My Family
MY FAMILY circa 1959
In the beginning….
Hey Pop, how much longer is it to Cincinnati?
A couple more hours!
MOM! I need the jar!
ME too mom!
And that was what it was like in a 1955 Ford Customline Fordor from the back, clear vinyl covered bench seat with a hump on the floor in abt. 1959. The jar was for the purpose of us three boys back there to use when we had to go number one while on long drives.
Dan, that’s me, was nine years old, Tom, the younger brother was six and Dave was all of twelve. Hattie, my mom was thirty nine and Don, my dad was thirty four which, I didn’t know the age difference between mom and dad until about thirty years later. They didn’t want us to know there was a difference back then and I still do not know why not, they just didn’t.
Well, we were on our way to Cincinnati on what we called our summer vacation which was two days to pack, a day on the road, two days to stay there, a day to drive home, a day to unpack and a day to rest before resuming our normal lifestyles.
This vacation was well planned. It included snacks, canteens, comic books, pillows and blankets though mom eventuall said, “Don, go back, I forgot my girdle!” and that’s when I learned what a girdle was. We were on our way to see some old friends that moved away some two years ago, they had a horse and a place for us all to stay.
Dad drove into Cincinnati earlier than he expected so rather than go directly to our friend’s house we pulled up in front of a tall downtown building and we just sat there in the car. “No Don! – Yes Hattie!” the conversation went and we sat there.
Us boys, had no clue as to what the yes’s and no’s were but, dad explained, “Back during World War II when I was in The Paratroops the sergeant yelled, Role Call and I said, Don Nippert, bet you never heard that name before, he said, under his breath?”
And to dad’s surprise he surprised to learn that someone else had. Apparently a fellow Paratrooper told my dad that where he came from there were lots of Nippert’s and that place, was Cincinnati.
Dad pulled up in front of a building where the phone book had told him was a Nippert and that began Hattie’s, No Don’s and his Yes Hattie’s. Hattie ended the conversation with “DayMonYoDayKahSoWhen!” which is what she usually said when she was losing the yes, no, battle. She, Tom and Dave sat in the car as me and Pop marched on in to that tall building cause Pop said he was going to talk to a Nippert. And so was I!
After a few wrong turns we arrived in front of a door that proudly displayed, Nippert & Nippert, how neat was that I thought. We opened the door and walked right in. Dad said hello and asked if we could see, Mr. Nippert. The nice lady said she was sorry and that the Nippert’s were not in. Sadly dad and I stood there though proud of having made the effort to attempt to see the other Nippert’s. The Cincinnati Nippert’s.
Dad explained our journey and told her who we were. To which she told us that she knew the Nippert’s would be disappointed to learn they had missed us. We started to leave and she said for us to wait a minute while she went and got a book. She told us how the Nippert’s were interested in Genealogy and wondered if we might look at the book and see if we were in it. We were! And as dad pointed us out she handed him a pencil and asked him to fill in the blanks. The book seemed old; it was typed on tissue like crinkly paper.
Michael Nippert, it said and a son Earl. Earl was Pop’s father and Michael was a grandfather he never knew. Dad filled in Earl’s birth and death dates, his wife Harriet, my grandmother, and her dates, then his own, mom’s, Dave’s, mine and Tom’s. We left our name and number, thanked her and left. That was that and we drove on to our friend’s house. The year, circa 1959.
As of this writing the Cincinnati trip was fifty two years ago, the day is Sunday, February 13, 2011, I am about to be sixty one, Don will be eighty six this year and Hattie ninety one. Tom will be fifty eight and Dave would have been sixty five this year but, tragedy struck in February, 1982 and Dave died at age thirty five.
Thinking back to 1976 Dave had told me about a novel, I read the book and it told a story going back to 1767 about the life of a man named Kunta Kinte. The book “Roots” by Alex Haley. The novel became a best seller, published in thirty seven languages and in 1977 it became a popular television miniseries that reached a record breaking 130 million viewers. I guess I fell into the public interest and in my Genealogy roots and once again I wanted to learn more about my Heritage and Ancestry.
After reading the book I called Louis Nippert, one of the Cincinnati Nippert’s dad and I missed back in ’59 and he answered. I told him of; our visit, near some twenty years earlier, the book “Roots”, and my interest in Genealogy and that any help he could give me would greatly be appreciated.
Yes! It was and is greatly appreciated and later my wife and I stopped by Louis and Louise Cincinnati’s house and thanked them in person. Alfred, Louis's father had passed away.
Louise and Louis were gracious hosts and deeply appreciated our unexpected visit, I showed Louise Louis’s letter and showed her some of my research and then began asking questions. She told me of her visit to our ancestry’s homeland in France and the hospitality and Key to the City she was given. We took several pictures and she invited us back.
We exchanged Christmas cards for a while and Louise wrote me a few times. We were very sad when Louis passed away and we are very glad to know that as of this writing Louise is doing great and well into her nineties. God Bless Louise and Louis. Thank you so much for your friendship to me and my wife and your wonderful support to the people of Cincinnati and to the Nippert Genealogy.
Please start with the April Archieve.. and 'Food for Thought'
See my letter from Louis… in the older posts below
Oh, and contrary to C. Wilson's comment, that was, "Where Nippert got most of his information." this was all I got...Which was given too and used by her. Along with the Napoleon story... I researched. Your welcome cousin Christina! Please credit my folks for giving you my information along with crediting the Cincinnati Nipperts. You just might be interested in the Webb\Bradford and other lines you don't have. Oh lol as they say get in touch I would be happy to colaborate with you. Oh and the same for Godfried (Godfrey) California Nippert decendants' next time please get your information correct before publishing it, and glad I could help! lolol
Almost 300 years before the Mayflower and over 600 before I set foot on the earth... Sir Henry Alexander Webb was born on May 15, 135...