Daniel Haston Family Association

Book Project – Heritage of Daniel Haston

Book Progress Update - December 2020

The work on this book actually began in the fall of 1999, when I started interacting with other people who were researching our Haston family history, visiting libraries, reading books, organizing a filing system, and developing www.DanielHaston.com.

When I officially retired in 2017, the writing began. I estimated that it would take five years to create the draft. Here we are over three years later.

What's the Current Status?

At the end of 2019, I had completed 15 chapters covering 536 pages–those are only draft copies, not final.

This year (2020) I almost equaled what I accomplished in the first two-plus years–493 pages in 16 draft chapters!

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic for keeping me shut in. Thanks for cancer in mid-year to remind me that life is uncertain and I have no idea how long I will have to finish this project. And thanks to a supportive wife who believes in what I’m doing.

When Will the Book Be Published?

I hope to complete the full draft by mid-2021, a year earlier than I anticipated.

But each chapter needs some “cleaning up” and there are some holes yet to be filled in the text, requiring additional research. As those developments occur, I’ll be handing the text off to a professional designer which will require “who knows how much time?”

The "Reader's Digest" Version

I’m wise enough to know that only the die-hard genealogists and family history nuts (like me) are going to read 1,000 plus pages. That’s unfortunate because I know how much “good stuff” is there to be read–especially by Daniel Hiestand/Haston descendants.

So, my plan is–Lord willing–to print a limited number of the full book (probably requiring two volumes). I want to get it into as many libraries as possible–especially libraries where I know there are concentrations of our family members. And I plan to print the full book for anyone who expresses an interest in purchasing it.

But if the Lord gives me good health and a clear mind, I plan to create a smaller version of the book, perhaps 200-250 or so pages. Obviously, it will be an overview book and will not contain the many hundreds of footnotes in the full book. I hope to write it in a simple, readable, narrative format as much as possible That version will probably be published before the full volume(s).

Contents of the Book

The Heritage of Daniel Haston
Son of SWISS-German Mennonite Immigrant Henrich Hiestand

Four Units – 30 Chapters

Unit 1 – Roots

Early Theories about Daniel’s European Roots
Hiestands in Switzerland
Anabaptists (Mennonites)
Refugees to the Palatinate in Southwest Germany
Village of Ibersheim (Near Worms, Germany)
Emigration to America

Unit 2 – Henrich Hiestand and Family

Henrich Hiestand in Pennsylvania (East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County)
Henrich Hiestand Family in Virginia (what is now, Page County, VA)

Unit 3 – Daniel and Abraham

Daniel Hiestand/Haston in Virginia
Revolutionary War – Was Daniel a Rev War Veteran or Not?
Early North Carolina Connections
Hiestand Families in Early East Tennessee
Hiestand Families in Early Kentucky
Daniel Haston Family in Knox County, Tennessee
McComesky-Roddy-Ryan-Haston Connections
Daniel Haston in White County, Tennessee

Unit 4 – Daniel’s Children

David – White County
David – Van Buren County
Montgomery Greenville Haston
Joseph
Lucinda – Wife of Jacob Mitchell
Catherine – Wife of John Austin
Isaac – Tennessee
Isaac – Missouri
Isaac – California
Jesse
Jeremiah MC
Daniel, Jr.
Elizabeth – Wife of James Roddy
Mary-Polly & Peggy – Daniel’s Daughters?

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Discovering Your Family History

Why Study Dead People?

Or "Discovering Your Family's History"

Podcast Interview with Wayne Haston

DEBORAH JOHNSON, M.A., creator of Hero Mountain™® and past President of Los Angeles National Speakers Association, is an international award-winning music artist, author, speaker and National Media Commentator. Deborah provides principles to produce a successful second half, creating momentum and getting unstuck, reaching expansive goals and a desired lifestyle. Up for multiple GRAMMY Awards and spending over 20 years in the entertainment industry, she’s an expert on how to constantly reinvent yourself in a gig-economy. She is also the recipient of the 2018 Women’s Economic Forum Exceptional Women of Excellence Award. Deborah is the author of 4 books and speaks and performs in both live and virtual events.

Summary Written by Deborah Johnson

This article is based on an interview I had with Dr. Wayne Haston, an expert on discovering family history. So why study dead people? It’s a lonely hobby as it’s so narrowly focused! When Dr. Haston started doing research, he became overwhelmed with all he was finding. He had not yet retired and was fairly busy in his regular work. How was he going to organize all of the information he was discovering about his family history?

That was over 20 years ago and he has now found a way! His system of organization has been a huge asset in his ability to expand his research now that he is retired. Having two doctorate degrees definitely came in handy as he was used to researching. Approaching age 73 at the time of this writing, his research is rewarding, fun and keeping his mind sharp!

Where to Start with Family History

Wayne started his research by creating a website. (DanielHaston.com) By doing so, he could easily post new findings and illustrations. It was also a fairly easy way to organize his research.

He also started an open Facebook group where he posts updates and is more easily linked with other family members. But most of his work is posted on the website. After taking a DNA test, Dr. Haston even posted his test result on his website. (Quite interesting to view!)

With all his research organized and categorized over the years, he has now combined the material for an upcoming book. The large version will be a library only edition, already at 30 chapters and over 500 pages, eventually to be between 800-900 pages! However, he’ll provide a smaller download version as a free PDF file. Wayne has gone way beyond what many will attempt, but he is providing a long-lasting legacy for his family and future generations to come.

If you are interested in your family history, there are places online to start looking. here’s Ancestry.com, which starts with a free trial, but then a fee. There’s also a completely free site sponsored by the Mormon church, FamilySearch.org which is excellent. There are many other resources you will find with a Google search.

Solving Mysteries in Your Family's History

Look for the unanswered questions. There are usually some theories or stories you will hear from other family descendants. You may have to do a little research to find them, but with social media, this is now more feasible!

It’s also fun to visit some of those family members. We recently took a trip to my birthplace in Georgia and I walked away with new insights about my dad’s side of my family. I also found out the small town I was born used to be called Denhamville, going back to the Civil war, referring to my ancestor’s tannery that furnished shoes and boots for the soldiers! (Denham is my maiden name!)

Wayne discovered three main theories about where his family came from. After his DNA test, he knew which theory was correct and that opened up a whole new world. You may be unaware that many others have also done a lot of research on your family. If you can find and meet those people, you can ask them where they got stuck and what else there is to find. One contact told Wayne, There’s always something more in the bottom of the barrel! He then proceeded to find much more information not yet uncovered. This fact reminded me to check in with some of my family members before taking an extended trip to Italy to research my roots from my mom’s side of my family!

The Importance of Family History

Some people may think a study like this is crazy. You can be out doing other things like playing golf or traveling to exotic places. However, the more details you find, the more exciting it gets to discover more! I had a cousin come up to me during my mom’s memorial service and tell me she had done quite a bit of research in Italy she’d love to share with me. I got super excited and hope to meet with her soon!

The Jewish culture in biblical times definitely thought it was very important to mention the genealogical records in the Old Testament. In fact, they memorized many of those records. When Martin Luther first translated the Bible into German, thanks to the printing press, he sold 5,000 copies in just two weeks. From 1518-1525, Luther’s writings accounted for a third of all books sold in Germany and his German Bible went through more than 430 editions.* There is a large amount of genealogy included in the Bible and this has been very important for not only for religious organizations, but for both American and European history.

History also helps us to understand ourselves, our culture and life’s perspective. We hear the phrase, History repeats itself and it’s true! Just like political history repeats itself, you may find patterns of repetition in your family history. Understanding those patterns can empower you to move forward with steps for positive change and to even create a different path for future generations. That makes discovering your family history even more important and powerful!

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Dave and Estelle Haston

David Rhea and Estelle Suggs Haston

Daniel Haston Family History “Hall of Famers”

David Rhea and Estelle (Suggs) Haston lived in Sparta, Tennessee (White County, TN). You can see their birth and death dates on the Highland Cemetery tombstone below. For 20+ years (mid-1960s until sometime in the late 1980s or so) Dave and Estelle did a phenomenal job of researching and preserving our family’s history. Estelle, in particular, connected with Haston family members ALL over the country and wrote perhaps 100s of letters, engaging them in Daniel Haston family research.

David Rhea Haston descended from Daniel Haston through Daniel’s son David, and David’s son Isaac T. Haston and David’s grandson, Montgomery Greenville (M.G.) Haston. In other words, both of David Rhea Haston’s parents were Hastons in the David Haston line:

His father was Joel “Joe” Montgomery Haston (1863-1925), son of M.G. and Rachel Wheeler Haston. M.G. was a grandson of David Haston, through David’s daughter Mary/Polly.
His mother was Elizabeth “Betty” Haston (1871-1946), daughter of Isaac T. Haston. Isaac T. was David Haston’s next-to-the-youngest son.

So David Rhea Haston was a double-descendant of David and Daniel Haston! His parents were first cousins once-removed. No wonder he developed such a keen interest in the history of the Haston family.

When David Rhea (Dave) retired from the Tennessee Valley Authority in October 1965, he and his wife, Estelle move back “home” to Sparta, TN and began to pursue Daniel Haston family research with a passion. Remember: that was when historical research was not easy. Major highways were mostly two-lanes; no copying machines; no internet or email; long distance phone calls were very expensive. When you look at their research files you can understand how challenging it must have been: correspondence was by USPS mail and copies were made using onion-skin paper and carbon copy paper.

I (Wayne Haston) was extremely fortunate to inherit their research files. Actually, I never met Dave nor Estelle although I grew up in the same small town where they lived and was related to them. But Dave and Estelle passed along their resources to J.D. Haston of Sparta, whom I had known all my life. Just a couple of years before J.D. passed away, I began interacting with him about the Haston family history. In about 2002, knowing he had a health problem that might be terminal, J.D. gave me all of Dave and Estelle’s research materials, two boxes full of them. I’ve gone through them page by page and organized them for access by some future Haston family researchers.

Estelle deserves special recognition for her work on the Haston family. Although not a Haston by birth, she worked tirelessly to correspond with Haston relatives all over the USA, even after Dave passed away in 1985. “Helpful” and “kind” are two words that come to mind when people who communicated with her think of her.

A Personal Tribute to Dave and Estelle Haston

From Mrs. Howard (Carol) Haston

As a newlywed in 1971, I was surprised to learn that my husband Howard’s family knew very little of their Haston family history. Richard, my father-in-law, knew only that his father, John Foster Haston, was born into a large brood in Red Top, Missouri in 1884. His dad had told Richard that he left the family farm soon after his mother died and didn’t want to talk about it. When I asked Howard’s mom, Claudina, about the Hastons, she produced a letter from Estelle Haston, Sparta, TN, inviting any and all Hastons to the annual family reunion in Sparta. None of my Portland Hastons knew if they were related but mom-in-law kept the letter.

Ten years later, Howard’s job took us to Tennessee. I determined to find the Missouri to Tennessee Haston connection if one existed. Cranking through microfilm rolls of Missouri censuses in Knoxville, I found the path from Howard’s family to Jeremiah Haston, born around 1798, in Tennessee. With Estelle’s years-old letter in hand, I called Estelle and Dave Haston’s Sparta phone number, hoping they still lived there. Eureka. Estelle answered. I explained my research, telling her that we’d like to attend the annual reunion with 12-15 additional Hastons, Richard’s brothers, sister, spouses. Although Estelle knew nothing of our Jeremiah, we were Hastons nonetheless and were invited.

I asked Estelle how she’d gotten my in-laws’ address years earlier for her U.S. Haston mailing list. It seems that Ma Bell had a hand in her methodology. Whenever she and Dave’s families or friends traveled to a city outside of Tennessee, Estelle asked them to comb that city phone book and bring her the Haston page or copied info from that book. As you may remember, printed phone books usually displayed a person’s name, phone number and address. This was an ingenious mass-mailing effort prior to the Web. I’m glad it reached us.

In 2010, DNA linked the Jeremiah lineage to Daniel Haston and Heinrich Hiestand showing that Jeremiah was one of Daniel Haston’s sons.

A Personal Tribute to Dave and Estelle

From Jane Ritter

I am not sure where I found out about their research. Dave and Estelle were such amazing people. They wanted to share what they knew about Haston family history. We corresponded for years sharing information. I also learned many things about them and what their work and family had been doing. Estelle always included her current church and family activities. We visited with them in Tennessee on several occasions. They were great hosts. Dave showed us the cemeteries and buildings and told what he knew about them from what he learned from his grandfather. I do remember that he didn’t think I was a real Haston because it was my mother’s family. I felt more like a Haston though because I was so close to my mother’s family. Dave and Estelle were Baptists like we are so we worshipped with them also. They treated us as special guests and were so happy we were interested in our family history.

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Colonel Howard H. Hasting, Sr.

Colonel Howard H. Hasting, Sr.

1950s-80s Daniel Haston Family Researcher

A Daniel Haston History Hall of Famer

Howard H. Hasting, Sr.

March 23, 1905-April 1, 2003

Oldest of six children. Graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point in 1928. Separated from the armed service in 1931, he practiced law in Arkansas until he was recalled to duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps during the war, stationed at West Point. Served as the chief assistant to the American Judge for the War Crimes Tribunal for the Far East after the war.

I began my Haston family research in the fall of 1999 by “standing on the shoulders” of many men and women who had preceded me in researching the Daniel Haston and related families. A few of them I was fortunate to get to know and correspond with. Some are still living and active, to varying degrees. But many more had passed away or were late stages of failing health by the time I became active as a student of our family’s history.

I want you to know about some of these men and women who did so much to keep our family’s history alive and pave the way for the rest of us.

Howard H. Hasting descended from Daniel Haston through Daniel’s son Joseph: Joseph>Isaac (son of Joseph)>James Thomas>Isaac Thomas>James Isaac>Howard Hillman Hasting, Sr. You can read about this family line in Colonel Hasting’s family report. Howard’s father and other family members moved to Yell County, Arkansas in about 1880, where they (as a family group) changed their “Haston” name to “Hasting.”

Mr. Hasting conducted extensive research back in the day when there was no internet, no email, no cell phones, no personal computers, no interstate highways, no “Xerox” machines, and long distance phone calls were expensive. He traveled to Arkansas, Missouri, and even to Van Buren County, Tennessee in the summer of 1951, to visit cemeteries, old Haston homesites, and to talk to old-timers in or related to the Daniel Haston family. He corresponded with Haston family members in various parts of the country. He conducted research in small town courthouses and libraries, as well as the Library of Congress. i

True to his profession as an attorney, he was concerned about accuracy in his research, even though later research has revealed some errors in his work–which is the case for all family researchers.

In about 2002, I located a phone number for Howard H. Hasting, Sr. in San Antonio, TX and decided to give him a call. He answered and we talked briefly. He apparently had dementia at the time and only vaguely recalled some of the Haston names I mentioned. But, at least, I was able to speak with him. A few years after Mr. Hasting passed away, I was on a business trip in San Antonio and had the privilege of eating dinner with his son (Howard, Jr.) and his son’s wife. Howard, Jr. told me about his experiences as a genealogist’s son–more trips to courthouses and libraries than he wanted to remember.

Please inform me of other earlier, now-deceased, Daniel Haston family researchers who should be honored with a tribute.

Book Project – Heritage of Daniel Haston

Book Progress Update - December 2020

What's the Current Status?

When Will the Book Be Published?

The "Reader's Digest" Version

Contents of the Book

The Heritage of Daniel Haston
Son of SWISS-German Mennonite Immigrant Henrich Hiestand

If you enjoyed this article, please share it with others who might be interested.

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Discovering Your Family History