52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 49, Holidays: Christmas & New Years' Day Ancestors

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes, although it seems not always relevant for me to use!  This week the theme is "Holidays" -  and I thought I'd write about ancestors and collateral relatives who have birthdays on Christmas Day & New Year's Day.  Note that only direct ancestors have their surnames in CAPITALS.

Catherine C. Eckenrode, b. 25 Dec 1870, dau of Elias Alexander Eckenrode & Elizabeth Ann McSherry, d. 23 Jan 1899; 5th cousin 1x removed

Elijah Graves, b. 25 Dec 1749, son of Jonathan Graves & Mary Tisdale, d. 17 May 1836, m. 1772 to Patience Case. 2nd cousin, 6x removed

Emma Gertrude Graves, b. 25 Dec 1853, dau of Stephen Rensselaer Graves & Susan A. Barr, d. 1927, m. Clare A. Benedict 8 Dec 1874;  1st cousin 3x removed.

Lois Graves, 25 Dec 1770, dau of Stephen Graves & Patience Hatch, d. Jan 1842; 3rd cousin 5x removed

Sarah Jane Kuhn, b. 25 Dec 1831, dau of Joseph Jacobus KUHN & Jane Rebecca McCABE, d. 290 Apr 1834;  Greatgrand Aunt

Joseph Isadore Slosser, b. 25 Dec 1864; d. 24 Feb 1865;  4th cousin 2x removed

Mary L. Trainor, b. 25 Dec 1859, dau of William & Mary Trainor; d. 26 Jan 1931; m. Lucius Frank Ormsbee;  wife of 1st cousin 3x removed

Amos Griswold, b. 1 Jan 1780, son of Thomas Griswold & Hannah Cruttenden, d. 21 Aug 1876; m. Rachel Bushnell 24 Jan 1804;  Husband of 3rd cousin 5x removed

Mary Kuhn, b. 1 Jan 1823, dau of Christian Kuhn & Catherine Magdalena Kohl; 3rd cousin 3x removed

Hannah Treat, 1 Jan 1660/61, dau of [Gov] Robert TREAT & Jane TAPP, d. 3 Mar 1706/7; 6th Greatgrand Aunt

Elizabeth WHEELER, b. 1 Jan 1599/1600, dau of Henry WHEELER & Elizabeth SEELING, m. abt 1620 to John GRUMMAN; 9th great-grandmother

For some reason I'd expected to find more than I did!  This was a fun exercise, and brought up a few research questions once more, added to my to-do lists.

If you know anything more about any of the above individuals, I would be so pleased for more details. And if you wish more information on them, I'm happy to share. Contact me at my address at the bottom of the page, or in the Comments section.

Sometimes my Blogger account seems not to allow me to "reply" to your comments. Do know that I value your comments immensely. You make my day! Thanks for stopping by to read my personal genealogy posts.

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No. 24, Heirloom: TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog based on Themes. Last week's theme was Wedding, but I didn't follow the theme.  This week, the theme is Heirloom.

We have very few 'heirlooms' in our family, when I compare with other friends... No pieces of furniture, interesting sets of dishes, clocks from far away lands, jewellery, books signed by my ancestors, letters. No, there's none of that. But...

The biggest 'heirloom' I have and hold, is the incredible TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM, from my great-grandfather, James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER.  He is my mother's mother's father, and this line goes back to when our original settlers arrived in New Amsterdam in 1663, on the ship "Arent" [the Eagle].  Note the vertical wall boundary on the right - this, I believe, is the site of Wall Street! 

To the right is a photo of the old, worn, Album. I am very grateful to have received excellent guidance in keeping the album 'comfortable' in order to reduce the deterioration. One day, perhaps, I might be able to pay for an Archivist to assist in protecting it further. Items in the Album are dated from 1840-the very early 1900s.

Here is a link to my other blog, where I am very slowly inventorying every page of this Album. It's a slog. Sometimes I'm very excited or amused about the pages, other times, I have no idea why I'm doing this. There are pages towards the back which contain wonderful details leading me to more of my ancestors: the ORMSBEE relatives, more of the GRAVES and TREAT relatives. I want to dip and pick which pages to do, but the truth is, each page needs to follow logically and methodically, so that it is - in fact - inventoried. At the rate I'm going, it will take 5 more years! Ah well. One page at a time.  

Some pages include photos - here's one example, which I won't be getting to for many months. I have no idea who those people at the bottom of the page might be... not a clue. Dates? Names? Relationships? Reasons for the photos?  Are they related to the various ephemera on the same page, or randomly glued down? No idea. 


One page more or less in the middle of the Album which is particularly fascinating, is what I call his "Button Page".

Filled with various political buttons, this page has many names for political election compaigns, as well as other ephemera pinned to the page.  But there are many pages to go before I even begin to inventory this page.  And I'll likely need an American to help me with who's who when!

And, finally, here is the final 'page' - the inside back cover of the Album. Filled with newspaper articles, obituaries, and other details of people.  I had no idea who most of these individuals were until I began my genealogy searches.  I can hardly wait until I can inventory each one of those newspaper articles!  Not all are labelled with dates of the publication, nor with the publication title itself.  More research will be needed of course... Never-ending.  

If any of these people are your ancestors as well, please contact me via calewis at telus dot net, or in the Comments below. I would love to learn more about my various ancestors. 

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 truly make my day.

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...

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!