The Hunter Martyrs

John Foxes’ Book of Martyrs tells the story of two Hunter Brothers, William and Robert Hunter.
William Hunter, (d. 1555), was a Weaver's apprentice and martyr. William Hunter refused to attend mass in London in 1553; he returned home to Brentwood, Essex. He was denounced to Thomas Wood, the vicar of South Weald, for reading scriptures in English. He was examined by Wood, who denounced William Hunter to Anthony Browne. Hunter was brought before Browne and interrogated; Hunter was then sent to Bonner by Browne. William Hunter was examined by Bonner and condemned. Hunter was detained by Bonner for nine months, during which time the bishop tried both harsh and lenient treatment to persuade him to recant. Hunter was examined by Bishop Bonner on 8 February 1555; he was condemned by Bishop Bonner on 9 February 1555. William Hunter was then condemned by Bishop Bonner. William Hunter was sent to Brentwood to be burned. Hunter refused pressure at his execution to recant and died constantly on 26 March 1555. Hunter wrote a short letter to his mother shortly before his martyrdom.
Robert Hunter, Brother of William Hunter, supplied Foxe with the account of his brother's martyrdom. Robert Hunter was imprisoned in the stocks and interrogated by Anthony Browne. Robert Hunter witnessed his brother's condemnation on 9 February 1555. At his brother's execution, Robert refused to attempt to persuade William to recant; instead he encouraged him. William at the stake gave Robert his Psalter.
From: http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/apparatus/person_glossaryL.html John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs .

Update Grandma's Bible

Grandma's Bible has been transcribed and indexed. It has been given to the ACPL and will be part of the Bible records for Allen County, Indiana!

Happy 25th Birthday To Our Son!

We have both celebrated this day for 25 years. One quarter of a century.

9,125 days. Many of the days I remember his first day at school, learning to ride a bike, and the day he learned to play the guitar. There are days that you remember too. Some days we remember together, his graduation from High School, and the day of his birth.

We share a precious bond of motherhood to our son, yours through birth, mine through adoption.

Happy 25th Birthday to our son!

Thank you Lisa.

Mickey Pickard

Sometimes genealogists are like farmers planting seeds and waiting for the harvest. We leave postings on message boards, and then we wait and see what happens. Will we get a response, or not? Mickey Pickard and her son Charles have been a puzzle. But the seeds were planted and here is latest news on great grandmother Mickey Pickard.
Posting on message board:
Looking for Mickey Pickard b 1842 & her son, Charles Crites b 1874 in Greene Co, IN to Thomas & Mickey (Pickard) Crites. 1900 US Census shows Mickey (Crites) married to Solomon Irwin with the Crites children. A later Census (1910?) shows Mickey Crites living with her son Charles Crites. Family member says, "Charles married a cousin, moved out west, and was never heard from again." (This Charles Crites is not the one b 1895 to William Crites.) Supplemental Marriage Record for John & Mickey Jenson show Mickey's birthday as March 27, 1850.
From my Family Tree Records:
MICKEY ANNA PICKARD (WILLIAMA, HENRYB PACKARD, WILLIAMC, WILLIAM HENRYD PICKARD, NICHOLASE, BARTHOLOMEWF, BARTHOLOMEWG, ROBERTH, JOHNI, ROBERTJ, JOHNK) was born 27 Mar 1850 in Greene County, Indiana, and died 19 Jan 1929 in Greene County, Indiana1. She married (1) THOMAS CRITES 07 Mar 1867 in Greene County, Indiana, son of WILLIAM CRITES and MARY DORROUGH. He was born 15 Sep 1844 in Perry (or Wayne County), Ashland, Ohio2, and died 15 Jul 1876 in Greene County, Indiana. She married (2) SOLOMON IRWIN 23 Sep 1877 in Greene County, Indiana3. He was born 1810 in Kentucky, and died Aft. 1900. She married (3) JOHN J. CLIFFT 22 Oct 1893 in Greene County, Indiana4, son of THOMAS CLIFFT and MELINDA JONES. He was born 22 Feb 1837 in KY. She married (4) JOHN JENSON 04 Apr 1901 in Greene County, Indiana, son of DAVID JENSON and MARY JOHNSON. He was born 24 Aug 1851 in Germany.
Just this week:
Sue Wilcox of the Greene County Historical Society was able to borrow the Myers Funeral Home record books, and found information on my great grandmother Mickey Pickard.
Mickey is buried in the Goodwin Cemetery in Highland Twp according to this book. She is listed as the w/o John Genson, place of death was at residence in Worthington, a Dr. Johnson was attending physician. Mickey Anna was born 3-27-1850, the d/o William Pickard b. OH and Mary Hodges, b. OH. , she was a housekeeper, date of death, Jan 19, 1929. The funeral was scheduled for Jan 21, 1929 at 2 p.m. Funeral service was at the residence. Rev. Chastain was Methodist I think. The total for the funeral was $161.75, can you imagine. Her casket was manufactured at Batesville, a Memphis 6/3 Silver gray hinge cap. The cost of the casket was $125, dress $22.50, hose $1.25 and the underwear was $1.00, and the charge went to her husband John Genson.

Grandpa's Fiddle

Grandpa's instrument was not a violin it was a fiddle. Fiddles he said were for playing lively fun music for family and friends not the chamber kind of music. We loved to hear him play and often asked him to play for us. We would gather around him and listen until grandma said, "Enough those children need to get to bed." Then we would ask him to just play one more song, of course he would play another one for us.
The music we grew up on was old fashion country music, ballads and hymns. When the family got together at grandma and grandpa's the old tattered hymnals would be gotten out of the bookcase and real singing would begin. They would sing songs that would make everyone smile and sing along. Grandpa would get out the fiddle and play along. Now they call it improvising, then we just called it fiddling.

Family History Tragedy

In 1974 the small town of Delphos, Ohio was hit hard by the murder of two of their own. In the middle of all the commotion was my family.
The day seemed normal to everyone in the area. Everyone in the area was out working on their farm hoping to get crops in before it was too late.
Down the street from my grandparents lived my grandmother’s sister Mildred and her husband Louis. Louis was out visiting the neighbors down the street while she stayed inside talking to her daughter in law Judy who lived next door. Judy’s husband Kenneth was busy at work in the field.
All the peace was soon disturbed when Judy and Mildred soon saw a man pull up into Judy and Kenneth’s house next door and walk inside. As Kenneth saw this he hurried over to his house to see what was up. Worried for her husband Judy soon entered the house herself since she and Mildred noticed that he hadn’t come out yet. As she entered she saw her husband with a gun being held up to his head by the man who she had seen enter the house.
After receiving a call from his wife, Louis came back from the neighbors. He entered the back yard of his son’s house and released the dogs that were held in the back yard. The man with the gun saw his releasing the dogs, and he came running out and shoot Louis in the drive way killing him. The man then came back inside and then shot Kenneth. Judy then ran away. The man continued to chase her shooting her multiple times in the back, but she continued to run away. She made her way to the Bockey house across the street, and the man then tried to run her over with his car instead crashing into the Bockey’s house.
As he searched the house for Judy he found Mildred in hall way trying to get into a locked door up stairs. He asked her where the girl was. Instead of telling him where she was, Mildred acted as if she had no idea where Judy was even though she was right behind the locked door with Mrs. Bockey. The man then tried to shoot Mildred in the head. Out of bullets, the gun did nothing to her.
Outside my dad rode up in a bike that he had just bought hoping to visit his aunt and uncle. As he was riding up the street a sheriff drove up to him, and the cope told him to get out of there. My dad not sure what was going on continued to ride to his aunt’s and uncle’s. He was surprised to find his uncle Louis on the drive way dead. As he saw his uncle the ambulance came up. My dad identified the man on the ground as his uncle to the ambulance. He was also surprised to find that there was another person dead in the house. He knew right away that it was his cousin Kenneth.
Meanwhile, the man with the gun saw the sheriff outside of the house he was in. Thinking quickly he left the girl he was after and climbed out the window open to the back side of the house. He then ran out through the corn field that was in back.
The whole town was on watch for days. Everyone seemed afraid that they might be his next victim. My Grandparents, aunts, and my dad retreated to Van Wert afraid that he might have been hiding in their barn. “Being told that we had to leave our home and pack up and move out scared us all. We had lived in our house for years, and this was scary to all of to even think about what happened and what could happen if they didn’t catch him,” said my grandmother.
A couple of weeks after this incident the man was caught in Wisconsin for another crime. Police then identified the man who killed Louis and Kenneth as the murderer. He had committed other burglaries before the murder of Louis and Kenneth. One of his friends also later reported that he had mentioned that at the next house that he went to he was going to kill someone. He ended up keeping his word by killing Louis and Kenneth putting him in jail
ever since.
“It was my first close experience with death and crime. I was quick to realize that crime like that can happen anywhere, and I was not as safe in that small town as I had thought,” said my dad later on.
“Even today, I still think about this incident every time I walk out to the barn on our farm,” stated my aunt Lois who now lives on my grandparent’s farm. “I always wonder now what could be hiding in the corn stocks that I don’t know is there.”

Journalism Final Family History Paper, by my daughter Jen

Tis the Season

A holiday lesson from Molly the cat. Enjoy each and every moment of your holiday, but take some time off to look out the window and watch the snow fall.