Thursday, December 9, 2010

Aren't they handsome?

I added names and dates to the top and second row.

Started over on the photos. Think I'm finally settled on deckle edges. The next step, which is to add the rest of the photos, should really change the look a lot. I hope to have all of the artwork done by the end of this weekend.
Then I finally get to start writing the analysis paper I've been forming in my head. Curse my curiosity; I stayed up until after 1am again last night. I connected a few new facts about the people at the top of the canvas.
I learned that my oldest known living relatives were Peter Hoeppner and Anganetha Wilke. They were born around 1650, were married Dec 6, 1671 and died in Danzig in 1715 and 1718 respectively. Their marriage happens to show up twice on my family tree. Because:
Six generations later Dietrich Heppner (b. 1873) would marry his second cousin Anna Sawatzky. (This means Dietrich and Anna's grandparents were brother (b.1816) and sister (b. 1814 ). Yeah, that's a little freaky.)
Those two cousins, who eventually became my great great grandparents both immigrated to the USA in 1876; he was 3, she was 2. They met in Minnesota and were married in June 4, 1896.
The first picture in from the left on my geno is a car full of people. That's the kissing cousins! They had two more children after this photo was taken (10 kids over 19 years). Can you believe the fancy clothes, bows and hats---think of the laundry this woman must have done?!? (The swag on the car says "Butterfield" for their town in MN.)
I was lucky enough to know their boy, my great grandfather David Heppner (b. 1902), until I was 15. He was a quiet, kind man with a lazy eye. He is the third boy from the left standing up, looking down at the camera, wearing a beret.

1 comment:

Kim from Kansas said...

Laundry? She also probably sewed most of their clothes! And think of cooking for that big of a family!