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Do you know Joel Packard’s Parents ?

I have been on the hunt for documentation of the parents of Joel, Silas and William Packard.  I have yet to locate anything that ties them to the previous generation, but have found plenty who say their father is Daniel, some say Samuel and the best I can do is Jonathan Packard.

I am in search of the author of the William Packard history that was written not long ago that states his father is Daniel.  I have not seen enough of this history to know if it is documented,  as to parents of these Packards who migrated to Pennsylvania from Massachusetts or Connecticut.

Silas Packard’s tombstone states “From Pelham”, but in searching the Pelham records, find nothing to prove that.  The Bradford County (PA) history states he was from Pelham, not sourced.  That this has been recorded in a number of places must mean something, but what?  The Robinson records have a Daniel Packard who married Zebeah Robinson, but the final word on them is “they went to Pelham”.

If any of you would look at this blog have information that can lead me to a source, I would be ever so grateful to receive the documentation.

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Hershey Reunion 2015

We had another successful Frank and Lydia (Buckwalter) Hershey reunion on August 23rd.  The younger generation continues to attend and bring yet another generation of great grandchildren.  The Hershey Reunion booklet got quite a few additions of marriages and births.

We had no deaths to report, however two days after the reunion, we lost Raymond Denlinger.  Ray had regaled us with a story about Elmer Hershey’s chicken coop washing down the Pequea Creek during a flood, chickens and all, and lead us in “How Great Thou Art”.  We will all miss Raymond and his wonderful music at the reuions, however for those who were lucky enough to get one of his CDs a few years ago, we can still enjoy his music.  His memorial service will be September 19th at the Neffsville Mennonite Church.

We look forward to next year’s reunion when Esther Hershey Kolb’s family will be hosting the group.  Until we meet again.

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Frank and Lydia (Buckwalter) Hershey Reunion Aug. 23, 2015

It’s that time of the year again with Frank and Lydia’s grandchildren get together to catch up on the marriages, births and unfortunately those we have lost since we last met.  The reunion will be Sunday, August 23, 2015 at Paradise Community Park, Londonvale Road off rt. 30 in Paradise, PA,  lunch at 1:00 p.m.  Bring a dish to pass, table service, lawn chairs and drink.  Share family pictures and information.  Please share this reunion information with your immediate family as we do not have email or snail mail addresses for everyone.

There is a playground and athletic fields available, but you will have to bring your own equipment.

If you have questions, please get in touch with Marlene Buch at [email protected]

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Cousins out West

Al and I are back from our trip out West to cover 2 of the 3 remaining States we need to visit.  We flew to Portland, OR, visited the Capitol in Salem then had dinner with a semi-cousin, Gerry Veley, in Portland.  I first met Gerry through the Lycoming County Historical Society.  There are Veley’s who married Packards, so that is the semi- cousins.  We had a delightful meal at a Greek restaurant and caught up on how we are related, what interesting people we meet through genealogy and fun facts about our relatives.  Gerry gave me some of his Cinnamon Honey from his own company.  I tried it when I got home and LOVE IT.  Thanks, Gerry.  It was wonderful to meet you.

After Portland, we drove out to see Mt. St. Helen’s, but got rained out and headed back to Washington (the State of) to meet up with cousins, Lance and Gay White, for lunch in Tacoma, after a quick visit to the Capitol in Olympia.  Another fun meal seaside at Anthony’s Seafood Restaurant in Puget Sound.  I can see what everyone loves about this area.  The seafood is fresh, the sights are beautiful and it is so relaxing.  It has been a few years since I was in the area and could spend a little time with the West Coast White cousins.

Lance gave me copies of pictures of his Mom and Dad, to put on the World War II website, to honor them for their service.  Lance tells me that is how Charles and Marcia met.  Looking back on growing up with my cousins in Troy, PA, I have such fond memories of hiking over the hill to swim with them in Laurel Lake, sitting with Lynn White in many of my classes at high school, and just having lots of family around.

No more relatives after Tacoma, but fun travels to Glacier National Park, Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.  This is a great time to go to the parks.  The animals have their babies, haven’t totally headed for the hills and are still around the roads so you can see and photograph them.  Have some free time?  I have a few hundred pictures I can bore you with, of animals, mountains, water, geysers, bison, bison and more bison.

If you are a senior and haven’t heard about the National Park pass, look it up.  Free admission to all National Parks, except Cape Canaveral.  It is the greatest bargain the US Government gives seniors.  We certainly have gotten a return on this $10.00 investment.  Thanks, Jackie and Randy for turning us on to this.

We traveled from Washington, in and out of Idaho to Montana (our second State to check off our list), in and out of Wyoming to the parks and ended our trip in Jackson, WY for our flight back to Harrisburg via Denver and Chicago.  We put 2075 miles on our rental car and would do it all again in a heart beat.

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Another Revolutionary War Patriot Approved – Thomas Sanford

I have had another Patriot approved by The Daughters of the American Revolution.  Thomas Sanford through his daughter, Polly was approved this past week.  That makes 9 and I have two or three more in the queue to be approved.  Those I’m waiting for approval are Adam Shafer through his grandson, Payne Shoemaker and two for Thomas White through his grandchildren William and Sarah.  These grandchildren of Thomas married each other.  I have already had Adam Shafer approved through his grandson, Malachi.  For you who have similar situations, you can get credit for one patriot twice.

Thomas Sanford fought in the 6th Regiment, Connecticut Line, under Captain Barker and Cols. Douglas and Meigs.  I first found out about the Sanford’s while I was taking a course – Coming Home to New England at the New England Historic Genealogical Society a couple of years ago.  This explains why my grandfather, John Sanford Brown has his middle name.  I was always curious because we never heard about this family.

Thomas’ daughter, Polly, sometimes referred to as Molly married William Beardsley.  They were the parents of Ruth Beardsley who married Ziba Morse.  Ziba’s grandfather also is an approved patriot – Obadiah Morse.  Ruth and Ziba were both born and married in Connecticut, but then migrated to Pennsylvania.  This was probably during the time that Connecticut thought they owned the upper portion of PA.  They stayed on in Bradford County, PA and have many descendants who still live there.

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Found a new cousin, Gerry Veley

When you are looking for information about your ancestors, it is good to get the word out there in any outlet you have available.  That is how I found “cousin” Gerry or more correct, he found me.  He is related through the Packard family, which has caused me hissy fits for years.

Who are the parents of Joel Packard and Ebenezer Avery?  I spent a week at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston looking for their parents.  I know that Joel Packard was born in Massachusetts or Connecticut, depending on what you read.  I know he died in Bradford County, PA and came to this county with his brothers, Silas and William.  He may have a sister, Millie who came with them also, but have found no further record about her.  I did not find anything that proves the parents of Joel, but worked through wills that NEHGS has on microfilm and other records to see if I could locate any record that mentions the three brothers.  The next time I visit Boston, I’ll be looking at any court records beyond the wills and estates for mention of parents.  Any suggestions from my readers would be appreciated.

Some researchers say that Joel’s father was Daniel, some Samuel and from my research at NEHGS, the most likely person is Jonathan.  So what next?  Gerry sent me a copy of a letter he recently acquired that tells of Joel, Silas and William, their children and grandchildren, but doesn’t mention anything about the parents of the original three brothers.  Research in Bradford County helps me fill in the blanks from Joel, Silas and William on down the line, but not going back to place of origin.

I’ll keep working on this brick wall until I locate something that definitively proves their parentage, then I’ll work on Ebenezer.  Do you know how many Ebenezer Avery’s there are in Connecticut?  More than you would think, same with Joel Packard.  Well, until my next blog.

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Natalie Marie Blanas Has Arrived in time for the next reunion

Cousins Jim and Ruth (McCord) Blanas are the proud grandparents of Natalie Marie Blanas born 3 February 2015.  She is the daughter of Alex and Jane (Graham) Blanas.  This is the first baby for the Blanas family.  Congratulations to one and all.

Ruth has been so excited to be a grandma.  I doubt this baby will be spoiled.

Ruth and Jim are hosting another McCord family gathering tentatively set for August 15th in Allentown.  Stand by for further news on both.

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Thomas White, Revolutionary War Patriot

Hello to all you White relatives.  Cousin Mark Myers asked, on his last visit from Washington,  if we had a White ancestor who qualified for the National Society Daughters or Sons of the American Revolution.  I said no, but then I thought I’d better check my facts.  Lo and behold, Thomas White had already been proven as a Revolutionary War patriot, so all I had to do was prove our connection.

I did it.  Today I sent two supplemental applications to NSDAR for our Patriot Thomas White.  You got it, two supplementals.  Thomas’ grandsons, William and James’ children Sarah Ellen and James McMaster White married.  It is kosher to submit applications through both lines, so I will have two more pins.  Yeah!!!

This has me started on working on my White lines again.  William White married Hannah Milligan/Milliken.  They had Sarah Ellen White who married James McMaster White.  William and Hannah followed their son, David Milligan White to Pana, Christian Co., IL and there is where they all died and are buried.  I have not researched any of their other children, except Sarah and David.

James and Sarah Ellen remained in Perry County, PA.  This line has been researched rather extensively, but I  can always find more.

Joyce Hughes, whom some of you met at the White Reunion some years ago, passed away.  She had been researching the White line and passed her information along to Marsha Pilger to complete.  I have now been in touch with Marsha again and hope we can get the White History completed in the next couple of years.  Keep those updates coming and I will pass them along.

Anyone interested in joining the DAR or SAR or CAR on this line should contact me for help.  With all the information I have compiled, it may not take too much to get your application completed.

Happy New Year

 

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PBS Genealogy Roadshow Filming in Philadelphia

This past weekend the NSDAR was exhibiting in Philadelphia at the PBS Genealogy Roadshow filming.  On Saturday we were at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and had representatives from Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Washington DC.  We answered questions from attendees about NSDAR, their ancestors, possible membership and a host of other genealogy questions.  We had Darryn Lickliter, Head of the Genealogy department of NSDAR to answer the really hard questions (most of those were from the ladies behind the table).

The Genealogy Roadshow was filming Joshua Taylor and Kenyatta Berry helping break down brick walls for those family genealogists who are stuck on one of their family lines.  The show is scheduled to air in January.

On Sunday, we were at The Franklin Institute exhibiting during the taping of the show.  We were kept busy with all the folks who came in off the street to see if they could get some help with their genealogy.  I was beat, when I left, from non-stop talking.  This is what our Volunteer Genies live for – talking genealogy non-stop.  We used our computers to do look ups on the DAR websites, Ancestry. com, FamilySearch.org, and Fold3.  I’m certain we have gained a few members for DAR and other Lineage Societies with all the look-ups.  Sunday we had DAR representatives from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, behind the table.  It was such a great experience for us all and  we have vowed to do this in our own areas to make more ladies aware of DAR and their eligibility to join.

We were excited to see one of our own being taped for the show and hope she doesn’t end up on the cutting room floor.  If you go on the PSSDAR Facebook page, you can see us in all our glory.  Another of our members was an extra for filming on Saturday.

A big thank you to all the ladies for coming to my rescue to help and for taking so much of their time to be in Philadelphia this weekend.

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Obituary for Lt. Col. Theodore F. Locke, Jr., age 94

This is the obituary from The Daily Times (DE) Sunday, October 12, 2014.  Ted shares the page with his cousin, Earl Spencer who also died recently.

Lt. Col. Theodore F. Locke, Jr., age 94 of Newtown Square, PA and formerly of Avalon, NJ, died Sunday, October 5, 2014.

Mr. Locke was a 1938 graduate of Collingswood High School, Collingswood, NJ and a 1942 graduate of the Pennsylvania Military College (currently Widener University), Chester, PA.  Lt. Col. Locke had a 24 -year career with the U.S. Army from 1942-1966, serving during WWII and Korea.  After his military service, he was employed with PMC College (currently Widener University) starting as the Asst. to the Dean of Engineering, working his way to the VP of Administration at Widener University.

Lt. Col. Locke served as Chairperson of Budget & Finance Committee at White Horse Village and Chairperson for the Octofair.  He founded and adopted the Food Flex Plan for the residents at White Horse Village. He was the husband of the late Grace H. Locke, who died in 1995.

Survivors: Wife; Marjorie (Smith) Locke; Daughter: Lillian L. Busse (Den) of Torrington CT; sons: Theodore F. Locke, III (Carolyn) of Tolland, MA, and Walter R. Locke (Kathleen) of Avalon, NJ; Six Grandchildren; Five Great-Grandchildren; Brother Charles Locke of Cape May, NJ.

Memorial Service November 11, 2014, Tuesday, 11:00 a.m. at White Horse Village, 535 Gradyville Road, Newtown Square, PA.  Interment Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, DC.

Memorial Contributions in lieu of flowers may be donated to the Theodore F. Locke, Jr. PMC’42 Freshman Undergraduate Scholarship Fund (make check out to Widener Univ. in memory of T.F. Locke, Jr.).   www.msbfh.com