SMITH-CARLISLE FAMILY REUNION COMING SOON!

WHEN: Saturday, July 16 8 a.m. or so until you want to leave, or the park closes, whichever comes first!


WHERE: Clackamette Park, Clackamette Dr., Oregon City, OR.

WHO: All descendants of Lester and Pearl Smith, their Carlisle cousins---and any other friends and relatives who want to visit with us.

• Bring your own lunch or purchase it at the nearby fast food place.
• Bring musical instruments
• Bring lawn chairs, awnings--whatever you need to be comfortable. The park is beautiful, but there are no benches or chairs.
• If you have children, please bring games that can be enjoyed by all the children.
• Be prepared to share your family milestones that have occurred since July 2009. (Weddings, graduations, awards, hobbies, births, deaths, travel---whatever was important in your lives)

WHY: We gather together every two years to continue our family ties, visit and enjoy one another. We meet in Oregon City because it is where Lester and Pearl grew up and were married, plus it is a central location that allows most of the "Smith Cousins" to travel within two-three hours of their homes.

Gen. Patton Featured in Huguenot Street Newsletter

My article on our Elting "cousin", General George Patton, is featured in the Spring edition of Historic Huguenot Street's newsletter.  See:  http://www.huguenotstreet.org/ and click on the mini newsletter at the top of the page. I have another article in that issue on "The Gathering" held on the Street last August. This issue has lots of information about HHS events!

"The Gathering" Featured in Magazine Article

My article on "The Gathering" on Historic Huguenot Street has been published in the March-April issue of Reunions Magazine! 

If you've been to New Paltz, NY, or are a descendant of the original families: Elting, DuBois, Hasbrouck, DuBois, Crispell, Bevier, Freer, Deyo, Terwilliger and others, you know that every bit of publicity that we can obtain for the stone house museums, the archives and the collections is important to saving these important treasures of our nation's history. So I'm very thankful that the story of our "family reunion" last August was published.


The issue is now available on the magazine's website:

 http://www.reunionsmag.com/

Our name was Hell!

I haven't spent much time on my maternal family history, but recently I was re-reading a genealogy book on one line of my grandfather's family. The book, written by Alvera Brookman Dunn in 2005, is entitled, "Jacob Hell/Clear and Margaret Davis Clear and their Descendants."

Oh, did I mention that our family name was HELL?  Not a great name for children to defend, so I'm glad it was changed a few generations before I was born. According to Mrs. Dunn, the Hells were a German family who arrived in Pennsylvania about 1740 and settled among other German families. But, as descendants moved out from the German community, "they found that their family name, Hell, was not as acceptable in America as it had been in Germany. Gradually, they adopted the name 'Clear', one of the literal meanings of the German 'Hell.' By 1850 no one used the name 'Hell' unless it appeared in a land sale transacted earlier. The former name 'Hell' became 'hush-hush' and within two generations was forgotten..."

Mrs. Dunn was able to verify this information in Preble County, Ohio in the 1980s.  But no legal name change from 'Hell' to 'Clear' has been found.

For those who are descended from Lester and Pearl (Carlisle) Smith, this is the family line of Lester's mother, Margaret Clear.  (Jacob Hell/Clear and Margaret (Davis) Clear, John H. Clear and Ludicia "Louisa" (Graham) Clear, Margaret Clear and Luther Smith; Lester Lee Smith). 

This book is filled with family history information that I'll explore in future entries.

Fun Times with "Who Do You Think You Are?"

I missed the broadcast of the TIM McGRAW segment on the TV show "Who Do You Think You Are?", but listening to my husband talk about it, I began to hear familiar information. I could not believe my ears when I turned on the computer video and heard Tim McGraw discover his 8th great-grandfather was JOST HITE!  For those who have read my book, Answering the Call! you know that there are several Hites featured. A quick review of the McGraw information compared to our Elting information showed that Tim's ancestor grandmother, Jost Hite's daughter Mary Magdalena, was the sister of John and Isaac Hite who married two of Cornelius Elting's daughters, Alida Eleanor and Sarah.

So, all you Elting descendants who love country music and appreciate Tim McGraw and his wife, Faith Hill...we have newly-discovered "cousins" to welcome into the family. Aren't family "connections" fun?

VREDENBURGH FAMILY LINE

Wow, the power of the Internet!  While researching yet another Elting---yes, I sometimes do other things---I found an entire genealogy for our Vredenburgh family line.  For those of us descended from James Henry and Cora Mae (Beere) Elting, Grandpa James' mother was Phoebe (Vredenburgh) Elting, wife of Moses Elting. They resided in New Paltz, NY.  I  hope to post all the information on Grandma Phoebe's DUTCH family soon.

THE GATHERING on Historic Huguenot Street

Bevier-Elting House

Historic Huguenot Street, New Paltz, NY

"THE GATHERING" held on Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, NY August 13-15, 2010 was a wonderfully successful event .  More than 200 cousins and friends enjoyed days of  rare mild New York summer weather.  It was an amazing educational, entertaining and unique event coordinated by the HHS staff, with assistance from  volunteers and Family Association members. 

HHS President and Family Collaboration Committee Chair Mary Etta Schneider
visiting at the Friday Night "President's Reception" on LeFevre House lawn.

Gathering near one of the ancient trees on the LeFevre House lawn.

Gathering around the abundant food available throughout the weekend's activities.

Gathering at the workshops---so many interesting workshops. 

HHS Marketing Director Richard Heyl de Ortiz presented this one on African-American history.

Gathering in the LeFevre House Gallery to hear

HHS Curator Leslie LeFevre-Stratton

 share the history of the ancestor portraits.

(This is the original home of Ezekiel and Magdalene (Elting) Elting)

Gathering at the ice cream social---a very popular event!

     The historical significance of New Paltz's Huguenot Street is just being fully realized.

     We descendants are justifiably proud that the homes of our ancestors have been preserved, that our collections and archives are professionally catalogued and subjected to ongoing preservation techniques. We are also very proud that our professional staff is recognizing the importance of not only preserving these amazing examples of American life through the centuries from the mid-1600s, but finding ways to share them in special gallery presentations, programming, tours and publications. We were happy to hear that HHS has been a leader in exploring ways to survive in the current economic situation. 

     The purpose of this gathering was two-fold: 

•  to provide an opportunity for the descendants and their family associations to meet together and share in the excitement of being together where our ancestors lived through the centuries, and
• to bring more focus and attention to the financial commitments necessary to continue the presentation of this amazing example of a truly American story. 

   If you can contribute, or if you know of a foundation that is still issuing grants for preservation and related projects, please contact me at gecastle@cluesonline.com, or call the HHS office at 845-255-1660.