I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember this great-aunt, although I wish I did. She was a sister of my maternal grandfather, Grover Cleveland Ream. Sadly, my grandfather died when my mother was only five years old, so I never had the opportunity to know him either.

I do know that, as a child, I met some of my Ream relatives, even though those connections and memories have faded over the years. Thanks to my Ancestry account and the generous contributions of other family researchers, I have been able to piece together more of the story of my Ream relatives and learn about the lives of those who came before me.

It feels like an honor to be able to write about the life of this great-aunt now—to give her a place in my family story and, in some small way, “meet her.”

When Harriet Isobel “Pat” Ream was born on January 10, 1894, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, her father, Benjamin, was 38, and her mother, Harriett, was 30. They had two children during their marriage. She died on December 2, 1969, in Clackamas, Oregon, at the age of 75.

In the 1900 US census, Harriet lived on Wells Street in Ann Arbor, MI with her family. Her father, Benjamin’s occupation is listed as a carpenter. Her mother Harriet’s occupation is listed as a laundry business.

She married Horace Hamilton Person on December 31, 1912, in her hometown. Harriet was only 18 years old when she wed. Horace was 19 years old.

At some point, Harriet and Horace must have moved to Wind River, Wyoming. Sadly, tragedy struck in 1915 when their little son, Robert Horace Person, died at just one year and six months old from an accidental drowning.

I found a copy of his death certificate, which I have saved on Ancestry. Harriet and Horace brought their son’s remains back to Ann Arbor, where Robert was laid to rest at Forest Hill Cemetery.

Their second son, Horace Hamilton Person, Jr., was born in 1916 in Ann Arbor, Mi.

By 1917, Horace Person, Sr. and Harriet are listed in an Ann Arbor Directory. Horace is a Civil Engineer and they had a home on Wells Street.

In the 1920 census, Horace Person Sr. and Harriet were living with their son Horace Person Jr. in Pennsylvania.

They moved back to Ann Arbor, MI sometime before 1924 when it shows their residence in an Ann Arbor City Directory as 1515 Wells, Ann Arbor. This would be in the Burns Park neighborhood.

By 1926, they had moved again. This time to Santa Clara, CA. But by 1940,the census showed that they had moved to Portland, OR where other members of the Ream family were also settled.

In the 1940 census, Horace is working as a life insurance agent in Portland, OR.

In 1947, when Harriet was 53 years old, her husband Horace Person, Sr. died.

In the 1950 census, it appears that Harriet has become the owner of a Tea Room and is operating her business in Oregon City, OR.

Harriet was 67 years old, when her son Horace Person, Jr. died when he was only 45 years old. He had been a WWII veteran and an electrical engineer at Aerojet. How very sad for Harriet that during her lifetime, she had lost her husband and both of her sons.

In researching Harriet, I found that one of the contributors on Ancestry added several photos of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor. I take this to mean that Harriet and Horace must have been active members of the church. This was very interesting to me because I live very close to this beautiful church and have family members. I would love to find some old church membership records!

I am including here some of the photos that have been uploaded to the Ancestry website on Harriet’s profile page.