Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Monday, October 28, 2019
Saturday Challenge: Heirlooms
From Randy Seaver's GeneaMusings of last week:
1) The NEHGS Weekly Genealogy newsletter asked an interesting question this week - let's use it for our SNGF this week.
2) What "family heirlooms" did you inherit or obtain? What are your most cherished possessions that were owned or created by an ancestor or relative? They could be photographs, letters or documents, a diary, an audio or video recording, books, jewelry, clothing, quilts, needlework, drawing or painting, toy or doll, collectibles, musical instrument, furniture, something else?
Since I have been interested in family history since a young age and also the youngest of the family, that was the last one around home, I have gotten a lot of family heirlooms over the years. The family photographs and newspaper clippings seem to land in my possession along with other items.
A few that I stick out in my mind as somewhat unique. There are two watercolor paintings hanging on the walls in my house. These were done sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. I had seen them once when my Mom showed me a portfolio shortly before her death. She never thought they were good enough to show to others. Now many of her descendants own these and they are on display.
A couple of other wall hangings are framed cross-stitch pictures. One of them is of such fine work that people mistake it for a painting at first. These also were done by my mother.
Dominating the dining room, as in most homes, is a table. This old oak table is of unknown origins. It is probably from the late 1800s and is solid. The base has a bit of a shelf where the legs go out away from the pedestal. I have heard tales of children at various times sitting on this and hiding with the help of a long tablecloth. There, they listened in on conversations of their elders. These children were my mother and her brothers or their friends.
The history of this table that I know is that my grandfather bought it during their childhoods at an auction and cleaned it up. It then became their dining room table. This would have occurred in the late 1920s or early 1930s. I never did find out how old Mom was when her father brought it home.
After my grandfather’s death in 1976, the household was distributed as is usual. Mom had been promised the table and she decided to go get it. Her older brother, Robert, lived in an apartment in the family home and was out when they arrived. He returned home to find a pick-up in the driveway that he immediately recognized as belonging to my Dad. Walking in, he found Mom and Dad in the dining room with the table flipped upside down, taking it apart to load in the truck. He joked that he had caught a couple of robbers before proceeding to help them load it.
The table resided in our kitchen at the farm for many years after that. It was small for just my parents and me at regular meals, but when family came over, the leaves were quickly added and it expanded to hold many people. After moving to Auburn, they had more furniture than they needed and the table wasn’t used. However, Mom wanted the kitchen table I had, to use as a craft table in the basement, so she refinished the old table and traded with me.
There are lots of other items scattered around the house, but these are probably the more unique ones of them. In actuality could the house be considered an heirloom? It is the house my parents bought and moved to when they left the farm along the lake. After my mother’s death, we bought it from the estate and live there now.
1) The NEHGS Weekly Genealogy newsletter asked an interesting question this week - let's use it for our SNGF this week.
2) What "family heirlooms" did you inherit or obtain? What are your most cherished possessions that were owned or created by an ancestor or relative? They could be photographs, letters or documents, a diary, an audio or video recording, books, jewelry, clothing, quilts, needlework, drawing or painting, toy or doll, collectibles, musical instrument, furniture, something else?
Since I have been interested in family history since a young age and also the youngest of the family, that was the last one around home, I have gotten a lot of family heirlooms over the years. The family photographs and newspaper clippings seem to land in my possession along with other items.
A few that I stick out in my mind as somewhat unique. There are two watercolor paintings hanging on the walls in my house. These were done sometime in the 1940s or 1950s. I had seen them once when my Mom showed me a portfolio shortly before her death. She never thought they were good enough to show to others. Now many of her descendants own these and they are on display.
A couple of other wall hangings are framed cross-stitch pictures. One of them is of such fine work that people mistake it for a painting at first. These also were done by my mother.
Dominating the dining room, as in most homes, is a table. This old oak table is of unknown origins. It is probably from the late 1800s and is solid. The base has a bit of a shelf where the legs go out away from the pedestal. I have heard tales of children at various times sitting on this and hiding with the help of a long tablecloth. There, they listened in on conversations of their elders. These children were my mother and her brothers or their friends.
The history of this table that I know is that my grandfather bought it during their childhoods at an auction and cleaned it up. It then became their dining room table. This would have occurred in the late 1920s or early 1930s. I never did find out how old Mom was when her father brought it home.
After my grandfather’s death in 1976, the household was distributed as is usual. Mom had been promised the table and she decided to go get it. Her older brother, Robert, lived in an apartment in the family home and was out when they arrived. He returned home to find a pick-up in the driveway that he immediately recognized as belonging to my Dad. Walking in, he found Mom and Dad in the dining room with the table flipped upside down, taking it apart to load in the truck. He joked that he had caught a couple of robbers before proceeding to help them load it.
The table resided in our kitchen at the farm for many years after that. It was small for just my parents and me at regular meals, but when family came over, the leaves were quickly added and it expanded to hold many people. After moving to Auburn, they had more furniture than they needed and the table wasn’t used. However, Mom wanted the kitchen table I had, to use as a craft table in the basement, so she refinished the old table and traded with me.
There are lots of other items scattered around the house, but these are probably the more unique ones of them. In actuality could the house be considered an heirloom? It is the house my parents bought and moved to when they left the farm along the lake. After my mother’s death, we bought it from the estate and live there now.
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Saturday Fun Challenge- 20 Questions Part 4
From Randy Seaver's GeneaMusings:
Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):
1) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her Hound on the Hunt blog three weeks ago - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June).
2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 16 to 20 tonight (we did 1 through 5 three weeks ago, questions 6 through 10 two weeks ago, and questions 11 through 15 last week)
3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.
16) If you’re into DNA which would you say you work on more? Genealogy or DNA? Or about the same?
I do more genealogy. At some point I need to learn to do more than scratch the surface on DNA. So many directions and so little time it seems.
17) Do you think that your genealogy is ever really done?
Umm, every time you push back, there are two parents to research, so twice as many new people added. Also, I tend to want to pursue the siblings and their children down to the present time to find where they are. It’s impossible to get that all done!
18) Did you ever search an ancestor’s name on the internet and you were surprised at what you found?
Most definitely! People lead/led interesting lives and you never know where this pursuit might lead.
19) Do you ever feel like your ancestors are nudging you in the right direction in your research?
I have joked about pulling into one cemetery and a collateral relative was sitting on his tombstone waving to me to get my attention. In reality, as I pulled in that day, I spotted the surname in large letters on a stone not far from the main driveway. His in-laws that I was especially looking for were right beside him. At various times I have had these very easy discoveries that I can’t help but wonder if I was guided to somehow.
20) If you could give one piece of advice to someone new to genealogy, what would you tell them?
Have fun and cite your sources! Seriously, even if they are not totally in a proper format, get something down to tell where you found the information. Not only does it give creditability to your research, but it helps you if at some point you need to go back and reexamine that record. And you will need to. I’ve created simple templates for common record groups that I keep in a file so I can copy, paste and then fill in the information. They may not be perfect, but I have the basic information down.
1) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her Hound on the Hunt blog three weeks ago - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June).
2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 16 to 20 tonight (we did 1 through 5 three weeks ago, questions 6 through 10 two weeks ago, and questions 11 through 15 last week)
3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.
16) If you’re into DNA which would you say you work on more? Genealogy or DNA? Or about the same?
I do more genealogy. At some point I need to learn to do more than scratch the surface on DNA. So many directions and so little time it seems.
17) Do you think that your genealogy is ever really done?
Umm, every time you push back, there are two parents to research, so twice as many new people added. Also, I tend to want to pursue the siblings and their children down to the present time to find where they are. It’s impossible to get that all done!
18) Did you ever search an ancestor’s name on the internet and you were surprised at what you found?
Most definitely! People lead/led interesting lives and you never know where this pursuit might lead.
19) Do you ever feel like your ancestors are nudging you in the right direction in your research?
I have joked about pulling into one cemetery and a collateral relative was sitting on his tombstone waving to me to get my attention. In reality, as I pulled in that day, I spotted the surname in large letters on a stone not far from the main driveway. His in-laws that I was especially looking for were right beside him. At various times I have had these very easy discoveries that I can’t help but wonder if I was guided to somehow.
20) If you could give one piece of advice to someone new to genealogy, what would you tell them?
Have fun and cite your sources! Seriously, even if they are not totally in a proper format, get something down to tell where you found the information. Not only does it give creditability to your research, but it helps you if at some point you need to go back and reexamine that record. And you will need to. I’ve created simple templates for common record groups that I keep in a file so I can copy, paste and then fill in the information. They may not be perfect, but I have the basic information down.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Saturday Fun Challenge- 20 Questions Part 3
From Randy Seaver's GeneaMusings:
Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):
1) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her Hound on the Hunt blog two weeks ago - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June).
2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 11 to 15 tonight (we did 1 through 5 two weeks ago and questions 6 through 10 last week)
3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.
11) If money wasn’t an issue; where would you go to do genealogy research?
I’d probably travel all over the country and do research. I have ancestors in various counties of Iowa that I would like to go there and research. Others in Minnesota.
Additionally, some collateral relatives lived in various places across the north of the country from Wisconsin to Washington state. I could have fun chasing all of these down in the places they lived if money and also time weren’t an issue.
One place I have no real desire to go is Europe. Although I’d like to see where my ancestors lived in England, Ireland, France, Netherlands, etc. and would love to do research in person in these places. However, I can’t see myself taking a flight there. It is just too far for me to be cooped up in an airplane.
12) Do you ever feel like you’re the only person researching your family?
Well, there must be others because I see them appearing in trees and pictures and such coming up on Ancestry hints. However, I never seem to be able to make contact with anybody actively searching lines.
13) Why do you think you’re interested in your family history and other family members might not be?
I have a deep interest in history, which probably started me out on this obsession. Being the youngest child by a number of years, I never felt I quite fit into the family. I’m way younger than my brothers, barely older than some of my nieces and nephews. Add in the fact that I married late and never had children myself. Sub-consciously, I’m looking for a connection.
14) Do you intend to write about your genealogy/family history findings?
I try to keep writing about them. There are several sketches about various groups that are half-way complete. I have also been writing down the stories of my family. Stories told by my parents, or that happened in my time. Again, I have trouble with actually finishing one before jumping to the next.
15) Did you ever make a genealogy mistake that caused you to have to prune your family tree?
I’ve done some minor pruning here and there. However, never a complete line of people, only a few here and there. Mostly the mistakes have been brick walls that I didn’t get too far on before I discovered there was a mistake.
1) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her Hound on the Hunt blog two weeks ago - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June).
2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 11 to 15 tonight (we did 1 through 5 two weeks ago and questions 6 through 10 last week)
3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.
11) If money wasn’t an issue; where would you go to do genealogy research?
I’d probably travel all over the country and do research. I have ancestors in various counties of Iowa that I would like to go there and research. Others in Minnesota.
Additionally, some collateral relatives lived in various places across the north of the country from Wisconsin to Washington state. I could have fun chasing all of these down in the places they lived if money and also time weren’t an issue.
One place I have no real desire to go is Europe. Although I’d like to see where my ancestors lived in England, Ireland, France, Netherlands, etc. and would love to do research in person in these places. However, I can’t see myself taking a flight there. It is just too far for me to be cooped up in an airplane.
12) Do you ever feel like you’re the only person researching your family?
Well, there must be others because I see them appearing in trees and pictures and such coming up on Ancestry hints. However, I never seem to be able to make contact with anybody actively searching lines.
13) Why do you think you’re interested in your family history and other family members might not be?
I have a deep interest in history, which probably started me out on this obsession. Being the youngest child by a number of years, I never felt I quite fit into the family. I’m way younger than my brothers, barely older than some of my nieces and nephews. Add in the fact that I married late and never had children myself. Sub-consciously, I’m looking for a connection.
14) Do you intend to write about your genealogy/family history findings?
I try to keep writing about them. There are several sketches about various groups that are half-way complete. I have also been writing down the stories of my family. Stories told by my parents, or that happened in my time. Again, I have trouble with actually finishing one before jumping to the next.
15) Did you ever make a genealogy mistake that caused you to have to prune your family tree?
I’ve done some minor pruning here and there. However, never a complete line of people, only a few here and there. Mostly the mistakes have been brick walls that I didn’t get too far on before I discovered there was a mistake.
Friday, October 4, 2019
Saturday Fun Challenge- 20 Questions Part 2
From Randy Seaver's GeneaMusings:
1) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her blog last week - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June).
2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 6 to 10 tonight (we did 1 through 5 last week)
6) How many DNA companies have you tested with or transferred to? Have you tested at all the 5 major companies?
Two. I have tested with AncestryDNA and transferred to MyHeritage. I really haven’t explored this aspect much.
7) Do you have an ancestor that had a successful business? Is it still in business?
Where do I start? Over the years many of my ancestors were farmers with various businesses on the side. They were what today might have been known as a side-hustle.
Two that come to mind belonged to a first cousin twice removed and his son. For many years around the Auburn area, if people bought a Chrysler automobile, it would have been from George H. Ward & Son. Later, when George sold and retired, his son, Barry Ward started a company: Ward’s Wrecker Service.
Of course, the one I immediately thought of was the one my Uncle Alden Ward started in 1929. He was a distributor of oil products for Sinclair Refinery. You know those local service stations? He made sure the oil and gasoline among other products were there for them to sell. His company, A.D. Ward & Son operated in Auburn and Cortland, NY. In later years, it was known as Ward Oil, and officially as Gordon J. Ward Oil Company, Inc. The business evolved over the years, having a retail office, a convenience store for a time, and finally selling tires under the name of Ward Tire and Wheel. As the names and the nature of it changed, it also changed hands. My father was the Gordon in the incorporated name. My brother, David, was the last to operate it and he closed the doors and retired this past May.
8) How long ago was your last “genealogy/DNA happy dance?”
Was it a dance? Not exactly, especially since I was in a cemetery. However, my last celebration was last weekend in two cemeteries in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. My 3-great grandmother, Bridget (Bailey) Tifft Coon settled near North Towanda in Bradford County, Pennsylvania with her second husband. I still cannot find where she is buried, however I did visit the graves of her daughter, Elizabeth (Tifft) Bennet and son, Nathan Coon. I believe she is likely in one of their plots without a stone. Nathan’s was indeed a victory as it took a couple mis-turns on winding back roads to find the cemetery.
9) Did you ever discover that a friend was also a distant cousin?
Since starting my research, I don’t think I have ever discovered a current friend was related to me. However, I had a best friend in kindergarten that I lost track of after her parents divorced. Her grandfather always said he was related to our family. A few years ago, I made the connection of how we are.
There are people in the genealogy community that I am acquainted with as well that are distantly related. Many of us descend from the same early settlers of this county including our lines to George Soule and John & Elizabeth Howland of the Mayflower.
10) Do you have a genealogy brick wall? Do you think you will be able to use DNA to work past it?
Is this seriously a question? Too many to count. I keep chipping away at them until I can finally break through to the next brick.
One that has plagued us for years is that of the Wooster line. My uncle and I know that we are directly related to some of the first settlers of Derby and New Milford, Connecticut. However, there is a gap in the line at my 3-great grandfathers parentage. I am still working on writing the indirect evidence case to prove who his parents were as any direct evidence drops off between these 2 generations. Even the best evidence of his parents’ marriage consists of a church entry of "[not given] [not given] & [not given] Munson m. Mar 1786; Notes: A stranger & ------ Munson”. This found in the Stratford, CT Episcopal church records. That period at the end of the Revolutionary War when actual records can be scarce, especially in Upstate New York that the two generations settled in. DNA has, so far, proven that there is a connection between these families.
1) Ellen Thompson-Jennings posted 20 questions on her blog last week - see Even More Questions About Your Ancestors and Maybe A Few About You (posted 27 June). 2) We will do these five at a time - Questions 6 to 10 tonight (we did 1 through 5 last week)
6) How many DNA companies have you tested with or transferred to? Have you tested at all the 5 major companies?
Two. I have tested with AncestryDNA and transferred to MyHeritage. I really haven’t explored this aspect much.
7) Do you have an ancestor that had a successful business? Is it still in business?
Where do I start? Over the years many of my ancestors were farmers with various businesses on the side. They were what today might have been known as a side-hustle.
Two that come to mind belonged to a first cousin twice removed and his son. For many years around the Auburn area, if people bought a Chrysler automobile, it would have been from George H. Ward & Son. Later, when George sold and retired, his son, Barry Ward started a company: Ward’s Wrecker Service.
Of course, the one I immediately thought of was the one my Uncle Alden Ward started in 1929. He was a distributor of oil products for Sinclair Refinery. You know those local service stations? He made sure the oil and gasoline among other products were there for them to sell. His company, A.D. Ward & Son operated in Auburn and Cortland, NY. In later years, it was known as Ward Oil, and officially as Gordon J. Ward Oil Company, Inc. The business evolved over the years, having a retail office, a convenience store for a time, and finally selling tires under the name of Ward Tire and Wheel. As the names and the nature of it changed, it also changed hands. My father was the Gordon in the incorporated name. My brother, David, was the last to operate it and he closed the doors and retired this past May.
8) How long ago was your last “genealogy/DNA happy dance?”
Was it a dance? Not exactly, especially since I was in a cemetery. However, my last celebration was last weekend in two cemeteries in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. My 3-great grandmother, Bridget (Bailey) Tifft Coon settled near North Towanda in Bradford County, Pennsylvania with her second husband. I still cannot find where she is buried, however I did visit the graves of her daughter, Elizabeth (Tifft) Bennet and son, Nathan Coon. I believe she is likely in one of their plots without a stone. Nathan’s was indeed a victory as it took a couple mis-turns on winding back roads to find the cemetery.
9) Did you ever discover that a friend was also a distant cousin?
Since starting my research, I don’t think I have ever discovered a current friend was related to me. However, I had a best friend in kindergarten that I lost track of after her parents divorced. Her grandfather always said he was related to our family. A few years ago, I made the connection of how we are.
There are people in the genealogy community that I am acquainted with as well that are distantly related. Many of us descend from the same early settlers of this county including our lines to George Soule and John & Elizabeth Howland of the Mayflower.
10) Do you have a genealogy brick wall? Do you think you will be able to use DNA to work past it?
Is this seriously a question? Too many to count. I keep chipping away at them until I can finally break through to the next brick.
One that has plagued us for years is that of the Wooster line. My uncle and I know that we are directly related to some of the first settlers of Derby and New Milford, Connecticut. However, there is a gap in the line at my 3-great grandfathers parentage. I am still working on writing the indirect evidence case to prove who his parents were as any direct evidence drops off between these 2 generations. Even the best evidence of his parents’ marriage consists of a church entry of "[not given] [not given] & [not given] Munson m. Mar 1786; Notes: A stranger & ------ Munson”. This found in the Stratford, CT Episcopal church records. That period at the end of the Revolutionary War when actual records can be scarce, especially in Upstate New York that the two generations settled in. DNA has, so far, proven that there is a connection between these families.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
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