Figure 1.-- This is a picture of my dad and his brother at a summer camp they attended when they were boys. My dad (his name was Robert but his nickname was always Babe) is the boy on the left, and Uncle Bud (his real name was Everett) is the boy on the right. The picture would have been taken about 1930, making my dad about nine years old and Uncle Bud about ten. We have no clue who the girls were.

Several years ago my dad’s brother (Uncle Bud) began a genealogy of his side of the family. His work pre-dated the days when personal computers were found routinely in homes. His efforts were all on paper. Despite this lack of technology available, he managed to accumulate a large mass of historical data about his (and, therefore, my) ancestors. Names, places, dates, all found by contacting local government agencies and churches and methodically tracing back our roots. After several years of this (and several of his own dollars spent for copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates) he and I were talking and I suggested that we computerize the whole thing. He sent me the data he had collected and I entered it all into a genealogy program I had purchased. When we both saw how much easier it was to maintain and access the family tree data with the computer he asked me if I would take over the whole effort. I accepted the task and here I am today. Through the use of various computer archives and data bases I have been able to reliably trace both my dad’s and my mom’s sides of the family back to as early as approximately 1480 on some lines. We have disproved the old family story that my dad’s family had a branch that led to a Cherokee Indian ancestor. But we have also shown that a branch of my dad’s family has a common ancestor with the Benjamin Rush who signed the Declaration Of Independence.

Family Roots

I have been able to reliably trace both my dad’s and my mom’s sides of the family back to as early as approximately 1480 on some lines. We have disproved the old family story that my dad’s family had a branch that led to a Cherokee Indian ancestor. But we have also shown that a branch of my dad’s family has a common ancestor with the Benjamin Rush who signed the Declaration Of Independence.

Ancestors

Father's side of the family

In general, my dad’s side of the family is from England and Germany. One branch (the Corker branch) dates back to the early days of Jamestown. Several were here (in the colonies) prior to the Revolution. Most of those families were Quakers. My fifth great-grandfather, Marmaduke Vickery, can be traced to having been a soldier during the Revolutionary War (fighting for independence). My great-grandfather (the father of Evert Patric) can be traced to having been a soldier during the Civil War. Records show that he served as a Union soldier from Indiana. He enlisted as a Private on 08 February 1864 in Company A, 89th Infantry Regiment Indiana and transferred to Company E, 26th Infantry Regiment Indiana on 10 July 1865. He was mustered out of Company E, 26th Infantry Regiment Indiana on 15 January 1866 in Indianapolis, Indiana with a Distinguished Service classification.

Mother's side of the family

My mother’s side has been very difficult to trace. We do know that at least some of them came from Cornwall, England. I have been told that Cornwall is where pirates and criminals congregated during the period when pirates were common. If this is true, then it’s very possible that some of her ancestors were pirates or criminals and changed their names to avoid the authorities. We may never know for sure, however.

Figure 2.-- This is a picture of my dad, his younger sister, and his brother. They are sitting in the backyard of their Uncle Jake. My dad is the one on the left, Aunt Lois is obviously in the center, and Uncle bud is on the right. We believe the baby in the background, next to my uncle’s head, is their nephew Tony. I have no idea what the name of the dog is that my Aunt Lois is holding. This picture was taken during 1932.

1930s Clothing

The boys here both wear knickes as was common in the 1930s. Both boys wear knickers with fancy patterened kneesocks. Long stockings were very common in the 1920s, but kneesoks like these were very popular in the 1930s. This appears to have been a destibctively American style. We see these patterened kneesocks much less commonly in Europe. A reader writes, "These are interesting photos--especially figure 2 which shows very clearly the closure of the knickers with a band around the leg just below the knee. I think there is a buckle. At any rate this is before the closure of knickers was constructed of knitted matterial to make the closure more elastic. This photo is also a very good illustration of the patterned knee socks that boys seem to have liked better than long stockings--perhaps because they could be worn without supporters. Of course the boy in this photograph may be wearing round garters. We can't tell from the picture."

Evert Patric

Evert Patric grew up and became an engineer on the C&O Railroad out of Peru, Indiana. He married my grandmother in 1911. They lived in Peru, Indiana for several years as well as Cincinnati, Ohio. My dad was born in Peru. He grew up in a railroading family and he and my Uncle Bud used to go down to the train yard in Peru after school when they were kids to meet their dad or one of their uncles (who also worked for the C&O). My dad joined the Coast Guard during World War 2. After serving his time he was honorably discharged and attended Pharmacy School at USC on the GI Bill. He practiced Pharmacy in varying capacities for the remainder of his life. He died in 1985.

My Mother

My mom is still alive and keeps herself active (despite being 80 years old, born in 1926). What we have been able to discover about her family was that they were mostly farmers once they came to America, with one of her grandfathers being a mine boss. We know little else about her family at this time, but I keep searching for that one bit of information that will open

Created: 6:51 AM 12/24/2004
Last updated: 6:51 AM 12/24/2004