Week 2: Favorite Finds (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

 Week 2: Favorite Find (52 Ancestors)

This topic is hard because I don't have one favorite find.  Everything I find is a favorite at the time and is soon replaced or should I say added to the favorite list.  But here are a few examples.

Right now, I am reading a book called "Abraham Lincoln: His Life and Public Services by Mrs. P.A.Hanaford. This book was published  in 1866 and is said to probably be the first biography of Lincoln after his assassination.  I found this book in my parent's home when the house was being readied for sale.  It along with some other books found there came home with me and they have sat on my bookshelf since.  But the other day, I was looking for the next book to read and finally decided to see what this one had to say.  The reason that I kept this book whose spine was missing and whose pages were rust spotted was, of course, because I love old books like this if not simply for their age or their old appearance, but also that it appeared to have been handed down in my family.  When my grandmother died in 1996, my Dad must have brought these books home.  There were many old books to choose from in that house as well.  His Dad was born a Quaker and came from a long line of Quakers.  Many of them were teachers, both males and females and I can see why a book like this would have been of interest to one of them.  

Phebe Hanaford's book about Abraham Lincoln

When I first brought this book home, I immediately did a little research on it and it's author. The author's maiden name was Phebe Ann Coffin. That got my attention right away because one of my ancestral lines goes back to the Coffin family of Nantucket, Massachusetts.  Phebe was born a Quaker  in 1829 on Nantucket Island and was well educated. She would go on to become a teacher, author and an ordained minister and be very involved with abolitionist and women's suffragist activities.  Phebe married and had two children but her life was not without controversy.  You see, her marriage failed and she began a relationship with another woman in 1870 which lasted 44 years.   Phebe persevered thru all of  her controversies and died in 1921.  She is my 4th cousin 4 times removed.

               Phebe Ann (Coffin) Hanaford

In Phebe's Lincoln book, another Coffin name is mentioned. C.C. Coffin or Charles Carleton Coffin, who turned out to be a correspondent during the Civil War for the Boston Journal.  Phebe mentions that he was present in Springfield, Illinois when Lincoln was informed of his nomination to run for President.  He was part of a group that traveled from the Convention to Springfield. Charles was born in 1823 in New Hampshire. In contrast to Phebe, he was home schooled by his parents. He would go on to become a journalist, author and politician.  He was one of the best known newspaper correspondents during the Civil war.  Charles died in 1892 in Massachusetts.  He is my 5th cousin 5 times removed.  Phebe and Charles are 5th cousins 1 time removed to each other. 

                                                         

                                                              Charles Carleton Coffin

So not only did I find a great book, I was surprised to find my connection to the book as well.  One other thing with this book, was a news clipping that was inside the front cover. I traced it to an Indianapolis newspaper from June 19, 1913.  It was reporting on an honorary degree granted to a Miss Nebraska Cropsey by Indiana University.  At the time, she was the only woman to have this honor.   So naturally, I did some research on her, but did not find a connection to her. She was a well known educator in the Indianapolis School District and wrote several textbooks as well as trained new teachers.  I am assuming that the owner of this book was either an acquaintance of Miss Cropsey or was an admirer.  Coincidentally, she was both born(1845) and died(1916) in locations very near the Pittsburgh, PA area where I live now, but buried in Indiana where some of my ancestors lived. 

Nebraska Cropsey Clipping

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I always find myself delving into other families than my own, such as an in law.  So another favorite find was when I inadvertently and at least partially proved a family story from my son in law's family.  My son in law's mother said that her father's family was said to be Jewish or have Jewish roots.  But no one could find out if it was true or not and her father was not active in the Jewish religion and did not talk about it.  Her father was a soldier during World War II and one day I was looking into some of his hints on Ancestry and ran across a card entitled " National Jewish Welfare Board".   Lo and behold, there was his name, his mother's name, her location and that he was in the Army.  All these facts matched.  I passed this card on to my son in law's mom and she was surprised and happy to know that the family story held some truth.  

Coincidentally, a book that is in my stack of ones that I am going to read is about the Battle of the Bulge, which Robert Hahn fought in.  It is called "The Alamo of the Ardennes". I'll pass it along to my son in law when I'm finished with it.  

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One last favorite find is when I see that many of  the people in my tree are related to each other in ways that I did not expect.  Such as that my husband and I are 7th cousins thru common 8th great grandparents and a second time as 8th cousins on another common grandparent pair. That both of us are distant cousins to our son in law on two different family lines.  I am a 5th cousin 3 times removed of my daughter in law on yet another family line.  My Dad is a 7th cousin to his childhood best friend who lived next door to him.  They never knew.  This best friend is also a distant cousin of our daughter in law and my husband's sister in law. I have found so many of these that I needed to add a category to my spreadsheet to keep track of them.  The amazing thing is that none of our families are, in recent generations, from the same area.  

It is finds like these that keep me searching for more favorite finds!

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