12th November 2021 - about this site...

This website is the summary output of my genealogy work that began just after the birth of our youngest child in late 2013. That work is still ongoing, with updates at least a few times a year as additional research progresses or as others contact me to contribute new information.

It is my intent to share this information as widely and freely as possible; I have benefitted greatly from the work of others, past and present, and I want others to be able to build on my work. Additionally, having this information available has already led to others reaching out to help fill in gaps and bridge the disconnects in some of the research, and I hope it will continue to do so in the future.

The title of the website - the Hyphen Family - stems from a joke made by my mother-in-law, Carolyn, when my wife and I married, referring to my wife as "Mrs. Hyphen" because her chosen hyphenated last name was long and cumbersome. The nickname quickly became an inside joke, and seemed an easy enough way to refer to our amalgamated clan. The actual surnames of our immediate family are not Hyphen in any way.

While expansive, the individuals in this database (with very few exceptions) all belong to one of the following groups:

Some of this is to keep my research from going too far away from our direct family lines, and and some of it is a direct result of my search methods - reaching back as far as I can, and then folllowing all descendant lines forward as far as possible again.

Privacy; Contributions and submissions

Living persons and those whose deaths occurred within the last twenty years are marked "private" in the database and have only their names published on this website. If you are related to any of these lines and you have pictures, documents, or other memorabilia, please contact me about getting copies of such items. Likewise, please contact me with any corrections or completions for the information I have, particularly for those in the recent generations. The more information and photos are contributed, the richer this material is for everyone. If you would like your line filled out more completely and accurately, feel free to contact me, as this initial work has focussed mostly on the lines relevant to my immediate household and has only recently begun to branch out.

Acknowledgements

I am deeply indebted to a great deal of work done by others whose efforts have come well before mine - some of them close family, some of them not as much. All of them have contributed significantly to the information you see here. For the largest portion of my work I owe a great deal to Jane Anne Thomas, sister to my paternal grandfather; her meticulous and thorough work forms either the basis or the reinforcement for my own research, though she performed hers without the aid of the resources I have available to me.

Many others have also contributed, directly or indirectly. I would like to thank:

Contact and information requests

There will be dedicated efforts toward updating the site periodically as long as active research is ongoing. For more information, including GEDCOM files, contact Scott Thomas, scott@plainofsharon.org .