Above the Trees

We have a winner in our Photo Family History Contest! Congratulations to Sylvia Hott Sonneborn, of the Barefoot Genealogy Blogs (as well as the treasurer and newsletter editor of the Barefoot Reunion Association, Windber, Pennsylvania), sent us this wonderful entry. Sylvia will receive two free registrations at the St. George Family History Expo, a free one-year Premium Family Photoloom membership, and our genuine admiration!

Here's Sylvia's entry:

Some old pencil sketches and a handwritten note from my Grandmother Ella Hammer Krise give me a slice of life of my great-great grandparents. At a family reunion, one of the attendees brought pencil drawings of my g-g-grandparents, and I took photographs of the drawings. The bearded gentleman is Solomon Nunemaker Hammer, who was born 14 December 1812 in Jennerstown, St. Clair Twp., Bedford , Pennsylvania, United States, and he died 13 February 1890 in the same place.

His wife Elizabeth (Barefoot) Hammer was born 18 February 1813 at St. Clairsville, Bedford, Pennsylvania, United States. She died 17 September 1889 in Jenner Township, Somerset, Pennsylvania, United States. Together they had 10 children, and among them was my great-grandfather Joseph Sleek Hammer of Johnstown, Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States.

While I don’t know much about the Hammers, I found a handwritten note from Joseph Sleek Hammer’s daughter, my grandmother, Ella Hammer Krise, that reveals a little of Solomon and Elizabeth:

“Grandmother Hammer and Grand F. had their own riding horse. G.M.'s had a round full body, and short legs. Its name was Gin. G.M. had a very wide riding skirt and a side saddle. She raised flax and wove linen. She also spun wool, made yarn, colored it black, blue, red, and brown, knit stockings, wove cloth, flannel, and carpets. G.M. was a beautiful woman, always smiling. [This would have been Elizabeth Barefoot Hammer.]

"Grandfather's horse was a beautiful horse, black as coal, long legs, and ran off whenever he felt like it. No one could ride him except Gr. F. One day they hitched him up with Gin, to haul in some hay. He decided to run off. He ran up against a tree, and that was the last of him.

"G.F. was a large man. G.M. could stand under his arm.”

[Solomon Hammer died in 1890, so this information predates that as well as the pencil drawings and family photo.]

In addition, there is a very old photo of the Hammer Family. Solomon and Elizabeth are in the center with some of their children and their spouses surrounding them, circa 1885-1889.

Front Row: Ross Forward Hammer (abt 30), Probably their granddaughter and daughter of Mary, Mary Jane Cauffiel (abt 25). Row 2: Solomon Nunemaker Hammer (abt 73), Elizabeth Barefoot (abt 71), Louisa Foust, wife of David Hammer (abt 33), Malinda Galbreath, wife of John Hammer (abt 31). Back Row: John Colby Hammer (abt 40), David Mark Hammer (abt 35), Mary Hammer Cauffiel (abt 49), Charlotte Hammer Livingston (abt 48), Polly Spiegel Hammer, wife of Ross (abt 26).

Our thanks to everyone who entered our contest this time!

Photoloom has a new face! We've changed our color scheme and tweaked our logo. Now if you look closely, you can see a "tree" woven into our photo-corner ~ the perfect marriage of photos and family history!








Serendipity is my all time favorite word.

Last Thursday night, I was reviewing some updates our daughter had made to some of our graphics when Serendipity snuck up and stamped on my toe. All of a sudden, I saw “the tree,” right there in front of me. Sure, it was sideways and hidden, but it was there.

Has that always been there? Why haven’t I seen it before? Why did it taken me three and a half years to see something so obvious?

If you’ve been working on your family history for any amount of time, you’ve asked yourself these very questions. There you are, hunched over your desk, scanning the same document for the hundredth time, when suddenly something completely new jumps out at you. Something that HAS ALWAYS BEEN THERE, just waiting for you to find it. And most of the time, this happens when you are all alone, and you want to jump around the room and hug someone and tell them about the cool thing you just discovered, but there’s no one there and so you have to just kind of squeeze yourself and smile a lot.

Or maybe that part’s just me.

Anyway, my point is, things don’t always happen like we expect them to. And sometimes that’s a good thing.

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Have you entered our Family Threads Contest yet? Send us your favorite family history photo and a short description/story/memory about it! First prize is two tickets to the St. George Family History Expo at the end of this month.

We are gearing up to attend the St. George Family History Expo at the end of February, and in conjunction with that, I am pleased as punch to announce our first ever (da-da-da-dahh!) Family Threads Contest!!!

The Winner will receive these awesome prizes:

• Two free registrations for St. George Family History Expo ($140 value)
• One-year Premium Family Photoloom Membership ($39 value)
• Publication of your photo & story

To enter, simply send a family history photo (.jpg or .png files only, please) along with a short personal essay, memory, or story about that photo to renee@photoloom.com. Be sure to include “Family Threads Contest” in the subject line of your email.

Check out our Family Threads series if you want to get a better idea of what we're looking for.

Nuts & Bolts:

• Entries may be 100-500 words in length, and must include both a picture and a story.
  
• Entries must not have been previously published.
• Submission deadline is midnight February 16. Winners will be announced February 21.
• No prize substitutions will be made.
• Winners will be determined by highly unscientific, subjective methods, but if your story makes us laugh or cry, you'll have a better chance. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own, and are final.