The Post Family Reunion, Part I

I have never been to a family reunion. In fact, I've met very few members of my family outside of my parents, brother, grandparents, aunt, and uncle. Because I see relatives so infrequently (I don't have any cousins, by the way), researching genealogy has always helped me to make up the difference. Thankfully, my great-grandfather (My father's mother's father) Willard Post did a lot of the work for me. Somehow, in the 1920s or 1930s, he managed to trace the Post family back to Peter Arnold Post, born in Amsterdam sometime in 1500.

It fascinates me how human migration has shaped people, including me specifically. While that great-grandfather's family had been in North America since Richard Post migrated to Long Island in 1640, another great-grandfather of mine Raphael Taddei (Or Taddeo depending on who you ask) was born in Casalottico, Italy between Rome and Naples (Thus one of my soccer teams is SSC Napoli). Maybe I'll touch on the story of my great-grandfather Ralph (As the authorities at Ellis Island thought he should be named) another time.

Here I want to touch on one record left by great-grandfather Post. Amongst his research, now sitting in my father's office in Virginia (As opposed to Pittsburgh, Newark, and New York City where that family's roots are, another story of migration), was an account of a Post family reunion on August 23, 1900. I found it fascinating, so I will be dividing it up into parts and posting it here over time. It will be posted as transcribed onto the computer by me based on the exact wording, grammar, and punctuation of my great-grandfather, to include how he numbered his paragraphs for some reason.


1. Seventy persons by actual count gathered at the home of Miss Mary E. Post, in South Franklin Township on August 22, for a family reunion. They came from far and near to an old homestead, to bring back the former things and former days. The oldest person present was in their ninety-first year, hale and hearty, and enjoyed the day as much as the youngest present. The Post place is one of the oldest in the county and is now owned by Miss Mary, is the original tract of land. The location of the fine brick mansion is on the top of a hill for which the surrounding country for miles is in plain view. Dinner was served in the yard, under the shade off lucusts and a very large linden tree. After this suptious repast was partaken of, the pohotographer made his pictures. Miss Ettie M. Post, of West Finley, read an interesting history of the family connections. The family history follows:

2. Munson Post, the ancestor of the Posts, in this community, was born in Essex county, N.J., and was the father of five children; Jeremiah, Joseph, David, Benjamin, and one daughter. In the year 1781, he removed in wagons with his family to Morris township, Washington county, Pennsylvania, the journey occupying several weeks.

3. Politically, Mr. Post was a Democrat, which is largely the characteristic of his descendents. Just what his religious faith was is not know, but he is supposed to have been a member of the Church of England and many of his descendents have been members of some branch of the Presbyterian church.

4. Jeremiah Post, son of Munson, was born in Essex county, N.J., September 10, 1769, so was twelve years of age when he came to Pennsylvania with his parents. His education was somewhat limited. In 1794 he married Martha, daughter of Dr. Charles Cracraft, who bore him four children, William, Deborah, Charles, and Joseph. In 1804, he married his second wife, Mary, daughter of Abraham Enlow, and their children were, Martha, Jemimie, Martin, Jesse, Luke, Sarah, Mary A., James R., and Phoebe. Jeremiah Post lived for the first few years of his married life on a small farm near Van Buren, but selling that moved to a small farm near Dr. Charles Cracraft, where he afterwards lived, and is now occupied by one of his descendents, and where our reunions are now held. He was one of the charter members of the Bethel [County Presbyterian] Church, and dying June 1, 1848, was buried in the Bethel cemetery as also was his wife in later years after her death, November 30, 1854.

5. William Post, eldest son of Jeremiah, was born November 12, 1795, and married Margaret, daughter of Benhamin Lindley, Morris township. To this unison were born six sons and three daughters, Sarah, Mary, Martha, Charles, Jeremiah, Jackson, Joseph, Clark C., and B. L. Post.

6. Charles, son of William, was a tailor by trade, married June Hays, and lived in Washington until their death. They had seven children, two of whom are deceased (Lindley and Margaret); Manda who married Will Curdy (Mc), resides in Washington, D.C.; James in Montana; Dr. Silas in Canton, Ohio; and Will and Harry are residents of Washington, Pennsylvania

I got bored.

I have decided to tell a random fact about the first ten people to show up on my newsfeed on Facebook. This will be interesting since I'm not going to name them on this blog.

1. I met this guy in Newark, New Jersey. He was completely guidoed-out and gave me a shot.

2. Steve tried to hook me up with this girl in middle school. I never found her to be very intelligent.

3. Due to this gentleman's distinct birthmark and Dorian's inability to remember his name, this guy was referred to as Harvey Dent behind his back. Or in one Doriantastic instance, to his face.

4. I met this girl at a party that Garris brought me to. It was a highlighter party. When she ran out of room on her shirt, she took it off and let everyone start over.

5. This guy came down from New Jersey when his chapter decided to hold their crossover in our house. Thankfully, I did not see him naked that night as it was the night of the most imfamous naked attic party.

6. I still don't know why this guy was called Stumpy throughout high school, but it always seemed appropriate.

7. Based on the one TauDelt this girl dated and later the former roommate of mine that she also dated, I question this girl's taste in men.

8. This girl once let Mullin stay on her couch when he came down to visit from New York. She had to go out of town 14 hours before his bus left, so Elliott and I spent the rest of the day keeping him entertained. Were it not for her, I never would have seen the movie Donkey Punch. God bless her for that alone.

9. This girl was a central character in one of the most epic nights of drinking in my life. Bad pictures were taken and I woke up the next morning to find my bathtub covered in blood.

10. HA! Holy crap! I'm the tenth person! I didn't even plan that!

An Explanation of My Sports Cheering Patterns

First and foremost, my team will always come first. I love an underdog and a feel good story, but when it looked like the Cleveland Indians were going to be the 2011 surprise success story, I was ecstatic when the Angels were the only team to demolish them in the first month or so of the season.

Second, if my team is not playing, the team from the South will generally have my support. If the team has a Richmond or Louisiana connection, they will have my support over other Southern teams. Richmond, because I am obssessed with myself, and Louisiana or Quebec because I am a proud of my French heritage.

In baseball, it is Angels first, all the way. When the Angels are not playing, I support the Yankees, Nationals, and Braves. I come from a Yankee family going back to the 1920s with ties to New York City, but due to my growing up outside of a territory, I became an Angels fan in my youth and offer them my rabid support. I support the Nationals because the Montreal Expos were my National League team due to the French connection, and when they moved to both a city below the Mason-Dixon Line (Yes, Washington is technically a Southern city) and became the nearest MLB franchise to my home, my support followed them. The Braves are a no-brainer based both on them being THE Southern baseball team and my grandparents becoming Braves fans upon their migration to Atlanta territory.

Next, I will cheer for Houston, Miami, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay. Houston, Miami, and Tampa Bay are Southern cities, though Miami tends not to fit in culturally. Even so, Miami is in a Southern state and I appreciate them just the same. Pittsburgh has my support due to both of my paternal grandparents and my father being born in Pittsburgh and my love of awful/underdog teams. I have started supporting San Francisco recently for more than just my admiration of Brian Wilson's insanity. My grandfather, living in the Augusta, Georgia area gives me a tie to San Francisco's rookie league team, the Augusta Green Jackets. Also, the Giant's Triple A team is the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Both of those teams cause me to cheer for the Giants from time to time because I hear about their prospects regularly.

Next, I will root for Baltimore, but not too strongly. Baltimore is a Southern city, but being the historical rival of the Yankees and the intra-beltway rival of the Nationals, they don't have my strongest support. I don't hate Kansas City or St. Louis, and my support for them usually depends on whether or not I feel like Missouri is a Southern state that day or not.

The teams I will never root for are Boston, Oakland, Seattle, Texas, the Dodgers, and the Mets. Boston is just the worst city in the world. Oakland, Seattle, and Texas are rivals of the Angels (And starting in 2013, Houston will probably be added to this list as they are moving to the American League West). The Dodgers are the Angels cross-town rivals and the historical rivals of the Giants and Yankees.

In football, it is, of course, Broncos all the way.

After the Broncos, I root for the New York Jets and New Orleans. My father is a Jets fan and New Orleans is the capital of French culture in American (Sorry Quebec border).

Next is Baltimore and Washington. I have always kinda liked the Ravens due to being a Southern team and the nearest AFC team to my home. Support for Washington has really been a recent development due to me being so far removed from them and seeing them reminds me of home, and I'm dating a Redskins fan, so that solves that.

After the Ravens and Redskins, I support Atlanta, Carolina, Houston, Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa Bay, Tennesee as they are Southern teams. I will never root for Dallas, Kansas City, New England, Oakland, and San Diego.

My thoughts on basketball, hockey, soccer, and college sports shall follow soon.