Portrait: Clyde Hoover Children
Boots, Don, Clyde, Bob, Kate, and Peg Hoover, circa early 1930s
Six of the twelve children of Clyde and Nora (Houdeshell) Hoover posing for a family photo, about 1930.
Fox-Hocker Family Photo Album on Ebay
I did a search for “Hocker + photo” on Ebay the other day and found a photo album available for sale that once belonged to a descendant of Jonathan Fox (1837-1909) and Sarah Catharine Hocker (1839-1916).
Jonathan Fox and Sarah Catharina Hocker
The album includes photos of other family members, including their daughter Mary Emeline Fox and her husband Henry Jacob Fellabaum, son Irwin William Fox and his son Harry Alvin Fox, granddaughter Ruth Minsker, Ollie Hocker and Lizzie Hocker, among others.
Jonathan Fox, son of Peter and Mary (Felty) Fox, married Sarah Catharine Hocker, daughter of John Peter and Nancy (Welpmer) Hocker, about 1857.1
Jonathan and Catharine had children:
- Mary Emeline Fox (1859-1931) married Henry Jacob Fellabaum (1856-1919)
- Clara D. Fox (1862-1919) married Isaac Fellabaum (1825-1910)
- Simon Peter Fox (1864-1905) married Virginia Belle Frantz (1873-1906)
- Louisa Fox (1865-1867)
- Catherine Adelia Fox (1868-1933) married 1st Lewis G. Little, 2nd John Cassel, and 3rd John S. Wilson
- Ann “Nancy” Jane Fox (1871-1949) married 1st Joseph Horace Gland, 2nd Eli H. Fink (1866-1937)
- Elmira Fox (1875-1961) married John Minsker (1867-1954)
- Maurice Daniel Fox (1878-1941) married Alice May Hartgrove (1870-1940)
- Irwin William Fox (1879-1904) married Mary Alice Theal (1881-1967)
According to the 1900 census, Catharine had thirteen children, though only eight were living at the time. I’ve identified nine.
If you are a family member and interested in this album, you can find it here.
Romping in the Snow
Anna, Bonnie, Betty Jean, and Will Jr. on a sled in the side year, circa 1926-1929.
In honor of the winter cold outside…
Catharina Schneider: 1783-1877 Almost Wordless Wednesday
Catharina Schneider, 1793-1877, gravestone at New Goshenhoppen Church cemetery
Catharina Schneider, daughter of Jacob and Catharina Schneider, was born 24 January 1793 and died 24 August 1877. She was buried in the cemetery at New Goshenhoppen Church UCC (formerly Reformed) Church in East Greenville, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. She was 84 years 7 months old.
This stone was found lying in the grass in the same area of several other Schneider family members. Directly to the right was the stone of Sophia Snyder (1832-1907), daughter of Henry and Sarah (Wißler) Schneider. Behind these stones were the markers for Lucy Anna (Schneider) Mack and her husband Peter. She was Sophia’s sister.
Why is this important? Cemetery plots are often shared by family members. Thus her sharing a plot with Henry’s daughters, and her gravestone naming her parents as Jacob and Catharina, is one more piece of evidence suggesting that Henry was the son of Jacob and Catharina (___) Schneider of Upper Hanover.
The Greulich Farm Buildings
During a recent cleaning jag, I found a stash of photos. Among those photos were some old (circa 1970-1980s) photos from the Greulich family, featuring the farm. These photos are the first I’ve seen of the farmhouse and barn up at the farm where they’re actually still standing. These photos show the farmhouse and barn, but there were several other buildings, including a summer kitchen and additional sheds.
Greulich farm house (porch)
In the photo below you can see the stone walls of the house where the external plaster has fallen off. Mom tells me the walls were nearly a foot thick. Access to the root cellar was through the doors shown here.
Greulich farm house (back)
The barn appears massive in this photo—larger even than the house. From what I’ve read this is not at all unusual for German-style farms in Pennsylvania. The section on the left looks to me like a newer addition.
Barn
I’m not sure where this photo was taken from. You couldn’t see the farm buildings from Third Street because of trees, nor could you see them from Schoolhouse road (see next photo). Perhaps this was taken from a road on the Perkiomen School grounds?
Barn and house
This is the view from Schoolhouse Road. You can see the buildings of East Greenville in the background along the horizon.
Greulich farm from Schoolhouse Road
I’m not entirely sure when these building were erected. Given the style and use of stone, I wouldn’t be surprised if they dated back to Gottfried Wißler’s ownership, starting in the 1790s.
Heinrich Schneider purchased the farm from his father-in-law’s estate in the 1830s and sold it to his son Joseph in 1861. Joseph sold it to pay off the mortgage, but had purchased it back in 1877. His son Henry got it from the estate in 1899 and passed it to his daughter Lillian (Snyder) Greulich in 1928. It was finally sold to the Perkiomen School after Russell Greulich’s death.
1926 Pennsburg High School Football Team
Victors of [E.G.?] Game
Derr made touchdown
first row: Warren Sell, Marl. Trumbore [Mark Trumbore?]
seated: F. Fegley, P. Renninyer, L. Wentling, C. Hoffman (capt.), G. Roth, C. Markley, L. Huber
standing: Brey (coach), N. Snyder, C. Hallman, R. Derr, S. Snyder, H. Hallman, W. Styer, K. Hallman, C. Brey, P. Shelly (manager)
Recognize anyone?
Wordless Wednesday: George W. Houdeshell Family
George Houdeshell Family, circa mid 1920s
George W. Houdeshell married Lovina Caroline Force on 20 June 1890. Between then and 1914, they had 12 children, ten of whom survived to adulthood. This Wordless Wednesday features their family photo.
George and Lovina are sitting. One the left are sons Millard Franklin and William Arthur with daughter Martha Rebecca in front of them. The youngest daughter is on the right, Georgia Caroline. I do not know the exact identities of the four women in the back row—do you?—but most likely includes four of the following daughters: Thelma Mae, Carrie Edna, Anna Belle (if taken before 3 September 1924), Ida Rachel, Wilhelmina L., and/or Nora Melinda.
Miss Snyder’s Class Photo
Lillian Snyder’s class posing in front of the school house
Lillian (Snyder) Greulich, daughter of Henry and Saraphine (Witmer) Snyder, taught school in East Greenville until the Greulichs moved to Lansdale in 1922. I’m guessing, however, that this photo was taken in the late 1890s or early 1900s based on the women’s clothing and hairstyles.
If you have ancestors who lived in East Greenville about that time and recognize any of the faces, please leave a comment.
Three Generations of Waage Descendants
Eugene Waage, Charles Waage and Helen Wieder, circa 1918-1919
A photo of three generations of descendants of Reverend Frederick Waage: his eldest son Dr. Charles T. Waage (bearded), grandson Eugene Waage (Charles’ son), and great granddaughter Helen Wieder, daughter of Edwin J. and Mary Catharine (Waage) Wieder. Eugene was the son of Charles T. and his first wife Mary Ann Heisler. Mary Catharine, Helen’s mother, was the daughter of Charles and his second wife Lydia Sarah Eshbach.
Helen was born in 1917 and Charles died in 1921, so the photo was taken about 1918-1919, most likely in Pennsburg, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.
Wordless Wednesday: Christmas Past
Christmas Eve 1972, the before photo
Christmas day 1972, the after photo