52 Ancestors – Week 1 – Foundations

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From Merriam-Webster

When I saw the topic of foundations for the week, my Grandma immediately came to mind. I have many a memory of cemetery trips with my Grandma and Grandpa.

Who is my Grandma? Frances Mary Stewart was born 30 July 1922 in Clinton County, New York. The daughter of Charles Stewart and Mildred Shumway. Frances married Earl Elmer Witherwax 6 October 1940 in Schuyler Falls, Clinton County, New York. Grandma and Grandpa had 7 children and did many different jobs. She developed an interest in genealogy and she spent a huge amount of time researching my Grandpa’s family. She left me so much information and I have loved following through with her work. Sadly my Grandma passed away in 2004 in Washington County Arkansas and not a day goes by that I don’t think of her .

Coming from a family who are contractors, you know the foundation needs to be the strongest to hold up the rest of the building. So when I think of a genealogy foundation I think of my grandma. She was the heart of my family and the glue that held us all together.

I am excited to be starting the 52 Ancestors Challenge again and can’t wait to dive back into my family history after a crazy insane 2021.

Shrubbing & DNA & a Rabbit Hole

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Yes shrubbing out that tree and a DNA cousin have lead to a huge Rabbit Hole and it isn’t even a direct ancestor but when a good juicy story gets you hooked you follow.

I love a mystery and think I may of been a detective in a previous life. So I am working on shrubbing out the descendants of Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge and Olive Daby. Though I should also shrub out Benjamin Knowlton Coolidge and Betsey Black also since this family has some pedigree collapse going on and I discovered a triple cousin.

I am also working on creating a tree for my DNA cousin’s great great grandparents because I discovered a case of sisters marrying brothers, so we have a bit more pedigree collapse going on. Thankfully I have a couple of odd markers making the research go a bit easier with a somewhat common last name.

So one of my goals in the coming days is to actually work on some of my own research and scope out the Family History Center’s local to me. It will be nice to be able to access the records fairly easily. I have a list of records I need in my source box and my wonderful daughter said she wouldn’t mind going either. She likes doing research. I am thinking of doing a little 14-day mini-challenge, I did one last year with Nicole and Diana from Family Locket and Research Like a Pro and it helped me. I was able to find some great information and have a nice little report for it. The best part is it kept me focussed on one question.

So I am sitting here going down a rabbit hole and shrubbing along this tree, what are you working on in your tree.

I’m just shrubbing along….

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So the past 2 days I have been answering some emails and working with DNA, if you know me I prefer digging through the records or traipsing through a cemetery than doing anything sciencey. Yes I made up a word. Anyway DNA requires sciencey work and while doing this I have uncovered a mess of what I call double cousins.

I am sure there is some correct term but my mind after very little sleep is not working at 100 percent capacity. Anyway my Daby and Coolidge lines are merging in more than one way. A DNA cousin messaged me and that lead me to Benjamin Coolidge and Olive Daby (Darby), who are my 3rd great-grandparents through my maternal grandfather. It also lead me to John Daby and Olive Bolton, who are the parents of Olive Daby making them my 4th great-grandparents.

This DNA cousin and I, along with the accounts I manage share several matches through these 2 couples. After getting some information I decided I should finish shrubbing out these 2 lines and maybe I would find what I was looking for.

Well I started with Miss Destina Coolidge who is the daughter of Benjamin and Olive. Destina married Thomas Bailey. Thomas Bailey had a wonderful obituary.

Part 1 of the Obituary that appeared in the Elizabethtown Post. Courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.
Part 2 of Thomas Bailey Obituary – Courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.
Part 3 of Thomas Bailey Obituary – Courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers

This obituary was too good to pass up and I put a link in my Ancestry Tree. You can view the Obituary Here: http://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/lccn/sn92061913/1902-05-22/ed-1/seq-4/

Sadly both Destina and Thomas died in 1902 only a few months apart. So in my shrubbing I learned that Lydia Bailey married a Hiram Daby. Hiram is somehow related to Olive Daby Coolidge Some ancestry trees have him as the son of John Lloyd Daby who is Olive Daby’s Brother but I haven’t verified it. I would venture a guess to say he is a cousin of some sort. Unfortunately his obituary gave very little family information.

Hiram Daby Obituary appeared in The Adirondack Record – January 25 1923 courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.

Hiram and Lydia Daby had 2 children Maria who died in 1898 at the age of 21 and Warren. Warren’s Obituary was a beauty. It alludes to all kinds of family lore that I would love to prove. (Those documents are proving to be elusive. I have not shrubbed Warren’s children yet but at least I have the info to move forward.

Warren Daby obituary appeared in the Adirondack Record – Elizabethtown Post – March 29, 1956 courtesy of New York Historical Newspapers.

Shrubbing these lines is going to take a while, I need to bring them forward from the 1840s through the present day and you have heard me all talk about the black hole that is Jay, New York. This will be a fun journey and hopefully I will discover some useful bits as I try to figure these things out.

It’s been a Long time

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Long time no post. I have missed writing to you all. 2020 was an eventful year to say the least. Besides living through a pandemic, our family re-located from New York to Arkansas. We lived in a rental from October 2020 until May 2021 when we moved into our forever home. So Genealogy was on the back-burner, I did a little bit of research but not much.

Well it is now time to get back to the things I love and genealogy is one of them. Yesterday and today I have been responding to messages and e-mails and the passion is re-ignited. Since I am not doing 52 Ancestors this year I am going to have to discover new things to write about but I do have a couple of ideas planned.

One thing I did find while I was going through some papers was the elusive marriage certificate for Robert B. Bass and Patricia Moran, who are the parents of Barbara Ann Bass. So Gerard’s Grandparents. This was a breakthrough I needed as the wrong parents are listed on Barbara’s Death Certificate.

Marriage Certificate of Robert B. Bass and Patricia Moran, Married in Elkton, Maryland on 28 April 1941.

The importance of this document means I can complete a supplemental DAR application for my daughter and she will have patriots who fought in the American Revolution on both sides of her family. This would of made her Nana laugh and proud.

Check back for more posts soon

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Ancestor Profile – James Stewart

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I have been working on filling in missing pieces of the family tree. especially shrubbing the tree out. This becomes especially helpful in the world of DNA. I have spent the last 2 weeks working on Gs family so I decided to look at one of my lines and see what I could do.

James Stewart was born March 1878, most probably in Clinton County. He is the sone of Joseph Gardner Stewart and Ella May.

He appears to live with his parents during all the census records I found him in beginning in 1880, 1892, 1900.  I really knew nothing about him until I found a picture on Ancestry of the July 26, 1927 Plattsburgh Sentinel about a Funeral for James. It was a fairly long obituary.

When I find things like this I head to one of my favorite sites NYS Historic Newspapers. So I performed a search of 1927 and James Stewart. Oh poor James.

James died in a horrific car crash. The following are 3 different articles from 2 different papers The Lake Placid News, The Plattsburgh Sentinel and The Plattsburgh Republican.

 

The Plattsburgh Republican had so many details (one of the things I love about old newspapers. It gives me the 2 men in the car with James. It gives me where his brother William lived in NYC (how did I not know that William lived here in NYC). It also told me the type of car a Nash Touring Car. I had heard of Nash, I even think there was a movie about them though I could be wrong. So a quick google search to see what a Nash Touring Car looked like yielded this picture.

Screen Shot 2020-04-12 at 9.09.09 PM

I think this is about a 1923 or 1925 Nash. Most of the pictures reveal that they were soft top cars. The guilt poor William must of lived with.

James Stewart died July 22, 1927 in Peru, Clinton County, NY. I am going to research and see if I can find the road they were driving on. I have probably been on it at some point growing up.

James Stewart’s funeral was held at the Redford Methodist Episcopal Church and he is buried in the Redford Cemetery from what I found he never married and never had children. He was 49 years old when he died and he should be remembered.

52 Ancestors – Week 14 – Water

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The prompt for week 14 is Water. I am going to follow the trend and continue with Gerard’s family as they are who I have been focussing on during this period of social distancing.

Gerard’s family is primarily recent Irish immigrants, as in post 1840 or 1850s except for a couple of his lines on his Mom’s paternal side which are German and English (I would say, haven’t gotten to the gateway ancestors on the Bass line). Those Irish immigrants then settled in NYC primarily Brooklyn.

His paternal great-grandfather James McMahon was born 12 November 1875 in County Limerick, Ireland. He arrived from Ireland 3 August 1893 aboard a ship named the Germanic. On the Census records and his naturalization papers he lists his occupation as a Longshoreman.

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 9.17.34 AMScreen Shot 2020-04-11 at 9.17.05 AM(1910 US Census & 1915 NY State Census)

A longshoreman is a dock worker who is a laborer involved with the loading and unloading of ships.

James McMahon died in early January 1956 and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY.

Funnily enough Gerard’s 2X Great-grandfather on his maternal side also worked in a water based business. He owned a dredging company. Peter J. Moran was born April 1880 in New York. He died 23 October 1945 in Brooklyn, NY.

Screen Shot 2020-04-11 at 9.23.53 AM

One of my future projects is too read about the William Beard & Co Dredging Company and seeing what it was.

 

So much fun…

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I spent some time colorizing some old photos I had taken pictures of and oh my what fun that was. My Heritage has a tool to colorize your old photos in seconds. Here are a couple of photos that I had already in my computer. I can see this getting addictive really fast.

You know I had to start with my favorite relative Dr. Sarah Larkin Beardsley. I have an actual copy of this picture that I am going to redo this with.

Next up is my Beardsley Sibling picture. The men are George Beardsley and my 2X great grandfather Leslie Winchester Beardsley and their sister Helen Maria Beardsley Weston.

 

Then of course is my husband’s 2X great grandfather the infamous scoundrel Henry Morissey Bass that I am sadly still trying to piece his sad life together including his death.

and I had a couple of pictures of my grandma’s side of the family. We will start with Joseph Gardiner Stewart.

and my great grandmother Mildred Arvilla Shumway Stewart. This one I think I prefer the black and white version better.

and let’s finish with 2 of my absolute people in the world who I miss every day. My Grandpa and Grandma. I am not sure where I put the black and whites on my computer but here are the colorized photos.

Isn’t this just fabulous. I have a stack of photo’s from Gerard’s family that I am excited to try this on including my in-laws wedding photo.

To my family I would love photos to put in my tree and you can always email them to me.

52 Ancestors – Week 13 – Nearly Forgotten

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The prompt for Week 13 was nearly forgotten, to me the people in the family tree who died as infants, children, teenagers, young or without children are the ones who tend to not have their stories told.

I have been researching on a couple of Gerard’s lines. One of the people I found in his tree is little William McMahon. William was born 25 May 1913 in Brooklyn, New York to James McMahon and Mary Roddy McMahon. Baby William died 27 February 1914 at 9 months old, according to his death certificate the  cause of death was bronchial pneumonia. His parents must of been heartbroken.

williammcmahondc(death certificate for William McMahon)

The line I have really been looking into is the Butler/Hurley lines. My husband’s great-grandmother is Mary Elizabeth Butler. She was born in about 1888 in Ontario, Canada the daughter of David Butler and Mary Hurley Butler. All these Marys are why I am not a fan of Irish research.

The 1905 New York state census for Brooklyn shows us the Butler and Hurley families living at 713 Leonard Street. In the house hold are wife Mary, daughters Mary and Margaret and sons William, age 9 and David age 7. The family has been in the United States for 6 years. Also living in the household are a David Hurley age 69, Joseph age 24 a David Hurley age 30. The Hurleys are possibly the father and siblings of  Mary Hurley Butler. William Butler was at school and in my mind he was probably a mischevious  little boy.

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 3.54.58 PM(1905 New York State Census)

The 1910 United States Census for Brooklyn reveals Mary Butler was the Head of the household and widowed. Living with Mary were daughters Mary and Margaret and sons William and David. William and David have no occupation. They are living at 108 Milton Street in Brooklyn.

Screen Shot 2020-04-08 at 9.25.22 PM(1910 US Census)

Sadly William Butler died 12 April 1913 at 859 St. Johns Place Brooklyn, NY. William was 17 years old. He was working as a clerk for a fruit broker. The cause of death is listed as chorea, acute aortic (?) ulcer, rheumatis, acute endocarditis. It sounds like poor William had a lot going on for such a young man. Sadly he died only 5 years after his father. His poor mother was probably broken hearted.

williambutlerjr(Death Certificate of William Butler)

So by writing about both William’s I am ensuring there is a record of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

52 Ancestors – Week 12 – Popular

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Popular what does that mean? According to the dictionary Popular is an adjective. It means liked, admired or enjoyed by many people or by a particular person or group. This prompt is going to be tough. I am not big into popularity, I tend to root for the underdog and when it comes to family history I find the scoundrels a bit more interesting.

So I decided to look at the family tree and decided to see from my grandparents which lines went back the furthest. I kind of knew it would be my maternal grandpa’s side. These are the lines my grandma spent the most time on and which I have been slowly going through and confirming the data she had or in some cases I have been fleshing out the trees and looking at siblings to ensure I have the correct family units.

Screen Shot 2020-04-01 at 9.26.26 AM

I have been concentrating on the Knowlton line a lot. I am trying to connect that pesky Sarah to her father Benjamin Knowlton. There are a couple of genealogies with no sources that state they are father and daughter. If I could confirm that Sarah Knowlton who married Obadiah Coolidge was the daughter of Benjamin Knowlton it would clear up an AIR (additional information requested) for the DAR. I am in the midst of reading town records isn’t that fun.

The other line I have been playing with is The Joseph Daby and Elizabeth Nurse line as that should take me back to Rebecca Nurse of the Salem witch trials. I really need to finish that application for the ADEAW. I think I may pull out what I have for that this weekend.

I can generally get these lines of my grandpa’s back to about 1630, my eventual goal is to hopefully find that elusive Mayflower ancestor.

So I would say this is my popular line of genealogy research probably because I am most comfortable with researching it.

Social Distancing Project 1

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I thought I would have more time being stuck at home for projects during the Covid-19 Pandemic but for the past week I have been battling a cold or possible strep throat considering it felt like a knife had been shoved down my throat but I am finally feeling better to work on my first project that I had started before this all started.

I am working on this project for my DAR Chapter. I am a member of the Increase Carpenter Chapter. My project is making shareable Patriot Profiles and compile them in a book along with other information I might find. Right now I am concentrating on their graves.

This is a patriot of a chapter member. We plan to share these on our Chapter Facebook page.

abnercooley

and here is a link to his Find A Grave memorial. This is actually a wonderfully maintained memorial page as it provides a lot of information about Abner Cooley.

Are you working on any volunteer projects while sheltering in place and helping to flatten the curve?

A special shout out to those essential workers on the front lines THANK YOU for ALL YOU DO. I am extremely blessed that Gerard retired in 2019 as this would of stressed me more than September 11, 2001, ever did.