On This Day in Family History - January 19

 Elisha Forrest Herdman married Christine Olson 19 January 1888

The Herdman family is only tangentially related to us, by marriage into the Treat branch of the family tree. But for some reason I ended up with quite a few pictures of various Herdmans. I really wasn't ever even aware of the name, even though I knew two of them -- "Aunt Belle" and "Aunt Faun". My Thomas grandparents used to make a trip to Ohio every summer, to visit Grandma's relatives, and they usually took me with them. We always stayed at least one night with Aunt Faun. She was a special favorite of mine (and vice versa) because we shared the same birthday. She was married to Bob McDonald and they lived in a big house a few miles outside of London, Ohio. Bob was a big man, and just about the most soft-spoken and gentle man you'd ever want to meet. It always seemed incongruous to me that he was actually a prison guard. Even though I didn't see Aunt Faun again after my teenage years, she and I kept in touch by mail -- annual birthday cards, if nothing else --until her death in 2002. 

Photo: Bob and Faun McDonald, Bill and Christie Thomas

(I took the picture)

Aunt Faun was actually my grandmother's first cousin. Aunt Belle was Faun's mother, Grandma's aunt. We usually went to visit Aunt Belle also, every time we made the trip to Ohio. She was a widow by the time I met her (her husband died in 1951), so I was never aware that her last name was actually Herdman. To my mind, she was a Treat, and I never thought anything past that.

Photo: Chris and Bill (left), Aunt Belle (right). Pretty sure that's Bob McDonald in the middle.

Aunt Belle's husband was Ulysses Grant Herdman.

Ulysses and Belle Treat Herdman had three children: William, Hazel, and Faun.  

Photo: Hazel and Aunt Belle

I don't have a picture of William, although I do have a picture of his gravestone.

So, that is the only real connection we have with the Herdman branch of the family tree. But I have all these pictures...

 

Alvero Milton Herdman (left), Elbert and Hazel Herdman Grooms

Laura and 'Mack' Herdman and Mabel

Children of Mike Herdman  - Sarah Ann, Forrest, Eva 

John Downing Herdman

Russell Herdman and Jesse Herdman

Paul Herdman Jones

To tell the truth, I still haven't figured out yet how all of these folks are related. But boy I have their pictures, anyway!!