Think Back Thursday

As far as following the "Think Back Thursday" theme of the week this week, I fail. The theme was "Doorways", but I'm doing my own thing.

Ancestry; Geneology... I am working on unraveling a mystery... 

I haven't yet figured out the best way to work on "Family Tree" stuff on my blog in a way that doesn't cause the reader to get lost. So I'm going to keep this entry short and sweet, and try to keep it clear for the reader.

On my father's side of my geneology I do not yet have information going any further back than my great-grand parents (born and married in the 1800's, died in the 1900's). I have memories of my grandfather's parents, but I do not think I ever met my grandmother's parents. They lived in Canada, and I in the northeast US, and though they visited at some time, I don't remember them.

I have a big box of photo stuff from my dad that has been buried here in my house for the past six years, and I am finally working my way through it to throw away what I can (a lot - photos of buildings, cars, flowers, trees, dogs I never knew...) and to try to make sense of what I can. 

In the box I found a couple of gems that have started my geneology curiosity to start flowing.  I found this picture of my great grandfather and great grandmother, Herbert (Sr.) and Carrie Hall on the occasion of their 50th anniversary in 1955.

 

There was also an obituary of my great-grandfather. Although it doesn't tell me when he was born or who his parents were (I will continue working on that), it does give me some information I did not previously have:

I know you might have trouble reading this without enlarging it. But here is the new information I can glean: Date of Death and state--with this information I can acquire a death certificate, which might tell me his birth date and the names of his parents and where he was born. This also gives me his address when he died, which interests me because I might try to go see the place sometime. I have a vague recollection of visiting him when he was sick, before he died, of a large apartment building, and going up in the elevator. (I was six.)

And what really excites me is that this obituary tells me that my grandfather had one brother and two sisters. I never knew that! I am SO close to getting a subscription to Ancestry.com!... They are having a free fourteen day trial right now...

Here is another thing I learned from the materials in my box from my dad: My grandmother's parents knew my grandfather's parents! I mean, well enough that they visited them when they were senior citizens!

 I don't know all the folks in this photo, although I am confident they are all my relatives, but I can identify in the back row, from left to right, Great-grandfather Alfred Morris, Great-grandmother Bessie Morris, Great-grandmother Carrie Hall, and Great-grandfather Herbert Hall, whose obituary is above the photo.

The above photo has, from left to right, my Grandmother Dora (Morris) Hall, my Dad Herbert William Hall, and my Grandmother Dora's sister Betty Morris, who served in World War II. Throughout the family photos, I frequently find photos of my grandfather being very friendly with lots of my grandmother's sisters (there were 11 or 12 Morris children), and I'm beginning to suspect the two families lived nearby and knew each other growing up. I may never know. And my grandfather looked so much like my dad that I often have trouble knowing who it is in the photo until I enlarge it.

Now, just for fun...

The above photo was taken in the summer of 1959. From left to right, Ida (Holien) Hall, aged 26, holding baby Diana (me) aged about six months; standing is my older sister Lois (Hall) Anderson, aged 5, and on the right seated is Herbert William Hall, aged 32, holding my brother Bruce William Hall, aged 3. I was so happy to find this photo. There are very few family photos in my collection, and very few pleasant or good photos. My dad liked to use the camera as a threat, "You better quit crying or I'll get the camera!" Yeah, I know... That doesn't make any sense, does it? So I have a box full of photos he took of me crying, but very few pleasant photos. So sad.

So that's it for now. Oh, wait! Here's one more -- these photos illustrate my memories of my earliest childhood. Life was spent in Grama Hall's back yard where we regularly had Sunday afternoon family picnics.

By the time you had my mom and dad and us three kids, my Uncle Bob and Aunt Carole and their four kids, my Uncle Eddie and wife Mary (Maurica) and their two kids, Great Grandad and Great Grandma, Gram and Grandad, you have quite a crowd. I can identify many of the folks in this photo, but there are some more I am not sure of, so Gram might have been having more of an open house. I need to pull out a magnifying glass. I actually think I see some Canadian relatives in this photo as well, so that might be what it is. 

I am planning to scrapbook these photos and label as much as I can for my kids and my niece and nephew. So I'll do the best I can. That's it for now. Ta! Ta!

Visit Debbie's Digest  to join in with Think Back Thursday, and to see what other bloggers are sharing for this week's theme.  Next week's theme will be Thanksgiving.  Upcoming themes include:   Yourself/Self-Portrait.

Think Back Thursday is a photo meme that encourages sharing something from the past.  It is hosted by Debbie's Digest.  You can find out more about it, and how you can participate, by clicking the link or the button below.