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#52Ancestors 2020 Post Seven ‘Favorite Discovery’

Photo by JF Martin on Unsplash

My favorite discovery was found slogging through various circuit and county court orders from Christian County, Kentucky.

Online family trees and an absence of one of my ancestors in 1850 Census implied that this person may have died prior to 1850. No death or cemetery record has been located to verify the death of this individual. An appraisement for his estate was written in January 6, 1845. There were other court recordings between 1842 and 1844, that would put his year of death to 1844.

Persistent exhaustive research

I went through indices of Will Books, Court Records, and Deeds, looking for his surname, surnames of other relatives and known neighbors. I made a list of all the mentions and the corresponding page numbers. Then read through each entry.

Prior to my research, my ancestor appeared in three readily available records, his 1825 marriage record, the 1830 and 1840 censuses. The court records contained a much more detailed account of his life. His role and status in the community. You cannot always go for the ‘low hanging fruit.’ Delving deep into microfilms may provide a better glimpse of your ancestors.

When the court came back from the winter session break in 1845, my ancestor’s death was mentioned in the court report. As the death wasn’t recorded in the December entries. I believe my ancestor died unexpectantly in December 1844.

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52Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2020 – Post 6 – “Are My Parents Related”

This week’s prompt of the 52 Ancestors Challenge is, “Same Name.”

Both my maternal and paternal lines have the surname “White.”  My direct maternal line descends from Elizabeth White, daughter of John White and Ann Garner. Elizabeth and her parents sailed on the Earl of Donegal to South Carolina in 1767. The ship sailed from Belfast, Ireland to Charleston, South Carolina. It has been alleged that the family may have been from Brougshane, County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

My third great grandfather on my father’s maternal line was John “Chauncey” White. With no confirmed documentation, he may have come from Mollington, Oxfordshire, England. Chauncy and his family are listed on the 1851 Canada West Census in Metcalfe Township, Middlesex County, Ontario. By 1860, the family resides in Sanilac County, Michigan. Two of his sons served in the Civil War. One son, Edward White, loses his life at Jonesboro, Georgia, on July 4, 1864.

Are they two White families connected? Before genome mapping, it would have been the tedious research of records to check if the families branches where intertwined. Today, GedMatch.com can quickly determine if your parents are related to each other. In a few seconds after entering my gedmatch kit number, I quickly learn my parents are not related.

Disclaimer:

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52Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2020 – Post Five ‘’So Far Away”

Last March 2019, I had the opportunity to visit Poland for genealogy research. It’s the furthest distance I have gone to research members of my Borucki-Budny Family tree. With a cheap flight from Seattle to Warsaw booked, I set about arranging a research trip with Polish Origins. My trip also included a solo sightseeing excursion to Warsaw and Krakow.

I will delve into my Polish Origins tour in later posts.

Daniel, my Polish Origins guide, drove me to villages that were listed passenger manifests. Though there was no breakthrough in discovering who may have been my great-great grandparents. I had a great time visiting Poland.

In Kranosielc, Poland, I visited the church my second great-uncle Ignacy Borucki married Aleksandra Lipinska in 1895.

A stop in Mamino yielded a road shrine erected by a possible relative, Bolesław Borucki, in 1896. My great-grandparents would have been living in Mamino, Poland, in that time period.

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#52Ancestors 2020 Post Four ‘’Close to Home’

Whoa…I haven’t stayed up past midnight to chase down a genealogy squirrel in a long time. It started with a search to see if my local library offered access to a newspaper site. The library did not. However, MyHeritage© was available. I only have DNA access at MyHeritage© which doesn’t allow me to see records. I quickly entered my great-grandfather’s name, Adam Budny to see if any record popped-up.

Out of the few records referencing an Adam Budny, one caught my eye. An ‘Adam Budny’ was listed as a brother-in-law on a passenger ship entry for a ‘Jozefa Boruczka.’ I click on the record expecting my usual ‘this is not my ancestor’ self-mantra. The entry is from the Record of Detained Aliens on the manifest of S.S. Nieuw Amsterdam for April 19, 1906.

My great-grandfather Adam’s wife is Marianna (Mary) Borucka. The family story handed down was that Mary had a sister named Josephine, Jozefa in Polish, who remained in Poland. I have not been able to find a record of her in my Polish or US research prior to this discovery.

I read across Jozefa’s entry that included the cause of detention, disposition, discharged date and time and the number of meals she received. Just as I was about to dismiss the record, it clicked. The disposition provided the address for the brother-in-law, Box 61, Vandergrift, PA. Adam and Mary had a daughter born in Vandergrift, in 1906.

This can’t be happening. Did Jozefa really immigrate to the United States? The family story that she remained in Poland came down from several of Adam and Mary’s children. Several of these family myths, I have already discredited. Was this another myth that would be quelle?

Jozefa was pulled aside as she passed through immigration and detained. Immigration officials kept a list of those detained and the reason was listed on appeared on the record as she was detained for “To tel $.” The surname spelling may be based on the Polish pronunciation of Borucka. It appears that Jozefa did not have the money to pay her transportation fare to her destination. The notation “to tel $” means that a telegram would be sent to her relative to provide money for the fare. Immigration would then release her with a transportation ticket once the money was received.

Thanks to the Jewish Gen website I was able to find a reference of the various descriptions of why an immigrant would be detained. Plus, how to interpret the Record of Detained Aliens manifest page. https://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/manifests/detained/

I was very hopeful. I spent the next five to six hours squirreling between FamilySearch© and Ancestry© to find any other records for Jozefa. I was able to locate a marriage record for Jozefa Borucka. The marriage docket had a recording of Alexander Moniewski and Jozefa Borucka marrying on May 13, 1906, in East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. The witness was Adam Budny. Jozefa married 24 days after arriving on April 19, 1906.

Not able to find Alexander and Jozefa in the 1910 census. Alexander’s Naturalization papers in 1916 list both his wife Ezeffa and daughter, Victoria. Squirreling through other records, Victoria’s birth certificate is located. She was born in East Vandergrift, in 1909. Her parents name appeared to be spelled phonetically, Alex Mainefski for Moniewski and Josephine Barutski for Borucka.

Now searching for the family in 1920 census, I find Alexander and Victoria as lodgers. Then I see Alexander is listed as widowed. Oh no. Moving in an inquisitive manner, I try in vain to find a death record. Well past midnight I come up empty. Subsequent searches reveal no additional records. The death certificate, if it provides Jozefa’s parents names, would likely confirm she is Mary’s sister.

My next steps are to create a research plan. This will include locating the parishes that were in East Vandergrift/Vandergrift, and Ambridge, Pennsylvania. The marriage record should contain the names of groom and bride’s parents. Victoria’s baptism record, to glean any information from the record. And, to locate a parish record of Jozefa’s death.

So close.

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#52Ancestors 2020 Post Two – Color of Orange

Recurring Color Theme

The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is writing, blogging, researching, or whatever, the author chooses to share about their ancestors or themselves. This week’s prompt is, “Favorite Photo.” That is the same prompt given in January 2018. You can see my post here: Favorite Photo and Most Dreaded Photo. Since I did a prior post on favorite photo. I am using some of my photos that demonstrated how color has  influenced my style.

It’s how the color orange has played a roll through out my life. Orange is not my favorite color. When I was younger, it was yellow. Today, the preference is cool colors, shades of blue and green. Looking at the items I own, orange is most apparent color. Why is this? Looking back, it started with my Grandmother Olive Roll Howes.

I spent my summers at the family cottage in Inverhuron Beach, Ontario. In the 1970’s, Olive planted poppy seeds or seedlings on the property. The plants survived the harsh winters of Lake Huron. Eventually growing wild everywhere. I looked forward to the annual trips to the cottage for Independence Day weekend in July. The poppies would be blooming if the spring was early and warm. The bursts of orange blooms could be found in the tree line, randomly in the middle of the yard, or along the deck.

Inverhuron Beach offers a great vantage point for beautiful sunsets along the Canadian side of Lake Huron. Many summers spent on the cottage shores have provided a plethora of gorgeous, breathing taking sunsets. Orange, and every shade of orange on the color wheel visible as the sun sets into the horizon. I can see myself now sitting on the rock at the beach waiting for the sun to set.

Looking back at my decorating style, I tended to select items from the color of orange. Vases painted with poppies, filled with artificial poppies of orange and red. I even painted a wall in my home, with a color called, Sunset Gold. My bedsheets are orange. The bed comforter has orange stripes and flowers. Even the throw rug has a dark and light shades of orange.

The last time the family was at the cottage was for my mother’s memorial service. She passed away in July 2003. The poppies were still blooming in late July. The cottage was sold a year later.

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