill. They lived up in the mountains Cumberland County, TN.   She married Steward (Stewart) Hinch in 1904, when she was 19. Growing up she had 4 siblings, and 4 half-siblings (her half-siblings’ mother was Isabella Nail, George’s first wife, who died at age 49). Rebecca and Stewart were my dad Rosco...

          As someone else posted on this topic - “the name’s the same” can be both a blessing and a curse to us family history buffs!   Isn’t that the truth! And I thought I had this particular name all figured out until I actually started writing this week’s blog.   My dad’s family has very deep Tennessee roots. So it wasn’t too surprising to me that one of my ancestors was named after Andrew Jackson, the 7th US president. His name is Andrew Jackson Hinch, born between 1831 and 1833.   And then, he had a son Andrew Jackson Hinch Jr. Then I found a third one - also Andrew Jackson Hinch. The second two were first cousins, and all three lived in the same area of Tennessee, just south of Crossville.            I have to admit I did not know much about our 7th president other than he lived in a huge mansion “The Hermitage” around Nashville TN when he was elected president. He was actually born in the Carolinas...

         A few years before Mom passed away in 2017 (she was 99 when she passed), I gave her one of those memory books to fill out as she wished. The following story is one of the things she wrote about, and I would never have known it happened had she not written it down. I have researched what she wrote and it all was true. I was able to find newspapers articles that backs up her remembrance. World War II - September 15, 1944 to be specific. There was a battle, but it was not on foreign soil, it was in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The opposing factions were Mother Nature against those already wounded in the war. Here is the story, and our mom was right there as it unfolded. Mom. on the boardwalk of A.C. 1938 First, a little background. Fresh out of Atlantic City high school, Mom got a secretarial   job working for Leeds and Lippincott, the owners of Haddon Hall, a large convention center and hotel on the boardwalk. A few years passed, and WWII st...

         Multiple candles adorned the white frosted birthday cake at the center of the table.   In fact it was 80 candles, one for each year of life for James Nathan Hinch, my paternal great grandfather. The date of the party was Sunday, July 22, 1928, after James had officially turned 80 the previous Wednesday, July 18th.   James Nathan Hinch, date of photo unknown These birthday celebrations for James had been an annual even for at least the past 3-4 years. This occasion was held at his son Stewart Hinch’s home. Stewart and his wife Rebecca Sherrill Hinch (my paternal grandparents) and many other family members (32 guests) all joined in to celebrate this very special birthday for James. How have I learned all this? Well, there was an article in the Chattanooga Tennessee newspaper that I found, and it gave many of these particulars. James and Emily Hinch, date and location not known I had known that the annual Hinch reunion that is still goi...