52 Ancestors Challenge Week 13: "Sisters" - Jean, Ann, and Clare Henry

My family is female-rich. I have 2 sisters. My father has 2 sisters. My mother has 3 sisters. Grandma Gardner had 3 sisters. Grandma Earle had 2 sisters. Grandpa Gardner had 1 sister. Grandpa Earle only had 1 brother, though, no sisters for him. Plus, I have 4 nieces, no nephews. If I expand my view outward, I also have 9 female first cousins, and only 3 male first cousins. I'm incredibly close to many of my 2nd cousins, many of which are, you guessed it, girls! So, lots of girls running around.

When my mind tries to recall images that depict "sisters" in my family history a few spring to mind but two in particular cry out.

First, this image comes from a newspaper article about my great grandparents, Charles Henry (March 26, 1896 - June 14, 1949) and Anna Sauer-Henry-Stoothoff (July 19, 1899 - May 8, 1986), and their commitment to healthy eating for their kids. (Get it, get it? They are all just kids there. Bwahahaha. Baby goats are called kids. Anyway...) 

It is an article I have reflected on in my blog in the past. "The Hunt for Health Food Started Goat Society," was published in The Eagle on July 30, year unknown. The Eagle must have been a local Long Island newspaper. I have never been able to find the full issue. I just love the image, though, of my grandmother, Clare and her sister Regina, more commonly referred to as Jean. Look at them wrangling in those baby goats. Grandma had to be about 6, Jean about 11. That would place the article in 1935, give or take.

The second image also comes from my shared Henry family photos. When I think about it, that really the only line I have images from. 

This is a photo of my grandmother's two sister, Jean again, the older taller sister on the right, and Ann on the left. 

Ann (age, 9) and Regina "Jean" (13)

This one clearly shows the year it was taken, 1937. Based on other photos obviously taken that same day, they were taken on June 26, 1937. Here are all 6 Henry siblings on the steps including Jean, Ann, my grandmother, and the 3 brothers: Charlie, Bobby, and Richard. The date is in the lower right corner.

These two photos show the other children. The one on the right was taken on that day. The one on the left of Charlie and Bobby looks to be from a different day. They have on different suits, and Charlie looks younger than 15 years old, as he is in the group photo.

Charlie and Bobby

Richie (5) and Clare (8)

All except my grandmother are now deceased.

My grandmother and Aunt Ann were closer in age but all 3 sisters were by all measures close. As married woman, grandma and Aunt Jean lived across the street from one another. All three sisters sent their combine 17 children to the same local Catholic school. There is a funny story about when my grandmother's mother, Anna Marie Sauer-Henry-Stoothoff, married her second husband, Frank Stoothoff (February 21, 1903 - September 17, 1993). They wed in October of 1963 It was long after Ann (the elder) had been widowed and became a grandmother. Her first husband, Charles Henry, died in June of 1949. By 1963 Ann had 35 grandchildren, 10-13 of whom attended Cure of Ars Roman Catholic School at the time. All 3 of Ann's daughters (Clare Earle, Jean Drew, and Ann Cramer) sent letters into school to account for their children's absences. It is not common for someone to take off to go to their grandma's wedding. It is certainly not common for so many kids to take off from the same school on the same day to go to their grandmother's wedding. That got the teacher-sisters (all nuns) talking and that is when they put together that all the Earles, Drews, and Cramers were cousins.