August 11

MEMORIAL...

Albert V. Herdman 1841-1855

I don't have a picture of Albert V. Herdman, and I don't know why he died at age 13. But I have a bunch of pictures of Herdmans, and, frankly, I'm not sure how they are all related to our family. The only thing I know for sure is that my grandmother's aunt, Belle Treat, married Ulysses Grant Herdman. 

Photo: Ulysses and Belle

They had 3 children, the youngest of which was my 'Aunt' Faun. I used to go with my grandparents to Ohio every summer to visit Grandma's relatives, and we usually stayed with Faun and Bob (McDonald) at their house outside of London, Ohio. Faun was Grandma's first cousin. She and Bob had no children. Bob was a prison guard, and a soft-spoken gentle giant of a man -- I could hardly imagine him being a guard in a prison. Aunt Faun was tiny and energetic. She and I had the same birthday -- November 10 -- and I received a birthday card from her every year of my life until she died. Aunt Faun was very special to me.

Photo: Bob and Faun McDonald, Bill and Christie Thomas. (I'm the one who took the picture.)

The other Herdmans I have pictures of are related to Ulysses Herman in one way or another.

Photo: John Downing Herdman 1837-1916. 

John Downing Herdman is the third generation of Herdmans in our records. The earliest Herdman we have was Henry Herdman I, born in Germany in 1759.  Henry's son John D. Herdman married Anna Susanna Downing, and they were the parents of John Downing Herdman. John Downing Herdman married Margaret Johnson, and they were the parents of Alvero Milton Herdman.

Photo: Alvero Milton Herdman

Alvero Milton Herdman married Anna Maria Burns, and they were the parents of Hazel Opal Herdman. Hazel Opal Herdman married Elbert Lyman Grooms.

That's all the pictures I have from that particular lineage. I still have a bunch more Herdman photos, but I haven't quite yet figured out how they're all related. So I think I'll go work on that for a while...