Wednesday, January 29, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Feb 1960, Down in Stanley Park

Oh, I'm so grown-up - with my nice coat and purse, walking through the pathways and trails in 1,000 acre Stanley Park, a peninsula park of Vancouver BC Canada, all by myself, aged almost 17 years old. 1960 - the beginning of a very challenging uplifting decade in Canada, (and in the States).

The stone carving on the left, facing me, is of Pauline Johnson - click on the link to learn more about this fascinating poet.

I had a passing person take the photo of me, so I'd have a momento.



Tuesday, January 28, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS: #5 - Deborah GRISWOLD

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 5th installment.

Deborah GRISWOLD, b.28 Jun 1646 in Windsor CT, d. 7 Feb 1717 in Killingworth, CT.  Deborah was the 4th daughter of Edward Francis & Margaret Griswold, who immigrated to Windsor area by 1639, coming with Reverend Mr. Ephraim Huit [Hewett].  The Griswold couple had been living in Kenilworth, England, and married just before sailing to Connecticut.  The Connecticut town was first named Kenilworth after his home in England, later renamed Killingworth

More on these first Puritan settlers may be found in the book [A Catalogue of the Names of the First Puritan Settlers of the Colony of Connecticut,] published by Royal Ralph Hinman, in 1846. 

Edward Francis GRISWOLD was a prominent man of this new colony, and he and his brother Matthew [who came earlier, in 1630] can be found in many histories of the region. 

Deborah is my 8th great-grandmother on my maternal side.  On 18 Nov 1662, she married Samuel William BUELL in Windsor.  Samuel was the eldest son of William Buell & Mary Post who were early settlers in Dorchester near Boston in 1630, then moved to Windsor by 1635, where Samuel and his siblings were born.  Samuel was a large landowner, and was well-respected, known as a "gentleman" according to Windsor town records.

Deborah and her husband had 12 children of whom 2 apparently died young.  By the time she died, she was a grandmother and even a great-grandmother!  

As is usual with women ancestors in these times, she doesn't rate more than a few lines in any histories of the region, except in relation to her husband. However, it seems she was healthy and lived to a very reasonable age, and likely a relatively comfortable one.

Happily, there is a Griswold Family Association online, which can provide more details to other researchers in this interesting line. 

And then there's the Griswold family made oh-so-famous in the 1980s - which my adult children pointed out to me!  (I somehow missed these shows - working and going to university once again for yet-another degree).  Definitely not relatives... but they'd fit into ours I'm sure!

If you are related to these ancestors of mine, and/or have any information to share, please comment below, or contact me via calewis at telus dot net.  

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Aunt Dot, painting in public

My mother's 2nd older sister, Dorothea Kuhn - known as "Dot" or "Dottie" - was an artist, and loved to paint.  Very little of her work has survived unfortunately. Aunt Dot was born 6 Oct 1914 in North Vancouver, BC Canada, married in 1942, and died 26 Apr 2004 in New York, NY.  She was married to a French soldier, Gustav Mathieu, in San Francisco area during the early part of WW2, and divorced shortly after the war ended.

In the above photo she is on the ground, painting with her husband, Gustav Mathieu, at the side.  She was quite comfortable painting in public, apparently. A small photo album of her war years in San Francisco shows many different settings where she is painting on the ground, with people watching...

Late in life, living in Greenwich New York, she became quite demented and was hospitalized rather suddenly. Unfortunately many of her treasures were lost to us all, including the large wonderful photo album of the family in years past. What a treasure that could have been.  Sadly, gone now.  Two of her long-time best friends talked with me about her life in San Francisco, her art, and her love of textiles and clothes with a flair. They all worked in design for textiles, in New York, where she settled in Greenwich.

Contact me at calewis at telus dot net if you have questions or more information.  And, I love comments below!  Thanks for visiting.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS: #4, George PARDEE

Following the challenge of writing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, issued by Amy Johnson Crow, here is my 4th installment.

George PARDEE, my 9th great-grandfather on my maternal lines, is an early settler in New Haven, Connecticut.  He was baptised 19 Feb 1622/3 in Pitminster, Somerset, England, so likely he was born perhaps a month before this date. His parents were Anthony PARDEE & Anstice COXE; George is the only emigrant from this family. He was the 6th of their 7 children, the second boy in this family.

Taken from The Pardee Genealogy by Donald Lines Jacobus, (New Haven, New Haven co., CT, USA: New Haven Historical Society, 1927),  p.20, here is a copy made of the baptism certificate:
The date on the sheepskin parchment of the church register of St. Andrew and St. Mary, Pitminster, shows it was difficult to read the specific day - either the 13th or 19th of Feb 1623, son of Anthonie Pardee.   This particular church register apparently dates back to 1545.   Note this book is available on Ancestry, and can be read chapter by chapter.  A wonderful genealogy history - I got lost in it some months ago!

George was educated and expected to follow his father as a curate, and studied Latin.  However, he immigrated to the New Haven area about 1644, and began a 5 year apprenticeship to a tailor, Francis Brown/Broone.  Other families from Pitminster area were the Trowbridge and Treat families, both of whom figure prominently in my ancestor lines.  By 1650, as an educated man, George was the Schoolmaster at Hopkins School in New Haven.  In 20 Oct 1650, he married (1) Martha MILES, and they had 5 children - 4 living past infancy.   Our ancestor line goes through their 4th child Mary.
  Children by 1st wife:
     John, b. 20 Aug 1651, d abt 28 Jun 1653
     John, b. 2 Dec 1653, d. 1683
     George, b. 15 Jan 1655, d. 22 Nov 1723
     *Mary, b. 18 Feb 1657/8, d bef 1686, m. Joshua HOTCHKISS (3 children)
     Elisabeth, b. 10 Jun 1660
  Children by 2nd wife:
     Joseph, b. 27 Apr 1664, d. aft 1742
     Rebecca, b. 18 Apr 1666, d. 14 Jun 1731
     Sarah, b. 2 Feb 1667/8, d. abt 1756
     Hannah, b. 7 Jul 1672

Martha died in 1662, and he married (2) Katherine (or Rebekah - or they may have been the same person) Lane in 29 Dec 1662 in New Haven.  George & Katherine/Rebekah had 4 more children as listed above.

About the time of this 2nd marriage, George became a Rector of the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven.

Interestingly, about the same time as George was a Rector, he also was issued a licence for an "ordinary" - i.e., an innkeeper.

A memorial tablet put up by a descendant of his states:
In memory of George Pardee / 1630-1700 / Farmer, Ferryman and Teacher / of Latin and Good Manners / Who first owned this land / and of  / William Bradley Pardee /  1821 - 1893 // This tablet is placed under the will of / William S. Pardee / Their Loyal Descendant

We know that George died 14 Apr 1700 in New Haven, and that apparently his 2nd wife had died before this time.  It is not certain if Rebekah and Katherine are the same person.

If you have more information on this first immigrant, George PARDEE, I would be very happy to learn more. You may contact me at calewis at telus dot net, or leave a comment below.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Uncle Hal Terwilliger - our first family genealogist

Harold "Hal" Graves Terwilliger, b. 6 Jul 1888 in Roselle NY, d. 13 Oct 1976 VT, aged 88 yrs.

My greatUncle Hal was the third child, second son, of my great-grandfather James Grover "Grove" Terwilliger.  His middle name Graves came from his mother, Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES.  He married rather later in life, about 1935, to Carola Bischoff [her 2nd marriage], no children. He and my grandmother, known as "Daisy" to her family, and "GranPete" to her grandchildren, were apparently quite close throughout their lives and corresponded frequently.

I have several letters from him to her about various genealogical questions she had, he sketched out lines of descent from several Revolutionary War ancestors, and he included a copy of his application to the Holland Society of New York.

He had also photocopied a number of pages from various histories/published genealogies in order to help her if she wanted to join the DAR or Descendants of Colonial Governors or other lineage societies, as well as The Holland Society [because of their surname, Terwilliger].  He had zeroed in on several surnames re her wish to join the DAR: Morgan, Griswold, and others.  And we were related to an early Governor of Connecticut, Robert Treat.  I was very interested in all this history, and wondered how we tied in to these names.  I'd never heard them before, but he chatted in detail about them, in his letters and scribbles in the margins of photocopies.

His notes and letters to his big sister were the impetus for my research into my mother's family lines.  And when I found the Terwilliger Souvenir Album, I was absolutely thrilled to try and find out more about the Terwilligers.  By the way, some Terwilliger men are nicknamed "Twig", so don't be surprised if you hear that! I've run across several.

Terwilliger is a made-in-America surname of a family of brother and sister who came to New Amsterdam from The Netherlands in 1663 on the ship De Arent, just in time for the Dutch to negotiate a trade of New Amsterdam to the British in 1664.  Thank you, Olive Tree Genealogy, for your wonderful ships' lists!

Within 30 years, this very prolific family [almost all boys!] was using an early variant spelling of Terwilliger, the spelling settling down in another 50 years or so. Every Terwilliger, of whatever spelling, is related to those first immigrants, except for those who may have decided to take the surname by another means (Native American, or African-American slaves).

Uncle Hal is seen above in this 1924 photo with my mother Mary (the blond 2 year old above his head) and her four siblings left to right: Barbara, Mary, Dorothea, Louis, John.  GranPete had taken all 5 of the children to visit her family in New York and New Jersey in 1924, doing much sightseeing with her "little" brother - who is approximately 36 in this photo.

He was relatively tall and thin, but I see he was quite muscular as well!  He loved to sail and took all of the children sailing around parts of New Jersey coastline, while they visited.  His wife Carola was extremely creative, with a well-equipped and well-used pottery studio separate from their home at Lottery Farm in South Woodstock, Windsor, Vermont.  He worked in management in his wife's family pharmaceutical business.

My mother went to visit New York in April 1961, and visited Hal & Carola, as well as her older sister, Dorothea "Dot", and other relatives in the region.  She loved her stay with Hal & Carola at Lottery Farm in Vermont, and talked about how happy she was with spending time with them again.  Although she'd written back and forth to Uncle Hal, she hadn't seen him since before she and Dad got married in 1941.  I have a letter my Dad wrote to her to reassure her that we were all doing well and she shouldn't worry about any of the kids!  Very sweet.  Scanned, of course.

I'm so sorry I never had the opportunity to meet with Uncle Hal - he seems to have loved to research details, and dig into libraries and books.  My kind of relative!

If you have information you would like to share about these Terwilligers, please leave a comment, or contact me via calewis at telus dot net.  I always appreciate learning more details.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS: #3 Grover BUELL - Oh dear, which one is which??

I ran into a a series of "Grover BUELL" ancestors not long after I started searching in my mother's family. We knew very little about my maternal grandmother's parents' families - partly because she loved to dramatize her life and her history. How I wish I'd begun researching in our family tree before she died so many years ago so I could ask more questions. What was true and what was ...somewhat jazzed up - that was a challenge.  I learned to use her bits and pieces as possible clues, if at all.

After a year, I figured out that her father - James Grover TERWILLIGER  (yes, that Terwilliger, of my Terwilliger Souvenir Album blog) was known as "Grove" or sometimes "Grover" in the family.

Hmmm, Grover was a great clue, wasn't it? Sounded and looked like a family surname somewhere.  Surely I could find out the source of the Grover, couldn't I? Surely.  Of course. But it took several generations and searches before I finally found the GROVER surname.

Here's the listing travelling in time from the LAST Grover, up to the source:

James "Grove" Grover TERWILLIGER, b.27 May 1856 in NY, d.17 Mar 1929, NJ
       m. 11 Jun 1910 to Clara "Gussie" Augusta GRAVES
James M. TERWILLIGER, b. 30 Jan 1825 in NY, d. 18 Oct 1909, NY
       m. 1851 to Harriet  BUELL
Grover BUELL/Buel, b. 24 Dec 1794 in NY, d. aft 18 Feb 1874, NY
       m. 17 Dec 1814 to Charlotte BORTLE [brick wall]
Grover BUELL/Buel, b. 22 Jan 1759 in NY, d. abt 1811, NY
       m. 1781 to Mehitable HAMLIN?[surname not proven][brick wall]
Grover BUELL/Buel, b. 4 Apr 1732 in CT, d. 14 Sep 1818, NY
       m. 15 Feb 1758 to Jerusha BUCK
Nathaniel BUELL/Buel, b. 29 Sep 1700 in CT, d. ?
       m. 14 Nov 1720/21 to Deborah HORTON
(Rev.) Joshua HORTON, b. abt 1669 in NY, d. 1744, NJ
       m. abt 1690 to Elizabeth GROVER

Whew!  I thought I'd never find that first GROVER surname!  And as I searched, I ran into several brick walls on the female side, which added to my frustration.  I of course suspected that the Grover surname must be further up one of those missing lines.

Then I'd search and find yet another line, and be frustrated, then find another, and so on.  When I reached Nathaniel BUELL and his wife Deborah HORTON, I was sure I must have missed the connection further down.  Nathaniel? Not a Grover? Oh-oh - must be up one of those dead-end lines.  Sigh.  I gave up for some months, I have to say.

However, I eventually persevered looking back a few more steps - and there she was: Elizabeth GROVER!

Elizabeth GROVER, b. 15 Sep 1673 in NY, was one of 3 girls of Simon GROVER & Elizabeth MOORE.
When (Rev.) Joshua HORTON & Elizabeth GROVER married, they had only 2 sons out of 8 children, and both were named Joshua (one died young).  If they'd had more boys, I'm certain they would have named one of them Grover, don't you think?   Their 3rd daughter, Deborah, & husband Nathaniel BUELL, had 9 children with one son dying young (Eliphalet) - 4 girls, 5 boys.  The very first Grover BUELL is their 6th child.

In my searches I found that several of the Grover Buell's siblings had sons they also named Grover - after all, people named their children after family members quite commonly.  So the only way I could keep track of them all was to research everyone.  My direct line Grover BUELLs had to be known by their birth year as part of their name, just to help me keep them all straight.

Grover BUELL 1759 had a brother, Simon (Capt.) Buell, who named his first son Grover Buell as well.

Grover BUELL 1794 & his wife Charlotte, had 4 girls but only one son named Simon, who had no children. Their eldest daughter, Mary Buell, m. John W. Patterson; they had 4 children, and the first boy was named Grover Buell Patterson - repeating the pattern for another generation.

Mary's youngest sister, my 2ndgreat-grandmother Harriet BUELL m. James M. TERWILLIGER, and used the Grover name as a middle name for the first of two living sons. To differentiate him from his father, the family used his middle name, Grover.

If you have more information about any of the individuals listed above, I'd love to hear from you in a comment below, or in an email to calewis at telus dot net - I always appreciate details!  I have much research still to do on these ancestors, and more documentation to find as well.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS: #2 ZERUBBABEL JEROME

Zerubbabel JEROME - I simply love this name. Four syllables, with the emphasis on the 1st and the 3rd syllables.  What did his mother call him when she wanted him right away?   I have a hard time thinking of a new mother looking at a new little baby boy and saying "Oh, how sweet, I think we'll call him Zerubbabel!"  

My 5th great-grandfather, he was the 3rd child (2nd son) of Timothy (Chauncey) JEROME and Abagail RICH, who were married in Dorchester Massachusetts in about 1709.  Both parents were born in England, possibly frrom Hampshire.

Zerubbabel was born on Wednesday 3 Apr 1715 in Meriden, New Haven, according to the Barbour Collection of births in Connecticut towns. The family had started off settling in Windham, but moved after the first two children were born, to Meriden, where Timothy is shown owning land.  They eventually settled later in Wallingford, CT.

His first marriage was to 1st, Sarah Cook, in about 1735, but she died in 1737 with her first child, Mary Jerome who died also.  The following year, 30 Aug 1738 in Meriden, Zerubbabel married 2nd, Phebe Cook, and they had 11 children: Mary, Robert, Thomas, Jerusha, Zerubbabel (d. young), Chauncey, Asahel, Phebe, Abigail, Zerubbabel, Ruth.  My line goes through Ruth JEROME who married Stephen GRAVES.   Phebe, his 2nd wife, died soon after her last child - those were very tough times for women.

Zerubbabel and four of his sons were known as Tories (pro-Britain) during the Revolutionary War: Robert, Thomas, & Asahel.  In 1777, his other two sons Zerubbabel Jr. and Chauncey were imprisoned in the Hartford jail "as Tories". One wonders how they managed to survive during that turbulent time!  His son-in-law, Moses Dunbar, was the only man hanged for treason in 1777 - the note on Wikipedia states Moses' own father provided the rope!  Sends shivers down my spine...

Zerubbabel died in October 1783 in Farmington, Hartford, Connecticut.  Some records say he died in Bristol, others say Farmington.  His burial place is not known at present, but it is assumed to be in Hartford county.

A small note:  on a Memorial page on FindAGrave, it states:  "Sir Winston Churchill was the 3rd greatgrandnephew to Zerubbabel".  At one point I tracked down the connections, and they are there... but such a collateral line, I haven't bothered to put this into my tree.

If you know of any more details of Zerubbabel & his wives and children, I'd love to hear from you, at calewis at telus dot net.  Leave a comment below.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

52 ANCESTORS in 52 WEEKS: #1 ANTHONY HERRING

As per Amy Johnson Crow's challenge of blogging once/week this year on one of our ancestors, I'm starting with #1.  Here we go - an excellent genealogical challenge!   For this one, I'm at an early immigrant to Virginia on the LEWIS-RICE line, my ex-husband's ancestors.

Anthony HERRING, born about 1637-1640 in what is known now as Isle of Wight county, Virginia.  In my incomplete tree, he appears to be a single child of parents John HERRING & Margerie WHITFIELD.  John & Margerie were both apparently born in England, and immigrated to Virginia before the time that Anthony was born in 1637.   The HERRING surname is apparently an occupational surname, found in Northern Europe: in Germany as well as in England.

Anthony's father, John HERRING, apparently had died by 1672 when his will was proved (10 Jun 1672). John's will names his son, Anthony, and also mentions Margerie, and John Whitfield [her brother].  While providing limited documentation of the relationships between the several people, the will image is not available online, and there appear to be few more details available. See minimal transcription taken from online access on Ancestry; stating it is transcribed from the microfilmed original Will books:

Five years later, in 1677, Anthony married Rebecca WEST, b.1652 in Isle of Wight county, Virginia.  She may have had several miscarriages, but eventually, went on to have 10 boys, although not all are confirmed:
  Samuel, b. 1682
  Thomas, b. abt 1683
  Abraham, b. abt 1684
  *John, b. 1686 [the direct ancestor]
  Joseph, b. 1688
  Jacob, b. 1690
  Stephen, b. 1692
  Edward, b. 1693
  Daniel, b. 1696
  Anthony jr., b. 1698

Anthony was a tobacco planter in Isle of Wight county, although it is not clear how many acres he had.  We know he had at least 200 acres from a land sale record, but that is quite small for this large family!

Although some online trees show Anthony as deceased in 1700, it is not known exactly when he died, but likely after 1714 when he is listed as paying a tax.  He apparently did not make a will, which would have been so helpful!  Several of the sons moved to North Carolina to settle, and other sons joined them eventually, living as a cluster.    Rebecca may have received help from her family, as it is known they also lived in the same area.  Her older boys would already be working and possibly earning enough to help the family as well.

There are likely records tucked away in vertical files or court records which could shed some light on Anthony and his life in Isle of White county, Virginia.  I would be very happy if any reader has additional information to share about Anthony or his parents - or his wife.  Contact me at calewis at telus dot net, and/or comment below.


Wednesday, January 1, 2014

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - ME, 16 months old (1944)

Here I am, finally ready to walk by myself, on my way to my Dad whom I haven't seen for many months, since he was in Halifax on the RADAR.  Curls galore. Stumbling along.  
Happy New Year!


Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis