Something I made in relevance to my culture

I helped sew the Celtic patches and sewed them to the dress

My Irish Dance Dress

A little taste of Dancing in the Family !

Lord of The Dance- Irish Dancing This is a clip of what inspired me to start Irish Dancing

Nicole and Treveon-Latin Ballroom Dancing  This is a clip of one of my recent shows


This is my mom and dad after one of my mom's Ballets (below)

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The Comer/Flanagan History of Dancing

Dancing has always been a staple of the Comer/Flanagan family. My father's grandmother was known to dabble in ballet and my father is actually a very talented Country and Western dancer. On my mother's side, my grandmother did ballet when she was young, but gave it up to raise her family. Little did she know she had started a long line of dancers. My grandmother had 5 daughters. The oldest sister was an ice skater. Brenda is now 50, and is part of a Wheelchair Ballroom Company, where she helps the disabled learn to dance even in wheelchairs. Another of my aunts, the youngest was also an ice skater, and went on to perform with Disney On Ice. My mother was the middle child, and excelled the most out of the family as far as dancing went. She fantasized about being a ballerina ever since she was little, watched movies and dressed up but her family could not afford to send her to take ballet. My mom left her home and family in Miami Florida when she was 17, to pursue ballet in Houston. She auditioned for the Houston Ballet in 1980, and was accepted into the prestigious company. She danced successfully with the ballet until 1988, when she became pregnant to also begin the life of another little dancer....me! My mom is now 47 and does Tango Dancing and teaches Pilates (which is exercise based on dance) and we will both be traveling to Argentina this May to experience the real salon tango of Buenos Aires.

Now I have dabbled in about every different dance you could think of. I started in Ballet of course to follow in my mother's footsteps, but it seemed I was a little too wild for the subdued and proper dance. I have done jazz, tap, and gymnastics, and eventually was led to Irish Dancing. I was inspired the first time my parents took me to see Lord of The Dance, and had to try it. I danced with McTeggart Irish Dancers of Houston for 3 years until I had an injury and had to quit. Several years later, I grew interested in Ballroom Dancing (way before Dancing With The Stars was ever created). Latin Ballroom Dancing is my passion and I have been competing now for 6 years. I would have never made it to where I am without the support of my parents who understood how important dancing is to those who love it.

Comer Ancestor Photos

The following photos are members of the Comer family. Most photos were taken in the early 1900's. And again, you will notice my blue finger nails as the mark of authenticity :)

This is a picture of the whole Comer family in the mountains of Kentucky. 

                 

This Man's name was Daniel Smith who was my Great Great Great grandfather. He fought in the Civil War.

Below is a picture of my Dutch Great Great Great Grandfather and Grandmother

 These girls were the daughters of Daniel Blocher. Their names were Louisiana, America, Alabama, Carolina. Daniel Blocher was my 4th Great Grandfather, who was state legislature. There is now a town called Blocher, Indiana named after him.

Below, the top left photo is of Scottsburg, Indiana-The biggest log ever to be transported

 The photos below were of 3rd Great aunts. Also showing the beginning styles of the flapper

 The images below are marriage and death licenses. These are very useful sources for researching genealogy, along with the Census and church records

The Comer Family Tree

This is a copy of my family tree. My dad and his grandmother have tracked years back. Now that his grandmother has passed away, he and I have continued research on our genealogy.

As you can see, I have purposely not cut out my tacky blue finger nails, so you know this is really my chart :)  The name on the very left is Kenneth Comer, who was my Grandfather (my dad's dad).

The Comer Family Story

Records indicate the Comer family came to the United States in 1737 on the Snow Ship Molly. This is an artist's rendering of the Snow Ship Molly

The Comers were Swiss-German. The Snow Ship Molly sailed out of Amsterdam and arrived in the US at Philadelphia.

The following is a copy of the actual signatures of the passenger list:

Like many German-Americans, the Comer's lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where many of the German Amish still live today. After a short time the Comers immigrated to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. After several generations, a Martin Comer moved to Scott County Indiana. Martin Comer was my Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather. 

His son Isaac Comer married my Great Great Great Great Grandmother Martha Richey. The Richeys were known in that area for being both victims and survivors of a famous Indian Massacre called the Pigeon Roost Massacre. Historical sources indicate the following account of the massacre and how my particular ancestor escaped.

Ten or twelve warriors, nearly all of whom were Shawnees, attacked the Pigeon Roost settlement about sunset, and in the space of about one hour, they killed one man, five women and sixteen children.

My ancestors Dr. John Richey and Sichey Collings were the first couple married in Scott Co. in 1810. They lived in the area of the settlement to the southwest. Dr. John was working in the field when he heard shots and saw smoke rising from the homes of the settlement. Realizing what was happening; he took Sichey upon his back and fled through the cornfield. They hid in the woods until dark and then laboriously made their way to Zebulon's blockhouse the following morning. Sichey delivered their first child shortly after the massacre.

The Indians managed to steal and carry away captive a little girl, Ginsey McCoy, three years of age. She was a relative of Mrs. Jeremiah Payne, and at the time, was making her home with Mrs. Payne. Some fifteen years later she was reported seen with the Indians along the Kankakee River. These Indians migrated to Kansas where Rev. Isaac McCoy, uncle of Ginsey, was doing missionary work there among the Indians; here he found the lost child. Through the years she had remembered her name, but she now was the wife of an Indian chief with a family. Rev. McCoy persuaded her to return on a visit to Indiana... Not being contented away from her (Indian) family, she returned to her tribe and children and spent the remainder of her life with them.

After the time of the Pigeon Roost Massacre, many of the settlers on the northern and western frontiers of Clark, Jefferson, Harrison, and Knox counties lived in a state of alarm until the close of the war in 1815. Mr. Zebulon Collings, who had the blockhouse within five or six miles of the Pigeon Roost settlement says: 'The manner in which I used to work in those perilous times was as follows: On all occasions I carried my rifle, tomahawk, and butcher knife, with a loaded pistol in my belt. When I went to plow, I laid my gun on the plowed ground and stuck up a stick by it for a mark so I could get to it quickly in case it was wanted. I had two good dogs. I took one into the house, leaving the other out. The one outside was expected to give the alarm, which would cause the one inside to bark. I would then be awakened, and my guns were always loaded. I kept my horses in a stable close to the house, which had a porthole so that I could shoot to the stable door. During the two years, I never went from home with any certainty of returning - not knowing the minute I might receive a ball from an unknown hand; but in the midst of all these dangers, God, who never sleeps nor slumbers, has kept me." 

In 1904 the State of Indiana erected a monument as a lasting memorial to the massacred pioneers.