#52Ancestors 2020 Post 12 – Fun Ancestor Assignment

Kendall Prince‎ posted a fun exercise to do on the Facebook Group, The Genealogy Squad. I thought it would be interesting to post my responses as part of the #52Ancestors Challenge.

Who is your oldest ancestor you know of? Philip Hulse (1515-1580) Marbury, Cheshire, England. The line allegedly goes back to the 1300’s.

Who is the oldest ancestor you actually have memories of? My Second great-grandmother, Mabel L. Roll Baumgartel, nee Pittman (1889-1972). I remember visiting her in Tampa, Florida, in 1969. As I entered the house, the living room was dark. I didn’t notice her sitting in the corner. She scared the bejezzus out of me.

Which ancestor died the youngest? Josephine K. Pittman, nee Woodburn (1872-1893). Married at 12 years of age, she had her first child at 15. She died six months after her third child was born.

Borden (Bob) H. Baumgartel, Jr and his sister, Olive A. Howes (Roll) a/k/a Alma Roll.

Which ancestor lived the longest? As of April 9, 2020; my half-great uncle Borden (Bob) H. Baumgartel (1922-2019).

Which ancestor has your favorite First name? There are several female ancestors with the name Adelaide, Adeline, or Ada.

Which ancestor has the most interesting job? Borden Baumgartel, Senior (1897-1944). Prior to and during the first World War he was a Western Union courier.

Which ancestor has your favorite surname? Roll. My mother added the extra ‘l’ to my given name as a nod to my grandmother’s maiden name “Roll.”

Which ancestor was born the farthest from where you are now? My great grandparents, Adam Budny and Marianna Borucka were born near Mamino, Poland; 5,145 miles by airplane from my current city.

Which ancestor had the most children? Several of my ancestors had ten each.

Which ancestor do you think lived the most interesting life? My uncle Douglas E. Howes. He was a mechanic in the Air Force. Opened a garage in Wayne, Michigan. Eventually moved to Gallup, New Mexico in the mid-1950’s. Initiated the first ambulance service in Gallup. He loved to fly and eventually bought his own plane.

I remember him flying from Gallup to the Port Elgin airstrip in Ontario, Canada in the early 1970’s. My family owned a cottage at Inverhuron Beach, Ontario. Uncle Doug came up to visit his mother, Olive Roll Howes. My mother, Shirley, said that Uncle Doug and his friend were quite broke when they flew up here. When he went back to Gallup, he built his auto parts store into a thriving business.

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#52Ancestors 2020 Post 11 – United Auto Workers (UAW) Memorabilia

My grandfather, Hugh A. Howes was a Millwright. Unfortunately, I do not recall if he worked for Ford Motor Company. I want to say he did, however, I cannot be sure. He belonged to Local 245, Region 1-A of the International Union, United Automobile, Aircraft and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, (UAW).

His wife, my grandmother Olive A. Howes (Roll), kept a few mementos of Hugh’s time with the UAW. She kept the photo of the conference attendees from the December 1956 Chicago UAW Trades Conference. I could easily find my grandfather in the picture. Along with the photo, she retained his conference ID card.

After my grandmother passed, my mother brought home some of Olive’s belongings. I managed to snag Hugh’s UAW Journeyman Card and a UAW mechanical pencil for my collection.

The journeyman card is signed by Hugh A. Howes. Issued in September 1959, it was probably his last union card. My grandfather became ill around that time, passing way in 1961. The handwriting looks more like my grandmothers. I can’t really be sure if the handwriting is his. I will need to compare the signature to items that Olive signed.

The question now is who will take possession of the memorabilia as I prepare to minimalize possessions.

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#52Ancestors 2020 Post 10 – Reaching Out to DNA Matches

Matches

Photo by Fallon Michael on Unsplash

There were a couple of DNA matches that could be from either the Borucki or Budny lines. I have a cousin from Uncle Sonny’s first marriage that I have never reached out to connect with before. It was a short email just to introduce myself.

Hoping that the matches to my Polish side could narrow my research, I contacted two matches who I shared over 200 centimorgans either with me or my father’s DNA kit.

This first individual was a second to third cousin match to my father. I was thinking that this person was a daughter to one of my grandfathers’ sister. Yeah, no. I received a response in less than an hour. Woohoo! This person is a match through the Borucki line. They have a non-paternity event (NPE). I responded back with a couple of contenders from my great uncle, Ignacy Francis Borucki (a/k/a Frank Borke) family tree.

A match at MyHeritage shows an individual as a possible second cousin, first cousin once removed, or half first cousin once removed. We either share the same the great grandparents or great-great grandparents. This person lives in Germany. My message to him via MyHeritage was both in English and German, using Goggle Translate. Not enough individuals listed in his tree. One of the surnames he has is Zielinski.  I have seen the surname at www.geneteka.genealodzy.pl when searching Borucki and Budny records in the Mazowieckie Province of Poland

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‘Disaster’ #52Ancestors 2020 Post 9

Fire Causes $4000 Damage

The fire was attributed to a passing locomotive according to the April 10, 1912, news clip. The fire caused roughly $2000 damage to three homes. One of those homes was the residence of Adam Budna, my great-grandfather.

The fire happened on a Tuesday afternoon. Was Adam at work when it happened? Two of the children may have been in school, the other three too young to attend. Mary must have been in a panic. The article states the residents were busy bringing out their furniture and belongings. I don’t know if Adam and Mary lost any possessions, important documents, or photographs. The accounts of this fire weren’t passed down to subsequent generations.

The 1912 Polk’s City Directory for Detroit lists my great-grandparents Adam and Mary (Borucka) Budny address at, 382 Poplar. There is no such address today. Detroit renumbered their streets in the 1920’s if I recall. Using Goggle Maps, I find railroad tracks on the western edge of Poplar street. I suspect the house was a multi-unit building with several apartments.

There are very few buildings now along that street. Homes and businesses long since torn down. Empty tracks of land where once a bustling city was growing. Time has done more damage then the fire of yesteryear.

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‘Prosperity’ #52Ancestors 2020 Post 8

One of the suggestions for this week is writing about an ancestor with a “prosperous” name like Wealthy or Fortune?

I noticed that there were three individuals with the surname “Rich” in my tree. Isabell Rich is the wife of John Franklin Woodburn, my 1st cousin five times removed. The couple were married in Montgomery, Tennessee. Isabell and her brother, Freling Hisen Rich, share the same wedding date, May 14, 1865. Freling married Sidney Ann Rogers. John Woodburn was the witness to Freling and Sidney’s marriage. Freling was John and Isabell’s witness.

Marriage Record

Isabell Rich and John F Woodburn Marriage Record 1865

Isabell, born 1849 in Tennessee, was about 16 years of age at her marriage. It is possible the Isabell died within the first year of their marriage. As, John F. Woodburn remarried in February 1867 to Helena Brady, in Christian County, Kentucky.

A death record has not yet been found for Isabell Rich Woodburn.

Source Citation

John F Woodburn and Isabell Rich, 14 May 1865; Tennessee, Marriage Records, 1780-2002 database with images, Ancestry, (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 1 March 2020)> Montgomery County, 1838-1874 > image 307 of 710.

 

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