The Family Photo Album: Four Generations

The photo above depicts four generations of the Arras family of Hancock County, Ohio.

Johann Philipp Arras, known as Philip (1832-1913)
George Henry Arras, known as Henry (1862-1943)
Oliver Martin Arras (1889-1973)
Theron Henry Lamont Arras (1910-2003)

The genealogy bug seems to skip a generation in this family.

Theron was my great-uncle, brother of my grandmother, Lucia Arras.  He was an incredible genealogist, working with German researchers to trace the origin of all the families involved in the shipwreck of the “Famous Dove” (Brig James Beacham).  His work was published in the Palatine Immigrant of July 1988.

Theron’s grandfather, Henry Arras, was also interested in the family history, as I’ve mentioned before.  He worked with the Rev. John Gauss, pastor of Trinity church in Jenera, Ohio, to compile a history, the Familien Rekord, of the Arras family from Germany to Hancock County, Ohio.  I hope to include the Familien Rekord on the blog at a later date.

The original of this photo hangs in a large oval frame on my second floor landing, so you can see it as you come up the stairs.  Theron owned it until his passing.  Prior to that, it hung in the parlor of his parents’ home in Findlay, Ohio.