Boy, Grandma sure could pick 'em!

From what I can piece together from things my Mom told me (I still have a good memory) this is as close to the truth I can find, right now. Unless someone who knows, the torrid details, would tell me and you and I know, that isn't going to happen.

So, Mabel, my grandmother was an attractive woman - I believe she had some mental illness or something going on because she never lived with her first husband, Mr. Hasenstab. Or maybe she was just a royal bitch. Sometimes, I even wonder if they were ever really married. I have not been able to find marriage or divorce records. That's another tale. My mom told me many men used to want to date my Grandma - and some had it real bad for her. 

Grandma lived in Dayton Ohio. She had a thing for the military. My mom told me she at one time, she was a seamstress at a sewing factory and would occasionally sew a penny in the pocket of military uniforms. Heck, she could have even placed her home address in one of them for all I know, because in 1931. Charles Monroe Leach came to live in Dayton at the U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (Central Branch) when he was 41 years old. I do not know at this time what his disability was. 

Married in 1913 - records show that Mrs. Leach was with "child" when they married and a son was born to them 5 months later! Charley was from a different town in Ohio - his family came from Jackson County, a good 100+ miles from Dayton. 

I am unable to find a census for 1930 or 1940 for him. I did find a Charles Leach (birthday was off by a couple of years) that was in prison, in Dayton Ohio. Still checking into that. On his WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Card, it showed in 1940, he was living at the National Hotel in Dayton. 

My mom had told me that one time when she revealed that Hasenstab wasn't her bio-dad, that she had met her father and he was nice. Of course then a few days later, she told me to forget about it and that it wasn't true. That Hasenstab was her father.  (Except she said his first name was Peter and he was a member of the IRA and he was wanted.)  WHATEVER, Mom. I don't know if her Mom told her that or what - just an all-around bizarre story. 

So in 1940, he was living in Dayton and my Mom was born in 1934. The connection is undeniably there. Unfortunately, he died in December 1949. I know, my mom said she worked as a candy striper at the Veterans Hospital in Dayton. 

I love being a super sleuth.

Subscribe to Rooted by Blood, DNA and a lot of BS by Email

The Signers - Samuel Huntington - 6th Cousin 5 times removed

Samuel Huntington (July 16, 1731– January 5, 1796) was a jurist, statesman, and Patriot in the American Revolution from Connecticut. As a delegate to the Continental Congress, he signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation.

He was a self-taught lawyer and was admitted to the Bar of Connecticut, 1754 -

He was The King's attorney, tax collector, town-meeting moderator, justice of the peace, of Norwich Connecticut.  Appointed to the Superior court, in 1773. Elected to provincial Upper House of Assembly, appointed to the Council of Safety, Delegate to the Continental Congress, in 1776. President of the Continental Congress, 1779-81; Lieutenant Governor and Chief judge of Superior Court of Connecticut, 1784-86; Governor of Connecticut, 1786-1796.

Died: January 5, 1796

He totally dedicated his life to public service. Wow. Good job, Cuz!






Subscribe to Rooted by Blood, DNA and a lot of BS by Email

The Signers - William Williams - 4th Cousin 8 times removed

Born in 1731, he attained a common school education. He attended Harvard and graduated in 1751. He then studied theology with his father, Pastor of the First Congregational Church in Lebanon. Four years later, he joined his father's cousin in the French and Indian War at Lake George.

He was elected to the Continental Congress in 1776. He arrived too late to vote for Independence (he replaced Oliver Wolcott, who became seriously ill), but he did sign the Declaration, and was then appointed a member of the committee to frame the Articles of Confederation. In 1777 he was appointed to the Board of War. After the war, he attended the Hartford convention, where Connecticut ratified the Federal Constitution. Williams spent his remaining years as a County Court judge. He died in 1811 at the age of 80.

Once again, he comes from my maternal line - The Clossons, Armstrongs, Lewis, Moore and Stanley.




Subscribe to Rooted by Blood, DNA and a lot of BS by Email

The Signers - Lyman Hall - 3rd Cousin 7 times removed

Lyman Hall was an American physician and statesman, best known as one of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence, representing the state of Georgia. He was born on 12 April 1724 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut to John Hall and Mary Street. He was one of the eight children of his parents.

He comes from my mother's side.

Patricia Hasenstab,
Mabel Closson,
Benjamin Closson,
Benjamin Closson,
Luther Closson,
David Lewis (Luther's father-in-law)
Benjamin Benham
John Hall
John Hall
John Hall - We share John Hall, born 1605-1676


In 1757,  after coming to know about sufficient land resources in Georgia he moved to Georgia and became an owner of a small plantation.

In the 1770s, when the Revolution approached, he was elected as a delegate from the city he represented  - St. John’s Parish in the Second Continental Congress in 1775.

In 1776, he formed a Provincial Congress and him along with Button Gwinnett and George Walton were appointed delegates from the state of Georgia. The same year, on August 2, he signed the Declaration of Independence.

After the Revolution, he was made the Governor of Georgia in order to restore the city. After his one-year term as governor, he served in the assembly and as a judge.

Subscribe to Rooted by Blood, DNA and a lot of BS by Email

Those Damn Hasenstab's

Patty Hasenstab - 11 years old

I just dream of that day, when I can make a DNA connection, with someone from the Hasenstab family. I check all the time. Today I found a DNA connection to the Closson side. That was encouraging. But it's the Hasenstab side, that haunts me. Why?

Today I joined a couple of groups on Facebook. They both have my head reeling from information overload. It might be time, to put it to rest for today. I've worked all morning.  I love reading happy stories. This one gal actually found 2 siblings - a brother and a sister. How cool is that? That would really mess things up for me since my folks have passed. I already know about a half-brother. No all I want to find is a DNA connection to the Hasenstab Family.

Maybe I need to see a shrink!

My Mom's Paternal Side of the Family

It gets very confusing. I needed to write this all down. It's maddening to me when I hit those proverbial walls. I guess I should be happy that I have gotten this far. Yet I am not connecting with any of these families on Ancestry.

I briefly made contact with a couple of Hasenstab's but they never get back to me. Why the heck are they even there? Don't they want to connect with long lost family members?

I feel REJECTED at times. Does anyone else ever feel that way? Or am I just crazy?

The Story about My Mom's Father

Grandpa was a Wingwalker (BS)

The story I heard, growing up, about my Mom's father was that he died before my mom was born. Grandma was 8 months pregnant with my Mom. He died in a plane crash. He was a wing-walker. Mom had a brother who was 16 years old than her. Uncle Bud.

Basically, Mom and her single mother were poor - lived in boarding houses in Dayton Ohio. Apparently, my Grandma was a bit on the difficult side. They got kicked out of places because of her temperament. I felt sorry, listening to my mother's hardships. Meanwhile, her brother was in the Army Air Corps, stationed in England and occasionally they would get postcards from him that I still have. 

After the war, Uncle Bud married a gal from Alabama and they settled in Springfield, Ohio, and had 4 children. 

I was always curious, as to why, my Uncle Bud, had a different last name from my mom's maiden name which was Hasenstab. The reason: He legally changed his name to my Grandma's maiden name (Closson) so he could fight the Nazis. Sounded good enough for me. 

After my Mom's death, I was shocked to find, that her father, Edward (Edwin) Joesph Hasenstab, was alive and well when my mom was born in 1934. He was alive and well, when I was born, in 1954. So where the heck was he? He was right there, in Dayton Ohio, living with a woman, he referred to as his wife, Cordelia Martin. He died in 1958. 

So, there begins my wall of walls - What happened between him and my Grandma? Were they ever really married? Did they divorce? Was he my Mom's bio dad? Why did Grandma and he wait 16 years, to have another child? Was my Mom's father really a Wingwalker? 

Mom was gone. The only living relatives I had left, from my mom's side, were my cousins. Did they know about our mysterious grandfather Hasenstab?