Maneuvering Down the Genealogy Highway

I have a new cousin! Probably third cousin, maybe fourth. And it's a very cool story. But first, the background!

Several years ago when watching "Finding Your Roots," comedian Stephen Colbert's story was featured. As host Henry Louis Gates, Jr., gave him his family tree, he revealed a familiar name -- Leatherman. That's a name I knew well from my mother's family and it set me to wondering, "Is Stephen Colbert my cousin?"

That question sent me down the Genealogy Highway, trying to dig out the story of my mother's ancestors. I've mentioned this here before -- discovering my great grandfather's story (he was in one of Michigan's insane asylums for the last 13 years of his life); finding the graves of my great grandmother and her father in Michigan and her grandparents in Ontario; and visiting the home site and the church where my second great grandparents on her mother's side were married while we were in London. I even set up a blog about that family search.

But I really knew very little of my dad's family, especially on his father's side. So when I discovered the photo of Hannah Wells Holcomb Hard, my fourth great grandmother, I was curious to learn more.

I started out with her name and dates on the back of the card, which I assumed were birth and death dates -- 1765-1865. A search on various genealogy sites revealed some information but far too many holes to be sure I was looking for the right person. But then I remembered something else I had found at home quite some time ago with little context.

It was a book -- a photo yearbook -- published in 1896 -- that highlighted the first 100 years of Ohio's Western Reserve. This is basically the Cleveland area and the towns in several surrounding counties. There were some badly scrawled references to certain pages and some names marked with an asterisk in the index. One of those names? Hannah Wells Hard. And sure enough, there was the photo of my fourth great grandmother, along with her daughter, Harriet, my third great grandmother.

This gave me another search term -- Cleveland. And when that went in, along with the name, I came up with a rather long book written by Harriet's daughter (my second-great-gran's sister) which included at the front a history of the family. The book was online and after some copying and pasting, now lives as a word doc for my reference.

I've always had a warm feeling and great affinity for Cleveland, given that cousins on my mother's side all live there and we've visited for many years. I love the city, what I know of it. I had no idea I had some connection to it!

The book had loads of information on the founding of the region, the churches, the colleges (Baldwin - now Baldwin Wallace - and Oberlin) and the various organizations, notably the Women's Club (responsible for the publication of the book) and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Let's just say my ancestors would not approve of Cork Poppers!

The online book sent me back to Familysearch.org, with some names and locations. Their records revealed interesting things like Theodore Parmalee's Revolutionary war records (or some of them). Whether this was Harriet's husband Theodore or his father is still up for grabs, but it is the direct line, which gives yet another generation's information.

Well, I couldn't keep all this to myself. I posted this page on my Facebook page and one of my friends, the wonderful Kim, my IT Goddess (without her, I'm not sure I'd have a working computer!), wrote, "I have a Parmelee in my family tree."

Well, it turns out -- I think -- that her second great gran Eliza Parmelee, is my second great gran Lucia Parmelee Davis' sister. It was their sister who wrote the history I found online.

Should the DNA check out -- or more facts -- it would appear we are probably third or fourth cousins. I can't think of a better person to add to my family tree!

And as for my people? Well, this is Lucia's daughter, Adelia, and her husband, Henry Croope (what a beard!), my great grandparents. It's hard for me to wrap my brain around all that!

I have no idea how this daughter of a doctor met farmer Henry Croope, or where. I do know, though, that she kept bees!

I have some direct information on Delia (my dad wrote this letter to his mother who was in the hospital when Dad was eight. Apparently he was really missing his mom!)

I can see why. She also served up Dad's pet chicken, Pedro, for dinner one night and when someone said "That was good," she said, "That was Pedro." Dad was about eight and I don't think he ever forgave her. Nor was he that fond of chicken for the rest of his life. I also have the eulogy he wrote for her when she died. She, too, was active in the Temperance Union. I'm not sure if we would have got along.

From Hannah to Harriet, Harriet and Theodore to Lucia, Lucia to Adelia, Adelia and Henry to Charles and the Charlie to my dad.

And Dad to me.

So many people I never knew I had. Some I discovered by sheer accident. My people.