Connections

You never know what treasures are waiting to be found in the piles of family documents

This small piece of paper has a link between Celia Cathcart Holton, Roy Burkhart, Hazel Burkhart Floyd, my grandfather Harry Edmond Floyd, Joe, and his grandfather Joseph Clinton Todd. That's a lot of jumping around in time and across different family lines. 

Celia collected quotes and used them in the many talks and Sunday School lessons she gave. She typed this story that has interesting family connections. 

 A friend met John Quincy Adams one time and said, "Good morning, how are you?" The old man's eyes began to twinkle and then he spoke slowly. His words have become. classic. "John Quincy Adams himself is very well, thank you, but the house he lives in is sadly delapidated [sic]. It is tottering on its foundation. The walls are badly shattered and the roof is worn. The building trembles with every wind, and I think John Quincy Adams will move out of it one of these days. But he, himself, is very well."

When this paragraph was read over the radio by Dr. Burkhart, of Columbus, Ohio, one of his hearers was an old lady who wrote in to him: "This is an old lady who is writing you, or at least the house I live in is eighty two years old. Considing [sic] its age, I think the house is in fairly good repair, though I don't think it looks quite as good as it did fifty years ago. I have neglected to keep it painted, as so many of the women of this generation do. To tell the truth, I have been spending my time on interior decorating. The windows I look out of are fairly clear, and I am glad to tell you I have a reliable tenant in the upper story."

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Dr. Burkhart is Roy Burkhart, well-known pastor of First Community Church in Upper Arlington, Ohio. Joe and Jane attended First Community shortly after their marriage. Joe's grandfather, Joseph Clinton Todd and Roy Burkhart were both involved in religious education and were acquaintances. Roy Burkhart's wife was Hazel Shover Burkhart. After Roy died, Hazel met Harry Edmond Floyd at the First Community Village in Upper Arlington. They were married in the mid1960s. Later I married Joe who was linked to Roy Burkart through his grandfather Joseph Clinton Todd. 

It is indeed a small world. We are all connected.