In the fall of 1933, our great grandparents James and Bessie Hynes moved to Middleboro, Massachusetts, south of Boston, following the depression-driven decline of the Bushwick Avenue Baptist Church in Brooklyn. Recall that we previously examined James’ welcome as pastor of the Central Baptist Church in Middleboro, skipping ahead because of the important biographical informationContinue reading “An Enigma Passes into Obscurity”
Author Archives: jimsandford
Death of an Icon
On the morning of Tuesday, May 20, 1924 our great grandfather Henry Swan presided over a monthly directors meeting of the First National Bank of Ontario, California, where he was the bank president. The routine meeting was adjourned and Henry left for lunch. That afternoon, there was scheduled a monthly board meeting of the EuclidContinue reading “Death of an Icon”
The Pomona Solution
From 1922 to 1923 the best source of information on the Sandford and Swan families is grandfather Joe Sandford’s diary, two dozen typewritten pages in a notebook formerly used by grandmother Margaret during her studies at the University of California at Berkeley. The diary was found by cousin Robert in the crevices of Joe’s oldContinue reading “The Pomona Solution”
The End of the Family Legacy in Brooklyn
By year-end 1930, our grandparents Gordon and Ruth Hynes were living in Freeport, Long Island, New York. Gordon was an ordained Baptist minister and the full time pastor of the Freeport Baptist Church. Their first child, daughter Magurerite, our mother, was born in Freeport in April 1932. The era of great grandfather James Louis Hynes’Continue reading “The End of the Family Legacy in Brooklyn”
A Good Life Remembered
Great grandfather Edward Sandford was 79 at the time of his son’s wedding in 1921. Having started his second marriage at the late age of 48, he was always a generation out-of-step with the rest of his family. Edward had dealt with health concerns most of his life, beginning with his near-fatal battlefield wound inContinue reading “A Good Life Remembered”
The Sandford and Swan Families Unite in Ontario
By early summer 1919, grandfather Joe Sandford had safely returned to his home in Ontario, California from the war in France . The Sandford and the Swan families had known of each other since 1910 when the Sandfords moved to Ontario and Henry Swan gave Joe a job in his Ontario bank to save himContinue reading “The Sandford and Swan Families Unite in Ontario”
The Sechler and Hynes Families Unite in Brooklyn
The Sechler and Hynes families came together in the 1920s in Bushwick, Brooklyn where they lived one block apart. Great grandmother Laura Sechler and daughter Ruth lived at 987 Hancock Street while Great grandparents James and Bessie Hynes lived at 1008 with their four children. The Bushwick Avenue Baptist Church, where James was preacher, wasContinue reading “The Sechler and Hynes Families Unite in Brooklyn”
Quarante Hommes / Huit Chevaux
The Sandford family lives were interrupted in April 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson, followed by the United States Congress, declared war on Germany, ending years of attempts to maintain neutrality. Grandfather Joe Sandford’s draft registration form is dated June 5, 1917. He was 25 years old. Signing up for the war was in line withContinue reading “Quarante Hommes / Huit Chevaux”
Close Ties with the Richardson Family of Ontario
In the early 20th century, the Hotpoint Company became one of the first companies to locate in Ontario, California, beginning its transformation from a purely agricultural town to a sizable Southern California city. Hotpoint, which later merged into General Electric, would remain a cornerstone of the Ontario economy for the next 80 years. The companyContinue reading “Close Ties with the Richardson Family of Ontario”
Joe Sandford’s Young Adult Life
In 1911, his parents retired, our grandfather Joe Sandford was 18 years old and entering young adulthood with a promising career and social life. After a brief time working in the Ontario California bank of his future father-in-law Henry Swan, Joe went to work for George McCrea who had come to California from North DakotaContinue reading “Joe Sandford’s Young Adult Life”
Bridging the Silences 