Week 37 - High and Low (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

  I could not find a good story to share this week for the topic High and Low.  But I would imagine all of the ancestors had those in their lives just like you or I do today.  Whether it was the loss of a job or a home.  A sudden loss of a loved one or birth of a long awaited cherished child.  Maybe there were health problems that created the ups and downs in life.  Someone finally found the love of their life and lived happily ever after.  Severe weather events or the vacation of a lifetime.  The first in a family to graduate from high school or college.  Or maybe as simple as a hug from someone that you haven't seen in awhile.   Sometimes I look at the sparse events of an ancestor's life and wonder what they really went through and what events they would call their highs and lows.  Did the farmer have a good crop this year to get his family through the winter?  Did a family lose a loved one in a war?  Some events are both a high and a low.  As when a young married couple leave the country of their birth hoping for a better life in a new country, knowing they would never see their family again. All of these highs and lows are so relative to each individual. A low for one person may be a high for someone else.  It just wouldn't be life without all of it.  

Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. 

Week 36 - Exploration (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

It's pretty common for Americans to find a story or two that have to do with crossing the ocean.  From the first explorers to Jamestown and Plymouth to a recent immigrant relative.  I believe that no matter the reason that brought one here, you are still an explorer to a new land and way of life.  I have several seafaring stories that come to mind from our families. 

In 1620,  my first explorer ancestor came to America on the Mayflower.  His name was Myles Standish.  He was born about 1584 in England, but there are conflicting theories about where and to whom.  He was hired by the Pilgrims in Leiden, Holland to be an advisor on military affairs once they arrived in America.  So he and his first wife, Rose, came aboard the Mayflower bound for an adventure in the New World. Arriving near Cape Cod in November, winter was close behind.  They lived on the ship until a shelter could be built on the land. Rose Standish died the first winter along with about 50 other Pilgrims.  Myles survived and was one of those who cared for the other sick Pilgrims.  I reading much about Myles, he was a controversial character.  He both befriended and fought the Native Americans.  He was both caring, as in the winter sickness time, and was also accused of using too brutal of methods when fighting.  No matter what , he survived and around 1634 moved with some other families to found Duxbury, Massachusetts.  He took on many roles in running the community but died in 1656.  He was the husband of a 2nd wife, Barbara, and father to 7 children.  

After reading Nathaniel Philbrick's book, "In the Heart of the Sea", I have come to the conclusion that I must be related to nearly every early family in Nantucket, Massachusetts!  This book was the true story of the whaling ship "Essex"  and it's shipwreck and sinking in 1820 in the Pacific Ocean.  This story was said to be the inspiration for Herman Melville's "Moby Dick".  It was a voyage that was supposed to last about 3 years.  The trip from Nantucket to the waters where whales could be found was about  2500 miles long having to go south around the tip of South America and north again. As I was reading the book, I kept seeing familiar New England surnames of the crew and other associated individuals making me wonder where they fit into the family tree.  Not only was the ship Essex exploring the ocean in her search for whales and subsequent rescue after the Essex sank, but I began exploring the family ties of the crew and others mentioned in the story.  In all, I looked at 70 individuals and was able to connect all of them, either by a blood relationship or thru marriage.  It was one of the more fascinating family explorations that I have done.  Just a few of the names that I descend from are: Coffin, Starbuck, Paddock, Bunker, Gardner, Shattuck & French.  The Macy & Sears names are prominent in the families as well, among others.  Tristram and Peter Coffin and Thomas Macy were among the 9 original purchasers of Nantucket Island in 1659.  Other families arrived later to populate the island.  All of these families intermarried for generations and were a tight knit community with many whaling ships coming and going from Nantucket for hundreds of years.  

One last story from my husband's family was found in family research done by a distant cousin.  I have not found any paper documentation for this yet, so it can be considered a story handed down.  Jonas Latham Gray who was born in 1762 in New London County, Connecticut is said to have been a carpenter & cabinet builder by trade. What has been proven is that Jonas was a veteran of the Revolutionary War who served in place of his father, Philip, when he was less than 18 years old.  Toward the end of the war Jonas, along with his father and a brother sailed on a trading vessel which went around the horn of South America to the west coast of America. Later they took regular trips to the West Indies.  They continued these trips for about 12 years.  Jonas and his half brother Asa Gray once pooled all of their money to build a large ship.  While Jonas was at sea, Asa sold the ship and absconded with the money leaving Jonas penniless and in debt.  By Jan 1, 1819, Jonas had worked hard to pay his debts and he and his wife and three youngest children left Connecticut, on foot in the middle of winter.  Stopping for a brief stay in Schoharie county, New York, the family continued, on foot, to Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania. A journey west of about 240 miles.  Jonas lived in Dimock, Pennsylvania for the remainder of his life.  He died in there in 1832.  Having been buried in a small cemetery near his farm, two of his sons moved his body to a cemetery in Dimock in 1845. They opened his coffin in the presence of all his living descendants. The body was in a remarkable state of preservation and his features were as natural as the day of his burial. I'm not sure that I would take exploration quite that far, but an interesting story none the less.  

 Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved. 

Week 35 - Free Space (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks)

 "Free Space"  this week means just about anything goes.  But since I talked about photographic negatives in week 12, I thought I'd continue that into cameras.  Believe it or not, we have a collection of every camera that was used to make those same negatives.  

Because my husband is an amateur photographer and was usually the one with camera in hand at family gatherings, some vintage family cameras were sent our way.  Some we picked up because no one else wanted them.  And the rest are cameras that we have owned through our life.  Ebay and Etsy have been great in finding some vintage film and flash bulbs and manuals to go along with various cameras in the collection.  

We have about 30 cameras that range in age from 1901 to 2011 (not counting cell phones!)  My favorite one is the Pocket Kodak 1A because of it's style.  It was made from 1926-1932. The one that we have was owned by my grandfather and confirmed as we have a photo of him with the camera in hand.  

My grandfather Floyd Heacock in center holding his No 1A Pocket Kodak Series II Camera

My husband became interested in photography when he was a young boy.  He had found an old camera in his home's attic. It was an Imperial Debonair camera made from the 1950's to 60's.  Over the years, the camera disappeared and he always wished he still had it.  We started searching the internet for one, going just by his memory of what it looked like.  Through trial and error, we actually found one!  A great kid size for a beginner.  

Imperial Debonair camera

Sometime in the 1980's my husband, after years of not using a camera, jumped back in.  He started out with a Canon AE1P using film, a more professional 35mm camera compared to the usual family camera. He upgraded once to another 35mm film camera and I moved on to a few nice compact film cameras. I kind of became our snapshot and video person, while he developed an interest in outdoor photography, landscapes and such.  Over the years my husband built a nice collection of lenses and accessories to go along with his camera. When digital cameras came along, he waited to switch over until he found just the right model to continue his hobby.  This was the Canon EOS 5D.  He has used it ever since.  

I can't forget to mention Polaroid cameras.  We have two. One was ours and the other one belonged to my grand aunt.  They were fun to use but never became our main camera.  

We also have had some movie cameras over the years. The one from the 1950's, a Brownie Fun Saver, is the same one that we used for movies of our children born in the 70's.  No sound in those days unless you had one of those bulky VHS movie cameras.  We skipped those and later upgraded to the  Canon 514XL, still no sound but that was coming.  We upgraded once last time to a Canon ZR800, finally sound movies! Each time the upgrade was usually due to the film and then battery packs becoming obsolete or very hard to find in pre-internet days.  

After these movie cameras, digital cameras  were being made that had the capability of video recording in addition to snapshots, so only one camera was needed.  This time, I moved on from a film camera to a digital.  With the freedom to take as many photos and videos as I wanted, I also became somewhat more interested in taking photos of things other than family.  By this time, we were hiking and traveling to places that we wanted to photograph.  Using cameras has taken us to places we may never have seen otherwise.  Lot's of fun and memories.  

I still break out my last camera, the Canon Power Shot from 2011 once in awhile, but I now rely on my Iphone for most of the photos and videos I take. And I sometimes still get a bit nostalgic for the film camera experience.  You take your photo, wait to finish the roll, anxiously wait for the film to be developed so you can relive the memories through the printed photo.  Today, we take so many photos with our phones that sometimes they get lost or are not often looked at as much as we used to with film.  But we all still take photos.  A moment frozen in time that gives us memories every time we see it.  

One side story to share is about this ashtray.

The owner of the photographic shoppe advertised here is my husband's 1st cousin 2 times removed.  He was Irvin Sinton who was born in 1889 and died in 1945 in the town of Pottsville, Pennsylvania, also our hometown. Irvin's wife Maude, ran the shoppe for many years after Irvin's death.   Irvin was also a photographer.  A classmate of my husband's, posted a photo of this ashtray a few years back.  I knew right away who it was.  After sharing a few family related comments on the post, the friend sent it to my husband.  It sits with our camera collection.  It would also appear that my father in law used the Sinton Photo shoppe to have film developed as well.  We found the envelope with some negatives inside.  Imagine --- only $1.30 to develop 3 rolls of film!

Photography seems to be prevalent in our immediate Sinton family.  Two nephews of this family are making some side income from photography, one with portrait work and the other as a freelance sports photographer for his local newspaper. And both of our children are blossoming amateur photographers.  And grandchildren -- we became the ones to buy them their first cameras.  Most of them used them for awhile but phones eventually replaced them as well. But happy to see them using something to still take photos.  

Here is our complete collection.

Please give credit and post a link to my blog if you intend to use any of the information written here. My blog posts are © Ann M Sinton 2022. All rights reserved.