Shawn (00:01): Welcome back everybody to English All Over the Place, a podcast produced by the Office of English Education at IUHW Narita. Each episode, we focus on different topics we think are interesting, and we hope that the students feel so too, as always after the episode, feel free to complete our survey, uh, test your comprehension by trying out our learning materials and, uh, send us any, uh, questions or suggestions that you have for the show. As always again, I am your host Shawn De Haven along wiiiith...
Barney (00:33): You guys can as always just call me Barney,
Shawn (00:36): Just call me Barney. Sounds like a song I knew. So, so Barney, I thought today that we would talk about our family trees.
Barney (00:47): I like it.
Shawn (00:47): Now I'm surprised. Um, uh, it's, it's somewhat common in the United States and other countries for people to research their family trees. Sometimes you have to do it in school. It's a project, (right). Elementary school, (right). You know, show and tell kind of thing. And I was surprised with, with how many records that people, keep of their relatives here at the shiyakusho, the city halls and stuff. (Oh man.) That it's not a big thing in Japan. (Yeah.) You know,
Barney (01:17): Yeah, why is that?
Shawn (01:17): I don't know, but, uh, let's ask our Japanese guest. Okay. He's quiet. He's quiet right now. Hi. Hayasaka-sensei, you can go now.
Barney (01:26): Um, sound of door opening and closing.
Shawn (01:33): Okay. No, he's not here. Don't worry, but I'm sure he'd say something if he was here, but I thought we could talk about our different families and how far back. Um, I know I've fallen down a rabbit hole when it comes to family history. Where do you come from? Where does your family come from?
Barney (01:50): Right? Yeah. Um, my, uh, my mom's side, um, very recently, um, I mean in, um, uh,
Shawn (02:00): Relatively?
Barney (02:01): Relatively speaking. Thank you. Um, is from Switzerland. Um, huh.
Shawn (02:05): How long ago did they come over?
Barney (02:08): Let's see, uh, Um, my, my grandfather's mom, so my great grandma. Um, yeah, so I don't know so much about that side of the family, just because so many people and fact that a lot of people are still there. Um, in Switzerland,
Shawn (02:29): Send me some chocolate please.
Barney (02:30): Yeah. Right. Or open a bank account for me. Um, almost didn't make it, they were coming across on the boat. Uh, and my grandma was on the side of the boat and pitched over and somebody grabbed her by the petticoat and hauled her back on
Shawn (02:48): You guys look up what a petticoat is and see how lucky grandma Martin was or whatever
Barney (02:54): Lehman Lehman. Yeah. Um, this is something I think we kind of share, they ended up not this, but I'm getting to it. They ended up, uh, settling in Indiana, Berne, Indiana of all places. Right. So, you know, Berne, Switzerland, Berne, Indiana.
Shawn (03:09): Oh yeah, yeah.
Barney (03:11): Right? Berne!
Shawn (03:12): Did they name it that because there are lots of Swiss settlers. (Yeah) Okay. I don't think I would go to a different country and name it Los Angeles, but, okay.
Barney (03:22): I loved it so much. Yeah.
Shawn (03:24): I loved it so much. I left. Yeah.
Barney (03:27): Um, my, uh, grand father's, um, dad died very early, very young. And so he had to support, I think it was six or seven of his siblings. So he worked at the dairy for a long time.
Shawn (03:43): This in Indiana?
Barney (03:44): Yeah. Yup. Yup. And then, uh, and then eventually he made his way to Ohio when he was older.
Shawn (03:51): What about your dad's side?
Barney (03:52): Yeah. They, boy, they were in Virginia for as long as anyone can remember, um, before then, Germany, but in Virginia. My dad's side, um, they have, there's at least one book I know written about them. Um, which I think is another thing that we share. Um, yeah. Uh, my grandfather, my dad's dad. Right. Um, had, uh, himself and 12 other siblings.
Shawn (04:20): Yeah. When you look back in family trees, at least in the United States, maybe in Japan, there are a crazy amount of siblings.
Barney (04:28): Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He was the youngest. So he said that he always grew up playing with his nieces and nephews because they were the same age. Um, yeah. My dad's side of the family, everybody was either a Mennonite pastor or a farmer.
Shawn (04:46): Oh, lots of rich people. Huh?
Barney (04:47): Yeah. Um, I think one episode we should do, um, a Mennonite thing because actually the Mennonites in Europe were very, very wealthy. Yeah. Um, that's why they got kicked out
Shawn (04:59): Jealousy.
Barney (05:00): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. Um, actually it was, um, uh, Catherine the Great asked them. She's like, "You guys are so good at farming. Could you please come and farm this Ukraine place for me?" Um, but they also, they are, you like that sliced bread? They are the reason why wheat is grown in America.
Shawn (05:21): Oh yeah. How did you know I liked slice bread?
Barney (05:25): But yeah. So, um, lots Mennonites. Um, my dad's side, my dad's dad, um, moved to Indiana also. Um, and he was a farmer for a long time. Then he drove truck and um, often it would be a thing where he drives the, the equipment or whatever to one place. And then he flies back and Muhammad Ali is also -- lived in Indiana. So they were often running into each other on the same flights. And um, you know, he learned so many stories about Muhammad Ali's life's that way.
Shawn (05:56): The famous boxer. Yes.
Barney (05:58): Yeah. Um, yeah, the one fun thing from my mom's mom. So my mom's side of the family also is very hard to research because they were Amish for a long time,
Shawn (06:10): Not big record keepers.
Barney (06:13): No...Yeah. And, um, but the one thing that this will probably surprise you. Um, there is a restaurant in my hometown of Wooster and, uh, it used to be the jail. And so it's called the "Olde Jaol" and um, and then they converted it into a restaurant and um, every time that my mom would take her mom there for lunch, cause it's a nice place --
Shawn (06:37): No metal trays or anything like that.
Barney (06:39): Yeah - right. Bread and water, but really good bread. Um, it's inevitable that my grandma would end up crying a little bit.
Shawn (06:48): Why?
Barney (06:48): Because her dad spent the night in that jail.
Shawn (06:53): So maybe don't take her to that restaurant.
Barney (06:55): Her Amish dad, um, he got caught having a nice time with someone to whom he was not married.
Shawn (07:07): Wow.
Barney (07:08): And in that day and age, that was, um, what -- line for being put in jail.
Shawn (07:15): Wow. So we wouldn't even have a president these days...
Barney (07:19): And he had to leave the church of course.
Shawn (07:21): ...by that law -- by those laws.
Barney (07:23): Yeah, so he left; the Amish kicked him out, but he became Mennonite.
Shawn (07:26): Wow. Okay. So he had to return the hat and everything? "Turn in your hat and suspenders" or whatever.
Barney (07:34): And shave that beard!
Shawn (07:36): Like a cop drama or something, you have to turn in their badge and gun, but how did you get to Ohio?
Barney (07:44): Yeah, so then, um, um, my, my mom, uh, her, so then her, she grew up in Ohio when her dad was there and then her mom's family had been there. Um, she was living in Indiana. She went to the same. I went to the same college that she went to, um, in, in Goshen. And she was working there as a nurse, as an RN. And, um, my dad was in Purdue, um, getting his (Purdue University?) master's again in West Lafayette, getting his master's in agronomy -- horticulture. And um, his older sister, my dad's the youngest, his older sister was also a nurse and same hospital as my mom. And she's like, "Hey, you know, you know, I've got this really cool brother and you know, why don't you guys give it a try and blah, blah, blah." And then my mom tells the story that once she's like, ah, I even thought maybe about things weren't going as well as I thought that they could be and thought about ending one time. But then I gave him a second chance (Wow) in her heart. And um, yeah. Then, uh, they, my three siblings were born in West Lafayette and um,
Shawn (08:52): West Lafayette is...
Barney (08:53): ...in Indiana (Indiana, Ok.). And um, then along came a job with the FDA, the food and drug administration -- so working for the government -- um, but on Ohio State University's campus, but not their main campus, their campus up north in Wooster,
Shawn (09:09): Ohio State is a huge university,
Barney (09:14): Huge. 80,000 students.
Shawn (09:15): 80,000 students? Crazy.
Barney (09:16): Yeah. And um, yeah, so, um, my dad looked at, it looked like it was going to be good. It was either it's actually either there or Guelph uh, in Ontario. (Ooo!) Yeah. And my dad's like, "I don't mind the cold, but I think I mind that cold."
Shawn (09:34): (I know!) All the ice hockey you could have seen!
Barney (09:37): I would have been a Canadian citizen.
Shawn (09:38): You could have grown up being a Guelph Storm fan.
Barney (09:40): Man. I know.
Shawn (09:42): A Maple Leafs fan. Oh, how sad.
Barney (09:44): Ooo, Boy. I wonder...
Shawn (09:47): Look them up folks. They haven't won a championship in over 50 years (No.).
Barney (09:50): Um, yeah. That's how we ended up in -- so he worked for the government for 45? 45 years. More than 45 years. Um, that's --
Shawn (10:00): Got out just in time.
Barney (10:01): Yeah. Right. Yeah. One other interesting tidbit about my family. That's probably not so common to everybody. Um, my parents thought that they couldn't have kids. They lost their first child and so they, they adopted a baby and, uh, he's biracial. Um, and um, yeah, he's my, he's my oldest brother.
Shawn (10:21): I did not know that. Is he half black or what is he?
Barney (10:24): Yeah was black. His mom was white. Um, and um, yeah, then he was born in February and my sister was born in October.
Shawn (10:34): Oh, wow. I guess they could have kids.
Barney (10:37): Yes. They did end up getting things to work out.
Shawn (10:40): How many did they have eventually?
Barney (10:42): I'm number four.
Shawn (10:43): Of?
Barney (10:47): Of 4 -- 4 of 4. I'm the youngest; I'm the youngest (Oh, ok.) Yeah, sorry. Not 13!
Shawn (10:47): No, no, no. You're not Mormon.
Barney (10:53): Or Catholic.
Shawn (10:53): Yes, that's true too. Um, okay. Wow. But by the way, th th what we're talking about right here, the books and things like that, the research, this is called genealogy in English. This is the study of your roots of your family history and things like that. So it's a, it's a real thing. And some people just go crazy for it.
Barney (11:13): Yeah right. (Um) Again, hearkening back to the Mormons.
Shawn (11:16): Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And, and a lot of the ways that you'll research your family roots now is you'll go through websites. There's, uh, ancestry.com and other websites. And a lot of them are run by Mormons. And Mormons, uh, a religious group, uh, an offshoot of Christianity that put high value on knowing your family history. (Yeah.) So, um, I'm, I'm guess I'm thankful for that. (Yeah.) Because without some of their resources, (Oh yeah) I would not have known a lot of stuff about my family. Now, I didn't really care much. I mean, when I was young, all I knew about my family was on my mom's side. We came from Ireland a long time ago, about three, three or four generations ago, (Ok.) and then settled in Illinois, a rather boring area. Um, Geneseo -- farms. Um, and, uh, you know, and you look at their book in there. It's like, you know, born in Illinois; died in Illinois. Born in Illinois; died in Illinois. So not a lot to research there. Um, my dad's side on the other hand, (Yeah!) uh, uh, when I was a kid, I heard that, uh -- my dad is from Alaska and, um, several generations of my family are from Alaska. Uh, and they got there through the gold rush. (Okay.) And I knew about that. And then I also heard this story a little bit from my aunt that, uh, "Hey, you know, we fought in the Revolutionary War too, (Whoa) uh, this is the Revolutionary War, when the U S was a colony and they were fighting to break free from England. (Right.) And, uh, um, some fought on the England side and some fought on the United States side. And I found out that my family chose the wrong side. (I see) At least that branch of the family, (Right) so they were loyal to the King. (Right.) And, um, so once they lost -- they were called "Loyalists", "Tories", uh, "traitors" by some, um, once they lost, it was very awkward to stick around in the United States,
Barney (13:26): "Hey guys, remember that war we just had?"
Shawn (13:26): After the U S got their independence,
Barney (13:30): "...just kidding."
Shawn (13:30): So they were kicked out and many of them went to, uh, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and New Brunswick. (Right.) Uh, my f- -- part of my family included -- they were given some farmland and they settled there. And, uh, that was in the oh, 1700s -- 1800s (Right.) around there. And so, and I found out about this book and I always had known a little bit about my gold rush era, two or three generations back family. Cause there were a couple books and I had them thankfully because my father bought them. But then I finally got hold of this book that had, um -- my family's name, uh, on my dad's side used to be Feero, F-e-e-r-o. (Right.) And there's a book on one of my ancestors, um, Christian Feero and talks about all, about his descendants. (Wow.) And the book was published in '83 and it goes down to my generation of -- the generation of my great grandmother and, and her kids.
Barney (14:34): Wow.
Shawn (14:35): So, and there's long -- this extensive family tree and the woman who did this, did a fantastic job of researching it, especially considering this was before the internet. (Oh boy -- yeah, right.) So she had to go to city offices and libraries and look up stuff, you know, actually open books, people crazy. Huh? (I know.) It's not all on Wikipedia. (Yeah.) But now because of the internet and because of these websites, I can just research things and easily, somewhat easily, find things. Although sometimes you have to pay for some services (Sure.) and I just don't do that. So that side of the family, uh, fought in the Revolutionary War was shipped up to New Brunswick, which is just above Maine -- way east (Right.) part of Canada. And eventually some of them, a few generations later did move down to Maine. (Okay.) And then some -- looking for work and my, my great-great grandfather. Wait, great-great grandfather? Yeah. Didn't go along with his brothers. So he moved to Tacoma (Wow!) and started a business there.
Barney (15:41): Really far away!
Shawn (15:42): ... and -- yeah to Tacoma, Washington on the West Coast. Um, and then I -- in the, uh, 1890s I think, the economy bottomed out (Oo) and a lot of people lost stuff. He lost stuff. And he took a chance and went to Alaska for the gold rush. And eventually he had money and he sent for his family, my great grandmother, eventually my grandmother and, you know, et cetera. And so it's just fascinating because there was a book called Klondike Women, (Right.) Which was written about the women that went and were part of the gold rush -- because people usually focus on the men in history. And I didn't give much thought to it at the time when I was elementary school it came out or maybe in junior high. But now I go back and I read it and there's like a whole chapter or two on my great grandmother (Wow.) And her stories; stuff like that. So she was a very good storyteller. And then I found out recently through my aunt in Texas, that she had three audio tapes of the interviews that she had done for somebody around 1978, 1980. And she got those digitized (Great.) And then sent them to me. So now I have all these audio tapes where I can hear my great grandmother, who I only met once as a baby -- of course, I don't remember it -- I just have a picture -- hear her described life in, in Alaska and Skagway (Oh wow.) and things like that. It's time travel. It's just amazing. So I can hear from her firsthand what life was like in this harsh environment and how -- but she did love life. And she was a great storyteller. People adored her and talk about her father and her grandfather. So it's like just time travel, (Oh wow.) going back in time, it was just such a treasure. And now it's digitalized. So my sons can listen to it. My daughter can listen to it whenever they're -- they want to in the future. <Barney's phone goes off> There's some birds in here. (Yes.) I, you think the windows would have...
Barney (17:52): I told them to be quiet.
Shawn (17:53): Yeah, it's okay. Um, but um, it's really been a lot of fun and I've started a blog writing stories from her point of view or talk about different relatives. I mean, I -- through this book, the book on Christian Feero, it just, it lists so many people. And I list, I found one person who was working as an actor. I'm like, (Oh yes!) I look them up and he has passed away since, but he worked in all these popular Eighties TV shows that I watched, uh, just as a bit actor, but it was fun to actually -- I could see a couple of the episodes (That's so cool.) And go, wow, that's a distant cousin of mine. I had no idea. (So cool -- I know.) He was even on a science fiction show -- show called "Battlestar Galactica" (I know!) and he has an action figure! (So cool.) Not even a major character -- and they made an action -- I don't understand that marketing, but, um, so cool. So many people from different walks of life. And now I've got this Google Map here and I put pins down (Oh cool.) when I find out where my relatives are now -- we have a Facebook page. So I have, now I know where -- and mind blowing thing is: Uh, I found relatives now that live -- still live -- in New Brunswick that live on the original property (That's so cool.) of Christian Feero, my, uh, I think it's eight-times great-grandfather from 1751 to 1836 -- that's when he died -- they live on his original land now. (Wow.) So if I ever am able to travel to Canada and go to New Brunswick, I can visit where that part of my family started.
Barney (19:36): Boy the chills you would get.
Shawn (19:39): I'm sure my wife would be bored out of her mind because in Canada, New Brunswick is like the Shimane of Japan. It's not heavily populated. It's probably nice, but it's -- you know -- it's not Toronto or Montreal (Sure, sure.) or anything like that, but it's a lot of fun -- Yes, question?
Barney (19:58): Yeah. This, um, great-great grandfather? (Something like that.) that was in Alaska. (Yes, yes. Yeah.) Did, did he, um, did he strike gold or was he doing a general store kind of thing? Supplying the gold rush?
Shawn (20:12): He went up like, like many other people. He went there searching for gold for richie -- for riches, but by the time you got there, most of the gold mines had already been found and claimed by other people. (I see.) So he made money running a pack train, (Ah hah.) and so he would have horses (Oh yeah.) and put, uh, equipment on the horses and pull them up, guide them up the mountain to the mines for the miners. (Perfect.) Uh, and so he made money that way; lots of people made money in the gold rush in the businesses around the gold. (Right, right, right.) Um, unfortunately one time, uh, he got lost in the snow coming back on the trail and he had a, um, a double hernia. (Wow.) And, uh, he ended up, uh, getting lost in the blizzard or something and dying on the trail. (Yeah.) So my great grandmother and her mother and, uh, three or four kids -- she had to raise them herself. And it was just, you know, and so I heard my great grandmother describing the day that she found out that her father had died and stuff like that. So, um, it's tragic, but it's really interesting history. (Yeah.) So, um, if you guys get a chance to research your history, um, you know, and I would suggest if you're, if your grandfather, grandmother, maybe great grandmother, great grandmother are still alive. Talk to them. (Oh yeah.) And, and interview them even record them. Uh, I'm recording sometimes when I talk with my aunt, because she remembers things that my dad doesn't -- my dad's memory's not so good anymore, but my aunt who's 87 and still very sharp. Um, so if you can talk to your relatives before they're gone (Yeah.) And, you know, get a sense of the family history.
Barney (22:08): Right? Yeah. Boy,...hear these stories, these kinds of stories that, um, if they don't, if they don't tell them, nobody will remember them.
Shawn (22:15): No, they will disappear into the wind and you will never know a certain side of your family.
Barney (22:21): Yeah. Right.
Shawn (22:22): So it's just, it's just fascinating. I mean, I have to pull back some time because it's just,
Barney (22:27): I was thinking, yeah. This episode could be a really rich one (Yes!), but a long one.
Shawn (22:32): Yeah. But I think I've summarized, it summarized it pretty well. (Yeah.) Um, I hope I didn't speak too fast for everyone, but it's just a fascinating journey. Um, now, I wish I knew more about my mom's side because I love Ireland and (Oh yeah.) stuff like that, but I really don't know much about that other than they came over at a certain time. And that's about it.
Barney (22:52): Could you imagine if you find out that they were equally boring?
Shawn (22:58): Ah, it's possible.
Barney (22:58): Yeah, right.
Shawn (23:00): I mean, my mom tells me like a great-great grandfather came home one day. Uh, he immigrated from Ireland to Canada and she always tells this story: He came home one day and he found his wife riding a horse with another man. (Oh dear.) So she -- he left her and moved to Michigan.
Barney (23:16): As they all do.
Shawn (23:16): So my mom does have some stories, but they're just the same stories repeated over and over again (Or this story [inaudible]) I'm like, yes, yes. I know. But she won't give me details, but yes. (Well, interesting.) But thankfully this person that wrote the book in 1983 (That's so cool!), it's easy to read. And uh, and now thanks to Facebook and things like that. I (That's cool.) can find these grandkids of these people that are involved in this book. So guys, uh, talk to your family members. (Yeah.) You know, (Yeah really!) especially before they're gone.
Barney (23:49): Yeah. They will be glad that you did and you will be glad that you did too.
Shawn (23:53): Yes. (Yeah.) All right. So, um, I think we want to end this about here. (Yep.) Uh, uh, again, uh, please take a look at our surveys. Uh, the learning materials from this episode, um, look up where New Brunswick and Indiana are, things like that. This is great for your geo-
Barney (24:11): And both Bernes.
Shawn (24:13): "Berns," yes. Berne: B-e-r-n-[e].
Barney (24:16): That's right. Yep.
Shawn (24:16): Yes. (Yeah.) Uh, interestingly enough, my, my, a lot of my mother's relatives were from Phoenix, uh, Illinois. So (Ah - ah, okay.) keeping with the fire theme there. Uh, yeah, but I enjoyed this. I hope you guys enjoy this. Um, talk to your grandparents before they're gone aunts, whatever. (Yeah.) Learn the history.
Barney (24:37): Yeah. And share it. I always enjoy hearing the stories that Shawn tells that - he, uh - finds out from his relatives.
Shawn (24:42): Some crazy stuff in there. (Oh yes...) Yes. Murderers and scandal as well. We won't, but we won't talk about grandpa. Um, oops. Oops. Did I say that loud? Okay. Well (figuratively speaking), I don't know all the details. Yes. Okay guys. Well, I hope you enjoyed the episode and I hope you fill out the survey, do the learning materials. And again, we'll still have another episode where we answer your questions. So feel free to send in questions or suggestions. Um, Barney, anything to add
Barney (25:17): As always. Thanks for listening.
Shawn (25:21): I can't wait to put that quote on a t-shirt. Okay. Thanks a lot guys. And we hope to see you again!
Barney (25:27): Right.
Shawn (25:28): Bye.