Recently, we’ve been working on a (surprise) family history book for my dad, Ron Halsey, for his birthday in August.
We compiled a photographic family history of Eli Hamilton Halsey and Lillian Blanche Smith, Dad’s grandparents. It is 102 pages hardcover, 8.25″ x 10.75″ and can be ordered print-on-demand. It takes about two weeks for delivery.
We think this will be a great, affordable service we can offer writers for small runs or print-on-demand type books (like family histories!)
Using family photographs, tintypes, genealogies, stories, and some recent images, we have made a chronological photo history of the lives of our Alleghany ancestors.
We also drew a map of the northwest section Alleghany County where Eli & Lillian lived and marked important family homes, churches, and schools.
While it’s not a complete genealogy, we have traced some of our family lines back to the Mayflower, to President James Madison, area settlers Andrew Baker and Moses Halsey, as well as early immigrants to America Thomas Halsey and Thomas Avent.
The Halsey Family Arms is also included with a detailed explanation of the language found in Burkes’ General Armory describing the Halsey blazon, crest, and family motto.
Dad spent his career in prepress photography and has copied old family photos for years. He was the “camera man” for most gatherings. Now we are able to scan his negatives and prints and can share these images with everyone.
And thanks to the photographic process, today we can see farther back in time than anyone in history. We can look right into our great-great-grandmothers eyes.
The tintype, above right, was with several others whose subjects aren’t identified. The child is obviously James Kenney Halsey, older brother of Eli Hamilton Halsey. This image was surely made the same day as the one on the left, where little James is with his parents, Elizabeth Frances Halsey and Robert Franklin Halsey. (His clothes and the backdrop are the same.) Since Robert Franklin Halsey had only one brother, about 3 years younger, could it be the man holding James Kenney Halsey is his uncle, James W. Halsey?
The entire project reminded us how important it is to identify your photographs. It is heartbreaking, but common, to have a good, clear photographic record of a person that no one can identify any more.
The collection would not have been possible without the cooperation of cousins and family friends. We appreciate each and every one who shared their photos with us.
Check out the album at The Sparta Store. But don’t tell my Dad!
