Being Herrold

I am always amazed when my brother Bill and my cousins Teri and June tell me great Herrold family stories because my Herrold memories are mostly things like Grandma's (Mabel) singing button-on-a-string and Grandpa's (Willie) blue violin dish full of butterscotch candy.  The important event I do remember however, is all the relatives with their gold name tags getting together for Grandma and Grandpa's 50th anniversary-my crazy uncles, my aunts with endless casseroles and my cousins who seemed so grown up and beautiful. This was what I knew about being a Herrold .  As one of the youngest I missed the pictures and stories about other relatives from other places, like southern Ohio...

Cousins (and who is that outside the window?)
June,Bill,Candi,Carol,Michael,Bobbie,Judy,Lorraine,Teri

Teri, "Our personal stories began with these bold women.  "The Herrold sisters".  Dottie, the oldest (back, right) had two daughters: Carol and Judy.  Margaret whom we called "Johnnie"was the second oldest (back, left) also had two daughters: June and Candi.  Ellen (front, left) was third in line and is the mother of Bill, Bobbie and Lorrie.  Donna (front, right) was the youngest and mother to Mike and Teri."

So recently, when Bill and Teri sorted through their boxes of family photos and sent out pictures of old relatives and even older places, I loved one photo immediately. It was a picture of an old homestead near Athens (I am a farmer at heart) and Teri had a story to go with it.

A couple of years ago Aunt Donna was reminiscing with Teri about the Herrold family. She told Teri that when she and Ellen were kids, they were playing on their grandparents farm when Ellen found an old cannonball in the creek. What a great family story-a cannonball (civil war?), my mother as a little girl (hard to picture my mother as a little girl) and a beautiful farmhouse.

Donna and Ellen Herrold

Home Sweet Home

I wondered if the house was still there and where were Grandpa's parents buried?  How did my great-grandparents end up in Southern Ohio? In fact who were these German people that traveled across an ocean, some to end up as Buckeyes?
Seems to be a whole lot of Herrold history to catch up on and time's a waistin.....

Road Trip 

#1 Bill Deck    Driver (who actually played on the farm and met his great grandparents) is easily talked into being Road Trip Tour Guide by his little sister plus he knows a lot of family stories (since he is old, whoops, I mean older) and like our Uncle David, is a gifted storyteller.
#2 Steve Quam.    Photographer. Great guy. Riding Shotgun...
#3 Lorrie Deck.    Backseater.
#4 Teri Quam.      Archivist.  Teri, armed with 23andMe, Ancestry and Facebook Friends has tirelessly compiled the History of the Herrold Family and The Adventures of Herrold Relatives Who Honored Their Ancestors' Lives.  These archives are the adventures of Herrolds as Germans, as Colonials and American Pioneers all leading to us, our varied contemporary Herrold family. 

From this history, Teri has planned a course from Pennsylvania to Southern Ohio recreating the original Herrold pioneer trail closely as possible. She has reached out to Pennsylvania Herrolds from other branches who are glad to show us Herrold historical sites and share their family stories.

The Herrold family has really changed since I was a kid. There are many more of us on the family tree and we have gotten here in a lot of different and wonderful ways. Some born. Some chosen. Still Herrolds.  From the road or from home, this adventure is for all of us.