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.

52 ANCESTORS, 52 THEMES, No.12: "Same" - Grove TERWILLIGER

This year's challenge by Amy Crow is another weekly blog, but based on Themes. Last week, it was "Luck of the Irish,"  and this week, SAME, as in same as me.  This was difficult - no one had my same name, although there were a few "Cecelia" names. No nurses.  No similar experiences... Ah. But there WAS an ancestor who had a very similar passion for family history:  my great-grandfather, James Grover "Grove" TERWILLIGER.  

That's right - THAT Terwilliger, the one who made a huge many-paged Souvenir Album, filling it with obituaries, letters, cards, tickets, and other bits and pieces of his life.  His Album inspired me to continue searching for more information about my ancestors, my 'larger' family. I had started several years before I retired, thinking it would be a way to know how I related to a much broader range of family members. 

On a separate blog I am attempting to inventory the entire Album, page by page, name by name, event by event. Here is my other blog, TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM, where you can follow along.  There are about 120 pages, and I'm only up to page 34!  

A dozen years ago, when I opened my deceased grandmother's box, and dug into one package and box after another, I was surprised and disappointed to find nothing of apparent value.  No gorgeous jewellery or beautiful silk dresses or scarves, no lovely hand-sewn or embroidered keepsakes. I put it away after poking in it casually, thinking I'd look more closely when I had more time.

And, when I did have time to be more thorough, I was thrilled to find so many genealogy and family history clues. Here are only a few of the genealogy/family history items:

1.  Several detailed genealogies my grandmother's brother Hal Terwilliger had drafted out for her in order to qualify for membership in either The Holland Society, and/or for Daughters of the American Revolution, and including photocopied pages from several surname history books. Names: TERWILLIGER, GRAVES, GRISWOLD, MERWIN, MORGAN, TREAT.
2.  My grandmother's typed out "Memoirs", dictated to a friend of hers about 5 years or so before she died here in Vancouver.  I must get these many pages into a blog at some point in the future.
3.  Several notes/letters, again from her brother Hal Terwilliger, about how we related to several famous surnames, or important places.
4.  A timeline list of my grandmother's medical events in her handwriting. 
5.  Photographs of my grandmother and her children, with her own mother, and grandparents.
6.  A bag of very cheap costume jewellery (sigh!), quite out of date, not taken care of, and not particularly valuable.  I wanted to find them attractive or valuable for any reason, but - no.
7.  A huge bulky heavy box, which, when unwrapped and all the tape sliced through, showed a huge book, labeled "TERWILLIGER SOUVENIR ALBUM." Very large, it is 17"x14"x6" - large, and heavy, and in fair-medium shape.

This Album is a different kind of treasure chest. It contains so many useful items about my great-grandfather's social and family life, including several pages with family obituaries and newspaper articles about a number of relatives. It was from these pages of history, as well as pages of wedding cards, that I was able to prove various family relationships and add to my family tree. Many clues are in this Album, and I keep finding another one, and another one, as I inventory each page. I'm impatient to get to the end.

Did I do a similar Album?  No. Although one year my mother [his granddaughter] made separate photo albums for all three of us children, when I was about 28, starting with the phrase "In the Beginning...".  And I did something similar for my own 4 children.  

No, it wasn't making such an Album which is the "Same" relationship.  Rather it is the passion to save family history, to remember family members through various means, to pass on knowledge of one's family - that is the "same." 

I'm sure if he were alive at this point in time, he would be thrilled to be doing genealogy research on his/our relationships. Yes, I doubt his eyes would glaze over - he'd probably want to go with me on trips to find more information, and tramp over cemeteries!  

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...