religious family tree
Jessica Power
Nov. 11, 2008
Family Tree
After researching my family tree and talking to relatives about their religious beliefs I have discovered patterns within my family’s religious history. For one, it seems like religious practices and traditions have faded from generation to generation. Now the only “religious” members of my family and those who associate with their church do so for reasons related to marriage, location, or personal experiences. The patterns I have found in my family’s history also relate to some of the readings we have done in class and tend to confirm them.
Starting with my father’s side of the family, my grandfather Raymond Power’s grandparents on his mother’s side, the Hadelers, were German Lutherans and his grandparents on his father’s side, the Powers, were Baptists. Ray’s father, Robert Power, was born in Texas in 1888 and was Baptist and raised Ray as a Baptist when he was born in 1925 in California. My grandmother says that Ray had to read the Bible and go to church every Sunday, as well as sometimes during the week. My grandmother says he was “over-churched” and when he was old enough to practice his own religion, he decided to become an agnostic.
My grandmother, Jean Hanssen, who was born in 1926, was raised Presbyterian. Her mother, Alice Kaerwer, lived in Minnesota and baptized Jean and her brother when they were two years old. They then moved to New York where they attended the Christian Scientist’s church. When I asked my grandmother why she went to that church even though she was Presbyterian, she told me it was because the church was closest to her home and if it had been a Catholic church then they would have been Catholics. This reminded me of the Burned-Over district in New York and all the revival groups they had there, which made it hard for some people to decide what religion to convert to.
When Jean was 12 she and her family moved to California where she then officially became Presbyterian. When she married Ray, the Presbyterian Church was only 10 minutes from where they lived. Today the same church is only 3 minutes from her retirement community. She does not attend church every Sunday and is not particularly religious, though she does go to church on special holidays like Easter. Jean also baptized all four of her children, my father included, when they were young.
My father and his siblings were all raised Presbyterian. Today, my father, Fred Power, still remains a Presbyterian. He owns a Bible, though he never reads it and he does attend church, but only on special holidays to make my grandmother happy. My Aunt Nancy, who lives in Livermore, California, is a lapsed Presbyterian. She was attending church occasionally, but due to issues involving her divorce, she no longer attends the church she was going to. My Aunt Carol was a Presbyterian, but two years after her husband Bill passed away she announced that she had decided to become a lesbian. The news was accepted by my family and Carol is now a Metropolitan Community Church pastor in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is very religious and reads the Bible everyday and recently came to California to help fight against Proposition 8.
My uncle Brad who lives in Boston, Massachusetts is a Unitarian Universalist. The religion he practices emphasizes finding truth in different religions and being open-minded and acceptant to other people’s beliefs. The Unitarian Universalist church is headquartered in Boston, which may be one reason he chose it. Another that was suggested to me was the fact that it is “good for his kids”, which I think means showing them different views on religion. Uncle Brad and my Aunt Mary recently adopted two girls from Ethiopia who are six and seven years old. They attend the church regularly and the girls go there after school and sing in the choir. I think it was meant to be a way for them to meet other kids and gain a sense of community.
On my mother’s side of the family, my grandmother Lee Gail Wheling was born in 1942 in San Francisco. Gail’s mother, Evelyn Anna Flohrs, was born in 1914 in Minnesota and was a Lutheran. Gail’s father, Clarence Wheling, was born in Chicago in 1896 and was also Lutheran. My grandmother could not remember her grandparents well, but I do know that her grandparents on her father’s side were born in Germany in 1859 and 1869. Gail said that her parents went to church rarely and joked that if they “went in a church, it would probably fall down”. Gail herself does not regularly attend church or read the Bible, though she is spiritual.
My grandfather on my mom’s side, Rolla “Bud” Emerson Hunt, was born in 1939 and was raised Baptist. His father, Rolla Emerson Hunt who was born in 1902 in Iowa, and his mother, Emma Elizabeth Ulrich who was born in 1905 in Colorado were both affiliated with the Methodist church. Bud’s two sisters Marlyn and Georgia were following the Catholic faith. Marlyn changed to the Episcopal Church after she married her second husband who was a minister in an Episcopal church. Bud and Gail later got married in an Episcopal church. Bud does not read the Bible to my knowledge and I don’t think he attends church often.
My mother, Julie Willey, was baptized in the Lutheran church when she was young. She says she has attended many churches throughout her life and believes in no one particular denomination. She does say she believes in God and prays to him often. She had a recent accident in which she was bucked off a horse and would have died if she was not wearing a helmet. Throughout her life, she never wore a helmet when riding a horse and believes what happened to her that day to be a miracle by a guardian angel. She has since talked about God often, though she doesn’t and hasn’t to my knowledge, read the Bible. She also still does not go to church. She says she believes you can pray anytime and anywhere and you don’t need a church to do it. She says her beliefs are just “Christian beliefs” and the churches she does go to are plain “Christian churches”.
It seems like, when tracing though the farthest roots of my ancestry, that most of my grandparent’s grandparents were very religious. Those grandparents who came from Germany were distinctly Lutheran, which is not surprising considering that is where Martin Luther made his “Letters to German Nobility”. The Baptist parents of my grandfathers Ray and “Bud” also seemed intently religious, since both grandchildren managed to be baptized and raised in that tradition, though neither practices it now. I think that trend is similar to what Thoams Jefferson wrote in his “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom”. People shouldn’t have the right to force religion onto others and when they do, those being forced often turn away from that religion or fail to believe in it. I also noticed that going down through the lines the parents of my grandparents tended to become more lax in general to their religions. My grandmother Jean’s mother baptized her as Presbyterian, but they only attended church to become a part of the community, and it didn’t really matter what denomination it was. Gail’s parents were Lutherans but rarely attended church. Then my grandparents themselves do not seem to be that tied to any particular religion, accept my grandmother Jean. My grandfather Ray was an agnostic, and my grandmother Gail and my grandfather Bud don’t go to church or practice any rituals. Even Jean who is proud to be a Presbyterian does not practice her faith by going to church often or reading the Bible.
As far as my parents, aunts, and uncles are concerned, only two are relatively “religious”. My Uncle Brad attends church with his family, though it is less for the religious aspects and more for cultural and community- oriented reasons. My Aunt Carol is probably the most religious out of all the relatives I have. I believe that she is most religious because she has always been an active member of the church and has always carried a faith in God. I think practicing the religion and believing in it from a young age to adulthood helped found it further for her.
I think location and marriage also have a lot to do with the reason some members of my family are more religious than others. My grandfather Ray’s father was born in Texas and was raised Baptist. I think Baptists in Texas were more diligent in their religion than maybe some other states, especially during the early 1900s. Ray however was raised in California. I think growing up in California and being raised as strictly in the Baptist faith as he was probably made Ray feel alienated by his religion and seen differently by a lot of people he knew. In my grandmother Jean’s case she was raised Presbyterian, but attending church and practicing the religion were probably not as important since she moved from Minnesota to New York to California and went to whatever church seemed closest. In my Uncle Brad’s case he also seemed to identify himself with the Unitarian Universalist Church because it was probably nearby and his wife and children felt comfortable there. My grandparents Bud and Gail were also married in an Episcopal church, although neither practiced that religion. Although marriage has played some small role in my families’ religious history, it seems location has played a bigger part.
As far as connecting to the readings, I think some of the patterns I see in my family’s past can relate to some of what we have read in class. For instance, I think my grandparent’s grandparents from Germany probably came to America believing it to be a place like John Winthrop described in “A Model of Christian Charity”. I think they felt it was a good place to come and practice their religion with people of similar faiths.
I think one of the reasons my German great- great- grandparents probably followed their practices and beliefs so stringently was because 1) they were raised in Germany were Lutheranism was founded and 2) in America they were probably clinging to their old customs and traditions since it gave them a sense of identity and place in their new country. This is very similar to what Mary Antin described in “The Promise Land”. Like Antin, my grandparents from Germany probably had difficulties keeping up their customs in an America that was far less religious than what they were use to. They probably abandoned some of their customs and only carried on the traditions they felt were most important.
I think the changes Mary Antin had over her lifetime is very similar to the changes that occurred throughout the religious history of my family. The oldest generations were very settled and founded in their religion. Then as that religion was passed on and my family started moving more they began to let go of their beliefs and traditions for a more modern and convenient way of life. Now in the present day, their beliefs are mostly spiritual except for the few that, like Antin in the end, still cling to the customs and traditions of their faith.
Nov. 11, 2008
Family Tree
After researching my family tree and talking to relatives about their religious beliefs I have discovered patterns within my family’s religious history. For one, it seems like religious practices and traditions have faded from generation to generation. Now the only “religious” members of my family and those who associate with their church do so for reasons related to marriage, location, or personal experiences. The patterns I have found in my family’s history also relate to some of the readings we have done in class and tend to confirm them.
Starting with my father’s side of the family, my grandfather Raymond Power’s grandparents on his mother’s side, the Hadelers, were German Lutherans and his grandparents on his father’s side, the Powers, were Baptists. Ray’s father, Robert Power, was born in Texas in 1888 and was Baptist and raised Ray as a Baptist when he was born in 1925 in California. My grandmother says that Ray had to read the Bible and go to church every Sunday, as well as sometimes during the week. My grandmother says he was “over-churched” and when he was old enough to practice his own religion, he decided to become an agnostic.
My grandmother, Jean Hanssen, who was born in 1926, was raised Presbyterian. Her mother, Alice Kaerwer, lived in Minnesota and baptized Jean and her brother when they were two years old. They then moved to New York where they attended the Christian Scientist’s church. When I asked my grandmother why she went to that church even though she was Presbyterian, she told me it was because the church was closest to her home and if it had been a Catholic church then they would have been Catholics. This reminded me of the Burned-Over district in New York and all the revival groups they had there, which made it hard for some people to decide what religion to convert to.
When Jean was 12 she and her family moved to California where she then officially became Presbyterian. When she married Ray, the Presbyterian Church was only 10 minutes from where they lived. Today the same church is only 3 minutes from her retirement community. She does not attend church every Sunday and is not particularly religious, though she does go to church on special holidays like Easter. Jean also baptized all four of her children, my father included, when they were young.
My father and his siblings were all raised Presbyterian. Today, my father, Fred Power, still remains a Presbyterian. He owns a Bible, though he never reads it and he does attend church, but only on special holidays to make my grandmother happy. My Aunt Nancy, who lives in Livermore, California, is a lapsed Presbyterian. She was attending church occasionally, but due to issues involving her divorce, she no longer attends the church she was going to. My Aunt Carol was a Presbyterian, but two years after her husband Bill passed away she announced that she had decided to become a lesbian. The news was accepted by my family and Carol is now a Metropolitan Community Church pastor in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is very religious and reads the Bible everyday and recently came to California to help fight against Proposition 8.
My uncle Brad who lives in Boston, Massachusetts is a Unitarian Universalist. The religion he practices emphasizes finding truth in different religions and being open-minded and acceptant to other people’s beliefs. The Unitarian Universalist church is headquartered in Boston, which may be one reason he chose it. Another that was suggested to me was the fact that it is “good for his kids”, which I think means showing them different views on religion. Uncle Brad and my Aunt Mary recently adopted two girls from Ethiopia who are six and seven years old. They attend the church regularly and the girls go there after school and sing in the choir. I think it was meant to be a way for them to meet other kids and gain a sense of community.
On my mother’s side of the family, my grandmother Lee Gail Wheling was born in 1942 in San Francisco. Gail’s mother, Evelyn Anna Flohrs, was born in 1914 in Minnesota and was a Lutheran. Gail’s father, Clarence Wheling, was born in Chicago in 1896 and was also Lutheran. My grandmother could not remember her grandparents well, but I do know that her grandparents on her father’s side were born in Germany in 1859 and 1869. Gail said that her parents went to church rarely and joked that if they “went in a church, it would probably fall down”. Gail herself does not regularly attend church or read the Bible, though she is spiritual.
My grandfather on my mom’s side, Rolla “Bud” Emerson Hunt, was born in 1939 and was raised Baptist. His father, Rolla Emerson Hunt who was born in 1902 in Iowa, and his mother, Emma Elizabeth Ulrich who was born in 1905 in Colorado were both affiliated with the Methodist church. Bud’s two sisters Marlyn and Georgia were following the Catholic faith. Marlyn changed to the Episcopal Church after she married her second husband who was a minister in an Episcopal church. Bud and Gail later got married in an Episcopal church. Bud does not read the Bible to my knowledge and I don’t think he attends church often.
My mother, Julie Willey, was baptized in the Lutheran church when she was young. She says she has attended many churches throughout her life and believes in no one particular denomination. She does say she believes in God and prays to him often. She had a recent accident in which she was bucked off a horse and would have died if she was not wearing a helmet. Throughout her life, she never wore a helmet when riding a horse and believes what happened to her that day to be a miracle by a guardian angel. She has since talked about God often, though she doesn’t and hasn’t to my knowledge, read the Bible. She also still does not go to church. She says she believes you can pray anytime and anywhere and you don’t need a church to do it. She says her beliefs are just “Christian beliefs” and the churches she does go to are plain “Christian churches”.
It seems like, when tracing though the farthest roots of my ancestry, that most of my grandparent’s grandparents were very religious. Those grandparents who came from Germany were distinctly Lutheran, which is not surprising considering that is where Martin Luther made his “Letters to German Nobility”. The Baptist parents of my grandfathers Ray and “Bud” also seemed intently religious, since both grandchildren managed to be baptized and raised in that tradition, though neither practices it now. I think that trend is similar to what Thoams Jefferson wrote in his “Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom”. People shouldn’t have the right to force religion onto others and when they do, those being forced often turn away from that religion or fail to believe in it. I also noticed that going down through the lines the parents of my grandparents tended to become more lax in general to their religions. My grandmother Jean’s mother baptized her as Presbyterian, but they only attended church to become a part of the community, and it didn’t really matter what denomination it was. Gail’s parents were Lutherans but rarely attended church. Then my grandparents themselves do not seem to be that tied to any particular religion, accept my grandmother Jean. My grandfather Ray was an agnostic, and my grandmother Gail and my grandfather Bud don’t go to church or practice any rituals. Even Jean who is proud to be a Presbyterian does not practice her faith by going to church often or reading the Bible.
As far as my parents, aunts, and uncles are concerned, only two are relatively “religious”. My Uncle Brad attends church with his family, though it is less for the religious aspects and more for cultural and community- oriented reasons. My Aunt Carol is probably the most religious out of all the relatives I have. I believe that she is most religious because she has always been an active member of the church and has always carried a faith in God. I think practicing the religion and believing in it from a young age to adulthood helped found it further for her.
I think location and marriage also have a lot to do with the reason some members of my family are more religious than others. My grandfather Ray’s father was born in Texas and was raised Baptist. I think Baptists in Texas were more diligent in their religion than maybe some other states, especially during the early 1900s. Ray however was raised in California. I think growing up in California and being raised as strictly in the Baptist faith as he was probably made Ray feel alienated by his religion and seen differently by a lot of people he knew. In my grandmother Jean’s case she was raised Presbyterian, but attending church and practicing the religion were probably not as important since she moved from Minnesota to New York to California and went to whatever church seemed closest. In my Uncle Brad’s case he also seemed to identify himself with the Unitarian Universalist Church because it was probably nearby and his wife and children felt comfortable there. My grandparents Bud and Gail were also married in an Episcopal church, although neither practiced that religion. Although marriage has played some small role in my families’ religious history, it seems location has played a bigger part.
As far as connecting to the readings, I think some of the patterns I see in my family’s past can relate to some of what we have read in class. For instance, I think my grandparent’s grandparents from Germany probably came to America believing it to be a place like John Winthrop described in “A Model of Christian Charity”. I think they felt it was a good place to come and practice their religion with people of similar faiths.
I think one of the reasons my German great- great- grandparents probably followed their practices and beliefs so stringently was because 1) they were raised in Germany were Lutheranism was founded and 2) in America they were probably clinging to their old customs and traditions since it gave them a sense of identity and place in their new country. This is very similar to what Mary Antin described in “The Promise Land”. Like Antin, my grandparents from Germany probably had difficulties keeping up their customs in an America that was far less religious than what they were use to. They probably abandoned some of their customs and only carried on the traditions they felt were most important.
I think the changes Mary Antin had over her lifetime is very similar to the changes that occurred throughout the religious history of my family. The oldest generations were very settled and founded in their religion. Then as that religion was passed on and my family started moving more they began to let go of their beliefs and traditions for a more modern and convenient way of life. Now in the present day, their beliefs are mostly spiritual except for the few that, like Antin in the end, still cling to the customs and traditions of their faith.
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