One thing that’s often lost in genealogy research is why families move. It’s relatively easy to find out where they moved using the Census or City Directories. Using Google Maps, you may even be able to quickly find the houses where your family once lived still standing. What you can rarely figure out, unless it […]
Hugh Simmers: Walking in his Cinematic Footsteps
In the summer of 2017, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting the Cameo Cinema in Edinburgh, Scotland, where my grandfather Hugh Simmers worked as a projectionist from 1916 to 1917. Originally called the King Cinema, it’s the oldest continuously operated movie theater in Scotland, dating back to 1914. It specializes in art films. Hugh […]
Search for Simmers Plot Ends in Grave Disappointment
My mother left behind a faded picture of her grandparents’ headstone with a note on the back, “North Merchistan Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland.” I could barely make out the names on the headstone, Hugh Simmers and Marion Murray. But it was impossible to read their dates of birth and death, which of course would be vital […]
Long-Lost Hugh Simmers Bracelet Recovered
Anne Oxley of Vermont earlier this year bought a bunch of sterling silver at an auction, thinking she’d sell it for scrap. Thankfully, she noticed that one bracelet had the name “Hugh Simmers” inscribed on the front. On the back another inscription read, “Good Luck From Kings Cinema Staff, Edinburgh. 10-10-17.” “I have always wanted […]
Thompson Family History: The First Chapter
The project started out innocently enough. I merely wanted to confirm some of the often bizarre stories my parents and grandparents had told me at family events, typically after a few drinks.
Pressed Into Action, Mabel Simmers Proved To Be an Adept Businesswoman
When her husband died unexpectedly in 1949, Mabel Simmers was forced to take over the family business — Mt. Vernon N.Y.-based County Refrigeration Services, Inc. It was rough going at first, Mabel used to tell her grandchildren. The unions that supplied her labor struck because they didn’t like the idea of reporting to a female […]