Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Hints of Personality

One of the most frustrating things to deal with in genealogy is the lack of a human dimension for the people in a tree.  For that reason finding a hint of what a person was like is a precious gift.

I was recently searching for information on Mrs. William Halls (Emma Tanton) of Dolton, Devon, when I came across information on her husband, William Halls.  I had known that the family was religious, having converted from being Anglican to being Bible Christians, and I knew that the times were more religious than our own current time but I was not expecting what I found on page 283 of the 1869 edition of The Bible Christian Magazine, a very short snippet about William Halls offering the opening prayer at the Sabbath School Conference in Hatherleigh, "The conference was opened with singing and prayer, the latter being offered with peculiar fervour and power by Mr W. Halls."

That was it.  A precious glimpse of the kind of person William Halls was.  Involved in his church community.  A notable speaker.  And more devout than might be expected of the time and place.

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