I don't have a father!

No he didn't have a father in his life. This man was just a name of his birth certificate.

His name, David Henry Knapp.

That's pretty much all I will tell you right now. You see I found there are quite a few Knapps in Connecticut and New York.  It also makes it hard because I found three Davids.

If I have the right David, he lived in Bridgeport, CT his adult life and worked at the Salts Textile Company in Bridgeport. Never married.

Many Knapps, many questions, not very many answers.

The first birth certificate I found after my father died was not a certified copy and did not list a father. Also, if he wanted a certified copy he would have received this one. I believe the other is fake.

The first thing that catches your eye is the large O.W. written on the certificate. It stands for Out of Wedlock.

Thank you to the Vital Statistic Manager in Bridgeport, she confirmed it's meaning and said, "Try to keep in perspective that at the time of your father’s birth and for many years later, it was a horrible sin to be born of wedlock and much effort was put into hiding and/or covering it up.  It was especially devastating to the birth mother and the child.  It was a secret they often took to their graves."

Was this the taboo subject they didn't want to talk about?

HIS MOTHER: Eva Ceretha Hector

Her registered birth name is Evangeline Seretha Hector.  What's the real spelling of her middle name? 

Color of Mother: White
All research states African Black.

Residence of Mother: Hillside Home, Bridgeport, CT.
Poor house and it also included a hospital with a nurse listed by the name of Eva Hector.

Birthplace of Mother: Oromocto, New Brunswick, Canada
Actual birthplace Gagetown, New Brunswick, Canada

Does this leave you with more questions?

Did you really think I was going to give you the answers all in one post?

Sorry to leave you hanging but most of the questions must be answered in a separate post.

More to come soon!

What I thought I knew

I believe the Hector side of the family were great story tellers. As I continue my research, I can see where some of these stories came from but not all.

Here is a picture of my father and grandmother. Probably the only picture I have of them together and both smiling. Although they were mother and son they hated each other.

This is what I was originally told.

• My father said he didn't have a true father. The first birth certificate I found after he died had no father listed. I understood what he meant by no true father.
• My father's middle name was William.
• My grandmother said she was the only one alive in her family. Besides her parents she only had one sister.
• They were Maliceet Indian. Heard this tidbit from my father. He also told us that she used to dance in Pow-Wows. He also said at one time we were such a small amount of Indian that it doesn't count.
• My grandmother was originally from Massachusetts then that changed to Canada.
• One story that I know is true, confirmed by relatives, is when my parents were dating they would walk into a restaurant and was told to leave because they don't serve my father's kind.

But why so angry to punch a hole in the wall?  

Back then times were so different that many things that happened in families were embarrassing and never talked about.  Now everything about peoples' lives are posted on Facebook.

I really want to know why it was such a taboo subject. It may be a story hidden away forever but right now I'm not giving up.

Yes, a hole in the wall.

He was angry, he punched a whole in the wall, and we never asked again. I will never forget it. He just walked into his bedroom and shut the door. My mother wouldn't tell us anything because he asked her not too.  With that moment burned into my memory, how could I not do the research!

That moment was when I was in high school (1978) but I didn't start my research until 2005. My parents died in 2004 and going through a box of their documents, I found birth certificates for my father, John Hector, and his mother, Eva Hector, plus a picture of a grave stone with names and birth/death dates of her father, mother and grandmother.

I opened an account with Ancestry.com and found quite a bit of information but slammed into a brick wall.  I wasn't sure if what I found was correct. At the same time my sister was researching online and found the break through I needed.  She found a book with tons of family information plus pictures. When she saw the picture on the cover, she ordered the book. The photo on the cover looked like a younger version of our father, John Hector.

Let me introduce you to my grandmother's brother, George Hector, The Whistling Banjoman.

This book is full of family names, dates, locations, and pictures. There is even a picture of my father and his mother in the book. My sister even contacted the author who sent us information and pictures of the Hector homestead.

I will stop here for now and give you more details in another post. If any family members and friends have information to share, please leave me a comment on a post or email me at the address listed under my photo.