[Magdalen] "Hand to Hand" - have you one to share?

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

For those who have investigated their genealogies, such connections of
impressive length are possible.

We all obviously have such relationships with our parents, and, through
them, to their parents, and so forth.

One of my ancestors, named James (Jamie) Smith, had a remarkable life.
Captured by Indians during Braddock's debacle, he later returned to English
life and wrote a memoir of his experiences which is still widely read
today. He used his experience gained while living with the Indians to teach
his local neighbors to defend themsleves against the indian attacks, using
the Indians' tactics against them. He, along with the more famous Rodgers
of Rogers' Rangers fame, was entrusted with keeping the frontier stable
during the Revolutionary War. His character was played in the movie,
"Allegheny Uprising," by John Wayne.

Another of my ancestors, a Huguenot priest in Ireland named Gabriel
Maturin, was on the staff of a cathedral in Dublin. During the tenure of
Jonathan Swift as dean of the cathedral, Maturin was instrumental in
changing Swift's mind about allowing the Cathedral's choristers to be used
in the premier of a new work.  Swift was dead set against allowing his
singers to participate but Maturin persuaded him to allow the singers to
participate, and thus my ancestor was instrumental in facilitating the
premier of "The Messiah" of George Frideric Handel. As a musician, I'm
especially pleased with that connection.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Fri, Jun 3, 2016 at 8:33 AM, Ian Gomersall <ian.gomersall at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Greetings
>
> Here's a little bit of Summer fun :)
>
> I've just posted on our church blog about 'Hand to Hand' - how far we can
> connect back to, say, a specific event through family memory or connection.
>
> Have a look at the blog entry at:
> https://stchrysostoms.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/hand-to-hand/
> which explains more and gives examples.
>
> I was wondering if we had 'Hand to hand' s to share
>
> Best wishes
>
> Ian
>
> *Ian Gomersall*
>