Genealogy 101

It has been suggested that I introduce myself, in order to share why this story has had such a huge influence in my life over the past 50-plus years.

My name is Greta Huls, but I strongly believe my story begins in Hocking County, Ohio when it was newly formed on March 1, 1818. Its name is from the Hocking River,  which is said to be from a Delaware Native American word "hock-hocking" meaning "bottle river."

My great-great-great-grandfather William Huls moved to Ohio from New Jersey in 1827 to assist in the building of the Hocking Canal.

Capt. William H. Huls stands to the front left.

His son, my great-great-grandfather Capt. William Harrison Huls, later served in the Civil War with the 58th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Co. H.

A.E. stands behind his father William H, Huls.

His son, my great-grandfather Alpheus Eugene Huls (also known as A.E. or Gene to family and friends) began printing and publishing (Millville Tomahawk, Logan Republican) in 1883 and built his Huls Printing building in 1923.

Great-grandpa Gene married Mary Jennie Frasure in 1889. They had two children: Walter Harrison Huls, who was born in 1890, and an unnamed infant who died with its mother either in birth or the same day. They were buried together at Centenary Cemetery in Hocking County   

Gene and Anna R. Huls

Great-grandpa Gene married my great-grandmother Anna Rebecca Troxel in 1899. They had three children: Anna Troxel Huls who was stillborn in 1900, Charles Henry Huls who was born in 1902, and Frederick Eugene Huls who was born in 1904.

(Anna Rebecca's father was Henry Troxel who was born in Hocking County, Ohio in 1825 -- where he also later died in 1900. He made the "family fortune" when he was a young man who bought the salvage rights to a barge that sank on the nearby Hocking Canal. He deeply regretted his lack of education so made certain his four children received one. He even waited until all four were college age before sending all four to college simultaneously!)

My grandfather, Fred. E. Huls, reluctantly went to work for the family business in 1926 after he completed his term as editor for the 1926 Makio yearbook. He never got his engineering or journalism degree. He married in 1928 and had his first child, a girl, nine months later. However, it was another 12 years before my father was born.

My father Frederick "Fritz" Eugene Huls II was born in 1941. Grandpa Fred did the same thing his own father had done, and forced my father to join Huls Printing in 1963 despite my father's own interests. It might have gone better if Grandpa had left my dad back in the print shop, but Grandpa wanted Dad in front running the business and being a Family Face. Sadly, that business arrangement collapsed within 10 years.

Meanwhile, I was born in 1964 to Fritz and Patricia Anne Taylor Huls of Bay Village, Ohio. My earliest, happiest memories involve the print shop and the people there. I was crushed when Grandpa Fred retired and moved to Arizona in 1971. Dad didn't seem to feel the same way, and the business was eventually sold to Evans "Sandy" Hand sometime between 1971-1975. We moved to Arizona in 1975. 

The Huls Building today.

Sandy successfully ran the Huls Printing Co., until he retired and sold the building in 2001 to Hocking County. Separated by a parking lot with the Hocking County Court House, the Huls Building now provides the county with much needed storage space. Even when I last visited in October 2001 that building was still impregnated with the smell of inks and solvents.

In my opinion, Grandpa Fred gave up too soon on the family dynasty. My late aunt (his firstborn) wanted to go into the family business, but grandpa discouraged her saying girls could only write for women's pages -- typical for the 1940s and 1950s. I became interested in journalism, writing, and photography early on. I think knew I had ink in my blood. When I did receive my bachelor's degree in Journalism with emphasis in Photojournalism from Northern Arizona University in 1989, I sent Grandpa Fred an additional tassel with a card that said, "It took 64 years, but we finally got the journalism degree!"

Meanwhile, I grew up hearing about my Hocking County ancestors. Every street or road in Hocking County seemed to have a personal story. Even as a young child I had a sense of pride in what my ancestors had accomplished in the region. I became interested in family genealogy before I even knew what genealogy was! Part of that was the oral traditions passed down. Hocking County is in the Appalachian foothills so we had a strong sense of family and oral tradition -- something my Cuyahoga county born and bred mother didn't understand for decades. I knew stories about my 19th century ancestors that made them real, not just grim-faced people in albumen cabinet cards.

I grew up hungry wanting to know more, so I keep digging....

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