Road Trip!

This license plate was my father’s and as long as I could remember, it was on the wall in our garage in California. When I had to pack up everything and sell the house I made sure this cool memento was not left behind. It’s a reminder to me of the long road trip my parents had to take to start their life in Southern California. In 1968, my father, a native of Alaska (but not that kind of native), and my mother (originally from Long Beach, California), decided to move from Anchorage to California. They began what must have been a hell of a long road trip, from Anchorage, through Canada, all down the west coast of the US. The trip took over three days and around 4000 miles. You would think such a long trip would be memorable but unfortunately, my parents' memory isn't as good as it used to be. Still, there were a couple interesting things they did recall.

The Cat and Mouse Game

At the time, my parents had two pets, a large cat named Tammy and a little mouse whose name escapes me now. Naturally, they were unable to ship these animals safely all the way to California so the pets went in the car along with my parents and I imagine, a ton of luggage. Partway through the trip, my mother couldn't find the mouse no matter how hard she looked. So, in yet another case of stereotyping, the cat was the number one suspect. Fortunately, the mouse was found safely later, sleeping in a shoebox.

The Cat Burglar

This second story again involves Tammy the cat. During the long road trip, my parents stopped for the night at a pretty good motel. Not thinking, my father left the balcony glass door slightly ajar. Tammy, probably upset with being in the car for so long and being in an unfamiliar place, took the chance to sneak out. Unfortunately for my parents, this was the kind of balcony that connected to the room next door. So after sneaking out of the room, Tammy then proceded to go to the guest room next door and hide under the bed. My father had to sneak into the room before the other guests came back and get Tammy out from under the bed.

I hope you enjoyed these little episodes.

Top Ten (or More) Funny/Unusual Names in the Family Tree

One of the things that I have enjoyed most since I started taking a deep dive into researching the family tree is all the unusual names that have popped up. Perhaps they were in fashion at the time or had some other significance but here are the top ten funny or unusual names on my family tree!

10. Urania/ Rainy
I love the name Rainy because I associate it with my grandmother of the same name but you have to admit it's a pretty unusual name. My grandmother was born Urania but famously hated that name and was called Rainy instead. I actually suggested giving my upcoming daughter the middle name of Rainy but was shot down by my wife. Luckily, a niece has Rainy as a middle name so it will remain in the family a while longer.

9. Sophronia
Sophronia Tracy was my 1st cousin 5 times removed. It has a Greek origin of "sensible, prude." It also seems to be an old version of Sophie/Sophia.

8. Manzer
Manzer Mc Laughlin was my 2nd cousin 3 times removed (on my father's side). Manzer sounds more like a German WW2 tank than a person's name these days. In fact, it does seem to be a German surname. Perhaps he was named after a distant German relative. The combination of Manzer Mc Laughlin does sound great together, like the makings of a great boxer.

7. Spafford
This one is also a mystery to me. I can't really find anything about this being anything but a surname. It sounds vaguely like an old-timey insult.

6. Jehu
There were a couple De Haven's named Jehu, a father and son, in the 1800s. Jehu is actually pronounced "ye-hu" and is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is he." Nowadays it can be used to describe a reckless cab driver.

5. Alwilda
There were two Alwilda's in the Feero family born around the same time (1849 and 1875) to John and Peter Feero. I haven't been able to find any information on this name but perhaps it's based on Alvida, an Old Norse name meaning "to shine, gleam." Your guess is as good as mine.

4. Eldusta
I have no idea where this name came from. Eldusta (Feero) Snell (1864-1954) was my 3rd great-aunt on my dad's side. This name actually failed my famed "nameberry" test, meaning the popular website with all sorts of bizarre names in its database didn't have any info on it.

3. Halcyon
Halcyon was the middle name of my great aunt Ruby Halcyon Darin (1902-1993). This mysterious choice for a name means "kingfisher bird" in Greek. To me, it seems more like a name for a drug. Of course, the phrase "halcyon days" and the image of utter peace comes to mind.

2. Grissel
Grissel Galloway (1763-?) was my 6th great-grandmother on my father's side. Her name sounds a little poetic with the G-G going on but Grissel nowadays conjures up an image of some tough to eat meat. It's a variation on the Old German name Griselda and means "grey battle." Why would you name your daughter that?

Before we get to number one, here are some honorable mentions that just missed the cut: Mahalia (where Vikings go to die),  Lavinia (former republic of the Soviet Union),  Effie, Izetta, Nettie (the Loche Ness monster?), and John (just kidding).

1. Zopher, Zillah, and Zebulon
Z may be the last letter in the alphabet but these three names that start with Z are the top today! Zopher, Zillah, and Zebulon can all be found on my family tree and perhaps in a ZZ Top cover band.

Zopher Pierce (1849-1919) was my 2nd great-grandfather on my mother's side (he was named after his father!). Here is a link to an article on how he was found dead (bummer). Zopher is apparently a variation of Zophar, a bible name that means "to leap."

Zillah Ford (1734-1801) was my 6th great-grandmother on father's side. Zillah is a version of Zilla, which means "shadow" in Hebrew but all I can imagine is a rapper who is a fan of Godzilla.

Zebulon B. Birmingham was my 2nd cousin, 5 times removed on my father's side. Zebulon B. sounds more like a planet from an Ed Wood movie but as you may already know, it's a bible name that is rarely used today.

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into weird old names. We may never know how these people got their names but it's still fun to take a look back. Feel free to add your own unusual family names in the comments section.

Discovering History Through Great-grandma’s Words

Recently, I was blessed with a true treasure of family history. My aunt was able to have three cassette tapes of an interview my great-grandmother did in the 1970s converted to digital. The digital files were then put on the cloud by her son and forwarded to me. It’s been truly amazing listening to her voice for the first time (I met her once when I was a baby but remember nothing). In the next few weeks, I will go through these tapes and share what I can on this blog. Meanwhile, I’ve been checking out some of the names that she references in the interview and I’m truly amazed by her memory. In one discussion on steamships she used to go from Skagway to Tacoma and other places she just rattled off the names like it was nothing. Curious to see what these ships looked like, I looked up one, the Princess May, and found one of the coolest photos of a grounding that I’ve ever seen. According to Wikipedia, the ship was leaving Skagway in 1910 when it encountered heavy fog and ran aground off the coast of Sentinel Island (near Juneau). So, without further ado, here is an awesome photo of a ship run aground!

The Princess May in 1910.

My Grandpa: Vernon "Tex' De Haven

Vernon “Tex” De Haven

1908-1985

My grandfather from my father's side (where I get my last name) was actually not a blood relative. "Tex" was my grandma Rainy's second husband. He married my grandmother while she was pregnant (by her first husband) with my father. After first dating my grandmother Rainy's sister he came into the picture to basically save Rainy from an abusive, alcoholic husband. According to family lore, Rainy finally decided to cut ties with her first husband when, while drunk, he almost shot her in the stomach while she was pregnant with my father. Whenever I ask about my grandfather, my dad and aunt express nothing but gratitude and respect for the stable father figure and provider that he proved to be, saving my grandmother and her family from a truly desperate situation in the small town of Skagway, Alaska.

(Side note: This complicated situation with him remarried my grandmother while she was pregnant has led many to believe that I have Dutch roots because of his last name but as far as I'm aware I have no Dutch ancestry.)

Born the youngest of four children to Wilbur and Lula De Haven in Nebraska, Tex had a rough childhood. His mother died in 1918 and his father died just four years later in 1922, leaving him without parents at the young age of 14. After that, he was forced to leave home and work on his own as his siblings could not support him. I seem to recall him getting his nickname from herding cattle from Nebraska to Texas.

(It puzzled me at first when I noticed my dad calling grandpa "Tex" instead of "Dad." When I asked him why he didn't call him "Dad", my father just replied that it was because he was his step-father.)

"Tex" as a child.

After retiring from working for Alaska Railroad, he and grandma would spend a few months at each of his children’s and relative's homes in different states. They would spend 3 months each in California (visiting my father in Arcadia and their other son in San Diego), Nebraska (visiting his relatives), Texas (where his daughter and other son lived), and Washington state (where great-grandma Edith and her daughter Ellen lived). I always knew he and grandma Rainy were coming when I saw their large dark green truck pulling around the corner to our house. Mom would take out the "World's Best Grandpa" and "World's Best Grandma" mugs and Dad would put a few beers in the fridge. (His visits would also be the only time in our house when there would be beer in the house as neither of my parents drank)

Tex, in a rare picture with my brother. 

As a child, I found him to be a very quiet, serious person who was very good with his hands. He would use these skills to build all sorts of things for my family. He made a large wooden box with all sorts of locks and doors for my brother to play with, cabinets for my mother, and a nice white curved desk for me which was attached to the wall. It never showed its age, remaining in near perfect shape until we had to sell the house a few decades later. It made me sad when the cleaning crew took a sledgehammer to it to break it off the wall and trash it. I really wish I could have left it for the next family to use. 

(Side note: I remember hearing that he was extremely angry to find out that, after using the finest wood, my mother painted over his beautiful handmade cupboards with yellow paint!)

Here I am in my bedroom, at my beautiful desk made by grandpa.

Grandpa was a bit mysterious to me. As I was quite young at the time I never really had any deep conversations with him. I remember one incident when one of our cats tried to get on his lap while he was sitting down. He roughly brushed off the cat, forcing it to lose its balance and catch one of its claws in the chair. She cried out in pain until she quickly got her claw un-caught. For a young boy such as I who was raised to love our cats as family members, it was quite a shock. My mom at the time explained to me that he was raised on a farm and didn't see animals in the same way as we did.

A side of grandpa I never knew.

There were sides of my grandfather that I only found out about long after his passing. For example, I was told by a couple relatives that the reason that he moved his family from Skagway to Anchorage was for racial reasons. My mother said that he had said, "There were too many natives around" and my aunt said, "He didn't want me ending up marrying a native." I was a bit surprised to hear this at first because I had never heard anything racist come out of his mouth when he was alive but in the context of his generation and his upbringing, I could understand it without excusing it. 

I try not to let stories like these cloud my picture of him though. I don't know all the details of all the struggles he went through in his life. I do know for sure that he had the respect and love of his wife and children and had never given me a reason to doubt his character when he was alive. 

Grandpa Tex died of a heart attack while doing what he loved, fishing while visiting family in Texas, leaving behind his wife Rainy, children Joyce, Karl (my father), Roy, and Pat and many grandchildren.

Footnote: This and other entries may be edited, added to, and, when needed, corrected to fit the facts at a later date. 

Where to begin...

It's a bit hard to know where to start when tracing one family's history. There are so many branches leading in so many different directions. It's a bit like going down a rabbit hole. It's easy to get lost in all the fascinating branches of relatives that you were never aware of previously. Thanks to stories from relatives and some well-documented books I have been able to trace part of my family back to just after the Revolutionary War. Christian Feero, my 5th great-grandfather, as a colonist, was loyal to the King and for that, he was rewarded like many loyalists and given a one-way ticket out of the newly formed United States. Fortunately, the King rewarded him (and other loyalists) with a plot of land in New Brunswick, Canada. There, over the next few generations, he and his family made a go of it as farmers and such. Eventually, parts of the family made their way down to Maine. Some went to Wisconsin, Washington, while some moved back to Canada.

The part of my family that I'm most fascinated with, however, surrendered to the siren song of possible riches in the form of the gold rush and boarded a ship in their home Tacoma and moved up to the suddenly bustling town of Skagway, Alaska. Looking for a better life, John E. Feero first journeyed up to Skagway in the search for gold. John would quickly find the gold mining field too crowded and instead shifted to a business running pack trains for the miners. After he settled down and made enough money, he sent for his wife and children including Edith Feero, my great-grandmother. For now, partly because their story is well documented, this blog will focus on this part of my family history.

Why now?

Many of these stories, the loyalist, the gold rush, and more, were told to me in various levels of detail when I was younger but I didn't dig deeper at the time. So, why now? Well, for the past few years I have been happily living in Japan with my Japanese wife and children. My kids have enjoyed growing up in Japan. The environment is safe, the culture is rich, and they have many kind relatives from my wife's family nearby to shower them with affection. Still, partly because they can't spend that much time around their American relatives, I would like my kids to know more about the non-Japanese part of the family. Thankfully, in the last few years, I have been lucky enough to reconnect with many of the relatives outside of my immediate family, including my Aunt, granddaughter of Edith Feero, who is a family history book unto herself.

So this blog is as much for my children as it is myself. I hope that in time, through this documentation of our family's past, they will realize that their roots extend beyond Japan from California to Alaska, Maine, Canada, Sweden, Ireland, and beyond.

Great-grandmother Edith (right) with her twin, Ethel (1907).