Doller Family Farm

Below is a photograph of the house that my great grandfather, Johannes "Hans" Doller, was brought up in.  It is located in Abtsgmund, Germany - east of Stuttgart.  The land was purchased from Baron Wöllwarth in 1890 by Josef Doller, my second great grandfather.  Hans ran away from home at the age of 14 with plans of going to South America.  He spent some time in Egypt and then China before sailing to America, stopping for what he thought was a brief layover in San Francisco, California.  He never boarded the ship again.  While in San Francisco, he met my great grandmother, Viktoria "Dora" Holl while attending a local German event.  They were married and settled in Oakland, California to raise their daughter, my grandmother, Barbara.  Hans worked as a butcher at Miller Packing Company and also owned hot dog stands in the Bay Area.  The farm in Germany continues to be passed down each generation to the oldest child within the family.

This is a plaque on the old house showing the date it was built - 1837.  The half moon is the sign of Wöllwarth.

Here is a photograph of a house on the family farm taken in Summer, 2011.  This house was built by Josef Zwikel (my 2nd cousin, 1x removed), who still resides in the home with his family.  My great grandfathers house is to the left.

This is the view from one of the bedrooms.  It looks out to the Barons Castle.  So Beautiful!

Thomas Hooker

My find today comes from my Father's paternal side.  As you look back in history on this side of the family, there are several prestigious ancestors.  Eventually, I will list them all here, but for now I will share my most recent find - Thomas Hooker.  Thomas is my 9th great grandfather.  I already had his granddaughter, Mary Hooker (married to Rev. James Pierpont, founder of Yale University), in my tree since I had done some research into the Pierpont Family which is connected down the line to the Bradley Family.  However, I had never gone any further on Mary until today which led me to Thomas.  Apparently, my 9th great grandfather led a group of men through the "wilderness" to find new land and ultimately became the founder of the Colony of Connecticut!  In fact, he is considered the founder of the city of Hartford and the State of Connecticut.  He is also cited by many as the inspiration for the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut," cited by some as the world's first written democratic constitution that established a representative government.  It is said that Thomas Hooker was the first American Democrat.  Thomas' name is on plaques and Statues throughout Connecticut today and the State celebrates Thomas Hooker Day annually just before Halloween.

There is a little less out there about his wife.  What I do know is that her name was Susanna Garbrand and that she was a Lady-in-waiting for Joan Drake, the wife of Sir Francis Drake.  Apparently, Thomas lived with the Drake's for a time and fell in love with Susanna.  They married in Joan's hometown of Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England and named their first child (which I have as Joanna) after her.  More to come...

Thomas Hooker Statue at the Old State House: The Statue and Plaque Reads: - West Elevation – THOMAS HOOKER 1586-1647 Founder of Hartford Pastor - Statesman - "The foundation of authority is laid firstly in the Free Consent of the People." - South Elevation - "The choice of public magistrates, belongs unto the people, by God’s own allowance. And it is in their power, also, to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place, unto which they call them." - East Elevation – Leading his people through the wilderness, he founded Hartford, in June 1636. Two years later he preached the historic sermon, which inspired the Fundamental Orders, and sowed the seeds of free Constitutional government in America. - North Elevation – "As God has given us Liberty, let us take it." - Bronze Plaque – To the People of Hartford from the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford, October 1950.

Thomas Hooker - Wikipedia

Richard Kenderdine Sr.

After starting my family search on Ancestry.com, I was fortunate to come into contact with several distant cousins from several sides of my family.  It has been fun sharing information back and forth.  Below is a newspaper clipping of Richard Kenderdine Sr.'s obituary that I obtained from a cousin I met only a couple months ago.  Richard is my 3rd great grandfather on my paternal grandmother's (Speeden) side.  I did not have much information on the Kenderdine family (in fact, I didn't even have this mans name) when I started, so this was an exciting find!

You can click on the photo to get a better look.  I will also put a downloadable link below:

Click Here to Download a Copy