When Initials Were Too Cool!!! [cuss]

Once upon a time, there were too many Hoovers.
They were all in Guthrie, OK. And they all went by initials. It was the style. But I think they planned to do that, just to drive me crazy!!!

It worked!

Ok, back to the beginning....

1. Great grandfather Silas Hoover had 11 siblings. 6 of whom were brothers:
   David W. Hoover, James K Polk Hoover,
   Jesse D. Hoover, Andrew Jonce Hoover,
   Franklin Hoover, and Jacob Judge Hoover.

2. There were two relevant livery stables in Guthrie. One was owned by GGrandfather Silas, on his own. It was a decent small business. He had other non-livery properties, as I found out later.The other Hoover livery went under a few names over the years: "Cammack Barn" bought by Hoovers, Hoover Bros Livery, etc. It became much larger, with shifting principle people. Sometimes the principle was AJ, sometimes DW, etc.

3. The shifting principles in Hoover Bros were AJ, DW, and JD Hoover..... You would think that I could figure that those were Silas brothers. The problem was that there were other Hoovers in the neighborhood from other places. With other sons. And some of the initials matched, although the names didn't. Were those initials 'David W' or 'Daniel Something'?  'Jesse D' or 'James Something'? All common names in Hoover lines, and there in Guthrie.

Were the owners of the larger, more flamboyant livery actually Silas' brothers?
Took many years, and a chance find to confirm this.

Yes, they were all brothers. Wahoo!

As for the other brothers, 'JKP Hoover' stayed in Webster County MO and died there. 'JJ Hoover' moved to Wright County MO and became a stockyard owner. Franklin left in search of either distance or fortune, I presume. I think I have found his death certificate in Colorado.

'AJ' eventually got out of the livery business and got into the saloon trade.

'JD's obit appears below, from FindAGrave.

Are the initials making you crazy, too?!?









THE OKLAHOMAN: 10/11/1931 – Sun – Colorful Figure of Early Days Is Dead
Guthrie, Oct. 10 – Jess D. Hoover, 67 years old, whose lemon colored coach and team of bays conveyed former territorial and state officials about this city, the former state capital, died here Saturday. Funeral services will be held Sunday.
Since 1889 Hoover was proprietor of a livery stable, which in territorial days was one of the best known in the southwest.
He was known to virtually every state and territorial administrator. Among his friends were Governor Murray, former Gov. Henry S. Johnston; all of the territorial governors; United States Senators Elmer Thomas and T.P. Gore; Scott Ferris, Democratic national committeeman for Oklahoma.
Hoover, who claimed to be a distant relative of President Hoover, also was a horse and stock trader.

Oh, and a PS: If we are related to President Hoover, it is *way back*, and *very distant*.
As of the 1700s in North Carolina, there is no known connection. Both families were in the same huge county at the time. But, maybe, their fathers were some type of cousin? Or not....

What Matters Is The Stories!

"What matters is the Stories!" has become my new mantra.

And pictures, of course. Those are visual stories that also bring sparks of life to those endless names and dates in our family trees.

I have come to the conclusion that, no matter how much I want to *do everything*, that's not going to happen in this lifetime.

Time to prioritize. Time to focus on passing along the pieces that bring life and depth to these people. And that are *not* easily available at Ancestry or FamilySearch where I put all those names and dates.

I've been working on my adoptive lines for 30+ years. Oh, that tree is so far from perfect that it's a bit embarrassing....  I am so much better at hunting sources than I am at entering them. Ditto newspaper articles and other finds. But I have found so many stories, and photos!
And I've corresponded with distant cousins who had their own stories to add and photos to share.
I have pieces of information that, together, explain why an ancestor did something.
That last is a big kind of story!
And I have so many relatives that I want to share all this with!

Then my maternal half-sister found me, and DNA testing became possible, and I have been *So Focused* on tracking down our biological lines, and biological fathers.... That's mostly where I need to be. We both have kids, grandkids, a great-grand. For the family history of *them*, our DNA and what we can find there is the key to their history!

So I have to be *done* with researching my adoptive lines. But I am far from done with wanting to bring those real people to life! I also know that, as much as I will try to get many of those pieces into FamilySearch Memories, I will not get to them all. Not even close.

One cousin said to me that she got a pedigree chart years back from someone else, but once she had got beyond the people she knew, it was all names and dates....
That's the reality, and it is where things often just stop.

It's past time to get these things written out, and sent to cousins. And printed out and mailed to those that are not on the net.

If all they do is stick the stories in their box with family photos, that will be far better than nothing. And *nothing* is where things stand now.