Archives for Interesting Tidbits
My ancestors helped found Santa Claus, Indiana
by Diana Thornton My 3rd great grandmother, Susan (Aegerter) Freyhofer, was born in Switzerland on Christmas Day, 1805. She died 57 years later in Santa Claus, Indiana, a town she and her husband Jacob helped found. Susan and Jacob Freyhofer and their two young children immigrated to the US in 1834. They landed in New Orleans and made their way up the Mississippi River to Indiana where they received a land grant of 160 acres…
Rev. Weiler’s Louisville church to become whiskey bar and Bob Dylan art gallery
In 1933 my great great grandfather Rev. Weiler, wife Addie Hanning and their last child Pearl moved to Louisville, Kentucky to serve the church at 604 East Market Street. Cindy Ward sent me this article about the church being turned into a whiskey bar and Bob Dylan art gallery. Pretty sure Rev. Weiler would not approve of his pulpit becoming "the high church of bourbon." It was from this pulpit in 1937 that Rev. Weiler preached…
Santa Claus, Indiana connections and events
I have found numerous connections to Santa Claus, Indiana. 1816-1830 Abraham Lincoln lived about four miles away as a boy on Pigeon Creek Farm (Santa Claus didn't exist yet). 1847 The Hannings settled there and helped found and name the town. 1852 The Freyhofers settled there from Seymour at the invitation of the Hannings. 1854 John Hanning cofounded the Santa Claus United Methodist Church 1858 Interesting connection between Rev. William Weiler and the Freyhofers: In 1855,…
Are we related to Barack Obama?
The short answer is: sort of. President Barack Obama's maternal GGGG grandfather Thomas L. Clark settled in Canton, Missouri around 1835. All of Thomas' 11 children were born there and they lived there at the same time our family (Surnames: Wagner, Eckert, Hetzler, Giegerich, Vesper). Obama's ggg grandfather Christopher Columbus Clark is buried in the same cemetery (Forest Grove) in Canton as our ancestors. By searching through the Canton newspaper, I found multiple connections that…
Ernest gets arrested
On November 25, 1940, my grandfather Ernest Monroe Thornton was arrested after firing 3 shots at James Rucker during a fist fight at West Park Cafe at 1111 Federal St. (3 blocks from his apartment) North Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The “cafe” was a rough place with gambling, drinking and repeated code violations. Read more in the updated chapter PDF:
Mr. Goad sent his photo to Bessie Sutphin
Around 1910, a young man dressed up in his best suit and bowler hat and had his photo taken. He sent it to Miss Bessie Sutphin in East Radford, ; The back had a message scrawled and signed by a D. Goad: “Please don't leave home when you see my photo haha. I have tried every day to get these and just got them yesterday. Will ans soon from your D. Goad” 110 years later…
Earthquake in SW Virginia
Earthquakes are actually common in Virginia. Here's one that would affected my Thornton ancestors in Pulaski County: May 3, 1897. Centered at Radford, where a few chimneys were wrecked and plaster fell from walls, and chimneys were damaged at nearby Pulaski and Roanoke. Felt in most of southwest Virginia and as far south as Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Estimated magnitude This was a prelude to The Big One. ((Division of Geology and Mineral Resources -…
Grimm’s Landing, Pittsburgh
When I was born in 1964, my parents, Charles and Lois Thornton, were living on a 1-room houseboat docked just above "Grimm's Landing" (previously "Zubik's Landing") on the Allegheny River on the North Side of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Back then the river was lined with "squatters". The land that ran along the river was owned by the railroad, but people docked their boats and houseboats and barges, setting up businesses and marinas. My parents actually had…
Quirky coincidences
Interesting but meaningless (or not???) coincidences discovered in the records on both sides of my family. Do you know of any interesting stories or coincidences? Please email me so I can add them here. The Vespers (on my mother's side) came to America on a ship called the Diana. The Wagners (also on my mother's side) came on a ship called the Eliza Thornton. Elizabeth Vesper married John Wagner, whose great great granddaughter's name was…
[neat photo] Art Hirschhausen and his huntin’ buddies
I came across this photo on Ancestry attached to Arthur Hirschhausen 1893-1984. He was the son of Frederick Vesper's second wife's daughter by her first marriage, so Arthur is only a step cousin, but I just loved this photo of them proudly holding up their turkeys and rabbits from their hunt, and all their dogs and guns. The photo was probably taken in the first half of the 20th century in St. Louis, Missouri. Arthur…