John was fussy this week. Every time I set him down he cried, making work (which involves being able to think coherently and type with both hands... kind of like walking and chewing bubblegum) pretty much out of the question. At one point I sat down to check email, and saw the ad for Ancestry.com. They have a 14 day free trial, so I thought I'd see what I could find. Several hours later I found out I am obsessed!
I had a fair amount of information from what my stepmom, Maggi, gave me over the years so there were quite a number of "hints" - census records, military registrars, social security applications - right out of the gate. Many of these gave information on parents and children that we didn't have, as well as more interesting details such as addresses and even eye color. For example, the draft card for my great-grandfather, Robert Morris Hinman, came up. Their address was 75 Merriman Rd. in Akron, Ohio; he worked as a foreman at the Akron Foundry; his eyes were blue and he was tall. My brother has blue eyes while mine are dark brown, so it's interesting to see where it originated.
But the Hinman/Weeks (my grandmother's side) goes even further back. The Hinmans go back to the 1600's, and were some of the thousands of Puritans that came over shortly after this land was being settled landing in Plymouth, Mass.. There's a book by a Royal Richard Hinman listing the colonists, and I'm going to try to find it. (On an interesting side note, our second son's middle name is Royal for Royal Caulfield in Grant's family. Little did I know we had a Royal Hinman,too.)
The Weeks' lineage traces back to England, but what intrigues me even more is a Matthias Weeks in New Hampshire who signed a letter pledging life and fortune to fight the British armies. He signed it, but two of his brothers signed a different document saying they oppose the British, but wouldn't fight. A fourth brother refused to sign either. Once again, I can see similar family traits - all the family groans if my brother and I discuss politics, religion, actually pretty much anything in life. (Except the "Simpsons" - we both crack up.)
When the Weeks family came to Ohio in the early 1800's, three of the brothers, including Leavitt who is a great-great grandfather, formed the Weeks Brothers construction company and built most of the buildings in Wadsworth, Ohio before 1836. The Weeks also built many of the barns in the area. I can speculate that they're responsible for the barn on the family farm constructed in 1914, but I'm not certain. I remember Dad mentioning Grandma's family (Guy Larue Weeks) saved up $2500 for it. The timber was cut from the farm, but they still had to buy the slate for the roof. (These days $2500 would barely pay for two squares of slate on a roof!)
On the military front, two were in the Civil War. Asa Hinman and Harrison Weeks served in the Union Army. I know there's a monument in Sharon Center, Ohio with Asa's name on it. And we have paperwork from Harrison Weeks, as well as his canteen from the war. I even have a Confederate bill in one of my scrapbook from when I was little. I can't remember if Dad or Grandma gave it to me. I definitely need to dig into the details on both of these.
I'm stuck on the Hinman Tree at Thomas Bridge, the father of Mary Louise (Bridge) Weeks who was my great-grandmother. I know he was a member of the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners in 1867, but can't find out where he was born or who he married. I'm sure with more digging something will come up, and undoubtedly this will be a good winter project.
Since I was on a roll this week, I asked my mom about my grandfather's parents. I know my sister lives in the house of my great-grandmother's brother, but didn't even know their names. When I did a "Google" search on Eva Schuckert in Copley,Ohio an entire website came up with pertinent details on the family, including pictures. I remember seeing Granny Emery once when I was little. She was a tiny woman with her hair in a bun. It's hard to believe she had 16 children! And I think all of them lived to adulthood.
I also didn't know my grandfather's father came over from Hungary around 1911. Their name changed from Imbrea to Emery, and they established themselves in Summit County, Ohio. My great-grandfather, Demetrius (Dan) Emery worked for Goodyear briefly, but was a farmer most of his life. Grandpa Bud, Wilbur C. Emery, did everything from farm to own Copley Sparkle Market (with his brother, Paul), the bowling alley in Copley, and built homes in Florida. It's interesting to see the "Emery" features we recognize all the way back to Demetrius. Emery's can be stern looking, and are notorious work-a-holics. Work is fun, and fun is work. Unfortunately, another common theme with the Emery's is Alzheimer's. Demetrius spent a number of years in a nursing home with it, and so far 4 out of 16 of the kids had or have it.
This is definitely going to be an enjoyable process. I love discovering the lost pieces of information about our families. My sister, Leigh, laughs at me, but thankfully, Maggi shares my enthusiasm, and we're planning on a day to explore cemeteries the next time I'm back visiting. That's what I call a good time!