A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy

Wordless Wednesday: Aunt Jessie’s House

Kris Hocker on 14 Nov 2018

In honor of the newspaper article I posted on Halloween about the “Mock Wedding Features Scotch Hallowe’en Party,” I’m posting a photo of Aunt Jessie and Uncle Lou’s house in Harrisburg where the party most likely was held for this month’s Wordless Wednesday.

Home of Lou G. and Jessie Orr in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

According to the article, Jessie and Lou lived at 2017 Foster [Forster?] Street in 1915. The 1910 census and 1920 census both show them living in the attached 2019 Forster Street with their daughters Alice, Agnes, and Jessie L.

Given the approximate ages of the children in the photo, if it’s of the Orrs, it should be from this period. I can’t say the house there looks anything like this, though.

Jessie’s parents, Robert and Allison (Whitelaw) Trotter, were from Scotland. Jessie was born in 1870, making her a contemporary of Eliza Craig (Bonnington) Smith, who like Jessie’s mother married and started a family in Scotland, then immigrated to the United States where she settled and raised her children.

I’d always perceived Jessie as great grandma Isabella (Smith) Hocker’s friend from the way Aunt Jean spoke about her. But I guess I was off by a generation.

Will: Conrad Schneider of Upper Salford, Translation

Kris Hocker on 10 Nov 2018

I’ve been researching the ancestry of Jacob Schneider for some time now. Just about every advance I’ve made has been through genetic genealogy research. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been working to find genealogical evidence—the so-called paper trail, too.

Conrad Schneider of Upper Salford Township is a possible grandfather for Jacob Schneider. He owned property near the Upper Salford and Marlborough township line, I believe, just south of present-day Sumneytown.¹ On 12 July 1759, Conrad wrote his last will and testament in German. It was translated and proven about a month later on 10 August.

It reads:

“In the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holly Gost Amen.

I Conrad Schneider of Old Coshenhoppen Upper Salford Township in the County of Philadelphia being blessed be God, of sound mind memory and understanding but knowing that it is appointed for all Men once to dye which cant be avoided, Have made my Last Will and Testament which is to be put in Execution according to my Desire having myself subscribed the same, that is to say, Firstly my son Leonard Schneider shall have as following at first he shall have the forty acres of Land whereon he dwells and on which the House stands and these forty acres he is to have with a free Deed. These forty acres are bounded by Killian Gaughlers land and with them he is to have seventy acres more without a Deed it lies at the side of Daniel Hiesters land and it runs and is bounded by Francis Hardmans land For which the said Leonard Schneider is to pay at the Rate of one Pound for ever acres and which will amount to the sum of one hundred and ten Pounds in the Whole and he is to pay in ready Cash next Fall Fair that is to say on the twenty seventh Day of November 1759 the sum of forty Pounds and as for the remaining sumt that is to say as for Forty Pounds more thereof he is to give a Bond without any Interest payable in three years hence And the remaining fifty Pounds it shall go towards his Heritage. This is to give notice that the sum of money which was paid for the said Forty acres being twenty pounds is included in the above sum. Secondly, All my remaining Children are to share equally the Daughter as well as the sons and neither of them shall have any Advantage let it come as high as it will And if anyone of my sons will undertake the management of my Plantation then he is to pay his Sister and Brothers such sums of money as they amongst themselves shall or may agree upon and all my Children shall fair alike and

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one shall have no more than the others, that is to say, The first is named Leonard, the second Catherine the third Elias the fourth Michael the fifth Balthasar and the sixth Henry.

Thirdly my dear wife shall have for her maintenance as follows The one who gets the Plantation let him be any of my Children or a stranger, is to pay her every year during her natural live as follows, that is to say eight Bushells of Wheat eight Bushells of Rye on Quarter of Flax, which he who gets the Plantation must sow, pull, thrash and brake and she is to have one fourth art of the garden And in Place of Meat he who gets the said Plantation shall pay her yearly twenty shillings in Money, He shall also give her one half Bushel of fin Salt and every Week as longs as she lives one Pound of Butter if she desires it and if it serves her And the one who gets the said Plantation shall also pay her yearly the sum of five Pounds lawful Money of Pennsylvania and shes shall have a Place of abode in my House during her life clear of all cost as well in the Parlour, Kitchen and Cellar as at any other Part of the said House, But is she wishes to live some where else then she shall have Liberty to live wherever she likes best and in that case she shall also have all what is above mentioned yearly for her maintenance notwithstanding And if she shall happen to get sick and to keep her Bed so that she will not be able to help herself then the Person whoever keeps her shall not be troubled with her for nothing but the Person shall have such Reward as the said Sister & Brothers amongst themselves shall judge reasonable and this is my sincer Wil land the same shall be put in execution so as it is writ down And she shall more over have the sum of twelve Pounds out of my personal Estate.

Fourthly, I chuse to this my Estate or Riches my Good neighbour and Freinds John Kantz and Killian Gaugler Guardians/or * Executors/ And I do hope they will take Care of my dear Children and wife and act so as the my safely answer before god almighty and that they will not occasion the widows and orphans to cry to Heavens nor draw Vengenan[?] on themselves. The above instrument I do subscribe with my

* The German word vormunder, is properly Guardian, but by the construction of the will it seems to me that the Testator meant Executors. P Miller

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my own Hand before Evidence as and for my Last Will and Testament and as such it shall remain Done at Upper Salford July 12th 1759•1•

Conrad Schneider

George his W mark Wyand

I the subscriber so certify the foregoing Writing to be a true and genuine Translation of a German [?] Writing said to be the Last Will and Testament ^ of Conrad Schneider. The same sa[y] me having been translated from the said original by me this 10 Augt 1759

P Miller”²

Conrad, unlike some of my ancestors, was kind enough to name his children in his will. He also listed them in order: “The first is named Leonard, the second Catherine the third Elias the fourth Michael the fifth Balthasar and the sixth Henry.”³

So far, my genetic research has found descendants of Catherine and Balthasar with whom my Mom shares DNA. There are other members of the cluster I found on AncestryDNA, as well as others on GEDmatch and MyHeritage who triangulate with known descendants, who I have not yet been able to trace. All told, I think I’ve found about 14 individuals who share descent from Conrad Schneider.

I’m still trying to figure out how Jacob descends from Conrad. Based on the list in Conrad’s will and his desire that all “my remaining Children are to share equally,” it’s hard to argue that Jacob could have been his youngest son. My working hypothesis is that Elias and his wife Anna Maria Nuss were Jacob’s parents. However, I still have no evidence—and I mean zip, zilch, nada—other than proximity and the genetic link to prove this theory.

I can only hope to find descendants of Conrad’s sons Leonard, Elias, Michael, and Henry who are matches to Mom. Maybe there’ll be enough of a difference in the shared amount of DNA to point the way to one of them. But, since Conrad would be her 6 times great grandfather, it’s a bit of a long shot.

If you’re a descendant, please test. If you already have, please drop me a line. Maybe we could work together to solve this puzzle.

Conrad Schneider Last Will at krishocker.com

All Politics are Local

Kris Hocker on 6 Nov 2018

1839 Democratic Ticket for Dauphin County

It’s election day here in the United States. I hope you’re voting or have already voted. I’ll be heading out to do so soon.

Have you ever wondered whether your ancestors were regular voters? If they ever ran for office or held a political position?

Martin Hocker (1768-1862) was a well-to-do property owner of Derry Township, Dauphin County. He was one of three men called upon to make survey for the county line between Dauphin and Lebanon before the latter was created in 1813. He also served in various local government offices.

In 1839 he ran on the Democratic ticket for Dauphin County for the office of Director of the Poor. The full ticket can be found below.

Martin Hocker of Derry Township as part of the 1839 Dauphin County Democratic Ticket

If I remember correctly, it was not a successful run. However, one year later in 1830, Martin served as County Commissioner.

Dauphin County Democratic Ticket, 1839

Assembly
- Valentine Hummel, Harrisburg
- Solomon Shindle, Lykens Township
Commissioner
- George Hain, Lower Paxton Township
Director of the Poor
- Martin Hocker, Derry Township
Auditor
- David Mumma Jr., Swatara Township
Coronor
- George Fetterhoff, Jackson Township
Prothonotary
- Henry Beader, Harrisburg
Register
- John Hoffman, Susquehanna Township
Recorder and Clerk
- Hiram H. Hetzel, Middle Paxton Township

Image source: The Keystone, Volume IV, no. 204, page 2

Wordless Wednesday: Green’s Lumber Camp

Kris Hocker on 5 Nov 2018

This month I’m sharing a picture from Facebook for Wordless Wednesday. This image is from the Lions David House Heritage Museum. It shows Green’s Lumber camp in Pine Glen, Burnside Township, Centre County about 1906.

The people in the photo are: Mr. Bill Green, Mrs. Bill Green, Lilly (Green) Decker, Elwood Comely, Clyde Hoover, John Green, Burt Beightol, Rube Green, Ira Green.

Clyde Hoover, son of Samuel and Victoria (Walker) Hoover, was my great grandfather. He married Nora Malinda Houdeshell, daughter of George and Lovina (Force) Houdeshell, about two years after this picture was taken. He grew up in Pine Glen. After his marriage, his family lived in Clearfield where he worked as a lumberman. After they moved back to Pine Glen, he also farmed the family property.

Update: Scheduling oops! Guess there’s an extra “wordless wednesday” post on a Monday. That’ll teach me to pay more attention to what I’m doing. ;^)

AncestryDNA Rolls Out New Features

Kris Hocker on 3 Nov 2018

Over the last couple of weeks new features have been appearing in my AncestryDNA account. A couple can be considered “keeping up with the Jones'” additions, but some are unique. Let’s take a look at them.

The Sound of You

AncestryDNA Sound of you

The first to appear was the “What’s the sound of you?” banner, highlighting a partnership between AncestryDNA and Spotify. The tool allows you to create a playlist based on the regions associated with your DNA. You select the regions and the tool creates a playlist with artists from those locations. You can add the playlist to your Spotify account and share it on social media.

AncestryDNA Spotify Playlist

It’s a creative and playful way to highlight music from your ancestral regions. I haven’t seen anything like it on any of the competitors’ sites. But it doesn’t teach me anything about my family history or heritage. Nor does it help me connect with my genetic cousins or solve my genealogical brick walls. Nice, but there are tools I would have liked to see much more.

Matches Map

AncestryDNA Map Matches Beta

The Matches Map is still in beta. When you click the “Matches Map” link in the header, it will show the locations of your AncestryDNA matches on a map. This is separate from and different to the Map and Locations you can find on each match’s page.

Ancestry Matches Map

Knowing your match’s physical location is helpful when you need to identify their possible ancestors. It helps you identify just which John D. Ancestorson is the correct one in your search.

However, it requires that your match has entered a location in their Ancestry profile. In my experience, not many do. Furthermore, while the map make a nice visual, it’s no more useful than simply displaying the match’s location with their username—which Ancestry had already been doing.

Shared DNA

I wrote about using the MED Better DNA extension for Chrome to display my notes for an individual match on the main match list. My notes included the amount of shared DNA and any information I’d come up with regarding how I connected with that DNA match.

Ancestry Shared DNA display

Apparently, Ancestry has been paying attention to how people are using their site, because they added the Shared DNA amount to the information they display with each match on the list. Yay!

Compare Ethnicities

AncestryDNA compare ethnicity button

Clicking the “Compare” button allows you to compare ethnicities with a match. There are buttons on both the DNA Matches page and the individual DNA Match page for an individual.

AncestryDNA Compare Ethnicitiy

I’ve seen this elsewhere, but Ancestry’s visual display is on a separate screen and includes not only the shared ethnicity percentages and map, but also a list of shared matches (below Ethnicity Estimates, not included in screenshot). Furthermore, clicking “view all” in the shared matches, bring you to a list of all the matches you share with that person.

For me, ethnicity is interesting, but, given our current knowledge and ability to tie DNA to ethnicities, not particularly helpful in solving my genealogical mysteries.¹ A match and I share a Northwestern Europe ethnicity? Great! Can that tell me which European ancestor we descend from? Can it tell me which village they came from? Or even, can it tell me which country they came from? Not so much.

AncestryDNA Traits

The most recent addition to the toolset is AncestryDNA Traits.² It allows you to examine what your DNA can tell you about 18 traits, including: taste (sweet, savory, bitter, cilantro aversion), hair curl and thickness, eye color, male hair loss, chin dimple, skin pigmentation, finger length, freckling, ear lobe type, etc.

Ancestry will identify where those traits come from around the world (“Where does your curly hair come from?”) and permit you compare your traits against your DNA matches (“Does your cousin also have the DNA for blue eyes?).

And you can get all this information without further testing—for $19.99 per kit.

Conclusions

Ancestry sure has been busy. They’re rolling out a lot of new… stuff. But to be honest, I’m not sure what value most of it has to me—the user, the customer.

I use Ancestry—and now AncestryDNA—for one thing: to build my family tree. At first, I accomplished this by searching Ancestry’s databases and accessing primary records. I built my tree based on the conclusions I drew from that research. It was great because I had the convenience of accessing the information from my home.

When AncestryDNA came along I used my genetic matches and their knowledge of their family trees (or ones that I built) to add to my tree or to identify specific families to research so that I can break down brick walls. It’s great because DNA gives me another form of evidence that can be used, even where I lack information from the genealogical record (ie. paper trail).

Do these additions help me to match my genealogical tree to my genetic tree? Do they help me see patterns or make connections? Do they help me prove relationships? Do they help me build my family tree?

If I measuring these new tools and products against my goals for using the site, most of these additions are fun or interesting diversions. I might try them out, but I likely won’t be using them with any regularity. They do not assist me in reaching my goals and therefore, ultimately, do not add value. My 2¢.

Mock Wedding Features Scotch Hallowe’en Party

Kris Hocker on 31 Oct 2018

Aunt Jean used to make reference to her “Aunt Jessie” and “Uncle Lou” Orr. They weren’t really her aunt and uncle; they were close friends of her parents. In honor of Halloween today, I thought I’d share an article about a Halloween party they held 103 years ago.

1915 Telegraph Mock Wedding Features Scotch Hallowe'en Party

Telegraph article from 30 October 1915

In 1915, Will, Isabel and their infant daughter Bonnie attended the party at the Orr’s house with a host of other people. They included:

Mrs. Sandy Wallace, Mrs. Arthur Reid, Mrs. A. P. Kitchen, Edith Mayhew, L.G. Orr, Johanna Dwyer, Martha Ross, Ruth Youtzy, Mary Ditmer, Janet Wallace, Ruth Kline, Marion Black, Belle Sanderson, Agness Orr, Janet Sanderson, Mary Sanderson, Catherine Sanderson, Louise Orr, Alice Orr, Arthur Reid, Foster Kitchen, Bessie Black, Mr. and Mrs. George Charters, Mr. and Mrs. James Sanderson, Mrs. E. Cochran [Isabel (Smith) Hocker’s mother], Mrs. Allison Trotter, Sandy Wallace, Robert Smith [Isabel’s brother], Archie Black, A.P. Kitchen, and Mrs. L.G. Orr.

Majority of MyHeritage and Ancestry DNA Accounts Include Family Trees

Kris Hocker on 25 Oct 2018

The DNA Geek, Leah Larkin, posted her updated research into the prevalence of accounts at the DNA testing companies and GEDmatch having family trees. She examined 500 matches for ten accounts at each of the following: MyHeritageDNA, AncestryDNA, Family Tree DNA, GEDmatch, and 23 and Me.

She found that for MyHeritage and Ancestry far more accounts had family trees than didn’t, averaging 88% at MyHeritage and 75% at Ancestry. The other sites were all less—significantly less in some cases—than 50%.

For the full account, please read her blog post (below).

The Glass Is More Than Half Full—2018 Version

She only checked for the availability of a family tree and “did not consider tree size, quality, accessibility, or documentation. Some of the sites allow a tree with a single person, and some trees contain only living people who are privatized. In this study, only presence/absence of a tree was tallied.”

My Results

I ran my own little experiment, but I changed it a little bit. I looked at the matches for two accounts on Ancestry, MyHeritage and GEDmatch. I have significantly fewer matches at FTDNA so I did not use those accounts.

I also used slightly different parameters for each. I looked at 500 matches for each, but used criteria that were specific for each tool.

On AncestryDNA, I found that between 42-46% of matches had trees linked to their DNA. An additional 29% had unlinked trees. So, 71-75% of these matches had a family tree of some sort—consistent with Leah’s average. Of those who had trees about 7% (for me) and 4.6% (for mom) had shared ancestors identified in their trees (shaky leaves) and a little over 7% had private trees.

On MyHeritage, 87% had trees. Again, this is consistent with Leah’s data. However, I also looked to see how many of those with had fewer than seven members—the minimum number of people required in a three generation tree¹—and how many had only one person in their tree. About 30% of matches had fewer than 7 people in their trees; this was true for both accounts. Somewhere between 10.8% and 12.6% had only one person.

For GEDmatch, I performed a ‘One-to-Many’ search for each account and copied the first 500 matches into a spreadsheet. For both accounts, there were about 70 matches that had uploaded a GEDCOM to their account and about 10 who had linked to a Wiki. So, about 16% had a family tree of some type attached to their account. This is slightly higher than the average Leah found in her research.

Conclusion

I’ll admit, given my impressions on using Ancestry, MyHeritage and GEDmatch to determine the ancestry Mom and I share with our matches, I was expecting my numbers to be lower than Leah’s. A lot lower. Instead, they pretty much confirm her findings.

The discrepancy between my impression and the real numbers, I believe, can be found in the difference between having a tree and having a useful tree. The quality of the information provided in a tree has an impact on the overall impression of whether or not users “have trees.”

A tree that includes only one person, not much help. A tree that has multiple generations, but all are “private”? Again, no help. A tree in which I can’t find a common thread? Well, that feels like it’s a lack on my part, not the tree’s, and definitely leaves a different impression after the fact.

I can and do build trees for my matches—sometimes starting with very little. That’s how I’ve made most of my discoveries using my DNA matches. But I do need something to start with. A username may or may not lead to a name. A name may or may not lead to other names. But names, dates, and places provide a much better starting point.²

So, while it’s heartening to see that the overwhelming majority of test takers do, in fact, add trees to their accounts, I’d be able to better appreciate that if more of them included information I could reliably build on. I’ll keep hoping that with time and continued discussion, more of them will.

Quick & Dirty Trees for DNA Matches

Kris Hocker on 14 Oct 2018

I’ve talked about building pedigrees for my AncestryDNA matches and how it’s helped to identify some of my unknown ancestors. I haven’t really gone into detail about what all that entails.

Blaine Bettinger of The Genetic Genealogist shared a video he made about how he builds a quick and dirty tree for his genetic matches to identify their shared ancestor. Click the video below to watch or go to YouTube for a larger version.

When I build a tree, I do something a little different.

First, I usually build the tree in my Reunion file since it’s my go-to for my genealogy research. I can make the connection to shared ancestors and track genetic cousins in the database, even—now that I’ve figured out how—quickly find the genetic matches I’ve identified who descend from a shared couple.

Second, I don’t get information from family trees. I usually search for online records, using relevant sources based on the target’s lifetime. These may include Ancestry, FamilySearch, Fold3, Internet Archive, Google, Facebook, and other websites that compile information.

I search for just enough information from records to reliably know I’ve got a specific family group, then move on to keep going up the family tree. The amount of research varies from family to family based on what’s available and how easy it is to find. I only really use trees when I’m totally stuck and searching for clues.

I guess my process is not quick & dirty by this standard. But it isn’t up to the Genealogical Proof Standard either. It falls somewhere in between. That’s why I usually hedge my statements or refer to relationships as being a “working hypothesis.”

However, these trees—either the quick & dirty method Blaine outlines or my method—provide an excellent starting point for breaking through brick walls in your family tree using your DNA matches. They help you to identify connections so that you can focus your research in the right area, saving time, effort, and maybe even some money.

Slow Down, Don’t Move Too Fast

Kris Hocker on 11 Oct 2018

Question for my Hocker readers, can you spot what’s wrong with this family group sheet? There are several errors, including two mistakes in assigning parentage.

Hocker Group Sheet

I’ve seen this family grouping in databases across the internet and it never fails to make me shake my head. I can understand why people make these mistakes, but still.¹ Even if you haven’t done the research and don’t know the Hocker family well, you should be able see why these errors are, in fact, errors.

Let’s start with the most obvious mistake: two sons named Adam?! Yes, families often used the same name more than once for their children, but—and this is important—it usually happened when an older child died and a younger child was given their name. Two Adams who both lived to adulthood? Nope. George Foreman is not the norm.

The first Adam Hocker in the list of children is not the son of John and Christiane (Sterling) Hocker. The second Adam in the list is their son. C’mon, people, just look at the dates! John got Christiane pregnant when she was ten years-old?! Nope.

Adam Hocker (1812-1870) married Eve Hamaker, daughter of Adam and Magdalena (Snavely) Hamaker III, on 22 February 1838. They were both from Derry Township. They remained in Dauphin County all their lives, raising nine children: Jacob H., John, Adam H., Elizabeth, Sarah, David R., Eve Malinda, Martin M. and Anna C. Adam’s tenth child, Mary Ann, was from an unknown first marriage.

I have a very good idea who Adam’s parents were. It’s still only a guess—without any proof, documentary or otherwise. But, I can tell you they are not John and Catharine (Sterling) Hocker.

John and Catharine’s son Adam travelled to Ohio with the family in the late 1830s. He married Anna Engle, daughter of Jacob and Nancy (Moyer) Engle, on 19 April 1859 and died in Randolph Township, Montgomery County on 8 September 1907.²

The second error? I bet my Colorado Hocker relatives saw it straight away.

John Hocker (1788-1868) was not the son of Martin and Christiana (Beinhauer) Hocker. Yes, they had a son named John, but he was born 6 May 1804 in Derry Township and died 28 Jun 1884 in Pennsylvania, likely in Cumberland County.

No, John Hocker (1788-1868) was the son of Adam and Sophia Maria (Hershey?) Hocker, also of Derry Township, my 5x great grandfather and Martin’s older brother. John was Adam’s eldest son, born while the family was still living in Harrisburg. I’ve written about my research tying the Montgomery County, Ohio Hockers to Adam and Mary, because it’s one of the families my Uncle Bill got wrong in his Hacker-Hocker genealogy.

But even without knowing the research or the family, you should be able to see there’s something wrong here. Martin and Christiana married 22 March 1799 at Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was 31 years-old and she was 22 years-old. Having a child 11 years earlier when Christiana was 11 years-old? It’s just not feasible—or reasonable—even if you didn’t know their marriage date.

Additionally, John and Catharine’s daughter Anna was born 15 October 1824, not in 1828. Their son John K. Hocker died 11 July 1914 in Ludlow Falls, Miami County, Ohio, not in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

So…

I didn’t write this post to shame the owner of this family tree. Everybody makes mistakes. Been there, done that, bought the damn t-shirt.

The point is that a little thought, a little analysis, can go a long way toward preventing mistakes like this. Do the dates make sense? Are the ages appropriate for the implied actions? Yes, our ancestors may have married young—though not as many as you might think. But how young?

I understand the drive to find a family for your ancestor. It can be almost compulsive, the need to connect a generation to a previous generation, to tie off all the lose ends, to fit everybody into a family. Especially when you’re eager to move on to the next person, the next discovery.

But taking the extra time to get it right is worth it. There’s a difference between making a convenient familial connection for an ancestor and making the correct one. Believe me; I’ve done both.

It’s like the difference between fitting two puzzle pieces together and finishing the puzzle. When it all comes together, when all those bits of information you’ve found work together, it all just makes sense.

So take my advice—I’m trying to follow it, too: slow down.

There’s no trophy for getting there first. But there is a reward for getting it right. It’s the feeling of satisfaction you get in knowing you did everything you could to get it right, and, as a result, can be reasonably certain that you did. And it feels pretty darn good.

I’m Late for a Very Important Date!

Kris Hocker on 3 Oct 2018

1980 Mad Hatter Costume Class

As kids, my sister and I—along with our pony Christopher Robin—competed in a number of horse shows at the farm our aunt managed. This is a photo from the summer of 1980 from the Costume Class. I was the Mad Hatter (left), Christopher was the March Hare, and my sister was Alice. We hung a tape recorder around Christopher’s neck with a recording of “I’m late! I’m late for a very important date” and played it while we were in the ring.

Christopher could be as stubborn as a jackass, but he was a really good sport about the costumes. At various times we were 49’ers with our mule (California or Bust), Alice & crew, three blind mice, a rabbit (Christopher) & two carrots (kids), Dumbo (Christopher) & friends, and so much more. And that’s just with us. Christopher had a long career as a class horse for kids who took lessons at the barn and he competed with most of them.