Posts Tagged White Family Genealogy
52Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2020 – Post 6 – “Are My Parents Related”
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors, Genealogy Blog, Uncategorized on February 10, 2020
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.
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Tools for DNA & Genealogy Research
#52 Ancestors No. 26 – James White – Michigan Thumb Fire September 5, 1881
Posted by Caroll in 52 Ancestors, Genealogy Blog on September 5, 2015
This is post 26 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. 
Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers tweeted of photo of a cartograph1 depicting the Michigan thumb area that mentions a fire that happen on this day in 1881, as a blogging prompt. Recognizing the all too familiar appendage of my birth state, I remembered that one of my ancestors lost their life during the fire.
Burnt District resulting from the Michigan Thumb Fire, September 5, 1881.
The illustrated cartograph showed the burnt district in the Michigan thumb area that resulted from the great fire on September 5, 1881. The Great Fire, as it is known, burned for three days. It destroyed a million acres of land, including forests, farms, mills, and businesses. The fire consumed the lives of over 280 people2.
James White was just five months old when he died on 16 September 1881. His death was caused by the effects of the fire 11 days earlier. It is not known if he suffered from smoke inhalation or from burns. The death was recorded in 1882 and is transcribed in the GENDIS2 database.
I have a mimeograph copy of a family history from an unknown source and date that includes two written pages of notes. The notes talk of Aunt Vi (Violet White), who would be James’ older sister. The letter mentions that Aunt Vi was five years old at the time of the Great Fire. The writer of the letter states, “Aunt Vi remembers them huddling under a quilt all but their father and one of the boys. They had to keep pulling out sparks that land on the quilt. Then all was over the quilt was full of little holes.” There is no mention of James’ death.
James’ parents are James Montgomery White and Persis DesJardins are my great great-grandparents. Th family were farmers in Minden, Sanilac County, Michigan. By the time of the fire, James and Persis had eight children. Two more children would come later. One was my great-grandmother, Minnie White.
Sources:
1http://www.geneabloggers.com/genealogy-blogging-beat-saturday-5-september-2015/#more-34852
2Wikipedia Great Thumb Fire, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb_fire
3http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/gendisx/scripts/individual.asp?UniqueID=282434
Additional resources:
http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ptruckin/greatfire.html
http://www3.gendisasters.com/michigan/5778/mi-quotgreat-thumb-firequot-sept-1881?page=0,1
#52Ancestors – No. 52 – Miranda Jane Guynn – More Triple In-Laws
Posted by Caroll in Genealogy Blog on December 28, 2014
This is the last post 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.
I can’t believe a year has gone by since starting this endeavor. The goal of #52 Ancestors was to create a habit of writing more frequently on our blogs. There is some interest in continuing the series, but I am not sure if I will participate. I will continue to blog about my ancestors and those of my clients (with permission).
Miranda Jane Guynn
Miranda Guynn (b. 1827 – d. 1903) is the wife of my fourth great uncle. She is the daughter Richard Guynn and Eliza Gaines Fisher. Richard came from Rockingham, Virginia to Cadiz, Kentucky. Eventually the family settled in Muhlenberg County, KY. I haven’t found the sources yet to verify the right Guynn line. There are trees that have the Guynn line going back to Wales.
Miranda married into the Pittman family. Her husband, Buris Eskridge Pittman (b. 1806 – d. 1879) carries the name of a family friend, Burris Estridge who lived in Orange Co., North Carolina in the late 1700’s. The name Burris Estridge and it’s variant spelling has been passed down in several lines.
Triple in-laws and cousin in-laws
Miranda and Buris had nine children. Three of their children married Lovel siblings, children of John Lovel and Mary Ann Ingram. Another daughter, Emma married a Lovel cousin.
I just wish there was a report function in Family Tree Maker that would allow me to crosswalk the intermarriages between families in my tree. I will probably have to build some type of pivot table in Excel.
Five letter last name – so many ways to spell “Guynn”
In trying to learn more about the Guynn family to see where they came from in Europe, I found quite of number of variants for this surname. It is amazing to see how one name can create a myriad of other names. The name is said to be derived from Welsh gwyn which means, “white” or “fair hair” or “fair complexion”, or it could be a variant of French name “Guyon.”
Here is a list of some of the variants: Guynn, Guin, Gynn, Gewin, Gynne, Guen, Gynn, Guine, Guevin, Gwin, Guin, Wynn, Gwynn, Guinn, Gwynne, Guwin, Gwinn, Gwynne, Gwinnett, Gwyn, Gwynett, Gwynn, Gwyyns, Wyn, Wynn, Wynne.
My Guynn line was recorded under varying spellings of the name in census and land records. It is important to write down a list of name variations to help you find your family in records. So many people assume their name was not changed over time, or do not consider how a recorder would enter a name.
Posts on the Pittman Line
#52Ancestors – No. 29 – John White
This post is number 29 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.
I am en route to Pittsburgh to attend the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). I will be taking a course on Kinship Reliability. I decided to stop by Chester, SC to view the memorials to Ann Garner White and her husband John White. I wrote about Ann Garner in post No. 19.
I started late and traffic was heavy Saturday morning. I missed the chance to visit the library to do some research. I did visit Old Purity Cemetery and took a few photos and included two of them in this post. One is a plaque marking the site of a house of worship for Purity Church founded in 1770. The other is for John White, my seventh great grandfather killed a few years after he arrived.
Plaque marking a worship building in Chester, SC
Born 1720 in Ireland, arrived 1767 and died before the Revolutionary War
#52 Ancestors – No. 19 – Ann Garner
This post is number 19 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.
Maternal Lineage
In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend, I chose the first known maternal female of my line, Ann Garner White. She is my seventh great grandmother. Born in Antrim, Ireland in 1724. She immigrated to what is now known as Chester, South Carolina. She, her husband, John White, and family arrived on December 22, 1767, in Charleston, South Carolina. They sailed on the “Earl of Donegal” after they were given land grants by King George III to settle the new colony.
Their seven children were all born in Ireland. Her husband, John White, is killed during a skirmish with Cherokee Indians about 1774. Ann never remarries and lives to age 94, passing away in 1818. Her daughter Elizabeth White marries James Wilkins and together they move to Todd County, KY. Her other children remain in South Carolina.
James and Elizabeth Wilkins daughter, Mary Wilkins marries James Woodburn. I am descended from two of their children, Catherine Woodburn and Alexander Woodburn.
Her tombstone stands at Old Purity Presbyterian Church Cemetery in South Carolina.
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