All in the Family

It's in the books. In the books on the family!

To the dismay of my family I am a genealogy-nut! It's history, it's old, it's family and I am obsessed! Given the chance, I'd research for days on end, studying centuries old census files, and snippets from old newspapers; I'd pour over notes from family bibles, wills, last testaments, and more!

However, time to indulge in this genealogy obsession is in short supply; therefore, the activity becomes even more alluring!

Maybe it's odd, but studying the past seems empowering to me. The enormous sacrifices my ancestors made are incredible (so, I'm a little biased!) but their decision to leave the homeland to come to America is inspiring.

After centuries of hardships, famine, fires and a fierce dedication to God my Henckel ancestors left Germany for America. The final leg of their trek occurred in 1717, marking 2017 as the 300th year of the family's immigration to North America.

Before sailing to the new world these ancestors purchased land from William Penn (it's now called Pennsylvania!) and by the 1760's they had settled Germany Valley, Virginia (now it's West Virginia). The land was along the Seneca Trail and overtime not everyone passing through the area was friendly. Construction of a fort to protect family, friendly Indians and other locals was undertaken by my six times great Grandfather, John Justus Henckel. He also became the fort's commander. This fort was then utilized during the Revolutionary War.

Here's more info on the muster rolls for Henckel's Fort and facts on Germany Valley

Henckel's Fort

                                                             
Life in a fort during the 1770's was not all military action and war tactics! After all inside were many family members living their lives. This meant younger children still needed their reading lessons and spelling practice.

Not naming any special names here, but, there just might be a few other 'Henkles' with dyslexia. I can't imagine that I'm the only one! 

Did you know that dyslexia is an inherited learning difference? So, this might be a giant leap but I'm guessing there were dyslexic tendencies in some of those Henckel youngsters back in the 18th century!

Here's a link to research studies on the Genetics background of dyslexia. 

Yes, there is a hereditary component to dyslexia.* I'm guessing some of my ancestors also had creative ways to learn to read and spell. [NOTE: through census reports I know the adults marked they could read and write English]

This also means that in your family, if a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle has dyslexia or dyslexic traits there is a good chance that you or one of your children may have also inherited this genetic trait.

I imagine back in 1775 children were learning to read, write and spell using common documents of the day like the family bible and the occasional children's book they might have had.
Even though this book, Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter was published in 1850 (that's only 70 years later) this was a book one of my great aunts was given by her teacher.

Yes, I'm taking a giant leap here to correlate the 1800's to that of the 1700's but, it is interesting! I do think this highlights the types of materials youngster may have read; after all it wasn't until I was in high school that the Scarlet Letter was accepted reading material in my day!

From the Scarlet Letter to the Henckel's Fort I've covered a bit of ground today. Thank you for indulging me in one of my favorite topics!

*According to the study I have linked above as GENETICS a child who has a parent with dyslexia has a 40-60% chance of also developing dyslexia. There are more interesting numbers and facts in the same article!


Cathy Henkle Cook, M.Ed.
OnPoint Learning Center, LLC
Columbia, Missouri
(573) 819-6010

Empower Your Life with the GIFT of Dyslexia!