Week 52: Resolution (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 52 is "Resolution." This time of year, many of us make plans for what we want to accomplish. Do you have a genealogy resolution -- maybe a brick wall you want to break through or a collection of letters you want to digitize? Register for 2025’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Some people call them “Resolutions”, I like using the term goals. Actually, there isn’t much difference between a resolution and a goal. A resolution is making a firm decision to do something while a goal is the object of a person’s desired result.  So I guess a goal comes first and then we make a resolution to do it?

Anyway, I looked back on what I wrote about my Goals for 2024. I had five basic goals:

·         Participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks – achieved

·         Do a daily genealogy tip post on my other blog “Out on a Limb Genealogy” – achieved

·         Finish the Jones Book for my sister-in-law’s cousin – achieved

·         Continue the Goodwin Descendant Project – achieved

·         Clean up my paper files – not achieved

I did not achieve my last goal because let’s be honest, it’s boring. However, this past year has been a rough one for my personal life. My sister-in-law was diagnosed with Stage IV Bone Cancer on January 17^th and lost her battle on July 8^th. Also, one of my intellectually disabled sisters was diagnosed with Stage II Pancreatic Cancer in early April.  I am her caregiver in the sense that I manager her finances, pay her bills, buy all her groceries, take her to her appointments.  Thus, I ended up spending many days in the Cancer Center as she received her treatments. She had two surgeries this year and thus I ended up spending my days in the hospital with her. I also have another intellectually disabled sister who I had to make sure was also taken care of. My two sisters are roommates. Anyway, I decided that I would drop the fifth goal for this year.

Thus, looking forward to the new year I have some similar goals as last year:

·         Participate in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – this project gives me a chance to review my research and discover things I might have overlooked.

·         Continue the Goodwin Descendant Project and create a book – I have already ran a first draft of my book and now I am currently reviewing it for big missing gaps of information.

·         Clean up my paper and computer files – I just need to bite the bullet and do this. I am getting up in years and I don’t want to leave an unorganized mess for my children. If I don’t start, it won’t ever get finished. I need to spend at least four hours a week doing this project.

·         OPTIONAL – I also have inherited a huge slide collection from my father. I need to scan the slides. I am hoping to get a new slide scanner that will make the project a little more enjoyable. However, the paper files really have a higher priority, thus only after I have spent four hours doing the file organization project, will I even consider doing the slide project.

·         Continue with DNA identification – I need to slowly go through my DNA matches, using the new Ancestry ProTools to figure out who my matches are and input them into my tree. I can do this project using my laptop at night while watching TV.

How did you do this past year? What are some of your goals or resolutions for 2025?

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

December’s Theme and Week 49: Handed Down (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 49 is "Handed Down." Do you have something that has been handed down to you, whether it's an item, a story, or even a name? This week is a good time to write about it! Check out all the2024 prompts.

Traditions are also handed down. My family’s Christmas Eve Tradition that was handed down started the second year my parents were married. My dad married my mom, a widow with six children. My dad was so looking forward to that first Christmas Morning, watching the all the kids open their gifts. However, that is not exactly what happened.

On Christmas Day, my siblings quietly got up in the morning, something we always did on days off, because my mom likes to sleep in. They crept downstairs and quickly proceeded to open their gifts. By the time my father awoke, he found all the kids quietly playing with their gifts. Being so disappointed, he told my mother that from now on, they will be opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Thus, our tradition is having a wonderful dinner. After dinner, when the dishes have been cleared from the table and the adults and older children are washing dishes, by father gathers up all the little ones and we pile into the car (a station wagon). He would drive around and we would look at all the Christmas Lights. We drove through our town park which was decked with lights and had music playing. One of the downtown stores even had a small animated Christmas display of Santa’s workshop with elves busy making toys. I swear it felt like hours, but I loved looking at all the lights.

While we were out driving, Santa always managed to show up at our house to drop off the presents. Being the youngest of nine and becoming an aunt at seven, meant we had a full house and lots of Santa presents. I remember one Christmas where our huge living room had presents that took up half the room. I didn’t really notice that it was because of the gaps between the gifts or that no gifts were stacked on top of other gifts. Another Christmas my eldest brother, who would always bring his children’s Santa gifts to my parents, had a bike waiting for my oldest niece. The joy that was on her face was priceless.

My parents moved to Arizona when my children were young, and thus, we didn’t spend many Christmases with my parents. Therefore, it was up to me to keep up with the traditions. I still love driving and seeing all the Christmas Lights. Sadly, it’s not like when I was a child, many people don’t bother putting out lights. The first time, I did this when I moved to Arizona to live nearer my parents, I found many sections were very unlit. Thus, I go out ahead of time and try to find the areas that have lights, so that I was not randomly driving around town and not finding anything.

My children are grown, but just like me, my youngest daughter and I still love the tradition. My other children and my almost grown-up grandchild, humor us and accompany us on our drive. It was always my husband’s job to get the hidden presents and put them under the tree.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy! 

Week 47: Random Number (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 47 is "Random Number." This is a fun exercise -- pick a random number between 1 and 100. Then, either take a list of everyone in your tree and scroll down to that number or print out an ancestor chart and pick the person in that number slot. (You might need to go to a second chart if you picked a big number!) Then write a little bit about that person. Click here to find out all the Themes from 2024.

I decided to print out an Ahnentafel Report using my Family Tree Maker software. This report numbers my ancestors with myself as person 1. It will give the father of each person a number twice their number and their mother will be twice plus one.

I wanted 100, however I haven’t input this person in my tree. I do have his child, #50 – William Long who was born on Sep 3, 1812 in England and he died on Jun 14, 1885. He married Mary Thompson who was born on Dec 22, 1819 and died on Jan 13, 1892. I have found at least eight children, my ancestor is #25, Sarah Agnes Long who was born on Dec 27 1843, supposedly in Canada. I say supposedly, because her immediate older and younger sibling were born in England.

I am confident that Sarah Agnes Long is my ancestor, however, I am not so positive of her birth information, since I obtained it from Find A Grave. 

Therefore, my research will start with her.

Using the hints on Ancestry, someone posted a 50^th Anniversary newspaper article about Sarah and her husband George Tyler. It states that both Mr. and Mrs. Tyler came from England when children. Thus, Sarah was born in England, not Canada. It also means her parents came to America. George served in the civil war and at the close was married. The couple traveled overland from Illinois to Audubon County, Iowa in a covered wagon. But they did not remain long, returning in a short time to Illinois to be near Mrs. Tyler’s Parents. Thus, Sarah’s parents were still alive after the Civil War. Also, this probably means that they most likely died and are buried in Illinois. Later, the couple came to Iowa again, settling on a farm near Chapin. I don’t have a wedding date for George and Sarah and the article states that the anniversary was September 21^st. The article was from the Mason City Globe Gazette, dated Oct 5, 1915 on page 5. Thus, their marriage date most likely is Sept 21, 1865.

Also, among the Ancestry hints is a Baptism record, dated Nov 1, 1844 for Sarah Long with a father of William Long and mother of Mary Thompson Long. No birthdate is giving in this transcription only record.

The hints have her Wisconsin marriage record, with image with a marriage on Sep 21, 1865 in Gratiot County, Wisconsin. It has George’s parents of Peter and Sarah Tyler, stating George was born in England. Sarah Long’s parents are listed as Wm and Mary Long. No birth place for bride is asked on this certificate. The place, town or township and county where the marriage was consummated is difficult to read. I do know it is in Lafayette County, per the label from Ancestry.  I use google to look up, Gratiot, Lafayette County and there is a town by that name in Lafayette County.

Sarah is found in the 1870, 1880, 1900 and 1910 US Federal Census and her birthplace never changes from England. Her age starts at 26 in 1870, 36 in 1880, 56 in 1900 and 66 in 1910. She is found in the Iowa State Census for 1915 and her birthplace is England and her age is 72. Her immigration Year is listed as 1848 in the 1900 census. The 1910 census states she had eight children, and only 7 are still living. This matches previous information I found about her second born child who died at the tender age of 6.

I don’t find any Census records for Sarah before 1870. She should be in the 1850 and 1860 US census if she immigrated in 1848.

The only other England records I find are for a Sarah Ann Long who is born in 1843, her parents are John Long and Mary possibly with a maiden name of Booth.

When I follow a hint from Mary Thompson Long from Sarah’s baptism record, I find Mary age 20, living with her husband, William and son George 10 months old in England. Further research would be needed to see if this William and Mary are my Sarah’s parents. I don’t have a George as a child of my William and Mary in my records.

When I look at other people’s tree’s on Ancestry for Sarah Agnes Long, no one has a census record before 1870. Some appear to have records for the Sarah Ann Long attached to their tree for Sarah Agnes Long.

If I want to figure out who my ancestor #100 is, I will need to first investigate Sarah Agnes Long parents and see what kind of records I can find for them.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

Week 44: Challenging (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 44 is "Challenging." Some ancestors are easy to research. Others, not so much. Who has been challenging to research? Another way you could approach the prompt is an ancestor who challenged something in their life.   Check out all the 2024 themes.

Overall, I think Genealogy is Challenging. In fact, it is one of the reasons I like doing Genealogy. I even tell people that if genealogy was easy, then everyone would be doing it.

Don’t get me wrong, there are days that are easy. That I sit in front of my computer, and everything just seems to fall in place. However, the normal day involves, some easy, some difficult and a bunch of challenging aspects to figure out.

Many years ago, an acquaintance of mine, exclaimed with glee “I don’t know why you say Genealogy is hard. Last weekend, I went on the computer and by the end of the night I had traced my family back to the 1700’s”. I looked her straight in the eye and asked, how do you know that is really your family? Did you verify all the information or were you just relying on other people’s trees and hoping they knew what they were doing. She gave me the “deer in the highlights” look.

So here is my disclaimer: if you are a person who just goes from one tree to another, collecting names, stop! Those could be your people, but how do you really know unless you do the work. I will give you some examples.

My husband’s great grandfather is Ernest Kaeding. He was born on Sep 29, 1868 most likely in Germany. He married Lydia Erbrecht in 1902 in Shawano, Wisconsin. They had at least 13 children. I researched all of this from the Shawano County Courthouse. The birth records I did find, would tell me what number child they were and often gave the first names of the other children. 

In 1900, I have him living in Tigerton, Shawano County, Wisconsin. A Single male born Sep 1869, living with his widowed mother and several of his siblings.

However, one of my husband’s cousins has him in 1900, living in Chicago with his widowed father and several of his siblings. His birth date is given as Mar 1877. 

First of all, you can see, these two Ernest’s are not the same age or even close to the same age. Their siblings’ names are quite different too. This cousin has Ernest married twice and have children born around the same time. This cousin not only has my Ernest’s wife but another woman too. My Ernest was married in Shawano in 1902 while their Ernest was married in Hammond, Indiana in 1906. My Ernest stayed in Tigerton, Shawano, Wisconsin while the other Ernest moved from Illinois to Indiana and later to Minnesota. The other Ernest even produced a death record on Sep 18, 1959 in Minnesota. My Ernest also produced a death record on May 2, 1931 in Shawano County when he died in a car accident. 

Moral of this example: Genealogy is Challenging. People have the same name, lived in the same area and was born and married around the same time. However, you have to do the work, follow the leads and determine if these Ernest(s) were two people or one, living a double live. Since Ernest could not die twice, this is clearly two people.

Another example: My husband’s 2nd great-grandfather is Friedrich Theodore Christian Martin Gloede born Nov 12, 1842 in German. Died Jan 3, 1901 in Oshkosh, Winnebago, Wisconsin. His Find a Grave memorial is 109073583. However, the Ancestry Hints that come up for this person refers to Friedrich Carl Heinrich Theodor Gloede born Apr 6, 1843 and died May 2, 1900. His Find A Grave memorial is 80195156. Thus, there are many trees where people have records for both of these men in their tree and claim it is the same person. 

In fact, one of my husband’s cousins has done this. Her tree comes up in the list of hints, showing my husband’s ancestor with his wife and the Sheboygan County man’s grave information. 

Of the 12 hints that Ancestry is giving me, only one, the 1900 US Federal Census for Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin is valid for my husband’s ancestor. Challenging right?

However, when I used the search option, the magnifying glass to the right of my person’s profile page, the list of records is more accurate and appears to be for my person. The first record is the Find a Grave for my husband’s ancestor along with the next six records listed. It’s the eighth record that brings up the Find A Grave for the Sheboygan man. 

Moral of this example: Genealogy is Challenging. We have to look at all the records, see if the information fits what we know about our person. It might mean following the life of a person who isn’t our relative.

Another thing that makes Genealogy Challenging, not everything is found on-line. Let me repeat this, NOT EVERYTHING IS FOUND ON-LINE!  I explained previously how I went to the Shawano Courthouse to look at the actual records. This is because the index that Ancestry offers on-line only goes so far. It was the actual records that told me the order of the children and gave me names of the previous children already born. I found a few stillborn records (deaths only) for children of Ernest Kaeding. After looking up the births, I switched to the death records and found those children who died young or were stillborn. To make things even more challenging, they repeated the names of their deceased children. Thus, if a child died, they didn’t have a problem reusing that child’s name for a future birth. They had an August Gottlieb Kading who had been born and died in 1912. Then in 1918, they had another August Kading who had been born and died. They had two stillborn children that they didn’t name, one from 1915 and another from 1917. 

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

Week 42: Full House (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 42 is "Full House." Builders, homemakers, card players, parents with lots of children... who in your tree does this this theme make you think of? (Remember: There's no wrong way to interpret the theme!) Click here to see all the 2024 themes.

Sometimes a Full House doesn’t necessarily mean how many people, but who the people are. For example, in the 1900 US Census for Nekimi, Winnebago, Wisconsin, my great grandfather, Orville Charles Hiltz is living with his sister and her husband who are living with his sister’s in-laws.

My great grandfather is listed as a boarder, because there is no direct relationship between the head of household and my great grandfather.

However, this census gave me hypothesis that later was proven partially correct. I hypothesis that Orville and Mable’s parents have passed away. Otherwise, why wasn’t Orville living with his parents.

Orville Charles Hiltz was born Jul 28, 1873 in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin to Seymour and Wilinia (Booth) Hiltz. He was the first-born child. His sister was born three years later on Dec 3, 1876 in Green Lake County, Wisconsin, a neighboring county of Fond du Lac.

In 1880, these two siblings are living with their parents in Chicago, Cook County Illinois. At this point I was unable to find either parent after 1880. During a later research day, I found a newspaper article stating that Seymour wrote a letter to his sister-in-law inquiring about his wife and children. I previously blogged about the disappearance of Seymour in 2022; Week 26: Identity for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Anyway, in the article, it stated that Wilina had remarried and later died about 1899. It also stated that Seymour was last seen by the family about 1882. So my hypothesis was partially correct, his mother died. His father had abandoned the family, something that wasn't on my radar at the time.

During another research day, I found a birth certificate for a third child of Seymour and Wilna. Which I blogged about this year’s in Week 40: Least. This unnamed male was born Sep 8, 1883. Therefore, if Seymour is the biological father of said child, then he would had been with the family nine months before the child was born, if the child was a full term baby.

In 1890, Wilina married her second husband George Pansie. Did Orville and Mable go live with their mother and stepfather? In 1895 Mable married William Buehring. Did Orville move into the Buehring home before or after his mother’s death? Wilina and her husband and the parents of William Buehring were all living in the Nekimi, Winnebago County, Wisconsin area. In fact, William’s parents and Wilina and George Pansie are buried in the same cemetery, in nearby graves.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

Week 41: Most (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 version)

The theme for Week 41 is "Most." Like last week, this theme can go countless directions! Most number of marriages, most children, "most likely to succeed." Let your imagination run wild! Click here to find out about all of the 2024 prompts.

As genealogists, I think we have those relatives who are the MOST involved to research. I could put MOST in front of a lot of relatives, MOST difficult, MOST confusing, MOST frustrating, MOST hidden, etc… I think you get the idea.

Anyway, I have been proofing a Descendant Book that I am creating on my 3rd great grandparents, Thomas Goodwin and his wife Jane Burns. I have done my first pass through of research, where I start with my 3rd great grandparents and research all their children, then starting with the oldest child, research their children, starting with their oldest child I repeat the process all the way done the line before moving to the next child and working up and down the lines until I think I have found everyone I can find.

I then generated a first draft of the book, using Family Book Creator from my software package of Family Tree Maker. What I am looking for, besides spelling errors, are huge gaps in my research. Missing vital information such as birth and if appropriate death information. I look for marriage information if they were married and divorce information if they remarried and I am missing that information. I also make sure that someone didn’t have any offspring by locating their obituaries if available.  I like to record their Find a Grave record too, thus if they died or probably died (based on birth date) I look for the record.

I am only down to the 3rd generation of a 7-generation book. I was looking at one of my relatives, Lester Mulvaney who was born in 1901 and died in 1982. I had three children for him and one died as an infant and then he had two other daughters. One daughter, Mia Mae Mulvaney died in 1967 and based on her obituary, I knew she had four children, three daughters and one son. Her husband was a Luther Dickerson who I had no information on. Thus my big red flag to do more research.

Based on Mia Mae’s obituary, she died in Marshall, Missouri. Thus, using Ancestry, I decided to look for a Luther Dickerson in Missouri, (fingers were crossed that it wasn’t a too common of a name). The following is what I found and I recorded it in my software program as private research notes:

• Found a Luther Dickerson born 9 Jul 1913 Missouri, died: 29 Jun 1995 Yuba California
• He married Alva Goodwin on 11 May 1932 in Cole Camp, Benton, Missouri, USA (both were under 21 years of age). Dora Sizemore mother of Luther Dickerson 
• 1933, April 26 Prescott, Yavapai County; Arizona - Zona Lee Dickerson birth
• Newspaper article: 17-year-old Mother shoots self, lives | Prescott, Aug 11 (1934) Mrs. Alva Goodwin Dickerson, 17 wife of Luther Dickerson, 22 and mother of three-year-old Zona Lee Dickerson, was in Mercy Hospital tonight, the victim, officers said, of a self-inflected bullet wound. The shooting occurred on the ranch of James E Goodwin, her father, 40 miles from Prescott in the Williamson valley. The young wife shot herself in the left side above her heart with a small rifle, investigators said. At the hospital physicians declared there was no immediate danger. Officers said she gave no motive for her act. The Dickersons were married in Missouri when the girl was only 13 years old.
• 1935, Jun 27 Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona - Fannie Corrine Dickerson birth
• 1939, Jul 11 Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona - Luther J Dickerson birth
• 1940 US Census: Prescott, Yavapai, Arizona - Luther 26, Alva 23, Zona Lee 6, Fanny Corene 4, Luther James 9/12.
• 1955, Oct 12 Saline, Missouri: Luther James Dickerson death (FG 77432239)
• 1955 Oct 13: Youth Fatally Wounds Self at his farm home. Luther Dickerson, Died at Hospital here early today. Luther James Dickerson, 16, fatally shot himself in the head with a rifle Tue night at his home west of Blue Lick and died at 12:10 o’clock, Wednesday morning at Fitzgibbon hospital. Surviving are his mother, Mrs Jackson Maynard, Kentucky; his father Luther Dickerson of home; two sisters, Mrs. Wayne J Clay, Mullins, West Virginia; Mrs. Kenneth Ussery, Marshall; his stepmother, Mrs. Luther Dickerson, and two half-sisters, Cheryl Ann and Michele Marie Dickerson of the home. (Newspaper Article)
• 1966, Aug 2 Carson City, Nevada: Marriage of Alex C Crawford and Alva M Goodwin
• 1975, Jun 13, Alva M Crawford, 58 died in Barstow, San Bernardio, California. Survivors are her husband: Alex C; three daughters' Zona Lee Clay; Connie Wilson and Corine Usery, all of California. (FG 33190138)
• 1982, Mar 12 marriage Watler R White and Fannie C Hack - Clark County, Nevada
• FG 112688691 Fannie C White b: 6 Jun 1935 d: 7 May 2008

Thus, looking at the Newspaper article  (in Bold) from Oct 13, 1955, I see that Luther Dickerson has a different wife than his first wife of Alva Goodwin (no relation to my Goodwin clan). I see that the son, Luther James Dickerson had two half-sisters, Chery Ann and Michele Marie. Could these be the children of my Mia Mae?

Some wide searches on Ancestry, lead me to a name of Michele Marie Davis who died in 2018. My search consisted of entering Michele Marie Dickerson, with an approximate birth date of 1950 in Missouri, I listed her parents and her sister Cheryl Ann. 

I decide to do a google search on Michele Marie Davis and I found an obituary for a Michele Marie Davis, which list her parents as Luther and Mia Mae Dickerson. BINGO, struck gold.

In the obituary it states she is survived by four children and a brother Gary and a sister Cindy. She was preceded in death by a sister, Cheryl Johnson. It doesn’t list any of her half-siblings, but now I have four children names for Mia Mae. 

Now this may seem very straight forward, however, this took me three days before I found the obituary for Michele Marie. I went down a few wrong rabbit holes. With names like Davis and Johnson, I wasn’t sure it was my people until I found Michele’s obituary. 

Cheryl Anne died in 1990 and I found her in the Ancestry, California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997 with her mother’s maiden name of Mulvaney and father’s surname of Dickerson listed. This was my only confirmation that this Cheryl Anne was my person. From here, I found her marriage record, which not only listed her date of birth but her husband’s name, date of birth and their marriage name. he died in 1998. HINT: To get the husband's information, I clicked on his name which made him the Primary person of the record and gave his age and birth date.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

October’s Theme and Week 40: Least (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 40 is "Least." This is theme that can go countless directions. Least number of records found. Least number of descendants. You could also do a play on words with "leased." Remember: There is no wrong way to interpret the prompt! Click here to see all of the 2024 prompts.

When I think of “Least” I think of all of my relatives who have the least amount of interest to many researchers. A person who comes to a genealogy club that I attend, only researches her direct line, no one else. I think of all those relatives who will never have any descendants. Those that died young, those that never married, those that were not blessed with any children. I do genealogy for them, so they are not forgotten.

Without looking at my tree, one individual comes to mind instantly. A child born to my 2nd great-grandparents, Seymour Hiltz and Wilina Booth. He was born on Sept 8, 1883 in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. I found this record by chance. At the time, I was doing my application for the Daughters of the American Revolution and wanted to see if I could find a birth record for my great-grandfather, Orville Charles Hiltz born Jul 28, 1873 in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.

I found an index on Ancestry that showed a male child being born to my 2nd great-grandparents. Therefore, I went to the courthouse to see what additional information could be found on the original record versus the index. It was for a sibling of my 2nd-great grandfather. My 2nd great-grandfather was listed as one of the other issues as Chas O, which could be Charles Orville. This record was for a child born to my 2nd great-grandparents.

So, what happened to this unnamed baby boy? I didn’t find any death record for him. I can not find the family in the Wisconsin 1885 State Census. This family did move around quite a bit. In 1880 they were living in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA. Wilina had family living in Ripon and perhaps she moved back there to have the baby. Around this time, Seymour abandons the family. Or according to letter received around 1902, Wilina left her husband, who was living in Traverse City, Michigan and moved back to Ripon, Wisconsin to live with her sister. Did the baby die and cause friction within the family? The newspaper article written about this letter received from the long-lost parent alluded to possible violence in the relationship. Some mysteries might never be solved.

It’s people like this and many more, that I do genealogy to find the least researched relatives. I want to create family history books and thus, I include all these people with no descendants so that they may never be forgotten.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy! 

Week 37: Tombstone (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 37 is "Tombstone." If you're like me, cemeteries are your happy place. (I even had shirts made!) Have you found an interesting tombstone for one of your ancestors? Has a tombstone given you a surprising piece of information? Check out all of the 2024 prompts here.

Just the other day, a local genealogical society had a Cemetery Walk at the cemetery that my 2^nd great-grandmother, Nellie Booth Hiltz Pansie is buried at. I decided I wanted to go and my husband tagged along.

This society gave all the attendees a handout about the people whose graves we were going to be visiting. I applaud this effort; however, I wish the guide didn’t read verbatim from the handout. We were supposed to visit 10 sites, in an hour, when the first site took 15 minutes, I knew this wasn’t for me and we left.

However, we did arrive early and I showed my husband my 2^nd great-grandmother’s grave along with her grandchild’s grave, my great-grandfather’s niece. My husband, then wandered around the cemetery as I visited with those who were arriving for the cemetery walk.

As we were driving home, my husband made a comment on how people today don’t realize how lucky we are. He was struck by how many people had to bury their children and in general how young people were when they died. Especially, wives, how many he saw that died in their 30’s.

This also got me thinking about a comment a fellow member of a genealogy club I belong to made. She stated that she doesn’t look for anyone other than her direct ancestors. I mentioned that I do genealogy as a way to preserve and honor all my relatives.

On that drive home, it made me think of my great grandfather’s niece who was buried in that cemetery. Mildred Buehring only lived six short years. She will never have descendants who will research her. She died before her family moved to Canada. She also died six years before her younger sister, Mabel was born. Mabel also died young at the tender age of 12. Mabel and Mildred would be fated to be forgotten if she was a relative of my fellow genealogy club member. However, they will never be forgotten in my genealogy endeavors.  

Mabel Carlina Hiltz was born in Ripon, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin on Dec 31, 1876, the daughter of Seymour Hiltz and Wilina Booth. On Oct 13, 1895 in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin she married William George Buehring. Three of their children, Mildred born Sep 18, 1897, George William born Dec 9, 1905 and Paul Henry born Jan 5, 1907, all in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin. Sadly, Mildred died on Jan 19, 1904 in Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin and is buried in the Ellenwood Cemetery, Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin. Thus, she passed before her younger siblings were born. The Buehring Family moved to Winnifred, Alberta, Canada in 1908. While there, their fourth and youngest child, Mabel Maria was born in 1910. The family moved in 1914 to Beiseker, where their daughter Mable Maria died in 1922. She is buried in the Beisker Community Cemetery, Beiseker, Alberta, Canada. The family moved to Calgary in 1929 and on Oct 21, 1945, Mabel died and is buried in the Queen’s Park Cemetery and Mausoleum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

My suggestion: even if you only want to research your direct ancestors, how about also adding their siblings to your tree. This way if they died with no descendants, they won’t be forgotten completely.

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

August’s Theme and Week 32: Free Space (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - 2024 version)

The theme for Week 32 is "Free Space." Use this week to write about anything you want! Or, if you want to stick to the theme, consider someone who moved to where they had more space (land), a homesteader, or maybe someone who played a lot of bingo.

Since this is a “free” week, I decided to write about a very special person in my life. This past weekend, I had to official say my goodbye to my Sister-in-Law, Jane Burg McAbee.

Jane came into my family when I was around 14 years old, when she started dating my older brother Mike. Jane was the total opposite of my brother, in fact, she was the total opposite of all my siblings. My family has a lot of introverts and she was so outgoing. 

Jane had so much love in her heart and always had a huge smile. She was the most helpful person you ever saw, always volunteering to help others in their home projects, yard work or whatever.

When Jane retired in 2019 at the age of 62, her and my brother sold their house in Manitowoc, Wisconsin and purchased a home on Crystal Lake near Plymouth, Wisconsin. I had a summer home at the time in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and she surprised me and knocked on my door one day to tell me the great news. I quickly went to visit her and Mike at their new home, right on the golf course and fell in love with the home. 

Jane and her siblings spent many hours removing years of leaves from the yard. Mike and Jane had many renovations plans for the house which included a minor remodel of their kitchen, redoing their living room and turning their screen porch into a three-season room. My husband and I helped with the update to their basement bathroom. 

When my husband retired in 2020, we decided to purchase a home only 3 miles from them in Plymouth, Wisconsin. I was so happy being so close to Jane and spent a lot of time with her.

Since they live on the golf course, Jane quickly told me that I had to get a set of clubs and go golfing with her and Mike. My husband was already an avid golfer and I thought this was a great bonding opportunity for all four of us. During the summer we tried to have a standing Tuesday golf outing followed by a lunch date. About once a month we would have a dinner date and return to their house for game night. 

I would invite Mike and Jane over for Thanksgiving since their two kids usually had other plans. It was last year on Thanksgiving that Jane complained about not feeling well. By December, she was complaining about pain in her legs, lost a lot of weight and the doctors were running all kinds of tests. In was on January 17 of this year that they diagnosed her with Stage-IV Bone Cancer. Bone cancer is a very painful cancer and she quickly became bedridden and they started Chemotherapy. Chemo took a horrible toll on Jane, she became weaker, was in a lot of pain, wasn’t eating properly, tired all the time. I saw my energetic sister-in-law turn into a sickly bedridden woman. 

To add insult to injury, one of my intellectually disable sisters was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in April. My visits with Jane became more difficult as my time was consumed taking care of my sister, however we would see each other at the Cancer Treatment Center. She tried to be upbeat, tried to make people laugh, but I could see how much pain she was in. The last time I saw her at the clinic was in late June. My brother was pushing her in a wheelchair and when they helped her from the wheelchair into a regular chair, I saw how weak she really was. They could not do her treatment that day, instead they had to take her to the hospital for a blood transfusion. 

Jane was home only for a few days after that blood transfusion when she had to be taken to the hospital because of a racing heartbeat. It was there that they told her that they could not continue the treatments. All our hopes for beautiful Jane came crashing down. She was in so much pain, she found it harder to eat and the decision to move her into hospice care was difficult. Jane took her last breath on July 8, 2024, a week shy of her 67th birthday. 

I have lost people in my life before, my own sister, Maureen, my oldest brother Tim, both to cancer along with losing my parents, however losing Jane is difficult because I thought we would be growing old together, doing things together. 

In 2022, I helped Jane with a family history book on her mother’s maiden name of Steffes. We spent one day a week, sometimes two, researching and updating the tree I created using Family Tree Maker. I created the book using Family Book Creator and through the website of LuLu. She had a huge reunion in August of that year and presented her copy of the book. She promised everyone we would do an update. I was thinking more like in five years, but she wanted to do one right away, so in April of 2023, I finished the update to the Steffes book with all the corrections people suggested after seeing the book at the reunion. Looking back, I am glad we did the update, because five years wasn’t in Jane’s future.

Jane often helped me with my canning, because she wanted to know how to can. I often shared my canning produce with her as a thank you for all the help she gave me. Last week, when I canned a few jars of pickles, it was difficult because I miss my helper. 

The weather here in Wisconsin has been very rainy and thus I haven’t missed golfing because we wouldn’t have been able to golf, but I missed our Tuesday lunches. I miss her smile, her laugh, her generosity, her spirt. I miss playing Sequence with her. Jane and I would be partners against our husbands. We would laugh so hard, because our cards always seem to go together and we would beat the men more than they ever beat us. 

Jane Angela Burg McAbee was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on July 15, 1957 the daughter of John Frank and Angela Marie (Steffes) Burg. Jane was the 6th child of 12 children. She was proceeded in death by an infant brother, John Benjamin on July 19, 1951 and a sister, Joan Ann on June 29, 1999. Her father passed in 2005 and her mother in 2010. Jane married Michael McAbee on Dec 2, 1978 at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in “St. Joes” near St. Cloud, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. This was the same church her parents were married in. Jane and Mike have two children; a daughter, Melissa Jane who married Troy and they have two children, Caitlin Melissa and Ethan Troy and a son, Quentin Michael. 

Jane was an avid golfer, enjoyed playing cards and games with family and friends (specially with her grandchildren. Family was very important to her. Jane’s love of family goes back to spending time with her siblings on a regular basis, her grandchildren and children were at the top of her list. 

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

Week 31: End of the Line (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 31 is "End of the Line." Do you have an "end of the line" ancestor -- one who you're convinced won't go any further back? What about an ancestor who lived at the end of a street, or one who lived in a small town where the train station literally was the end of the line? Check out all of the 2024 prompts here.

When I think of “End of the Line”, I think don’t think of my ancestors but of their descendants. Lines that end because they have no more descendants. Or what about lines that don’t have anymore sons who carry on the surname down the line. 

In my tree, I looked at my maiden name of Crinion. I have taken this line back to my 3rd great grandfather, Patrick Crinion and his wife Ann Dillon. I have found four of their children, don’t know if they had more. They had one son, my 2nd great grandfather and his three sisters. Thus, the surname only continues through his son.

James and his wife Mary Ann Mahon had 10 children with half being female and the other half being male. Their first three children died young and thus lost one of their sons. Their fourth child, my great grandfather David had two sons. The remaining three sons didn’t have children. Charles did get married but had no children. John, I believe had some sort of disability, such as being Intelligently Disabled, because after his mother died, he went to an Insane Asylum, which is not unusual for the time period for these individuals. Their youngest son, James, died at the age of 28, unmarried.

David’s oldest son Frederick had two children, one daughter and one son. While my grandfather, John Crinion had two sons. However, my father and his older brother only had daughters. Thus, the surname didn’t continue through John’s sons.

Looking at my grand uncle, Frederick and his son Harlan, who had two sons, however one died at three years of age. The youngest son, born in 1959, doesn’t appear to be married. None of Harlan’s daughters appear to be married either and they don’t have children.

Therefore, it might the “End of the Line” for the Crinion surname through Patrick Crinion. However, it isn’t the end of the Crinion surname through other lines. I made contact with someone who married a Crinion in Ireland. His family appears to descend through the older brother of my Patrick. Their line, inherited the family lands, and it goes from oldest son to oldest son. My contact’s husband has one older brother, who didn’t have any children. Sadly, he died and my contact and her husband have inherited the family homestead. They have two sons, who may or may not be married. However, they are at an age to easily be married or get married and have children.

I did a Google search and found a website (https://forebears.io/surnames/crinion) that claims there are approximately 656 people who bear the surname of Crinion. NOTE: you can change out the crinion surname with your desire surname and see results for that surname. I find this very interesting, and wonder what records they used to figure out this number. 

We all have “End of Line” branches to our trees, sometimes, this causes surnames to disappear for future generations. One reason, we can’t always use DNA based on surnames alone, I think we will have more surnames from our female relatives than our male relatives who are carrying on the surnames we recognized.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

 

Week 27: Planes (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 27 is "Planes." I sometimes think of my grandparents, going from childhoods where they often traveled by horse to adulthood where they could get on a plane and visit relatives on the other side of the country. What role do planes play in your family history? Click here to see all the 2024 prompts.

When my father, Robert Crinion also known as Chic, retired in 1989, he worked for Mercury Marine a Brunswick Corporation for 33 years. Mercury Marine started as a Kiekhaefer Mercury company.

My father worked in the service department at Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for Kiekhaefer and in October of 1965 he became the Service Manager and thus was relocated to Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin. 

My father was one of the co-authors of the Maintenance Guides for various motors, such as: Mercruiser Stern Drives 60 Power Package Operation and Maintenance Guide; Outboard Pocket Service Guide; Kiekhaefer Mercury Outboard Mortors Master Service Manual; Mercruiser Rover Marine Installation Manual; and MerCruiser Rover Marine Operation and Maintenance Guide.

In 1974, he became the Export Service Manager and would travel the world every 3-6 months for 6 weeks straight. He taught people how to service the motors. 

My father is the one circled above

My dad flew all over the world and brought back many souvenirs, I still have some hanging in the foyer of my house. He also brought back small dolls, Barbie size and smaller for my two sisters and I to share and they were displayed in our bedroom. These small dolls wore traditional clothes from the country he purchased them from. I still have that collection, but the years haven’t been kind to them, with some falling apart because of the rubber bands that hold on the heads, arms and legs have deteriorated. They are currently in a box in one of my spare bedrooms. 

Through the years, when seeing plane crashes, such as the American Airline Flight 191 that crashed on May 25, 1979 in Chicago at O’Hare International Airport, made me realize how quickly my father could be taken away from us. He actually flew out the day before from O’Hare.

Once in London at the airport, a bullet whizzed by his head, because the police were chasing a terrorist through the airport. That just sounded too dangerous for me. 

In the beginning, he travelled First Class and later he was bumped down to business class. He could fit everything he needed in his carry-on luggage, because he didn’t want to waste time in the airport for his luggage. Plus, he never lost his luggage this way, either. He once brought back a large spinning wheel for my mother. He carried that onto the plane and they placed it in the closest that is reserved for first class coats and jackets.

My father even traded in his first-class ticket for two coach tickets and took my mother to Europe. They visited many countries on that trip, seeing England, France, Spain, Germany and more.  

In 1982, he was reassigned as Mercury Outboard Product Service Manager and his world travels ended. He made so many friends internationally, that when they came to Headquarters, they insisted on visiting my father and he would invite them to the house. I always enjoyed meeting these business men and asking questions about their home life.

On August 31, 1989 he officially worked his last day and a year later, my parents sold their home in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and retired to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. My father died on January 13, 2011 in Lake Havasu City, Arizona and was laid to rest next to my mother in the Crinion plot located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

Week 26: Family Gathering (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 26 is "Family Gathering." It's the time of year for family reunions, holiday cookouts, and other get-togethers. Has your family had a family reunion? Do you have favorite memories of getting together with cousins and other relatives? Click here to se all the 2024 prompts.

My mother’s side of the family is the one I remember having family reunions. These were for the descendants of Johann (John F) Hafenstein (1847-1914) and his wife Augusta Baumann (1845-1908). They had 10 children and 36 grandchildren. My grandfather was one of the grandchildren. 

The first one I find in the newspaper is from 1931. My grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Welsey Hafenstein and children attended. One of these children, is definitely my mother, Orlien.

On Sunday, June 28, 1936, the Hafenstein’s celebrated five couples wedding anniversaries and five birthdays. My mother listed as attending under the name of Emily Orlien. Where Emily came from, I have no idea, her middle name is Mary.

 

In 1952, the Hafenstein reunion is held at my mother’s aunt and her husband’s farm. By this time, my mother is married to her first husband, Quentin McAbee and is expecting her third child. They were living in Auburn, Washington and probably is the reason why they didn’t attend. 

On June 19, 1955, the reunion is again being held at my mother’s aunt and uncle’s farm. They also combined it with a bridal shower for my aunt, Mary Hafenstein who going to be married on July 2, 1955. They didn’t list all the guest but did mention my aunt and her future husband, Russell Reilley by name.

 In 1961, the reunion was held in Beaver Dam (Wisconsin) Park. The traditional reunion post isn’t found, just a brief notice that L. M. Allens and Mrs. Randall (their daughter) and children attended the Hafenstein family reunion.

 In 1992, I was part of the planning committee and it was the first one to jump back two more generations for the Descendants of Gottfried Hafenstein (1782-1866) and his wife Louise Kistenmacher (1796-1860). We gathered at Lakeview Park in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. My aunt, Mary Hafenstein Reilley and I had completed the book, The Generations of Hafensteins.

 

I know there were more reunions, however, this is all I found online. These newspapers articles are interesting, especially the ones that list individuals. I will need to review these and make sure I have accounted for each individual.

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!

June’s Theme and Week 23: Health (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 23 is "Health." Health affects everything we do, and it was no different for our ancestors. This week, consider writing about an ancestor who dealt with health issues or one who the picture of health. Another angle would be to write about an ancestor who was a health professional.

Health is a subject that I am dealing with currently. My sister-in-law, the picture of health was diagnosed in January with Stage 4 bone cancer. She went from being the person who could not sit still for two minutes, always on the go to being stuck in bed or a recliner due to her disease. She is so weak and it breaks my heart.

Then to add to my concerns, one of the sisters, Jackie who I care for and who is intelligently disabled was diagnosed in April with Pancreatic Cancer. And since I am the one who handles everything for her and my other intelligently disabled sister, it has added a level of stress to my life. My sisters are not twins, Jenny (on the right) is 1 year, 2 months and 20 days older than Jackie (on the left).

My sisters had been living with me and my family from 2010 to 2020. When my husband retired and we decided to move from Arizona back to our home state of Wisconsin, I got my sisters their own apartment. This has been the first time they were living independently. I mean, I did all their shopping, take them to all their appointments, dentist, doctor, haircuts, etc. However, they came and went as they pleased. 

When my husband and I finally found where we wanted to settle, I moved them from that apartment into a townhome in the town I moved to. They loved it. It is a 55+ community. It was quieter than living in an apartment building, which was in the heart of downtown Fond du Lac and traffic was heavy.. Their laundry facility is inside their townhome. They have a one car garage, which came in handy for us to store off season items in their garage.

My sister, Jackie is only 11 months and 15 days older than me. Sadly, she doesn’t really understand how serious this diagnosis is. One of the things I had to do was consult a genome specialist to help with treatment and this is when I realized that I might know when someone was born and when they died. However, what they died from wasn’t one thing I really looked into.

I don’t know what the future looks like for either of my sisters, and I hope my health remains good while I deal with this, because my biggest fear wasn’t really of them dying. I am the youngest of nine and we have lost two siblings already. My biggest fear was of me dying before these two sisters and wondering who would care for them in my absence. I have now reached out to the Aging and Disability Resource Center in my county and hopefully this will be figured out in the coming year.

Even though I am dealing with my sister’s health crisis, I am trying my best to find stress relief, such as through my genealogy research. Also, I am trying to take better care of my own health. 

Remember to have fun and Just do Genealogy!

Week 22: Creativity (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 2024 Version)

The theme for Week 22 is "Creativity." Whether it's doing arts and crafts, making a meal of out seemingly nothing, or playing music, some of our ancestors were creative people. Sometimes we have to be creative in finding our family tree! As always, feel free to be creative in how you interpret this week's theme. Click here to see all the 2024 Themes. Click here to see all the 2024 Themes. 

When we look back at our ancestors to find creative people, my thoughts go to “Did they have free time to be creative”? If their profession was a carpenter, then yes, they may have had time to be creative because I have seen lots of creative carpentry work from days gone by.

What about the blacksmiths in your family, did they expand their work into any creative iron work projects? 

Most of my ancestors were farmers, and I wondered if they found time to be creative. I think back to my favorite TV series growing was “Little House on the Prairie” where Pa Ingalls played the violin. Like Pa Ingalls, my great grandfather, David Crinion (1864-1950) played the violin. 

David’s father, James Crinion (1832-1923) appeared in various local plays. I remember seeing something in a newspaper clipping with him with his fellow actors.

In more recent times, my mother was an artist and she loved to paint most of her life. 

My creativity extends to house remodeling and writing blogs such as these. I do know how to crochet and I have done my fair share of blankets. I dabble in a few other creative endeavors, however my passion lies with genealogy.

My oldest daughter inherited the musical gene. She started taking guitar lessons around age 14 and quickly starting writing her own songs. Plus her and my other daughter and granddaughter have inherited my mother’s artistic talents. Below you will find the latest drawing that my granddaughter has done.

Who are the creative ones in your family tree?

Remember to have fun and Just Do Genealogy!.