Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #10 Grandma Ruth

I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

This is the last ancestor I am putting on my Guest list in my plan to  invite 10 ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

The last ancestor I'm inviting for Christmas dinner is my grandmother Ruth. She was born in 1896 in Ramsgate Kent England and came to Canada at the age of 19 with her fiance. Grandma Ruth meant the world to me. I admired her so much. 

She'd been married three times (no divorces, all her husbands pre-deceased her), always wore red and like to show off her legs whenever she could! I thought she was exciting and dramatic and fun to be with. 

So I'm inviting Grandma Ruth because I miss her. I want to see her again and talk to her and laugh together. Grandma helped me through some less-than-happy times when I was a teenager and I wish I'd spent more time with her in later years than I did.

For her gift I am first going to give her so many hugs she will not know what to do. Under the tree will be her ruby ring that she loved and which eventually came to me long after her death. I wear it every day but I want her to have it again because I know how happy it made her.

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #9 Mary Vollick, Woman of Courage

 I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

I am torn between inviting one of my Loyalist ancestors (Isaac Vollick or Jonas Larroway) and the wife of my Loyalist ancestor Isaac Vollick. Isaac or Jonas would have amazing stories to tell me of the turbulent times in New York during the American Revolution, their decision to remain loyal to the King, time in prison, flight to Canada, the fighting and the impoverished years afterwards. 

Affidavit Describing Mary and children's ordeal in 1779

But I am going to invite Anna Maria Warner, the wife of Isaac Vollick. Anna Maria, called Mary, was from a Palatine family of refugees in New York.  Mary and Isaac married in New York in 1757 and by 1775 had a large family of 11 children ranging in age from newborn to 17 years old. 

Mary's husband, Isaac, was imprisoned three times by the Americans for his loyalty to the British King. After Isaac joined Butler's Rangers and fled to Canada, Mary was left with ten children, six of them small. Mary continued to aid the British, and in 1779 she and the children, the youngest only 4 years old,  were taken from their home at North River, New York, by American patriots. 

Their home was burned, Mary and the children were marched 80 miles north through the forest and abandoned in destitute circumstances. Mary and the children made their way to Canada with the help of Mohawks and eventually reached Montreal. There they received food rations, lodging and blankets until 1782 when they settled in the Niagara area as impoverished Loyalists. Then came the Hungry Years where many died of starvation.

I want to know more about her experiences and I want to tell her how much I admire her for her strength and courage. As for a gift, nothing seems enough to give this woman whose home was burned before her eyes, who gave up everything to start a new life in a wild and unfamiliar land. 

Because Mary's life was one of hardship and deprivation, I am going to give her a luxury item, something to make her daily life a little easier. So I am gifting her a soft down-filled duvet for the cold nights. 

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #8 Jacques Hertel Interpreter for Samuel de Champlain

 I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

My 8th ancestor I want to invite for Christmas Dinner is Jacques Hertel. Jacques was born in France circa 1603 and was brought to New France (present day Quebec) at age 11 to be one of Samuel de Champlain's interpreters with the native tribes. I have so much I want to ask Jacques about but I'm hoping he speaks English as my French is pretty basic. What was Champlain like? What tribe did you live with until you were 16? How did you meet Ots-Toch's mother? I'm going to have to be careful to not badger him with a zillion questions but imagine actually meeting Champlain, the Father of New France, in person. Wow. 

1651 Burial of Jacques Hertel in Trois Rivieres Quebec

As for a gift that's a tough one! But maybe seeing Ots-Toch at the dinner will be enough of a gift as I suspect he never had any contact with her after her birth. The French and the Mohawks were at war most of the time and since he was in Trois-Rivieres and she was in a Mohawk village in New York it seems unlikely they had any kind of relationship. 

I guess I need a backup though, a gift under the tree. I have an antique Catholic Holy Water font so I think I'll wrap that for him since he was Catholic. 

 

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #7 Hendrick Vrooman, Killed at Schenectady

1664 Letter from Hendrick Vrooman

I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

Hendrick Meesen Vrooman is another ancestor I'd like to meet. Hendrick Bartholomeus (Meesen)  and five children ages 15, 13, 11, 7 and 5 years old are on the passenger list of D'Eendracht (The Concord) arriving in New Amsterdam New York in April 1664. 

In the total of 60 people killed at the Schenectady Massacre in 1690 were Hendrick, his son Bartholomew aka Bartol, and two black slaves who were killed by Indians. Hendrick's grandsons Barent and Wouter were taken captive to Canada but later recovered. Hendrick's son Adam escaped with his three children Peter, Christina and Hendrick.

The report of the investigating party sent out from Albany states:

Hend. Meese Vrooman and Bartholomeus Vrooman kild & burnt....Item 2 Negroes of Hend Meese ye same death....Engel the wife of Adam Vrooman shot & burnt, her childe the brains dashed out against ye wall....

It's pretty gruesome but I want to hear what happened that frigid snowy night. Maybe he knows where my ancestor Jacques Van Slyke was that night. He should have been in Schenectady but he wasn't. Did he know ahead of time that an attack was imminent? 

The October 1664 letter Hendrick wrote to his brother Jacob shortly after arriving in the Colony is fascinating and I'd like to chat more about his impressions and experiences.

I can't give Hendrick a modern gun to protect himself and others, as that would change the timeline and too many future lives would be affected.  It was a harsh environment for my early Dutch settlers in New Netherland (present day New York) and I know from the records of another ancestor that candles and other essential items were in short supply. I'm going to give Hendrick a box of candles, several bars of soap and chocolates as a treat. 

Image credit: http://brievenalsbuit.inl.nl/zeebrieven/page/article?doc=883&query=[word%3D%22%28%3Fi%29vrooman%22]
 

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #6 on my Guest List

Today I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

My 6th guest will be David Uziele (Usiele), my 9th great-grandfather. David was born in France circa 1635 and fled religious persecution some time after 1660 to come to New York. He died in Poughkeepsie circa 1686. I'd love to know more about his beliefs, what it was like for the Huguenots and Walloons in France during that time and whether or not he found the religious freedom he sought once in New York. 

My gift to David will be a small family Bible which I hope he will treasure as I do. 

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #5 on my Guest List

Today I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

So far I have invited 2 male ancestors (Joseph McGinnis and David Simpson) and 2 female (Ots-Toch and Anna Kuhn). I desperately want to chat with my great-grandfather Stephen Peer because he was attacked by an axe-weilding neighbour in 1895 and seems to have been a bit of a scrapper his entire life. 

I'm also curious about Great-Grandpa's brother Harmon P. Peer who became famous for his base-jumping at Niagara and in the USA in the 1870s. To add to my fascination is Great-Grandpa's cousin Stephen Peer who walked Niagara Falls on a tightrope and has the dubious distinction of being the only tightrope walker to die while on his tightrope. Imagine the conversation that we'll have about his daredevil family!

I guess it wouldn't be considered humorous for me to give Great-Grandpa a safety helmet for his Christmas gift? But he sure could use one as that axe fracturing his skull no doubt led to his death not long afterwards. 

  

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #4 Anna Kuhn, Bad Girl or Misunderstood?

Today I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

My fourth guest at the dinner table is going to be my 8th great-grandmother Anna Kuhn.

Anna  was born about 1659 in Germany. Married to one man at age 15, Anna bore another man two children before the church allowed her divorce from her first husband. She married for the second time in 1685. After fleeing Germany for New York in 1709, she ran off with her second husband's nephew. I want to know if she was a strong woman who had a lot of bad luck or was a willful selfish person who didn't care about anyone else. I know she had a hard life and I'll be able to get a sense of who she was after chatting with her and seeing her interactions with my other guests. 

Her gift from me will be a beautiful scarf. I know that may sound odd but I think Anna needs something pretty and frivolous in her life. I'm also going to wrap up a small bottle of perfume and some scented soaps.

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #3 on my Guest List

Today I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

I am going to invite my French-Mohawk ancestor Ots-Toch as my third guest. That should be an interesting dinner guest! Ots-Toch was born ca 1640 in what is now New York, and she married the Dutchman Cornelis Van Slyke. I want to talk to her about the new colony, and about her life in the Mohawk village. Naturally I'm going to ask who the heck her mother was! Her father was Jacques Hertel, interpreter to Samuel de Champlain but there is no record of her mother's name, only that she was a respected Mohawk woman. 

Boy do I have a ton of questions for Ots-Toch! It's difficult to think of a gift she might like but I have a very nice necklace of a turtle carved out of white bone, held by a piece of rawhide. The rumour is that she was from the Turtle Clan so I would like her to have it.

 

Invite an Ancestor for Christmas Dinner: #2 on my Guest List

Today I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. We will all sit down together on December 26th. That should be interesting!

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

#2 on my Guest list is my great-grandpa David George Simpson. David was born in Ramsgate England in 1861. He suffered from Epilepsy and my grandmother told me an intriguing story about him. It seems that he drove a horse and cart to deliver coal and often would have what his family called an "episode". His horse would carry on with the usual route, his customers would come out and help themselves to their allotment of coal, check that David was okay and send the horse on its way. Eventually the horse ended up at home and David's wife would come out and help him into the house. 

I got the impression from my grandmother that David was a kind, gentle man and I would love to chat with him. As for a gift under the tree, I would like to give him some medication for his epilepsy. 

What Ancestors Do You Want at Your Christmas Table?

Today I invite all of you to join me in coming up with an ancestor guest list for your Christmas Dinner. If you don't celebrate Christmas, feel free to choose a different holiday. 

Each day between now and December 25 I am going to invite one of my ancestors to join our family to celebrate with a traditional Turkey Dinner. 

Please think about who you want to invite and tell us why you want to have them at your table. Would you have a gift for them under the tree? What would it be? 

I'm going to put my great-great grandfather Joseph McGinnis on my Guest List. I desperately want to ask him who his parents were and where he was from in Ireland. I do hope I can understand his Irish brogue. 

I'm also hoping he'll be able to tell me where he died and when. I'm not sure if my invited ancestors will have the ability to talk about their deaths but my fingers are crossed. Mind you that might not be a very appropriate conversation. It seems somehow that might be a question best left to ask his widow if I invite her! 

That's not all I want to talk about with Joe. I'd love to just hear his stories about anything he wants to chat about. Maybe he'd like to talk about what the early days in the 1840s were like for him. Perhaps he'll tell me how much he loved Ireland and how much he misses it. The sky's the limit once I ask my few questions! 

I think it would be nice if I had a small gift under the tree for each of my guests. I'm guessing a bottle of booze might be appreciated by Joe. Yes - the Irish and their whiskey comes to mind, especially given what I know of my McGinnis grandfather and great-grandfather and their inclinations. So many feuds and so many fights brought on by drinking a wee bit too much.