New Family Tree Posters Available for Download

I have updated the Family Tree Posters, and created additional Family Tree Posters for Different Generations.  These tree posters are shown as a link under the Photo Albums Menu; Family Tree Posters are the last item in the Photo Albums Menu.  It will redirect to you to my file server with all the posters.  Here is also a link to the Posters.

Reunion Reminder

When: 1:30PM - 6:30PM on Saturday, August 1, 2015.
Where: Hill & Dales Park, 2655 S Patterson Blvd, Kettering, Ohio





Bring:

• family photos 
• ancestral photos for copying
• prepared food for sharing - those traveling long distances to the reunion need not provide food
• sunscreen
• small dollar bills for cash raffle

Budget

As the host of this reunion, I have a very small budget.  I reserved the shelter for $150.  I am providing paper plates, cups, utensils. I'm asking families who live in Ohio to please bring large shareable portions of food to the event, as this will help me with my food budget for the event.  The shelter has functioning electric outlets, which will allow for a couple of crock pots.  

I am also putting some items up for auction and raffle to serve as a FUNdraiser to assist with the budget for this event as well as my general ancestry expenditures.  I am by no means getting rich by selling some of these items; I assure you, these are items of love, and this ancestry work is a passionate but expensive hobby of mine.  I have monthly expenses strictly for ancestry related items of at least $60 per month.  These monthly expenses include a file server hosting the ancestry photos and videos which you all have been enjoying.  This file server is expensive, but, it's very nice, as it allows me to easily share and organize high resolution items with you all, and you are able to download them and use them however you like.  I also have purchased many rare antique books which contain precious information about our heritage.  I say all this just so you know that by bidding on and/or purchasing these items for sale, that you are not lining my pockets with cash. 

I really think you're going to like this first item up for auction.  Check it out on ebay here: Hook Photo Collage

Historical Library

I'm working to make my own library of original sources available to you all online.

I have made a few titles available to you already, with more to come. They are under the label Downloadable Docs.

I have discovered that Internet Explorer doesn't like the file share service that I'm using.  If you use Google's Chrome as your internet browser instead of Internet Explorer, it works without any problems at all.  So, if you don't already have Chrome, please consider downloading this as an alternate internet browser.

The documents are password protected, so you will need a password from me.  No user names, just a password.  It will prompt you for the password when you try to view the file.  You can choose to view the file using the online viewer, or you may also download a copy of it to your computer in Adobe PDF format.

Julia Augusta Cox Hook Story Sharing

Click below image to view Julia's story

Family Reunion

Aug 1, 2015 1:30 - 6:30

Hills & Dales Metropark- Paw Paw/Parking Lot

Looking through our precious Family Reunion photos, I can't help but wonder how the families, spread far and wide as they were, kept track of each other and got word around of a reunion.  Without Facebook, texting, and other 2010+ technologies, my generation would likely be clueless.  Nevertheless, keeping the family connected must've been important to them.  Postcards, letters, phone calls, and newspaper ads were their tools of the day.  I believe it's time we put our communications to work to bring about a reunion for the next generation of Philip and Julia Hook's descendants.

More details will come, but please mark this date on your calendar.  Aug 1, 2015.

Link to Facebook Event

Old Concord Cemetery

Driving down a gravel road, I am struck by the beauty of this land. I wonder how changed it is from the time when my Fifth Great-Grandma last walked here.  I wonder too, how long it had been since a Hook descendant had tread here.   

I had a hard time finding the place myself, even with all the technology at my fingertips. I don't know that I would've located it without the assistance of a Morgan descendant. In the end, I'm glad for that, otherwise I wouldn't have had the blessing of hearing how the Morgans came to be associated with the Hook family. That's a story for another day.  

I had no idea what to expect the graveyard to look like; I had only briefly read of it in my cousin's book.  It doesn't look like much when I arrive, I will admit.  However, as I spent the afternoon there, I am touched by the peace of that place.  Surrounded on one side by trees, and a beautiful view out over the field, you can even see the hills in the distance.  The bright clear blue sky, against the lush green trees, and the rolling hills are a serene setting. The stillness is broken only by the occasional bird and the wind through the trees. It's easy to see why the Hook's may have loved this land.  

Here's an excerpt from Glenn's book regarding the background of this property and the cemetery.  

John Hook and Rebecca Hook settled on a farm in Concord Township, Highland County, Ohio.  A "dirt road" passed through the farm.  Later the Fair Ridge Road replaced the old pioneer roadway.  Although this family is believed to have come to this location as early as 1817, the deed to the 125 acre farm was not recorded until 1824.  The particular reason why this family chose to come to this place is unknown.  It can be noted that the topography of southern Highland County, Ohio, bears a close resemblance to Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where John Hook had lived with his young family in his earliest years as a land owner. It is revealed in the final settlement of the estate of John and Rebecca Hook in 1865, that one acre of the farm on the south east corner was reserved for a graveyard. (Highland Co, Probate Court, Files 1700 & 2818).  A small log meeting house stood at the south west corner of this lot for many years where the faint outline of its foundations can be traced.  Many of the early Hook family members and neighbors were buried here.  The grave stones of John and Rebecca Hook were made of a soft material, and weathering eventually made them hard to read.  The records of the Harsha Monument Company, Hillsboro, Ohio, show the details of the sale of the original monuments.  A new stone replacing the two originals was placed for them by the writer [Glenn Hook] about 1968. In addition to the pioneer parents and many neighbors, several of their children and their spouses are buried in this old Concord cemetery.  Henry Hook and his wife, Elizabeth Hart Hook, and George Hook have grave stones of larger than average size. Many of the graves in this cemetery were marked only with flat limestones set on edge at the head and foot of the grave.  An interested group of Benjamin Hook's descendants and this writer [Glenn Hook] placed a grave marker for Benjamin Hook and his wives, Elizabeth Montgomery and Catherine Manker in 1983. [Benjamin Hook was John and Rebecca's son].   -- Glenn L Hook, Mathias Hook of Beaver County Pennsylvania 2nd Edition, 1994, pages 58 - 60, 85.

I easily observe the stones Glenn makes reference of, and spend time exploring the area looking for other names which I might recognize.  I see a slim monument, with the HOOK surname easily readable, however, the rest is difficult to make out.  With some help, I make a rubbing of it as gently as I am able.  My little girl holds the rice paper for me, so that tape isn't needed, as adhesives from tape leave behind harsh chemicals which would further deteriorate the delicate stones. With the rubbing, I'm able to make out the headstone for George Hook, 1808 - 1890. His epitaph reads "He lived as he died, a Christian."  George was a son of John and Rebecca Hook.

Many of the stones are worn down by the elements, and impossible to read unless you know what they're likely to say.  I do have some concerns regarding the welfare of this cemetery, however, that too, is a story for another day.  For this day, I choose to enjoy this gift of the beautiful surroundings, peaceful and pleasant. I choose to appreciate the fact that this graveyard continues to be tended to, it's carefully mowed regularly, and the fence is in working order.  The gravel road has been recently re-graveled and leveled, the washed-out ruts of last season filled in and graded.  There is an obvious place to park, safely out of the way.  All of these things should not be taken for granted; there are many other old cemeteries which can not boast this level of care.  Reflecting on my pioneer ancestors who performed back-breaking work daily, I think they would appreciate how this land has been kept.  They must have also seen the beauty of this place, for it can't be coincidence that the land so resembled the land they came from in Pennsylvania.  If you'd like to visit this beautiful spot for yourself, it's on Dickey Road, Hillsboro, Highland Co, Ohio.  Regardless of what the GPS indicates, you must enter Dickey Road from Fair Ridge Road, where Dickey Road meets Beatty Road at Fair Ridge Road.  Dickey Road is a gravel road, take it slowly.  I have its location marked on my Map of Hook Cemeteries.  Also, here's a link to Old Concord Cemetery on Findagrave, where you can view more information about the cemetery and those interred therein.  

Philip Daniel Hook Book

Ever feel like you've spent an enormous amount of time, but without any feeling of accomplishment in the end?  When I first began this journey of discovery, I was dazzled by the wonderful tools available now for genealogists, and the plethora of information available to the amateur.  I wound up so far from where I started, that I needed to take a step back to see the forest as opposed to the group of trees I found myself in.

So I shut off the computer, put away all the materials, and decided I needed a specific goal.  An attainable task could I focus to completion.  I decided to go back to the the last generation in my line which carried the Hook surname.  That would be Philip Daniel Hook and his wife Julia Augusta Cox. They are my Great-Great-Great Grandparents.

Philip Daniel Hook

Julia Augusta Cox

With this goal in mind, I set out to work.  I've shared many drafts and a couple editorial copies with family members at Graduation parties and Holiday get togethers.  Everyone has pitched into the work.  Cousins, Grandparents, old and young, have all provided photos, stories, and proofreading efforts.  They've looked at blurry photos to identify faces for me of people whom I wasn't blessed with meeting.  My wonderful family has come through in fine style with so many recollections and stories that I've begun to feel as though I know these gracious and hardworking people.  This book can't do them justice, but is a token of our affection anyways.

If you'd like a copy, Ancestry has a coupon right now through December 12, for 20% off your order.  Here is a link to Preview the book.

Philip Daniel Hook - Book