Washington Roots? - - Who knew? - - The Vanhoy Family

Vanhoy family, Spring Creek, Klickitat County, Washington 1900, Seated in front Louisa Elisabeth Henley Vanhoy, Hamilton Jones Vanhoy, Standing L to R son George Washington Vanhoy, adopted daughter holding doll and daughter Annie Francis Vanhoy. 

It's a small world in family history circles and this is a story that really surprised me. 

My 4th great grandmother Verlinda Vanhoy was born in 1812 in North Carolina. After her marriage to Asheal Woodruff Hart they and many of their extended family members moved to Henry County, Missouri. The Brooks' and associated families lived in Henry County, Missouri for more than one hundred years. The aforementioned Doris Ellen Hunt Brooks would have been her Verlinda's granddaughter.  This is where I thought the story ended, in Missouri.  Fast forward one hundred thirty years and eighteen hundred miles. 

My husband and I lived in Goldendale, Klickitat County, Washington for twenty years.  It is a very small town with a nice cemetery right across the street from our church.  I knew that there were Vanhoy headstones but I really didn't think to much of it.  After all, my Vanhoy family is from Missouri and Vanhoy is a fairly common name.

One day a gentleman came into the family history library to donate a book he had written.  It was titled the "Vanhoy Families of Klickitat County." I found it interesting so I began flipping through the pages.  Suddenly the pedigree charts began to look very familiar.  I open my own research book to compare, and there it was, a perfect match to my Vanhoys!  

A pioneer of Klickitat county Hamilton Jones Vanhoy was my grandmother's brother!  I could have fell out of my chair! All those miles and all those years and I ended up living in a town that my ancestor helped establish. It was a fascinating adventure and much research followed. Here are some of the interesting things that I found.  

Vanhoy homestead property on Vanhoy Road, Goldendale, Washington.  Abandoned long ago. Beautiful in the spring.

Pioneer Monument on courthouse lawn. 

Hamilton & Louisa Vanhoy listed on the pioneer monument. 
Brother of my 4th great grandmother Verlinda Vanhoy.

Newspaper clipping from 1911 

An article from the local history said, "at one time every fifth person on the street was a Vanhoy."  There are still a few descendants left but none that I could located with the Vanhoy name. 





Hamilton Jones Vanhoy
     Brother to Verlinda Vanhoy wife of Asheal Woodruff Hart (4th great grandparents)
Father of Mary Elizabeth Hart wife of James W. Hunt (3rd)
     Parents of Doris Ellen Hunt wife of Charles Daniel Brooks (2nd)
Parents of Carl McKinnley Brooks, grandfather to the Brooks clan!
     Me and you!

This story is an example of why my heart is so devoted to family history.  I frequently experience the feeling that my ancestors are very close.  Many times I have not found them, but they have found me!  I learn about their lives, their adventures, their heartache and I feel I know them.  I marvel at their choices and cry for their heartaches.  It seems when I learn about them here on earth my heart searches for them in the vast spans of eternity.  It is a wonderful feeling.

Doris Ellen Hunt/Brooks 1870–1963

Doris Ellen Hunt-Brooks

Her name should be said with honor.
Great Grandma Brooks represents the ideal of dedication, and endless love that is needed to be a mother. Her life is one of sacrifice, devotion and of holding her family together.

She was born in Henry County Missouri in 1870 to James W. Hunt and Mary Elizabeth Hart.

1892 Doris married Charles Daniel Brooks. They had five daughters and four sons.

1910 She lost a little daughter Josephine at 5 years of age.

1914 In her son Frank died. He was at 19 years old.

1917 after 25 years of marriage her husband Charles passed away of Pneumonia. Doris was forty seven years old when she became a widow and single mother of her seven living children. Four of which were under the age of 18. Over time the children worked to help support their family. In 1920 daughters Ethel 20 and Mary 18 were working as seamstresses, while William 16 worked as a machinist.

In 1923 – Her oldest daughter Grace died one month after giving birth due to  complications and influenza. She was just 29 years old. Her infant son John Keith Brecht was not expect to survive but was taken five blocks south to the home of his grandmother Doris Ellen Brooks. He lived with her all of his life. 

Grandmother Brooks' home 1923-1968 Clinton Missouri

In 1925 her son-in-law, Grace’s husband, John Brecht also died after being kicked in the stomach by a horse. This left their five small children orphans. The youngest three children stayed with Grandma Brooks and the two older children went to live with his mother Regina Brecht who was also a widow.

1930 Doris’s youngest daughter Georgia is working as a bookkeeper and contributing money to support her family.

1932 Son Ernest died Ernst died in active military duty at 25 years old

1944  The oldest orphaned grandson Victor Brecht dies during World War II in France.

Doris Ellen Brooks’ life is a story of an unending well of love. Often life throws at us so many difficulties it’s hard to manage, let alone be graceful and loving about it, but Grandma Doris Brooks did manage and so much more! She moved forward with love and faith through hard ship and loss. Her Grandson came to her when he was only one month old. He said of growing up, “we were poor but never went hungry.” Grandmother Brooks sewed all our underwear and clothing and sometimes we had patches on our pants,” but he felt loved. He spoke very highly of her and dedicated to her his memoir. 

From the obituary of her son in law John Newton Brecht we read:

“It takes great courage to face the task of Mrs. Brooks and her daughter and raise these little ones. Indeed fortunate are the wee folks who are in their care, for to them is given unstinting love and motherly council and care and a true abiding faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for there are no better Christian people than the Brooks family.”

It appears that Grandma Brooks' faith in the Savior is what carried her throughout her life and blessed her with eternal love and hope. She lived a long life passing into the eternities to her waiting family when she was 92 years old. Bless her heart.

It has been a rough couple of weeks for our own family and I have struggled greatly to write of her challenges. But through this process I have learned so much! Her example has somehow sustained me. May each one of her descendants be blessed with that same faith, love and perseverance that she has shown us.

The three youngest orphans,

 Doris, Bonnie Jean & John Brecht

Bonnie Jean, Grandma Doris Brooks, 

John and Doris

Charles Daniel Brooks & Doris Ellen Hunt parents of:

Grace Brooks/Brecht 

John Newton Brecht & Grace Brooks 
parents of the orphaned grandchildren

Frank Brooks

Carl McKinley Brooks father of:

Alvin

George

Loren

Gerald

Carl Jr.

Leonard

Herbert

Shirley

Donald

Ethel Brooks/Cook

Mary Brooks/Smart

William E. Brooks

Josephine Brooks

Ernest R. Brooks

Georgia Brooks/Sandridge

Grandmother to:

Doris Brecht/Vanderburg

Bonnie Jean Brecht/ Williams

John Keith Brecht

Ruth Louise Brecht

Victor Brecht

Never forget

Chester Reynald Keele 1897-1977

 One of the wonders of the internet and doing family history research in the modern age is finding hidden treasures.  I recently came across this wonderful photo of Chester Reynald Keele (on the left) and his brother Lester Englestead Keele shared by a distant cousin of the Keele family.  What a treasure!  He is so young! None of us would ever have known him this way. 

Chester was the eleventh of twelve children born to Thomas Henry Keele and Margaret Ann Englestead. 

"After Lester, the last son was born, their father Thomas Henry Keele went out into the hills to get a big load of wood for his family as it was winter time and very cold. And while he was doing this a voice said, “This is the last wood you will ever haul.” He took the wood to his wife and family who were living in town to escape smallpox and returned back to his farm where his oldest son, Thomas, was very ill with the disease. Henry took the disease and died without ever seeing his wife and family again."* 

Thomas Henry died of smallpox in 1900.  He was 43 and young Chester was only three years old. So essentially Chester grew up without knowing his father. 

Another photo found of Chester and five of his siblings. From left to right back row: Jennie, Alice, Chastie, Sylvia. Front row Chester and Lester.  

Many of the Chester's grandchildren grew up knowing "Grandpa Keele" and worked and played on his farm near Rock Island, Washington.  I would encourage each of you to share a memory that you have and give "life" to his story.  Help your grandchildren to know their great-great-grandpa.  

What do you remember? 

Chester Reynald Keele

father of: 

Cleo K. Keele

Chester Gale Keele

Alice Fern Keele

     mother to:

           Janice

Elizabeth Keele

Ramona Mae Keele

Velva Jean Keele

      mother to: 

            Donna

            Nancy

            Bill Jr.

            Ron

            Russ

            Wayne

Lawanna Pauline Keele

     mother to:

             John

             Candy

             Randy

             Jerry

*"The Jolley Family Book" published by Brigham Young University Press 1966, written by Bryant Manning Jolley and his committee."

George Andrew Brooks 1846-1919

From the Civil War pension record of George Andrew Brooks we learn some marvelous information. "At only 5'8 inches tall he was of average height for his era. He had a fair complexion, dark hair and blue eyes."  He was born in Ohio in 1846 and was of the prime age to serve in the Civil War. We also learn that George enlisted in the Union, Ohio Infantry at Camp Chase, Ohio. The history of his regiment is available from  the National Park Service Civil War it reads:

UNION OHIO VOLUNTEERS

136th Regiment, Ohio Infantry (National Guard)

Organized at Camp Chase, Ohio, and mustered in May 18, 1864. Left State for Washington, D. C., May 13. Assigned to garrison duty at Forts Ellsworth.  Repulse of General Jubal Early's attack on Washington D. C. (Fort Stevens) July 11-12. Mustered out August 30, 1864. Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 23 Enlisted men by disease. Total 25.

Fort Stevens was part of the extensive fortifications built around Washington, D.C., during the American Civil War.

This battle is well known because Abraham Lincoln was at the fort, being the only sitting president ever to be at a battle. 

President Lincoln was inside the fort under enemy fire. During the heat of the battle a Union surgeon standing only inches away from the president was shot and wounded. There is a Legend that the future Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes saw Lincoln stand up on the fort to get a better view of the battle and made himself a target, Holmes is said to have yelled to him “Get down, you damn fool!” 

The Confederates lost the battle, losing around 500 of their 10,000 men. Early's force withdrew that evening, and headed back across the Potomac River into Virginia, bringing back supplies they got from Maryland. General Early remarked to one of his officers after the battle, "Major, we didn't take Washington, but we scared Abe Lincoln like hell."

It is hard to imagine marching from Ohio to Washington D.C. to fight in a war.  The  soldiers exhibited profound dedication and determination to the cause of freedom and liberty leaving behind family and loved ones. After the war George returned to Ohio and married Josephine Barrett (1868) They had three sons. He is shown here with his wife during their senior years living in Henry County, Missouri. It is a great honor to have an ancestor numbered among those that fought to preserve our freedom. 

George Andrew Brooks

father of 

Charles Daniel Brooks

father of 

Carl McKinley Brooks

father of 

  Alvin D. Brooks

  George Marvin Brooks

  Loren William Brooks

  Gerald Clarence Brooks

  Carl Brooks Jr.

  Leonard Herschel Brooks

  Herbert Delano Brooks

  Shirley Alene Brooks

  Donald Lee Brooks

Reunion!

As we are quickly approaching summer I am reminded by this fun article of all of the great family reunions that we have had in the past.  Here's hoping that we get together again soon!

From New Castle News, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, July 1905

"One of the pleasant events of the month of July was the Latimer reunion on the old homestead near Ellwood City.  Mr. and Mrs. George Latimer are the parents of eleven children who with one exception, are all living.  The grandparents of twenty-five, and the great grandparents of two.  The relatives in attendance were Mr. & Mrs. George. Latimer and son Isaac, who resides at the homestead; Mr. and Mrs. L. Keller and children, Darrison and Margaretta, Emmel Latimer of Allegheny, Mr. and Mrs. R. Trelber of Beaver, Mrs. Florence Fosnaut and children, Alice and Pearl, of Chewton, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Walker and Miss Blanche Law of Ellwood City, Mr. and Mrs. S. B. Walker, Ruth Britain, George Latimer, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Martin and children, Ida, Ray and Margarite, of Hazel Dell: Mr and Mrs. J. A. Brown and children, May, Minnie, Clara and James; Mr. and Mrs. J. P. Latimer and children Chester, Leah, Ethel, Glenn, Lyle and Elizabeth: William Latimer and George Mallory of Wayne township, and Miss Clarn Stubb of Allegheny."

Sarah Emily Potter

    

     Of the ten children born to Elijah John Potter and Sarah Eliza Jolly, Sarah Emily Potter was the oldest surviving child. Four other siblings passed away while under two years old. Her mother passed a couple of months after giving birth to the youngest Pearl Melvina Potter. Pearl died just ten months later.

     From the history of Elijah John Potter we read, “Sarah Eliza died 14 Dec 1891 and is buried on a high hill overlooking Asay Creek, Garfield, Utah. It was a sad thing for this Potter family of small children to have their mother taken from them. After this Elijah was never satisfied to stay in one place for long. He never remarried and was both father and mother to his children. Elijah kept the boys with him as they traveled around from place to place.”

     This may have been one of the reasons that Sarah Emily married so young. Just days before her 14th birthday she married William Greenhalgh. In 1892 he was 31 years old, 17 years her senior. Together they had ten children. Her first was born when she was just 15 years. All but two children lived to adulthood, Sarah, Mary, Alice, Myrtle, Elizabeth (married to Chester Reynald Keele), William Wallace, George (died as an infant), Eva (died as an infant), Elijah John and Wanda Greenhalgh.

     In 1910 William and Sarah lived in Heber Valley described as, “one of several back valleys in the Wasatch Mountains, that was often called Utah's Switzerland because of the rugged beauty of Mount Timpanogos located to the west, its climate, and a large population of Swiss that settled in the area."

     In Williams obituary he is said to have raised sheep and cattle in this area. William and Sarah toiled on the farm raising children through the dust bowl, the great depression and through two world wars. They saw the invention of phones, electricity and automobiles.

     Life was hard for families in the these early days. Often as my husband and I go for drives in the country we longingly look at the lovely county homes in the midst of rolling hills and remember raising our children in such a place. We can hope and imagine that during Sarah's life there were periods of peace and joy and watching her children grow. 

Sarah Emily Potter/Greenhalgh/Slack
" .Grandma Slack Wanda and John her daughter and son"

Breast Cancer Awareness

     Important note! Sarah Emily Potter/Greenhalgh died of Bilateral Breast Carcinoma at just 58 years old if you are a descendant of this family line be aware and be diligent.

Sarah Emily Potter/ Greenhalgh
mother of 
Elizabeth Ruth Greenhalgh/Keele
mother of
  Cleo K. Keele
        Chester Gale
        Alice Fern Keele
        Elizabeth Keele 
        Ramona Mae Keele
        Velva Jean Keele/Latimer
        Lawanna Pauline Keele