Little did I know that one person that helped me the most was someone I had never met before. My grandmother, Edith Lucile Palmerton Rose.
Lucile, as she went by, died in 1967. I was not born until 1972.
My Uncle had given me some papers and photos in 2012 that he had collected from family members who had started to delve into our family tree long before the internet was around. I had some wonderful photos and some scraps of paper with handwritten notes on them to go by.
The first piece of paper I used to help build this side of the family tree were handwritten notes from Lucile. I am not sure when they were written but I love everything about them.
When I started plugging in these names, I found census records, photos and military records! Everyone was a match! I had more than enough information for the Palmerton side of the family.
There was another small piece of paper that Lucile had written that I kept looking at to make sure I was on the right track with my family tree.
Easterday--check!
Krontz--check!
Topper--check!
Hoover--
Corbin--check!
Preston--
Hoover and Preston. Two names that did not automatically come up when I started plugging in all those names. When I asked my Dad about the name Hoover. He said his mom (Lucile) always told him we were related to Herbert Hoover!
So I looked up Herbert Hoover and nothing. So much for being a long lost relative of a former POTUS!
I had started hitting brick walls and couldn't find anything that linked Hoover or Preston to the family tree. I decided to re-read all my notes, back of pictures and documents I had gathered to see if I had overlooked something. I re-read this letter that my great-great grandmother Edith Shelpman (not her real maiden name....another story to unfold!) had written January 17, 1930.
Who is Mary Ann Zimmerman?
I started to research Mary Ann and Erastus Zimmerman (Or Simmerman). I found that they were married in the same Ohio county that my Great-Great-Great Grandmother Abigail Aquilla Topper was from. I assumed it was an aunt or a cousin and didn't think about it anymore. After all, it wasn't unusual for children to live with relatives once their parents died.
So I looked at Abigail Aquilla Topper again to see if I was missing anything. Obviously John Hoover was important in her life and in the letter it states that Abigail chose to live with Luke Hoover when she turned 14.
The last record I had of Abigail was from the 1940 census. She was living in Maricopa, Arizona with her Granddaughter. She was 89 years old and widowed. I decided to see if I could find out when she died and looked for the death records in Maricopa County in Arizona.
BINGO!
It was there all along! Mary Ann Hoover was Abigail's mother!
Now I haven't made any connection to Herbert Hoover....yet! But I will keep looking!
And who is Preston.......
P.S. I have decided to try and blog about 52 ancestors in 52 weeks. Let's see how I do! ( I am already behind....)
