Posts Tagged genealogy blog
#52Ancestors: Week 12 – Arthur A. Anderson – Cold Case
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors on March 29, 2015
This is week 12 of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of u
s blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
I have been busy spying on my ancestors. The Michigan Archives has released marriage, divorce, and death records up to 1952. Week 11 of 52 Ancestors I wrote about the three divorces of my Great Uncle Eddy (Budny). Curious as a cat, I pried in to the lives of two generations of my aunts and uncles.
I remember the story of my grandmother sisters trying to find two sisters given up for adoption. To bring them back to the fold. My great grandmother Minnie White lost her husband, Ernest Anderson in 1925. She remarried to a William O’Neil in 1926. There were five children still at home when Ernest died. The oldest daughter, Vietta, was married already. The six and youngest Betty Jane, was born just after her father’s death.
William and Minnie’s marriage did not last long. I have a feeling the relationship was not harmonious. As a laborer at Consumers Power, William may not have had the income to support the family. Some of the older girls get married. My grandmother, Edith, who was 13 in 1930, was sent to live with one of Minnie’s sisters in Detroit. As of the 1930 Census, Lucille, Betty Jane, and William and Minnie’s daughter, Rosetta O’Neil reside at 609 North Jefferson Street in Bay City, Michigan.
The family story goes on to say that Arthur left for California and the family never heard from him again. So what did happen to Arthur? A person of the same name does end up in California. The 1931 city directory for Bay City, MI; shows an Arthur Anderson at 509 Ketchum St. Arthur is not listed at that address on the 1930 Census. A few blocks away at 1615 N. Sheridan Street lists Ruth Pettit as a clerk at Woolworth’s.
Michigan marriage records for Bay County provide the next clue in Arthur’s life. The license application states Arthur A. Anderson, 22, single, never been married before, and is a bus driver. His parents are Ernest and Minnie White. Ruth Pettit, 18, born in New Jersey, the daughter of Martin Pettit and Elizabeth Madden, is the bride to be. This license is dated the 10th of January 1931. The marriage takes place on the 19th of January (1931). Incorrectly typed on the certificate is the year 1932.
Not sure if the young couple got caught up in desire and romance when they met as Ruth may have been pregnant at the time of their marriage or given birth just before their wedding date. A short three years later, a divorce decree ends the marriage. Dated October 4, 1933; the absolute decree, lists two children, three year old Ernest Anderson and 1 year old Bonnie Lee Anderson.
The petition was filed by Ruth on January 15, 1933 for non-support. The marriage date is listed at January 19, 1930. A year off the marriage license. Could be an error? Could be someone provided an earlier date to show all the children were born within the marriage. Sometimes the first baby comes before the wedding date.
There is no further listing of Arthur Anderson in the Bay City Directories that I have found. He could be residing elsewhere. A California death record for a similar name, listing the mother’s birth name of “White” could be a clue.
Other than that, the story grows cold for Arthur. And, heats up for Ruth Pettit.
Arthur Arlington Anderson Death record
Event Date: 05 Jun 1986
Event Place: Los Angeles, California, United States
Birth Date: 14 Feb 1909
Birthplace: Michigan
Gender: Male
Father’s Name:
Mother’s Name: White
Source Citation: “California Death Index, 1940-1997,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPVM-H8B : accessed 29 March 2015), Arthur Arlington Anderson, 05 Jun 1986; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
#52Ancestors: Week 10 – Grafting the Adcock Branch to the Howes Family Tree
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors on March 15, 2015
This is week 10 of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
Yes, I know I am late with this post. I have outlined it several times in my head and finally have the words down to the blog. Week 10 theme was Stormy Weather. Whether personal crisis or weather related events that affected our ancestor’s lives. My take was grief. Our ancestors were flooded with grief at various stages in their lives. Especially those who crossed an ocean or trekked overland from the east to west of the continent. They endured countless hardships along the way. The following story is about a family that continued to lose a parent early in their lives.
Grafting – taking a branch of one tree and inserting onto another so that the two branches may join together.
The Adcock branch was grafted to the family tree through marriage by my Aunt Pat. She married Noah Adcock in the 1950’s. Noah’s family hailed from De Kalb County, Tennessee. The Adcock’s served in many of the early wars, including the Revolutionary War and Mexican War of 1812. Two generations served on the confederate side of the Civil War.
Noah Adcock unexpectedly passed away at the age of 45. This early death, unfortunately, is pattern in the Adcock family history. The Adcock line is flooded with much grief in the past. Noah lost his own parents when he was quite young.
His mother, Ada L. Duncan, died a few weeks after his birth in December 1928. She was 28 years old and left five small children under her husband’s care. At 12 years of age, Noah loses his father, William M. Adcock. William Adcock (1884-1940) was 55 years old at the time of his death of myocarditis. Noah died of a heart attack.
Noah’s grandfather, Perry Green Adcock (1853-1927), died of mitral regurgitation at age of 73. Perry Adcock lost his father at the age of 11. William Adcock (1823-1864) died in the Civil War. Most likely of sickness.
William remarries circa 1939 to Alice Todd Willis. A widow herself with young children. Alice finds herself a widow again, when William dies in 1940. Noah has now lost both his parents and finds himself back at his grandmother’s home.
In 1928, William’s mother, Mary Jane Love, steps in to take care of Noah and his siblings. She does the same after William dies. Alice Todd Willis with small children of her own does not take custody. Mary Jane Love was nearly 70 when she takes over the care of William’s children. In 1940 she is nearly 80.
The flood of grief does not stop. Mary Love Adcock passes away in 1941. Leaving Noah without close times to his parents. Who provides the nurturing care after her death is not known to me. His oldest sister, Mary Lou Adcock, just recently married to James E. Judkins, is only 19 years old.
Noah joins the military in 1947 and serves until 1952. He does not return to Tennessee and settles in Michigan, where he marries my aunt.
Anomalies
1930 Census, Mary Jane Love is most likely misidentified as “Sarah” in household of William.
A daughter, Grace, is listed in William’s household on the 1930 Census. If this is William’s daughter, she may be from a prior marriage. No record has been found of this marriage, as of yet. Some online trees list Ada Duncan, as her mother. Ada would have been 12 when Grace was born in 1912, and could be dismissed as her mother. Ada and William were married in 1919. Grace could have also been a niece or cousin who lived with William.
The 1920 census, for William and Ada, lists a son named Robert. He does not appear on the 1930 census. I not located a death record for him. I did find one for his brother, Willie T. Adcock (1924) who died at birth.
Final Resting Place
William Adcock shares a headstone with Ada Duncan at the Faulkner Cemetery in Warren County, TN. His mother Mary Lou Adcock lies there too. A sweet grave epithet is engraved on her headstone. It reads, “Having finished life’s duty she now sweetly rests.”
Photograph Citations
James Hill, “Find-A-Grave” database. (www.findagrave.com) for Mary Jane Love Adcock (1861-1941), Faulkner Cemetery (Pike Hill), McMinnville, Warren Co, Tennessee; Memorial# 34255261; accessed 15 Mar 2015.
James Hill, “Find-A-Grave” database. (www.findagrave.com) for William Adcock and Ada Duncan Adcock, Faulkner Cemetery (Pike Hill), McMinnville, Warren Co, Tennessee; Memorial# 34255153 and 34255195; accessed 15 Mar 2015.
The Odds That You Share a Birthday with an Ancestor?
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors, Genealogy Blog on January 22, 2015
Photo courtesy of Ali Inay at Unsplash.com
The theme of #52 Ancestors this week is selecting an ancestor that shares or is close to your birthday (month/day). Could that be possible? Yes. Would you need a large family tree to find a relative to find just one person? No.
I ran a birthday report in my Family Tree Maker (FTM) database in preparation of this Sunday’s post. No birthdays came up on the calendar on my birthday. Which after a quick analysis I knew something was not right because I wasn’t listed either. I remembered from a college math class that in just a small group people the probability was a significant number. I have over 3000 people in my tree, something was wrong with the report.
That meant the FTM parameters must not be right. Garbage in, garbage out. So I looked at the report factors, deselected a couple of checked boxes, and reran the report. Viola! There were four people in my family tree that shared my birthday.
In a group of 23 randomly selected people, the odds that you would share a birthday with someone is 50%. The chart below shows the increases of probability by just adding a few more people.
Chart by Stan Brown, Oakroad Systems
Don’t trust my math? Just Google it, or go to http://www.tc3.edu/instruct/sbrown/stat/birthday.htm
#52Ancestors: Week 3 – Elizabeth Oliver Brumley and her Colonial Resilience
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors, Genealogy Blog on January 18, 2015
This is week three of the 2015 #52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where a group of us blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year. To learn more about the 52 Ancestor Challenge visit Amy Johnson’s site at Amy’s website.
Born just before the eve of the American Revolution in Virginia, Elizabeth O. Brumley surely was quite educated for a woman of her time. Women of the gentry or well-to-do class acquired an education that included practical, literary, and ornamental skills. 1 Elizabeth instilled the importance of education into her children.
Her son, Oliver C. Vanlandingham, Sr.; ran a mercantile business while maintain a farm in Kentucky and eventually building a plantation in Louisiana. Her daughter, Elizabeth Vanlandingham, married Samuel Weir, a wealthy famer and brother to Oliver’s business partner, James Weir.
Elizabeth Brumley married Ezekiel Vanlandingham circa 1782. Ezekiel must have prospered well in Virginia, nonetheless, he sought new endeavors. Seeking rich farm lands and good hunting, the Vanlandingham’s set-off from Northumberland, VA to Muhlenberg County, Kentucky in the early 1790’s. Unfortunately, Ezekiel, died somewhere along the journey.
National Park Service Wilderness Road Map with Northumberland, VA and Muhlenberg Co, KY marked.
The options were to travel north to the Ohio River then follow the river down toward Kentucky. The Wilderness Road and Boone Trace led a pass through the Appalachian Mountains. A third longer route would be to sail around Florida to Louisiana and the Mississippi River north. My guess that the family traveled overland.
It is not known where or how Ezekiel died on this journey. He was young, having been born in June 1762 in VA. Oliver Vanlandingham recalled that he traveled to Kentucky as a young boy. Elizabeth Brumley made the decision to continue to Kentucky and not return to Virginia after her husband’s death.
Travelling to Kentucky at the turn of the 19th Century was treacherous. Pioneers who came over the Wilderness Road, endured severe hardships. The Wilderness Road was steep, rough, narrow, and it could only be traversed on foot or horseback. Because of the threat of Native American attacks, the road was so dangerous that most pioneers traveled well-armed. Robbers and criminals also could be found on the road, ready to pounce on weaker pioneers.2
Why was she so decisive in moving forward into the unknown? Why was it a better option then turning back to a more civilized and settled Virginia? She was indeed a strong, tough woman. That resilience continued when the family arrived in Muhlenberg County. Elizabeth bought her own land, farmed and reared her family there until her death in 1833.
Footnotes:
1) Women and Education in Eighteenth-Century Virginia by Linda Rowe, http://research.history.org/Historical_Research/Research_Themes/ThemeFamily/WomenEducation.cfm
2) Wilderness Road Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilderness_Road
Genealogy Do-Over, Shiny Objects, Serendipity, Finding a Distant Cousin
Posted by Caroll in Genealogy Do-Over on January 17, 2015
This post is part of the Genealogy Do-Over project created by Thomas MacEntee.
I participated in APG’s virtual Professional Management Conference on January 8th & 9th. While watching the streaming video, I was also tweeting using #apgen during the sessions. I got distracted over a bright shiny object on my feed. Which is a no-no on the Do-Over project.
Brenda from Journey to the Past tweeted a photo of her brightly colored file folders on her computer. She mentioned a software program called Folder Maker. I was intrigued because I wanted to color code my folder names to make it easy to find on my laptop. Let’s face it, as our eyes get older, the fine print is harder to read. I also do not care do make my font jumbo size where it takes up too much room on the screen.
Folder Colors by Folder Maker
The photo tweeted by Brenda is of her genealogical files. Naturally being curious, I checked the file names for any familiar surnames. Lo and behold, there was. One of the folders was labeled “House.” My second great grandfather transition to spelling the last names as “Howes” sometime in the mid 1850’s. I tweeted to Brenda asking if her “House” line came from Barnstable, MA.
She replied, her line descended from Hannah House and John Lothrop. Now that’s serendipity. As I am descended from Hannah’s brother, Samuel House and Elizabeth Hammond. That makes us distant cousins. Yes, looks like social media can help you find family.
Brenda referenced @DearMyrtle for the Folder Maker tip. DearMyrtle tweeted it came from @geneabloggers, Thomas MacEntee. The very same person who has inspired thousands to re-do their genealogy research.
Off to organize my files and create my research log.
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