Always & Forever My Daddy

 

When I think of an influencer in my life, I’ve had many. My daddy, William Henry Meyer, was born 22 January 1937 in Poteet, Atascosa County, Texas to Herbert Meyer and Loudie Ferguson.[i] The third child of his parents, pictured in his mother’s arms above, and named after his two grandfathers (Henry Sievers and Wilburn “Will” Ferguson). His mother passed away a short year later, 15 January 1938.[ii]  His father, Herbert, a widower at 29 years old with three children, was devastated with grief. My father and his siblings were raised in the homes of his uncle William Edward “Eddie” Ferguson, friends - Joe & Lola Hernandez, friends - Seth & Josie Williams and two years later adoptive aunt, Selma Meyer Curry.[iii]  His Aunt Selma and Uncle Bill Curry gave him structure, discipline and his foundation of faith. His father remarried in 1943 to Clara Maria Schorsch and the family was reunited as one again.

After graduating from high school in May 1955, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and was honorably discharged on 10 September 1959. He married Barbara Jeane Crawford on 10 January 1961 at the United Methodist Church in Cotulla, La Salle County, Texas.[iv] He re-enlisted in the USAF on 21 August 1963 and was stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Honolulu, Hawaii on 26 September 1966. My father and his young wife agreed to adopt his younger sister's baby. His sister flew to Hawaii from Texas, I was born in a local hospital and the adoption was finalized afterwards.  I was raised a military brat!

While I certainly challenged my adoptive parents regularly, they loved me no less. My father was insistent that I know I was adopted at an incredibly early age and took every opportunity to share stories about my maternal biological family. He placed an envelope with the identity of my biological father in his desk and said that I could open it when I turned eighteen. When I reached the age of eighteen, he supported me in the journey to locate my biological father.

My Daddy raised me with a strong moral compass and incredible work ethic that he learned working on my grandfather’s dairy farm and throughout his military experiences. He took me on adventures that would shape my entire life, including sledding down our neighborhood hill in Nebraska, traveling through Germany in a camping van, starting elementary school in a British school (rather than a school on base), building various woodworking projects, canoeing down the St. James River in Virginia and visiting family burial plots across Texas to name a few. He instilled a love of family history and genealogy within me through his countless journals, family stories and photographs. I wished I had paid more attention to him. Nevertheless, he was selfless and courageous to adopt me and give me a life full of happiness and joy.

He honored his father’s wishes (for the most part; he was a rebel child though) and respected his family heritage that included always taking care of their family with unconditional love.

The Lord, no doubt, placed me in the loving arms of an Angel that had tremendous influence in my life. Though he is not with me physically today, I feel his nudges still and regularly experience those “Red Bird” sightings that many say signal an Angel is nearby. I’m certain he visits me often!

 

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[i] Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997; Roll Number 1937_0005; online database with images, Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/8781/images/TXBTH_1937_000515j?pId=2836493  : accessed 28 January 2024).

[ii] Texas, U.S., Death Index, 1903-2000; online database with images, Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/4876/images/txdth_19031940m-1674?pId=4436874  : accessed 28 January 2024); citing Texas Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit, Austin, Texas.

[iii] United States Census, 1940; online database with images, FamilySearch, (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MY-HSRQ?view=index&personArk=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AKWNK-LLC&action=view  : accessed 28 January 2024).

[iv] Texas Marriage Records, LaSalle County, Texas; License No: 204; Book: 6; Page 99; Issued: 9 January 1961; United in Marriage: 10 January 1961 by Rev. Lee r. Geldmeier; Recorded: 16 January 1961 by Geo. E. Cook, County Clerk.

Photography: A Shared Connection with my 2nd Great Grandfather

 

    By the age of eighteen, George Washington Knight moved out of his father’s home with hopes of a different life.[i] It must have been the unprecedented economic transformation and industrial growth in America that fueled George’s ambitions. Beginning in 1870, the camera design was evolving and the changing method to produce images started the movement that made photography available to the general public.[ii] George along with a partner, surname Robertson, ventured into the photography business. They placed several photography advertisements that ran from 1 October 1872 through on 19 November 1872 in the The Democrat newspaper for services in Grove Hill, Clarke County, Alabama (a neighboring county about 24 miles from George’s childhood home).[iii] As described in their advertisement, the ferrotype process resulted in an underexposed image that could be taken and developed in minutes.[iv] Until this time, early cameras required exposures of several minutes to half an hour.  Patrons would need to choose a pose they could hold for that length of time; no wonder no one is smiling in early photographs! Who could hold a smile for thirty minutes? George and his partner would likely setup quickly and produce a product in a short period of time allowing them the mobility to move from location to location with ease. I was overjoyed to find these articles and know that we share a photography connection. He called himself a "Photographist" and I call myself an "Amateur Photographer." Research project list:  locate photographs taken by Robertson & Knight; likely a long shot, but who knows what is waiting to be found.

 

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[i] 1870 Federal Census, Marengo County, Alabama, Page 64; online database with images, Ancestry.com, (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4257605_00606?pId=13199942 : accessed 22 January 2024). Entries for William C Knight family, lines 7-13, George Washington Knight’s father.

[ii] Gaylord, Chris (2011, November 18). Louis Daguerre: Why people never smile in old photographs. The Christian Science Monitor. (https://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/Horizons/2011/1118/Louis-Daguerre-Why-people-never-smile-in-old-photographs#:~:text=Grinning%20exercises%20far%20too%20many,for%20the%20image%20to%20work. : accessed 24 January 2024).

[iii] Robertson & Knight. (1872, October 8). Photographists, Grove Hill, Alabama. The Democrat, XVII(19). 2.

[iv] Harding, Colin. (2013, May 25). How to Spot a Ferrotype, Also Known as a Tintype (1855-1940). Science + Media Museum. (https://blog.scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk/find-out-when-a-photo-was-taken-identify-ferrotype-tintype/ : accessed 22 January 2024).

The Patriarch of Our Family

 

Michael Sievers was born on 2 September 1909 in Gonzales County, Texas to Henry Sievers Jr. and Mary Ann Englert Sievers. Both the Sievers (1884) and Englert (1886) families emigrated to the United States through the Port of Galveston, Texas from Bremen, Germany. Michael’s mother died shortly after he was born, and his aunt Minna Sievers Meyer took him in and raised him as her own. When he was nine years old, Minna and her second husband, Reinhardt Meyer, adopted him on 27 September 1918 in San Patricio County, Texas and changed his name to Herbert Meyer.

My aunt, Kathryn Meyer Coe Aguras wrote in her family memoir, titled "BlueBonnet Blue," about this photograph.  "Minna showed Henry a picture they had made of Herbert [referring to Michael Sievers] by a traveling photographer who had come by their place.  He wore a little white christening gown and Wilhemina's [his grandmother, Wilhemine Schwekendick Sievers] necklace that she brought from Germany. It has a blue background and a white dove." [Note: The copy of the original monochrome photograph was taken circa 1910 and the enhanced color version was created on Ancestry.com].

My grandfather became the catalyst for my adoption. When his youngest daughter became pregnant with me, out of wedlock in 1966, she made a brave and moral decision to continue with her pregnancy. There was no question in my grandfather’s mind that one of his other six children would adopt me at birth. My grandfather and I would have a unique bond that still carries with me today. He lived life to the fullest and left this world in peace on 21 May 2002 in Pleasanton, Atascosa County, Texas. His love of family, family traditions and family history preservation now shine through in me and my son, Jarred Popham, in hopes his legacy will be carried forward to our future generations. 

Our German heritage is rich with the love of God and Family and the determination and perseverance to live life to the fullest. These values were instilled in my grandfather from childhood and through his adult experiences. He personally took time to pass them to his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren born during his lifetime.

Written with nothing but love and respect!!

A New Life in America

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 2: Origin

My maternal grandmother, Clara (Klara) Maria Schorsch, was born in Moerschbach, Germany on Friday, 1 March 1912. She was only two years old when her father, Peter Schorsch, was called into the Imperial German Army during World War I. Peter was captured in France and imprisoned during his second year of service. He escaped but was recaptured and sentenced to four more years. Clara and her mother, Anna (Klumb) Schorsch, survived six years in the French zone of Germany. When Peter was released from prison in 1920 (two years after World War I ended), he returned to his family and Clara, then about eight years old, didn’t know him. It was a struggle for the family emotionally and financially given the period of separation and severe economic conditions.

Clara’s father was adamant about keeping his family safe and secure. Clara’s uncle, Henry Schorsch, had immigrated to Canada in 1912 and then to the United States in 1923. Henry provided the financial assistance Clara’s family needed to come to America. 

Clara was thirteen years old when they traveled from Ruemlin to Bremen, Germany (about 45 miles) and boarded a ship named the SS Columbus.

The Peter Schorsch Family’s Trans-Atlantic journey began on Sunday, 17 January 1926 and they arrived at Ellis Island, New York on Wednesday, 27 January 1926.

From New York, Clara’s family traveled by train to San Antonio, Texas and her Uncle Henry picked them up in an open touring car. The family sharecropped cotton for her uncle in Atascosa County, Texas for one year until their debt was repaid. 

The little family unit persevered by working hard, saving their money, and making a new life for themselves in rural South Texas. Clara was sworn in as a Citizen of the United States on 20 December 1944 in San Antonio, Texas.

A Potential Presidential Connection

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 1: Family Lore

As most of us have, I heard stories many times from my maternal family about walking to school uphill both ways in the snow, barefoot. It’s funny how these stories grow as each family member tells them! On my paternal side though, I didn’t hear any stories growing up because I am adopted within my biological mother’s family. This story has evolved on my paternal side through mtDNA and traditional genealogy research and suggests that I am likely distantly related to President Abraham Lincoln. It starts with my paternal 5^th great grandparents.

Joseph Hanks was born on 20 December 1725 in Farnham, Richmond County, Virginia. He married Ann Lee about 1750. She was born in 1737 in Richmond City, Virginia. After their children were born (all in Virginia), the family migrated to Kentucky. Joseph died in 1793 leaving a will dated and proven the same year. The will named his wife and children. Thomas Lincoln, father of President Abraham Lincoln, was born in Virginia and raised in Kentucky. He moved to Hardin County, Kentucky and within a few years married Nancy Hanks, granddaughter of Joseph & Ann. The union of the Lincoln & Hanks family is my first potential connection to President Lincoln.

There is a long-standing controversy regarding Nancy Hanks Lincoln’s heritage. She is the wife of Thomas Lincoln and the mother of Abraham Lincoln. No documentation has been located to prove Nancy’s parents, so that creates a tremendous amount of controversy. Is she the illegitimate daughter of Lucy Hanks (daughter of Joseph & Ann, who later married Henry Sparrow) or the daughter of Lucinda “Lucy” Shipley (who married James Hanks, son of Joseph and Ann)? This who’s who saga continues to be challenged even today, but DNA evidence is starting to rule out a Shipley relationship. The mtDNA research below shows the basic genealogical connections as documented by: https://geneticlincoln.com/nhl-mtdna/:

This interpretation identifies Joseph Hanks & Ann “Nancy” Lee as President Lincoln’s great grandparents through their daughter Lucy Nancy Hanks. My biological line is through their daughter, Mary Hanks and her husband Jesse Friend (identified in the orange square).

In different articles, Lucy Nancy Hanks is recorded as having a daughter out of wedlock named Nancy Elizabeth Hanks. It’s also suggested that Nancy Elizabeth Hanks was raised by her grandparents. So, that means there were three Nancy Hanks in the Joseph Hanks household – the grandmother, Ann “Nancy/Nannie” Lee, her daughter, Nancy Hanks (who married Levi Hall) and her granddaughter Nancy Elizabeth Hanks. The granddaughter, Nancy Elizabeth Hanks married Thomas Lincoln on 12 June 1806 in Kentucky, they are the accepted parents of President Lincoln.

I am distantly connected regardless of the true Lucy or Nancy Hanks. Joseph Hanks and Ann Lee had a daughter, Mary “Polly” Hanks, who was born on 23 March 1773 in Farnham, Richmond County, Virginia. Mary married Jesse Friend on 10 December 1795 in Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky. Mary & Jesse are my 4^th great grandparents.

Today, I identified a second possible lineage connection.  The WikiTree Tool indicates I’m 14 degrees from Abraham Lincoln through his father Thomas Lincoln.  So, connected on both his mother and father's sides - another research project!!