52 Ancestors Week 41: Newest

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 41's theme is "Newest." Who is the "newest" ancestor you've found? Most recent immigrant? Newest discovery you've made?

Open the treasure chest and see what's inside!

Last week, we discussed how I got the oldest picture of my grandfather. Now, we're moving onto something new. I actually made a couple new discoveries recently. Let's not waste any time and get right to it! 

First up, readers might remember me talking about how I received a couple really heavy boxes over the summer. Seriously, they must have weighed at least forty pounds each. Inside were various pictures and documents. I've mentioned a few here and there in the blog. I never really DOVE into its contents with everyone. Let's take a little trip shall we?

Alfred Hamel in his "Wut" pose.

 The picture to the left is one of the many, many photos I've found. It's very cool and I swear my great-grandfather Alfred Hamel is presenting some sort of attitude in that photo. Hand on his hip. Impatient look. Yeah. Sounds like someone inherited that attitude. Won't say who. ;) 

Of course, he might just be mildly annoyed at the photographer. It was the early 1900s. Taking a photo back then took a very long time. You couldn't exactly get them developed at the local photo mart. Wow, that dated myself. To the kids at home, that's what we used before iPhones.

My mother and I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out which conflict he was in. She thought it was the Spanish-American War at first. One tiny problem with that. The Spanish-American War occurred from April 1898 to that August. During that time, Alfred was two years old. I doubt a two-year old would be involved in THAT kind of war. No, it'd be a war over naptime. 

Okay. So, what war was he involved in? America has been involved in many wars. Alfred was clearly in an uniform. After finding several more pictures of him and his comrades in arms, my mother and I found a very interesting document which shed some light on the subject.

Now what could this be?

This document was found all rolled up and required at least two people and a toolbox to hold straight while I took a picture of it. This, my friends, is a special commendation presented to Alfred Hamel for his service at the Mexican border in 1918. Now, was there a conflict going on then? Aside from World War I? Yes. 

The Mexican Border War from 1910 to 1919 could be the conflict discussed in the document. The dates match up. The conflict itself was over Mexican rebels attacking towns in New Mexico. The certificate was given to Alfred on June 11th, 1919 in the city of Boston.

That was impressive to me. Not nearly as impressive as the next thing we found! Check out all of these medals!

Those are some quality medals and awards he had. It's no wonder my grandfather saved them. He actually saved everything. And I DO mean everything. He even saved the electric bills from his father's fix-it shop in Newburyport! That was too funny! Yes, those were actually in the box with this stuff.

Along with the certificate, there was his enlistment record from World War I and a few other mementos. We have a 100 yr old manual for how to repair an engine! Like I said. My grandfather saved everything. Nothing was ever thrown away. 

To say that this is only the tip of the iceberg is a bit of an understatement. I still have more things to dig through in the other box. That box, we think, is more my grandmother's things than anything. I've already showcased a few of the photos here. We shall see what else is in there.

Speaking of my grandmother, for a while it seemed that I couldn't find her parents' grave. I asked the hive mind on Find a Grave to help me find the tombstone for Austin Felker and Henrietta Legault. A user on the site went to Walnut cemetery in Haverhill and took a picture of the stones. 

The Felker grave in Walnut cemetery.

I thanked them so much for their hard work. With the human malware, it's hard for anyone to get out and do genealogy. This wasn't the only stone users found, though. Another user went to St. Mary's cemetery in Newburyport and took a picture of my 2x great-grandfather Joseph Laplante's stone! 

I'm eternally grateful that the users found the graves. Now, I just need to get Antoine's and I'll be all set! Though, I admit the graves of my ancestors in Italy would be just as cool/interesting, too.

It's honestly amazing to me how nice some people can be on the Internet. I wonder if being around the YouTube crowd jaded me. Nah.... ;) Some people can be jerks. Some people can be completely amazing. It just depends on the person!

So, those were the newest discoveries I've made on my genealogical adventure. I'm sure that in the coming months I'll be finding more things. When I do, I'll be sure to share them with everyone here. Until next time!