Homer Friend

[kenneth14304]

Ms. Pat [and membership];

I am somewhat out of my comfort zone reaching out in this capacity; and if this contact is considered a trespass, I shall not intrude again, and ask your forgivness.

My name is Kenneth Richard; I am of the family FRIEND, my Father given name being NORMAN CLAYTON and his wife Dorrey [which i have found variations of spelling] CURTIS

NORMAN is the son of HOMER FRIEND and his wife being PEARL HAAS b 7-7-07 ] ...

Homer & Pearl having two sons, Norman [my father] and Donald.. and while from the best of my knowledge Homer & Pearl being married in W.Virginia and being the place of birth of Donald.. and

Norman being born in Niagara Falls NY in 1936 as well as myself and my son, Kenneth R Friend II, and he has three sons, they presently reside in Cape Code

I have little to go on for research, save a recollection of a few names; which they may be somewhat subjective; however Homer had claimed his 'records' having burnt in a 'court-house' fire and unobtainable, I have a recollection he claimed his fathers name to be Marcel or Marcellious perhaps, I know not for certain, he also made claim of 'Indian-blood' and while i was young, i was never sure if it were a joke, this being subjective and conjure.

Homer had a brother, or I do believe it was his brother, called Jim perhaps Jimmy or James... I do recall he was married to a wonderful lady named Dolly and they spent their retirement in Florida.

I recall 'grandma' being Pearl-Haas mention 'Pat' ... and Darlene, then there is Donalds wife Thelma, she had a cpl of daughters from a previous relationship [marrage], Shirley and Nellie, they had married brothers Kennth and Leonard Oldaker [ms?] and live in W. Virginia, in a small mining town outside Clarksburg, perhaps Dalmount, all I recall from being a child is near a place call Gore.

Pearl also had a sister, [which i believe to be by or under a second marrage] , being Silvia Woods, who resided in PA and she had a son Elwood and from last I had heard, was still in Pa... Elwood and Norman use to 'chum' together and factually Norman died at his residence during a visit there.

Ms. Pat [and membership] ... for as many times I have sought to look for this families history, as far as I can find is Homer Friend and West Virginia.. there had been talk of Maryland perhaps the root-home of Homer prior to moving to W.Virginia to work in the coal mines, and

I do not believe Homer [he] had a middle name, I have looked on a variaty of 'registration' type forms, never a middle initial or name in place ... and the link from what I know of 'lookup' being to the form of research, ends there... I am frankly.. lost.

If perhaps you insight to this 'family' or perhaps, who-knows, you are the Pat in which Pearl spoke or maybe the daughter thereof, stranger things have happened, never the less, I accept this venture to be under providence, and be by the graces permitted, you be the proverbial 'key' ... bless you.. and if not... bless you all the same, for I have gone through all the messages on this board.. and you support people in all so many ways, and in the least sense, thank you Ms. Pat, for you are indeed in service and I acknowledge your contributions.

Kenneth R Friend [b7-11-57]

[gregorykindall]

Kenneth --
I spent a little time looking at Homer Friend and family (I have an Ancestry account which can make things easy). What I found looks like:

Joseph Friend + Florence 'Fern' Friend (a cousin?)
... Marcellus Dalton Friend + Ellen Haugh
(moved from Sang Run, Maryland between 1910-1918)
...... Homer Friend + Pearl Haas
......... Donald Durwood Friend
......... Norman Clayton Friend

That much seems pretty straightforward. Some of the trees that have been posted online seem a little confused, so I would want to take a little more time were I to go further. Which I'm happy to do after the holidays.

I was interested in your uncle Donald -- I grew up in Juneau, Alaska, which is where he was living when he passed away in 1986. I asked my mother if she had known of him (she is a Friend) -- she said that she had seen him in the phone book and was curious but had never made contact. Searching online I found that he and his wife Thelma (Shillingsburg) had some kind of real estate deal with the Messerschmidt family, with whom I am acquainted, having grown up with their kids (they also had the best bakery in town).

Feel free to contact me privately at [e-mail]

Greg Kindall

[Pat (Friend) Thompson]

Greetings Kenneth,
Gregory has indeed found your family, as I see it.

Joseph Harrison Friend (wife Florence Fern Friend), was the oldest child of Elijah Friend and Elizabeth Smith Friend, of the Sang Run, Garrett Co., MD area.

Elijah and his descendants are covered in the Friend Series book "Elijah Friend of Sang Run, MD, by Patrick T. Smith and Patty-Friend-Thompson. Slightly over 500 pages and fully indexed, available from the Friend Family Association of America (see the home page for details). To be honest with you, we did not find a lot of information for Homer, or his brothers Clarence and Jasper, but they are documented as being descendants of Elijah through their grandfather's estate, listed in the final accounting.

Elijah and his descendants are documented with photographs, death certificates, marriage records, deeds, and wills (when available to us).

Joseph Frederick Friend's wife, Florence Fern Friend, was the daughter of Joab Jonah Friend and Amy Emma Sines. There is also a Friend Series book for her family "Jaob Jonah Friend and His Descendants, which is also available through the FFAA website.

Thank you for your inquiry. I hope this information is helpful to you.

[kenneth14304]

Merry Christmas and to Happy Holidays.

To have received remedy for the question asked, what more of a gift could a man ask for?

Thank you... thank you both ...Greg & Pat

Words cannot express the appreciation or hold the context of the appreciation and respects I have for you, for by your generious act, not only have you given me a gift, you provided a gift to my Son and his three Sons, what words could possibly be offered to express 'from the bottom of my heart and from by soul to yours, feel the love I have inside for you, for now and evermore'

~You made my Holiday exceptionally Special: Bless you both, and may Peace, Love and Good-Will always find its presents upon your House.

~Kenneth

[Pat (Friend) Thompson]

This is why we write the books; hoping to help people find their roots.

We are working on some Friend lines from the West Virginia area now. Hopefully we will have some new books coming out in 2013.

[patsmith]

Hi,

I just got back from Christmas Vacation and thought I'd add a few things. Joseph Harrison Friend and Florence Fern were my 2X great grandparents.

Joseph's line back to Nils Larson Friend:

Nils (Nicholas) Larsson Friend (Frande)
John Friend I (Johannes Nilsson Frande)
Nicholas Friend
John Friend Sr.
John Friend Jr.
Elijah Friend
Joseph Harrison Friend
Marcellis Dalton Friend
Homer Friend
Donald Durwood Friend
Norman Clayton Friend

Florence's line back to Nils Larson Friend:

Nils (Nicholas) Larsson Friend (Frande)
John Friend I (Johannes Nilsson Frande)
Nicholas Friend
John Friend Sr.
Joseph Friend
Andrew Coleman Friend
Joab Jonah Friend
Florence Fern Friend
Marcellis Dalton Friend
Homer Friend
Donald Durwood Friend
Norman Clayton Friend

As Pat Thompson said, there is not a lot of information on Marcellis in the Elijah Friend Book, but you will find more in the Joab Jonah Friend Book. We also id a book on Joab's father (Andrew Coleman Friend), grandfather (Joseph Friend) and great grandfather (John Friend Sr.). I'm not sure how far you want to go, but all the books have a brief description of each generation back to Nils Larson Friend, as well as land records, maps, obituaries, death certificates and military records. Did you know that Joseph Harrison Friend was a Civil War Veteran (3rd Regt, MD Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade) and that Joseph's great grandfather (John Friend Sr.) was a Revolutionary War Veteran? If you check out the Friend website' you'll see what's available.

Hope this was helpful.