Posts Tagged tracing genealogy

#52Ancestors – No. 44 – Matthew Wilson, Surveyor and Senator

This post is number 44 in the series of the #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.

Matthew Wilson lead quite an engaging life. Born in North Carolina, circa 1770, he partly resided between North and South Carolina in his youth.  Around 1794, he removed to Logan County, Kentucky.  The area where he settled, eventually became part of Christian County. 

Matthew farmed land, however, he had other interests.  He was a land surveyor, County Sheriff and served in both the House and Senate of Kentucky. 

He married Mary (Polly) Campbell in 1803. This union produced twelve children.  Those children are intertwined in my family tree.

His son, John B.C. Wilson, married Amanda Sims in 1849.   Amanda is the daughter of William A. Sims and Catherine Woodburn.  She is the sister of Theodosia Rachel Sims, subject of No. 4 in the #52 Ancestors series.

Matthew’s son, Captain James M. Wilson (Civil War, Union); married late in life.  At the age of  55, James married Elizabeth Woodburn.  The daughter of Alexander and Charlotte (Lacy) Woodburn.  Elizabeth’s older brother is Benjamin C. Woodburn subject of No. 3 in the #52 Ancestors series.  Benjamin married Theodosia Sims. 

Matthew passed away in 1853 at the age of 83.  Matthew relationship to me has been calculated as the father-in-law of my third great aunt. 

Sources:

Meacham’s History of Christian County by Charles Meacham, 1930
County of Christian, Kentucky, page 630, edited by William Henry Perrin, F.A. Battey Publishing Co. Chicago and Louisville, 1884

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#52 Ancestors – No. 36 – Napoleon Groulx (Groux)

This post is number 36 in the series of the #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.

Glad to know my five years of French through high school and college still has some use today.  Not that I can speak the language anymore.  Being able to recognize french words and handwriting styles comes in handy in deciphering French Canadian historical records. It is a necessary skill to have. One of the most useful Quebec vital records are the Drouin church records.

Drouin Marriage Record for Napolean Groux

Drouin Marriage Record for Napolean Groux

I am a descendent of French ancestors who were settled Quebec in the 1600’s.   In addition to my direct line, I have a few collateral lines who married individuals of French ancestry that I also research.  I try my best to read the French records to glean information.

My grand aunt, Opal Anderson, daughter of Ernest Anderson and Minnie White; married Norman Joseph Groulx.  Norman is the grandson of Napoleon Groux and Azilda (Exilda) Lacombe.  Napoleon and Azilda were married in Ripon, Quebec, Canada, in 1869. The marriage was witnessed by Joseph Groux and Jule Lacombe.

I am not sure why the letter “l” was added to the name.  It could be to help the pronunciation in English.  My family pronounced the name as “Grew”.  The marriage date is written in a flourish scroll, and I cannot clearly read the month. The date in French is; Le sept Janvier or Fevrier, [mil] huit cent soixante et neuf.  Translated to 7 January or February 1869.

I have not been able to find a surname meaning for Groux.  There is a church, Saint Groux, in France.  Google maps displayed a couple of streets name Les Groux in several French cities.  Since it is a collateral line, further research is usually when I get blocked by a wall and need a distraction.

Photo Source Information:

Ancestry.com. Quebec, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1967 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:  Original data: Gabriel Drouin, comp. Drouin Collection. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Institut Généalogique Drouin.

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#52Ancestors – No. 4 – Theodocia R. Sims

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors Challenge were we blog about a different ancestor for each week of the year.

In this weeks’ challenge I chose Theodocia Rachael Sims. Theodocia is the wife of last week’s ancestor Benjamin C. Woodburn.  I had assumed early in my research that she most likely passed way before 1890.  I was not able to find a record of her in later years.  Years have come and go and new information has bought a series of dots to connect on this line.

Theodocia was born in 1841, near Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky. She is the daughter of William Sims/Simms and Catherine Woodburn.  William Sims dies within a year or two of Theodocia’s birth. This leaves her mother with seven daughters to rear. Her mother Catherine stays close to the Woodburn family and is enumerated on the same census page in 1850 and 1860. Her farm, if she had a farm, may have been next door to her father’s James Woodburn or brother, Alexander Woodburn.  The Wilson family between the two families, is Catherine’s oldest daughter, Amanda Woodburn Wilson.

 Woodburn's and Sim's 1860 Census

Woodburn’s and Sim’s 1860 Census

Theodocia didn’t go too far to meet her husband.  He was just across the field at her Uncle Alexander’s house. Theodosia married her first cousin, Benjamin Woodburn who was four years younger. Benjamin enlisted in the Union army in 1862 and returned home sometime before 1867.  He and Theodocia married in April 1867 in Christian Co., Kentucky.  I have not been able to find an image of the marriage bond or license.

On the 1870 Census, they reside near Decker Station, Indiana. Four children are listed, with the oldest one, Charles, born in 1864, three years before they married.  Benjamin was in the Civil War for at least 3-4 years.  He could have furloughed from the war and had pre-marital relations with Theodocia.  Or, Theodocia was married before or had relations with another man.  I have not found a marriage record for an earlier marriage.

Fast forward to Civil War Pension records.  Theodocia applies for a widow’s pension in 1892.  So now I know she is still around.  I am still not able to find her in the 1900, 1910 or 1920 Censuses.  While researching her daughter Addie Decker Woodburn, I found information leading me to Theodocia.  I found Addie’s death certificate listing her mother’s name and Addie’s married name (Morris) and residence.  Addie is living in Dallas and/or Fort Worth area of Texas. I started looking to see if I could find Theodocia.  By that time Texas records were added to Ancestry.com.

Eureka! A death certificate is discovered for Theodocia R. Sims Thacker. Theodocia’s death certificate lists Billie Sims and Katherine Woodburn as her parents. The date of her death is August 3, 1926.  The informant on the record is Jimmie Morris, Addie’s husband. At findagrave, there is a headstone for Granny Thacker, no first name.  The spouse on the headstone is M. L. Thacker.

Theodocia_Sims_DeathCert

I have not found any record that definitely connects Theodocia to this M. L. Thacker.  M.L. Thacker is allegedly Marcus Lafayette Thacker born 1831 in Tennessee, died 1920 in Fort Worth, TX.  I do know that M. L. Thacker lived in Christian Co., Kentucky in 1860.  He is enumerated in the same district and not too many pages from the Woodburn’s and Sims.

I continue to search for any listing of Benjamin Woodburn.  I was rewarded a couple of weeks ago when his name came up in a Civil War Remarried Widow Pension Application.  Filed in May 1920, shortly after Marcus Thacker’s death, Benjamin’s widow filed for a pension.  The name on the application is, Theodocia R Thacker.  I’m slowly connecting the dots and tearing down the walls.

TheodociaWoodburn_Thacker_RemarriedWidow_Pension

Source Citation: Year: 1860; Census Place: , Christian, Kentucky; Roll: M653_362; Page: 596; Image: 94; Family History Library Film: 803362.

“Kentucky Marriages, 1785-1979,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FWBK-CVC : accessed 25 Jan 2014), Benjamin H. Woodburn and Theodocia R. Sims, 28 Apr 1867.

Headstone:  http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=THA&GSpartial=1&GSbyrel=all&GSst=46&GScntry=4&GSsr=481&GRid=58014946&

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They Went to Florida

As a genealogist you also study the anthropological aspects of your family tree.  Some of the history behind the migration pattern of the moving to new states or territories is relevant and interesting.  Others not so much.  It is intriguing to know why someone moved to a new location. Why did they move, what was their motivation, did they flourish, move on, or did they have regrets.  Some assumptions can be made.  Better jobs, living conditions, owning their own land, business adventures, wars, religious reasons are usually the main ones.

When you hit a brick wall in your genealogy research, it is a good idea to take a look as to why your ancestor relocated to new cities, states or countries.  This can help discover kinship or identify relatives not known.  There may be clues in court, church, land grants, or  military records and newspaper archives in the new locations that may assist you in your search.  Don’t discard family stories that so and so lived in such and such place.  There may be clues hidden waiting to be discovered.

I moved three times in my life.  Michigan to Utah and back, Michigan to Seattle and this past March to Florida.  Basically because I wanted to try something new and different.   That may be the answer as to why my maternal grandparents move to Florida in the mid 1940’s.  Right now I am fixated as to when and why they move to Florida and then back to Michigan.

Why?  I because I ended up in the same city my Mother remembered very fondly growing up.  However, didn’t recall her mentioning Bradenton, FL until after I moved here.  My sister and Dad reminded me of the coincidence when I gave them my new location.  And my interest in piqued, why?  Because the records I have of them during the brief period they lived here, doesn’t put them in Bradenton.  They were located in the Tampa area and listed in the Hillsborough County 1945 Census. My great grandmother Mabel Baumgartel and my grandmother’s half sibling John moved down first, so I think they did.  I have a photo I discussed with my grandmother Olive, long ago, that showed the house in Mango, FL.

Mabel’s husband Borden Baumgartel, Sr died in Dearborn, MI in January 1944.  The 1945 Florida census was conducted in May 1945.  So my grandparents move between those dates.  The Baumgartel’s were originally from Kentucky.  So Florida was a new venture for this family.  I thought the story from my mother was that grandpa was looking to move to the country so the older boys would stay of out trouble living in the big city of Dearborn.  Dearborn was still rural them. My grandparents and mother also lived in Pinckney, MI.  I have yet to determine which occurred first, did they live in Pinckney before Florida or after they moved back from Florida?  The family moved back to Michigan around 1948 or 1949.

In my earlier research, I found that a relative of my grandmother’s sister-in-law moved to Florida and thought that could be the connection.  However, the dates don’t match as my uncle didn’t marry into that family until 1949.  Recently I was checking on an Ancestry leaf hint which lead me to a new direction.  The hint was for a brother of Mabel’s first husband, Ollie Roll.  This brother David Roll lived and died in Bradenton, FL.   He died in December 1944.  This could be why Mabel moved down here.  To find some type of kinship with family.  If, she moved down before he died.

I may not ever find the reason why the family moved in Florida.  But I did discover new clues.  Is this David Roll my great grand uncle?  I search the Bradenton Library newspaper archive for an obituary.  The obit listed two sisters as survivors.  One is named Annabell Shrewsbury and David and Ollie have a sister named Annabell.  The other is Mrs with an unfamiliar last name.  I might have to pay for a death certificate to see if David Roll’s parents are a match.

It’s a small world after all….(I do live in Disney country)

Annabell Shrewsbury resided in Maricopa, AZ.  One of Mabel’s brother moved to the Phoenix area in Maricopa County, AZ.  Lets play six degrees of separation.  What coincidences can you find in your family history.

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Devil in the Details – My experience with a Polish Genealogist Researcher

I hired a Polish genealogy researcher located in Poland three years with mediocre results.  Mostly my compliant was with the incorrect of labeling the documents correctly and email correspondence. I also thought the costs were a bit high at that time.  Especially, since I had to ask for clarification of the document labeling and spelling errors.

I quite aware of language translation barriers and would expect semantic errors. But these typing errors muddled family names in the same sentence.  I could not tell if it was a spelling variant or different person. When I followed up for clarification, sometimes, I had to ask twice.  Lack of details and follow through is not a good trait for a researcher. My email asked if they spelled the name incorrectly. The reply was a lesson on grammatical gender rules regarding the family names. Budna and Borucka are the feminine forms or Budny and Borucki.

No, I asked about spelling.  The name you wrote was “Budy”; did you mean “Budny”?  I had five years of French and one year of German.  I know all about grammatical gender naming.  The other misspelling was Bogucki for Borucki. That’s frustrating for when you are trying to verify family names.  My last name is Polish if you have not figured that one out.  I seen Budny spelled in a few different ways.  We were not sure how the name was spelled in Polish. My goal is this research request was to verify the Polish spelling. 

 The records for a birth and death certificate were in Russian.  The Russian spelling just adds to confusion. Then add writing styles on top of that create more chaotic spelling variations. The documents had two variants of spelling by the same writer. I included three snapshots of the Russian spelling of Budny is this blog.

 Budny_Russian2Budny_Russian1Budny in Russian

One emailed listed the names of the god-parents as Ksawery and Julianna Borucki.  Michal the researcher said that Julianna’s maiden name was “Budy” and could be a relative. Now, did he mean to write “Budny” or “Budna”?  When asked for clarification, he said her maiden name was “Borucka”; I’m frustrated and confused.

 I am getting no closer to enlightenment with my corresponding. Though now I have a few extra names to pursue.  Further research was needed and requested by me.  However, a lack of follow through by Michal ended our contract. 

 I am ready to do additional Polish research and looking to hire another firm in Poland. I was wondering if any one had recommendations. Here is a few that I found on the web. Cyndislist has quite a few at http://www.cyndislist.com/poland/professionals. Let me know if you have used them and what your experience was like. 

 http://www.ancestralattic.com/

http://genopolisgenealogy.com/#home

 The Borucki / Borucka family is from Mamino, Makow Mazowicki in Poland.  The birth and death certificate were located in Pultusk State Archives. They were from the Civil Registry Office of the Roman Catholic Church in Gasewo Poduchowne.

Records for the Budny side were not located in this particular search.  Information is sketchy, but a possible locate is Kolaki, Poland and may be in the Sielun parish. A researcher with ties to Makow Mazowicki would be ideal.

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