Ancestry does it again!

 

For over forty-five years I've had a photo album which I've come to believe belonged to my Great Grandmother Catherine Hedges Jamison. Most photos were labeled and I knew them as family members but there were several my mother did not know how they were connected to the family. One of these unknown photos was a beautiful toddler and on the back was the name, "Claude Nolan Harper, 2 years." From the moment I saw this photo I called him "Clod Hopper."  Mom would correct me but I always thought of him by the nickname I'd given him.

So imagine my surprise the other day while doing some research on Ancestry when I found Claude Harper among my Hedges family. I read and reread the name and started chuckling at the play on the name "Clod Hopper"...  and then I thought, "Wait a minute! This is my long lost Claude Harper!!!" He was my Great-grandmother's grandnephew and Mom's second cousin and she never knew it!

Also in the album was the beautiful Irma Leila Hedges. If Ancestry was going to help me out with Claude surely it could help me out with other questionable family members. With the name Hedges we knew Leila was related but the exact tie was unclear. Searching online I was able to find Leila's family and she was my Great Grandmother Hedges' niece. Catherine's brother, John, was Leila's father!