Hopper Family Genealogy

Myself - Kristin Hopper

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A detailed family tree can be accessed at http://www.gencircles.com/users/kristinhopper/5/data/13617 (note - web address does not always load since site might currently being updated. If so, try again later).

To see a summary of our Hopper Family Tree, go to
http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/20906365/family?fpid=12326526415

Myself - Kristin Hopper - in the Winter at George Mason University

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Myself - Kristin Hopper - at George Mason Univeristy

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For more photos, see http://gmucampus.wordpress.com

Myself with my friends Andrew and Allibeth

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Myself With My Mom

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Myself at My High School Graduation

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Myself with My Friends Andrew and Allibeth Before My Graduation

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With My Aunt Cindy (first photograph) - and with Aunt Cindy, Uncle Bill and My Mom (2nd) - and With My Aunt Cindy, Cousin Greg, Friend Maddie, and Mom

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Myself at Potomac Falls High School Senior Awards Ceremony

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Myself At Coating Ceremony for Academy of Science

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My Dad - Rick Hopper!

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My Dad

My Dad playing golf

My Dad as a Wall Street investment banker

My Dad in Hawaii

My Dad - Rick Hopper in high school (to right - with brother Mike, Mom and sister Cindy)

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Rick Hopper (2nd from left) on Mariemont High School debate team

Kristin Hopper as a young girl

Kristin Hopper - high school senior class photo

Myself - Kristin Hopper

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My cat

My dog

Myself with Andrew and Allibeth.

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Myself with Andrew Moody at the prom.

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Myself, Kristin Hopper, Sitting Next to President Clinton When He Signs the Kennedy-Kassabaum Health Care Reform Legislation at the White House

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My cousin Greg, uncle Bill, Aunt Cindy, and cousin Jenny Kusel

My cousin Carrie, my Uncle Mike and Aunt Pat, and my cousin Chris Hopper

My Uncle Mike Hopper

My Cousin Jenny and her husband Josh Lantz

My cousin Greg Kusel with My Uncle Bill

My cousin Chris Hopper

My cousin Carrie Hopper and her husband

My ccousin Mark Wolf

My Grandmother Mitzi Sato (Nanny)

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My mother Linda Hopper with my father Rick Hopper!

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My father as a boy (left) with his sister Cindy, mother, and brother Mike

My father as a boy with his grandpa Lloyd at Christmas time

My father - Rick Hopper!

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My grandparents Martha Hopper and Louis Hopper when they visited my father when he lived in Hawaii

My father Rick Hopper when he was living in Hawaii

My father Rick Hopper with his first wife Diane Puanani Chang Hopper

My grandmother Martha Hopper visiting her son Rick (my father) when he was living in Hawaii

My grandfather Louis James Hopper visiting his son Rick (my father) when he was living in Hawaii

From right to left - my father's mother Martha Hopper, her brother (my father's Uncle Ernest Van Lloyd), and my father's Uncle Maurice Perkins

My Grandmother Martha Hopper with Lucy (family dog)

My Grandpa Louis James Hopper

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From left to right back row- my father Rick Hopper when he worked for the U.S. EPA in Wash, DC, his father Louis Hopper, Uncle Maurice, cousin Phil, and Cousin Paul. From left to right middle row - Rick's mother Martha Hopper, Rick's first wife Diane, Phil's wife Sue, cousin Alison and brother Mike. Front row left to right - Rick's Grandma Hopper, Phils daughter Holly, Mike's wife Pat, Rick's sister Cindy, dog, and Cindy's husband Bill Kusel

Reception for my father Rick Hopper when he lived in Hawaii and was visiting family in Cincinnati - from left to right Rick's Uncle Ernest Van Lloyd, Rick's cousin Paul Perkins, Rick's Uncle Maurice Perkins, Rick and Rick's first wife Diane Chang

My father in center with his cousins Phil and Paul (squeezed in) on his left and his Grandma Lloyd on right - with cousin Alison (small) and sister Cindy in front row - with his Aun Martha to his left behind him and his Grandma and Grandpa Hopper behind him to his right - with his father Louis Hopper in center in back row - with his mother Martha Hopper to the right of his father Louis Hopper and his brother Michael Hopper to the left in rear

Myself when young with my Dad

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Myself as a baby

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My great grandma Lloyd on my father's side with my father and my Grandmother Hopper

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Marriage of Anna Huber and John Alfred Hopper

Gravestone of my great-grandpa John Hopper

Gravestone for my great-grandmother Anna Huber Hopper

My father's favorite photo of my great-grandmother Hopper - was always kept on her mantel

Collage of photos of my great grandmother Anna Huber Hopper

My great-grandma Anna Huber as a girl

My great-grandmother Anna Huber as a young lady

My great-grandmother Anna Huber Hopper

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My great-great Grandpa and Grandma Hopper (sitting) with my great Grandpa Hopper standing (middle) with his brothers and sisters

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My great grandfather Louis James Hopper as a baby held by his mother Anna Huber Hopper

My grandpa Louis James Hopper as a boy

My grandpa Louis James Hopper as a boy with with his sister (Aunt Martha) and his parents - my great grandma Anna Huber Hopper and my great grandpa John Hopper

My grandfather was Louis James Hopper. He was born on October 15, 1917. As an infant, he almost died from the flu influenza of 1917. Prior to World War II, he was hired as a fireman on the Pennyslvania Railroad. During World War II, he was a master sergeant and served in North Africa, France and Germany. After the war, he returned to working on the Pennsylvania Railroad and married my grandmother, whom he had known from high school. He became an engineer on the Pennsylvania Railroad (which later became Penn Central) running primarily passenger trains, and especially a PRR passenger train from Cincinnati to Indianapolis known as "Old 40", and head of the local union chapter of the Brotherhood of Locomative Firemen. For a number of years, he became a general organizer of the United Transportation Union (UTU), then returned to being an engineer. At this point, passenger service had been discontinued and he ran all freight trains. He died on May 24, 1984. His name is on a monument at Philadelphia's 30th Street Pennsylvania train station as one of Pennsylvania Railroad employees who fought in World War II. Louis James Hopper was a 33rd degree Mason.

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Above is a picture of my father (on the left) with my Great-Grandma Anna Huber Hopper and my Uncle Mike. Grandma Hopper's maiden name was Anna Huber. Her parents were Louis John Huber and Lulu Menze. She was born on August 9, 1898 and died on August 25, 1984 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She initially married Robert E. Lee Modlin, who was a conductor on the Pennyslvania Railroad. She divorced him, however, soon after my grandfather was born. She then remarried to John Hopper and had a daughter, Martha Hopper (my Great-Aunt Martha) who subsequently married Maurice Perkins.

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My great-great-grandfather Louis John Huber was born on December 22, 1873 in Cincinnati, Ohio and died on July 19, 1959. He initially was a street motorman, but went on to own several German saloons and a bowling alley and to build several homes. He married Lulu Menze, daughter of Henry and Louisa Menze. He and his wife Luella (Lulu) Menze are shown above with my great-grandmother, Anna May Huber.

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Andrew Huber

Susanna Schwab Huber

My great-great-grandfather on my Huber side was Andrew Huber. He was born on May 2, 1843 in the southern or "high country" of Germany. He died on July 22, 1907 in Cincinnati. He married Susanna Schwab. He was a ham canvaser or sewer.

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_________ Modlin/Hudson Ancestors__________

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My great-grandfather on my father's side was Robert E. Lee Modlin (shown in photograph above with my great-grandmother Hopper on their wedding day). He was born on December 8, 1888 in Richmond, Kentucky and died on November 22, 1961 in Covington, Kentucky. He was a conductor on the Pennyslvania Railroad. My great-grandmother divorced him shortly after my grandfather was born and remarried to John Hopper.

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My great great grandfather James Hiram Modlin was born on February 22, 1863 in Nashville, Tennessee. He died on October 9, 1949 in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. His father was William S. Modlin, who was drafted and thus served in the Confederate Army in the Civil War, and Cinthia A. Sledge. His great-grandfather was Samuel Modlin who was from Greensboro/Perquimans County, North Carolina and who enlisted in May 1777 in the North Carolina Continental line in the Revolutionary War. This was despite the fact that he was a Quaker. His ancestor was Ezekial Maudlin who was a Quaker from England who migrated to America and died on May 16, 1705 in Perquimans County, North Carolina.

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Mary Alice Hudson was the wife of James Hiram Modlin. She was born on August 16, 1865 in Russell County, Kentucky. Her parents were James Hudson and Susan Rucker.

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James Hudson was born in 1815 and died in 1897 in Russell County, Kentucky. He was married to Susan Rucker. He was the son of "Old" James Hudson and Louisa Owen.

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Our ancestor "Old" James Hudson was born on January 13, 1776 in Bedford County, Virginia. He was the son of Major Joel Hudson and was descended from one of the first Jamestown settlers (see below). He was married to Louisa Owen. He died on August 7, 1861 in Russell County, Kentucky.

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Our ancestor, Joel Hudson, was a Major in the Revolutionary War under the command of George Rogers Clark. His parents were Martha Hudson, Jr. and Martha Hancock. He was born in 1728 in Chesterfield, Virginia in 1811 in Bedford County, Virginia.

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Our earliest known Hopper/Modlin/Hudson ancestor was Robert Hudson who arrived in Jamestown on the ship "James" in 1622. This was documented by the "Muster of the Inhabitants of Chaplains Choyse and the Trueloves Company taken on January 21, 1624 by Ensigne Isack Chaplaine that was sent to England in 1625 by Sir Francis Wyatt, Governor. His son was Richard Hudson who founded Roxdale Plantation and married Mary Bowman - and who died in 1669.

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_ My Grandma Hopper and Her Brother (My Great Uncle Van)

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Above is a photograph of my grandmother Hopper when she was a little girl. She was born on October 30, 1918 in Milford, Clermont County, Ohio and died October 1, 1977. Growing up, she was a tomboy who rode her own horse, played golf, and starred on the girl's high school basketball team. After high school she attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she studied to become a teacher. During World War II, she worked as a clerk for the Army in downtown Cincinnati. After the war, she married my father, Louis James Hopper. She then became a mother -- raising my my father, my Uncle Mike, and my Aunt Cindy. When they were in high school, she then took a job as a proof reader for a local printing company that primary published textbooks.

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This is a pictue of my grandmother (in the center) in grade school.

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This is a picture of my grandmother out at the family farm in Milford, Ohio -- possibily when she was in college.

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This is a picture of my Uncle Mike, my grandmother, my Aunt Cindy, and my father in front of the family home.

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Above is a photo of my great Uncle Van Lloyd wearing the flying helmet, scarf and leather jacket that he wore when he flew bi-planes as part of Lend-Lease to train British pilots during World War II. A large copy of this photo used to hang in the original Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It was used as a poster during World War II to encourage people to buy war bonds, with probably many people mistaking Uncle Van for Charles Lindburgh since they looked similar in their flying outfits (thought I think Uncle Van was much more handsome)> For his efforts, he was made a Knight of the British Empire by King George at a ceremony held in New York City after the war. Both before and after this, he was an airline pilot with Essair Airlines, then Braniff Airlines.

Above is a photograph of my grandmother with her brother (i.e. my Great Uncle Van).

My grandmother's brother -- my Great Uncle Van - married my grandmother's college roomate - my Aunt Jeanette, who after college taught school for many years in Hawaii. My Great Uncle Van, on the other hand, became a pilot and an early aviation pioneer. He became interested in flying when he was visiting the Hunsicker family farm in Relief, Ohio with his mother -- and saw a Curtis Jenny biplane crash.

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After graduating from high school, my Great Uncle Van joined a flying circus where he received flying lessons in return for parachuting during the shows.

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My Great Uncle Van went on to become an airline pilot -- first for Essair Lines - then for Pioneer Airlines when it merged with Essair - then with Continental Airlines when it acquired Pioneer Airlines. He was one of the first pilots to fly a DC-3. During World War II, however, he went back to flying biplanes (primarily Stearsman biplanes) when he became the chief pilot for a flying school to train British pilots as part of lend-lease. For his service during World War II, he was knighted by King George of Great Britain.

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Essair L-10A Electra

Pioneer Martin 202

Pioneer Air Lines DC-3

Interior of Pioneer Air Lines DC-3

Pioneer Air Lines Stewardesses

Pioneer Air Lines DC-3

Continental Air Lines DC-3

Continental Air Lines DC-6

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_ LLOYD/LOYD AND SHUMARD ANCESTORS _

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My great-grandfather on my father's side was Ernest Emery Lloyd (standing in photograph above). His parents were Harvey Phillip Lloyd and Louisa Emery. His mother died when he was young and his father had to arrange for Ernest and his brothers and sisters to live with other families so that he could farm. Ernest was placed first with the Ball family and then with the Philip Gatch family. He worked and retired from the Union Central Life Company, but his real love was farming. After marrying my Great-Grandma Lloyd (maiden name Hunsicker - see Hunsicker ancestors below), in his spare time he farmed the family farm in Milford, Ohio.

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Harvey Phillip Loyd was the father of my great-grandfather Ernest Emery Loyd. He was born in 1850 at the family farm on Klondyke Pike above Perintown. After the death of his father, Harvey and his brothers and mother went out to Kansas to homestead, but Harvey returned to the family farm in Clermont County, Ohio while his brothers stayed in Kansas. Harvey married Louisa Emery, daughter of James Emery and Sally Ann Brown. James Emergy was descended from Conrad Emery from Wolfenbuttle, Germany who settled in Hunterdon, New Jersey and his wife Margareth Hummerich. Sally Ann Brown, on the other hand, was descended from Joseph Kerr who was awarded a land grant in Clermont County from Thomas Jefferson.

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Abel Loyd is our earliest Loyd ancestor in the family bible and whose grave in Greenlawn cemetery in Milford we also visited on Memorial Day. We know that he was born on January 15, 1810 - but are not sure where he was born or who were his parents. It is my theory, however, that he was the son of David Loyd who was one of the first settlers in Clermont County, Ohio and was the grandson of James Loyd - who was from Winchester, Virginia and received a land grant in Clermont County, Ohio for his service in fighting during the Revolutionary War. His wife was Mary Stuart. Meanwhile, the wife of Abel Loyd was Amanda Shumard (see below).

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Amanda Shumard was the wife of Abel Loyd. She was born on September 9, 1819 in Clermont County, Ohio and died on December 10, 1891. She is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery in Milford, Ohio along with Abel Loyd. She was the daughter of Francis Shumard and Elizabeth Morris.

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Francis Shumard was born on February 12, 1784 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. He moved with his brothers to Clermont County, Ohio where he owned a grist mill where the sanitation plant is currently located in Perintown - east of Milford, Ohio. He died on November 1, 1847 in Clermont County, Ohio.

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Several generations of our Shumard ancestors operated grist mills in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. One, Nathan Shumard, served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War and fought at the Battle of Monmouth. It was his son, Francis Shumard, who moved to Clermont County, Ohio (possibly to settle on the land grant awarded to his father for service in the Revolutionary War).

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Our earliest known ancestor on my great-grandpa Loyd's side of the family was William De Shumar, a French Hugenot (protestant). Because of religious persecution during the reign of King Louis XIII, in 1625 he and his two brothers were forced to flee France and migrated first to Italy and then to England. After they reached England, they changed their name to Shumard. William joined the parliamentary army under Cromwell fighting against England King Charles I. He met a daughter of a nobleman from Holland named Oara when she was attending school in England. They married without her family's permission, with William then chartering a ship so that they could emigrate to America sometime around 1630. They settled in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.

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________ OUR HUNSICKER ANCESTORS ______

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GREAT-GRANDMA ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE - Above is a picture of my father with my great-grandma on my father's side. Her maiden name was Helen Ruby Hunsicker - and her nickname was Nelly. She was born in Lexington, Kentucky but spent the most formative years of her childhood in Macon, Georgia. Eventually, her family moved to the family farm in Milford, Ohio where she then lived the rest of her life. After her father died, she married my great-grandfather, who previously had been helping to take care of the farm. When she was only 13 years old, she attended Ohio Weslyan University in Delaware, Ohio where her sister (my great aunt Ollie) Olive Mae Hunsicker had been appointed a professor of business. During one summer vacation, both her and Aunt Ollie worked as camp matrons at the newly formed Yellowstone National Park -- before there were park rangers and the army maintained the park. During this summer, they witnessed Nez Percz Chief Joseph and his band fleeing from the army and grizzly bears who camp right into the camp to be fed (without attacking the people!). Later, Grandma taught school briefly - and then wrote a monthly column for Century Magazine, a national magazine similar to National Geographic in quality - and corresponded with such famous individuals as Edmund Hillary, the first man to climb Mount Everest, and the publisher of National Geographic Magazine. She also kept a diary for almost all her life. She and Grandpa had two children - my mother and my Uncle Van.

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TAYLOR KERN HUNSICKER AND WIFE, FLORA VANETTA SMITH - My Hunsicker great-grandparents, and the parents of my grandmother Helen Hunsicker, were Taylor Kern Hunsicker and Flora Vanetta Smith. They met while he was working on the B&O railroad in or near Byers, Ohio (see below) and she was working as the first woman's telegraph operator in Vigo, Ohio. Flora's mother Driscilla Ryland had divorced our great-grandfather William Reuben Smith and moved to Vigo, Ohio with her daughter Flora while their son Van contined to live with Grandpa Reuben Smith. Our great-grandmother Flora Vanetta Smith then dressed as a man in order to become hired as a telegraph operator on the B&O Railroad. After they were married, they moved to such places as Huntington, W.VA. and Lexington, Kentucky (where my grandmother Helen Hunsicker Lloyd was born). They eventually moved to Macon, Georgia where Taylor Kern Hunsicker became the station master. They then retired to Milford, Ohio where they bought the family farm at 951 Walnut Street in Milford, with the house having previously been built by a riverboat captain. It was across from Governor Patterson's house in Milford. Above are photographs of Taylor Kern Hunsicker and his wife Flora Vanetta Smith.

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JONATHAN HUNSICKER AND HIS WIFE MARY ANN JONES - Above are pictures of our ancestors Jonathan Hunsicker and his wife Mary Ann Jones. Cindy has a coverlet sewn by Grandma Jones (see her ancestry below - i.e. descent from Gabriel Jones and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall). Jonathan Hunsicker was born on July 12, 1810 in Winchester, Virginia. He was apprenticed to the family's neighbor James Kern, for whom the town of Kernstown was named, to learn how to build Conestoga wagons. Later he was to name his son, Taylor Kern Hunsicker, after both James Kern and the Taylor who owned the Taylor hotel in Winchester (which Stonewall Jackson is often pictured in front of) and who founded the medical college in Winchester. After his apprenticeship ended, Jonathan Hunsicker moved to Harper's Ferry to help build the new B&O railroad - the first railroad in America. He lived there during the Civil War - with our ancestor Taylor Kern Hunsicker being born in 1848 before the Civil War. After the Civil War, Jonathan Hunsicker and his wife and all his children moved to Byers, Ohio (or Byer Junction). This was east of Chillicothe and was where the B&O Railroad split with one line going to Cincinnati and another going to Columbus. At that time, both lines were single tracks, so Byer was an important junction to make sure that the trains were switched to the right track - and to refuel and provide water for the trains. Almost all the homes in the small town of Byers were built by Jonathan Hunsicker and his sons who continued to live there or nearby and work for the B&O railroad. My grandmother used to take our mother every summer to visit our Hunsicker relatives in Byers, including Jonathan Hunsicker and Grandma Jones Hunsicker until their deaths. On a visit to Byers, I once met an elderly lady who remembered our great-grandfather Taylor Kern Hunsicker and our great-grandmother Flora Vanetta Hunsicker (her father was head of the telegraph operators). She told me how it was only a week before my visit that the last of our Hunsicker relatives in Byers had passed away. On another visit to Byers, when Linda was looking at the tombstone of Jonathan Hunsicker and removing the vines so that she could read it - it toppled over and almost crushed Linda and Kristin (since apparently the vines had been what was holding the monument up). It is a large obelisk type monument - that might still be laying on the ground since we were unable to lift it - but it might have been put back upright by the township who maintains the Byers cemetery.

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THOMAS HUNSICKER - Our first Hunsicker ancestor to migrate to America was Thomas Hunsicker who arrived in Philadelphia on October 1, 1754 on the ship Phoenix. The second to the last signature on the passenger's list shown above is his signature - followed by the signature of his oldest son, Daniel Hunsicker. He was from Wolfersheim, Germany and settled initially with his family in LeHigh, Pennsylvania. They then moved, however, to Winchester, Virginia where the elder Thomas Hunsicker was one of four people who founded Stine's Church near Summit's Point just outside of Berryville, which was the first German church founded in Virginia. Linda, Kristin and myself were able to meet a Mrs. Cunningham in Winchester, Virginia who owns a chest brought over by our Thomas Hunsicker and his church certificates that he had to send over to Germany for in prove his church membership and thus found Stine's church. Since she is not a Hunsicker descendant, maybe someday our family can acquire these family heirlooms from her. We are descended from another son of Thomas Hunsicker - i.e. Thomas Hunsicker, Jr. He became a master tailor (as was his father) and owned a home in downtown Winchester near Fort Loudoun and George Washington's office during the French and Indian War. I don't know where he is buried, but his wife (also our ancestor) and all of their children except for Jonathan Hunsicker, our great-great grandfather, are all buried together in Mount Hebron cemetery in Winchester, Virginia (near the graves of Revolutionary War general Daniel Morgan and Christian Streit, the first German minister of the area - who married all of our relatives).

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________ Marshall and Jones Ancestry _______

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My ancestor Gabriel Jones was the first lawyer in the Shenandoah Valley, was the lawyer for Lord Fairfax, was the executor of Lord Fairfax's will, was the law partner for the young Thomas Jefferson when Jefferson first began practising law and loaned Jefferson enough money to get Jefferson financially through the period of the American Revolution, was a delegate to both the Continental Congress and the Virginia Convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution, and was the political mentor to George Washington who along with James Wood (the founder of Winchester, VA) helped him to get elected to his first public office (the House of Burgesses) - with George Washington once traveling all alone from the country down through the mountains of what is now West Virginia just to meet with his old friend and mentor Gabriel Jones at his home at Port Republic hear Harrisonburg before Washington returned to his Mount Vernon home.

My ancestor Mary Ann Jones - descendant of both Gabriel Jones and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall - who married my ancestor Jonathan Hunsicker

My ancestor John Marshall, the most famous Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

DESCENT FROM CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARHSALL AND GABRIEL JONES - On our Hunsicker side of the family, we are directly descended from U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall. Crediting with establishng the judicial branch as the third branch of our government, he is considered as important as any founding father - even though he never signed the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution. It was his decision in the case Marbury v. Madison that established the principle of judicial review. He did serve under George Washington during the Revolutionary War and afterwards became one of the strongest supporters of Washington and his presidency. Washington offered him several different cabinet posts, but Marshall refused to give up his successful law practice in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Finally, however, he did agree to become Secretary of State under President John Adams. During the end of Adams' presidency, Adams appointed Marshall as Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and for a brief period of time he held this position as well as the position of Secretary of State - the only person to ever hold a cabinet position while being a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His success as Chief Justice was accredited to not only his political acumen, but also to his geneality. He had known George Washington while growing up since his father, Thomas Marshall, was a fellow surveyor of Washington's. Upon Washington's death, George Washington's nephew Bushrod Washington, who was also a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, gave John Marshall all the papers of George Washington. John Marshall preserved these papers and used them to write the first comprehensive and documented biography of George Washington. We are descended from Marshall's daughter, Anna Maria Marshall, who married our ancestor William Strother Jones. William Strother Jones was the grandson of our ancestor Gabriel Jones. If one goes to the magnificent new Museum of the Shenandoah Valley, the first individual discussed is our ancestor Gabriel Jones. This is because he was the first lawyer in the Shenandoah Valley. In this role, he was the first elected delegate to the Virginia House of Burgesses from Frederick County, became the attorney for Lord Fairfax, and became a political mentor and friend to George Washington - and helped George Washington to get elected to his first public office. Once George Washington travelled alone in the winter down through the entire length of West Virginia just to visit our ancestor Gabriel Jones on Washington's return from the Ohio country (see Washington's diary of his trip to Ohio in 1784). When Thomas Jefferson graduated from law school at the College of William & Mary, he joined Jones as a junior law partner. Later, Jones was to lend Jefferson a large sum of money that allowed Jefferson to financially survive during the Revolutionary War. Jones himself was elected to the Continental Congress and was a member of the Virginia ratifying convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution. Our ancestor and Gabriel Jones' grandson, William Strother Jones, and Anna Maria Marshall had a son, Richard Jones, who lived on Apple Pie Ridge in Winchester, Virginia and received a pension for serving in the Mexican War (as described in our family bible pages). He was my great-great-great-great grandfather. His daughter, Mary Ann Jones, married our ancestor Jonathan Hunsicker in Winchester, Virginia. Aunt Cindy has a coverlet sewn by Grandma Mary Ann Jones Hunsicker. Above is a picture of our ancestor Gabriel Jones (with his well known patch over his eye - painted by the famous painter Gilbert Stuart) followed by pictures of our ancestors Grandma Jones and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Marshall.

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_____________ OUR SMITH ANCESTORS _________________

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Gravestone in the Factory Point Cemetery in Manchester, Vermont of John Smith

Gravestone in the Factory Point Cemetery in Manchester, Vermont of Mary Bull, wife of John Smith

My first two Smith ancestors were John Smith and his wife Mary Bull of Manchester, Vermont. He is certified as a veteran of the Revolutionary War by both the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the Sons of the American Revolution, with him having helped start and then serve as a Captain the Green Mountain Boys. For this reason, there is a statue of him in the middle of the square in downtown Manchester, Vermont. It was his son Abraham "Essence" Smith that moved to Ohio, and that I am descended from, with the last person named Smith in our family being my great-great-grandmother Flora Vanetta Smith who married Taylor Kern Hunsicker (see below). It is also from my Smith and Foster ancestors that I am descended from Charlemagne and much of European royalty (again, see below).

My great-great-grandmother, Flora Vanetta Smith, was the daughter of William Reuben Smith and Driscilla Ryland. She was born on the family farm in Relief, Ohio just above Beverly - along the Muskingham River. She became the nation's first woman telegraph operator during the Civil War by dressing up and pretending that she was a man. Through this job, she met and married my great-great-grandfather, Taylor Kern Hunsicker. As a railroad man, they moved from job to job, When a depression gripped the country, they briefly lived on the farm in Relief with her father, William Reuben Smith, but afterwards Taylor Kern Hunsicker was able to obtain a job as a stationmaster in Macon, George. They eventually bought a small farm and retired to Milford, Clermont County, Ohio where, after the death of Taylor Kern, Flora Vanetta continued to live in the house on the hill in Milford with her daughter, my grandmother, and my grandma. Flora had a love of music and played the hammer dulcimer.

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WILLIAM REUBEN SMITH - my great-great-great grandfather who served in the Union Army in the Civil War, helping to protect the B&O Railroad line that ran through Ohio east to Baltimore and Washington, D.C., transporting troops and supplies for the Union Army. He built and owned the family farm at Relief -- just above Beverly -- in Washington County, Ohio along the big bend of the Muskingham River where the Ohio Power Plant is now located. The farm house he had built was still standing until just several years ago, with Ohio Power using it for storage. My great-grandmother would take my Great Uncle Van, brother of my grandmother on my father's side, by train to visit Grandpa "Billy" Smith every summer. His father was Abraham Smith (see below) and he married Driscilla Ryland, who later divorced him and took their daughter Flora Vanetta Smith to live with her in Vigo, Ohio.

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MAYFLOWER AND PILGRIM ANCESTRY - SEE BELOW.

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FIRST ANCESTOR TO SETTLE IN OHIO - Our first ancestor to settle in Ohio was Abraham Smith and his wife Mary Ann (maiden name Foster/Deming). He was the father of my great-great grandfather William Reuben Smith and was the grandfather of my great-grandmother Flora Vanetta Smith. He was born on June 30, 1777 in Manchester, Vermont. He moved to what is now Morgan County. Ohio in the area above Marietta with three or four of his brothers before 1822 when his son William Reuben Smith was born (i.e. probably in 1820). There is an article about him in the History of Washington County, Ohio which describes him as the leading frontiersman of the area with the nickname Abraham "Wolf" Smith. He built one of the first mills in Ohio on Meigs Creek. Our family bible indicates that he was so strong that he could lift one of the millstones all by himself. He also collected wild herbs and distilled them to make perfume - hence another one of his nicknames by which he was called was Abraham "Essence" Smith. He learned distilling from his father, John Smith was a distiller from Mancester, Vermont. There is a large statue in the town center of Manchester, Vermont of our ancestor John Smith for his role in helping found the Green Mountain Boys and for fighting at the Battle of Bennington in the American Revolutionary War. Any female descendant can join the Daughters of the American Revolution since his record of service has been established by the Ormsby Chapter of the DAR. John Smith died on May 24, 1835 and is buried in the Factory Point cemetery in Manchester, Vermont. He was married to Mary Bull, a Quaker whose parents were Isaac Bull and Rebecca Browning from Rhode Island who settled in Quaker Hill (now Nine Partners), Dutchess County, New York (right below the Vermont border) - where they helped to establish the Quaker meeting house there. One of Isaac Bull's ancestors was Arthur Howland, who came over on the second ship to Plimouth Plantation and who brother, John Howland, came over on the Mayflower. A number of U.S. Presidents share our Howland ancestry, including presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and George W. Bush.

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DESCENT FROM JOHN DEMING AND TREAT ANCESTORS - The mother of great-great-great grandmother, Mary Anne Curtis/Deming, wife of Abraham Smith, was Mary Ann Curtis. Her parents were Joseph Curtis and Dorothy Edwards of Wethersfield, Connecticut (above is a photograph of the Old Burying Ground at Wethersfield). Joseph's father was also named Joseph. He was married to Mercy Deming, daughter of John Deming and Honor Treat. John Deming was born in Shalford, England in 1615 and, after coming to Plimouth Plantation in America, he led the first group of settlers to form a permanent settlement in what became Connecticut (i.e. at Wethersfield, Connecticut). His wife was Honor Treat, whose brother was to become Governor of Connecticut. She was the daughter of Richard Treat and Alice Gaylord, who were from Pitsminster near Taunton, Somerset, England (i.e. near Stonehenge). From the local church records which still exist, Honor Treat's ancestry can be traced back to John Trott (original spelling of Treat family name) who was born in Pitsminster in 1458.

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RELATIONSHIP TO WILLIAM "THE CONQUEROR" AND DESCENT FROM CHARLEMAGNE-- SEE FOLLOWING POSTS.

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OUR FOSTER/FORSTER ANCESTRY - Above is a photograph of the tomb of our ancestor, Sir Thomas Forester, Knight, Governor of Bamborough and Lord of Etherstone in Northumbria, England. From our Foster/Forester ancestry, we can trace our descent from Charlemagne as well as from King Alfred "the Great," the Anglo-Saxon king that fought off the Danes and united England. Our first Foster ancestor was Mary Anne Foster, my great-great-great grandmother from Manchester, Vermont who married my great-great-great grandfather, Abraham Smith, also of Manchester, Vermont. She was the daughter of Josiah Foster, who fought in the Revolutionary War, and Marian Curtis. After her father died, her mother married Eliakim Deming who raised her as a stepdaughter, so she is also sometimes referred to as Mary Anne Deming. One of her great-grandfathers was Edward Winslow, as Mayflower passenger. She was also descended from William Brewster, another Mayflower passenger and who was the leader of the Pilgrams, as well as from Thomas Prence, Governor of Plimouth Plantation/colony. On her Curtis, or her mother's side, she is descended from John Deming, who led the first group of settlers to found the colony of Connecticut, settling in what is now Wethersfield, Connecticut. His name is on the royal charter on exhibit in the Connecticut Capitol as one of the individuals who petititoned that Connecticut be created as a royal colony. On her paternal side, her ancestor was Reginald Foster who came from Brunton England in 1638 and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts (the first Foster to come to New England). He in turn was descended from a long line of knights who were the Governor of Bamborough and Lord of Etherstone in Northumbria, England, including Sir John Forster who was a signer of the Magna Carta on June 15, 1215 and who in 1220 was knighted for saving the life of King Richard I "the Lion-Hearted."

Our ancestor Sir Richard Forster was descended from the Counts of Flanders. Before migrating to England after fighting at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he was knighted in 1039 at the age of 16 by William "the Conqueror" -- who had married Sir Richard Forster's sister, Matilda and thus was his brother-in-law. It is from William "the Conqueror" and Matilda that all the subsequent monarchs of England have been descended (i.e. sharing the same Forster ancestry as ourselves). It was the militiary expertise and support of Baldwin Forster V, Count of Flanders and the father of Matilda and Sir Richard Forster, that allowed William "the Conqueror" to defeat the English and conquer England. And, in fact, the Count of Flanders was considered to be more powerful and more wealthy than the Duke of Normandy. As a consequence, in 1100, after the death of William "the Conqueror," Sir Richard Forster was named Duke of Normandy, replacing the position once held by William "the Conqueror," though Sir Richard Forster continued to live in Northumbria, England.

Sir Richard Forster's father was Baldwin Forster V, 7th Count of Flanders and was married to Adele Capet, daughter of Robert I, King of France (who we thus are also descended from). Baldwin V was descended from Baldwin II "the Bald", 2nd Count of Flanders and his wife, Elftrude, daughter of King Alfred "the Great" of England (again, who we are thus also descended from). Baldwin II's mother was Judith, Princess of the Franks and Queen of England (from her prevous marriages to both Ethelbald and Athelwulf, brothers of King Alfred "the Great" and kings of England before Alfred assumed the throne). Judith was the daughter of Charles II "the Bald," King of France, who was the son of Louis "the Pious," King of France, who was the son of Charlemagne - who we are all descended from.

Baldwin II's grandfather was Odacer (or Anacher), the Great Forrester of France. He was a Danish Viking war leader who conquered part of Northern France and organized it into his own territory which he called Flanders. He then allied himself with Charlemagne in fighting off further Viking invaders. Because of this, he was given the position as the Great Forester of France, responsible for protecting all the wild animals and king's lands in France. He made his capitol in Arras, France with a secondary capitol in Bruges. It is from him and his Forster/Foster descendants that we can trace our royal lines of descent from Charlemagne, King Alfred "the Great," and various kings of France.

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After moving from Flanders to England, our Foster/Forester ancestors occupied Bamburgh Castle in Northumbria along the border between England and Scotland.

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Below is the Castle in Ghent of the Counts of Flanders.

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Grave/Effigy of Our Ancestor Sir John Forster, Who Saved the Life of Richard "the Lion-Hearted"

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Grave/Effigy of Wife of Sir John Forster

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Graves/effigies of Other of Our Forster Ancestors/Knights

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As medieval knights, our Foster ancestors fought in all the major battles between the English and French during the medieval period. Following are illustrations from Jean Froissart's Chronicles that illustrate these battles.

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Like everyone, however, our medieval ancestors included individuals from all levels of society. Some were royalty, while others were knights, and others were peasants. This was a time when market towns and urbanization was occurring throughout all of Europe. Our ancestors from this time came from England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland - and even Russia! Because of this, we can trace some of our lines of ancestry during this period -- while unfortunately others disappear into unrecorded history. The advantage of having ancestors of royal descent is because vital statistics were recorded about them - making it possible to trace one's ancestry. We also have ancestors that came from a single place in England (such as Pitsminster) over generations. Since in England local church kept records of baptisms and deaths, we can trace some of our ancestors in this way.

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Medieval castle.

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Medieval abbey.

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Medieval cart.