Richard Everett Humphrey held by his grandmother Christina (McCoy) SheaHe was born on February 7, 1921 and died May 2, 1992.
He was called Richard, Dick, Rich, Poppy, Grandpa, and brother.
I just call him my dad and I miss him every day.
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS
Date unknown: John R. Coughlin, Gertrude Kelley, Arthur Humphrey
4 Michael Sweeney, Eric Pugh, Manly Shonio
6 Michael Pugh
7 Richard Humphrey
8 Horace Humphrey
9 Patricia Riley
10 Edwin Shonio, Earl W. Davis
11 Hugh Humphrey
13 Patricia Kerr, Opal Grace Mansfield
14 Allen Weatherford, Donald St. Hilaire, Sr., Donald K. Kenneson
15 Ann Humphrey, Walter Astle, Jr.
16 Tricia Keville
17 Jacob Rager
22 Paul DesLauriers, Thomas Astle b: 1888
25 Lisa Call
28 Sophronia Whittemore
MARCH BIRTHDAYS
Date unknown: Annie Walsh, Florence Evirs, Daniel Shea, Prosper Rich
2 Jonathan Morgan, Joel Morgan
3 Catherine Rankin, Morton Humphrey, Melvie Rager, James Nelson
4 Ronnie Robinson
5 Erin Keville
6 Ralph Slagle
7 Glenn Gaudette, Anna Rand
9 Stacy Baum
10 Barbara Baum
12 Roger Purvee, Lehman Nelson
13 Mary Weatherford
14 Mary Shelton, Mary Poe, Joseph Shelton
15 Brian Sullivan, Daniel Whittemore
16 Diane Humphrey, Jennifer Humphrey, Quinn Sullivan, Charles L. Kelley, Dorothy Bovill, Ulysses Simpson Grant Shelton
17 Eudora Weatherford, Zachariah Eddy
19 George Steed
21 Gersham Davis
22 Barbara Gaudette
23 Donald St. Hilaire, Jr.
25 Odell Rager
26 Ruby Rager, Nancy Kenneson, Thomas J. Evirs
27 Esther Humphrey, Harry A. Kenneson
29 Pearl Kenneson
31 Phillip Gervais, Elizabeth Eddy (211 this month)
ELECTION TIME
Recently the California Voter Registration lists became available on the internet. Since we are all being bombarded by election advertising, I decided to look for some of our relatives. I found some of our Humphrey relatives in the Oakland/Sacramento lists. It was quite interesting for one family.
In 1912 Arthur Humphrey (son of Morton, grandson of Elinas and Nancy Humphrey of Vermont) was listed as a Republican, his wife Mollie as a Democrat and his mother Ellen (Rand) Humphrey as a Prohibitionist. That must have made for some lively political conversations around the dinner table. Then again.....maybe not.
SURNAME MEANINGS AND ORIGINS
The following short information pieces were taken from the Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press.
Astle: habitional name from a place in Cheshire called Astle, from Old English east hill.
Burns: Scottish and northern English topographic name for someone who lived by a stream or streams.
Davis: Southern English: patronymic from David.
DesLauriers: French: topographic name for someone living among laurels, It is frequently a secondary surname in Canada.
Eddy: English (Devon) from the Middle English personal name Edwy, composed of the elements of prosperity, fortune and war.
Humphrey: English: from the Old French personal name Humfrey, introduced to Britain by the Normans.
Hutchinson: Northern English, patronymic from the medieval personal name Hutchin, a pet form of Hugh.
Kelley: Irish, Scottish, and English: variant spelling of Kelly.
Kenneson: Probably Scottish, a variant spelling of Kenison. Variant of Cunieson, meaning the son of Conan.
Keville: English, habitational name for someone from a place called Keevil in Wiltshire, probably from Old English, hollow, woodland clearing.
Malone: Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic, descendant of the devotee of Saint John. Numerous in County Clare.
Mansfield: English; habitational name from a place in Nottinghamshire.
McCoy: Irish (Limerick) ancient personal name meaning fire.
McIntosh: Scottish: son of the chief
MacPherson: Scottish: Anglicized for of Gaelic Mac an Phearsain, son of the parson. It is also established in Northern Ireland.
St. Hilaire: French: habitational name from any of the numerous places of this name in France and Belgium, which take their name from a religious dedication to St. Hilarius.
Rager: Habitational name for somone from either of two places called Ragen: in Tyrol, Austria and East Prussia, Germany.
Shea: Irish: reduced for of O'Shea, Anglicized for of Gaelic, fine or fortune.
WHY DO THIS?
My personal reasons are many. I hunt for members of the family because it is interesting and fun. I want to know where I came from and who I came from. I want to know what my family's role was in building this country. I want to acknowledge their hard work and sacrafice. I want to be able to pass this information along to the members of our family who are not yet born.
I have renewed old family friendships and begun new ones. Some are relatives and some are just helpful people who are also searching for their people. For example, it was about 5:00 p.m. and the sun was setting as we (mother, husband and me) were in Illinois looking at a memorial dedicated to members of the armed services who had lost their lives in WWII. My mother's brother's name was on the memorial. While we were admiring the sculpture in front of the memorial, two other women came to look at the statue. One of them turned out to be the daughter of the artist who sculpted the statue. It was an opportunity for my mother to tell her how much the statue meant to her family.
We have tramped through cemeteries searching for gravestones ("Did you bring the binoculars and the boots?"), looked for old home foundations in empty fields ("I think that empty hole looks like a old cellar!"), spent the day inside a town hall vault in Vermont, and stood in awe in front of the gravestone of our fallen Civil War great, great uncle at Cold Harbor in Virginia.
I have gone into a coal mine to try to understand, even just a little, what it was like to be my grandfather, a coal miner from Kentucky who worked in a cold, damp, dark mine. I have toured the cotton mills of Lowell, Massachusetts, to better understand my grandmother who worked there. I have read books on the great influenza epidemic of 1917 to get a picture of what my grandfather might have experienced and felt when he lost his young wife and brother at that time.
One final thought. When I leave this earth for the final time, I hope that I will meet my long ago relatives. I would like be able to call them by name and know something about them. I know one thing for sure. When I meet my great, great, great grandfather Elinas Humphrey, I will finally get to ask him what his father's name was. Then I will rest in peace.
As always, cousin Richard Evirs and I welcome your comments, suggestions, stories and pictures. If you have a family story that you would like to share, please send it to sastle@comcast.net
