The Hayes Family History Site

After a series of sudden ideas and strange coincidences, the next generation of Yerks family unfolded before me within hours.  This generation has been troubling me for a long time, as I was unable to find the parents of George Oakley Yerks as listed on his death certificate.  I think the officials may have guessed and filled in some names because they did not know who the parents really were.  But after some careful detective work, I am extremely comfortable stating that the next Yerks Generation mystery has been solved!  To solve this mystery, I worked backwards.  But for the sake of clarity, I’ll tell the story moving forward.

Read the rest of this entry »

Well, the first of two DNA Tests are back.  The Paternal Lineage Test (Y-Chromosome 46) is the test used to help me find genetic cousins on my father’s side.  It has determined that I am a member of the R1b Haplogroup,  also known as the “Artisans” .  Below is a short description of the R1b  Haplogroup that comes directly from the Ancestry.com DNA report.

Read the rest of this entry »

In one last act of desperation to find some type of mention of Ralph Yerks at a War Memorial,  I emailed the Rye Historical Society to ask them if there was a War Memorial in Rye.  Rye was the only town that I had had not visited because I was unfamiliar with it.  Within 12 hours, I received an email back from Dr. Ruth Smalt, Executive Director of the Rye Historical Society.  She took the time out of her busy day to walk across the street from her office to the war memorial located at the intersection of Rt 1 (Boston Post Rd) and Purchase St.  It is opposite the Village Green, and directly across from the Square House Museum front door where her office is.  She wrote:

“I just took a look at the WWI monument outside the Square House and sure enough, there is Ralph Yerks.  There is also a William Yerks, who served but survived the war.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Ralph Yerks (born April 4, 1894 in Bedford Hills, New York) served and died for his country in World War I, yet we cannot find a memorial in Westchester County that recognizes him.

Ralph Yerks, Private, U.S. Army

9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division

Entered the Service from: New York
Died: September 13, 1918
Buried at: Plot C Row 8 Grave 36
St. Mihiel American Cemetery
Thiaucourt, France

Read the rest of this entry »

This video is a compilation of our wedding photographs to our wedding song, “All I Ask Of You”. We used the actual original cast recording from “Phantom of The Opera” in the wedding because it held special meaning for both of us.

For my 1988 Christmas gift to Colleen, I gave her a multi-part christmas gift that started with some small articles of clothing (use your imagination), then a beautiful black dress, dinner in new York City at “Top of the Sixes” (666 Fifth Ave) and ended with hard to get tickets to “Phantom of the Opera”. We loved the show so much, we actually saw it two more times since the original trip to new York City.

You will need Apple’s Quicktime to view the video as it is compressed using a higher quality compress than typical “YouTube” videos. You can download it for free at:

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/

Read the rest of this entry »

On April 18, 1906 San Francisco was wrecked by a Great Earthquake at 5:13 a.m.. The subsequent seventh Great Fire  burned for four days. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of trapped persons died when South-of-Market tenements collapsed as the ground liquefied beneath them. Most of those buildings immediately caught fire, and trapped victims could not be rescued. The total earthquake death toll topped out at more than 3,000 from all causes. Damage was estimated at $500,000,000 in 1906 dollars. The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was one of the great natural disasters in American history. The quake and ensuing fire left a city known as the “Paris of the West” in ruins.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend, I took a trip to visit my Mom in Katonah, NY.  Every time I see my Mom, I interrogate her with questions about the family. Frankly, she should be pretty sick of me by now, but she keeps on entertaining me with a smile.

So I decided to ask her about some jewelry I remembered belonging to my Grandmother, Isabelle Lewis.  I was thrilled to find that there were many pieces of family jewelry in my Moms possession that I had never seen or heard of.  So I asked her for permission to have some of the items appraised.  The story behind all the items will remain for another post on another day.

So while I was at the Jewelers, we had an in-depth conversation about the engraving script used to display the initials on the many of the pieces.

The assistant told me that in those days, the letter that represents the last name is usually found in the middle of the initials.  That explains the reason I was having such difficulty reading some of the initials. But on this particular one, it did not make much sense.

Read the rest of this entry »