The Daniel Matheny Hewitt Challenge

July 19th, 2009

(from June 2008)

A new event! Who inherited this athletic prowess?

Be sure to see the results of the 2008 competition!!  (Click here!)
Then get your ‘jumping shoes’ on, and get ready for this years competition!!

Brian Hewitt challenges all comers to compete at the Reunion at “two hops and a jump running” mentioned in Jasper Hewitt’s reference to his brother, and Brian’s great-great grandfather, Daniel Matheny Hewitt.

“I do not remember many events in Daniel’s life at home as he married when I was yet in my seventh year.I do remember how fine he looked dressed up and with peg-heeled red tight-fitting boots that fit like a glove with his trousers inside. These heels stood well under the boot so the track on the ground was as small as a child’s foot. These were hand-made and in the style for dashing young men and were made of calf (hide). He also had a family failing—he was a wonderful athlete, could beat all from far and near at two hops and a jump running.”–From the memoirs of Jasper Hewitt

‘Two hops and a jump’, a track&field event in the modern Olympic Games since its inception in 1896, was later known as ‘hop, step, and jump’ and is now the ‘triple jump’. The goal is to cover as much horizontal distance as possible by two hops (on one foot) and a jump (on two feet) in succession after a running start.

Start practicing soon. Extra points for doing it in peg-heeled red tight-fitting boots!

[Henry & Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt > Daniel Matheny Hewitt > Guy Glenn Hewitt > Derrell D. Hewitt > Richard Hewitt > Brian Hewitt]

Posted in **Reunion Information** | No Comments »

In “The Old Days” Kids Had a Blast!

July 19th, 2009

(or — TNT Didn’t Used to Be a Cable Channel)

Grandpa Kerr had a big vegetable garden on the flats by the slough at the old Dorsey Place. He harvested a tremendous amount of root crops; enough to last all winter; probably two tons of potatoes, carrots, onions, rutabagas, parsnips, turnips, anything that grew in the ground. We had no way of storing them so dad dug a cave in the face of the cliff. It was deep enough that it did not freeze in the winter and it was dark enough that you could even store potatoes.

Hank decided that he wanted to dig a cave also. He was about twelve and I was about four. He got some dynamite somewhere. I don’t know where he got that dynamite and I didn’t ask him. So he and I dug a cave. That was back in the days when dynamite used a cap on the end of the fuse. We didn’t have a crimper so we crimped the caps in our mouths with our teeth. If it had gone off it would have blown our heads off.

The cave we dug wasn’t as deep nor as high as Dad’s. Ours was only about twelve feet deep and about four and a half feet high inside. The one that dad made was probably about six feet high. The ground was very firm, compressed clay, so we didn’t have to shore it up.

The cliff was probably eighty feet high. Our cave was about forty feet above the river, where the bank changed from a just a steep slope to a vertical slope. Dad had built wooden steps coming down from the house for the first forty feet and then a trail to go down the rest of the slope to get to the farm ground, what we called the sand patch. The cave was on this trail.

We moved away from the Dorsey place a couple of years later and the Tompkins family moved into the house. The Tompkins boys told people that there was a lot of gossip about the Tompkins making whiskey, but they found caves on the Kerr place! The talk about the Tompkins’, however, wasn’t just Prohibition-time gossip, as evidenced by their staggering hogs (but that’s another story).

Elma Hewitt remembers the cousins going to see the cave at one of the Hewitt family reunions in the mid 1930’s when they were held at LaDru Thornton’s grove, a couple hundred yards from the Dorsey place.]

[Henry & Elizabeth Hewitt>James Andrew Hewitt> Sylva Hewitt Kerr> William Henry (Hank) Kerr & Jean Kerr]

Posted in **Reunion Memories** | No Comments »

Minutes of Special Meeting Regarding Privacy, Publications, & Distribution 11/15/2008

July 19th, 2009
  • Date: Nov. 15, 2008
  • Present: Barbara, Louis, Rae Anne, Elma, Mel, Joanne

I.  Discussion regarding policy on privacy: Privacy regarding personal information includes:  name, address, phone number, email address, birthdate, and mother’s maiden name.

1.   It is our policy to continue to publish names of members of the family (for example: in newsletter articles), with no additional contact information, without any specific permission.

There are two exceptions to this policy:

A.  Elected council officers (President, Treasurer, and Secretary) names and contact information (address, phone, and email) will be listed in all published newsletters, on the inside of the newsletter (no longer on the back cover).

B.  Anyone who submits an article to the newsletter and requests his or her contact information appear with the article.

2.   It is our policy to never publish birthdates or mother’s maiden name

There are 2 exceptions to this policy:

A. We will continue to publish written lineage information at the end of articles, indication the lineage of the subject of the article (Example from a recent article about Jean Kerr: Henry and Elizabeth Matheny Hewitt>James Andrew Hewitt>Sylva Hewitt Kerr>William Henry (Hank) Kerr & Jean Kerr.)

B. Obituaries taken from newspapers (public record) or submitted by members will be printed including any personal information present.

The council asks that family members let us know quickly if there is any objection to either of these policies.


 II.    Discussion regarding income from publications:

  1. Our policy regarding distribution of publications is:  whatever we distribute shall pay for itself and make a profit. (The size of the “profit” is not determined at this time, and may vary according to type of material, format of material, and to whom the material is being distributed.)

Respectfully submitted,    Joanne Shipley

Posted in HMC Family Council | No Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »