Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Semi-Random Research

Randy Seaver, of Genea-Musings
1)  We're going to do a little bit of Semi-Random Research tonight...
2)  Go to your family tree database of choice (you know, like RootsMagic, Reunion, Ancestry Member Tree), and determine who the very last person on your list of names is.
3)  What do you know about this person based on your research?  It's OK to do more if you need to - in fact, it's encouraged!
4)  How are you related to this person, and why is s/he in your family tree?
5)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blogpost, or in a Facebook Status post or Google+ Stream post.

My very last person in my tree in the person list is Georgianna "Georgia" May ZINN.  

Who on earth is she, I wondered?  Married someone way down in collaterals in my Kuhn line.

My RootsMagic6 relationship calculator determined (in about 1 second) that Georgia is married to my 5th Cousin-once-removed, Louis/Lewis Francis KUHN.  So many Kuhn people in my family tree - they settled in Pennsylvania, arriving in approximately 1732.  I have yet to find a specific place of origin.

Our common ancestor is  John KUHN, b. about 1696 in Bavaria? ?Wurtemberg? Schlaitdorf?  We don't really know exactly where.  That's another blog or three right there, trying to find more of our KUHN line and their wives.

My research on Georgia is limited to on-line trees (2) and several Censuses.  The 1910 Census in Pennsylvania shows her living with her younger sister Arline and her parents George & Anne Zinn.  Her father is stated to be working as a Superintendent, Cemetery!  George, her father, states he was born in Pennsylvania, and that his father was born in Germany, mother in Pennsylvania.  Her mother, Anne, states she was born in Pennsylvania, as were both her mother and father.

You were born, show up with your parents and a younger sister in 1910, get married between censuses to my 5th Cousin-once-removed, Lewis Francis Kuhn, had your first child, a son (named after his father) who was 7 months old at the time of the 1920 Census.  Georgia, I'm afraid I know very little about you, and there's very little available in a quick scan of possible records.

The reason you are in my tree at all, is because there were so many repetitions of names in this extended family that I wasn't always certain I had the correct direct ancestor when I was looking at various records and gravestone inscriptions and burial records.  Louis Joseph, Joseph, Henry Joseph, Louis, John Francis, etc.  I followed some names down 4-6 generations to see who was who.

I suspect that her parents may have come from near the same area where my KUHN ancestors came from.  One day, I may dig a bit deeper in several of these collateral lines to see if there's a cross-over back there in perhaps Wurtemberg.  

One more Saturday Night Genealogy Fun completed

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.  

PETTYGROVE & ROLAND - SOPHIA, the mystery

Ohhh, Francis William PETTYGROVE - you're such a large person in your life in Washington Territories, that you completely swamped your wife, Sophia.  I've yet to find anything written about Sophia at all.  She's a mystery.

Francis William PETTYGROVE, usually referred to as FW, was the 7th son of Thomas (Jr.) PETTYGROVE  [of Kittery Maine], & Mary McCURDY [of Halifax Nova Scotia]. Thomas & Mary had 10 children, 4 boys and 6 girls.

FW was born 12 Oct 1812, Calais, Washington, Maine, and was apparently quite an adventurer and entrepreneur.  In 1842, he married Sophia ROLAND who was born about 1824 in New York state, and the couple left very shortly thereafter with FW's sister and family; Charlotte "Mary" Pettygrove who was one year older.  She had already married to Philip Foster in 1834, and had 4 children by 1842.  FW brought along about $15,000 worth of merchandise from New York, apparently goods well suited to the wilderness where they were heading.  Philip and Mary became well-known settlers in Oregon, receiving settlers from wagon trains across the nation.

The newly married Pettygroves, along with several other businessmen and adventurers, sailed around to the other side of the continent, stopping in the Sandwich Islands (did you know their old name?), where Sophia delivered their first child, a boy Alfred Benson Pettygrove - named after two partners of FW.   Alfred was born the 3rd of January 1843.  They all remained there for 5 months, arriving near Oregon City, Washington Territories 19 May 1843.  There is much already known about FW's merchandising successes and challenges, both independently as well as with partners: such as about his naming Portland on the toss of a coin with his partner A.J. Lovejoy, and about his various political roles in Port Townsend where the family settled eventually.  Books, booklets, websites, and more provide much details about FW PETTYGROVE -- including about his ivory flute which he brought with him, and carried all the time.

Published by the Oregon Historical Society, the photograph here shows FW the white-haired bearded gentleman in the middle, Sophia sitting on the right side, FW's sister Charlotte Mary Foster on the left. Three of their 7 children are shown here, one would have already died in 1872, and the eldest Alfred died in 1878.  All are buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery in Port Townsend.  Likely the bearded gent standing behind the bench is Benjamin Stark Pettygrove, Sophia McIntyre the woman standing on the left, and Frank W Pettygrove (jr.) sprawled gracefully in front, leaning against his mother's legs.  Can you not see he's clearly the youngest in this family!  I had to smile at this photo.

But about Sophia - I can find nothing written.  I think about her, leaving her family at the age of 20 years, and heading off on a little ship all the way around South America, and up to Hawai'i where she has her first child.  Who helped her? Her sister-in-law, Charlotte Mary, who'd had 4 children by that time?  Was there a doctor in the community where they stopped for more supplies, and changed ships?  What challenging times for women in those days!  Arriving in a place where nothing could be taken for granted in terms of washing, food supply, diapers, illness, clothing, tools, and more.

Every census of the Washington Territories shows that Sophia was born about 1823 in New York state.  But I have no information that there were relatives left there.  Or in Maine.  There are a few newspaper records stating FW was travelling here and there up and down the west coast of the nation, but never a mention of Sophia travelling across the nation or having relatives to visit them in Portland, or Port Townsend.

And the final challenge: when she died, her obituary was all about her husband, "... the wife of FW Pettygrove, the famous ...".  Nothing about her as a woman, as a daughter, as a mother, as a sister.  Nothing at all.  Not a word about her parents and who they might have been, her father's occupation, for example.

I'm still looking, and I certainly need to find a way to get down to the Jefferson Historical Society in Port Townsend and see what they have in their files and on their shelves.  It's rather challenging travelling these days, but perhaps there will be a way to get there this coming year.

And if anyone actually knows anything of Sophia - I'd be delighted to have information shared with me.

CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS - Memories

I've always loved Christmas stockings - they were always full of such good things, packed tightly into my dad's woolen knee-high work socks - you know the kind? Grey and white wool, in a rib knit, so they were stretchy enough to hold lots of odd bumpy lumpy goodies!  I don't remember now when we shifted over to commercial Christmas stockings... must have been when I was in my teens.


On Christmas eve night, when we went to bed, the three of us carefully put out our stockings by the tree in the living room, and toddled off to bed.  Of course, we were told NOT to come back downstairs until Christmas morning - AFTER 6 a.m.!!

Almost every year, our stockings had the following items:

• a mandarin orange or two down at the bottom, in the toe of the sock
• a puzzle - hand-held ones where you have to put tiny balls into sockets, or you have to figure out how to un-hook two pieces of twisted metal pieces
• a book - or a comic when we were young
• a piece of candy and/or a candy cane
• a piece of clothing: usually panties or socks;  nylons when we were older (with garter belt, of course); and the Christmas morning I got my first [whisper] bra - memorable!
• maybe a piece of jewelry like a bracelet, or a pair of costume jewelry earrings
• a pen and something to write in
• a special present of some sort

As you can see we had something to eat, something to puzzle over, something to do, something to try on or wear, and something to read.  And with three of us kids in the family, we would share our books/comics and puzzles back and forth as we struggled to wait until it was time to go downstairs for breakfast.  I'm sure my parents only slept a couple of hours at most!  They would have been up late putting our stockings together, and wrapping all the "Santa" presents to put under the tree. 

My sister's birthday was just after New Year's, so we occasionally 'teased' her by giving her only half of her present (if it could be split in two, like a pair of pretty socks, or earrings etc.).  She must have been so frustrated by that, I'm sure!  But at the time, it was simply something we did - not every year, but sometimes... 

We left our Christmas tree up until after her birthday, so we only put it up the weekend before Christmas.  That way, we'd keep it moist so it would last without totally drying out.  

Ohhh, I remember my brother telling me that one year when he was staying at home for Christmas - he rushed downstairs with his stocking in hand, "Hey, Mom, Dad - Look!! I got a ... " oh yeah. Christmas stocking.  Filled by parents.  Surprise.  Yup.  He was about 20, but still a kid at heart!!  

Christmas Stockings - Weren't they fun?  Don't you wish "someone" would make you one for this Christmas?  

A MYSTERY POSTCARD - Grandpop Kuhn, 1913

Looking through my various photos and copies of documents from my cousins as well as my grandmother's box of saved items, I came across this postcard of my maternal grandfather, Charles Edward KUHN, to share today.

Here's the postcard front, of my grandfather, with something cylindrical in his right hand.  It reminds me of a small recorder for some reason, but I simply can't see it clearly.  Perhaps it's a cigar!  Any other ideas, readers?

He's rather well-dressed with vest and tie, long winter coat, with his hat perched on the head of the horse he's apparently riding.

But you can see that it's all a prop, can't you!  Very amusing photo!

And here's the back side of the postcard:  post office marked as November 2nd, 1913.  The stamp is quite clear and is a 1-cent stamp!  It is addressed to my grandmother, Marguerite, at home in Vancouver:
Mrs. Chas. E. Kuhn, 
106 Sylvia Court,
Gilford St.,  [sic: Guilford]
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada

Message:
Memphis, Tenn.  11/1/13.
11 30 P.M.
Will be thinking of you and Dinky Babs and Madre at 7 A.M. --- hard! 
How do you like the "eye-protection"?    (black ink splotch)
                              (signed)  Boy.
= = = =  = = = = = =

I enjoy the humour in his signature "Boy" ... clearly they had pet names for each other.

"Dinky Babs" is their 2nd child, Barbara, who was born in July 1912, so she would be about 15 months old at this time.  Their first child, also a daughter, was "Betty" who died in 1911 after about 9 months.  See the post I wrote about her here.

"Madre" is the formal version of a nickname for my greatgrandmother, Clara Augusta "Gussie" Graves, Marguerite's mother.  As he is mentioning her in this postcard, likely Maudee (which is what we kids called her) is visiting in Vancouver at this time.  Maudee lived with her husband, "Grove" James Grover Terwilliger,  in either New York or New Jersey for most of her life.

You can't help but notice all the nicknames for individuals in this family.  It's a "very" family - creative, intelligent, attractive, dramatic, passionate, controlling, and more!

I have absolutely no idea why Grandpop is down in Tennessee.  I have a vague idea he was doing something  for the military... but he didn't get drafted, so this must be something else.  Although a US-born citizen, born in Pennsylvania, he and Marguerite (known as "Daisy" among other nicknames she had) spent most of their married life in Vancouver, BC, Canada where 5 of their children were born.

If anyone has any ideas about what kind of military work might necessitate Grandpop being in Memphis Tennessee in November 1913, I'd love to hear your ideas!

GRANDPARENTS - Saturday Night Fun

Randy Seaver has set us another Saturday Night Fun task!

The task tonight is to write 100 words - no more and no less - about how important grandparents are.  So, as the only 'genealogist' in the family, here I go with my brief on my grandparents.

Grandparents are important because they hold history in their minds, their boxes, their closets, their drawers, their albums.

They had stories they told us, or embellished somewhat out of alignment with truth (in my family!), to teach about important values.

They knew songs I never learned, places I never saw, had jobs I barely understand.

Both sets of my grandparents were raised in different countries and then picked up and moved across the sea, or across the continent.  Their children met here and began new families, with new histories.

Grandparents helped me see a larger picture of who I am.

===========================  

There it is, Randy - exactly 100 words, according to my Word document word counter! 

On the left is Grandma & Grandpa Gillespie (father's parents), I'm sitting on Grandma's lap; picture taken early in 1946.   Grandma came from Netherton, Worcester, England; Grandpa was born in Augher, Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and when he was about 4 years old the 3-generation family moved to Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England.  Grandma's family moved up to Barrow by 1882.  Grandma & Grandpa and 5 children moved to Vancouver BC by 1914.

The two individual photos above are my mother's parents, Grandpeter and Grandpop Kuhn.  Grandpeter was born in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York; Grandpop was born in Reading, Berks, Pennsylvania and moved to New York, met and married Grandpeter and came to Vancouver BC in early 1912, where they had 5 children.  

And here I am, a Grandmother to my 6 grandchildren... and because I don't like 'grandmother' words, I'm known as "Winky" or "Grandma Winky" to my grandkids - which is a long story of its own.  

CLUES GALORE! Greatgrandmother's 1858 Birth Record

I love receiving snail-mail.  The clunk of the letterbox outside the front door as the mailman drops in something unknown and flops the metal flap back over it.  The feel of envelopes, the stamps, the possibilities.

A dozen years ago or so, I received a large brown envelope from Dudley, County of Worcester, England, with FIVE certificates:  3 labelled "Certified Copy of an Entry of Birth", 2 labelled "Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage." What wonderful mail indeed!  However, I was retiring at the time, going into hospital for surgery, and didn't really look at them beyond confirming the contents of that big brown envelope. Today as I wondered what next to work on in my family tree, I finally scanned each of those five documents.  And in scanning, I looked in detail at the records. They now are all scanned, labelled, and filed appropriately. My desk is almost totally clear of genealogy paperwork right now! Amazing.

Here is a copy of my paternal line Greatgrandmother's birth record, with  interesting information about her parents and her life.  (I made it X-large so that you could read more details.)  

When I teach Introduction to Genealogy classes for beginners, I always tease people by saying "There are at least 19 clues or questions to ask, on every document you find!"... because I've found that beginners only see two or three, and think they're done looking:   "Yes, there's the parents and birthdate. Done." Of course, I know I still have much research to do with these certificates in hand.

This document is very easy to read, with careful calligraphic writing. We have her address (born at home) as  Northfield Road, Netherton, Dudley, in the County of Worcester.  I had to look up more about the relationship of Netherton and Dudley to understand why there are two towns listed as if they were separate ones, in Worcestershire.  More to learn.  The number in the first column "448"  is the number of the registration, not the house number, by the way.

There is her father's name Thomas Whitehouse. I do wish he had a more interesting name, like Linus or Beauregard, or something quite out of the ordinary.  But my ancestor men were good solid folk with plain names: Thomas, George, William, John, James, Henry.

But then there is her mother's name, written as:  Sarah Whitehouse late Shutt, formerly Price.   Here we see that Sarah's maiden name is PRICE.  And she was previously married, to a gentleman, surname of Shutt.  I have a few clues to indicate his name was Thomas Shutt, and they were married only 1-2 years at most.  However, I haven't been able to confirm this yet - I have a list of more records to order: another marriage certificate, his death record, plus more research still to do.

We have the father's occupation:  "Laborer at an Ironwork".  There is a reason this area was once termed the Black Midlands, due to the smoke/soot in the air which landed on the ground, trees, houses, people and - I am sure - on the laundry put outside to dry.  I'm trying to think how anyone kept clean when they worked such difficult dirty jobs as iron works jobs, or coal mining, and such. I thought I would be able to see which ironworks Thomas might have worked at. I assumed I'd find something quite specific about an Ironworks foundry near Netherton, or near Northfield Road. I was able to find the following on Wikipedia [scroll down on the page]:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Iron_Company :  

Netherton[edit]

The 'old ironworks' at Netherton (with two furnaces) were acquired from Attwood in 1825 as part of the Corngreaves transaction. The company remained in possession until c1852 when the works were sold to Noah Hingley & Sons. The company is also known to have worked coal mines here.

Brierley Hill, Dudley Wood and Netherton were all held under lease from the Dudley estate.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Back to those certificates above:  Were you able to read the Registration date?  and the informant?

Sarah made her mark X  The Mark of Sarah Whitehouse  Mother, Northfield road, Netherton/Dudley,  on the Fifteenth December 1858.  This date is about 5 weeks after the birth of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth Whitehouse.  And I'm making an assumption that my greatgrandmother went to the office to register the birth herself, as her husband, Thomas, had to work.

Sarah would need to bundle up the baby plus her 5 year old stepdaughter against the December cold and wet, and walk to the office where the birth needed to be registered.   Then back they would have to go home again. I would like to find out how she might have gotten to the Dudley Registration office. Surely someone would have given her a lift... was there a railroad? a cart? I'm abysmally ignorant about transportation options in the 1850s in England villages! I also wonder if it mattered to her that she was not able to write her name on the birth registration form at the office. I know so little about her.

I went back to look again at the 1856 marriage record for Thomas Whitehouse and Sarah Shutt, finding her father's name as John Price, Miner.  There were extensive coal mines in and around this area, so that is likely what he did.  Thomas' father was noted as Joseph Whitehouse (Dead), occupation, Nailer. Netherton was known as THE place for nailmaking, from the 1600s onwards into the early-mid 1800s.  Also on the marriage record, Thomas is listed as a Widower, occupation "Furnace Man".  I have begun to search for his first wife, whom I believe was also named Sarah, 5 years younger than him.

I first found the records of a Thomas marrying a Sarah, and a Sarah marrying a Thomas for both first and second marriages an interesting symmetry.  Perhaps not so unusual, as those were quite common names in this time. Eventually I believe I found the most likely pair: Thomas WHITEHOUSE marrying Elizabeth [no surname listed].

I have a few photos of my greatgrandmother, Sarah Elizabeth WHITEHOUSE... she married a George BUNN, and they soon moved up to Barrow-in-Furness where iron foundries and ship-building opportunities abounded. There are so many Bunn and Whitehouse families in Netherton that if you had a stone for each one, you could build a home with them! Several of the Bunn and Whitehouse individuals in my tree were born in Windmill End and in Darby Hand (Darby End), both tiny neighbourhoods near to Netherton.

Any and all BUNN& WHITEHOUSE relatives - please get in touch and I'm happy to email you the copy of any of the Bunn and Whitehouse certificates I have received to date.  And if you have additional details I'd be thrilled to receive them!! (contact information, scroll below)

SATURDAY NIGHT FUN - Sarah SMITH France BUNN

Ohhhh, Randy Seaver, - you do love to give us reasons to go digging into our ancestors' lives!!

Here's Randy's "rules"":
1) What year was one of your great-grandmothers born?  Divide this number by 90 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel" - your software will create this - use the "Ahnentafel List" option, or similar). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?
3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

1. My greatgrandmother, Amelia Ann "Millie" PETTYGROVE was born in Oregon Territories in 1844, giving me a number of "20" for my Ahnentafel list of ancestors.  I'd love to write more about her - but another time, perhaps.

2. #20 on my Ahnentafel list - thank you RootsMagic5  for making this so easy - was Sarah SMITH France BUNN.  That is, her maiden surname was SMITH, she 1st married a France, then married 2nd to a BUNN.
Her Vital information:
Born:  25 Nov 1820, Netherton, Worcestershire, England; to parents Thomas SMITH and Elizabeth (unknown).  Thomas SMITH was listed as a coal miner, deceased, on her marriage registration with William
Married:  1st:  Thomas France, 4th Quarter 1837, Dudley, Worcestershire, England; Thomas died about Dec 1851; the couple had 7 children.      2nd marriage:  20 Nov 1854, Dudley, Worcestershire, England, to William BUNN (his 2nd marriage as well - 1st wife died within one year of marriage): 1 child, a boy (my greatgrandfather).
Died:  after 1891, in Barrow in Furness, Lancashire, England (still to determine final death date, burial).

3.  Three facts about Sarah:
*  Sarah was born in Windmill End/Netherton, Worcestershire, England; no other siblings are known to date
*  Sarah's eldest daughter, Elizabeth France (b. 1839) had an illegitimate son, Thomas France, b. 1859, who was raised by Sarah and her 2nd husband William alongside their only Bunn child, George BUNN, b. 1857.  (George's grandchildren mistakenly thought he had been adopted by the France/Franz family, and wrote it up as facts about George Bunn and his unknown ancestors!)
* Sarah apparently moved up to Barrow in Furness around 1891 or so, to live with her son George BUNN and his family; her grandson and his family, Thomas France, also had moved up to Barrow.

I have so much still to find out about Sarah.

When did she move up to Barrow?  With, or without her husband William?  Did she live with her grandson's or her son's family?   Her son George BUNN came to Canada with my grandfather in June 1911, but became sick and returned to Barrow, dying a few years later.      How did she know William BUNN? - he was several years younger than her, had no children, and when he married her, she had 7!  A very challenging family to take on, I must say.

Life must have been very hard for her - and I haven't been able to find any relatives in my searches, who might have supported her.  Thomas, like her father, was a coal miner, and likely died from a coal mining accident of which there were several around the time that Thomas died in 1851.

Thanks Randy - once again, I find myself with more questions - or was that your intention!?

ASK - Just Ask!

The other day I was digging around online in the hopes of finally finding more information and documents on my 3rd greatgrandparents on my mother's line (mother's mother's mother's mother and father).  The ORMSBEE line, sometimes spelled Ormsby.  I could find them back to the early 1800s, but no further.  One more of those brick walls that didn't seem to have any chinks at all.

I had first discovered my greatgrandmother's parents' surname Ormsbee from a wedding invitation pasted in my greatgrandfather's Souvenir Album.  (See my other blog  in which I am slowly going through every page of the Album, inventorying and identifying items pasted there - I'm only up to page 7!).  Oh good, I had  thought at the time several years ago - an interesting unusual name to research.  Surely I'll be able to find these ancestors!  But I could not find much at all past a few Censuses, a few social notes in old newspapers, and an obituary for Jacob ORMSBEE.  On a limited budget and living on the opposite side of the continent,  I am quite dependent on free online or local resources for these New York and other New England region ancestors, as well as one commercial site. Plus WorldCat of course, for any published items available within a few hours' drive from Vancouver BC!

This weekend, I'll be having a short consultation with a local genealogy expert (as part of a genealogy visit), and I had put forward Jacob ORMSBEE as the person I wanted some assistance on finding his ancestors.  I suspect he must have been listening to me choose him for research...  Because this is what I found the very next day - here below is just one of the several photos (used with permission) from the recently updated FindAGrave Memorial page for Jacob.

I casually wandered over to FindAGrave to his grave posting, only to find an updated Memorial page for Jacob and his wife Sabra, sometimes known as "Sally".  In this posting was new information:  his parents' names - Arnold & Hannah Ormsbee, and his wife's father as S. Towers.  The posting also listed two more little girls after the three children I already knew of: one living to age 11, the other to age 3.  Sad, so sad to lose children at any age, but to lose two of one's children, the younger ones, seems so sad to me.  I found new wealth of detail ... "interesting but not impressive",  as my rather sarcastic mother used to say.

Where was the source to back up all this new-to-me information?  Was it credible?  Just because it's posted doesn't mean it's accurate, as anyone who does family history will know!  So I decided to write the photographer and ask where he got all this new information?

I immediately got back a quick reply that he and his friend are methodically updating memorials on this large cemetery with the details found in the Cemetery office Burial Register books.  Whatever was written down at the burial, in the book, details about relationships, dates, names, all usually given by the family. Amazing.  Relatively credible, so to speak (sorry for the bad pun). 

After several emails back and forth, I have given him more details about a missing older sister of my greatgrandmother, and clarified a few more details, as well as asking him more about the very large ORMSBEE-GRAVES obelisk on the plot. Unfortunately there's almost nothing engraved on the obelisk - it's more of an identifying post for the entire plot.

This morning he let me know he's emailing me a copy of the Cemetery burial register page which has details for "everyone buried in the plot"  - 16 people, several generations, with the cause of death for each one (if given) as well. Imagine!

All this wonderful information, just by asking politely.  And thanking very appreciatively, as well!

Ask.  Just ask.  You never know what you'll receive in return.

Gasp! GENEALOGY TREASURE!

I'm completely thrilled.  Down to my marrow.
  

    Recently, I've been helping my best friend research her father's family as she recovers from surgery.  It's been a bit of a slog, although I do always find it exciting to search for other people's family ancestors.  In this case, there are mainly single living descendants in the past few generations, or married but no children or only one child, so very very few cousins or others to search out information.  

   Yesterday she started digging into a grandmother's "old box of stuff" that she had carted around for a decade or three.  What did she find? 

• letters from a great-uncle with historical details: names, dates, places, occupations,  
• a copy of the first page of the Application for membership in the State Association of the Daughters of the Pioneers of Washington, which confirms greatgrandparents' names and maiden names, 
• a meticulously-printed detailed pedigree chart on 4 pages written out very clearly by her father, 
• memorial cards from funerals of greatgrand-relations, 
• more details from a grandmother's 'family notes', with listings of births, marriages and deaths from 1700s,  
• copies of several sheets of a Family Bible, plus a 1980s statement about another family bible of the 'other side' of the family (which clearly a cousin has somewhere).  

Treasure.  Absolute treasure.  For a genealogist or family historian.

"I knew you'd be thrilled," she exclaimed gleefully as I started poring over these sheets with many "oh! look at this!"  and "Yeah - there's his middle name - I knew I had the correct man here - this helps with confirmation!"   Plus of course, as I mentioned anyone's name, she'd remember a little detail about the person... like the place in Washngton where he'd received his law degree.  Or the market in California where her great uncles lived.  Or that her greatgrandfather was a wonderful musician and taught music at one point.  I grabbed paper and started putting all these new details down.  So many stories.  So many memories waiting to be tapped. 

Don't you love the thrill of going through this kind of unexpected treasure?  The fact that it's not even my family is irrelevant.  It's golden.  Wonderful stuff.  I can hardly wait to dig through it all, and do more research with these new details of her ancestors.  We're already talking about putting photos on her family tree, after I showed her my own family tree with photos going back as far as I can go at present with photos.  More wonderful treasure. 

Genealogy Treasure-Hunting 101:  

   If your closest ancestors are not living, find out who in the family has the boxes, albums, and letters etc. in their basements or attics or closets.  Someone has them.  There's always someone with those boxes or packages or envelopes.  You just have to find them before all that treasure gets thrown into a dumpster by someone who isn't interested in family history.  Get started finding that person, now!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY - Lilian Adele GRAVES Wisner

Lilian Adele GRAVES, eldest of the 3 daughters born to Charles Giles GRAVES & Harriet Philena ORMSBEE.  Lilian was b. 25 Nov 1853 in Syracuse, Onondaga, New York.  My greatgrandmother was the 2nd-born Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES, and the youngest was Florence Estelle GRAVES.

Lilian married Gabriel W. Wisner in 1877, a lawyer, and they eventually settled in Pittsburgh after all 4 of their children were born in Elmira, New York.   Interestingly, Lilian named their daughter Florence for her sister, and Florence named her own daughter for her sister Lilian.

This very glossy photo was found on eBay by my first cousin, and we managed to buy it for a 'reasonable' price.  The other bidder wanted it because it was a lovely example of a pretty woman of the times, with all the lovely details of hair, clothing, and jewelry.

EMBARRASSMENT... File Details to Fix!

I believed I only had a few details to fix on my family tree.  A few non-standard place names.  A bit of confusion about whether that town was in Staffordshire or Worcestershire in that particular year or decade.  And when was that state formed?  A bit of research to do.

But a day or so ago, after checking out Randy Seaver's details of how to make a Place List Report for a specific town, I realized I have a large number - so very many - errors, omissions, and misplaced family or individual Notes standing in for "Place" in my database.  Awful.  Totally embarrassing.  A bit overwhelming as well, when I realized the scope of my accumulated errors.

Some of my family tree individuals came from a first cousin of mine who was amazingly helpful when I was just beginning to start researching.  In fact, I found him after posting a message on a surname board - and there he was, almost the next day!  He was very thorough with his database details, but he was using a different program.  And when I eventually saved it all over to my new program, there were a few quirky errors and misplacements etc.  I never fixed them.  Not at all.  I decided I'd get to them when I had more time after I retired.  That was over 4 years ago and one total knee replacement surgery plus 2 home moves ago.  No more excuses.  I certainly have time now.

It seems that some of my notes - a sentence or two about the individual or family - are added into the Place line.  In fact, I suspect I may have deliberately typed those specific notes into Place, not thinking about how that section could be used for research purposes in future.  As you can imagine, I have Event Places very erratically written:  sometimes city, with or without county, sometimes with word County or abbreviation Co. or co., with or without state or province or shire occasionally abbreviated, with or without country in full or abbreviated or not.  Can you see 12 ways to write a Place for an Event?   Sigh.  Often with a little add-on:  "see bro. next door", or with "2nd wife, all wives' kids" ... Little notes to myself for a quick see-it-at-a-glance research note.  Of course, I never used Research Notes.  In the beginning I'm not certain that I even knew about Research Notes or logs in the software - I just put bits of info here and there so I wouldn't lose it!

That was then.  This is now.  And WOW, do I have lots of cleanup to do in my tree.  Ohmygoodness!  Very pink cheeks here.

I've begun to go through my family tree, checking and standardizing the Place for each detail/fact/event for Me, Mother, Father, Father's Mother, Father's Mother, Mother's Father, Mother's Mother, and a few more.  Already I see three errors for Place:  one for birth place, one for death place, one for burial place.  Back to those documents and check things out more thoroughly.  I'm going to go through my direct line first, not collaterals at the same time.  That feels totally overwhelming, so I've decided to go one direct ancestor at a time, step by step by step by step by ... You get the picture.

I had no idea my input was so sloppy or non-standard.  The ones I've put in over the past few years are not-quite-perfect, which is very encouraging.  Whew - I did learn how to do that properly - very reassuring to see.    But most of the early individuals are quite mixed.  Some are great, others are awful.  The information is all there, but needs to be using a standardized format, and the Notes need to be cut/pasted into their correct section.  It doesn't take long at all, thank heavens.  Only takes sharp eyes, a sharp mind, and time.  

Thanks Randy for your clear details on how to do a specific research report - which brought up this very important problem for me.  I'm determined to have my tree looking more professional and detailed so any of my kids, grandkids, and cousins can look things up and always know what they are seeing is correct.