People named Walter Feerst

Friday, 25th November, 2011. Dear Eleanor and Virginia, My name is Jean Gundry and I live in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia with my husband Warren Gundry. I was born in 1951, and my parents (now deceased) were Ben and Florence Gilbert. My father visited Pennsylvania in 1942 while he was in training with the RAAF in Alberta, Canada. His reason for visiting Pittsburgh was to meet Heppy and Walter McPherson and their family. He stayed with Heppy and Walter’s daughter Rebecca and her husband John Feerst. They had two daughters, Eleanor and Virginia, and I am hoping that you might be those same people. The reason for my father’s visit was that his great grandmother was Hephizibah Selina Jinks , a sister of Ellen Annis who was Heppy McPherson’s mother. Hephizibah and Ellen were from Birmingham in England. Hephizibah and her husband Benjamin Jinks emigrated to Australia in the 1870’s. They had another sister Martha, who remained in Birmingham. Martha lived at 4 Tenby Street, and had two lodgers, George Pritchard and his brother, whom my father also visited while on leave in England during WW2. (Martha and Hephizibah both passed away in the 1920’s I think.) My husband and I recently visited Birmingham while on holiday in England. As I am compiling the family histoy, this was a wonderful experience. We visited Tenby St., along with other parts of Birmingham where the family lived in the mid- 1800’s, including the churches where my great-great grandparents and their siblings were baptised. I am delighting in exploring my roots and documenting my family history now that I am retired. ( My husband and I were both teachers. Warren taught History, Geography and English and I taught firstly Primary School, then Japanese and later, English as a Second Language.) My grandmother, Dorothy Gilbert, corresponded with Heppy and Rebecca, and I am enclosing copies of the letters written to my grandmother by Heppy and Rebecca following my father’s visit. It must have been a very happy and memorable occasion. I am intrigued to know about the people mentioned in these letters and to understand what their lives were like. I am compiling my family history for my children and grandchildren and would be very grateful for as much information as you are willing to share with me, if indeed you are the children of Rebecca and John. I am also very keen to see any photos you may have of Ellen, Heppy, Rebecca and yourselves. (I like the stories of the women in my family as the ones I knew were wonderful women with strong characters. Hephzibah must have found life in the Australian country so very different from her life in Birmingham and she and her husband were true pioneers.) I have also enclosed some photos of Ellen’s sister Hephizibah and would be very pleased to share my family history with you if you are interested. I found your address by chance by Googling your names, so I have fingers crossed that this letter may find you. I also trust that you might be happy to contact me in return. Hoping to hear from you, Yours kindly, Jean Gundry AUSTRALIA [contact link]

Walter C Feerst of Ellwood City, Lawrence County, PA was born on March 1, 1910, and died at age 83 years old on April 9, 1993.