How FamilySearch Does Indexing Projects

This week Jake Gehring at FamilySearch Blog wrote "Where Do Indexing Projects Come From?"  It is a good reminder that not only are most records not online, but that it takes a real and concerted effort to get records online in a way that is useful.


© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Finding The Graves of the Institutionalized

Kerry at Clue Wagon shared a New York Times article, "Restoring Lost Names, Recapturing Lost Dignity", on her Facebook page.  I have come across my share of relations throughout the 19th- and 20th-century censuses who were in institutions due to incarceration, insanity, or "feeble-mindedness".  Sometimes that census is the last record I find of them, and I often find no grave. This is a reminder of how many of them rest in graves anonymously, which is distressing to me.



© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Honoring My Great Migration Ancestors

With Thanksgiving coming up tomorrow, I am grateful to my huge New England heritage and my ancestors who came over during the Great Migration (1620-1640).  The fact that I am an American and can live the privileged life I live I owe in part to these people's determination to start a new life in a new land.

Today in particular I think of my 10th great grandfather, Henry Tibbetts (abt 1596-1676), who arrived from England in 1635 to Massachusetts with his sister, Remembrance Tibbetts (1607-1667), and his wife Elizabeth (Austin) Tibbetts (abt 1596-1674) and their two children, Jeremiah (my ancestor) and Samuel.



© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Barnabas Herrod (1804-1855), Inkeeper

Another of my paternal grandmother Letta Estella Porter Warren's great grandfathers was Barnabas Herrod who was born in 1804, possibly in Davidson County, Tennessee. By 1820 the 16-year old Barny was living with his parents and siblings in Mississippi and in 1822 he married Susanna/Susan Grubbs.

Their first child, Mary L Herrod was born in Natchez in 1825 and by 1840 he and his young family were living in Madison County, Mississippi.

Barny appears in court records as an administrator of his brother Thomas Herrod's estate and in various land transactions but by the time of the 1850 U.S. Census he had become an innkeeper.

[Source: Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

(Note that in the census record above, Barny owned $160 worth of real estate and his wife Susan's real estate was valued at $4,000!)

Barnabas died in Canton, Madison County, in 1855 of yellow fever.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Finding Abner Hartley in the Homestead Records

Solomon Hartley (1775-1815), my 4th great grandfather, had three sons: George Hartley (my ancestor, 1805-1880), William Hartley (1807-1874), and Abner Hartley (1813-1890).

During the late 1820's and early 1830's Solomon's three sons moved out west from Philadelphia to Cincinnati.  Abner married Sarah Frazer/Frazee in 1836 in Cincinnati and appeared in the Cincinnati directory as a chair maker (like his brother William) until 1843.  By 1860 he and his family had settled in Jersey County, Illinois (across the river from St. Louis, Missouri), and was working as a wagon maker.

I think this was about the time that George Hartley lost touch with his brother Abner Hartley. George's descendants figured that Abner died somewhere in Illinois, date unknown.  When I first started tracing my ancestors using Ancestry.com I was determined to find out what became of Abner and his family.  I found that Abner was still in Jersey County, Illinois in 1880, but then died in Broken Bow, Custer, Nebraska on 22 August 1890.  What had drawn him there?  I think the opportunity to purchase new land via the Homestead Act of 1862.

Homestead records, specifically Nebraska Homestead records (the database is available on Fold3.com and now on Ancestry.com), show Abner Hartley commenced living in Cliff Township, Custer, Nebraska on 15 September 1884.  His son, Abner "Ner" Hartley, immediately moved in with him.

[First page of the official form.  Note Abner's signature, always a nice touch to see their signatures! from the Fold3.com version of the Land Entry Case Files: Homestead Final Certificates.]

In December he paid for the land:

[Copy of receipt, from Fold3.com, Land Entry Case Files: Homestead Final Certificates.]

Abner and Ner appear living together the following year on the Nebraska 1885 Census.  Abner's married daughter, Mary (Hartley) Myers, was living next door.

[Abner Hartley and family in Nebraska, 1885.  National Archives and Records Administration; Nebraska State Census; Year: 1885; Series/Record Group: M352; County: Custer; Township: Cliff; Page: 4]

Like any detailed application, the Nebraska Homestead Records can provide great information for the lucky researcher who has ancestors who were part of this westward movement.  For example, here are some excerpts from Abner's interview on his 2 November 1889 claim for his land.  It gives some nice insight on what his life was like:

Ques. 28.--Describe fully the house on this claim, giving value thereof; also describe fully all other implements thereon of whatever kind, giving the value of each and total value of all implements.
Ans. sod 14 x 18, with additions 12 x 14, --2 rooms, board floor, 3 doors, 3 (or 8??) windows, large sod roof, $150. Cellar 10 x 20, $30. Stable sod 14 x 30, $75. Chicken house 10 x 20, $25. Cistern 12 feet deep, $25. Fram corn crib 12 x 8, $25. Pig pen 10 ft. square $10. 125 fruit trees, $100. 50 forest trees, $10. Fencing $20. 34 a.(acres?)plowed $68, 34 a. backset $68.
Total $655

Ques. 29.--What farm implements do you own and use on this claim? State kind and number, and how long you have owned the same.
Ans. do not own any except one plow, and too old, have hire most /any work done.

Quest. 30.--What domestic animals and live stock do you own and keep on this claim? State kind and number of each kind.
Ans. 100 chickens.

Ques. 31.--State what articles of furniture of every kind you keep and use in your residence on this claim, and how long you have had them there.
Ans. Cooking stove & utensils, table, chairs, cubboard(sp), bed & bedding 'cubbard(sp)". Owned them from 4 to 5 years.

Ques. 33.--How many seasons have you raised crops on this land, and what kind of crops have you raised each season?
Ans. five seasons, corn, vegetable, barley

Ques. 34.--How many acres have you put in crops each year, and how much did you raise? State the amount in bushels of each kind.
Ans.
85 (year) - 4 a. corn 200 bu. 1 a. garden.
86 - 10 a. corn 500 bu. 2 a. garden & potatoes
87 - 10 a. corn 600 bu. 2 a. garden & potatoes
88 - 12 a. corn 650 bu. 3 a. vegetables & potatoes, 3 a. oats, 50 bu. 2 a. barley 20 bu.
89 - 8 1/2 a. in barley & oats, 300 bu., 1 a. potatoes, 1 a. vegetables.

Ques. 35.--Have you the land in crop this year, or is it prepared for cropping the coming season? How much of the land is so cropped or prepared?
Ans. Have 11 a. in corn, haven't gathered it yet.

This is his affidavit of publication that is in his file:

[Includes the newspaper clipping of his claim.  Land Entry Records for Nebraska, compiled 1857 - 1908 State: Nebraska Land Office: North Platte Township: 17 North Range: 23 West Section: 15 Applicant Surname: Hartley Applicant Given Name: Abner Final Certificate Number: 2237 Final Certificate Date: 02-Nov-1889 Range West: 23 Township North: 17]

Unfortunately his application was approved on 19 March 1891, seven months after he died:

[Note the date his claim was approved.  Land Entry Case Files: Homestead Final Certificates. Textual records. Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management. The National Archives at Washington, D.C. Land Entry Case Files of the Broken Bow Land Office, Broken Bow, NE: Homestead Final Certificates, 1890–1908. NARA microfilm M1915. Record Group 49: Records of the Bureau of Land Management. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.]

Roberta "Bobbi" King (via Fold3.com) wrote a great breakdown of the types of information that might be found in the Nebraska Homestead Records.  It is worth reading!




© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: The Ultimate Organization Cheat Sheet for Genealogists

Via New York Genealogy Research's post (if you're not following those NY people you should start right now), here's a very useful organization cheat sheet from Tara Cajacob at The Historium. (And I'm definitely adding her blog to my list.)

[Source: The Historium]

Tara has thoughtfully created a printable version of her cheat sheet. You can download it and get a head start on one of your next New Year's resolutions now!

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Alabama Research Directions

Ancestry just recently released a very nice research guide for Alabama.  One of the commenters suggested adding Wallace State at Hanceville.

I'd also like to add the Alabama Pioneers website as a source for Alabama research.


© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday is for Mothers: Jane Allen

Facts about my seventh great grandmother Jane Allen are scarce. She was apparently born in Surry County, Virginia, in about 1639 but no one seems to know who her parents were. She was the widow of a John or Michael King when she became the third wife of Thomas Warren in 1658. The couple had four sons (that we know of); the third of whom was Robert Warren who is in my direct line.

After Thomas Warren died on April 21, 1670, there was "controversie and variance" about how his property should be divided between Jane and Matthias Marriott, the husband of her stepdaughter Alyce, whose mother (name unknown) was Thomas Warren's first wife. At issue also was the estate of the recently deceased William Warren, the other known child of Thomas and his first wife. The agreement reached in the case is recorded in a transcript of Book I, 1652-1672 beginning at the bottom of the first page shown below, continuing at the top of the second page.

[Source: Ancestry.com. Surry County Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

Original data: Davis, Eliza Timberlake. Surry County Records. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1995.]

As seen about half way down the second page above, Jane's relationship with another stepdaughter, Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas's second wife Elizabeth Spencer, seems to have been more cordial as she was a witness to a prenuptial agreement between Elizabeth Warren and John Hunnicutt in January 1670/71 so that Elizabeth would retain control of her inherited goods after their marriage.

Some sources claim that Jane Allen King Warren was married again to a Samuel Plow or Plaw although I don't know where that information comes from because she disappears from records after the Surry County records shown above. Even her date of death is unknown.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

So Maybe Your Immigrant Ancestors Didn't Land in New York?

Many people researching their ancestors' arrival in the United States first think of the Port of New York/Ellis Island as their likely point of immigration. But as Crista Cowen, the Barefoot Genealogist at Ancestry, explains in this video, there were other places you can look:

But it could have been Baltimore, Galveston, or San Francisco, depending on the time frame.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Becoming a Professional Genealogist

I'm so interested in becoming a professional genealogist, but I've been having a hard time figuring out the specific path.  These links are very helpful.

National Genealogical Society: Becoming a Professional Genealogist
Association of Professional Genealogists: Becoming a Professional
Family Search: Becoming a Professional Genealogist
Board for Certification of Genealogists: How to Become Certified
American Ancestors: What Goes Into Making a Professional Genealogist?
Archives.com: Getting a Genealogical Education

Book: Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians
I bought this recently and it is totally worth the price.  A lot of information.



© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Book Shelf: Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840–1900

There's that picture of your great great grandmother that's undated. Was it taken in the 1860s or 70s? You may know where it was done because the photography studio name is printed on it. But when?

[Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans and Fashion, 1840–1900, by Joan L. Severa.

Kent State University Press, 1995.] 

This book by Joan L. Severa can help you narrow down the time frame to within a few years by examining the clothing. Unlike many parts of Europe where what ordinary people wore didn't change much over the decades, Americans were able to keep informed about fashion trends no matter where they were living.

It's a favorite resource for Marva Felchlin, Director of the Libraries and Archives at The Autry National Center of the American West, as she explained in a blog post earlier this year.

"Severa’s detailed descriptions of the clothing and important historical information support her argument that 'ordinary' Americans cared about fashion. The book is arranged by decade and includes an introduction to the clothing of each era followed by the photographs and analysis. One of the most impressive elements of the book is the documentation of race, ethnicity, and gender in the mid-​to-​late– nineteenth-​century photographs."

The book is available from the usual sources (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, etc.) and even as a used book it isn't cheap, but I think it's well worth it.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

AncestryDNA Rolls Out New "Enhance DNA Matching Results"

Just got an email from AncestryDNA saying they have updated their matching results.  I have been looking forward to this one!  I'm hoping to have a lot fewer and more accurate cousin matches.  Exciting!


© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: William Porter (1796-1868), Silversmith

My paternal grandmother Letta Estella Porter Warren's great grandfather was William Porter who was born in Vermont in 1796. His family moved to New Hampshire when he was about four years old and that's where he married Martha Shepard in 1818.

In about 1826 he and his family moved to Mexico, not the country on our southern border, but a village in Oswego County, New York, where he lived for the rest of his life.

For the first time, the 1840 U.S. Census "reported the number of persons in each household who engaged in mining; agriculture; commerce; manufactures and trades; navigation of the ocean; navigation of canals, lakes, and rivers; and learned professions and engineers." The entry for William Porter's household had two people who were employed in agriculture and none in any other category.

The 1850 U.S. Census is the first to list all the members of a household by name, a wonderful innovation for genealogists. In that census, William Porter's occupation was given as "Silver Smith" and the value of his real estate was $1,500 which would be worth almost $43,000 today.

[Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009.

Images reproduced by FamilySearch.

Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.]

The next two census records we have for William (1855 N.Y. State and 1860 Federal) give his occupation as "Farmer" and  in the 1865 N.Y. State Census his occupation is listed  as "None." He died in 1868.

Was William Porter really a silversmith as he claimed in 1850? Unfortunately, we simply don't know for sure because no supporting evidence has been found. A history of Mexico published in 1895 doesn't mention the family at all.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Where is this Native American DNA coming from? Part 2

I tested my dad's DNA at Ancestry.com.  I then uploaded the raw DNA results to GEDmatch to play around some more.  Here is what I found.

The following is my father's predicted ethnicity percentages (with ranges) from AncestryDNA (Ancestry.com's DNA).  I have included only those populations that either has definite DNA affinity with, or may have trace affinity with.

NOTE: Ancestry explains Trace Regions this way: "These are regions where you seem to have just a trace amount of genetic ethnicity -- there is only a small amount of evidence supporting the regions as part of your genetic ethnicity.  Because both the estimated amount and the range of the estimate are small, it is possible that these regions appear by chance and are not actually part of your genetic ethnicity." [emphasis mine]

Region        Approximate amount

America         less than 1%
Native American less than 1% (Range: 0%-1%)

Asia             0%
Asia South       0% (Range: 0%-1%)

Europe           99%
Great Britain    62% (Range: 38%-85%)
Scandinavia      33% (Range: 12%-53%)
Ireland          2% (Range: 0%-10%)
Europe West      2% (Range: 0%-9%)
Europe East      0% (Range: 0%-2%)
European Jewish  0% (Range: 0%-less than 1%)
Finland/NWRussia 0% (Range: 0%-1%)

West Asia        0%
Middle East      0% (Range: 0%-1%)
Caucasus         0% (Range: 0%-less than 1%)

So far, so good.  All of the predicted ethnicities seemed reasonable from what I knew, except the Native American.  My own results included Native American 0% (Range: 0%-less than 1%).  I was to find that most of my NA amounts in other ethnicity admixture tests on GEDmatch would show about half whatever my father's NA amounts were.

Here are the results from the various GEDmatch tests.  I will highlight any Native American as well as Siberian and Oceanian, as they may (or may not) be relevant.

Eurogenes EUtest V2 K15
Population
North_Sea 36.44%
Atlantic 24.37%
Baltic 11.87%
Eastern_Euro 12.45%
West_Med 8.01%
West_Asian 4.52%
East_Med 0.08%
Red_Sea -
South_Asian -
Southeast_Asian -
Siberian 0.67%
Amerindian 0.81%
Oceanian 0.43%
Northeast_African -
Sub-Saharan 0.35%

Eurogenes Hunter Gatherer vs Farmer
Population
Anatolian Farmer 9.59%
Baltic Hunter Gatherer 57.12%
Middle Eastern Herder -
East Asian Farmer -
South American Hunter Gatherer 1.33%
South Asian Hunter Gatherer 0.90%
North Eurasian Hunter Gatherer 0.57%
East African Pastoralist -
Oceanian Hunter Gatherer 0.11%
Mediterranean Farmer 30.05%
Pygmy Hunter Gatherer -
Bantu Farmer 0.33%

Eurogenes K9
Population
South Asian 0.65%
Caucasus 7.00%
Southwest Asian -
North Amerindian + Arctic 1.30%
Siberian 0.85%
Mediterranean 23.72%
East Asian -
West African 0.17%
North European 66.31%

Eurogenes K10
Population
South Asian 0.57%
Caucasus 7.17%
Southwest Asian -
North Amerindian + Arctic 1.27%
Siberian 0.71%
Mediterranean 13.00%
East Asian -
West African 0.15%
East European 24.69%
North Atlantic 52.44%

Eurogenes K11
Population
South Asian 0.30%
Caucasus 6.35%
Southwest Asian -
North Amerindian + Arctic 1.19%
Siberian - 
Mediterranean 12.31%
East Asian -
West African 0.11%
Volga-Ural 12.79%
South Baltic 16.45%
North Atlantic 50.49%

Eurogenes K12
Population
South Asian 0.22%
Caucasus 5.97%
Southwest Asian -
North Amerindian + Arctic 1.18%
Siberian - 
Mediterranean 10.96%
East Asian -
West African 0.09%
Volga-Ural 11.35%
South Baltic 13.03%
Western European 27.18%
North Sea 30.02%

Eurogenes K13
Population
North_Atlantic 44.91%
Baltic 28.77%
West_Med 12.34%
West_Asian 6.86%
East_Med 3.16%
Red_Sea 0.05%
South_Asian 0.33%
East_Asian -
Siberian 1.33%
Amerindian 1.08%
Oceanian 0.67%
Northeast_African -
Sub-Saharan 0.49%

MDLP Ancient Roots K18
Population
Caucasian 6.66%
Melano-Austronesian 0.23%
Volga-Uralic 6.27%
East_Siberian - 
West_Siberian 2.13%
South_Central_Asian 4.20%
South_Indian 0.70%
North_West_European 33.43%
Sami-Finnic 2.47%
South_East_Asian -
Archaic_African 0.61%
Mediterranean 8.21%
Arctic - 
Afroasiatic 1.78%
East_European 30.29%
Roma 1.51%
East_African -
Amerindian 1.54%

MDLP World-22
Population
Pygmy -
West-Asian 6.41%
North-European-Mesolithic 5.25%
Indo-Tibetan -
Mesoamerican - 
Arctic-Amerind 0.85%
South-America_Amerind -
Indian 1.13%
North-Siberean -
Atlantic_Mediterranean_Neolithic 31.40%
Samoedic 0.87%
Indo-Iranian 2.01%
East-Siberean -
North-East-European 48.49%
South-African -
North-Amerind - 
Sub-Saharian -
East-South-Asian -
Near_East 3.58%
Melanesian -
Paleo-Siberian -
Austronesian -

MDLP World
Population
Caucaus_Parsia 8.77%
Middle_East 4.55%
Indian 1.53%
South_and_West_European 43.19%
Melanesian -
Sub_Saharian -
North_and_East_European 40.83%
Arctic_Amerind 0.76%
East_Asian -
Paleo_African 0.06%
Mesoamerican - 
North_Asian 0.31%

Dodecad World9
Population
Amerindian 1.33%
East_Asian -
African -
Atlantic_Baltic 72.95%
Australasian -
Siberian 1.35%
Caucasus_Gedrosia 12.19%
Southern 11.60%
South_Asian 0.57%

HarrapaWorld
Population
S-Indian -
Baloch 9.14%
Caucasian 7.15%
NE-Euro 51.62%
SE-Asian -
Siberian 1.24%
NE-Asian -
Papuan -
American 0.63%
Beringian 0.09%
Mediterranean 28.64%
SW-Asian 1.46%
San -
E-African -
Pygmy -
W-African -


So, those NA percentages are consistently there, but are also at very low levels.  Around 1%.  Noise level.  No idea where they are coming from.

Yvette Hoitink, a genealogist from the Netherlands, took the Eurogenes K13 ethnicity test and discovered she had 1.15% NA, although, unlike me, she simply dismissed it out of hand, as it seemed to come from her father who descended from a long line of Dutch who never left their community.  Yvette figured it was proof that these ethnicity tests are not exact, and should be taken with a grain of salt.  Maybe I should just drop this whole inquiry and just consider it noise.



© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday is for Mothers: Love Palmer (1717-1796)

My paternal fifth great grandmother Love Palmer was baptized in the First Congregational Church in Stonington, Connecticut, on June 2, 1717. When she was actually born depends on which source you refer to, but it was mostly likely in March of that year.

[Stonington, CT: First Congregational Church Records, 1674-1874. (Online Database. AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2008), Originally published as: History of the First Congregational Church, Stonington, Conn., 1674-1874 with the Report of the Bi-centennial Proceedings, June 3, 1874. Richard A. Wheeler, T. A. David and Co., Norwich, CT, 1875.]

On December 23, 1736, she married Jonathan Shepard in North Stonington.

[Ancestry.com. Early Connecticut Marriages [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Original data: Bailey, Frederic W. Early Connecticut Marriages as Found on Ancient Church Records Prior to 1800. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1997.]

In October of 1758 their tenth child, a daughter also named Love, was born to the couple and that's the end of the records we've found for Love Palmer Shepard.

Some accounts say that Jonathan and Love divorced around 1765 but I haven't found anything to either confirm or refute that assertion. In New England, divorce was a civil, not religious, matter and most common in Connecticut and Massachusetts. So it's not as unlikely as if these ancestors were living in Virginia or South Carolina.

Those same accounts declare that Love Palmer Shepard was married a second time to a man with the surname Hearick (given name unknown) and died in Alstead in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, on July 23, 1796. Once again, there's no documentary evidence to support these claims. There's certainly a gravestone in Alstead Center Cemetery with the name Love Hearick on it and many of Love and Jonathan's children settled in Alstead, but is this really the grave of my fifth great grandmother or did she die in Connecticut around 1765?

[Source: Find A Grave Memorial# 38144881; Photo by Kristin Jones (#47028934)]

Jonathan Shepard and Mary Underwood were married in Tolland County, Connecticut, on January 31, 1765, and by the first U.S. Census in 1790 was living in Vermont, where he died on March 26, 1798.


© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Where is this Native American DNA coming from? Part 1

My dad has trace Native American (NA)DNA in every ethnicity test I run his DNA through, from AncestryDNA to all the admixture tests on GEDmatch.

Why?  Where is it coming from?

My dad has no Cherokee, Iroquois, or Dakota ancestor story.  I have found no records whatsoever indicating Native American heritage.  A full half of his ancestry came from Scandinavian in the 1880's and 1890's, for pete's sake.

And is the Native American real?  That is not clear to me.  I'm somewhat inclined to dismiss it because of a lack of all usual evidence, but why is it showing up at all?  It is a distinct DNA signature, due to the isolation of Native Americans for thousands of years.  Since the NA comes across as Arctic whenever it is possible to refine (as opposed to North American, Mesoamerican, or South American), I have wondered for a while if my Scandinavian ancestors are the culprits for this DNA?

Everything else about his DNA test results makes perfect sense.  An English/Scottish/Welsh type with a heavy dose of Scandinavian, and some Irish and some German.  In AncestryDNA's breakdown he also has possible trace Europe East, European Jewish, Finland/Northwest Russia, and Caucasus.  None of those surprise me, as those groups all inhabited the same landmass, and in the past 500 - 1000 years have had interaction.  That my dad should have as strong an indicator for Native American as Finland/Northwest Russia is very odd.  I would expect the latter to be the larger, more dominant trace ethnicity.  And while the GEDmatch battery of ethnicity admixture tests indeed show a larger amount of eastern Scandinavia and Russia than Ancestry's prediction, the Native American keeps pace, hovering either slightly less or slightly more than 1%.  An annoying number, by the way, as that is at what is called "noise level."





© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 4: Berdines Rasmussen aka Benjamin "Ben" Fister

My great grandfather, Berdines Rasmussen, known in America as Benjamin Fister, was born September 1, 1864, to Rasmus Pedersen of Fister (1827-1876) and Anna Pedersdottar of Oye (1830-1915), in Nedre Fister, Rogaland, Norway.  Fister is a small village in the fjords east of the city of Stavanger.

He had 6 siblings: 

Rakel Karina (1851-1873), who was an opera singer (or had at least trained as one?) and died of consumption in Norway.

Peder "Per" Rasmussen (1856-1913), who was a farmer and fisherman in Norway.

Peder Olaus (1859-1861) died as a toddler in Norway.
Peder Olaus (1861-1900) (I guess they just moved the name to another child?), a seaman.
Faltin Rasmussen (1866-1938), known as Frank Fister in America.
Ivar J Rasmussen (abt 1874-1926), known in America and Canada as Ivar J Fister, who first came to America, and then moved to Moose Jaw/Beaver, Saskatchewan, Canada with his large family.

He was baptized on October 9, 1864 (Lutheran), and confirmed at 14 on October 13, 1878.  At 4 he received his smallpox vaccination September 16, 1868.

He was 9 when his older sister Rakel died, and 12 years old when his father died.

Berdines arrived in the US about 1884/1885, when he was about 20/21, possibly with his brothers Faltin and Ivar.  At some point he may have gone to Australia with Faltin, but decided to throw in his lot in America instead.

[A young Ben Fister/Berdines Rasmussen, date unknown]

[Berdines Rasmussen/Ben Fister, standing, with unknown, date unknown]

As Ben Feister he became a naturalized US citizen at age 28, on November 3, 1892, in Ottawa, LaSalle, Illinois, with J A Quan(?) and John O. Dall (likely Dahl).  The name Fister did not solidify until later.  His oldest son, Roy, used Fiester instead of Fister.

[National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Soundex Index to Naturalization Petitions for the United States District and Circuit Courts, Northern District of Illinois and Immigration and Naturalization Service District 9, 1840-1950 (M1285); Microfilm Serial: M1285; Microfilm Roll: 53]

In 1893, when he was about 23, he worked on the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition, most likely as a carpenter.  This is a family story, I have no proof of this, but it certainly seems possible.

At age 30, on October 18, 1894, he married my great grandmother, 17 year-old Mette Karine (1876-1935), known as Mary Corina Anderson in America, in Norway, Mission Township, LaSalle County, Illinois.  She had arrived only a year before.

[Benjamin and Mary Fister]

In the US Berdines and his wife would be called Benjamin and Mary, so I'll refer to them that way from here on out.

Ben's brother Falentin/Faltin "Frank" Rasmussen and his wife Olive Bravick posed for this portrait with Ben and Mary sometime before Olive's death in November 1896.

[Olive Bravick and Frank Rasmussen at top, Ben and Mary Fister at bottom]

On September 6, 1895, five days after Ben's 31st birthday, his first child and son, Roy Alexander was born.

[Ben, Mary, and little Roy]

Their second son Lyle Fister was born June 28, 1897.

After Roy and Lyle were born Ben went to Europe, almost certainly to Stavanger/Fister.  He is found departing Liverpool, England in Feb 1898, and arriving at New York City on March 5, 1898 (Ben was 33).  He had traveled on the Lucania.

[The Lucania, from Ancestry.com. Passenger Ships and Images [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.]

According to the Ancestry database "Passenger Ships and Images":

Passengers: 600 first, 400 second, 1,000 third. Maiden voyage: Liverpool-New York, September 2, 1893. Badly gutted by fire at her Liverpool dock, August 14, 1909. Despite the fact that her interior had been burned, she was able to make the shipbreakers yard by her own engines, and at a speed of 17 knots, remarkable for a vessel under such conditions. Broken up at Swansea during 1910. Sister ship: Campania.

Further info on the liner:

RMS Lucania was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan, Scotland, and launched on Thursday, 2 February 1893. Identical in dimensions and specifications to her sister ship RMS Campania, RMS Lucania was the joint largest passenger liner afloat when she entered service in 1893. On her second voyage, she won the prestigious Blue Riband from her sister to become the fastest passenger liner afloat, a title she kept until 1898.
http://www.ovguide.com/rms-lucania-9202a8c04000641f80000000055b03c5# 

Upon arrival Ben was listed as a citizen going home and a joiner, and was living at Millington, Illinois, which was a village along the Fox River  in both Kendall and LaSalle counties.

["Ben R Fister" on Year: 1898; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 0015; Line: 1; Page Number: 86]

Ben's third son, Alvin "Al" Reginald Fister was born July 12, 1899.  Ben and Mary now had three young boys.

[Roy, Alvin, and Lyle Fister, likely about 1900.]

When he was 35 he and his growing family were living in in a rented house in Sheridan village, Mission Township, LaSalle County, Illinois (just a bit down the Fox River from Millington), according to the June 1900 Census.  He was a carpenter who had been unemployed for 3 months.

[Ben and family in the 1900 Federal Census, Year: 1900; Census Place: Mission, Lasalle, Illinois; Roll: 316; Page: 12B; Enumeration District: 0069; FHL microfilm: 1240316]

On August 18, 1901, when Ben was 37, his second oldest son, Lyle, died.

Until recently we had thought that Ben and Mary had only 12 children, but another Fister researcher recently uncovered a baptism date for both Myren and a Gladys Fister at the Fox River Church in 1905 in Norway, LaSalle, Illinois.  Gladys Fister's fate is unknown, as no grave has been found yet, and Mary did not count her in the number of children born.

Ben and Mary were in Minnesota (likely Emerald Township, Fairbault, Minnesota, where they were in the 1910 Census April 15, 1910) by the time Edith Olina was born, on February 20, 1910 (when Ben was 45).  He was a farmer of a general farm and owned a mortgaged home, so presumably he had been saving up over the years.   Unfortunately it is my understanding is that the house accidentally caught fire and burned to the ground, and they went back to Illinois.  They were back in Kendall County, Illinois, where my grandmother Margaret was born May 17, 1912 (Ben was 47).

[Ben R. Fister and family in the 1910 Federal Census, from Year: 1910; Census Place: Emerald, Faribault, Minnesota; Roll: T624_696; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 0078; FHL microfilm: 1374709]

About 1913 his brother Per died.

[Ben Fister and brother Peder "Per" Rasmussen, undated photo, but probably 1890's]

Around 1915, when Ben was about 50, his mother died in Norway.

[Ben's mother, Anna Pedersdatter Dahl/Sandvig, undated photo]

By the 1920 Census they were living in Newark, Big Grove Township, Kendall County, Illinois.  The census taker was uncertain if the house was owned or rented.  Ben, 55, was a general farmer.  A month after the census his oldest son Roy married Marie Erath (1901-1997).

[Ben Fister and family in the 1920 Federal Census, from Year: 1920; Census Place: Big Grove, Kendall, Illinois; Roll: T625_380; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 73; Image: 27]

His first grandchild, Roy's daughter Carolyn, was born in Feb 1921.  7 months later his last child, Doris, was born September 12, 1921, 11 days after his 56th birthday.

Tragedy struck again on July 9, 1924, when his second youngest daughter, Alvira Ruth, 6, died of whooping cough in Plano.  Either my father or my grandmother mentioned her a few times while I was growing up, and I remember how sad I felt when I was told she said she was ready to go to Heaven when she died.  This must have been a terrible blow for the family.  Ben was 59.

Ben's brother Ivar died in Big Beaver, Saskatchewan, Canada on May 13, 1926, when Ben was 61.  It is unclear to me if he was in contact with Ivar.  In fact I have no definite idea on his relationship to any of his siblings.

By the 1930 Census Ben, 65, appeared to be doing quite well, owning a house on 207 Center Ave in Little Rock Township, Kendall County, Illinois, worth $3800 (no radio though) (address number derived from his later death record).  He worked as a carpenter for buildings.  I'm not totally sure, but I think it is possibly the same property as today's 207 S Center Ave, Plano, which was built in 1900 and was a TV and appliance store for a while.

[Ben Fister and family in the 1930 Federal Census, from Year: 1930; Census Place: Plano, Kendall, Illinois; Roll: 522; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0012; Image: 862.0; FHL microfilm: 2340257]

[Mary and Ben, undated photo]

[Ben smoked a pipe, apparently.  With Mary, in an undated photo]

[Ben and the family dog, in the 1930's]

Ben Fister died May 2, 1934, age 69, in Plano, Kendall, Illinois.  He was buried in the Little Rock Township Cemetery 2 days later.

*A big Thank You to my cousin Tom Cairns for all the family pictures.



© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: No really, my ancestor was a Vulcan!

Hey, a blacksmith was considered a Vulcan back in the day.  Not that Vulcan, and most likely not this kind of Vulcan.

Vita Brevis has a great post today about historic occupations, like yeomen, fence watchers, and Vulcans, and how you can analyze your ancestors' occupations to get a better understanding of what their life was like.

This post reminds me of Edwin Tunis, an illustrator and non-fiction author of such works as Colonial Craftsmen and the Beginnings of American Industry and Frontier Living: An Illustrated Guide to Pioneer Life in America.  He strove to present the past to younger readers in an entertaining and visual way.  You don't have to be a kid to enjoy and learn from his books.  More on Edwin Tunis here.


© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

William "Will" Nosler (1840-1914), Civil War Veteran

[A later picture of William Nosler, middle, with his sons in San Diego, about 1885.  Many thanks to RitaGLouk on Ancestry.com for improving this image from its original faded state]

What I know about my 2nd great grandfather's experience in the Civil War comes from records and his brother James Milo Nosler's diary.  Will and James Milo enlisted in the Company D, Iowa 2nd Cavalry Regiment on August 7, 1861, which I take to mean that they would act as scouts when needed. According to James Milo:

"We made some preparation for going but the war was now in full blast and believing that duty called us forth in defense of our flag and country, we enlisted on the 7th day of August, 1861, in Capt. G. C. Grover Co. and 2nd Iowacavalry.  This was the first cav. co. reunited at Des Moines; about this timefather moved from Mo., and as we had to furnish our own horses he gave me one (hehad given Will one years ago)...Toward the last of this month we recd. orders to either send our horses off or sell them to the govt. at appraised value.  Most of us preferred the latter, although we did not want to do either.
In about two weeks we recd. our pay for these in gold and also part of our wages, $11 per month."

Within a few months of training in the barracks Will and his brother got sick with measles in late December 1861, apparently one of the very common afflictions for soldiers, and both spent some time in hospitals.  Will and James Milo were in the Battle of Farmington (part of the Seige of Corinth, Mississippi), on May 9th, 1862, as well as the Battle of Iuka (Iuka, Mississippi) on September 19, 1862, and the Second Battle of Corinth (Corinth, Mississippi).  James Milo described the aftermath:

"Wm. and I take a ride of the battlefield.  We see as high as 25 dead rebels in a pile.  See Col. Johnson, Col. Roggers and Gen. Stanwick, all rebel officers that were killed.  Come pretty near getting in a scrape with some artillery men.  We are arrested by the provost guard, and sent out to bury rebels.  Go a piece and then turn and go to our quarters."

Will and James Milo soon after became separated because James Milo's continual ill health prevented him from service for much of the time.   James Milo did note that William was mistakenly arrested for desertion while on furlough in June 1863, when instead he had been taken prisoner (I am unsure of the details of his being prisoner).  I do know that Will had time to court two different women, Mary Jane "Molly" Beckett of Caldwell County, Missouri, and then Esther Loretta Rittgers, who he married May 9, 1864, in Winterset, Madison, Iowa.  I suspect that he was not part of Grierson's Raid, due to the fact that William was in Iowa when most of it occurred.

Later that year was promoted from Private to Full 2nd Corporal on November 1, 1864.  I do believe he did take part in the Battle of Franklin (Franklin, Tennessee), November 30, 1864, and the Battle of Nashville (Nashville, Tennessee) on December 15-16, 1864.

He mustered out September 19, 1865, in Selma, Alabama.




-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: William H Nosler
Residence: Iowa
Age at Enlistment: 21
Enlistment Date: 2 Aug 1861
Rank at enlistment: Private
State Served: Iowa
Was POW?: Yes
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Enlisted in Company D, Iowa 2nd Cavalry Regiment on 30 Aug 1861.Promoted to Full 2nd Corporal on 01 Nov 1864.Mustered out on 19 Sep 1865 at Selma, AL.
Birth Date: abt 1840
Sources: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion
Source Information:
Historical Data Systems, comp. U.S., Civil War Soldier Records and Profiles, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009.




© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Richmond Worden (1758-1837), Revolutionary War Veteran

My fifth great grandfather Richmond Worden was about 11 in 1770 when his father moved the family from Rhode Island to Berkshire County in western Massachusetts.

In January of 1776 young Richmond enlisted in the local militia company in Cheshire for a period of three months and marched with them to Whitehall, New York, from whence they "proceeded on the ice" to Ticonderoga, then down Lake Champlain to Fort St. John, on to La Prairie and finally "crossing the river on the ice" to Montreal where they stayed a week before going to join the siege of Quebec, arriving about a month after they had left Berkshire.

[Champlain Valley 1777; Louis Brion de La Tour Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]

Outside Quebec, Richmond's company joined a regiment commanded by Colonel Seth Warner which was part of the American Army commanded by Benedict Arnold. While there Richmond

"...was taken Sick of the Small Pox and was unable from Sickness to do duty during the remainder of his term of service.That his Term of Service expired about the first day of May 1776 and that his company had not yet been discharged, when on the Sixth day of May the American Army was compelled to  retreat before the British Army commanded by General Burgoine; that this applicant with four other Soldiers were soon after discharged, at or near the place where the out let of Lake Champlain discharged into the St Lawrence River and with them returned home to Berkshire aforesaid."

[Quebec, 1777; Georges Louis Le Rouge - This map is available from the United States Library of Congress's Geography & Map Division under the digital ID g3454q.ar061000, via Wikimedia Commons]

After recovering his health at home, he served two periods in 1776-1777 as a substitute for his brother Peter and one of his brothers-in-law in Vermont. His duties were mainly guarding supplies in Massachusetts.

By August of 1777 he was in the militia again when

"[H]e volunteered under Captain Jonas Galusha to arrest the progress of a portion of Burgoine’s Army invading the country near Bennington Vermont: that the company of Captain Galusha with other companies whose officers he does not recollect, marched to the South West Part of Shaftsbury, where the regiment commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Brush made their head quarters: that on the Sixteenth Day of that month he was engaged in the Bennington Battle near Bennington, that Colonel Seth Warner was on the ground that Day, and Some Berkshire Militia under Colonel Symonds did also Captain Hewick with a company of Rangers: that General Stark was the commanding officer: That in the morning of the Sixteenth he with others of his company was detached from the regiment for a guard. that the army then proceeded to dislodge a portion of the British under Colonel Baum from their Breastworks that the British were compelled to retreat and that the guard to which he belonged after capturing sixteen of the enemy joined the regiment of Colonel Brush: about that time, the British were reinforced by about five Hundred men from Burgoine’s Army: That Colonel Warners Regiment came up just before the Second engagement that day: That after the Battle he returned to his head quarters at Shaftsbury, was discharged immediately and returned home to Cheshire."

[Collections of The Bennington Museum, Bennington, Vermont; Source: National Park Service]

In May of 1778 Richmond enlisted again in the "first Company of Provincial Troops raised for the defense of the Frontier of the State of Vermont for the term of Seven months and received a Sergeants Warrant in said Company."

"Richmond Worden, his Warrantt"; The National Archives: Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrants; Source: fold3.com]

He served twice more in 1778-1780, both times in Vermont.

Sadly, when the 74-year old veteran applied for his pension in Oswego, New York, in September of 1832 he didn't have sufficient documentary proof of his service and was rejected. So he did what any good American citizen would do and hired a lawyer to act as his agent. His second application was approved in 1834 although he was only able to prove his service as a sergeant for six months and as a private 4 months and six days.

[The National Archives: Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrants; Source: fold3.com]

His annual pension amounted to $44. This is his signature from his 1832 pension declaration.

[The National Archives: Case Files of Pension and Bounty-Land Warrants; Source: fold3.com]

Note: All the direct quotes above are transcriptions I made of documents in his file at the National Archives and viewed through fold3.com.

© 2014 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved