D.H. Hooreas , Man of mystery...

This is a letter found in a box of items my Father gave me, he gave me this box when he was very ill and I am not entirely sure if it was he or his parents that collected the mish-mash of stuff together in the box.

   The box contained some older correspondance to my Grandparents from persons unknown and a bunch of letters to someone named Minnie L. Dana in Amherst, MA.
    I have no idea who she was (the letters are quite old, presumably she's passed on by now) but considering they were sent to an Amherst address, where my Grandparents once lived, I am going to assume this person had some sort of relation to our family (be it DNA related or related through friendship)

   The same can not be said for this guy:
 

    
I really haven't the foggiest idea of who he might be, how we may be related or even if we are related at all.

    The letter contained in the box from my Father seems geneology related but I don't recognize any of the names (the ones I can read and understand through the flourish of old time handwritting).

     I have been very successful using the internet to glue together missing pieces in both my maternal and paternal histories so having a little time this afternoon, I figured it really can't hurt to post up this mystery man's correspondance and see if he rings a bell with anyone.

    Even if he is entirely unrelated to my family (this is very possible as my Grandmother collected old postcards and had an intrest in geneology, I could easily see her picking this item up at a flea market or yard sale just because it looked neat, I would have done the same thing too...) this guy is related to someone. Maybe that someone is looking for him and what could be a rosetta stone to fill in missing gaps in thier own history.

    Either way, it seemed pointless to leave this juanty fellow just yellowing away at the bottom of a box in my closet when clearly he went to the trouble to write this letter and send a photo too (no cheap gesture in the late 1800's...).

     At the very least, it's a neat piece of antique ephemera and at best, Mr. D.H. Hooreas (sp?)'s geneological efforts have entered the age of the internet. 
   An age I am quite sure he probably couldn't have imagined in his wildest dreams fo the future...

  Perhaps this post will be found by someone 100 years from now who knows who Mr. Hooreas was but will be entirely perplexed on how his letter got to the hands of Laura Vona of Randolph, MA.

     The mind boggles...

Roy Messer Pearson Sr.

The picture of "Kirby" and the label on the back of it makes me wonder if this is the motorcycle mentioned by Roy Pearson Jr. on the back of that photo is the one under his father in this one. It seems a given that Roy Pearson Sr. was not the rider of this bike on the day this shot was taken as his shoes would be rather innapropriate. My Father (Bradford Pearson) spoke very fondly of his Grandfather and the time he spent at his garndparents house in Ballardvale (Andover) and though my Grandfather (Roy Jr) I remember as rather proper and stoic, I think of my Great Gradfather as more salt of the earth by the way my Father described him. But then, it really is rather hard for children to judge their parents isn't it? Parents tend to be on thier best behavior around the children and so the children really tend not to have a clear idea of who thier parents really were as viewed by thier contemporaries. I think about this a lot as I watch my Mother age and the children of my friends grow up around me. Was Roy Messer Pearson Sr as an adult person independent of his decendants, a live off the land farmer/biker dude or was he a dapper dan at heart? I like to think, much like the rest of us when we really dig deep, he was probably at heart a little bit of both.

Kirby was here...

On the back of this photo my Father (Bradford A. Pearson) typed: "Identification by Roy Pearson Jr. (Brad's Father) in a letter to his son on 12/6/90. "The young man with a cigarette is a shadowy figure from my childhood. The only name by which I knew him was 'Kirby'. I think he was a friend of my Father (Roy Pearson Sr.-LV) He always appeared on a motorcycle, and when we went out for a Sunday drive in our Model T or A Ford, he would often come along with us on his cycle. I remember especially one rainy, windy day when he was sliding from side to side of a very muddy road on his bike." Speculation (by Brad pearson-LV): Kirby might have been a boyhood friend of Roy Pearson Sr. and may have lived in Ballardvale (Andover). Kirby may have been a co-worker of Roy Pearson Sr. at Fellows & Company and may have lived in the Somerville area." I like this guy, I'm not sure why. I think it might be his clean shirt and hands coupled with his filty pants. He strikes me as a hard working no-nonsense guy but social enough to stop for a moment and allow his picture to be taken even though his expression clearly states, "I've got way better stuff to do than stand around and look pretty." I wish we knew more about him but I am so glad that my Father took the time to label this picture because otherwise I would have no clue who this guy was and would probably have travelled down a few erroneous genological paths by assuming him a relative.

This is Roy Messer Pearson's Sommerville High School Graducation photo.
Roy grew up to marry Ruth Simmons and after a long career ministering all over the country he eventually became Dean and President of Andover Newton Thological School.
Roy retired to New London, NH where he is now buried.
Although it has been kept in a closed paper folder for decades, the image is showing evidence of fading around the edges.
I took a risk on damaging it further by scanning it but, I think it was worth it.
Better to have it slightly damaged and permanantly digitized to be shared over and over, than keep it closed up in a dark trunk to preserve as long as possible an image no one will ever again see.

"The Lady of the Lake"

The family story is that My Grandfather (Roy Messer Pearson) met his second wife Barbara when they used to frequently walk in opposite directions around the same lake in New London, NH.
Then one day they decided to walk in the same direction.
In time, Barbara became Roy's wife and then was introduced to the rest of the family as, "The Lady of the Lake".
They were married by Rev. Emily Preston in Jaffrey, NH. Years later I called Rev. Preston when it was time for my own wedding and was delighted when she accepted our invitation to officiate.
Michael and I were married in the chapel at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, MA where Roy had married his first wife, Ruth so many decades before.
What comes around goes around...
: )
PS
The last picture is myself, my sister Sarah Pearson and her sister Joy Ruma at the reception following Roy and Barbara's wedding.
If that seems confusing,
another fun story was the day that Sarah was born, myself and her other sister Holly Ruma went to go see the new little bundle of love in the hospital and were scrutinized rather closely for not having the same last names as Sarah's Mother or each other. I remember a rather stern nurse informing us that
"Only immediate family is allowed."
I can't recall what we said to get in to see but we did, and I suspect it may have had more to do with a look one of us might have given the nurse than anything we said.
The Pearson/McNeil/Ruma clan may all come from different parents but then, in the end, family is what you make it.
I have to say I really do like the way ours turned out...
: )

No time like the present....

My Father Bradford A. Pearson was infected with the geneology bug through his Mother, Ruth (Simmons) Pearson. Ruth did most of her research live and in person or through old fashinoned letter writting snail mail and Brad was able to pick up her torch and wave it around the internet to see who else was staring back holding a flame.
Between the two of them, they gathered MOUNTAINS of information.
(interestingly enough, we are also related to the Mountain family as well.
(A little geneology humor there : )
Beyond passing boxes of letters and photos on to future generations, I don't really think either of them thought too far ahead on what thier hard work could eventually be used for beyond thier own immediate entertainment and curiosity.
Several times when my Father gave me photos or other neat documents, I told him how I was interested in putting them up on line where everyone could see them.
Life has a way of ruining even the best laid intentions however, and figuring that I had all the time in the world to get about that HUGE endevor, I never really got started.
Then my Father got sick and our discovery lunches came to an end, after he died in 2006 it became far too difficult to look at any of the pictures, they have remained in boxes that I look at the outside of and every now and then think,
"I should get to that..."
But who has the time for a good cry these days?!?

There's laundry to do, bills to be paid, weddings to attend...

(I suppose an argument could be made that Ruth lived through several major wars and still found the time for family research and who am I to say that I need all my spare time to keep up with Farmville on Facebook? *sigh* )

Which brings me to my point.

The future woman in the photograph above is Brad's sister Beverly (Pearson) MacNeill. Beyond being a fascinating woman unto herself, she also had a son (2 in fact...) and I recieved an invitation to her son, my cousin's upcoming wedding today.
Coupled with the fact that my good friend Elizabeth gave me a gentle nudge in the Pearson direction through Ancestry,com,
that cinches it.
Nothing like an upcoming wedding to say,

"Hey, don't forget about all the other weddings that came before!"