A small Selection of Family Christmas Photos

Some first Christmas babies, also families & cousins in this mess of photos. My computer died back in 2006, and I lost many well-loved photos.  Now of course, I back up constantly in 3 ways!! 

    

    

 

Cheers for the Holidays!! 

52 Ancestors: Favourite Photos [2]: BEGINNINGS 1968, 4-generations

Summer 1968, my first baby Lewis, 5 days old, stopping off from hospital on the way home to see my mother [on the left], and her mother aka GrandPete, holding daughter Pia.   

Summer 1924, another 4 generation photo: the little girl [2 yrs old] in her

mother's arms [aka GrandPete] is my mother! GrandPete's mother is on the left,
 and her mother is turned talking with her. Love this photo!

Love these photos showing women at different ages, clothing styles, and more.  

If you are a relative of these people, feel free to contact me through the email at the very bottom of the posts here, and I'm happy to send a copy to you.  

"IN THE CENSUS," for #52ancestors challenge: 3 Generations of GILLESPIEs

Here we are on Week 5 of the year-long challenge of writing weekly 52ancestors/52weeks by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow.  This week the prompt is "In the Census."

Here is an 1881 England Census return which gave me 3 generations of my father's family: names, ages, birthplaces, residence address. The "do" on the right column is ditto for place of birth being Ireland for every member of this 3-generation family. This area of Walney [Walney Island] in Barrow in Furness, in north-east England, had many who were born in Ireland, now working in the shipbuilding industry or supportive industries.

However, I thought this was NOT my ancestor family when I first found it. In fact I scanned past it as the names didn't seem to match the tiny bit I thought I knew about my father's GILLESPIE family from England. This particular census of the neighbourhood ward of Walney [Island] in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, showed the Gillespie family all born in Ireland. Well, that couldn't possibly be true - I "knew" that the Gillespies all came from England. I kept looking in England and found a few other possibilities but still, they were not particularly likely, I believed.

I took my list of  5 possibles and looked for them in the following Census, 1891. I eliminated 3 of the possibles because of the children's names - wrong group of names, wrong ages. That left me with only two possibilities.

Ohhh, and then the 1901 Census [above] in Barrow showed a Wm John married to Harriet with daughter Elsie. I knew my Aunt Elsie was the eldest of the Gillespie children. My family - very likely.

And the 1911 Census cinched it. There were all the correct names for my aunts/uncles, in the correct order. This 1911 Census in Barrow in Furness showed their birthplaces also - huge clues for me to use to research further for my Grandma's family in England. I was able to find my Grandpa's father and mother in the 1911 Census, with their birthplaces in Ireland as well.

The confusion about my grandfather's name, William John. I'd always known his name as Jack, and I assumed that was a nickname for his correct first name being John. My mistake. He was going by his second name, which became a nickname, Jack. Don't know why I didn't twig to this shift in names when I first saw the 1881 Census. It was early in my genealogy searches, and clearly I was not as attuned to variants in names at that time.

In addition - this 1911 Census was written in my Grandpa's handwriting - isn't it beautiful? I've since found his signature on my Dad's birth registration as well, confirming this is indeed his handwriting.

Treasure - one finds treasure in the Census. There are so many possible clues to use for further research. The church district listed on the Censuses, place of birth for all in the household, ages, how long married, number of living children, occupations, residence at time of Census, signatures, and more.

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If any of these are ancestors of yours, I would be happy to hear from you with your comments or corrected information. I am also very happy to share any details I might have that are not shown on this post. Contact information is found at the very bottom of this blog.

Blogger has a glitch which is stopping me from replying to your comments, but please do know that I appreciate your comments very much. You make my day! Thanks so much for stopping by to read my family blog.

FATHER'S DAY, Jun 19, 2016 - 3 Generations of GILLESPIE fathers

My father, his father, and his father... a line of GILLESPIE men in our family. Photos are rather the worse for wear, coffee stains on dad's jaw for instance, scratches etc. on other photos.

1941: John GILLESPIE,
          Dad in his Army uniform, taken in Vancouver, BC, Canada
          1907 Cambusnethan Scotland - 1975 Burnaby BC Canada

1899: William John "Jack" GILLESPIE,
          Grandpa in engagement photo, in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England
          1876 Augher Tyrone Ireland - 1964 North Vancouver ,BC Canada

1895ish: George GILLESPIE,
          Great-grandfather, from family photo, in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England
          1851 Newton Tyrone Ireland - 1941 Barrow in Furness

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to fathers everywhere...

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 15: "How Do You Spell That?" SPELLING VARIANTS

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was Favourite Photo, and this week the theme is about spelling: How Do You Spell That?  

Until I married, I constantly had to spell my full name - every time.  Every year at school, every time I gave my name to any individual, teacher, secretary, friend.  I had to spell "Celia Gillespie."  Celia became CeCelia, Cecilia, Cecile, Cisily or variants, I even got 'Silly' from one confused teacher. GILLESPIE became Gilesbey, Glaspy, Glaspie, Glasby, Gilaspy, Gilezpe, and oh-so-many variants. At one point I had 22 of them, mostly from digging through parish registers. 

As a result, when I started to research my family, it felt perfectly natural to EXPECT variants in spelling, particularly with individuals pre-1840 or thereabouts. 

I used to write out as many variants as I could think of for a surname based on the sound, or on the linguistic changes ("lenition") of a change in consonant (b to v, e.g.), or based on sloppy handwriting.  With messy writing, it can have so many additional misspellings. Is that a T or an F or an I -?  an L, an S, a G -?  After the initial letter, is that an e, i, o, or even a u or v -?  m, n, u or w -?  Really, it's definitely an art to learn how to read early handwriting!  

Here are my favourite badly-spelled surnames [direct ancestors], once we get past my own original surname, GILLESPIE:

PETTYGROVE.  - Looks relatively easy to my eyes, but early forms were usually some variant of PETTIGREW.  It can be spelled with variants: two t's or one, 'grow' or 'grew' or 'grove', with an 'i' or a 'y' after pett.  Etc.  Definitely, "etc." 

TERWILLIGER.  - There are so many spellings for this 'made-in-America' surname, made up by a family in New Netherlands [which became New York when the British took over the Dutch colony]. The Dutch used the patronymic pattern of naming, but the British imposed a more formal surname requirement. Early variants of this family were 'Der Villig"  "Ter Vilig"  "van Der Villiger" (hard 'g' by the way). On the RootsWeb Terwilliger Surname Research Center website, there are 17 variants listed for this surname.  A surname which has only been extant for about 300 years.  

MEIGS - or is it MEGGS or MEGS or MEEGS?  - Actually, the first known Meggs in North America was a Vincent Meggs, who was also known as "LOVE", just to confuse the issue. One of his sons in Connecticut, John, started using the spelling MEIGS for some unknown reason.  And here we are now... 

PIERSOL - or is it Pearsall... or, variants.  Again, I've seen it spelled many ways. There's always a P, an R, an S and an L.  That is, all the consonants are included - but with variants of vowels, probably depending on the accent of the speaker or the ears of the listener.

Some interesting FIRST  names:  
TALIAFERRO Craig b. 1704 Virginia to Jane Craig and a man with surname Taliaferro or however it was spelled - which became TOLIVER in the next generation. 

ZERUBBABEL Jerome b. 1715 in Windham CT.  This one took me a little while to figure out how to say it, let alone spell it!  Truly, how could a parent look at a sweet little boy and say, "Let's call him Zerubbabel."  Boggles my mind.  This is my absolutely hands-down favourite first name. But I don't think any of my grandchildren will name any of their own children with this name, do you?

Although I am quite a good speller, I have never had a negative opinion about 'bad' spelling. The purpose of writing any words down is to ensure the purpose of the written communication will continue to be understood by any person looking at it.  Makes me want to go back to pictograms!  Thinking there is only one way to spell is a rather recent issue, and you may well find legal documents in the 1700s and even into the 1800s using a variety of spellings for an individual in only one document.  Perfectly normal, perfectly legal. Here's a link to a quick guide to the history of the English language. Scroll down to look at the various charts further down the page. That should keep anyone busy for a while!  

If any of these surnames are in your family, do let me know, and I'm happy to share what I can with you. And if there are comments or questions, please connect with me via calewis dot net or in the Comments below, and I will do my best to get back to you.  

Blogger is still not letting me "reply" to your comments, for some unknown reason.  If I don't reply to your Comment, please know that I'm totally thrilled you came to read my post and commented!  You make my day.

Surname Saturday - SURNAMES in my Trees

Here are the main surnames in my family lines: Gillespie-Bunn-Kuhn-Terwilliger [grandparents], plus the surnames in my ex-husband's lines: Lewis-Aiken-Rice-Vineyard [grandparents].  All ended up in Vancouver BC Canada in early 1900s.  

• ARMSTRONG   (Co.Tyrone, N.Ireland)
• BORTLE   (NY state)
• BUCK    (CT)
• BUELL/BUEL   (CT, NY)
• BUNN   (Worcester Eng)
• GILLESPIE   (Co.Tyrone, N.Ireland, Lancashire Eng)
• GRAVES     (MA, NY)
• GRISWOLD    (CT)
• HORTON     (NY)
• HUDSON     (PA)
• HUTCHINS    (ME)
• JACKSON    (CT)
• JENNINGS    (NY, CT)
• JEROME     (CT)
• KUHN   (Germany, PA)
• McCABE     (Co.Monaghen Ireland, PA)
• McCURDY    (Co.Antrim Ireland, NB Canada)
• MERWIN     (CT)
• MORRISON    (N.Ireland, Lancashire Eng)
• ORMSBEE    (NY)
• PARDEE   (CT)
• PETTYGROVE    (ME, OR, WA)
• RICH     (CT)
• RULAND/ROLAND  (NY, ME, OR, WA)
• TERWILLIGER   (NY)
• TOWERS     (NY)
• TREAT (Trott)     (CT)
• WHITEHOUSE   (Worcester Eng)

And, more SURNAMES ... on the LEWIS-RICE side (my ex-husband's side):

• BAILEY    (MA, NY)
• BARNES   (MA, IL)
• CRAIG     (VA, KY, IL)
• EVELETH    (MA, ME)
• GHOLSON   (VA, IL)
• HAYNES    (MA)
• HEALY    (MA, IL)
• HUNT     (MA)
• JOYNER    (NC, TN, IL) 
• KEYES    (MA)
• LEWIS  (Canada, ?UEL?)
• OLIN    (NY, IL)
• POOLE   (KY) 
• RICE    (MA, TN, IL)
• VASSALL    (MA)
• VINEYARD/VINYARD     (VA, TN, IL)
• WALTERS     (VA, TN, IL)
• WHEELOCK    (MA)
• WHITE  (MA)  *Mayflower ancestor, Resolved White & parents
• WHITEHEAD   (VA, NC)

Of course, there are so many more surnames - but these are some of the main ones in both sides of my children's tree.  Contact me if you wish more information about any of these names via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below.  

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY - Whew!

I never thought I'd get here - one entire year of blogging!  Yeah!!

This is the 37th post I've completed since the first one on May 25, 2012.  Many fewer than I'd originally thought I would do, but I'm happy to have posted that many - a new goal for the coming year of blogging will be to do MORE!  I'm still getting my blogging feet under me, as I ponder the purpose of my blogging - aside from "cousin-fishing".

Thank you to those of you who have been so encouraging to me about blogging:  Bill West, Susan Clark, Moises Garcia, Jill Ball, Albert Riezebos, Tessa Keogh, Leslie Lawson, Carol Stevens, Kathy Reed ... and so many more.  The comments I've received have been very encouraging, or amusing, or helpful, or thoughtful.  Even a "+" makes my day!  Maybe after a few more years I won't be wondering if anyone is reading these blogs.

Cheers to y'all, and I'll be continuing of course.

This year I'll continue working around my dead-ends in my ancestor lines, learning to search through more different databases, and digging through indexes or records page by page, line by line, as necessary. I have lots of time, after all - I just turned 70 a few weeks ago, and I'm determined to hit 100 as several women ancestors did!  One died at 102 (great health until the very end), one at 98 (ditto), one at 96 (a few years of challenges)... but still, I certainly have good genes!

On the right, in 1924 in New York city, a 4-generation photograph of my Mom (2 yrs old) in her mother's (GrandPete) arms (44), GrandPete's mother Gussie (67) on the far right, and her mother Hattie (97) looking at her, talking.  Love this photo of my Grand's with Mom.
On the left, here's  the more recent 4-generation photo:  me (25) on the right in July 1968, on the way home from the nearby hospital with 1st child 5 days old, GrandPete (93) in the middle, my Mom (45) on the left; sitting on the porch of the house where we lived since January 1954.  Note the "G" on our screen door for "Gillespie"!

Hopefully one of my 4 children or grandchildren will be interested in all the genealogy details I've been able to find.  I need to find other 4-generation photos if possible - they're so touching...

Accentuate the Positive - 2012 Geneameme

Jill Ball - one of my favourite bloggers from Down Under with one of her blogs at Geniaus - has created another great geneameme, Accentuate the Positive 2012 Geneameme, and I'm pleased to start the New Year 2013 on such a positive note!  

Although I don't seem to have as many positives and accomplishments as others, here we go:

1. an elusive ancestor:  I did!  I found an elusive ancestor on my mother's side. My 4th greatgrandparents, Arnold ORMSBEE & wife Hannah (last name unknown), who also show up in the 1810 and 1820 Censuses in Manlius, New York. My ancestor, the elder son, Jacob, lived to be 86 when he died 29 Mar 1893 in Syracuse. His obituary and other articles said nothing about his parents - unfortunately for me. But I have new information, these new names, and more determination and suggestions to help me find more. This new name led me to their younger son, Stephen Decatur Ormsbee, who lived in the same area with his own family, and died a few months after his big brother Jacob did, in 30 Jul 1893.  His new information came from a wonderful volunteer FindMyGrave photographer at Oakwood Cemetery, who perused, transcribed and copied the burial record books for me. Love such generous volunteers!
2.  a precious family photo I found:   I went through a small banged-up old photo album shipped to me by the nursing home where my mother's older sister died in 2004, aged 89. Several photographs were very precious: rare photos of my grandfather who died in 1945, and of my grandmother when she was younger, plus photos of my Aunt Dot taken during the 1940s with her husband. She was an artist, designed for textile companies, lived in Greenwich NY, and was quite an independent woman (divorced after the war). Her photographs surprised my children into thinking they were of my mom - the two looked very alike.  
3. an important vital record:  Hmm.  I finally unearthed my own long form birth registration from deep in boxes!  It confirms my father's birth place and helped me find his own birth registration in Cambusnethan, Lanark, Scotland.  I'd always thought we were Scottish... but really, the family were only living there for a few years while Grandpa Gillespie worked near Newmains. I now know my Gillespie ancestors had been living in Northern Ireland for at least 5 generations, in Counties Tyrone & Antrim, possibly in the corner of Fermanagh which borders Tyrone (Clogher Parish).   
4. a geneasurprise I received:  This Christmas, my eldest daughter, Pia, decorated a large mug with a version of my immediate family tree descendants! All four kids and their partners, and the six grandchildren's full names. Labelled on the outside bottom as "Winky's mug" (my grandmother name is Winky), and with a big red heart with "XO Mom" on the bottom of the inside. Makes all this genealogy work worthwhile when I see this! Amazing, and definitely heart-warming. 
5.  My 2012 blog post that I was particularly proud of:  My first one, actually. After reading and commenting on many wonderful blogs, and posting a few things on G+ genealogy in 2012, I was encouraged by a number of bloggers to start my own. TWIGS and TREES began May 25, 2012! I've only done 25 posts in 2012, but I am hoping to do at least one per week during 2013. Thanks to all of the wonderfully encouraging and postive genealogy people who commented and +d my posts. You make my day positive and bright.  
6. My 2012 blog post that received a large number of hits or comments:  Then, I went and did it again. On August 18, 2012, I started another blog: Terwilliger Souvenir Album  My TERWILLIGER greatgrandfather's Souvenir Album, started in the mid1800s, and continuing into the early part of the 1900s.  I decided to inventory this huge fat souvenir album, filled with so many different cards, newspaper articles, menus, tickets, exhibitions, and other special events in their lives. The blog which received the most hits and comments was the very first one, where several people (Albert Riezebos helped immensely) not only commented but identified various ambiguous items on the inside front cover. So far, 11 posts have catalogued many calling cards, marriage invitations, and assorted hotel symbols and other items. Finally, I'm inventorying this wonderful family momento.
7.  I taught a friend how to ...  I teach classes for beginners in genealogy, and a friend of mine took my class in 2011. This year she was doing some research to help a friend of hers, and I was able to teach her about how to search more effectively, and about new-to-her helpful websites she had been avoiding. It seems as if I'm always talking to friends and acquaintances about genealogy, websites - free and commercial, how to go past the basic vital records to find more interesting arenas to search and, in particular, to help people be more conscious of the purpose of their searching. And, of course I learn so much each time I do anything in a teaching mode!!  
8.  A genealogy conference/seminar/webinar from which I learnt something new was:   
This is an easy one - I learn so much from every single webinar  I've taken: about searching for Irish ancestors, about thinking outside-the-box for potential records and paper trails, about using new-to-me databases, about finding new sources of records in various court records (thank you, Judy Russell), and about planning my research rather than just flying by the seat of my pants.  There are wonderful genealogists and historians offering their skills and knowledge weekly, and daily - and I love them all.  I simply can't pick out one.  Even in a field I feel confident in, I always learn at least one nugget more to work with.  
9.  It was exciting to finally meet:   This one is still empty... I've met so many wonderful genealogists and historians on the internet, generous, encouraging, thoughtful, sensitive, knowledgeable. The only well-known genealogist I've met was several years ago, when Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, who taught about DNA & Genealogy here in BC Canada for our BC Genealogical Society. A wonderful warm-hearted genealogist - we learned a great deal from her very long workshop! I have a long list of people I'd love to meet now (in no particular order): Judy Russell, Michael Hait, CeCe Moore, Jana Last, Leslie Lawson, Jill Ball, Thomas MacEntee, Diane Beaumont, Tessa Keogh, Albert Riezebos, Carol Stevens, Moises Garcia, Marian Pierre-Louis, Lorine Schulz, Bill Smith, Randy Seaver, Kathy Reed, Susan Clark, Christine Woodcock. So many more - but those are the ones which pop to mind as I write this down, so forgive me if I've forgotten you!  I would love to meet any of you, and hope to eventually save my shekels to attend a conference/seminar and finally meet in person.  
10.  Another positive I would like to share is:  I finally cleaned off my desk of all the scraps and bits of details of my family in folders and messy piles, plus I actually went through most of the folders and binders, AND went through the computer files. Everything is labelled, transcribed into my tree, either filed or discarded as needed, and new file folders made to hold various genealogy projects and planned research. One paper at a time. Even my Dropbox and Mozy accounts are updated. There are still some bits and pieces of computer filing to rearrange and relabel, but the huge bulk of the task is done! The next task: clean up my awful citations and sources. Well, they're not awful, they're just not complete, nor in correct format at all, and don't link to the originals. Sigh.  
10 - postscript:Another positive - How could I forget! This spring, I wrote up my father's family: GILLESPIE (his father), BUNN (his mother), & WHITEHOUSE (his mother's mother) in a small booklet with maps, photos, and a few descriptions, for the relatives. They were shared with some of my first cousins and first-once-removed cousins at several funerals recently, and helped me find more details. I recently received an email from one special Bunn cousin who tells me she's been in touch with someone in England who has more research to share on the Bunn and Whitehouse group. Wow. Aren't these cousins wonderful?!  

Cheers for the New Year, and may we all find our wonderful elusive ancestors, tell their stories, and also write our own personal story for our kids and grandkids and others in the world. Thank you Jill Ball for the inspiration.  

CLEAN OFF YOUR DESK! - Done.

Today was a day to clear off every piece of paper on my desk.  I'd show you a photograph but I lent my digital camera to a friend for a few days.  But you can imagine.  You know exactly what I mean ... all those little tiny pieces of paper and big pieces, files, photographs...

That teeny-tiny purple post-it note with a marriage date and place for paternal greatgrandparents on a page with the source details.

That list of books on New England early settlers that I want to dig into; all new-to-me books.  WorldCat tells me they are all in libraries close enough to go and read, research, and lose myself in for at least a day or three.  One in Seattle which I can check out the next time I visit my son's family and play with my 6th grandchild;  5 in Vancouver out at the University of BC - who knew?!

The notes I made from two different webinars as well as from online tips & tricks, about simple search tricks on Google e.g., using  :, ~, and more.  Wasn't I going to write that up as a possible handout for my students, with links for more tips they can find themselves at the library or online?

That partial pedigree of the GRAVES family (I'm in the line from #166 John) I printed off with specific names I particularly want to continue searching for better/more details, such as newspaper accounts.

That file of photos and letters from my second cousin once-removed that I'm supposed to be scanning and returning - in order to keep trust high in that side of the family.  She may have more treasure in her boxes.

Those scribbled notes on various scrap paper - big and small - with names, dates, places, sources, and more, reminding me to change the details on my computer tree software as well as my online tree: ORMSBEE/ORMSBY, HAYNES, JOYNER, WALTERS, HOARE, EVELETH, BUCK, HUNT, ORCUTT, among a few others.

Oh, that idea for Christmas presents - how did that get in here too?!  Hmmm, looks good.

Those jotted notes for a future history of two groups in my mother's father's family - KUHN;  plus all those GROVER BUEL/BUELL men in a row.

The email addresses of those two 2nd cousins-twice-removed in Ireland who just might be able to help me find more information on my dad's dad's dad... GILLESPIE & MORRISON.

The partial list of unique or odd or interesting given names and surnames to use in a blog post one day - ZERUBBABEL JEROME (3 of them), Elizabeth CLEVERLY, TERWILLIGER & variants, HOTCHKISS (where and how did that surname develop?),  FREELOVE MITCHELL, and a few more that catch my eye or make me smile.

And more.

Today, my desk became totally clean - I even scrubbed it after I could find the surface.  And I filed the files, scanned and filed the photographs, made a couple of files (neatly labelled) for the oddities I found that need a file of their own.  

I was on such a roll that I replaced my Black & Colour printer ink cartridges for my multi-function printer (don't you think all printers should be free? - they make enough money in ink!).  Then I finally printed off all those sheets I need for a mini-workshop I'm doing on Saturday at my writers' group.

Three cups of coffee later, a dinner of curried lentils & rice with my own home-grown string beans and tomato slices, and I'm definitely done for the day.  I think this productivity deserves a glass of wine - a bottle of which I happen to have cooling in the frig.

I'm definitely done.  I think this needs to be a weekly task.  It was a bit mind-boggling to find so many items in messy piles literally all over my desk.

- Cheers!