Vienna & Rhiannon's Family Tree

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Note: References to "mom" and "great-great grandfather" and so forth are made from Vienna and Rhiannon's genealogical perspective.

Maternal Branch

Virginia (Ginny) Westcott Eberly -- Mom
1965 -
Ginny was born in Washington DC. Childhood stops included Palo Alto, Boulder, and several summers in England. She grew up for the most part, though, in Rochester in upstate New York. After high school, she attended Stanford University where she rowed for the JV crew. She spent a semester of her Junior year in Vienna, Austria at Stanford's campus there. Ginny met her future husband, Michael, in Vienna. She graduated from Stanford in 1987 with a BS in human biology. She relocated with Michael to Manhattan to get a Masters Degree in Physical Therapy from Columbia University. In 1988, Ginny and Michael where married. Following graduation from Colombia, Ginny moved to Seattle and began working as a physical therapist. She specializes in the treatment of very young children and infants and has pursued advanced training in pediatric physical therapy. In 1994 Ginny gave birth to her first child, Vienna Westcott, in Stockholm, Sweden. In 1996, she gave birth to Rhiannon Eberly at home in Woodinville, WA. Ginny continues to work part time at the Little Red School House and devotes much time and energy to raising her two young daughters.

Shirley Warren Smith -- Grandma
1938 -
Shirley grew up in Corvallis, OR. Her parents began digging out the basement to their house the day she was born. She was a member of both the Campfire Girls and 4-H. After high school, Shirley attended Stanford University and received bachelors and masters degrees in Statistics. While at Stanford, she met her husband Joe. Following graduation, she worked as a statistician at the Stanford Medical School. Next she worked for the US Public Health Service in Bethesda, MD, doing research into vaccines for Tuberculosis for use in developing nations. She also helped design clinical trials for research into migraines. She gave birth to three daughters and became a full time mother. She led a Girl Scout troop for many years. She also became active in the League of Women Voters, recently serving as the President of the New York chapter of the League. After spending a sabbatical year with her husband in Munich, and with her children now grown, Shirley returned to work as a statistician at the University of Rochester Medical Center. She is still trying to decide whether to buy a new sofa to go with her house, or to buy a new house to go with her sofa.

Joseph Henry Eberly -- Grandpa Joe
1935 -
Joe grew up in State College, PA and lived there until graduating many years later from Penn Sate. (In an interesting instance of synchronicity, Joe's family lived on the same street that Michael's parents lived on after they emigrated to the US.) Amongst other achievements at Penn State, Joe lettered on the varsity tennis team. He went to Stanford University for graduate studies and completed a PhD in physics. While at Stanford, he met his wife, Shirley. Joe completed a post doc for the Navy in Silver Spring, MD before accepting a position at the University of Rochester. He is a leading theorist in the field of Quantum Optics and maintains close relationships with colleagues all over the world, particularly in the former East Bloc countries. He is the recipient of two medals, one from the Polish government, and the other from the Optical Society of America. At 6' 4" tall, he is a formidable basketball player. His other passion is investing in the stock market.

Elizabeth Belknap Coolidge -- Great Grandma
1910 -
Betty came of age during the depression era, a period when one might earn more from a student stipend than from a salary. Accordingly, she distinguished herself by receiving a PhD in Botany, a rare accomplishment for a woman at that time. Although she never worked professionally as a biochemist, she did devote significant effort as a volunteer to the American Red Cross and was a leading organizer of their Bloodmobile program. Later in life, she developed a passion for petroglyphs. She spent many years with her husband, Frank, traveling the world. While he looked for birds, she photographed petroglyphs. She now spends her time cataloging her photos and notes. A curator at UCLA is interested in acquiring her petroglyph archives.

Frank Herschel Smith -- Great Grandfather
1906 - 1986
Frank was a botanist whose first teaching job was in Canton, NY at St. Lawrence University. He finished his career at Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. Primarily a field researcher, he took his family on many hikes and class field trips into the Cascades. He also took on graduate students from Thailand to teach them modern agricultural techniques. After he retired, he nurtured an interest in birds. He traveled widely to study birds while his wife, Betty, studied nearby petroglyphs.

Mary Weigle Keeny -- Great Grandmother
1903 - 1991
Mary worked as a librarian. Following the birth of her three children, she became a full time mother.

Norman McKinley Eberly -- Great Grandpa
1897 - 1996
Norman was the editor of the Calisle Sentinel before going to work for Penn State's Agriculture Extension Service. This job allowed him to spend many hours traveling widely throughout the state, meeting with farmers all the while to learn about new developments in agricultural techniques -- corn hybrids and the like. He would then publish newsletters disseminating the new information.

William David Coolidge (Big Daddy) -- Great-Great Grandfather
1873-1975
Big Daddy was a scientist in General Electric's first research lab. He solved the puzzle of how to make tungsten ductile for use as a filament in light bulbs. He also invented the cathode ray tube used in modern X-ray machines. He worked on the Manhattan Project and early sonar experiments for the Navy off of Key West during World War I.

Other Notes on the Smith/Coolidge Line
Emma King, Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great grandmother on the Smith side, was a postmistress. She met her husband, Addison Smith, while studying penmanship. In addition to working as a tutor, Addison had a rural mail route at the time. Later, he became a railroad timekeeper and, later still, ran a print ship. He also enjoyed growing peanuts in his garden in Conway, Arkansas. His father was an itinerant preacher in Tennessee.

The Coolidges emigrated to Britain's American colonies during the 1600s from Cottonham England. Though not Mayflower pilgrims, they were part of the same demographic phenomenon -- the white settlement of "the new world." The earliest Coolidges settled in Massachusetts and played an active role in colonial society. As a girl in 1783 in New Windsor, NY, Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Belknap, danced with General George Washington. (His headquarters at the time were a few miles to the north at Newburgh.) The encounter was Elizabeth's first--but not last--meeting with early American Presidents.Vienna and Rhiannon's great-grandmother, Betty, still has in her possession a tea-table at which Elizabeth had tea with President Van Buren at the home of William Lafayette Warren in Saratoga Springs. William Lafayette Warren, father of John Warren, Elizabeth's husband, was a politically active judge in Saratoga Springs. It is not clear, however, why President Van Buren would have taken tea with the Warrens since William was a nominating delegate for the candidate opposing the President for a second term. A later generation of Coolidges managed to place one of their own as President in the White House.

Other Notes on the Keeny/Eberly Line
Both branches of Joe's family include long lines of Pennsylvania farmers. The name Eberly, spelled with a "y" as opposed to an "e" was used only in one particular region in Switzerland. ("Eber" means "wild boar" in German.) The Eberly's emigrated to the US in the mid-1700s. Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great-great-grandfather, Joseph Eberly, fought for the North during the Civil War.

The Keenys arrived in Pennsylvania from Germany via Baltimore early in the 1800s. They were farmers until Henry, Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great-great-grandfather, a tenant farmer, sold off his stock and tools and moved into Mechanicsburg. Thereafter he ran a truck farming business and started a pottery employing local German potters. The brick house inhabited by his father's family is still standing and occupied in Keenytown (only marked that way on certain older maps!) in South Middelton Township. Though no one has been buried there for many years, the Keeny family plot is still maintained by local townsfolk.

Paternal Branch

Michael David Harvey -- Dad
1964 -
Michael was born in Seattle, but grew up for the most part in Santa Cruz, CA. He spent three years living with his family in the Netherlands, near Amsterdam and attended Dutch schools during that time. After high school, Michael left for Stanford University. A committed pre-med, he planned to become a neurosurgeon until organic chemistry changed his mind. He became a petroleum engineering major for about a week in the hopes of landing a lucrative summer job in some oil field, before settling on industrial engineering. He "stopped out" twice to work at IBM as an intern and also spent a semester studying in Vienna, Austria at Stanford's overseas campus there. Michael met his future wife, Ginny in Vienna. Michael graduated from Stanford in 1987 and relocated to Manhattan to take a job on Wall Street as an investment banker at JP Morgan. In 1988, Michael and Ginny were married. In 1989, Michael relocated to Seattle to take a job as a product manager at Microsoft where he worked primarily in the company's multimedia division on innovative products for children. He ended his Microsoft career with a work assignment to Stockholm, Sweden. After traveling extensively throughout Europe with Ginny and new daughter, Vienna Westcott, Michael returned to the US to decide what to do next. While he finishes deciding, Michael runs a multimedia production and consulting company, eMEDIA Entertainment, working on projects that marry technology and the arts.

Margaret Pamela Leyshon -- Granny
1941 -
Pam was born at home in Ystrad in the Rhondda Valley in South Wales. Born during World War II, she has vivid memories of RAF bombers flying to the coast as they returned from Germany. An early reader, she distinguished herself by receiving her first library card when she was only 2. While growing up, she involved herself in theater and acting and was also a Girl Guide leader. She attended nursing school until her parents' ill health forced her to return home. She worked as an income tax inspector with the civil service. She met her husband, Roger, in the tax office in Pontypridd. Following the wedding, Pam emigrated to the US. Sons Michael and Andrew were born shortly thereafter, daughter Jacqueline in 1969. She was active in many organizations -- Cub Scouts, PTA, Lyceum -- and in 1973 was named an "Outstanding Young Woman Of America." She became a US citizen in 1971. She returned to nursing school in the 80s and has since held numerous positions as an RN in several hospitals and medical clinics in the Santa Cruz area.

Marie Josephine Harterre -- Great Grandmother
1905 - 1963
Josephine was born in Clydach, Rhondda. She attended a catholic school that had been built by her grandfather. Her family owned a car named Daisy, one of the first automobiles in the Rhondda.

Margaret Philpott -- Great Gramma
1920 -
Peggy is a Welsh homemaker of Irish descent. She has been actively involved in the Catholic church all her life.

Harold Redvers Harvey -- Great Grampa
1907 - 1983
Harold was a master cabinet maker and joiner in Pontypridd. A talented athlete, he was the captain of Pontypridd's football (soccer) team, as well as becoming the Pontypridd middle-weight boxing champion. He never went anywhere without his pipe and a pouch of tobacco. Although he only knew one song, he loved to play the piano and he played it well.

Other Notes on the Harterre/Leyshon Line
Though trained fashion couture, Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great Aunt, Margaret Anne (Nan) Harterre, served in the WTAC (Women's Territorial Army Corps) during World War I. Her name is engraved on one of the walls of the Tower of London. Her fiancee was killed during the closing days of the war and is buried in Greece. She never married and, along with her sister, Kathleen, helped to raise two of Pam's older brothers.

Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great grandfather William Harterre's family originated in Brittany. He was an avid gardener. His wife, Margaret Jane Hallasey was a homemaker of Irish descent. Her family raised horses in southern Ireland. Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great-great grandfather, William Hallasey was a master builder. He built the church in which Pam and Roger were married.

The Harterres and the Hallaseys were part of the large influx of Irish immigrants who moved to Wales early in the 19th century to work in the enormous coal fields of the Rhondda Valley. For most of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th, Rhondda coal provided up to 50% of the world's total energy supply.

Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great grandfather, William Leyshon, was a coal miner married to one Sarah Price. The Leyshon name is of very old Celtic origin.

Other Notes on the Philpott/Harvey Line
Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great grandfather, George Harvey, hailed from the West Country Devonshire where he worked as a master saddler. He married Susannah Harding. His father was William Harvey, rumored by family lore to be a distant relation of Sir William Harvey, the British physician who first discovered and articulated the principle of blood circulation in the human body.

Vienna and Rhiannon's great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Richards, was born in Trebanog, Rhondda, and died at age 74 after giving birth to 13 children. Her husband, William Morris Philpott served as an infantry soldier in World War I. Upon his return to Wales he became a miner. (The term "miner," although now used in a generic way, would at the time have implied that he was a master in one specialty or another.)

The Trunk

Vienna Westcott Harvey -- Little Monkey, Scruncher Muncher
1994 -
Vienna was born in Huddinge Hospital on the outskirts of Stockholm, Sweden. In utero, she visited Amsterdam, London, Copenhagen, and the Liljehammer Winter Olympics. Ex Utero, she took trains throughout England and Wales paying visits to many of the aforementioned relatives, spent two weeks sailing in Turkey, a week trekking along the fjords of Norway, and two weeks touring northern Portugal by car. Back in the US, she lived through a major remodel, began walking just before her first birthday, and is now almost two-and-a-half and talking up a storm. Her mom and dad love her very, very much. She is a terrific big sister!