I couldn't think of any brilliant title for this blog about my family history so I made it plain and simple. But obviously many more names come into it, for instance May Gervais. She was the daughter of Francis Mary Nichols, my Grandmother's sister. Until I saw this story I had never heard of her. I'm posting it here in instalments because it's so rare to have something like this and it shows how much things have changed in my lifetime. Life was very hard then. Besides, it's a good story.
I don't know a lot about the Nichols. George Nichols, my Grandmother Blanche's father was born in 1856 and lived in South Dakota. That's all I know, although I will repeat the story I have heard, that he was born on a wagon train going west. His mother died in childbirth, so he was left with the Indians as there were no nursing mothers with the group. I have no idea if it's true. He married Cecelia Rooney, the daughter of George Rooney who was born in Ireland in 1818. The trail goes cold there.
The Brummets are easier to trace, at least as far back as 1746, when James was born in the Piedmont of Virginia near present day Roanoke. Daniel Boone was traipsing the same woods about that time. A good account of what his life was like can be found here.
I've started this effort in the hope of getting as much info as possible in one place where it can be accessed by all family members. However, I hope I'm not the only one who wants to contribute. There are huge gaps in my knowledge and I'm not very good at disentangling all the relationships. If you want to add something, please avail yourself of the comments section. If you have a lot of information, I can enable you to make your own posts on this blog. I'm thinking of you, Randy.
I'll just leave things like this for now and hope it will become something people will find useful and interesting.
Why is all this so important to you?
ReplyDeleteMy family, your side that is, wants to forget about me and you, so I've forgotten as much as I can about them. I'm glad you introduced me to my 'grandmother', because it helped me understand you. There is a kernel inside of me that dislikes (to use a weaker word than my actual feeling) her for her rejection of us. On the other hand, it's given me a good look into the mindset of her generation: keep the appearance of morality over morality. But the illusion is only held by her, while everyone seems to know better.
In any case, I often feel better thinking that the past is past and there's no reason to hang onto it. Create a blank slate, so to speak. I think that's why I held onto the name 'Young,' since it cuts my relation both to my mother's side of the family and my father's side, with the exception of my sister with whom I no longer speak.