Wisteria

Wordless Wednesday - the Next Generation

2012-02-22T11:12:00.003-05:00

A tribute to one of my grand-nephews, part of the next generation...

Tuesday’s Tip – Life in Small Bites

2012-02-21T09:32:00.002-05:00

I’ve talked about this before but again I’ve come to realize that I can only do life in small bites. What I mean is, I have these grand ideas of projects such as organizing files, scanning old photographs, etc. but I can only do so much at one sitting; especially when the world of present living gets in the way of exploring the past.

Take the other day for instance, I had this idea for a blog post which entailed a couple of historical items I had on hand. I scanned those first. One bite down. Then I had to go make breakfast for my children (who all happen to be home this weekend). Much later after the girls drifted off to other events and projects of their own, I was able to work some more on my blog post. Another bite taken. The girls and I had plans for getting back together later in the day, so I only had so much time and had to finish up my blog project another day.

I am meant for a lot of things: not just exploring the past, but making memories with my children, impacting my community for good, even just “being.” I used to be terrible at starting some big project and finding it difficult to tear myself away from it long before I was finished. I would get grumpy about making dinner when I was in the middle of finding dead ancestors. Now I’m getting better at understanding that all these things I want to do take time. I need to exercise self-control and take it all one bite (or day) at a time.

I realize that this blog itself is an excellent way to do my focus on my research one bite at a time. Each post can be just one bite of part of a larger project I am working on. For instance, I am planning a post of my Bird Hardy Family Record and its provenance (which I mentioned in my post here and another post here). This goes towards my projects of getting my photos and records digitized and compiling an inventory of them. It’s a small bite, but it certainly helps keep me from biting off more than I can chew!

Mystery Monday – Photographic Clues

2012-02-20T11:08:00.001-05:00

“Lucy, you have some esplainin’ to do.” Ricky Ricardo used to say on the I Love Lucy show.**

I thought about that when I decided to write a post explaining the provenance and details of this photograph. Because of the time period in which it was likely taken, I have thought that this may be a picture of Mary Brizendine who was mentioned as Ancestor No. 19 in my previous post. This is only a tentative identification, though, and it really remains a mystery.

According to notes I took many years ago, this item was found among the photographs originally owned by my grandparents, Cephas Bryant and Amy Leora (Hardy) Watts. This is very important to know and I’m glad I wrote it down back then. (Memory has a way of fading after a while.) If I had traced the provenance of this photograph back to those that had come from my dad’s cousin Norman, my original theory of it being my grandfather’s grandmother, Mary Brizendine, would be dead in the water. Norman and I only share the Hardy lineage; he is not related on my grandfather’s side.

The original photograph is a tintype about 2 x 3 inches in size. The American Tintype by Floyd Rinhart, Marion Rinhart and Robert W. Wagner includes an appendix that gives a list of plate sizes and their period of popularity. This size was called a sixth-plate usually housed in a miniature case (made of leather-covered wood, papier-mache and plastic) and was popular from about 1856-1870.

I wrote a fairly detailed description which I will include here. I am a firm believer that details like this can help in identification as well. It is one-half of a double black leather case that was closed using a single hook and eye clasp. The other half was never found. This half has the hook on the side. To reiterate the importance of details, if I found an identical case half with a single eye on the side and it was identified – that would go a long way in identifying this one. I know it doesn’t match with other case halves I have based on several reasons including the fact that those other case halves used a double hook and eye clasp instead of a single one.

The Rinharts also wrote American Miniature Case Art which provides details about these types of cases. In figure 8 of page 22, the book shows popular mat styles for the miniature case including the oval which is the mat used for this particular photograph. Other styles include the elliptical, nonpareil, double elliptical, ornate elliptical and octagon. The authors noted that the plain octagon was the favored mat in the 1840s and the ornate border became the range later in the 1850s. My oval mat has a floral design. The photograph of the Thomas Hutchinson Spencer on Sunday’s post has a nonpareil mat.

Examples of the outside case designs are discussed in the book as well. Unfortunately, there was no description of the case design that holds this particular photograph. I own a photograph of a civil war soldier in a smaller case that the book calls a “Picture Frame Motif.” According to the book, this design was made ca. 1865 and considered uncommon. I was able to match another case design I own called the “Romanesque Urn” dated ca. 1857 which was “produced in large quantity and a number of variants.” The photographs housed in my Romanesque Urn case are ambrotypes which are one-of-a-kind photographs on glass.

As stated previously, this is a tintype photograph, but with more of an unusual brown and white tint to it as opposed to other tintypes I own. The image appears to be a coating on the plate. The image on the metal is also an oval shape, not on the whole metal plate. Near the upper right edge the white coating has flaked off from the metal. There are some pink tinting to the cheeks and the flower in her hair. Could this be a copy of an earlier photograph? It has “No. 4” written in ink on the top left corner. On the back of the plate is a remnant of paper glued unevenly and somewhat wrinkled on the back. There is a hint of cursive writing in pencil though not enough for legibility. The paper backing has only bits of original typeset letters that look like “P S----- Co.” “Lot No.” and parts of the word “instruction.” Perhaps it was a studio’s paper backing indicating when the copy was made. I have another tintype photo in my collection that has stamped clearly on the back “Acme Copying, Chicago, Lot No. 06.”

The subject appears to have her arms cross resting on a fringed cushion, although that part of the image is unclear and cut off in the oval shape. She is a young woman (early 20s?) with what seems to be a dark lace veil situated on the back of her head. (Is this a wedding photo?) Her ears are showing (which from other research may indicate a date of 1863-1865). It appears that she also wears hanging earrings. Her hair is parted in the middle in a chignon and curls on the top. She wears a flower on the left side of her hair near the top. The sleeves of her dress appear to be puffed and ruffled at the elbow and maybe go straight down from there. Her outfit is a white and dark contrast that is not very clear. It appears that perhaps there is white material underneath with a darker (lacy?) material over it. The dark part might be made of some kind of shiny material. She also wears what looks like a white lace collar with a thick ribbon of material with a pattern of a flower and leaf around her neck secured with a brooch. The brooch and the earrings are tinted with gold gilding. The light and dark shadowing across the face are inherent in the image, with other spots in the lower left hand corner. She is of slim to medium build with thin lips and dark eyes. Her right eye might even be what’s called a “lazy” eye, but I can’t say for sure.

Basically my reason for thinking it might be Mary is because it was taken in the time period of when she was married (1865) and because of her dress, I’ve thought it might be a wedding photograph. Finally, although it may be wishful thinking, I think there may be a resemblance between the woman in this photograph and one of Ollie Spencer Watts.

Ollie Spencer Watts 1866-1925 Christian Co, KY

I sure hope Ricky would be satisfied with all my esplainin’ about this photograph!

**Lucille Ball is honored with a museum at her birthplace in nearby Jamestown, New York.

Ancestor #19

2012-02-19T12:54:00.000-05:00

Oooh, I’m especially excited to participate in this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings blog as it highlights a part of the tree I have seldom focused on in my blog. Forgive me, but I’m going to give a more complete story than the original intent of telling three facts about the person I came up with using the “roulette” number…

My paternal grandfather, Cephas Bryant (C.B.) Watts, was born in 1899. When I divide that number by 100 and round it off I get the “roulette” number of 19.

Using that number on my ancestral name list brings me to C.B.’s maternal grandmother, Mary E.M. Brizendine. Interestingly enough, it was Mary’s maternal grandfather, Oliver Bryant McCraw, for whom C.B. was named. Apparently he was a man worth remembering for it is also probably whom C.B.’s mother, Ollie Spencer, was named for as well.

My grandfather always told me that his mother Ollie was an orphan. When I began researching, I thought I’d never be able to get far on this line. It turned out finding the names of Ollie’s parents was fairly easy. Ollie died in 1925 of tuberculosis. Her death certificate listed her parents as Thomas Hutchinson Spencer and Mary Brizendine. Easy enough, although it has never been an easy line from there.

Thomas Hutchinson Spencer, 1831/1834-25 Oct 1875 Trigg Co, KY

Thomas Hutchinson “Hutch” Spencer proved to be a fairly elusive gentleman to pin down. He apparently had a hearing impediment, for on several records he is listed as deaf and dumb. Whatever his disability, he did manage to marry and have children. He was born in Kentucky and lived during the time of the Civil War. The photo we have of him is reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln himself. I always sent a copy of the photo to school with my children in honor of President’s Day in years past. He is what my kids call our “Lincoln ancestor.” (Pardon my continued digression, but isn’t it ironic that I’m writing this so close to President’s Day this year?)

And now back to Mary. She died fairly young so there are not many records on her. She was born in Charlotte Co, VA around the year 1841, the daughter of Cyrus Brizendine and his wife Mary L. McCraw. Her parents migrated from Virginia to Kentucky along with her McCraw grandparents. Her grandfather, Oliver Bryant McCraw, died in the year 1848 in Christian Co, KY. Mary was listed with the middle initial of "M" in the 1850 U. S. Census and with the middle initial of "E" in the 1860 U. S. Census in Christian County, Kentucky.

The marriage between Mary and Hutch was recorded in Christian Co, KY. On the 13 April of 1865, the two were married at her father’s home according to Cordelia C. Gary’s 1970 book Christian Co, KY Marriage Records 1851-1900 (pp. 19 & 261). This was just four days after General Lee’s surrender which officially ended the American Civil War.

Their daughter Ollie Spencer was born there on 19 October 1866. It appears they had another child, Mary L. Spencer, born between 1867 and 1871. The only evidence for this child appears in the 1879 tax list of Trigg County, Kentucky when Ollie Spencer and Mary L. Spencer were listed as children between the ages of 6-20. Their father remarried in October of 1871 but died in 1875, indeed leaving Ollie an orphan as my grandfather had told me.

That is about all I know about “Ancestor #19.” Thanks for the challenge, Randy!

Talented Tuesday – Musically Inclined

2012-02-14T06:54:00.002-05:00

"Uncle Joe"

Original photograph is a 4 x 5 inch cabinet card on dark grey cardstock.

Joseph Chaffin Watts was the son of George Richard & Emily Jane (Chaffin) Watts. He was born 12 June 1880 in Christian County, Kentucky. He died 24 December 1952 in Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona and is buried in the Cottonwood Cemetery in Arizona.

Motivational Monday –Projects, Anyone?

2012-02-13T07:17:00.000-05:00

I have motivation. It’s just that I get going on so many projects that I lose my way sometimes. I recently wrote about my photograph project I want to start. But there’s so much else going on right now. I recently got some new living room furniture. This prompted a whole slew of projects including tearing up some platforms in the living room first which took me a whole week and several tools, too. Those platforms were in the house when we first bought it along with the carpet that I’ve hated since we moved in. I always told myself that when I ever got around to pulling up those platforms, the carpet was going, too. So guess what the other project was? Yes, I ripped up the carpet. I thought I could just live with the subflooring for a while. I ran into a SNAFU when I discovered the foam that was underneath the carpet is glued to the subflooring and still sticky when I try to pry it up. So now I’m stuck with walking over all this foam until I get the ambition for the next project: new flooring. I think I’m going to have to hire someone for that job, though.

Then there was that other project I started: Cleaning and rearranging the upstairs bedroom after my oldest daughter moved into a dorm at the beginning of last semester. I decided to move a desk that was in there into the other daughter’s room for her to use. This prompted some rearranging and moving stuff in her room first. Several things got moved into the first room which made it a mess all over again. When my new living room furniture came, we decided to move the old couch upstairs to this room and take the couch that was in there down to the garage (to await a future project of dumping several large old items). The couch sat in the middle of that room until Sunday when I finally decided to tackle it again. The room is very large (it was originally used as a rec room by the previous owners) and tends to be a catch-all for lots of miscellaneous items. I spent a lot of time up there sorting, consolidating, bagging, rearranging, etc.

I found a box of some genealogy stuff in a corner and brought it downstairs to my office to sort through. My office was the site of another major project at the beginning of the year. Just after Christmas, I got two new filing cabinets for that room and did a lot of rearranging and sorting of my files. (Which include not only genealogy but household and educational files – I lead a paper-intensive life). I had several boxes in that upstairs bedroom with genealogy files that got brought down earlier and at least placed in a file cabinet. This new box of genealogy stuff contained files I have been looking for recently. I noticed while rifling through some of the papers that I have stuff on a particular collateral surname in at least three different locations!!

Obviously, there’s still work to be done.

Church Record Sunday: St. Boniface in Buffalo, New York

2012-02-12T11:30:00.001-05:00

Some people have all the luck! Wanting to discover more of her ethnic heritage, my friend & co-worker asked me about a month ago if I would look up her mother’s parents and see what I could find. She gave me their names: Jacob John Reinhardt and Florence Margaret Dehn. Right away I guessed that she had German origins but a quick search online revealed nothing. I couldn’t find the family listed in the resources at Rootsweb.com. So I went back to my friend and said, “I need a little more information.” She called her mother who was able to tell her only one other thing from memory: Jacob was born December 2, 1882 in Buffalo, NY. With that small piece of additional information, I was able to put together a basic family line back to Jacob’s great-grandfather!

Key to this search was church records. Here’s how it went:

I did a google search and found Jacob and his wife Florence buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Corfu (Genesee County), New York. I also verified his birth date from a still-active Social Security Death Index.

Next I tried familysearch.org and hit pay dirt! I found a baptism record showing John Jacob Reinhardt born 2 December 1882 in Buffalo, New York. He was the son of Jacob Reinhardt and Theresa Robert. Another baptism listed a Jacob Reinhardt born 2 March 1859 son of Daniel Reinhardt and Anna Maria Kreher. Did I have our first Jacob’s parents already? Sure enough, a marriage record on the same website showed Jacob Reinhardt and Theresa Roberts were married on 7 August 1878 in Buffalo. Jacob’s parents were listed on this marriage record as Daniel Reinhardt and Maria Kraeher. The only drawback I had was not being able to find what church these records originated from. Even tracking down the citation for batch & sheet numbers got me nowhere.

I gathered some census records that helped to verify these connections and provided some more family details, including the fact that Daniel Reinhardt was born in 1828 in Wurtemburg, Germany and his wife Anna Kreher was born in August of 1832 in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany. Then I found Daniel & Anna Reinhardt at Find-A-Grave.

Daniel died 17 May 1909 and was buried in the United German & French Cemetery in Cheektowaga, New York (just outside of Buffalo). I sent an email to the contributor, but received a reply stating that they were not related to this family. Next I searched for more information on the cemetery and found a website for the Mount Calvary Cemetery Group. This website provided an on-line genealogy request form for records. I emailed a request for information on Daniel Reinhardt on January 1, 2012.

A website of Cheektowaga Cemetery listings provided me with a brief history mentioning the church parishes affiliated with the cemetery:

“ The original 15 acres were purchased in 1859 by delegates of six initial parishes :

St. Louis, St. Michael's, the former St. Peter's, St. Mary's, the former St. Boniface, and St. Ann's, all located in Buffalo. “

This website also provided a link to an old cemetery map from the Schwert Family website.

Yesterday, I received a reply back from the cemetery regarding my request for information on Daniel Reinhardt. The office graciously provided me with a pdf file showing a copy of Daniel’s burial record and lot card which included fourteen burials. All of the burials were for either the Reinhardt or Kreher family. Listed on the Daniel's burial record was the key I was looking for: Daniel was buried from the St. Boniface church!

A google search for St. Boniface revealed that this parish closed in 1993 and directed me again to the Schwert Family website where I found scans of many of the original ledger pages from the church’s baptism, marriage and death records. I was able to check these records against the lot card I had and found most of the death entries in the church’s records. The one most interesting was for Jacob Kraeher who died 29 July 1877. The death record listed him as age 92 years, 4 months.

Could this have been Anna Kreher Reinhardt’s father and Daniel Reinhardt’s father-in-law? I felt it could be entirely possible, as I did find Jacob Kreher of Buffalo age 66 in the 1850 census with a 17-year-old Anna. This Anna would have been the right age for Daniel’s wife. Focusing on the Kreher surname and looking for marriage records in Buffalo, NY on the Familysearch.org website yielded pay dirt once again: Daniel Reinhard married Anna Maria Kreher on 29 July 1852. Her parents are listed as Jacob Kreher and Barbara Fruehwein. His parents were listed as George Reinhard & Margaret Spengler. A scan of this original record could also be found at the Schwert Family website.

Although this has nothing to do with my family, I've enjoyed this search nonetheless!

SNGF: Two Degrees of Separation

2012-02-12T11:19:00.003-05:00

I’ve had too many irons in the fire lately with projects genealogy- and other-wise, but I can never resist Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. Randy recently presented the following mission:

Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with two degrees of separation? That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor." When was that second ancestor born?

I have only one great-grandparent that was alive when I was born. It’s been said that I saw her but I sure don’t remember. She, unfortunately, would probably not have known even her grandparents, though. So I could only get back to her father who was born in the Netherlands in 1859.

In several instances I can get to a grandparent who knew a grandparent:

I knew my grandmother Theresa Katsma, who knew her grandfather Martin Katsma born in the Netherlands in 1851.

I knew my grandfather C.B. Watts, who knew his grandfather George Richard Watts, born in 1839, who participated in the Civil War.

I knew my grandmother Amy Hardy, who was raised by her grandmother, Martha Sizemore Hardy, born in 1835.

Martha Sizemore Hardy (1835-1918)

Sorting Saturday: Photograph Inventory

2012-02-04T16:12:00.003-05:00

My first goal for my family photograph project (see previous post here) was to create a general inventory of the different collections I have and discuss the provenance of each collection. What do I have?

Currently I have three archival storage boxes separated and labeled as follows:

Watts/Hardy; Westfall; Timmer/Katsma

I also have a smaller storage box that holds a collection of mostly bon-ton tintypes and carte-de-visits. Most of these images are from two old tintype albums that were originally my second-great grandmother’s. The actual albums are stored in a fireproof safe along with other memorabilia including a Watts family bible, a dictionary from 1874, a old reader book and some miscellaneous photographs most of which are cased photographs (including ambrotypes).

I also have two archival photo albums I put together. One album has a blue cover and holds photographs of the Watts family. The other album has a white cover and holds photographs of the Hardy family. In the Hardy family album, I also have an original listing of the birth and death dates of the Bird Hardy family. These pages are in sheet protectors.

In each of the archival storage boxes, I have an array of photographs of varying types and other items that pertain to the labeled family lines. Depending on the photo subjects, some of my childhood photographs are included in the Watts box and some are included in the Timmer/Katsma box. There are some photographs of me with my Watts grandparents and of course some with my Timmer grandparents. If it is a specific photo of just my biological family (i.e., my brother or a family group of myself, my brother and my parents), I usually put it in the Watts box.

In the Westfall box, I’ve included some photographs and memorabilia that pertain to my children’s family and the current generations. Also on the Westfall side, I have Granny’s old magnetic photo albums which is a separate collection on its own that needs better cataloging, inventory and definitely some additional preservation.

Another part of my photograph collection would include my children’s scrapbooks and photo albums that I have put together over the years. Specifically, I have a 8 ½ x 11 three-ring binder for scrapbook pages made for each of my daughters which includes baby and school pictures, an 8 ½ x 11 three-ring binder with scrapbook pages of our family together (including Christmas and other holidays), another same-sized binder of scrapbook pages of additional family members, such as aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces & nephews. I eventually branched out to working with 12 x 12 albums in my scrapbooking and I have several albums of that size. I need to make a list of those as well. At least one is a general family album. There is also one in progress that is all about the festivities surrounding my oldest daughter’s high school graduation. Some other miscellaneous scrapbook albums include one of our first year living in New York.

Whew! All that just for a general inventory. I’ll talk more about the provenance of some of these materials in another posting. There is a lot more to do. Has anyone ever done an inventory of their family photographs? I would love to hear from you.

Tuesday’s Tip: A Brief Bibliography on Identifying Old Photographs

2012-01-31T07:14:00.001-05:00

In keeping with my current theme project of photographs, here is a bibliography of books and websites I have used:

City Gallery. Website with articles, forums, lists of books and other helpful information on dating old photographs. 1995-2000. October 2004. <http://www.city-gallery.com/>

**Unable to connect to this database service 29 January 2012**

Cycleback, David Rudd. How to Date, Identify & Authenticate Photographs. http://www.cycleback.com/photoguide/ Cycleback also published this in book form in 2007 which can be found at Amazon.com. Although I haven’t seen the printed version, I have found the website to be extremely helpful in identifying old photographs and would tend to ignore any negative reviews.

Darrah, William C. Cartes de Visites in Nineteenth Century Photography. Gettysburg, PA: privately published, 1981.

Frost, Lenore. Dating Family Photographs 1850-1920. Berwick, Australia: Valient Press, 1991.

Moorshead, Halvor, editor & publisher. Family Chronicle’s Dating Old Photographs 1840-1929. Toronto, Canada: Moorshead Magazines Ltd., 2000.

Willis, Ron & Maureen Willis. “Photography as a Tool for Genealogy”. Accessed January 2012 as a pdf file: http://www.city-gallery.com/files/pdf/willis_photogen.pdf

Rinhart, Floyd, Marion Rinhart, Robert W. Wagner. The American Tintype. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1999.

Rinhart, Floyd, Marion Rinhart. American Miniature Case Art. New York: A.S. Barnes and Company, 1969.

Ripley, Karen Frisch. Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1991.

Severa, Joan. Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840-1900. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1995.

Taylor, Maureen A. Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2000.

Walters, Judith Allison. A Guide to Dating Old Family Photographs. Bothell, Washington: self-published, 1993.

If you have any additional sources, please let me know!

Motivational Monday: Family Photographs

2012-01-30T08:20:00.002-05:00

Nancy Sizemore Hardy holding a photograph of her husband Thomas and his two brothers

As if I didn't have anything better to do, I decided to start another project!

I was walking through my local library the other day in pursuit of a book on sociology that I found in the electronic card catalog. (Never mind why I was looking for a book about sociology.) On my way to the section I needed, I noticed a book displayed on one of the shelves. It was Maureen A. Taylor’s Preserving Your Family Photographs. (See Maureen's own blog here.) I was delighted to find it and grabbed it on my way to the sociology section. I often look at the library’s section of genealogy books to see what’s new, but this book was shelved under “photography.” I would have missed it completely had it not been for some kind librarian soul who thought to display it more prominently on the shelf.

I had already found Maureen’s book, Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs which was aptly filed in the genealogy section of the library. Indeed, I refer to this book in my presentations on identifying family photographs. Old photographs have long been a special interest of mine in my pursuit of family history and I have been blessed with several collections over the years.

Maureen’s book inspired me to focus again on my collection to fine-tune its organization. She includes a to-do list as part of starting such a project and suggests developing an index/inventory system. My collection has grown in the last twenty years since I began my family history research. Plus I suppose I should include my current scrapbook and photograph collection I have amassed of my children and relatives in this current generation. This current collection is probably the most organized group, although I have attempted to keep my old photographs somewhat organized over the years as well.

While I may be somewhat organized, I don’t have a complete inventory of my collection, nor do I have a good index for it. As a result, I often spend a lot of time hunting for a particular image. So here are my tentative goals for this family photograph project:

~Create a general inventory of the different collections I have and discuss the provenance of each collection.

~Make an index of images for easier location and retrieval.

~Determine what additional preservation steps are needed.

~Obtain needed storage supplies.

~Use these supplies for additional preservation and sort and re-organize collection as necessary.

Does anyone have any other thoughts as to what I should include in my inventory/index or ideas for organizing? I’d appreciate any suggestions. As I get started on this project, I’ll keep you up-to-date on my progress.

Mother's Paternal Line - Timmer

2012-01-29T09:21:00.012-05:00

John & Martha Timmer w/sons Cornelius, Henry & Fred. Taken ca. 1921 in Wisconsin.

Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge for this week is:
Find a living male person in your database from your maternal grandfather's patrilineal line who could take a Y-DNA test. Answer these questions:

1) What was your mother's father's name?

Henry J. Timmer

2) What is your mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?

John Timmer (born in the Netherlands) – Hendrik Jans Timmer – Jan Luitjes Timmer – Luitje Jans Timmer – Jan Timmer

3) Can you identify male sibling(s) of your mother's father, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

There are several candidates that could do a Y-DNA test on this patrilineal line. My mother has three living brothers. Two of the brothers had one son (and at least one of the sons has a son). Unfortunately, I do not know the whereabouts of one of the sons. Uncle Bill Timmer married a woman named Donna and they had a son named Matthew born about 1976. I have no idea whatever happened to Matthew.

My grandfather Henry had two brothers, Fred and Cornelius. Uncle Fred had two sons Tommy & Nicky. Nicky did not have children. I don’t know about Tommy’s family. Cornelius had two sons, Arnold & Joe. Arnold I know nothing about, but Joe had two sons.

Henry’s father John was the only son to survive to adulthood, so no one else in that generation qualifies. But John’s father, Hendrik Jans Timmer, was one of four boys so there are probably still more lines that can be traced down for a Y-DNA test if needed.

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T06:52:00.013-05:00

Original is a 6 1/2" by 4 1/4" in size. Cabinet card photograph. Photo is mounted on dark gray cardstock dating it to after 1900. Large bows were of the 1890s Victorian period. "Randolph. Cadiz, KY" stamped in gold on the end. Subject unknown, girl around age 8 with a collie dog.

The Slovakian Search Continues

2012-01-03T18:27:00.000-05:00

I wrote about beginning a new search to help discover more of the ancestry of Helen Teroski (see that post here) and wanted to provide an update.

I've had no luck initially with locating any more persons with the surname Teroski (using variant spellings) that might connect with Helen either in Binghamton, Broome Co, NY where she was enumerated with the Novak family or in the state of Pennsylvania (which the census has listed as her birthplace).

Neither could I locate this particular Novak family in Pennsylvania during the 1910 census. My speculation is that since both the Novaks and Helen are of Slovakian descent, I may be able to find more information on Helen if I follow the Novaks around for a while. Helen may have had more of a relationship to the family than just boarder. At the very least they share the same ethnic heritage and both Helen and the Novak children were born somewhere in Pennsylvania.

So what could I find out about the Novak family?

This is what I found on the 1920 census:

1920 US Census: 1^st Ward of the city of Binghamton, Broome Co, NY.

E.D. 7, sheet # 19B (4 Colfax Avenue, dwelling #225, family #340)

Name	Age	Birthplace	Approx. Birthyear
Mike Novak	38	Slovakland	1882
Susie "	36	Slovakland	1884
Mary	16	Pennsylvania	1904
Anna	14	Pennsylvania	1906
Susie	11	Pennsylvania	1909
Helen	6	Pennsylvania	1914
Joe	3 9/12	Pennsylvania	1917
Mike	1 5/12	Pennsylvania	1918
Helen Teroski	18	Pennsylvania	1902

Mike emigrated in 1900. He was an alien.

Susie emigrated in 1902. She was an alien.

At FindAGrave.com, a headstone for Michael & Zuzana Novak are listed in the St. Cyril Slovak Catholic Cemetery in Binghamton, NY. Michael's dates are 1884-1957 and Zuzana's 1885-1939. Also listed were the following:

Anna Novak b. 22 March 1906 d. 14 April 1922

Susana Novak 1908-1925

Pvt. Michael E. Novak (WWII)

14 Oct 1918
3 Sept 1999

Along with wife Lillian H. 1923-1996

I was able to locate a telephone number for the cemetery. They gave me the phone number for the St. Cyril Church where I might find records. I obtained an email address of the secretary there and sent her a request for information on this family. She agreed to search the church records as time allowed and get back with me. I'll share what information she provided me with in another upcoming post. Stay tuned!

Literary Review

2012-01-02T15:01:00.000-05:00

I've always been a book lover. The above photograph is an image of a bookbag that was given to me by my work colleagues when I was about 20 years old. It brings back memories of winter vacations curled up with a big thick book. I would stay in bed and read for days on end.

Because it was my birthday and an extra-long holiday weekend, I went to my local library on Thursday to pick up a good read, preferrably something nice and thick. I found it in the new book section and finished reading it just a little while ago. And it just blew me away, so I have to tell you about it. It's called the Dovekeepers, by Alice Hoffman. Here's a link to the author's website: The Dovekeepers.

It is a very moving story, set in Israel in 70 C.E. I just loved how the author breathed into life a story based on dry, historical artifacts uncovered in the dusty layer of generations gone by. For lovers of all things history, it's definitely worth the read.

Christmas Past, Present & Future

2011-12-31T10:41:00.001-05:00

Yeah! I got everything in order in time to participate in the next carnival of genealogy - and just in time, too :)

Christmas Past~

For Christmas past, I am posting these photos of an album that was more than likely a Christmas gift that my grandmother's aunt, Bettie Hardy Gross, received in the year 1887. It became filled with autographs of friends and family through the year 1908. My father's cousin sent it to me as it had been among the things owned by his mother, Ruby, who was one of Bettie's nieces. It's one of those echoes of the past that I cherish.

Dec. 27th 1887

Christmas 2011

Christmas Present~

For Christmas present, I share a snapshot of a decorating scene I put together in my living room this year.

Christmas Future~

Although this next photograph is actually a few years old, I submit it to represent the future. For that's what children are - the future. One of my favorite quotes is: "We cannot fail our children, for they are the messengers we send to a time and a place we will never see." (Former Maj. Gen. John Stanford)

These are my messengers. I hope they pass along echoes of me.

Christmas 2003

Famous Relatives

2011-12-29T09:15:00.000-05:00

I had to chuckle when I read Randy Seaver’s post about being related to Mitt Romney. I’ve been researching family history for over twenty years, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked up to see how I’m related to any political figure. I don’t say that to brag, though. My chuckling comes from the fact that I just recently had a tidbit to share with my daughter. She’s a big science fiction fan, loves Dr. Who, the Lost series, Harry Potter. Most recently she’s gotten into Star Wars.

A portion of my children’s ancestry is out of Ontario, Canada and I recently ran across a website on the ancestry of Mary Margaret Bouk who married Wellington Smith in the town of Thorold in Ontario. I first found mention of this family line on the WorldConnect project of the trusty Rootsweb.com site (may it ever stay free) and contacted the submitter about some of his sources.

The submitter, Bob Keith, graciously provided me with information and directed me to his website on the Keith family. Mr. Keith also wrote a fictionalized version of the family history and I promptly purchased a copy from Amazon.com. Both in the book and on his website, Mr. Keith notes well-known individuals who are connected to this large German family. One of them happens to be George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars.

Now, mind you, I have been studying genealogy for longer than my children have even been on this earth. So far, none of them have even been remotely interested in what I have found. They are gracious enough to listen to mother when she goes on about dead people, but that’s only because I’ve raised them to be polite.

I finally garnered a bit of interest when I shared with my sci-fi fan that she was related to George Lucas. “Cool!” she replied and went back to texting. A minute later, she looked up and asked how she was related. “Oh, you’re probably like ninth cousins* or something.” Back she went to her texting. “Are you sharing this information with your friends?” I asked. “Well, of course!” she replied.

Wow, for a brief moment, family history garnered a bit of attention from the teen crowd. Cool!

*It turns out when I did the math that they are seventh cousins one generation removed.

Matrilineal Monday - Sort of...

2011-12-26T08:13:00.000-05:00

I had my former mother-in-law, Ruth, and her husband over for dinner on Christmas Day. She's no longer married to my former father-in-law and from the use of the word "former," you can tell I'm no longer married to my husband as well. To add to the mix, she's really my former husband's stepmother, but the relationship endures. Technically, it's not a matrilineal line but in another way it is.

Because of my obsession with all things genealogy, I had looked into her family history years ago. On her mother's side, a book has been written which goes back several generations and is so intertwined with the local history that I discovered she and one of my closest friends and neighbor are related through a set of twins. I unfortunately had never been able to get far on her father's side of the family, though, and the stories her father told were often confusing. Her father passed away two years ago, just a month after my own father died.

So last night after a nice ham dinner, I sat down with her at the computer to see what else we could find. I have become rather practiced at picking up family lines and using a variety of searches (including Google) to discover at least some records out there on the internet.

Ruth knew her grandparents' names and typing in those along with the place of Lackawanna, NY, I came up with obituaries on two of her aunts who lived in Pennsylvania. Her grandparents had about ten children and there were lots of names that prompted Ruth's memories about the family. But we were hopeful of finding something on the earlier generations for which she has nothing but a blank slate.

Using Familysearch.org, I did find her grandparents in Lackawanna in the 1930 census. Then using the estimated birth dates, I was able to find her grandfather as a youngster in his father's household in 1920 and 1910. From those and other records we determined that her great-grandparents were Rollie George Backus born around 1882 or 1884 in New York of German descent and Jennie born ca. 1886 in New York. Rollie worked in the lumber business (at one point he was a machinist in a saw mill in a town in Erie County, New York). They had another child by the name of Phoebe (born about 1909) who appparently married a man named Lloyd Graves by 1930.

She was delighted with the information we found and I was happy about the progress we made as well. I take a lot of pleasure in being able to help people find something about their roots. As time allows, I will continue to dig around and see what else I can find.

We also have plans to take a trip in the spring to go the cemetery in Lackawanna where her grandparents are buried. Stay tuned!

Christmas Greetings

2011-12-24T19:01:00.000-05:00

Kate Greenaway Children Art (Public Domain)

Wishing everyone a

very Merry Christmas and

a blessed New Year

It Only Took Ten Years

2011-12-22T06:46:00.001-05:00

Photo by Crispin Semmens

After my cousin contacted me about Samuel Watts, Sr. and his possible English connections, I did a Google search to find out more about the reference to the 1738 christening in Frome, Somerset, England. (See the previous post about that here.)

I got a hit on the Watts Genforum (hint: you can search the forum using keywords such as Halifax) and was able to pinpoint the IGI source entry from a helpful researcher who had listed it for my benefit after I had advertised my Watts book on the site back in 2001. While there, I caught up on some other postings in reference to this family.

I was excited to see a more recent posting that said:

"Dear Dawn,
A book entitled 'Sands through our Fingers' by Eunice M. White 1980, has just come into my possession. She refers to Samuel of England/Halifax Co. Va. then son William who married Martha Lee 1795, then went to Kentucky. I am descended from his son James who married Sarah Hulett and went to Howard County Missouri..."

I wrote my book in 2001 and at that time, had little else on this William Watts besides his marriage date. I was only able to note that he disappeared from Halifax Co, VA records around 1807. I figured he probably migrated elsewhere, but the name is way too common for me to attempt to match him up somewhere.

But finally after ten years, I have discovered where he ended up and contacted that descendant. She graciously provided me with scanned copies of the relevant pages from Eunice White's book.

Another cousin connection, what fun!

Athaliah Mullins of Halifax Co, VA: Was She Born a Boyd or a Watts?

2011-12-21T06:12:00.001-05:00

Old cabin at Neals Corner, Halifax County, Virginia

Years ago, I had a Mullins researcher send me a chart on David Mullins of the Halifax Co, VA area b. ca. 1744, d. 1823 TN who married Athaliah b. ca. 1764.

This researcher speculated that Athaliah was a Watts based on the fact that David and Athaliah named a daughter Mary Watts Mullins (1782-1851) who married John Laine III 7 Oct 1797 in Halifax Co, VA. This made me wonder if Athaliah could have been the Latty, child of Thomas & Mary Watts, christened in Frome, England in 1754. The John Laine could be part of the same Lane family as Mary “Polly” Lane who married Roland H. Watts the son of Samuel Jr. This seems to make sense, but until more research is done, it can only remain a theory at this time. Just like with the speculation about Samuel Watts, Sr. of Halifax Co, VA and his English origins (see the previous post about that here).

At Rootsweb.com, of the twenty listings for David Mullins born in 1745, four listings have no spouse listed, two have unknown last name for Athaliah and the rest have his spouse as Athaliah Boyd. This can send someone in circles as people have just incorporated others' work in with their file. I was not able to find a good source listed for any of the entries.

I sure would love to hear from someone researching the Mullins family. If I can determine the source for Athaliah's maiden name, then I can examine that evidence and determine if this Watts theory holds merit or not.

Cousin Connecting

2011-12-20T18:11:00.000-05:00

Photo by Megan Westfall

I got a phone call the other day from a distant Watts cousin. We got in touch ten years ago when I put together my Watts book and were able to meet at a family reunion in Virginia during that time. He and his uncle were recently looking at our earliest progenitor, Samuel Watts, Sr., and wanted to do some further research.

I'm all for someone picking up where others have left off in exploring family roots. I've put together several books on my family lines knowing that I can't do it all, but wanting to put my two cents worth of work out there. In many instances, I myself added to the work others before me had done. My hope is that even if I'm not able to get back to it, at least someone else can begin where I left off and add their own contributions. Who knows what tomorrow may bring. In any event, I am happy knowing that I have played a part in bridging the gap between the future and the past.

As you will note from my page on the Watts family, I have Samuel Sr. listed with a possible birth date of about 1738. I made this calculation mainly based on the fact that in February of 1788, Samuel appeared in the Halifax County, VA court records and for "reasons appearing" his motion to be exempt from the payment of taxes was granted. [1] A tax exemption during this time period was most likely due to age or infirmity (see the website Bob's Genealogy Filing Cabinet under Taxes & Tithables for an excellent discussion by Robert Baird on understanding this topic for the state of Virginia).

I have not been able to connect Samuel to any other area besides Halifax County, Virginia. One clue to his origins is from a biographical sketch of his son, Samuel Jr., which indicated the family was from England. [2]

Source information:

[1]Halifax County, Virginia Court Orders, plea book 12, p. 311 (microfilm from the Virginia State Archives).
[2] Letter from Mildred Miller of Missouri which included a photocopy of a biographical sketch of the Samuel Watts family cited as from the book, History of Audrain County, Missouri, no publishing information available. This sketch stated Samuel Jr. was born in England, though this writer feels that is probably inaccurate and more likely his father or grandfather was the one born in England.

Now with the information from my book began circulating, people picked up on the possible English connection and the 1738 birth year approximation and point to an early International Genealogical Index (IGI) entry wherein a Samuel Watts was christened on 22 July 1738 in Frome, Somerset, England to parents Thomas & Mary Watts (source given as batch #7124503, serial #64). My cousin wanted to know if I had seen this reference and what I thought about it. Here's part of my response:

"I am aware of nothing that proves that our Samuel and the one who was christened in England in 1738 are one and the same. I’d wait for some sort of proof before I’d rely on it.

It’s certainly a possibility based on what little is known about this guy, but can only be speculation at this point. I guessed that he was born about the year 1738 because in 1778 he was exempt from taxes. This usually meant someone was over the age of 50. It also seems to fit in terms of when his children were likely born and his military service.

There are references to a Thomas Watts in the Halifax Co, VA court records as early as 1755. Could this have been our Sam’s father then? This could be another possible clue, but there’s not much else to go on at this point.

Samuel is still very much a shadowy figure in my mind. If he was born in England, when did he come to America? How old was he? Who did he come with? Why? When and where did he enlist in his military service? How did he acquire the slaves he gave to his daughter? What happened to the rest of his estate? What happened to this first Thomas?"

A New Way to Carol

2011-12-12T21:09:00.000-05:00

I just love singing Christmas Carols! I'm participating in the old-fashioned version next week with my church and just finished performing a Christmas Cantata last Sunday afternoon with another church group.

Thanks, footnoteMaven for letting me participate in this high-tech version of caroling. Here's my favorite:

O Holy Night

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of our dear Saviour's birth.

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

'Til He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees! O hear the angels' voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.

Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here come the wise men from Orient land.

The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;

In all our trials born to be our friend.

He knows our need, to our weakness is no stranger,

Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!

Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;

And in His name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy name.

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,

His power and glory evermore proclaim.

Bannerman Family Mystery

2011-12-12T06:45:00.003-05:00

Among the many old photographs originally in my grandfather's possession, there is one that has haunted me and has remained a mystery all these years. The photograph is of three children with their names and ages typeset at the bottom of the photograph. “William, 10 years, Robert 8, and Maggie Bennerman, 4 Years Old.” Who were they?

My grandfather was not able to identify them, though his memory was remarkably sharp and accurate until his death at the age of 96. I first noticed this picture and the others that my grandfather had in 1989 when I embarked on the adventure of genealogy. Since then I have traced all of my father's ancestors at least back to the early 1800s (and a lot beyond). But I never ran into the Bennerman name, anywhere. Not as ancestors of mine, not even as neighbors.

I am lucky enough to even have a name to match the faces in the photograph in the first place. Early in my research, I visited the Tampa stake of the LDS church and I mentioned the Bennerman name as one I'd be researching. The director there commented on the name but we didn't go into specifics and I quickly found information on other names of interest and forgot about them for awhile.

Several years later, I had the opportunity to spend the weekend at the Orlando library. I had been studying my old photographs and again my interest was piqued about the Bennerman name, especially since I had completed a lot of research at that point and had not run into the name in any family lines. I took the photograph along with me and first did research on old photographs to try and determine the time period in which it was likely to have been taken. From the information of one book, I believed it was taken in the 1860s. I then checked the 1860 census index books for the states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. These states are primarily where most of my father's ancestors lived. I had no luck in any of those. One of my family lines (Lovelace/Stiller) came from North Carolina (Iredell & Rowan Counties) so I tried there. There I finally found some Bannermans. It turned out to be a more uncommon name than I had thought. These Bannermans came from Bladen and New Hanover Counties. Not near my other North Carolina families, but after checking the other records available for those counties, I believed I had the right family to match my photograph. After my research trip in Orlando, I went to the Tampa stake and spoke with the director again. He gave me more information on this particular Bannerman family that he had in his files. The director was descended from Bannermans but not the particular line as the children in the photograph. (See compilation of family information following.)

It seems as though the Bannerman family originated in North Carolina (from Scotland?) and the branch I'm interested in migrated to Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. The mystery is how and why the photograph ended up in Christian County, Kentucky. I have identified the majority of the old photographs that my grandfather had and there are no others from this Bannerman family. I just can't come up with a plausible explanation for it.

Bannerman Family Information

The following information was taken from Bible & Family Records of Bladen Co, NC, publ. by Bladen County, NC Historical Society. Vol. 2, pp. 28-29 and Vol. 3, pp. 56-61.

"Bannerman Bible Records" copied from the National Genealogical Quarterly Vol. XXI, June 1933 and contributed by Louis Carr Henry, Washington, DC. Records were included in the book because of the connection with Bladen County families.

George Bannerman was born 18 February 1762. He married Phebe Williams who was born 5 December 1793. They had eight children. Phebe died 23 December 1803. George then married Hester Player. George and Hester had three children, including Charles Bannerman who was born 16 Ju11806.

This next information was taken from a bible published by the American Bible Society, NY, 1850. It was in the possession of Mrs. Katherine Player (Bannerman) Robertson, Tallahassee, FL. This Bannerman family lived near Tallahassee, Leon Co, FL in 1933.

Charles Bannerman, b. 16 July 1806 married Elvira Ann Cardin (b. 14 Aug 1819) on 5 May 1836. They had the following children:

Hester Avarilla Ann, b. 29 Apr 1839; mar. John T. Harvin in Sept. 1856

Thomas Edwin, b. 15 June 1841; d. 13 Apr 1857

Charles Washington, b. 19 Dec 1843; d. 16 Nov 1917

Joseph Cardin, b. 28 June 1846; d. 16 Feb 1872

John George, b. 9 July 1849; d. 10 Mar 1857

William Tennent, b. 20 Dec 1851

Robert James, b. 27 Dec 1853; d. 31 Dec 1913

Richard Baxter, b. 28 Feb 1856; d. 26 Nov 1856

Mary Elvira, b. 9 Dec 1857; d. 4 Nov 1930

Sarah Elizabeth, 28 Jan 1860; d. 6 Nov 1883

Katie Player, 16 Feb 1862

From this information, we can see that in the year 1861, when the photograph was probably taken, the family looked like this:

Charles, Sr, age 55 Elvira Ann, age 42

Hester, age 22 married to John T. Harvin

Charlie, age 18

Joe, age 15

William, age 10

Robert, age 8

Mary E., age 4

Sarah, age 1

CDV ca. 1861 Bennerman/Bannerman children

Although the photo says Maggie not Mary, all the other information fits. The young Sarah was probably too young to hold still with her siblings while the photo was being taken. Joe and Charlie were practically men by that time.

The family was enumerated in the city of Tallahassee, FL in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census and is likely where the photograph was taken.

A Home for Amy

2011-12-11T10:56:00.003-05:00

I mentioned before in a previous post that I work in the foster care system. Part of the work involves exploring relatives for children in care. I am passionate about family history and have always believed that learning about one’s roots plays a vital part in finding a sense of belonging. I’ve been eager to use my genealogy skills to help in identifying family resources for these children.

When I first started in the position, I spoke briefly with the other workers about using ancestor charts and family group sheets to record information and gave them some tips on searching for relatives. Mostly I know how to find dead people, of course. It’s been a running joke that if they’re dead, I can find them, but I’m working on using those same skills to locate living kin as well.

I also shared with my co-workers a story about one of my ancestors who lived in the rural south. This story shows how back in the day, relatives were the first place to turn when there was a need for alternative care for children. Here's the story:

Amy Leora Hardy, was born on June 16, 1902 in Christian County, Kentucky. She and her sister, Ruby, born in 1898, were the daughters of William Lewis Hardy and his wife Alice Samantha Lovelace.

Wm. Lewis Hardy family ca late 1902/early 1903, Christian Co, KY

Amy wasn't even quite a year old when her mother died in April of 1903 and her grandmother, Martha Sizemore Hardy, helped raise the two girls. Amy's father remarried on 23 July 1904 to a woman named Lela Woodruff and they had a son, Willie, shortly thereafter. It's not known what happened to Lela, whether she died or they divorced. She joined the Christian Church in Sinking Fork under the Woodruff name in 1909 but that is the only information known about her.

In May of 1915, just before Amy turned 13, her grandmother Hardy died. Then in February of the next year, her father announced that he intended to marry another woman. The girls told their aunt that before they would “live in a fuss they were going to get them a home.” Ruby talked of going to her Aunt Onnie Griggs, her mother's sister. Amy asked her Aunt Mary Sadler (her father's sister) if she would find her a home. Their Aunt Mary lived in Cerulean, KY and she wrote to her cousin Will Sizemore to see if maybe they wanted to take Amy into their home.

1916 ltr from M. Sadler to W. Sizemore, Cerulean, KY p. 1-2

1916 ltr from M. Sadler to W. Sizemore, Cerulean, KY p. 3-4

It's not clear if the Sizemores ever did take Amy into their home or if Amy was able to make peace with her father’s new wife and stay on. Nonetheless, the letter illustrates the importance of family ties in helping raise children in times of need. It’s also a wonderful glimpse of my grandmother as a young teen.

Amy L. Hardy (directly behind boy), Pisgah School, 1915

Just An Umbrella or Ancestral Heirloom?

2011-12-08T15:00:00.002-05:00

Thomas M. & Nancy J. (Sizemore) Hardy, Christian Co, KY

The above image is a copy of a tintype photo. The original measures about 2 x 3 inches and was originally housed in a photo album owned by my second great grandmother, Martha Sizemore Hardy. The subjects of the photo are Thomas M. Hardy and his wife Nancy J. Sizemore. Nancy was Martha’s older sister. Thomas was the twin brother to Martha’s husband, Joshua L. Hardy. There are actually two originals of the photograph, although in this one, you can better see the umbrella Thomas is holding. Nancy holds what looks like a folded fan in her lap. At first, the fact that his arm rests on an umbrella doesn’t stand out. Perhaps it was rainy the day of the photo shoot? Research into Thomas’s ancestry leads me to believe that there may be more of a significance to this.

Thomas and Joshua Hardy were listed together in a biographical sketch in Perrin’s County of Christian, Kentucky written in 1884. The entry states that they were sons of Bird Hardy and his wife Tiersey Tyre. It goes on to say they were born in Montgomery County, Tennessee and moved to Trigg County, Kentucky around the age of 10 where they resided for about thirteen years before coming to Christian County. A family record of Bird & Tiersey Tyre lists their birth dates as well as that of their children, along with listings of some of the family deaths. One of the deaths included that of Elizabeth Tyer who “departed this life 5^th November 1846.”

Checking into Montgomery County records, I found that Elizabeth Tire, the widow of Thomas Tire, dec’d, was appointed guardian of Michael Tire, Counsel Tire, Stephen Tire, Lewis Tire, Trasey Tire [sic], Mitchell Tire and Thomas Tire, all infants of the said Thomas Tire, dec’d. She was also appointed as one of the administrators of Thomas’ estate on 5 March 1805. Elizabeth was listed as the head of household in Montgomery County in the 1820 census. In 1830, Bird Hardy was listed there with an additional female aged 50-60 living with him as well. This was likely Elizabeth. She probably moved with them to Kentucky around 1837.

When Thomas Tire died, an account of the sale of his personal property taken 15 March 1805 was recorded in County Will Book A. Thomas had a large amount of personal property; the account took four pages to list everything. Included were many interesting items such as a tin horn, two bibles, a dictionary, a looking glass, a set of shoemaker’s tools & bench, a basket and carpenters tools, coopers tools, wool & cotton cards and a linen wheel. One of the items listed on the first page of the account was “1 Umbarella” which sold for $5.87. The coopers tools sold for a similar price and a saddle & bridle sold for $5.50. Elizabeth purchased many of the items listed for sale, including the umbrella.

Part of Thomas Tire (dec'd) inventory, March 1805, Montgomery Co, TN

Now, umbrellas were not a very common item among our ancestors. An excerpt from RL Chambers' Book of Days, Vol. 1 (1864) at 241-44, states, “About thirty years ago, there was living in Taunton, a lady who recollected when there were but two umbrellas in that town; one belonged to a clergyman, who, on proceeding to his duties on Sunday, hung up the umbrella in the church porch, where it attracted the gaze and admiration of the townspeople coming to church.” (emphasis added).

So could the item Thomas shows off in his photograph for posterity be an ancestral heirloom? What do you think?

A New Search Begins

2011-12-07T18:15:00.001-05:00

I spoke with a woman the other day who heard that I was good at finding dead people and wondered if I could find out more about her mother's biological family. This is the information she shared with me:

"My mother was born on March 14, 1922 in Binghamton, NY. A nurse took her by train up to Utica, NY to the St. Joseph's Infant Home. Her mother came up a month later to give permission for the infant to be adopted. Her mother was said to have been Helen Turesky who came from a small town in Pennsylvania."

Not a whole lot to go on, but I gave it a shot.

I started with Ancestry.com and found Helen almost immediately.

Helen Teroski age 18 [birthdate ca. 1902] was listed as a boarder in the home of Mike (age 38) & Susie Novak (& children) in the 1920 U.S. Census in the city of Binghamton, NY. She was born in Pennsylvania of Slovakian parentage. The Novaks were Slovakian as well. She was a roller in a cigar factory.

Unfortunately, there were no other Teroski families living in Binghamton. Neither can I poinpoint Helen or the Mike Novak family in the 1910 census in Pennsylvania at this point. I'll keep working...

Search suggestions welcome!

A Shiny Object

2011-12-04T08:46:00.000-05:00

Photo credit: Megan Westfall

An open post to Sheri Fenley, The Educated Genealogist:

Oh Sheri! Can I relate to your post on shiny objects! Only I usually call it going down rabbit holes.

It was getting distracted while trying to write a recent post that I googled you and found this post of yours in the first place. I was trying to write about prospography which led me to think of accuracy and I remembered you as the “educated genealogist." So I look for your blog and then try to google something about Elizabeth Shown Mills and accuracy that I read on a blog a while back. I get Michael Hait’s genealogy blog as a hit, which has a quote I can use (though not the original posts I remember reading). Then I get so frustrated about having to go search for things that I read before but didn’t bookmark or anything and now I want them! So I open OneNote to try and capture some of these now.

I fall down another rabbit hole on Michael’s blog as I remembered he was the one who mentioned the website Litemind which is something I wanted to keep in mind for its potential usefulness in my genealogy and other professional work. And now I want to follow Michael’s blog and realize I’ve never followed your blog and want to add Litemind to my list of favorites as well.

Then when I google “kinship genealogy” to add a link to describe the term I’ve used in my post, I stumble down another rabbit hole and find a scholarly article on the role of genealogy in personal lives in a sociology journal. I open another window in Internet Explorer to attempt to gain access to that journal through my educational connections. I have no luck with that and it’s probably a good thing that rabbit hole dead-ended because I finally go back and finish my blog post. Mind you this is all at lightning speed using dial-up internet service. No wonder it takes me so long to get a post completed.

If this post sounds breathless and convoluted and makes your head spin, welcome to my world J

Society Saturday: Proso -- what?!? (or Accuracy in Genealogy)

2011-12-03T09:21:00.000-05:00

As a member, I recently received a copy of the Winter 2011/2012 newsletter for the Western Michigan Genealogical Society. This is a very active society, established in 1954. They have a great number of programs and mini classes available for local members. Several of the upcoming programs sound awesome, I just wish I lived closer. The society does offer a good deal of information for remote members on their website, in their quarterly magazine Michigana and with publication and access to other society materials as well. I am definitely renewing my membership.

One scheduled talk is described as including a discussion of using "prosopography" for learning more about the residents of Cherry Street in Grand Rapids, MI. Proso-what?!? I had never heard of it. Is it a good tool for genealogy?

I did a google search for the term and found a good article at trusty Wikipedia which says that prosopography is an increasingly important approach within historical research. The definition states that it's
"an investigation of the common characteristics of a historical group, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable, by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line analysis." The article mentions that prosoprography is related to, but distinct from, both biography and genealogy and that "well-conducted genealogical research reconstructing family relationships may form the basis of a prosopography," although the "goals of prosopographical research are generally wider."

It's probably a lot more intellectual and scholarly than most of us achieve in pursuit of our ancestors, but I would liken it to cluster or whole family genealogy research which can give you a much broader and more accurate knowledge of family history. And really, accuracy should be a top priority for all genealogists. As Michael Hait said in his blog post, "who wouldn’t hate to discover that after years of research, you had been tracing someone else’s family?"

A Horse Thief or Worse

2011-11-20T10:36:00.000-05:00

Do you remember back in the day when there was a television advertisement (I think it was from AT&T) that said something to the effect of, “Have you ever read a book in a library, from another country? Well, you will.” We were then just on the cusp of the exploding world of internet and it sounded crazy. I remember thinking as a genealogist, “Heck yeah, there are books I want to read in remote locations!”

I just recently found out one of my children’s ancestors lived in an asylum for nearly 40 years. Using Google ebooks, I got some great information from official record books about the institution where he was located. One book was digitized from the University of Michigan, which is a ways away from me. Another book was digitized from the University of California, even further. But thanks to technology, I incurred no travel expenses at all. Sweet!

I remember an elderly distant cousin wrote in reply to a request for family information saying, “I have never been too keen on family trees. If you go back far enough you usually find a horse thief or worse.” Now that I’ve finally found a genuine family secret, my kids’ reaction to it was: “Cool! Finally something interesting after all these years of hearing about genealogy.” I’m on a quest to find out more. Stay tuned!

Wordless Combination

2011-11-16T07:17:00.006-05:00

Here's a combination of a tombstone photo and a scrapbook page, both great wordless topics!

A Simpler Time

2011-11-14T20:32:00.000-05:00

I was talking to my dad's cousin, Mary Ellen, on the telephone a week or so ago. I had written to another cousin asking if she could identify an old photograph. The photograph was of an old homestead from the album cousin Julia had. I was hoping it was the home my grandfather grew up in. I'll talk about that story another day.

Mary Ellen was saying that she remembered her folks visiting Julia's grandparents every so often. She said things were different back then. It was nothing, she said, to go visiting kin for the day or longer without planning it in advance. She pointed out that in this day and age, people are not so happy about someone just dropping in unannounced. People have to schedule everything and heaven forbid someone sees the house dirty.

It made me wonder briefly, will we reminisce about these days by fondly recalling sitting in front of our computers at home blissfully posting status updates on Facebook and feeling close to our friends and family when they click the "like" button in response? Nonetheless, it's true that the past seems to have been a simpler time.

A few weeks ago I asked my youngest daughter what she wanted for Christmas. "Christmas??" She replied. "It's too early to think of Christmas!" "Fine," I said lightly, "I don't need to get you anything." The next night her Christmas wish list showed up on my pillow. She was afraid to miss out on the chance of getting anything. One of the things on her list was the chance to see a pen pal friend she had made nearly five years ago at a summer camp she attended. The friend lives about two hours away from us. I told her we could make plans to get that Christmas present if we did it before the snow starts to fly.

This weekend she and I got up early and drove out to meet this friend. They were aware we were coming, but she hadn't seen her friend in five years and had never met any of her family. Once we arrived in their town, we called and asked if they wanted to meet us for lunch first. The friend and her mom, Cindy, came out. We had a good meal and seemed to hit it off pretty well. They in turn invited us to their house afterwards to meet their large family. We wound up staying for the day, even going over to the grandmother's house to meet other family members and had a very enjoyable time. The family was very open and gracious towards us and we felt very comfortable. I recalled what Mary Ellen had said about the past, when people would drop in and visit for a day. It felt like we were a part of that simpler time for a little while.

And while we're on the subject of Christmas presents and simpler times, I wanted to direct you to Cindy's website. Billed as a "new tradition with old fashioned appeal," you'll find a great collection of home made gift ideas that are compiled from a variety of blogs, companies,and craft and hobby resources.

As my daughter now knows, it's not too early to be thinking about Christmas!

Never Forgotten

2011-11-11T06:30:00.015-05:00

Photo credit: Megan Westfall

Before he passed away two years ago, I used to have my daughters call my father on Veteran’s Day. At the age of 16, he left home and joined the Navy. He put in 20 years of service, retiring at the ripe old age of 36. He then went on to become a vocational education teacher and put in another 20 years of service in that career as well.

My daughters had a school concert this week. It had a patriotic theme in honor of the upcoming holiday and turned out very nice. (I have a hard time listening to Taps, though, as it brings me right back to my father’s funeral.) The superintendent issued a challenge to the students there. He asked them to write down the reason we celebrate Veteran’s Day and bring the explanation into school the next day. He said he would make it worth their while, but didn’t say what he was offering. On the way home, I told my daughters that they should simply bring in a photo of their grandfather and tell the superintendent that’s the reason we celebrate Veteran’s Day. At home, I hunted up an old photo of him in his Navy uniform and handed it to my daughter to put in her backpack.

My dad had colon cancer around 2005 and then developed lung cancer later which he died from in 2009. Although he fought bravely, eventually he knew he would not win the final battle. So he packed up all his photographs and memorabilia he had collected over the years and gave them to me. I have a large box (really more trunk-sized) of the stuff he gave me. All I have left of him is in that box. While digging through the box to find the photo for my daughter, I had the idea of arranging a collage of items related to his Navy career. The above photo (credited to my daughter) is what resulted.

While deciding what items to include in the collage, I picked up his Navy yearbook and thumbed through it. I noticed that he had carefully gone through the book and turned down each page that contained a photograph of him. He knew that he would not always be around to point these out in the future, but his gesture let me know that he never wants to be forgotten.

Treasure Chest Thursday - A Chance Discovery

2011-11-10T07:02:00.000-05:00

There are many tales of serendipity (a chance discovery) in the field of genealogy. One particular instance in my research follows:

I began the search for my ancestors shortly after my grandmother's death in January of 1989. At the time of her funeral the subject came up, and several family members shared with me what they knew about the family. I was extremely interested in it and when I returned home, began trying to find other things about the family. I wrote some about my beginning trek into genealogy in this previous post.

After seeing my grandmother's obituary in the local paper, a woman named Frances Sizemore wrote to my uncle who lived in the area and said that our families were related. My cousin gave me a copy of the letter and I wrote back to the woman. Mrs. Sizemore sent me family group sheets she had completed on the Sizemore family and along with it sent a copy of a letter written by my second great grandmother, Martha Sizemore Hardy. In this letter written to her cousin, Martha mentioned a photograph of her cousin's children. Frances and I became friends and began a regular correspondence about family history until her death. I once commented to her that it would be nice to see the photograph Martha Hardy mentioned in her letter.

1891 ltr (portion) from Martha Hardy to Wesley Sizemore

In 1992, my husband and I took a trip to visit my grandfather. While there, my grandfather urged me to pack up some salt & pepper shaker sets to take home with me. These were originally part of my grandmother's collection. One afternoon I began the task of taking them from the bookshelf, wrapping them up in newspaper and packing them in a box. I ran out of newspaper before I had completed the project, so I sent my husband over to the neighbors to get some from her.

While I was waiting for him to return I started dusting off one of the other shelves in the room and found a folded piece of paper stuck in the corner. When I opened it, I found it was a recipe written in 1885 and signed by my second great grandmother, Martha Hardy! Overjoyed at finding a piece of family history, I raced over to the neighbor's house to tell my husband. The neighbor had lived next door for many years and her daughter was practically considered another grandchild of my grandfather's. After telling both her and my husband what I had found, I explained further about the things I had discovered about this family line, including the copy of the letter I had. The neighbor remembered something and went in to the other room and brought back a box. The box contained some old photographs that my grandmother had given to the neighbor's daughter many years ago. She explained that my grandmother had told her daughter that she didn't know who was in those old photographs, so she could have them to play with. When the daughter brought them back to her house, her mother put them away because she felt they were too valuable to play with. Among those photographs was a group photo of Wesley Sizemore's children.

Wesley Sizemore's children

So after many years later, I held in my hand the very photograph that my second great-grandmother mentioned in the letter written to her cousin. Both the letter and the photograph survived and in my search had come together full circle.

Wednesday’s Child - The Story of Myka

2011-11-09T07:18:00.040-05:00

In August of 1994, I was visiting family in Michigan and again went the Grand Rapids Public Library to do more research. This time, I checked the 1884 State Census of Michigan for any references to the Kiel family. I knew the family was in Grand Rapids then and could just have easily decided not to look at that record since I thought I knew everything about the family. Luckily for me I followed the rule of leaving no stone unturned in pursuit of genealogy.

Sure enough, on page 331 I found Henry Kiel and his wife Margeritte listed at 233 Lagrave Street. The next family was Henry’s brother, Herodas and his wife Gertie. This I knew was my ancestor. He is listed in various records as Gerrit, Gerhardus, Herodus, etc. Continuing on the next page was my great-grandmother Hendrika at age 1. This information I was aware of, but the next listing was entirely new to me: another daughter Myke was listed age 7 months. Myke is a spelling variation of Meike or Maike and is a Dutch, Frisian & German derivative of the English name Mary. Though I refer to her as Myka in this narrative, it is actually pronounced M-AYK. The family followed traditional naming patterns and gave this second-born daughter the name of her maternal grandmother.

Meike - Origin and Meaning

The census record indicated that this child was born in October of that census year. This was the first I learned about a sister of my great-grandmother. I assumed this child must have died young, since my grandmother had never mentioned her and probably didn’t even know about her. Herm Kiel was also listed, age 76, as Herodas' widowed father.

On a previous research trip, I had looked up the death records in the Kent County clerk's office for any references to persons named Kiel. Funny, I thought, that I didn't see Myke listed before. I again checked the index to those records housed at the library. No listing. I tried a spelling variation, K-E-I-L. There she was, Micka Keil. I drove over to the county building and checked at the clerk's office. On November 11, 1884 Micka Keil (mistakenly listed as a male) died at age 1 year, 14 days of "teething." Her parents were Gerhardus and Geertje Keil. I was happy to add some new information to the family history. She turned out to be a very important key to finding even more about the whole family.

The next thing I did while still at the library was check the cemetery index for the Kiels. Harm and his wife Henderika Ziegers Kiel were listed as was their son Henderik and his wife Margaretha Kiel. The index listed their burial place as Valley City Cemetery. I asked the librarian for directions to this cemetery. She noted that it was renamed Oak Hill-South and gave me directions. It was too late in the day to visit the cemetery then. I didn't have very much time left on this trip, so I decided to wait until the day I had to go back to the city to catch my plane for the flight home.

I left early that day and went to the main office at Woodlawn Cemetery to check the index books for the exact place they were buried. Looking up Harm Kiel in this index, his burial card was listed as 14 C. When I looked at that burial card, I discovered it wasn't the right one. It didn't even have Kiels listed. I looked up Henderika Kiel in the index, but the space for the burial card number was blank.

How was I going to find where they were buried? It’s a pretty large cemetery and could be an almost impossible task to find where a person is buried just by walking the cemetery. I didn't have that much time, either. Fortunately, I knew about Myka and checked the index book for her. Lucky for me, even though the name was mistakenly written originally as Meike Riel, it was indexed properly in the section of "K"s. This index indicated that she was buried in lot 57C. The index also stated that Meike was aged 1 year, 6 months, and 14 days and died of scrofula. Antiquus Morbus, "The Genealogist's Resource for Interpreting Causes of Death." states that scrofula was a "form of tuberculosis affecting the lymph nodes, especially of the neck, that is most common in children and is usually spread by unpasteurized milk from infected cows."

The burial card for lot 57C did indeed have Kiels listed including Myka's father Gerrit, her grandparents Harm & Henderika and her uncle and aunt, Hendrik & Margaret. Knowing about Myka, I was able to pinpoint the burial location. Interestingly enough, Myka was not listed on the card at all.

Armed with a map of the cemetery, I set out for lot 57C and found it. There is a stone in place for Harm & Henderika and a stone for Hendrik & Margaret. There was no sign of a stone for either Gerrit or Myka.

There were so many opportunities to have missed the short life of little Myka. I could have easily decided not to look at the state census. I could have walked the cemetery without checking the records and might have discovered her grandparents and uncle without knowing that she’s probably buried there, too, in an unmarked grave. And it was all because of her that I found the tombstones so easily in the first place.

Was I just lucky or was there a wisp of a ghost, ethereal and almost too elusive to pinpoint, leading me to our family?

Tombstone of Harm & Henderika Ziegers Kiel

Netherland Naming Customs, Take 2

2011-11-08T08:00:00.002-05:00

After a previous discussion on naming customs and surnames, another focus for Netherlands research is the naming patterns used to name children after close relatives. The traditional system in the Netherlands is as follows:

First son: named for his paternal grandfather

Second son: named for his maternal grandfather

Third son: named for his father’s paternal grandfather

Fourth son: mother’s paternal grandfather

Fifth son: father’s maternal grandfather

Sixth son: mother’s maternal grandfather

This same system was used for the daughters using the grandmother’s names in place of the grandfather. The feminine version of male names was formed using such suffixes as –je/n, -ke/n, -pje/n, -tie/n, -tje/n. Examples in my family include: Grytje and variations such as Gertje, Geertje, Geesjen and Annechje or Annechien.

It is uncanny how rigidly many Dutch families stuck to this traditional pattern so that one can look at the children and tell the names of the previous generations with surprising accuracy. This system was often abandoned by Dutch immigrants to America perhaps in an effort to assimilate into the majority culture.

Even though she was a third-generation Dutch American, my mother, as the firstborn daughter, was named for her maternal grandmother, but with a bit of variation. It seems that my grandmother was not fond of the name Henrietta, her mother’s Americanized name, so she named my mother Helen, using the same first initial at least.

I went on to give one of my daughters the name Leah. Little did I know at the time that it is a Dutch equivalent of the name Helen. In a way then, this ties Leah back to her maternal ancestors:

maternal grandmother Helen; then

Helen’s maternal grandmother Henrietta/Hendrika; then

Henrietta’s paternal grandmother Hendericka; then

Hendericka’s paternal grandmother Hinderika who was born in the 1700s.

Matrilineal Monday - Grytje Ettes Kloosterman

2011-11-07T14:31:00.005-05:00

Friesland traditional dress

Grytje Ettes Kloosterman, my grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother, was born in Augsbuurt in the Friesland province of the Netherlands on 7 April 1788. She was baptized nearly one month later on 1 May 1788 in Augsbuurt. Her parents were Ette Jacobs and Wytske Jans. Her maternal grandfather was Jan Johannes Kloosterman. Before she was seven years old, Grytje’s father died in January 1795. Her mother died when she was twenty.

On 3 January 1812, when Grytje was 24 years old, she gave birth out of wedlock to a daughter. Tijtske Jan, an innkeeper in Burum registered the birth and said that the child’s name would be Ettje Sijmons. As the typical naming customs of the Netherlands was adding the father’s given name (called a patrynomic), I’m reasonably sure that the father was a man named Sijmon.

At the age of 36, Grytje marrie Feike Gerrits Bos in Kollum on 26 Jan 1824. Feike had been previously married to Tryjntje Hendriks who died on 11 October 1822, three days after giving birth to a daughter, Martje. This left Feike with the infant along with three other children, Gerrit age 6, Hendrik age 4 an Hiljte age 1. The infant Martje may have also died, for another daughter was named Martje in 1827. Grytje and Feike had two other sons as well, Jacob born 23 Dec 1824 and Jan born in 1826.

In 1841, Ettje Sijmons Kloosterman, Grytje’s daughter, was married to her stepbrother, Gerrit. In May of 1848, Jan Feikes Bos married Maaike Dijkstra. Two months later, on 23 July, Feike died. In 1850, Jan’s wife gave birth to a son whom they name Feike Jans Bos. In 1852, a daughter Gertje was born to Jan and his wife. On 2 March 1857, Grytje died at the age of 68.

Photo Credit: Yvette’s Dutch Genealogy Homepage.

Tomorrow’s Another Day

2011-11-06T13:02:00.001-05:00

My postings have been sporadic lately. But that seems to be how life works. Sometimes I have time for traveling to the past, sometimes the present gets in the way. I never let the grass grow under my feet, mind you. I usually always have a project or two going, whether genealogy-related or not. Genealogy is never far from my mind, though. I was looking at children’s books yesterday for Christmas gifts and ran across this book, Fancy Nancy: My Family History.

I bought it, though I’m not sure if I’m giving it away or keeping it in anticipation of a future opportunity to introduce the subject to the next generation.

Speaking of books, in my spare time I’ve also been reading Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill. It’s a good historical novel about slavery. I don’t remember where I’ve heard the term “Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts” before but it’s mentioned in this fictional work. I highly recommend it.

Recently, I completed a photo scanning project of pictures from the album my cousin Julia sent to me a couple of months ago. (Read more about this in an earlier post by clicking here.) Next on my list was posting information my Westfall page. I got that completed last night, although there is more to add. One of the things I learned in graduate school is to break projects down into chunks to make them more manageable. It used to be that I had more free time to spend hours and days on a project until the whole thing was completed. It was nothing for me to sit at the computer on a Saturday morning and crank out a paper due Monday during my undergrad education. I tried doing that when my first paper in graduate school was due and discovered it was not so easy anymore. In the midst of the Westfall project, I also multi-tasked and filed some papers on my Dutch families while waiting for photos to upload. My main objective for doing that filing project was to find information I wanted to include in an upcoming post, yet another project to work on.

Anyway, there are always more projects to get done genealogy-wise. When I think of the fact that I’ve been doing this for 20+ years, I relax knowing that tomorrow’s another day.

Me at the beginning of my genealogy project back in the early 90s

My Day Job

2011-11-05T19:47:00.002-04:00

Coughell girls w/Uncle A. Metler

My world does consist of more than living in the past, though I try not to let that show too often as this blog is mainly the manifestation of my genealogy personality. Situations sometimes do overlap, though.

My day job entails working in the foster care system. There have been some new programs and concepts coming out in that field focusing on finding and expanding on family resources for these children. My co-workers and I are participating in some in-depth training on Family Finding developed by Kevin Campbell. Mr. Campbell took some concepts from various other philosophies and resources including research by the Church of Latter-Day Saints that estimates that there are between 100-300 living relatives of every person on the planet. The training introduces techniques and tools for locating relatives of children currently in foster care. I have boasted that I’m good at finding dead people, but I do need more help in finding living ones.

Another technique that Mr. Campbell has incorporated into Family Finding is something called Mobility Mapping in which he has a youth draw a visual map of what he/she remembers of the places they used to live and the people that were important to them in an effort to jog their memory about relatives that may be out there. This technique was originally used in helping displaced children who were part of the Rwandan tragedies.

The trainers mentioned how this visual technique can help retrieve memories that are not otherwise as readily accessible. Evidence of that was made pretty clear when we had the opportunity to practice this technique the other day in training. I was paired up with a woman named Terri and she assumed the role of the youth while I asked her questions and had her draw with markers on poster paper taped to the wall. I asked Terri to draw a picture of the house she lived in growing up and draw the people who lived with her which included her parents and siblings. We moved on to other family members and where they lived. She had an uncle, aunt and cousins who lived next door which she drew. Then we expanded to other family. Her grandparents lived in the same area and she drew pictures to represent them and their homes as well. When she first wrote about her maternal grandmother she could not recall the grandmother’s maiden name. I went on to ask about aunts and uncles and she kept working to add what she could recall. Eventually while explaining about an uncle who lived upstairs from her grandmother, she recalled that Grandpa Gill originally lived upstairs. “Oh,” she said, turning to me in surprise, “That was my grandmother’s maiden name, Gill! I would have never remembered it otherwise.”

Because of my genealogy background, I find the whole concept of family finding intriguing and have tried to incorporate my family history skills into some of this. I realize this Mobility Mapping technique could be transferred back over to genealogy. Making a visual map could help prompt the memories of an older relative and discover clues about family and/or the local neighborhood.

Time Traveling

2011-10-29T14:15:00.001-04:00

I was doing some time traveling last night. I recently ordered a book written by Faye Royster Tuck with a collection of articles on Halifax County, Virginia. Most of the information was taken from “the Chancery Court cases (loose papers) which are mixed in with the Halifax County Judgments.”

Imagine my delight to learn that one of my ancestors, Sarah Everett Dodson, was reported to be the prettiest woman in the land. She was the mother of my third great-grandfather, Bird Hardy, born in 1793. This was not gleaned from official court records, but a family manuscript written in 1859 that I was previously unaware of. After 20+ years of researching, I seldom find whole previous unknown lines. Instead, little tidbits like this are a joy for me to uncover.

A good deal of my family lines trace back to Halifax County, Virginia and roots have a way of becoming entangled with other families after a while. Members of the Watts family, for example, were in the county from the beginning of its formation in 1752 and descendants continue residence there today, over 200 years later. My great-grandfather, John Willis Watts, was born there in 1860. So while Mrs. Tuck did not always discuss my particular family lines, there was enough to keep me up pretty late last night. The book contains a myriad of information including early churches in the area, records on free black families in the area and maps and surveys of places long gone. I spent hours studying the latter to go back in time and find the neighborhood where some of my family lived.

The author wrote in a preface, “I hope you will enjoy it and love it the way I love books.” I want to tell her that I loved it!

GeneaBlogger Wisdom

2011-10-25T06:45:00.000-04:00

I love how geneabloggers share the same passion for family history. Here are some gems of wisdom about the craft I've run across in my reading:

“We may think writing about ourselves is boring or egotistical but stop and think how excited your descendants would be to find a journal or dairy that their great great grandmother (you) wrote.”

Lorine McGinnis Schulze at http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/p/sharing-memories.html

“There are so many things to love about genealogy: the thrill of research, the fabulous social aspects and cousin connections, the OCD satisfaction to be found by filling in all the little boxes, the feeling of power and competence in mastering the neat genea-gadgets and genea-apps (OK, this one doesn’t apply to me), the educational and scholarly aspects, and the opportunity to indulge our artistic side in writing and scrapbooking.”

Greta Koehl at http://gretabog.blogspot.com/2011/08/things-i-dont-care-about-in-genealogy.html

“As genealogists we are passionate about the past but we also need to be equally passionate about the present. By writing up the present we leave behind a trail for our own descendants.”

Gena Philibert Ortega at http://philibertfamily.blogspot.com/2011/09/church-record-sunday-writing-your.html

“Spending my time with dead people is awesome. They never send dumb chain emails or make you sit through three-hour meetings in windowless conference rooms. They don’t sexually harass each other, and you never have to fire them and then help them clean out their desks. Dead people rock.”

Kerry Scott at http://www.cluewagon.com/about/

Reflections On My Dream

2011-10-22T07:31:00.006-04:00

The beginnings of my other post Once I Had A Dream was written in the early 90s. I guess I was destined to write a blog before they even became popular. Just before I started Wisteria, I was going through my desk drawers and found some boxes of old diskettes of mine which included some old genealogy writing I had done. I had completely forgotten about them. Or maybe somewhere in my mind I remembered without realizing it consciously since it’s somewhat serendipitous that I ran across these old writings at around the same time I launched this blog. I mentioned that in my dream I had a book that held the answers to my genealogy problems. You know what the name of that book was? Wisteria.

Because I’m not one to jump on the new technology bandwagon as quickly as others, it so happens that the computer I have now still has the capability of reading those old diskettes. So I took the time to transfer the data from those old diskettes to a jump drive. Jump drives are probably not quite the latest technology but at least I have moved up a decade or two in my current data storage.

I was perusing through Kerry Scott’s ClueWagon blog the other day and was reading her post on smacking her 1995 self. I was reminded of my dream stuff because that came from MY 1995 self. (And Kerry, if you’re reading this, I fall in the purple ink category.) You can’t read her posts without laughing out loud half the time. It’s just kind of embarrassing when that happens in the library, though. Anyway, her post talked about the "atrocities" she committed as a genealogy newbie. We’ve all done it. I was particularly pleased to read that even the Queen of Citation herself, Elizabeth Shown Mills, was once a lowly peasant in the land of genealogy (click here to see her comments to one of Kerry’s other posts). As a mother, I could relate to the experiences of both Kerry and Elizabeth, when they discussed juggling the demands of young children while trying to find dead people.

But time stands still for no one. And just as our children grow and learn new skills, so do we.

Friend of Friends Friday

2011-10-21T06:30:00.003-04:00

William Hardy and Sarah Ann Fulcher (the daughter of Phillip Fulcher) were married in Calloway County, Kentucky on 14 May 1835. [1]

Both William and Sarah were named as trustees in the will of Briant Downing. Briant wrote his will on 15 November 1862 and it was recorded in court on 25 February 1863. Besides a bequest of his buggy to Phebe Lewis, the rest of the will entailed his desire that all his slaves be set free. His slaves were: Polipus and Ann his wife and Ellen, Winnie, Pad, Brooks and Caph their children. They were to remain on Briant's farm until arrangements could be made to move then to a "good and healthy" place in some free state unless an act of Legislature let them remain there free. Briant left quite a bit of property for their benefit, including household furniture and a crop of tobacco. He desired that the remainder of his perishable property be sold and be equally divided among his heirs in law. He appointed William and Sarah A. Hardy trustees to carry out the conditions of his will in regard to his slaves and also appointed William Hardy and N. C. Brandon as his executors.[2]

Sources:

[1] Don Simmons, compiler, Marriages of Calloway County, Kentucky 1823-1846 (Melber, KY: Simmons Historical Press, 1983).*

[2] Laura Willis, transcriber, Calloway County, Ky. Wills & Administrations Volume Three, pp. 68-69 (Melber, KY: Simmons Historical Press, 1995). Original can be found in Calloway Co, KY Will Bk. C, p. 264.

*Publications from Simmons Historical Press can now be accessed through WorldVitalRecords.com. See http://blog.worldvitalrecords.com/category/simmons-historical-society/

Once I Had A Dream

2011-10-20T06:00:00.001-04:00

Once I had a dream that I was working on my genealogy and I was so frustrated because I couldn't find an ancestor. I decided to check in the back of the book I was reading for the answers. In my dream, genealogy was like a textbook problem, with the answers in the back. Oh, how I sometimes wish that were true!

Take the case of my Goode ancestors. My second great grandmother, Martha Susan Hardy died in Christian Co, KY in 1915. Her death certificate listed her parents as Anderson Sizemore and Sarah Goode, both born in Halifax Co, VA. From the Genealogies of Kentucky Families [1], I found mention of Anderson Sizemore and his wife Sarah Goode on page 350. This article related that Sarah's father was John Goode, with the following additional facts in a footnote:

-John Goode married (secondly) Elizabeth Cole in 1809 and died in 1814.

-Daniel C. Goode was guardian of John's children William H., John, Mary, Nancy, Susannah and Jemima.

-Richard Tuck was guardian of John's children Lucinda & Daniel C. Goode.

-John's widow Elizabeth married Thomas Evans before 1831.

-John Goode was the son of William Goode & Mary Glidewell (daughter of Nash Glidewell of Halifax Co, VA).

This was wonderful news for extending the line, since I had found William Goode's pedigree going back to John Goode (1620/30-1709) of England in the Compendium of American Genealogy [2]. I ordered a microfilm copy of the book entitled Virginia Cousins by G. B. Goode from the Church of Latter-day Saints Library in Salt Lake City [3]. From the very first page, I was fascinated by all the wonderful information on my ancestors. The book listed ten generations further back than John Goode of England! What a find, I thought. I happily perused the pages, following my line of descent: John of England, Joseph, Daniel, William, and there on page 72, my John. But wait, something was wrong. The book had John of William listed as having died at Norfolk in 1804. The book went one generation further on John, but listed just one son, Daniel, b. ca. 1780-1800.

I consulted the numerous addenda at the back of the book and on page 470, I found a John Goode b. abt. 1780 who enlisted in the VA Militia and d. 27 Aug 1814. His wife Elizabeth married Thomas Ivin before 1833 and she lived in 1859 near Red Bank, Halifax Co, VA. This matched the information from the Genealogies of Kentucky Families, but the Virginia Cousins author placed him on another branch of the family. It was also noted that on page 484 in the addenda, Daniel C. Goode is listed as son of John who died at Norfolk in 1804. Daniel was also a soldier in the War of 1812 and died 15 Mar 1815. He married Polly Griffin (daughter of William Griffin) and she lived in Lynchburg and applied for pension in 1853.

Well, unlike my dream, looking in this book, or even the back of the book, did not yield the answers I was looking for. Without a book of answers, I (and other researchers) had to prove for ourselves that John Goode, father of Sarah Goode who married Anderson Sizemore, was the son of William Goode and Mary Glidewell and died 27 Aug 1814.

On reflection, this was probably better since I had to search hard for the answers and learned a lot in the process. I eventually wrote an article published in the Southside Virginian magazine [4] about the research and proof I uncovered that verified John Goode’s identity. I was also able to honor this ancestor by submitting this proof to have his name engraved on the war memorial for Halifax County, Virginia.

War Memorial in Halifax Co, VA

Sources:

[1] Stewart, William C., "Stewarts," Genealogies of Kentucky Families from The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and The Filson Club History Quarterly, Vol. O-Y, (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1981), 350-352. The original article was serialized in 1963.

[2] Virkus, F.A., editor, The Compendium of American Genealogy, First Families of America, Vol. 1. (Chicago, IL: The Virkus Company, Genealogical Publishers, 1930), 182.

[3] Goode, George Brown, Virginia cousins : a study of the ancestry and posterity of John Goode of Whitby, a Virginia colonist of the seventeenth century, with notes upon related families, a key to southern genealogy, and a history of the English surname Gode, Goad, Goode, or Good from 1148 to 1887 (Richmond, Va. : J.W. Randolph & English, 1887). FHL microfilm 1321168 Item 2.

[4] Westfall, Dawn, "Goode Family Information," The Southside Virginian, A Journal of Genealogy and History, Vol. XIII, No. 2 (1995). This journal is no longer in publication.

Wordless Wednesday: Another Scrapbook Post

2011-10-19T13:06:00.001-04:00

A Genealogy Meme

2011-10-15T06:55:00.000-04:00

My new blogger friend, Lisa Swanson Ellam, had this genealogy meme posted on her blog, The Faces of My Family. It is originally from Becky Wiseman of Kinexxions. I thought it would be fun to participate.

The list should be annotated in the following manner:

Things you have already done or found: bold face type

Things you would like to do or find: italicize (color optional)

Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

1. Belong to a genealogical society.

2. Researched records onsite at a court house.

3. Transcribed records.

4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.

5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents).

6. Joined Facebook.

7. Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.

8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.

9. Attended a genealogy conference.

10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.

11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.

12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.

13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.

14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.

15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.

16. Talked to dead ancestors.

17. Researched outside the state in which I live.

18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.

19. Cold called a distant relative.

20. Posted messages on a surname message board.

21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.

22. Googled my name.

23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.

24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.

25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.

26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.

27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.

28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.

29. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.

30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.

31. Participated in a genealogy meme.

32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).

33. Performed a record lookup for someone else.

34. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise.

35. Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.

36. Found a disturbing family secret.

37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.

38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).

39. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.

40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).

41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.

42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.

43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.

44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.

45. Disproved a family myth through research.

46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.

47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.

48. Translated a record from a foreign language.

49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.

50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.

51. Used microfiche.

52. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

53. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.

54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.

55. Taught a class in genealogy.

56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.

57. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.

58. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.

59. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.

60. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.

61. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.

62. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.

63. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.

64. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.

65. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.

66. Visited the Library of Congress.

67. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.

68. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.

69. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.

70. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.

71. Can read a church record in Latin.

72. Have an ancestor who changed their name.

73. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.

74. Created a family website.

75. Have more than one "genealogy" blog.

76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.

77. Have broken through at least one brick wall.

78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.

79. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.

80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.

81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the "Psychic Roots" variety.

83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.

84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.

85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.

86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.

87. Use maps in my genealogy research.

88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.

89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.

90. Visited the National Archives in Kew.

91. Visited St. Catherine's House in London to find family records.

92. Found a cousin in Australia (or other foreign country).

93. Consistently cite my sources.

94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors.

95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.

96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).

97. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.

98. Organized a family reunion.

99. Published a family history book (on one of my families).

100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.

101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.

102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.

103. Offended a family member with my research.

104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-12T20:34:00.000-04:00

Here's my interpretation of a wordless Wednesday. The original scrapbook page already includes words. I'm just posting it without adding any more...

Tuesday’s Tip – Expand Your Knowledge with Social History

2011-10-11T07:22:00.000-04:00

The world wide web is an amazing warren of rabbit holes that you can explore and find yourself in places you never dreamed. Time can go by rather quickly this way, too. I set the dryer for an hour and went back to the laundry room later to find it was done. Had I really been surfing that long?

I was surfing (and doing laundry) the other day and now can’t even tell you how I got to this one website, but it was fantastic. It’s called PrimaryResearch.org. This a website for projects completed by high schoolers (but don't think that doesn't mean quality) through the clever ideas of teaching local history by history teacher W. Dean Eastman and others. It sparked my own interest in teaching the next generation, too. Websites such as this explore local history which can then contribute to learning the social history aspect of family history and expand your knowledge.

For example, the page on Intra- and Inter- Marriage Between Ethnic Groups in Beverly in 1895, 1900, and 1905, can help explain what life was like in the past and possible reasons for choices ancestors made.

Another good example is the article on Italian Community Organizations and The Patria e Lavoro Society of Beverly, MA. This article mentions Italian societies in other states (such as New York) and provides a reference to a book about ethnic Italian family patterns in the United States. So even though one may not have ancestors from Massachusetts, locating that reference might help someone find records from an Italian society in an area their ancestor lived, possibly leading to more information.

Just for the record, I don’t have family from Massachusetts or Italy…

Matrilineal Monday – Who Shares My mtDNA?

2011-10-10T09:05:00.002-04:00

I was introduced to the concept of DNA testing because of the Sizemore surname DNA project. My second great-grandmother was Martha Sizemore Hardy. I have said before that even though she died some 50 years before I was born, Martha seemingly spoke to me through the things she left behind. But those are stories for another day.

I also read the book, Seven Daughters of Eve by Brian Sykes on matrilineal DNA several years ago as well. I was reminded of it after reading Barbara’s Life from the Roots blog post about her meeting with the author last year.

A couple of years ago, I took a look at my family tree to see how far back my maternal line goes and where my mtDNA comes from. I only had about five generations before I hit a brick wall. I decided to make it a research goal to work on that particular line and had some success. After working diligently to find my grandmother’s grandmother, I was able to extend the tree back another four generations.

Beginning with my grandmother’s grandmother, the line goes like this:

Gertrude Bos (28 November 1852 - 18 May 1930)

Maaike Jurgens Dykstra (born 1 June 1817)

Froukje Geerts Dijkstra (18 March 1787 – 25 August 1848)

Folkjen Alberts (ca. 1756 – before 1789)

Froukje Sjoerds (b. ca. 1729)

Lijsbeth Willems

I have three daughters with whom I have passed along this same mtDNA. I got to thinking about what other living females share this mtDNA with us and will pass it to their female offspring. I have one maternal half-sister, so she shares it. Her daughter (my niece) then shares it. That’s two. If my niece has daughters, they will also share it (she has a son who shares it but won’t be passing it down).

My mother was the oldest of seven children. She had three sisters and three brothers. Of the sisters, one never had children, one had only sons. The other aunt did have a daughter but this daughter only had sons. We can add the two (aunt and cousin) but it ends there.

My grandmother had one older sister and one younger sister. The younger sister had one son. The older sister (named Gertrude for the grandmother Gertrude Bos) had two sons and one daughter. This daughter (who carried the middle name of Gertrude) had four boys and one daughter. We can add her. It’s possible she had daughters but she is a second cousin with whom I do not have contact. I would be interested in trying to track her down further and find out if she has daughters.

My mother’s grandmother was the oldest of six children. She had two sisters, one who died in infancy. The other sister only had one child, a boy. Therefore, there are no living females from this generation. Gertrude Bos was the only daughter of three children born to her parents. No living females from that generation either.

Maaike Jurgens Dykstra was the sixth child and first daughter born to her parents. They went on to have five more children, adding two more daughters to the family. Gertje Jurgens Dykstra (born 3 September 1820) married Jacob Jacobs Hempenius in Tietjerksteradeel, Netherlands in 1848. There may still be female offspring from this line. Anne Jurgens Dykstra was born 23 October 1831. I have no record of marriage for her but if she did marry, there may still be female offspring from this line as well.

My records indicate that the mother of Froukje Geerts Dijkstra died before 1789. Froujke was born in March of 1787 so she wasn’t very old when she lost her mother. It’s quite likely that Froukje then was the only product of the union between Folkjen Alberts and Geert Halbes Dijkstra. (Remember him? I have his signature on an earlier post). Geert listed ten children when he registered the family name of Dijkstra in 1812, including two daughters Lieuwkje age 13 and Anne age 5. If these two were from his marriage to Folkjen and not a later marriage, they could possibly have female offspring carrying the same mtDNA.

From my records, it appears that Folkjen Alberts was the oldest child and only daughter of Froukje Sjoerds and Albert Meinderts. Froukje and Albert were married in 1754 and Folkjen’s birthdate is placed at 1756. There are two brothers listed after her. Of course, there may have been additional children that were missed in the records for one reason or the other. The same goes for the earliest known generation. I have Froukje Sjoerds listed as an only child of Lijsbeth Willems and Sjoerd Tjerks but there could have been more that just haven’t been accounted for.

So at this point, I know of four possibilities of continuing this mtDNA down to the next generation, my three daughters and my niece. There’s also the possibility that more are out there from my second cousin. Plus the two sisters of Maaike Jurgens Dykstra need to be looked into and the two younger daughters of Geert Halbes Dijkstra (if they're not half-siblings to Froukjen). I suppose these could always be new research goals...

Saturday Night Fun (or Sunday Morning Fun for Those Early to Bed and Early to Rise)

2011-10-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

Randy Seaver’s latest Saturday Night Genealogical Fun encouraged us to post stats related to our genealogy management program. Being the morning person I am, my Saturday night fun turned into Sunday morning early bird special. Better late than never, I guess.

I use an older version of Family Tree Maker and was using it back in the day when storage capability was not as expansive, hence my files are broken down to around five different surnames. Here’s the stats:

Watts:

Size: 1292KB

Individuals: 1965

Marriages: 530 (hmm, there appears to be plenty. Perhaps I can find an Autumn wedding to do a post for next month’s COG).

Avg lifespan: 60 years, 4 mos (Another interesting statistic)

Generations: 15

Different surnames: 347

The earliest birthdate had me scrambling to correct errors. I had someone born in 172 (it’s actually 1720-something but the record is unclear) and another born in 186 (again unclear records, although I should have been able to guesstimate with the surrounding entries on that one). Finally I got to a Hatchett born about 1500. I don’t even remember how a Hatchett ties in so I’m going to leave it for now.

Next family file: Timmer

File Size: 19112 KB

Individuals: 887

Marriages: 306

Avg lifespan: 53 years, 1 month

Generations: 17

Surnames: 311

I’m more comfortable with the accuracy of the earliest birthdate in this file: Abt 1538 Sierck Wybes. (Because of the naming patterns and lack of surnames early in the Netherlands, all I know is this guy was a son of Wybe, but I’d have to trace to see which line this comes from.)

Next: Westfall

File size: 105503 KB (I have photographs in this file which eats up a lot of space).

Individuals: 1625

Marriages: 523

Average Lifespan: 58 years, 0 mos

Generations: 15

Surnames: 486

Earliest birthdate: before 1600 Peter Benson.

I actually have two additional files, Sizemore and Hardy. These are not located on my main hard drive so I’ve decided to share the stats on those another day.

Thanks for the fun, Randy!

Picking Up a Cold Trail

2011-10-06T20:07:00.000-04:00

In police or detective work, there are often “cold” cases, mysteries that go unsolved. Sometimes it is years later when new technology or new information is discovered that the case gets re-opened for investigation. The same type of situation occurs in researching genealogy sometimes.

Case in point: I am currently working on revamping my write-up of Granny Westfall’s ancestry and I was thinking of how way back when I hit the end of the trail in trying to get a death certificate on Wilhelmina Lepper Smith. Granny had given me information on Wilhelmina including her date of death and even had a photograph of her. An early attempt to find information online led me to a gentleman by the name of Rick Huff who had a considerable amount of information on the Lepper family of Canada. Things seemed to match up as he had a Wilhelmina in his records with similar information as what I had on Granny’s Wilhelmina, as shown in the following table (sources listed in parentheses):

Wilhelmina Lepper Wilhelmina Lepper

wife of Eliud Smith daughter of George Lepper

born 4 June 1842 born about 1840 (age 11 on 1851

(tombstone) census in George's household)

born in Ontario, Canada born in Vaughan township of

(son's death certificate) Ontario (1851 census)

lived in Thorold, Ontario of Thorold, Ontario

(son Eliud's birth registration) (pedigree chart)

had a brother named Robert had a brother named Robert

Irish parents came from Ireland

(interview w/granddaughter) (information from Rick Huff)

I wanted further proof of her parentage so I sent away for a copy of her death certificate through the vital records office in Ontario. I was unsuccessful because, according to the form letter I received back, the information I provided didn’t exactly match what was on file in their database. I was at a loss as to what to do next. How was I going to find out exactly how it was listed in the database? Did I spell her name incorrectly, or was it spelled incorrectly in the database? End of the trail. I had circumstantial evidence but not the proof I was looking for.

Fast forward roughly ten years or more. Familysearch.org started a pilot program for digitized records and included the Ontario Death Registrations from 1867 to 1937. Smith is such a common name, even in Canada, but at least I was concerned with only the province of Ontario and not the entire country. And I found Mina Smith (which is the reason Wilhelmina Smith didn’t match) listing her parents as George Lepper and Mary Valentine.

Just the parents I had suspected her to have; only now I have proof.

Wilhelmina Lepper Smith (4 June 1842-19 March 1932)
wife of Eliud Smith, daughter of George Lepper & Mary Valentine

Church Record Sunday – My Cousin Julia

2011-10-02T08:58:00.001-04:00

On a Sunday at the end of January of this year, I met my cousin Julia online. In 2009, she had posted a query on the Watts Genforum looking for living relatives of her grandfather, Samuel Lindsey Watts. She stated that she was “just searching for distant cousins,” as her dad, Howard F. Watts, was an only child. I sent a reply to her asking if she was still looking for relatives as my grandfather was one of Howard’s cousins. This makes Julia and I second cousins one generation removed.

Looking back over my records, I realized that I never knew Howard Watts had children. He was buried with his parents in Riverside Cemetery in Hopkinsville, Kentucky and I just assumed he never married. Turns out he married three times and had two children, one of whom was Julia.

She and I started a correspondence back and forth with me filling in information about the Watts family. Last week, she mailed me a couple of photo albums that were her grandmother’s to see if there were any I’d be interested in copying or could help identify.

Many of the photos were labeled which was good. But when you know nothing of the family, labels do not always help in figuring out who’s related to whom. There were several photos in the album of a woman named Golden Severance. Julia told me that Golden was a cousin of her father Howard’s. Julia said if I didn’t recognize the name, perhaps it was a cousin on his mother’s, Mary Alma Wortham, side. I didn’t recognize the name so I figured she wasn’t kin to me.

The Wortham and Watts families lived in the Sinking Fork area of Christian County, Kentucky. I’m familiar with the neighborhood although I never lived there myself. My father was born on the farm there but joined the Navy at the age of 16 and never lived there again. His parents sold the farm and moved “to town” (Hopkinsville) shortly before I born. But we’d visit my grandparents every summer and every once in a while take a trip out to the old home place.

We still have kith and kin living out that way, such as Odell Malone. Odell’s husband was raised by my grandfather’s Aunt Ora and continued to farm the area until his death a few years ago. There’s also Betty McCorkle who went to school with my Uncle Doug and Yvonne Cameron who was my dad’s first girlfriend. Betty & Yvonne moved to town, too, but we always kept in touch because of our entangled roots and shared love of family history.

Betty McCorkle compiled the book, Sinking Fork Christian Church Disciples of Christ 1893 to 1996: A History (published by Christian Women’s Fellowship, 1996). The information chronicles the church’s members taken from the old membership register from the time of the church’s organization. Over six hundred and fifty names are listed with vital statistics of most such as birth and death dates, the names of parents and spouses and where they were buried. This information was gleaned from the church records, census records, cemetery records, birth records, marriage records and family records. The earliest birth date given was 1827 (ironically for one of my ancestors, William C. Stiller).

It is from these wonderful church records that I was able to identify Golden Severance. Listed on page 66 as member #309, Golden joined the church in 1929. The record shows that she was born in 1908 to Robert L. Wortham and his wife Hattie Mabry. Robert was the brother of M. Alma Wortham Watts, indeed making Golden and Julia’s father Howard cousins on his mother’s side.

But the kicker is a shining example of tangled roots. I also discovered from these church records that Golden was really related to me after all (another new-found cousin) although through my grandmother not my grandfather. Her mother, Hattie Mabry, was the daughter of Daniel Mabry and his wife Cornelia Stiller. Cornelia was the daughter of William C. Stiller who was member #4 of the Sinking Fork Christian Church and my fourth great-grandfather. That makes Golden a second cousin, three generations removed.

Cousins Howard Watts & Golden Wortham

Intersecting Hobbies

2011-10-01T07:36:00.000-04:00

When I began tracing my mother’s ancestry, I was fortunate to still have my grandmother who helped me in the beginning. She was able to share some information about her Katsma family but couldn’t remember where in the Netherlands they had come from. I remember checking the International Genealogical Index for any possible clues and going back to my grandmother and saying that there appear to be a lot of Katsmas in the Friesland area of the Netherlands. “Friesland!” she said, “That’s where my father was born.” From there I happily went about trying to find out more. Researching was a slower process back then before the days of websites such as Genlias and AlleFriezen.

One day several years later, I stopped in to see my grandmother. While there, I noticed a book on her coffee table. “What’s this?” I asked. “Oh,” she said. “I’ve been meaning to tell you about that. My nephew Gerry put together some family history. I knew you’d be interested in it.” Was I ever! The work he had done traced the family back to the late 1600s. Sweet! “Oh, and Gerry’s into dollhouses like you are, too,” my grandmother said just before I left with the book in my hand.

I sent a letter to this new cousin whom I had never met. I thanked him for his work and sharing it with my grandmother. At the end I added a “P.S. – I heard you like dollhouses, too, just like me.” We exchanged information by mail and phone for a bit. Then one day he told me he was coming to visit my grandmother and wanted to stop by to meet me in person. We arranged to do so. He told me that he made a dollhouse for me and my girls and was bringing it down! How awesome was that?

In addition, he also painted a miniature oil painting for the dollhouse and also made some wooden items including a three-legged stool. The best part about the stool was the history behind it. The stool was made from the wood of a cherry tree that grew in my great-grandfather’s yard!

miniature seascape and stool by G. Katsma

Internal Clues

2011-09-26T07:33:00.000-04:00

I’ve done presentations to various organizations over the years on the topic of identifying old photographs. I’ve been fortunate to have a nice collection of family photographs in various mediums used throughout the history of photography, so I’ve been able to share some good examples of most types of photos from different time periods. The one exception is the daguerreotype for which I have no personal examples of. I wonder if they were as popular down south as in the northern section of the country or was there another reason my ancestors didn’t seem to have ever sat for a daguerreotype? David Rudd Cycleback has a great website on how to date and identify old photographs at http://www.cycleback.com/photoguide/. I’ve used that website several times for help in dating an old photograph and was directed back there again recently when I googled “kodak velox” for help in determining a date of an old snapshot I have of my grandfather’s cousin.

During my presentations, I often stress not only using “external” clues to help identify an old photograph such as the type of material it was made from, but also using “internal” clues as well. My favorite story to illustrate this is from my mother’s side of the family.

My grandmother passed away in Florida in 2007. My sister and I flew down for the funeral, but I was not able to stay for long. My aunt who lived there was taking care of the estate and my sister was able to fly back down just a few weeks afterwards for a planned vacation. I told her that I wanted any photos that our aunt would share. “I don’t care if it’s a photograph of a tree, I want it,” I told her. For all I knew, that tree might hold a clue to our family history, and I didn’t want to miss anything.

Well, my sister went through some of the photos with my aunt and brought back a box of them, many of them that auntie didn’t care to keep especially ones she didn’t recognize. Going through them, I didn’t find any tree photographs but there were many interesting ones nonetheless. There was an 8x10 one of an unidentified infant. Baby pictures are notoriously hard to identify. My sister told me she had asked our aunt but she couldn’t identify it. I rummaged around some more and found a nice snapshot of my grandmother with her two sisters and a sister-in-law. Four baby pictures could be seen mounted on the wall above them. I recognized the first baby picture on the far right as that of my mother. The copy I had was probably that very one. I wasn’t sure about the other three, but the third from the right was the same baby picture we were just trying to identify. Since my mother was the oldest child, I deduced that the next one was probably her brother John who was the second-born. The other two would have been auntie and another uncle. From this I was able to deduce that the baby picture that auntie couldn’t identify was her!

Grandma (far right), sisters & sister-in-law