Greek Festival

On Saturday the 19th, Mike and I went to Pueblo to attend the Greek Festival hosted by St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church. The first thing that caught my attention was the sign outside the church with the words, "In memory of our immigrant parents." This church is nestled in an old Pueblo neighborhood. One of the festival workers informed me that most of the membership consists of descendants of immigrants who worked in the nearby steel mill in the early 1900s. I found it quite satisfying to find this small ethnic enclave had managed to preserve their culture after three and four generations.

We began our festival experience with a tour of the church. I was very interested in this part of our day because our Syrian ancestors were Greek Orthodox. Why not Syrian Orthodox, I have often wondered. I learned that all of the Orthodox religions are exactly the same. The only difference must be in the language spoken in their liturgies. This leads me to believe our Syrian ancestors spoke not only Arabic, but also Greek. I've known for some time now that there were other Greek influences in their lives. I'm thinking the ancestors of our Syrian people were Greek.

I was pleased with what I learned about the Greek Orthodox doctrine. I found I could agree with it and I felt very close to my Syrian ancestors as I stood inside the church surrounded by candles and saints and the color red. I'm so glad they remained true to Christianity in spite of the religious persecution they endured.

There were many fun wares on display imported from Greece. I bought myself a bracelet and Mike came home with a jar of olives and a can of stuffed grape leaves.

We then ordered ourselves gyros and baklava and sat down to eat while listening to recorded Greek folk music in the background. I looked around at the people and was soon able to pick out all the ones who were Greek just by the way they looked. Shortly, a group of teenagers from a Denver dance school, dressed in various colorful Greek folk costume, entertained us with some dances. There was not a blonde in the group. I thought how my own girls would not have looked out of place on that stage.

I must learn to make tzatziki sauce. It was a great cultural experience, and Mike even said he would like to go again next year. I hope to bring my girls with me.

Syrian Cooking with Sitto

A very thoughtful Syrian American living in Jacksonville, but who is no relation to me, sent me, via e-mail, a most precious collection of recipes in pdf format. The forty-page cookbook was prepared by the grandchildren of Syrian immigrant women who settled in Jacksonville in the 1920s.

This cookbook is very valuable to me, for while it is safe to assume that classic Syrian food varied from region to region in Syria depending on local tradition and the availabilty of ingredients, the recipes had to likewise be adapted once more in Jacksonville for the ingredient factor. Granted, the cookbook inspired by these Jacksonville Syrian women reflects the regions from which they were born, and they may not have been Beiruti or Damascene or Tripolitan, as were my ancestors, but they all became Jacksonvillians. In that sense, they were all family--my family.

Syrian Cooking with Sitto has become a treasured family history item.

And the Name Is . . . Fadilallah

Once again, my book is a success. Another distant cousin has found me by finding my book online. This distant cousin descends from the Yazigi/Yeager family of Syrian origin. She provided me with interesting details that would only be passed down through family lore, but the most interesting tidbit was the name represented by the letter F.

Her father and his brothers all had the middle initial of F. I am not surprised the initial was the same, for it was customary for a boy's second name to be the same as his father's first name. Therefore, I knew if I ever figured out this middle name, I'd know the name of their father. My cousin knew it! The name is Fadilallah.

In spite of her Southern accent, she has such a beautiful pronunciation of the Arabic names in our family. Arabic vowell sounds are not quite like ours. The As in this name are pronounced somewhere in between an aahh sound and an uuhh sound. The first and fourth syllables are stressed. The I is practically silent. The sound goes from the D to the L without really hearing the I. All four syllables are pronounced as if two words--more like FU-dl UL-lah. I have not seen very many Arabic names among our family and their associates that begin with F and this is the first time I have ever seen this name. I love a mystery solved.

Daughters of the Confederacy Need Not Apply

I've just had myself a good chuckle. In researching for another book project, I ran across information about the Union Veterans Union (UVU), which was organized in 1886 for Union veterans, who did not necessarily agree with the practices of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), also organized for Union veterans. Even though the UVU was also open to sons of the veterans, membership eventually fizzled out. In honor of Union veteran ancestors, the UVU has been re-formed.

Check out these membership requirements: "We do not seek your affiliation if you belong to any organization which has been recognized as racist, white supremacist, or divisive in their practices or teachings. This includes, but is not limited to, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC), the League of the South, the Southern Party, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW), Confederate Reenactors Assoc., KKK, National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP), or other Southern "Heritage" group which may support the principles of any racist organization or those principles of any other such organization as may have been identified by the Southern Poverty LawCenter and listed in their current annual 'Intelligence Report.' "

Whew! This means if I become a member of the UDC, I will not be welcomed in the UVU. While membership in the SCV and UDC requires a direct or colateral kinship to a Confederate veteran, everyone can belong to the UVU as long as they are not racist. This is interesting because the original UVU did not even include all veterans; only combat veterans were welcomed. Membership requirements in the Confederate groups do not include a list of organizations I can not belong to. The UVU's objection to the SUVCW, what should be their sister group, is that they supported South Carolina's right to fly the Confederate flag on the State House. This is what started the war in the first place, the issue over states' rights. It sounds like the UVU is practicing their own version of discrimination.

Has anyone told the UVU that the war is over? We're just all trying to get along now as fellow Americans. Besides, like myself, many of us are descendants of both Yankees and Rebels.

See "History of the UVU," http://www.uvuinc.4t.com/about.html
and "History of the Union Veterans Union," http://www.unionveteransunion.org/4_1UVU_HISTORY.html

The Inventor in Our Family

Herman Thaden invented things. In fact, his tinkering around in the shed behind his house was one of the reasons why he was investigated by the government during WWI for being friendly to the enemy. It was thought he was making radios in there, with which to communicate to the Germans. Eventually, Herman patented at least seven inventions, most having to do with gardening. But his most intriguing invention was his air ship, or flying machine as it was sometimes called.

Roof Structure
Turn-Plow
Potato-Planter
Seed-Planter
Airship
Plant-Support
Airship (another patent)

Recently, a family member discovered that the Ernest Jones Aeronautical Collection, which is part of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Archives, contains a picture of Herman Thaden's flying machine. Conveniently, another family member has just moved to the D.C. area and will be looking into the possibility of obtaining a copy of that picture.

Let's Dance!

My father has mentioned an old Victrola that belonged to one of his great-aunts and on this Victrola, Syrian music, recorded on 78s, was played. Listen to a sampling of the kind of Arabic music our immigrant ancestors listened to in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. This collection of 78s once belonged to Robert Bitar (no relation to our family) of Portland, Oregon.

The Rebel Yell

Have you ever heard of the Rebel Yell? Have you ever wondered what it really sounded like? Go to You Tube's Confederate Rebel Yell.

The Deckner Iris

The young woman who has purchased one of the original Deckner homes in Southwest Atlanta has a unique variety of iris growing in her yard. It must be remembered that the Deckner family, who originated in Saxony, were horticulturalists in Atlanta and must have had beautifully landscaped yards. This iris is so unique because it was brought to Atlanta from Germany by one of the Deckners in the 1930s. How fortunate we are to be able to still enjoy some of the Deckner beauty.

Slander in the First Degree

Frank DeMayo: For the Record

A good practice for genealogists is to google the name of an ancestor to see if anything about him has been published on the web. A search for the name Frank DeMayo turned up some rather disconcerting information as to Frank “Chee Chee” DeMayo’s involvement in the Kansas City Mafia. A few of these web sites are mere repeats of the text that comes straight from a Wikipedia article, which cites no sources but offers a link to The American Mafia, "Kansas City Crime Bosses." This web site actually reports that “though some believe he rose to lead the Kansas City Mafia in the late 1920s, it seems unlikely because others had power and prestige in the city during that period.”¹

Now I don’t normally write about the negative things in my ancestors’ lives. However, this allegation of a Mafia connection has been passed off as fact and published to the world. I feel that reference to Uncle Frank’s involvement in the Mafia needs to equally be addressed.

Uncle Frank’s niece, Nancy, knew him when she was a little girl. She had also heard talk of his imprisonment in the Atlanta Penitentiary, though she knew not his crime. A search for Frank DeMayo on Footnote.com turned up an old Bureau of Investigation case in which Uncle Frank had been investigated for bootlegging. It mentioned a prison sentence in the Leavenworth Penitentiary. Nancy obtained a copy of his Leavenworth prison file, which made no mention of the Mafia. I later found newspaper articles out of Missouri detailing his trial prior to his incarceration in Leavenworth. Although the articles report that he was eventually found guilty of violating Prohibition, he was never connected to the Mafia. We still do not know why he was sentenced to the Atlanta Pen.

While it is true that the Mafia didn’t really gain power in this country until the days of Prohibition, when they accumulated a vast amount of funds through bootlegging, the newspaper describes Frank “Chee Chee” DeMayo only as the Bootlegger King of the second largest bootlegging ring in the country. For Wikipedia and its copycat web articles, to report that Uncle Frank was a member of the Mafia is nothing short of slander. This serves to set the record straight.

Nancy concedes, “I just know that the man we read about in those reports is not the same Uncle Frank that I knew. Yet bootlegging is not the worst thing that happened in those days. He must have really repented and changed his life. I choose to remember the man I knew my Uncle to be during my childhood. He was a loving husband to Aunt Bess, a good father to [his son], and a great grandfather to [his grandchildren]. He was generous and kind to my family (and he loved dogs).”

¹http://www.onewal.com/maf-b-kc.html, par. 3.

Genocide During the Civil War

Though the term genocide did not exist before 1944, I do believe General Sherman was trying to commit just that on the Southern population during his famed march to the sea. His comments to his wife and fellow soldiers are no secret. They have been published often and show that he was certainly bent on destroying the people of the South.

I have brought up this notion of Sherman and genocide to a couple of people in my circle, whom I consider to be very intelligent. Both hesitate to strap the already shameful Sherman with the crime of genocide.

Consider the definition of genocide as was adopted in 1948 by the United Nations in the wake of the Jewish Holocaust.

[G]enocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.[1]

After conducting a study of Sherman’s war practices enacted upon his enemies, there can be no question that Sherman would have been tried as a war criminal had he dared to carry out his campaigns today. Even his own fellow generals abhorred his tactics.

As recently as 2008, one scholar likened Sherman’s practices to “war crimes and probably genocide.”[2] It is obvious that Sherman’s army killed and wounded Confederate soldiers. But, with the able men off in other places fighting the war, Sherman rampaged his way through the South. It is no secret that Sherman encouraged his men to destroy everything in their path after they had foraged for themselves. This left the women and children and old men with no food, no livestock, no crops, no cotton bales (a source of income), no valuables for which to sell, and in many instances, no homes. Such destitution brought about starvation, a sure way to prevent the births of anymore Southerners.

One might argue the last element of the definition—that of forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. While it is true that Sherman did not remove the children from their Southern parents, he did cause that the children were forced from their homes, with their parents, while carrion from the north moved in. This resulted in the desired outcome of watering down the Southern population.

In my opinion, there is no doubt that General Sherman was trying to rid the country of Southerners through criminal means. It is true that war is hell and many unfortunate things happen to the innocent. However, there is a moral code most men live by but Sherman was dispossessed of any morals. He was not the great military mind his fans set him up to be. The hero they worship was nothing short of a war criminal, a disgrace to his uniform, no one to be lauded or honored.


[1] “What is Genocide?” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 4 May 2009. 13 Jul. 2009
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007043, par. 4

[2] Allan D. Cooper, The Geography of Genocide, University Press of America, 2008, p. 150

The Other Side of the Coin

As I read stories and watch movies about the War Between the States, I am disappointed that the full story is not told. Reference is often made to the Union prisoners’ awful conditions at the Andersonville prison, but I’ve never heard mention of Rock Island prison, home to 12,000 Confederate prisoners. Complaints among Andersonville inmates included lack of food and medical care. It should be noted that the Confederate soldiers guarding that prison, and serving elsewhere suffered from the same lack of food and medical care. They couldn’t offer their prisoners what they themselves did not have. The Union Army had done an excellent job of cutting these necessities off from the South. Not only did the tactic succeed in crippling the Confederacy, it also starved their own men. The excuse at Rock Island? Rations were cut, as ordered by the U.S. government in response to the treatment of Union prisoners at Andersonville.[1]

In the end, 17% of the Confederate prisoners died at Rock Island compared with the 27% of Federal prisoners, who died at Andersonville.[2] If those numbers lessen the severity of Rock Island Prison, consider a lesser know prison camp in Federal territory that has been conveniently swept under the rug by the very critics of Andersonville, who also point out that Andersonville prisoners were cruelly mistreated. Camp Douglas was located in Chicago and had the highest mortality rate of all Union prisoner of war camps.[3]

"Prisoners were deprived of clothing to discourage escapes. Many wore sacks with head and arm holes cut out; few had underwear. Blankets to offset the bitter northern winter were confiscated from the few that had them. The weakest froze to death. The Chicago winter of 1864 was devastating. The loss of 1,091 lives in only four months was heaviest for any like period in the camp's history, and equaled the deaths at the highest rate of Andersonville from February to May, 1864. Yet, it is the name of Andersonville that burns in infamy, while there exists a northern counterpart of little shame."[4]

The next time you read a book or watch a movie that mentions Andersonville, remember Camp Douglas.


[1] Brenda Smelser Hay, “Rock Island Civil War Prison,” http://www.censusdiggins.com/prison_rock_island.html, 2008, par. 5.
[2] Ibid, par. 8.
[3] Brenda Smelser Hay, “Camp Douglas Prison,” http://www.censusdiggins.com/prison_camp_douglas.html, 2008, par. 1.
[4] Ibid, par. 3. See also “Camp Douglas” at http://geocities.com/BourbonStreet/2757/issues/camp.htm. Though the author of this web page seems to have had some trouble mastering HTML, his material appears to be well researched. After reading this account of Camp Douglas, Andersonville will not seem so unique.

Introduction to Butter Peas

In the summer of 1995, I took my four girls down South so they could meet relatives and see the beautiful homeland of our ancestors. Our van traveled in a caravan with my parents and brother, Leslie, in one car; and my other brother, Fred, and his family in another.

While at Uncle Charles’ and Aunt Blanche’s house in Albany, Georgia, she served up some lunch, which included field peas I’d never seen before. They were green like a regular garden pea, but not quite as round. They were more oblong, but not quite like a black-eyed pea. I sure did like those peas. I had never had anything like them before and I’ve never had anything like them since.

Apparently, I did not find out right then what they were called, but as I have thought about them a lot, I have decided they must have been butter peas, the most delicious of all the different varieties of field peas. I would sure like to have some more of those, cooked just the way Aunt Blanch cooked them, flavored with a little butter or meat grease.

I will always remember Aunt Blanche when I think of butter peas or whenever I get to taste them again.

Picture found at http://www.ajc.com/living/content/living/food/stories/2008/07/22/fieldpeas_0724fd05CVV.html

(The previous story was submitted to a memory book being compiled for Blanche (Booth) Thaden in honor of her 90th birthday!!)

Our Southern Belle

The few documents that have been collected on Mattie Love (Meigs) Thaden reveal that she was a serious Christian. The following short announcement, which appeared in the Society column of the Atlanta Constitution in 1905, is further evidence.

A Silver Tea

The Ladies Aid Society of the West Side Methodist church will give a silver tea for the benefit of the parsonage Monday evening, March 1 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. C. H. Thaden 458 West Hunter street. The public is most cordially invited. A pleasant evening is promised to all.
(27 Feb 1905, p. 6.)

So what is a Silver Tea? A brief Google search turned up an article about a contemporary charity organization that has revived the Silver Tea explaining that it "is a tradition that began in the early 1900s when guests at fundraising events learned to place their contributions – very discreetly – into a large silver bowl.”¹

This gives us a better glimpse into Mattie's home as she graciously hosted a pleasant social gathering of Southern ladies and gentlemen on a Georgia winter evening. One can almost see the sparkle of the polished tea sets and hear the delicate clatter of porcelein cups against their saucer mates. And off in a place that is niether prominent nor hidden sits the silver bowl, steadily collecting the willing contributions of the guests. . . .
¹Burl Stiff, “A Silver Anniversary for the Silver Tea,” The San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Dec 2008, par. 7.

Soldier and Patriot

Capt. Henry Rhoads is the 6th great grandfather of Michael Hahn and one of Michael's ancestral heroes because of the patriot he was during the Revolutionary War. Isn't it special then that Henry and Michael both share the same birth date of June 5th.

Image posted at FindAGrave.com, Memorial #11345940, by JYOAKE.

The Uncivil War Within

Yesterday, I discovered another Civil War soldier in our family history. John W. Younger served in Co. I of Missouri's 13th Cavalry. This Confederate unit was made up of Southerners from the Ozark Mountain area of Missouri. What is so poignant about this discovery is that it was made right after I extracted, from a biographical sketch of Oliver Johnson, sergeant in an Ohio unit in the Union Army, an account of his military service, which included many battles and injuries.

Our family history will not be complete without a study of our ancestors' involovement in the War Between the States; however, I find myself hesitant to begin because of the sadness of it all.

Could they have possibly seen far enough into the future to understand that their descendants could quite possibly be a mixture of the Blue and the Gray?

The Tragedies of War

I recently ran across some detailed information regarding Oliver Johnson's service in the Civil War. He was living in Tuscarawas, Ohio, when he went up to Norwalk to enlist in the Union Army October of 1861. He served for four years. He was wounded three times, the last time being at Resaca, Georgia. The Army of the Ohio was under the command of General Sherman when he began his march to the sea in the spring of 1864. The Rebels put up a good fight there at Resaca. While learning earlier about the atrocities inflicted on my civilian ancestors during Sherman's march, I developed much contempt for the man.

In the same source where I found Oliver's military information, there was a reference to Hiram Johnson. He enlisted in the same place, a day later than Oliver. I feel he is the same Hiram listed as Oliver's brother on the 1850 census of Stark County, Ohio. I was stunned to learn that Hiram was killed at Resaca. Suddenly I don't have contempt anymore, just deep sadness.

Harless Hardships

I recently transcribed the pension applications for brothers, Ferdinand, Daniel, and Philip Harless of Giles County, Virginia. At this time, the area was on the very edge of civilization. The Harless family was part of the German New River Settlement. The boys were sixteen to 22 years of age when they first volunteered. They served six months out of every year for four years at a couple of forts. They were under the command of Captains and Colonels. They also served as spies to trace the movements of the Indians lurking about. Sometimes there were not enough volunteers from the backwoods to properly man the forts so men from nearby counties were drafted to help out.

In their applications the brothers recounted the depredations brought upon the settlers by the Indians. They told of families who were attacked, and some members were murdered while others were carried away captive. Their own father, Martin Harless, was chased through the woods for three or four miles before he found safety. Ferdinand recalled a ". . . Daughter of Lybrooks was skelped and beate on the head with a war club and found living next morning and when she was found asked for a drink of water and soon after expired."

Apparently their service in the Revolutionary War was not recognized by the war department; thus, their applications were denied. No, they did not belong to the Continental Army, and they did not engage the British in battle. Their service was in protecting the frontier families from the British allies so in my book they were war heroes.

Misinformed through the Internet: A Case Study in the Identity of Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn

I have just finished a case study into the identity of one Joseph Daniel Haun or Hahn, who appears as one of Samuel Hahn's children in genealogies published on the internet. It is satisfying to know I can confidently conclude he does not belong to Sam's clan but has a family of his own. You can read my entire article here.

We may NOT be Irish!!

This notion would be something that would take some getting used to. My kids grew up on St. Patrick's Day corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, and celtic music playing while we ate it. We loved our tradition.

Before writing this post, I ran the idea by my mother, who is not adverse to this possibility. So here goes:

I have recently learned a little bit about Irish immigration in my family history class. Without studying it any further, which I fully intend to do, I believe the history goes like this:

In a previous post I explained that the Scotch Irish came to America from Ireland in the late 1600s and early 1700s. They were of Scotch blood but had been living in Ireland at the time they immigrated. Over here, they were sometimes called Irish and sometimes called Scotch-Irish. They were Prostestant. More often than not, those British sounding names belonged to Scotch-Irish, English, and Welsh if they came over during this time frame. They also followed certain migration patterns.

The Irish, most assuredly Catholics, did not start immigrating until around 1820. I haven't double checked all the family data, but it's looking like all of the British folks in my mother's, father's, and husband's lineages are Scotch-Irish and not Irish at all!

Therefore, I did not wear green today.

An Italian Cultural Event in 1907

The following is an article I found recently in the Washington Post describing a cultural event for the new Italian Americans of that city. Our own Salvatore Chite, 33 years old and still single, and his cousin, Alfio Longo, entertained the audience with a "fantastic Sicilian dance" at this affair. The word that looks like "musicist" in the occupation field on Salvatore's passenger record tends to make a little more sense. How I would love to see such a performance today.

AMBASSADOR IS SPEAKER

Baron Mayor des Planches Addresses
Italian Children.

Expects Them to Become Good Americans
and to Reflect Credit
Upon Fatherland.

For the special benefit of the Italians of the city, the Christ Child Society gave an entertainment last night in Gonzaga Theater, North Capitol and I streets. Baron Edmondo Mayor des Planches, the Italian Ambassador, delivered two short talks, the first, in English, to the Italian children of the society's settlement, and the second, in his native language, to the audience in general.

He told the children that they must realize and appreciate the great good the society is doing for the sons and daughters of Italy in the District, and that they must make good citizens, so that they would be an honor to their fatherland. By request, he spoke in English, because many of the children of Italian parents understand no other language. He said the children should learn and be proud to know the tongue of their parents.

Ambassador des Planches, in his Italian address, spoke upon good citizenship, saying that the way for the Italian people to win the highest respect of America was by being good Americans.

Following his address, the Cecilian Orchestra rendered an overture, and G. Arancio sang a barytone [sic] solo. Two dozen little girls then sang songs of Italy. Miss S. Lewis sang soprano selections from grand opera, after which pupils of Miss Shreve sang and danced. Miss Irene Kemno rendered a soprano solo, and six little girls gave a fancy dance. Al. Fennell amused with comic songs, and Milburn mystified with feats of magic. A fantastic Sicilian dance was presented by Chite [sic] Salvatore, Bruno Natale, Alfio Longo, and Angelo Carta.

Besides the Italian Ambassador, there were present Esme Howard, counselor of the British embassy, and his wife, Lady Isabella Howard, who is much [sic] interested in the work among Italians.

The Washington Post (22 Apr. 1907): 14.

Deckner Homes in Atlanta

It has been refreshing to be found by a young woman, Ami, in Atlanta, who now lives in the home originally built for Allen T. Deckner. He was the son of Charles Deckner, a prominent horticulturalist in Atlanta. Charles was the son of Frederick Deckner. The Deckner family relocated to Atlanta from Green Bay in 1865. I relunctantly add they may have been carpetbaggers, seeking the land confiscated from former Confederate owners for back taxes, which were rediculously high, and offered cheap to Yankees. This move on the part of the Federal Government facilitated their goal to Reconstruct the South, only with Northerners.

Nevertheless, Fred Deckner and his son became quite successful in the field of horticulture and Charles carried the tradition long after his father died. Ami had done her research and informs me there were several homes in a row along a street now named for Charles Deckner. Some survive, including the one she now owns, which she is beautifully renovating, and the one right next door, pictured here, which used to belong to Charles himself.

Scots-Irish vs. Scotch-Irish

We hear both terms, but which is correct? I have chosen to use the term Scotch-Irish. The current popluation of Scotland prefers to refer to themselves as Scots. But, they have very little if anything to do with those people from Scotland, who moved to Ireland and later to America. The term Scotch-Irish was used in America as early as the mid-1700s to describe a certain segment of the American population, and as one scholar on the subject suggests "...in this country [USA], where they have been called Scotch-Irish for over two hundred years, it would be absurd to give them a name by which they are not known here... Here their name is Scotch-Irish; let us call them by it." (qtd. in Wikipedia and attributed to Wayland F. Dunaway, The Scotch-Irish of Colonial America, University of North Carolina Press, 1944.)

Read this essay, "Scotch-Irish or Scots-Irish: What's in a Name?", for a deeper look into the reason why Scotch-Irish is the correct term.

Read About the Scotch-Irish

Here are links to a articles about the Scotch-Irish.

Why You Need to Know the Scots-Irish
Scots-Irish
The Scotch-Irish in America

Mary Artiemissa was not Elly May

I have been stewing for the past couple of days over the last lecture in my family history class. The subject was the social history of the Scotch-Irish culture in America. I absorbed everything the teacher delivered because much of my ancestry lies within the hills of the Upcountry of South Carolina, in names such as Murphy, Moore, Madden, and Garvin.

The teacher, Katherine Scott Sturdevant, pretty well-known among historians and genealogists, began with an overview of where the Scotch-Irish came from by describing their existence in Scotland and their migration over to Ireland, noting the Scots were a warring people and not adverse at all to removing the current residents of Ireland in order to claim the land. She compared it to what happened on this continent to the Indians by the large amount of Scotch-Irish immigrants.

She then painted a picture of these immigrants--products of their wild and barbarian ancestry. She says that by settling in the hills of America's back country, they remained in this wild state for generations. Even to this day, in the more rural and remote parts of the country, she says, those of Scotch-Irish heritage tend to be earthy, stubborn, rebellious, and unrefined.

She mentioned figures such as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. These were Kentucky and Tennessee frontiersmen. I read a description recently of the typical backwoodsman which wasn't very flattering. It was written long ago by one who would have met men like Boone and Crockett. I'd like to find that quote again.

Ms. Sturdevant gave several examples of the hillbilly way of life, none of them flattering. When I asked if there was anything positive about these people, she jokingly said these people would think there was nothing wrong with their culture and the problem would lie in the one asking such a thing. Although she said Li'l Abner and the Clampett family were stereotypes, she referred to them often when describing the "real" hillbilly. And though sources will mention South Carolina as one of the largest concentrations of Scotch-Irish, she focused only on Kentucky and the Ozarks.

Of all the U.S. presidents of Scotch-Irish extraction, she only mentioned Andrew Jackson, by now a very unpopular president by politically correct standards. She called him the people's president, for during his time, he was very popular among the people, a large majority of who were Scotch-Irish.

I kept thinking back to what I know about my own people. Granted, I don't have a whole lot of details. I do know that my Great Grandpa William Moore owned a mercantile store in a town. He lived in that town in a beautiful white house. His lovely daughters received college educations. Certainly they lived a civilized life. And I do know that his wife, Mary Artiemissa, married late in her life, simply because she stayed at home to take care of her father and younger brothers after their mother died. I have trouble picturing her exposing her shoulders and thighs in the effort to "catch a man," as did Elly May, Daisy Mae, and Daisy Duke. She was more modest, like Mary Ellen Walton, and her daughter Nannie was more like Christy, the Appalachian school teacher. Nevertheless, I am curious now to discover details about their progenitors and just exactly how their families fit into historical context.

Ms. Studevant herself has Scotch-Irish ancestry. Regardless of how she portrayed these people in her lecture, she was talking about her own people. I took this into consideration as I asked her how, then, do we write the ugly truth about our ancestors without offending anyone in our families. Perhaps I was too offended myself to hear her reply, but I did get this much: They are merely a product of their ancestry--the barbaric Scots. When I write about my people, I like to celebrate the positive. I may find I have to mention a fact that is undesirable, but I try not to leave it at that. Explantions as to why something negative might have occurred are always helpful in my opinion.

I am not yet comfortable in assuming my Scotch-Irish ancestors were these undesirable folk portrayed in my class. I have not yet determined if Ms. Studevant is one of these historians who re-writes history. I like to find history written very close to the time it occurred or by one who lived it. She advised me, though, that history written nowadays has been more thoroughly researched and, therefore, is more trustworthy.

I need to do a lot more of my own research before I feel comfortable in believing anything I'm told about these tough, courageous, lovers of freedom and before I begin to write their story.

Antonio Motta and Grazia Chite--What's Up with Their Marriage Date

I have discovered a most curious fact about Antonio Motta and Grazia Chite'. They married each other in Catania, Italy, in 1905, but that was a few months before their fourth child was born! Yesterday, I located the birth record (1899) for their first child to see if I could discover any clues as to why they delayed their marriage. I have not yet been able to decipher all the words on the document but so far I'm making out the fact that Lucia was the legitimate child of Antonio and Grazia and that their marriage was cebrated in 1905.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why, with so many Catholic Churches accessible in the large city of Catania, Antonio and Grazia waited so long to get married?

Lutz and Younger

I have been working on two families at once lately. From the Younger researcher, which I mentioned in the last entry, I received the research of Wilma Norton. So far I am very pleased with her work. She has listed numerous sources and seems to have been as thorough as possible. From her research, I have learned that our Youngers came to Missouri from North Carolina. Prior to migrating to North Carolina, they lived in Viginia in the 1700s along the tidewater riverways on tobacco plantations. Land records show they owned fewer than a thousand acres, so their plantations were small compared to others. This opens a new window into the lives of some of our colonial ancestors and beckons me to learn what I can about the early Virginia plantation lifestyle.
Regarding the Lutz family, I have discovered a book written by Margaret D. Lutes in 1983. Her work contains no speculation, but only facts extracted from primary sources. Her information covers the immigrant ancestor, Johannes Georg Lutz, from his entry into Philadelphia, through to his descendants. Johannes did not live long after arriving in America. Two of his sons migrated to North Carolina and became known among the family as Pioneer George and Pioneer Jacob. Many descendants still live in North Carolina and strong family traditions regarding the family history are still alive. Eventually, John and Sarah Lutz moved out west to Missouri. These were the parents of Joe Lutz, who made the Great Land Run into Oklahoma in 1893. Unfortunately, Mrs. Lutes' information regarding this line of descendancy ends with the family's removal to Missouri and does not cover the exciting time of the land rush. Should there ever be an addendum written to this book, I hope to be a contributor.

Chite' Family

At the end of May, I found myself in Utah, about an hour away from the Family History Library. I just couldn't resist the urge to spend a day there to work. The trip was quite profitable. I found the birth records of all of the children belonging to Carmelo and Carmela Chite' of Nicolosi, Sicily.
Speaking of the Chite's, I have been corresponding with a Chite' cousin, who lives in Knoxville. Her mother was born to Salvatore Chite', one of the above Carmelo's children. She married a non-Italian and he whisked her away from Washington, D.C. Thus our cousin did not grow up around her Italian family and is now trying to connect with her roots. I found her on a Rootsweb message board. She was able to tell me a little bit about the Chite's brothers, who immigrated to America, I was able to share some information whe her about their sister Grazia Chite' Motta.

About That Rootsweb

It has proven to be quite a useful tool and has turned up more leads than I can handle all at once. I posted our family tree on Rootsweb for all to see, and I have gotten several responses from people wanting to compare notes.
One very distant Hahn cousin has contacted me. We have decided the common ancestor must be Michael Hahn, who immigrated to America in the 1700's. He had several children; John was her ancestor, and Adam was ours. She has created a family tree on a website host and has invited me to add to it. Right away, though I see a problem with her information on our Samuel Hahn (b. 1810). She has his family mixed up with another Hahn family and I will have to get that straightened out for her. It is not the first time I have seen this family all mixed up.
Finally, I have been contacted, through Rootsweb, by a Younger cousin. The common ancestor is John W. Younger.
I don't think I helped her out much, unless the family group record I sent her on Tennessee Younger and Robert Lutes had new inforamation for her. However, she was helpful to me in adding a bit more information to our records regarding Arah Younger McCants, her great-grandmother.

Younger Outlaw Story

This tale is as well-told in her family as it is ours, though she has not been able to find a link between her Arah and the boys. She has corresponded with another Younger researcher, who has reached the same conclusion--that there is no link. Like me, our cousin has found her family to be deeply disappointed to hear her say there is no connection. There are members of the St. Clair County, Missouri, Younger descendants who desperately want to claim kinship to these criminals from Jackson County, and I can't understand the obsession. If it were true, so be it. I'm after the truth, not the myths. In my opinion, we should celebrate those who DO make up our ancestry and not those who don't. Let us celebrate our humble and obscure ancestors--the pioneers, the soldiers, the women, the immigrants, the farmers, the inventors, the musicians, the merchants, the tradesmen, and the survivors. Let us not be on a quest to hunt down the sensational, the famous, or the infamous. There may be none of those.

Thaden House in Dornum, Germany

Thadens Are Frisian

I have been in touch with our cousin, Lenchen Gericke, born Thaden, who lives in Germany. She has informed me of some family history I never knew before. I must study this more, but for now, if I have the story straight, we descend from the Frisians, an ethnic group in northern Germany. Descendants of Frisians have managed to maintain much of their culture and language and continue to live in the northern part of Holland and neighboring Germany in the region of the North Sea. They were the first of the peoples inhabiting Germany to gain their independence from the Vikings. They valued freedom with a passion and were the first foreign group to support the American colonies’ move toward their own independence. The region in which our Thadens lived was Ostfresia, or East Fresia, now located in Germany.
Cousin Lenchen tells me that around 1100, the tribes got together and formed a farming cooperative called the Theelacht. Each clan was represented at the coop meetings by a clan chief. This honor was passed down to the oldest son, I believe. In case there were no sons, the oldest daughter bore the title. Although the necessity for such a coop does not exist today, the tradition of clan chiefs does, and it is still considered quite an honor. Lenchen is presently the clan chief in our family.
Further study into the emigration of Ostfresians to this country sounds like passages I have read about Syrian emigrants and Italian emigrants. Sometimes half the population of a village packed up for America, and the greatest influx was from 1850 to 1900. The reasons were usually a bad economy, corrupt politics, and lack of opportunity.
Our Thaden ancestors, Herman and Bernard were here by 1860. Most immigrants embarked at the port of New Orleans. I know this is true for Bernard. Then, most new arrivals headed up the Mississippi River to settle the farmlands of Illinois and Iowa and even Wisconsin. There are still some towns in Illinois and Iowa with a strong Frisian culture. I do not know yet why Herman decided on Atlanta and why Bernard settled on Washington, D.C.
I find this subject fascinating and intend to research more.
Note: There was an adoption between our living generations and our immigrant, Herman Thaden. Therefore we probably cannot claim a biological link to the Frisians. However, the legacy passed on from our Thaden ancestors is ours, just the same.
(Map from Wikipedia Commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ostfriesland_de.svg )

Picture of Mattie Love (Meigs) Thaden

I received this picture in the mail today from my cousin, Sherry. She writes, "Frances Thaden Risner gave me this picture on one of her trips to Albany [Ga]. She is the daughter of Mattie Meigs Thaden. Frances furnished much information on the Thaden and Deckner families."

Delilah Hahn--No More Confusion

I believe I have finally figured out the confusion with Delilah (Hahn) Thompson and just exactly where she fits into her family. Here’s the problem:
I have notes made from what appears to be Hahn Bible records passed on to me by Marcelle (Hahn) Klein. They have been very accurate; however the birth information on Samuel Hahn’s five children by his first wife lacks detail, and his first wife remains unnamed.
There are several children listed for Sam and his second wife, Nancy (Harless) Hahn. According to the Bible records, the first child, Delilah, was born before Sam and Nancy were married. This fact has always been puzzling.
Did Sam and Nancy have to wait for a preacher to come through the area to make the union official? I think not; Darke County, Ohio was quite populated in 1844. Finding a judge or a minister would have been no problem.
Did Delilah actually belong to Sam’s first wife? Again, I don’t think so for two reasons. First, she is clearly listed in the Bible record as Nancy’s child. Second, Delilah was a recurring name among the Harless families from Giles County, Virginia, where Nancy was born.
The first census to name all members of the household is the 1850 census. The Hahn children, born after 1840, were very young, and accuracy of ages among young children on the census was higher than when those children grew older and forgot or fudged on their ages. The information on the 1850 census matches the information in the Bible notes. It shows that Delilah’s age fits in among the first five children and that she is the same age, in years, as one of them. This would lead the researcher to believe that Delilah was a twin; however, such is not noted on the census like it usually is, and it is likely this information would be included in the trustworthy Bible notes, but it is not.
I conclude that not only Sam, but Nancy also, was married before. Sam had five children and then his wife must have died. Nancy had one child, Delilah, when she was nineteen years old, and then something happened to her husband. The two needed spouses and another parent for their children so they combined families. Delilah was three years old at the time.
Thus, Delilah, a Harless name, appears with Nancy in the Bible records, yet with an earlier birth date than the last child from Sam’s first marriage. And she appears on the census in between the children from the first marriage because of her age, bears the same age as one of those children, and yet is not labeled a twin.
This conclusion only opens up more questions. We’ve always wanted to know who Sam’s first wife was. Now we must ask who Nancy’s first husband was. This means descendants of Delilah (Hahn) Thompson have a biological line other than that of Samuel Hahn.

Croon Line Goes Back Further

I googled the name of Gerd Jakobs Thaden and found him linked to a website on FamilyTreeSeeker at http://ged.ge.ohost.de/index.htm?ref=CroonAnna1807 containing the family tree of his wife Anna Helena Croon. I have since written to the submitter, Michael Beuss. I sent him copies of Gerd's birth and death records from the Lutheran Church in Dornum, Germany, and am anxiously awaiting his opinion.