William Oliver Haines and His Barber Shop

Bill and his 'OK Barber Shop' opened 1966 in La Verne CA





My Uncle Bill was not blood related to me.  He was my uncle by marriage to my mother's sister Dorothy Troyer Haines.  Uncle Bill was a barber by trade and according to his family history learned the trade from his father who was also a barber.  I remember his 'razor strap' hanging by the back door of their home.  He was a strong disciplinarian, much stronger than my parents (as I remember).

William Oliver Haines was born in Chicago Illinois on June 17, 1907; he died June 19, 1992 in La Verne California. 



He worked with his father in Chicago until he was 28 at which time he went to California to check out his half-brother Orville's barber shops (he owned 3 in the Pomona/La Verne areas).  From California he drove to Indiana where he married Dorothy Troyer in 1935...a year later they moved to California.  He worked for his brother Orville from 1942 until 1966.  When his brother retired he bought his Barber Shop.




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La Verne Magazine 1979







 









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Click on each page and it will take you to a new page...then click on page again to enlarge for easy readability.  IMPORTANT: BE SURE AND USE THE BACK ARROW ON YOUR BROWSERS (UPPER LEFT) TO COME BACK TO THIS PAGE.

Bill and Dorothy had 4 children (3 girls, 1 boy). 

(Editor's note: not sure of  last name of Orville since he was a half-brother; I think I remember it being Haines but am not positive....any of Bill's descendants who are reading this please leave me a reply and let me know)

Know anything about anyone mentioned in this post? Please contact me using the e-mail address to the right under my picture.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2011, all rights reserved

Goshen Indiana

At a family get-together a couple of months ago my cousin gave me these pictures to scan.  Our mother's grew up in Goshen Indiana, their father (my grandfather) Elmer Troyer was from Middlebury Indiana, which is a short distance from Goshen.


Goshen High School, Goshen Indiana



The high school on the right is where my mother (Margaret Troyer Post) graduated from in 1927.  Her sister (Dorothy Troyer Haines) graduated from Goshen High School about 3-4 years later.

My great-great grandparents Yost and Martha (Plank) Schrock settled in the Middlebury Indiana area in approximately 1850-1851.  They purchased 160 acres of land 1 mile west of Middlebury.

These pictures were taken by my cousin in approximately 1992 while visiting the area.  One of these days I would like to travel to Goshen, Middlebury, and Elkhart Indiana to visit where my mother grew up and to see the area where Yost and Martha (Plank) Schrock settled and raised their family.

Know anything about anyone mentioned in this post? Please contact me using the e-mail address to the right under my picture.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2011, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

SNGF - Ancestral Name List Roulette

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings usually gives us a "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" challenge.  This week we are to:
 
1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

I picked my grandfather Elmer Troyer mainly because he was the only grandfather I ever knew and because he was more of a grandfather to me than my other grandfather could ever be.  Elmer was my mother's father.

Elmer Troyer was born on September 4, 1884.  If he were alive today he would be 126 1/2 years old.  Taking the 126 years and dividing by 4 puts me at 31 1/2.   I've rounded this down to 31 which now becomes my 'roulette number'.

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

Number 31 on my genealogy software program is my mother's sister and my grandfather's youngest daughter - Dorothy Troyer Haines. (Dorothy is the bride in this picture, the bridesmaid is my mother)

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

• Dorothy was born April 5, 1913.  She was 4 years younger than her older sister.  Dorothy and Margaret were the only 2 children of Elmer and Mary (Motzko) Troyer
• Dorothy was born in Modesto California, raised in Goshen Indiana, and died in Pomona California
• Dorothy married William Oliver Haines on July 6, 1935.  They had 4 children, 21 grandchildren and if they were alive today they would have uncountable great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.  (Someday I'll figure out how many!)

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2011, all rights reserved, Mary Post Warren

Advent Calendar - December 7 - Holiday Parties

At Geneabloggers.com (a group of worldwide genealogist writing about their family history) the prompts or suggested ideas for the month relate to the Advent season. This is my third (hopefully not last) post using the Advent prompts.

Our prompt for today is:  Holiday Parties

Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?

I don't remember parties for Christmas as a child...but it seems that after marriage the month of December was one BIG party...there were church parties, school parties, girl scout and boy scout parties, a party for the soccer team.  And although there was not a 'party' for the annual 'Holiday' dance recital our daughter was in - we would always make a big party out of it by eating out afterward or just going to Bob's Big Boy for Ice Cream Sundaes.

There was the year we had all the family at our house - my parents and 4 brothers and sisters, with their spouses and children.  I think there were about 30 of us total.  I think this was done to surprise my parents. Santa arrived with gifts (books) for all the kids.  My nephew Danny went up to Santa after all the gifts were given and asked him: 'can I trade this book for a truck Santa?'...too funny!

After all of our kids grew up we continued to 'party' (just not as often)...we call them 'reunions'....all the family we had would come - cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, first cousins once removed, etc, and the list goes on.  

In 1995 we used the clubhouse near where my cousin lived and filled it to the brim with about 50+.  Santa again had time to visit! 

Alas, the parties have dwindled and we don't do nearly as much 'partying' as we used to do.  It's been 15 years since our last 'reunion'...the matriarchs and patriarchs of the families have died and there just does not seem to be the interest there used to be.  I tried to organize a 'reunion' this year but it 'plopped'....I sent invites to 130 descendants of my mom and her sister, Margaret Troyer Post and Dorothy Troyer Haines, only to get less than 25 positive responses.  We're still going to do a small 'reunion' this weekend at my sister's house with those 25 'positive' people....I LOVE POSITIVE!

We must remember though that the biggest party of every Christmas day should be the one celebrating the birth of Jesus....it's His birthday after all!

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Super Sunday Sisters - Margaret and Dorothy Troyer

Margaret Elizabeth Troyer (older girl) and Dorothy Helen Troyer (Dorothy was named after her cousin Dorothy Helen Herman born approximately 1905, died, approximately 1910 at the age of  5 years) were the only children of Elmer and Mary (Motzko) Troyer.  Margaret was born June 16, 1909 and Dorothy was born April 5, 1913.  Since both their parents came from large families I'm sure it seemed odd to have such a small family...but the small family atmosphere is what made Margaret and Dorothy so close.



The picture to the right was found in mom's scrapbook...and although it is not identified I am almost positive it is Margaret and Dorothy - the blond hair on the older girl, the little bit of darker hair on the younger girl and the age difference seems to fit the picture above.  Was this for Halloween they were dressed like this?  Or maybe it was for a school costume party? Then again they could be dressed in play outfits that mom and dad gave them for Christmas or Birthday gifts?  Or maybe outfits that their mom just made them for fun?   I wish I knew the real story behind them.

Family Picture taken in 1929 - right to left - Elmer, Mary, Margaret, and Dorothy Troyer.  Taken at their home on 10th Street in Goshen Indiana.

Dorothy Helen Troyer married William Oliver Haines in 1934.  You can read more on their family by following link above.  Dorothy's best friend (her sister) Margaret stood up for her at the ceremony.

Dorothy and Margaret stayed close during their married lives...they lived within  walking distance (a few blocks) in Pomona California. They raised their large families together - Dorothy had 1 son, 3 daughters; Margaret had 2 sons, 3 daughters.  Dorothy outlived Marget by about 17 years dying in April 2004;  Margaret died in September 1987.

Read more about each of them by clicking on the links in the first paragraph above.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved



Tombstone Tuesday - Bill and Dorothy Haines

Holy Cross Cemetery

Pomona, California

(picture taken July 9, 2010)

William O. and Dorothy H. Haines were my uncle and aunt on my mother's side.  Dorothy was mom's only sibling and they were very close.  Bill and Dorothy were married on July 6, 1935 and had 4 children - 3 girls and a boy.

From the time I was 12 until I moved away from home we lived within walking distance of  Uncle Bill and Auntie Dorothy. Our only cousins and we 5 kids all went to the same schools together.  Uncle Bill was always known as the disciplinarian in his family - I can remember feeling thankful that he wasn't my dad!  We'd go to their house for backyard bar-be-ques and on the back porch would hang an ominous looking long leather strap.  We kids knew exactly what it was for and I think we all breathed a sigh of relief knowing he couldn't touch us with it. 

There was also an apartment - one room with kitchen, bath (I believe) above their garage.  We'd climb up there and sit around and chat with the cousins for hours on end.  I remember the huge orange grove they had on the property behind the house and garage.  Rows and rows of trees...'delish' fruit growing from the trees...I don't remember if it was forbidden fruit, or if we were allowed to eat as much as we could.  If it was forbidden I'm sure we stayed away with no problem for fear of that leather belt.  We did take short cuts through the trees to get back on the closest street to our house.  I remember an old wooden tree house built in one of those trees that the 3 boys (my 2 brother's and their boy cousin) would hide out in to get away from the girls.

Mary Post Warren 
© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Ordination Card

I'm not sure how this Eric P. O'Brien is related to my family.  Pomona, California is where my Aunt and Uncle relocated to after marrying and leaving Goshen Indiana.  Their relocation took place during this time frame. My mother and her parents moved to the Los Angeles/Culver City area.  I have found no O'Brien's in my mother's lineage.  So maybe Father O'Brien is related to Dorothy's husband, Bill Haines?  Or maybe he was just someone sponsored by their church in Pomona.  Dorothy and Bill were members of  Saint Joseph's Catholic Church, as was my family when we moved there 20 years later.

It would be interesting to obtain additional information on this.  The card was found in my mother's scrapbook, which makes me think she must have been at the ceremony.

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Tuesday Talkings

Busy time this past weekend!  My sister Martha and hubby Gerry were here from California visiting and we had an AWESOME time.  Eating out at Red Robin on Friday night, eating out Saturday noon at Mimi's Cafe with our 1st cousin, once removed.  Bernie is not only a great cousin to meet and eat with and she's a really nice person too!  Plus she's BEAUTIFUL as you can tell by the picture.  She is the 3rd child of Leo and Hilary....Hilary being my 1st cousin and the daughter of Bill and Dorothy Haines.

After catching up on each other we said our goodbyes/see-you-laters to Bernie; Howard, Gerry, Martha and I were all off to Kim and John's housewarming party.  And then back to our house for some going through and helping to identify old pictures party, and eating again....this time pizza!  Kim and John showed up later and we all sat and talked about life in general, and how things were going....fun stuff.

Sunday was more eating, this time at Jason's Deli....personally I'm STUFFED, tired, and overall pooped-out!.  I got a lot of pictures ID'd with Martha's help so it was a very productive  but tiring weekend in which I ate too much food, and had way more fun than I've had in a LONG time! 

Mary Post Warren

© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

Dorothy Troyer Haines

Dorothy Troyer (b. 4/5/1913 in Modesto CA; d. 4/19/2004; buried: Holy Cross Cemetery, Pomona CA) was the second daughter of Elmer and Mary Motzko Troyer.  She was the granddaughter of Philipp and Maria Motzko (Polish/German immigrants).  She had one sister Margaret Troyer Post (my mother).

Dorothy Troyer married William Oliver Haines (b.6/17/1906; d. 6/19/1992; buried: Holy Cross Cemetery, Pomona CA) on July 6, 1935; Bill and Dorothy Haines had four children Hilary, Emily, Sylvia and William Jr.

Dorothy was very close to her sister Margaret.  For much of their married lives they lived in the same city, Pomona California, within a few blocks of each other.  As a teenager I can remember walking to my aunt Dorothy's home.  I also remember walking to my grandfather's (mom and aunt Dorothy's dad) home.  In retirement years (as well as before retirement) Bill, Dorothy, Margaret and Hays spent much traveling and camping together.

Bill and Dorothy's family grew to include 21 grandchildren.  The two Troyer girls had 38 grandchildren between them.  A family solidly bound by family relationships and their love of God living in small town California (in those days! not anymore).




© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

 Mary Post Warren

Madness Monday - Unidentified Photos

If anything can drive a person mad it's unidentified photos that you are 99.9% positive are part of your family.  I've got many of those, more than a couple dozen.  I'm going to start posting them here so that family members and others can help identify them...

The first one I'd love to positively ID is the little cutie on the top right.  I THINK it's my mother Margaret Troyer Post or my aunt Dorothy Troyer Haines.  I found it in an old photo album belonging to my mother.

The photo on the left is used for comparison.  These children  have been positively identified as Dorothy (younger). The right photo was taken in 1914 (approx).

The second unidentified photo (on bottom right) I'm also assuming are my aunt and mother...ages look right (about 4 years apart in age).  It was also found in my mother's photo album.

I have no other photos of these two to compare these with.  The next pictures I have of my mom were when she was graduating from high school.





© copyright 2010, all rights reserved

 Mary Post Warren