Here it is Saturday and I'm ready to go with another version of one of my favorite blogging prompts from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday. This week we're still back in the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts. We're looking at the Frantz family and specifically, Christina (or maybe Christiana) Frantz who married our Jacob Whetstone Jr. and the son of one of our Revolutionary War men.
And let me ask you, how do you pronounce that name, Frantz? Like the Europeans say "french" or like the Americans say it? Because those are the two ways it turns up in records!
And this week I'm changing it up a bit. All of the children from my great grandparents back are included in an efforet to provide better "cousin bait".
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick " Pat" Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it
6. Cambria Williams 1897 - 1960
7. Emma Susan Whetstone 1897 - 1956
14. Joseph Hampton Whetstone 1858 - 1938
15. Catherine Elizabeth House 1865 - 1947
They had 12 children in all and they are:
Charles Albert Whetstone 1887 - 1965
James Franklin Whetstone 1889 - 1960
Clarance Hampton 1891 - 1976
Grace Elizabeth 1893 - 1959
Peter Whetstone 1895 - 1906
7. Emma Susan Whetstone 1897 - 1956
Edna Whetstone 1900 - 1922
Margaret Ann Whetstone 1902 - 1996
Joseph Edward 1903 - 1972
Leslie Laurance Whetstone 1905 - 1995
Viola Whetstone 1906 - 1997
George Washington Whetstone 1911 - 1975
28. Joseph Edward Whetstone 1816 - 1897
29. Sarah Waggoner 1825 - 1880
They had these 13 children:
Elizabeth Jane Whetstone 1842 - 1896
Susan Emily Whetstone 1844 - 1877
Peter Yeast Whetstone 1847 - 1918
William Whetstone 1850 - ?
Charles Whetstone 1851 - 1880
Charlotte "Lottie" Whetstone 1852 - 1872
Mary Alice Whetstone 1856 - 1862
14. Joseph Hampton Whetstone 1858 - 1938
G. O. Theodore Whetstone 1860 - 1861
John Edward Whetstone 1862 - 1896
Bradford Whetstone ?
Zoe Violet Whetstone 1864 - 1948
Frank Whetstone 1869 - 1959
56. Jacob Whetstone Jr. 1776 - 1869
57. Christina Frantz 1774 - ?
Jacob and his brother Solomon married the Frantz girls: Jacob Jr. married Christina and Solomon married her sister Catherine.
By tracing the birth location of the children we find this couple first living in Berks County, Pennsylvania, then a brief stop in Somerset County and last in Selbysport, Garrett, Maryland, a move taken as best we can guess about 1815. He was a farmer.
They had the following children:
Female Whetstone born in 1792
Samuel Whetstone 1794 - ?
Female Whetstone born 1795
John W. Whetstone 1796 - 1848
Female Whetstone born 1804
Hannah Whetstone 1808 - ?
Catherine Whetstone 1810 - 1893
Daniel Whetstone 1812 - 1888
28. Joseph Edward Whetstone 1816 - 1897
Rebecca Susan Whetstone 1803 - 1881
114. Johannes John Frantz (1745 - 1786)
115. Mary Agnes Roof (1749 - ?)
Johannes John was born and died in Colraine Township, Bedford, Pennsylvania, which is just north of Beegelton. Mary Agnes Roof was born in Louden County, Virginia, and how the two of them came to meet is anyone's guess.
They had the following children known to us:
57. Christina Frantz (1774 - ?)
Catherine Frantz (1780 - ?) She married Stephan Riley.
Margaret Frantz (1806 - 1882) She married John Harcher.
John Frantz (1778 - 1842) He was twins with:
Joseoh Frantz (1778 - ?)
Johnathan Frantz (?)
228. Johannes Frantz (?)
229. Susanna Last Name Unknown (?)
Here's what Mom has as Johannes birthplace: Walhausen, Bayern-Pfalz, Germany. There's no year for his birth or death but we do know that his eldest son, Johannes John, was born in Colerane Twp., Beford County, PA in 1745 so he must have immigrated before that time.
The only child known to us is:
114. Johannes John Frantz (1745 - 1786)
I dunno, but maybe one of the Frantz men served in the Revolutionary War. A quick check of the pension files on Fold3 yields nothing immediately useful and the DAR database show a John Frantz born in 1825. That might be our number 228 but there's a lot of "if" going on and this would have to be thoroughly checked out.
There is plenty to do on this line and I have a gut feel that it will yield results.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-frantz-family.html
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
More about the Thomas Family's new home in America
I was thinking about my Thomas ancestors and their journey to America. It seems similar to many folks' ancestors in that the Thomas family came for a better economic future, from the South Wales coal mines to coal mines in Western Maryland.
You can see yesterday's post about the 175th anniversary this week of their sailing here, entitled, "The 175 Years Ago: the start of the Thomas family in America." But what of the world they came to? What was life like in Lonaconing, Allegany, Maryland?
Luckily I had the answer right at my fingertips in an article mentioned by Pat Thomas' page about the Barque Tiberius' ship's list. I copied the URL at the bottom of Pat's page and plugged it into my browser and went to a lovely and helpful write-up about the very place my Thomas ancestors move to. "Lonaconing: Home in the Hills", by Mary Meyers, describing "The Growth and Development of Lonaconing, Maryland". So today I thought that I'd copy some of it below, or at least the parts that give a better description of the mining town that was Lonaconing.
And because it says I need to do this, here's the USGENWEB notice that must accompany the text:
OK, now we're good to go:) So here's something about Lonaconing, thanks to Pat, Mary, and Pat Hook who transcribed Mary's text. Hugs to you! What a blast it is for me to read this and think about Benjamin Thomas and his family arriving there in 1838!
The earliest white settlers-farmers, hunters, and woodsmen-came to Lonaconing in the latter part of the eighteenth century. They came with their families, prepared to stay, although the area at that time was an unbroken forest with just a wagon trail and bridges over the creek. Their names live on in their descendants, residents of Lonaconing to this day -- Duckworth, Fazenbaker, Green, Dye, Grove, Van Buskirk, Knapp and Miller, to name a few. The stone house built in 1797 by Samuel Van Buskirk still stands in Knapps Meadow.
Lonaconing can trace its beginning as a town and a commercial center to the coming of the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company, a Baltimore and London, England, syndicate which purchased 11,000 acres of land along the George's Creek and, in 1837, built a furnace complex to manufacture pig iron, using coal and coke rather than charcoal for the smelting process. The Lonaconing iron furnace was the first in the United States to successfully use bituminous coal and coke in making pig iron.
Besides building a furnace it was necessary for the company to bring in workers and furnish houses for them. The local farmers contracted to erect log houses-about 20 from West Main Street to Watercliff and Knapps Meadow. The furnace workers and their families lived under the "Rules of Residency" set down by the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company. The company endeavored to meet the needs of the people. A store was opening and a post office established. A doctor was brought in to care for the health needs of the community. From the beginning, education and religion held a high priority.
The furnace produced pig iron from 1839 until 1855, when, because of a combination of circumstances, the operation ceased. By then the mining of coal had assumed a much more important industrial role and the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company, which already owned thousands of acres of land along with the mineral rights, turned to coal mining as its sole interest.
The developement of the coal industry issued in an era of growth and prosperity for Lonaconing as well as all of the George's Creek environs. Numerous coal companies were formed and mines were opened on all hillsides. Workers flocked in from Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland and Germany. Business was booming and all varieties of stores came into being to meet the needs of the people. Transportation improved and the railroad made several runs each day, bringing in people and materials and transporting goods to the market.
Hotels were opened in the vicinity of the railroad station and provided livery stables for the many "drummers" who came to sell their wares. Using Lonaconing as a base, these men would hire a horse and wagon and travel the country roads with the various items needed in households along the way. Many of these drummers were so successful that they were able to open stores in town to sell their merchandise.
Eventually other businesses offering employment and economic stability were a glass factory, silk mill, brick plant, grist mill, ice plant, undertaking establishments, blacksmith, carpentry and tin shops, saddlery and livery stable.
With the growth of the population, schools came into being, each section of the town having its own small school, with the largest in the town proper. A library was established and newspapers published in Lonaconing furnished news of the world as well as items of local interest.
Music played an important part in the life of the town and a city band, along with several cornet bands, had no difficulty in getting members. Plays were presented in the "Opera House" by traveling companies and also local talent. Later, two moving picture theaters were quite popular with the residents.
My Welsh ancestors prized education and music as well as hard work and family life so I can easily envision them being happy upon arrival in Lonaconing. At least that's how I like to think of them on this 175th anniversary of their sailing for America: basically, it was worth the trip!
You can see yesterday's post about the 175th anniversary this week of their sailing here, entitled, "The 175 Years Ago: the start of the Thomas family in America." But what of the world they came to? What was life like in Lonaconing, Allegany, Maryland?
Luckily I had the answer right at my fingertips in an article mentioned by Pat Thomas' page about the Barque Tiberius' ship's list. I copied the URL at the bottom of Pat's page and plugged it into my browser and went to a lovely and helpful write-up about the very place my Thomas ancestors move to. "Lonaconing: Home in the Hills", by Mary Meyers, describing "The Growth and Development of Lonaconing, Maryland". So today I thought that I'd copy some of it below, or at least the parts that give a better description of the mining town that was Lonaconing.
And because it says I need to do this, here's the USGENWEB notice that must accompany the text:
USGENWEB NOTICE
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations.
In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations.
OK, now we're good to go:) So here's something about Lonaconing, thanks to Pat, Mary, and Pat Hook who transcribed Mary's text. Hugs to you! What a blast it is for me to read this and think about Benjamin Thomas and his family arriving there in 1838!
The earliest white settlers-farmers, hunters, and woodsmen-came to Lonaconing in the latter part of the eighteenth century. They came with their families, prepared to stay, although the area at that time was an unbroken forest with just a wagon trail and bridges over the creek. Their names live on in their descendants, residents of Lonaconing to this day -- Duckworth, Fazenbaker, Green, Dye, Grove, Van Buskirk, Knapp and Miller, to name a few. The stone house built in 1797 by Samuel Van Buskirk still stands in Knapps Meadow.
Lonaconing can trace its beginning as a town and a commercial center to the coming of the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company, a Baltimore and London, England, syndicate which purchased 11,000 acres of land along the George's Creek and, in 1837, built a furnace complex to manufacture pig iron, using coal and coke rather than charcoal for the smelting process. The Lonaconing iron furnace was the first in the United States to successfully use bituminous coal and coke in making pig iron.
Besides building a furnace it was necessary for the company to bring in workers and furnish houses for them. The local farmers contracted to erect log houses-about 20 from West Main Street to Watercliff and Knapps Meadow. The furnace workers and their families lived under the "Rules of Residency" set down by the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company. The company endeavored to meet the needs of the people. A store was opening and a post office established. A doctor was brought in to care for the health needs of the community. From the beginning, education and religion held a high priority.
The furnace produced pig iron from 1839 until 1855, when, because of a combination of circumstances, the operation ceased. By then the mining of coal had assumed a much more important industrial role and the George's Creek Coal and Iron Company, which already owned thousands of acres of land along with the mineral rights, turned to coal mining as its sole interest.
The developement of the coal industry issued in an era of growth and prosperity for Lonaconing as well as all of the George's Creek environs. Numerous coal companies were formed and mines were opened on all hillsides. Workers flocked in from Scotland, Wales, England, Ireland and Germany. Business was booming and all varieties of stores came into being to meet the needs of the people. Transportation improved and the railroad made several runs each day, bringing in people and materials and transporting goods to the market.
Hotels were opened in the vicinity of the railroad station and provided livery stables for the many "drummers" who came to sell their wares. Using Lonaconing as a base, these men would hire a horse and wagon and travel the country roads with the various items needed in households along the way. Many of these drummers were so successful that they were able to open stores in town to sell their merchandise.
Eventually other businesses offering employment and economic stability were a glass factory, silk mill, brick plant, grist mill, ice plant, undertaking establishments, blacksmith, carpentry and tin shops, saddlery and livery stable.
With the growth of the population, schools came into being, each section of the town having its own small school, with the largest in the town proper. A library was established and newspapers published in Lonaconing furnished news of the world as well as items of local interest.
Music played an important part in the life of the town and a city band, along with several cornet bands, had no difficulty in getting members. Plays were presented in the "Opera House" by traveling companies and also local talent. Later, two moving picture theaters were quite popular with the residents.
My Welsh ancestors prized education and music as well as hard work and family life so I can easily envision them being happy upon arrival in Lonaconing. At least that's how I like to think of them on this 175th anniversary of their sailing for America: basically, it was worth the trip!
This postcard is from: http://www.bandkgreen.net/lonaconing.htm
Many thanks for use of the image!
Please visit this page for more images and old postcards from Lonaconing.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-about-thomas-familys-new-home-in.html
Thursday, June 27, 2013
175 Years Ago: The start of the Thomas family in America
Wait, I thought as I looked at that ship's register transcription on USGenWeb by Pat Thomas, that's 175 years ago! This week! My Thomas ancestors sailed on the Barque Tiberius from Newport (or New Port) Harbor in Wales headed for Baltimore exactly 175 years ago this Sunday. At 109 feet long, it carried 76 passengers and took 46 days to reach Baltimore, Maryland, which they did on 11 Sept 1838.
When I visited Mom last fall we went to the Frostburg Museum in lovely little Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland, and I took a photo of their replica of the ship's passenger list. When I got back home and looked very carefully at it, it jumped to life. Imagine what their journey was like!
Benjamin Thomas, my 3rd great grandfather, head of the family and 45 years old at the sailing, had been recruited out of the coal mines of South Wales by the George's Creek Coal company, which is referenced on the manifest, as you can see below. He came with wife Hannah (Evans), and eight children ranging from an infant, Jane, to four boys who were colliers (William, Benjamin, James, and John) as well as my 2nd great grandmother, Diane (or Diana) age six. Joseph, age three, and Phillip, age two, were also listed. That's a family of 10 people.
George's Creek Coal Company had its headquarters in London and Baltimore and was the owner and operator of their mine in Western Maryland, near Frostburg. They recruited skilled miners from Wales and then paid for their passage with the proviso that the cost was to be deducted from wages. There were 29 "colliers" on that ship and that would mean 29 good and strong men who were immediately available, well trained and experienced, who could go to work in the coal mines. And that strong work force would be tied to the company for however long it took to pay off the cost of the passage.
There were two Thomas families on that ship who came and worked in the mines and prospered. Lewis, Watkins, Reese, two Williams families, two Davis families and a Treasure family were there as well. I'd love to find out more about them all, especially that other Thomas family. Were they related?
The legacy of our Benjamin Thomas is broad and deep, and there are many avid genealogists amongst their descendants. And all of my Thomas cousins are the nicest folks! Benjamin and Hannah would be proud, I think, to know that here we are 175 years later, scattered from coast to coast, all communicating and sharing what we know of them... and wishing we knew much more!
I recently was enticed to find out more about the South Wales coal mines, especially those of the Rhondda Valley, when I came across a web page by one of the descendants of the Lewis family, also on the Barque Tiberius sailing, Debbie Lewis Allen. You can see her blog here. Debbie's posts about the Lewis surname, the preponderance of Welsh surnames amongst African-Americas, and especially the coal region of South Wales got me thinking and googling around. Debbie has some nice information about where her Lewis people lived and maybe worked and I got to thinking that all of the coal mining families who were on the Barque Tiberius were likely recruited out of close-by mines. And, that I should probably know more about where exactly that was if I ever hoped to make any progress in finding locations for my Thomas ancestors. More on that in a later post:)
Here's what Debbie posted about her ancestor on the Tiberius, and note that she has a birthplace for him:
John F. Lewis, Born October 31, 1802 - Died November 7, 1885, He was born in Merthyr-Tidwil Wales.
Hey, what's a "barque" anyway? Off to Google. It's a three masted sailing ship. Interestingly, the barque was also used as a collier or coal ship. Now I'm wondering if the Georges Creek Coal company owned it? The barque was faster and required a smaller crew than other vessels of the day. There were even four-masted barques and they were faster still. San Diego's own Star of India was a full-rigged ship converted into a barque.
Typical three-masted barque.
Star of India, the oldest active sailing vessel in the world.
(Both images above, Wikimedia Commons.)
Here are two other posts about the Thomas Family. This first is mostly about the Barque Tiberius and the second is a Surname Saturday post tracing back from me to this Thomas family.
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/02/treasure-chest-thursday-barque-tiberius.html
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/04/surname-saturday-thomas-family-from.html
UPDATE: Next blog post about the Thomas family in America here:
http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/more-about-thomas-familys-new-home-in.html
In the Frostburg Museum, The ship's register of the Barque Tiberius!
(Here's a link to the transcribed version of the manifest on the Imigrant Ships Transcribers Guild.)
The heading for the ship's register mentioning the George's Creek Coal company.
My Thomas ancestors on the ship's list.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/175-years-ago-start-of-thomas-family-in.html
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Wisdom Wednesday: Thank goodness for...
It's that middle day of the week and here we go on a GeneaBlogger's blogging prompt called Wisdom Wednesdays. This week it's all about what I'm thankful for, even though it's not November, which, for those of you not in the USA, is when we celebrate my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. I was talking to Mom the other day and we were marveling at how genealogy has changed as she entertained me with stories of how she did it when she started in the 1970s! How we laughed! I've seen her stacks of 3 by 5 cards, family group sheets, and the rest, all hand written, and they look strange to my eye used to a computer print out.
So here are all the things I'm thankful for most recently, in no particular order. And I have to say that right now I'm in my usual June slump and just would rather sit in a hammock, and let the laundry pile up and up. (But maybe with a laptop and a cool adult beverage.)
The Internet. I shudder to think how slow my progress both in learning about genealogy, meeting up with cousins and fellow researchers, as well as digging as deep as I can into those records, would be if there was no internet and web service! Ugh!
Google Satellite View. I sit here in sunny Southern California emailing Cousin Andrew who lives back east about our shared ancestors who were Welsh. And we're talking about the Barque Tiberius on which our Thomas ancestors sailed out of Newport Harbor, Wales, on 30 June, 1838, and that's 175 years ago this week!!
Wait, I thought to myself, where is Newport Harbor? And I'm especially curious because we don't know where these Thomas folks lived when they were recruited to be coal miners in the George's Creek mines in Western Maryland by the Consolidation Coal Company. Wow, I think, looking at the satellite view, we drove right by there on the M4 when we went to Wales that time in the 1980s! Love you, Google Satellite View!
Latest Guilty Pleasure: Shades of the Departed! A cuppa and a cookie and I sit down to thumb through Shades, the most fabulous on-line magazine this gal has ever seen! Shades carries the imagination back into the past and over hills and valleys to towns and farm lands to meet ancestors we never knew or people of the past not even connected to us. I feel as though I'm sitting in a late 1800s train station and people arrive and sit and chat and reveal themselves to me, and I can gaze as long as I like without being rude. This is absolutely my new "guilty pleasure" and I use that term because I probably should be doing something else like laundry, but don't really care one fig.
Blog posts that come along at the right time. Here's an example. Research and connecting the dots on the ancestors is especially difficult for me in West Virginia and if you have the magic potion to help me find them, then please have mercy on a stumbling fool and let me know! I always feel like many of the dead-end brick wall situations on the tree lead over to West Virginia... or Ireland and Wales. I can understand the last two because it's a Pond hop. But WV, even though it's just "over the hill a bit" is all messed up! I just love The Legal Genealogist blog by Judy G. Russell. I've learned so much from her. Then she did a blog post about the forming of West Virginia and a light went off: it's not so much me as it is them! Whew. WV, you are difficult. (Go WVU Mountaineers!)
The Encouragers! I do like those in the land of genealogy who encourage and help. Look, we're all trying to learn. So here's to the encouragers, and most are, who daily take up blogging to share and maybe help others, as well as those many helpful and dear souls who come to the local groups to help and find help. Hugs to all!! What a nice community we are!
Thank goodness for so much stuff to be grateful about! (Am feeling so good I might even do some laundry, but later.)
So here are all the things I'm thankful for most recently, in no particular order. And I have to say that right now I'm in my usual June slump and just would rather sit in a hammock, and let the laundry pile up and up. (But maybe with a laptop and a cool adult beverage.)
The Internet. I shudder to think how slow my progress both in learning about genealogy, meeting up with cousins and fellow researchers, as well as digging as deep as I can into those records, would be if there was no internet and web service! Ugh!
Google Satellite View. I sit here in sunny Southern California emailing Cousin Andrew who lives back east about our shared ancestors who were Welsh. And we're talking about the Barque Tiberius on which our Thomas ancestors sailed out of Newport Harbor, Wales, on 30 June, 1838, and that's 175 years ago this week!!
Wait, I thought to myself, where is Newport Harbor? And I'm especially curious because we don't know where these Thomas folks lived when they were recruited to be coal miners in the George's Creek mines in Western Maryland by the Consolidation Coal Company. Wow, I think, looking at the satellite view, we drove right by there on the M4 when we went to Wales that time in the 1980s! Love you, Google Satellite View!
Latest Guilty Pleasure: Shades of the Departed! A cuppa and a cookie and I sit down to thumb through Shades, the most fabulous on-line magazine this gal has ever seen! Shades carries the imagination back into the past and over hills and valleys to towns and farm lands to meet ancestors we never knew or people of the past not even connected to us. I feel as though I'm sitting in a late 1800s train station and people arrive and sit and chat and reveal themselves to me, and I can gaze as long as I like without being rude. This is absolutely my new "guilty pleasure" and I use that term because I probably should be doing something else like laundry, but don't really care one fig.
Blog posts that come along at the right time. Here's an example. Research and connecting the dots on the ancestors is especially difficult for me in West Virginia and if you have the magic potion to help me find them, then please have mercy on a stumbling fool and let me know! I always feel like many of the dead-end brick wall situations on the tree lead over to West Virginia... or Ireland and Wales. I can understand the last two because it's a Pond hop. But WV, even though it's just "over the hill a bit" is all messed up! I just love The Legal Genealogist blog by Judy G. Russell. I've learned so much from her. Then she did a blog post about the forming of West Virginia and a light went off: it's not so much me as it is them! Whew. WV, you are difficult. (Go WVU Mountaineers!)
The Encouragers! I do like those in the land of genealogy who encourage and help. Look, we're all trying to learn. So here's to the encouragers, and most are, who daily take up blogging to share and maybe help others, as well as those many helpful and dear souls who come to the local groups to help and find help. Hugs to all!! What a nice community we are!
Thank goodness for so much stuff to be grateful about! (Am feeling so good I might even do some laundry, but later.)
Eckhart Cemetery, Eckhart, Allegany, Maryland.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/wisdom-wednesday-thank-goodness-for.html
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Surname Saturday: Ann, who married William Price, and that's all we know
I usually enjoy using one of my favorite blogging prompts from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday because I get to reacquaint myself with one part of the family tree and cover ground that's both familiar as well as unfamiliar. But this one and ones like it make me pensive and melancholy because my female ancestor, this great grandmother of mine, has no surname. Gotta say, I don't like it one bit.
We're back in the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts. As the title states, we'll be looking at what's known about the wife of William Price, who also brings his own ball of yarn all tangled, when it comes to his pedigree. The man's heritage is not neat and tidy!
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!
6. Cambria Williams 1897 - 1960
7. Emma Susan Whetstone 1897 - 1956
12. Daniel Williams 1852 - 1920
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939
26. William Price 1829 - 1872
27. Diane Thomas about 1832 - 1871
William Jr. was born in Bedfordshire, England, why we do not know. He died in Aux Sable Township, Grundy County, Illinois. Our working theory is that they went west, possibly mining, and to be with family. He's listed in the 1841 English Census living with his mother, Ann who is a lace maker. In both the 1850 and 1870 US Census he is listed as a miner and then more specifically, a coal miner.
Williams' wife Diane was born in Wales. She died in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland. Mom believes that she traveled back to where family was to have her last child and died in childbirth or shortly thereafter.
They had these children:
William Henry Price 1852 - 1910. William was born in Frostburg, Allegany, MD and died there. He married Julia Elizabeth Koegel.
Benjamin Price 1854 - 1906. He died in Streator IL.He married Hanna "Annie" ?.
Diane Price 1856 - ????. She married Charles Busch and they lived in Brooklyn, Kings, NY, and presumably died there.
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939. She was born in Mount Savage, Allegany, Maryland and died just up the hill in Frostburg.
Ellen Nellie Price 1864 - ????. She married the musician Buford Alley, born in Indiana.
James H. Price 1856 - 1933. He married Elizabeth Hiller and died in Streator IL.
Mary Price 1869 - ????
Victoria Price 1871 - ????
52. William Price ???? - before 1860
53. Ann (Last Name Unknown) ???? - ????
William was born in Wales and died before 1860 in Annapolis, Maryland. We don't know a thing about Ann. Obviously we need to get going on this couple, and in particular, Ann!
Some preliminary work looks like Ann went to Illinois and that's why her son William went there and died there... but is it the same Ann Price, that's the question?
These are the children we've found so far:
26. William Price 1829 - 1872
John Price 1821 - ????
See what I mean? This line-up leaves me wanting more. It's not so very far back in the records that it won't be there, somewhere, some place. Perhaps the place to start is with the MSA, or Mayland State Archives. They have a nice selection of genealogy resources. So it's back to Maryland again for me!
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-ann-who-married.html
We're back in the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts. As the title states, we'll be looking at what's known about the wife of William Price, who also brings his own ball of yarn all tangled, when it comes to his pedigree. The man's heritage is not neat and tidy!
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick Kelly 1916 - 2007
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!
6. Cambria Williams 1897 - 1960
7. Emma Susan Whetstone 1897 - 1956
12. Daniel Williams 1852 - 1920
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939
26. William Price 1829 - 1872
27. Diane Thomas about 1832 - 1871
William Jr. was born in Bedfordshire, England, why we do not know. He died in Aux Sable Township, Grundy County, Illinois. Our working theory is that they went west, possibly mining, and to be with family. He's listed in the 1841 English Census living with his mother, Ann who is a lace maker. In both the 1850 and 1870 US Census he is listed as a miner and then more specifically, a coal miner.
Williams' wife Diane was born in Wales. She died in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland. Mom believes that she traveled back to where family was to have her last child and died in childbirth or shortly thereafter.
They had these children:
William Henry Price 1852 - 1910. William was born in Frostburg, Allegany, MD and died there. He married Julia Elizabeth Koegel.
Benjamin Price 1854 - 1906. He died in Streator IL.He married Hanna "Annie" ?.
Diane Price 1856 - ????. She married Charles Busch and they lived in Brooklyn, Kings, NY, and presumably died there.
13. Jane Price 1862 - 1939. She was born in Mount Savage, Allegany, Maryland and died just up the hill in Frostburg.
Ellen Nellie Price 1864 - ????. She married the musician Buford Alley, born in Indiana.
James H. Price 1856 - 1933. He married Elizabeth Hiller and died in Streator IL.
Mary Price 1869 - ????
Victoria Price 1871 - ????
52. William Price ???? - before 1860
53. Ann (Last Name Unknown) ???? - ????
William was born in Wales and died before 1860 in Annapolis, Maryland. We don't know a thing about Ann. Obviously we need to get going on this couple, and in particular, Ann!
Some preliminary work looks like Ann went to Illinois and that's why her son William went there and died there... but is it the same Ann Price, that's the question?
These are the children we've found so far:
26. William Price 1829 - 1872
John Price 1821 - ????
See what I mean? This line-up leaves me wanting more. It's not so very far back in the records that it won't be there, somewhere, some place. Perhaps the place to start is with the MSA, or Mayland State Archives. They have a nice selection of genealogy resources. So it's back to Maryland again for me!
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-ann-who-married.html
Monday, June 17, 2013
DNA Monday: What Worked For Me
Bingo! Got a real live cousin match on 23andMe.com! And I feel good about this one because I can pin-point exactly where on the tree we connect. That's a first.
I've been working at GEDmatch and 23andMe.com looking for a cousin connection since, what, March? Yeah, it's been a while. A couple hundred emails later and we finally have a true cousin match. Listen, brothers and sisters, if you think that you'll swab a cheek or work up a lot of spit and send that sample off, then magically get a whole boat load of genealogy back, it just doesn't work that way, sad to say, or at least not for me. I kinda thought and hoped that it might, but no great big genealogy truck driven by a DNA cousin has pulled up and dumped a ton of stuff in my lap.
So here's what worked for me, and heavens knows if it was just a fluke or if it would work for others. I attended a Ce Ce Moore's seminar held at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society here in greater San Diego, and she spoke about triangulation and other sophisticated techniques, but I'm a simple person and just did it the best way I could think to do. Ce Ce Moore is wonderful and I do think that I've gotten this far because of her information:) Thanks, Ce Ce!
1.) On 23and Me.com as well as GEDmatch.com, I check back about once a week to see if new matches have popped up. At first I didn't have a feel for how long it took for new matches to show so I went from every five minutes to once in a blue moon. Once a week feels about right for me now, and since Monday is my day to work on DNA stuff, that's when I go check.
2.) The avalanche has started! As prices drop lots of new players are on the field! 23andMe.com has said that they are on target for reaching their goal of one million users by the end of the year. Impressive. And, I'm kinda shocked when I check into GEDmatch and find a couple hundred new people I match with.
You need a systematic way to cover this because a lot of them won't be matches that are close enough to bother with, at least not for me to bother with because I don't have that kind of time because of the laundry and all the rest getting in the way of me doing genealogy.
3.) There are two kinds of matches in my book: those with nice trees with a surname list and some locations and those who have a "mystery tree" or no tree at all. The really cool players are the ones - and you can spot them right away on 23andMe.com - who have a lot of surnames and locations. The other guys want you to supply a tree for them to pick over... and they never get back to you because they don't know what they are doing, bless their hearts. At least that's been my experience. Finally they say, I guess our match is just too far back. And it might be, but I'll never know because they have a mystery tree.
4) Go for the closest matches first, and for me that's less than fourth cousin on 23andMe.com, and the dozen closest matches on GEDmatch with the largest total number of autosomal segments. And while there, check out the green highlight on the kit number (in the left column) which indicates that the results are newer. I like GEDmatch's generations matrix because from that I have a clue as to how far back the match might be. I like it when it's four or less:) Whoop!
5.) Make contact and wait. You might hear back and you might now. I don't take it personally... anymore;)
Oh, yeah, about my match on 23andMe.com, Cousin Andrew. You know how I'd hoped that some DNA cousin match or other would show up and drive up the big genealogy truck with loads of info and drop it in my lap? Well not here and not with Andrew. He and his dad, still with us, don't know diddly about their ancestors. So ya know what? Mom, Aunt Betty, and I drove up the big genealogy truck and dumped it all right in his lap, charts, reports, photos and all! Genealogy good deed done for the week:) That felt great!!
From Aunt Betty's file:
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/dna-monday-what-worked-for-me.html
I've been working at GEDmatch and 23andMe.com looking for a cousin connection since, what, March? Yeah, it's been a while. A couple hundred emails later and we finally have a true cousin match. Listen, brothers and sisters, if you think that you'll swab a cheek or work up a lot of spit and send that sample off, then magically get a whole boat load of genealogy back, it just doesn't work that way, sad to say, or at least not for me. I kinda thought and hoped that it might, but no great big genealogy truck driven by a DNA cousin has pulled up and dumped a ton of stuff in my lap.
So here's what worked for me, and heavens knows if it was just a fluke or if it would work for others. I attended a Ce Ce Moore's seminar held at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society here in greater San Diego, and she spoke about triangulation and other sophisticated techniques, but I'm a simple person and just did it the best way I could think to do. Ce Ce Moore is wonderful and I do think that I've gotten this far because of her information:) Thanks, Ce Ce!
1.) On 23and Me.com as well as GEDmatch.com, I check back about once a week to see if new matches have popped up. At first I didn't have a feel for how long it took for new matches to show so I went from every five minutes to once in a blue moon. Once a week feels about right for me now, and since Monday is my day to work on DNA stuff, that's when I go check.
2.) The avalanche has started! As prices drop lots of new players are on the field! 23andMe.com has said that they are on target for reaching their goal of one million users by the end of the year. Impressive. And, I'm kinda shocked when I check into GEDmatch and find a couple hundred new people I match with.
You need a systematic way to cover this because a lot of them won't be matches that are close enough to bother with, at least not for me to bother with because I don't have that kind of time because of the laundry and all the rest getting in the way of me doing genealogy.
3.) There are two kinds of matches in my book: those with nice trees with a surname list and some locations and those who have a "mystery tree" or no tree at all. The really cool players are the ones - and you can spot them right away on 23andMe.com - who have a lot of surnames and locations. The other guys want you to supply a tree for them to pick over... and they never get back to you because they don't know what they are doing, bless their hearts. At least that's been my experience. Finally they say, I guess our match is just too far back. And it might be, but I'll never know because they have a mystery tree.
4) Go for the closest matches first, and for me that's less than fourth cousin on 23andMe.com, and the dozen closest matches on GEDmatch with the largest total number of autosomal segments. And while there, check out the green highlight on the kit number (in the left column) which indicates that the results are newer. I like GEDmatch's generations matrix because from that I have a clue as to how far back the match might be. I like it when it's four or less:) Whoop!
5.) Make contact and wait. You might hear back and you might now. I don't take it personally... anymore;)
Oh, yeah, about my match on 23andMe.com, Cousin Andrew. You know how I'd hoped that some DNA cousin match or other would show up and drive up the big genealogy truck with loads of info and drop it in my lap? Well not here and not with Andrew. He and his dad, still with us, don't know diddly about their ancestors. So ya know what? Mom, Aunt Betty, and I drove up the big genealogy truck and dumped it all right in his lap, charts, reports, photos and all! Genealogy good deed done for the week:) That felt great!!
From Aunt Betty's file:
Probably the wedding portrait of my great grandparents.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/dna-monday-what-worked-for-me.html
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Sentimental Sunday: SNGF and something about my father
Randy Seaver over at the very popular and informative blog, Genea-Musings, sets out a challenge and this week it's all about our fathers and father-figures in his Saturday Night Genealogy Fun or SNGF. Here's what Randy wrote, and he likes red so I kept it:
2) What are three things about your father (or significant male ancestor) that you vividly remember about him?
My own Dad's been gone now since 2007 and there are still some bruised and tender spots around my edges but I thought that Randy's challenge was a good one that I could embrace without much difficulty. So here goes. Let me tell you a couple of things about my Dad, Francis Patrick Kelly (1916 - 2007), or "Pat" as everyone called him. What is it with the Irish using that middle name? As there were at least six Francis Patrick Kellys in the direct family line, guess they had to be practical about it, so one got to be Pat, and one got to be Frank, and so on!
1.) Dad's hands were burned when he was two years old. He was running in the house, tripped, and landed with his hands open flat on the side of the cast iron coal stove in the kitchen. His hands were burned badly and he went to the doctor, who kind of didn't know what he was doing (or had been drinking) and told Dad to close his hands and then he wrapped them up in bandages... closed. They healed stuck together and that skin later had to be cut apart. Yes, gross, I know. The stomach turns to think of it. It was horribly painful and Dad must have suffered tremendously.
The very amazing and incredible thing of it is that his grandmother Zeller, or Ma as they called her, lived with them and the very day before this happened she traced Dad's hands, both of them. (Never mind that Ma misspelled the Kelly surname to be Kelley... that was Ma all over.)
2.) Dad always made the best of a bad situation. Or at least that's how I look at it. Those bad hands kept him from serving in WWII so he took work in local factories working his way up to a management position. When the boys came back he was their inside guy who got them jobs. After the war Dad met a man from Ohio who owned a plastics plant and offered him a job running the operations end of it. Right place, right time.
Then later after a reversal, we all moved from Ohio back to little Frostburg where Mom and Dad came from. He had a plan, so Dad got into real estate. He sold homes and businesses to a lot of people, making a nice living from commissions. But the best thing he did was invest in apartment buildings. That insured a happy retirement for he and Mom.
3.) Dad laughed! A lot. He loved a good joke and especially a practical joke. There are so many stories about he and his brothers playing jokes on each other that I could post every day for years about it and not run out. This went on from the time three boys all shared a bed until they were grown men and should have known better. (What's the statute of limitations on drinking, driving a boat and chasing ducks? And can it rightly be called "duck hunting"?)
What's the point if you're not taking time to have fun and a good laugh?
Dad died at age 91 and he had always said that he thought 91 was a proper age to live to, so good to his word, that's how old he was when he died. He had dementia with Lowey bodies at the end and had hallucinations in which he'd call the police about various suspects in the yard. They know who he was and what was going on because Frostburg is a very small town and Mom had let them know. At times funny, it was hard on Mom. Yeah, it was a good life and we laughed a lot.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/sentimental-sunday-sngf-and-something.html
2) What are three things about your father (or significant male ancestor) that you vividly remember about him?
My own Dad's been gone now since 2007 and there are still some bruised and tender spots around my edges but I thought that Randy's challenge was a good one that I could embrace without much difficulty. So here goes. Let me tell you a couple of things about my Dad, Francis Patrick Kelly (1916 - 2007), or "Pat" as everyone called him. What is it with the Irish using that middle name? As there were at least six Francis Patrick Kellys in the direct family line, guess they had to be practical about it, so one got to be Pat, and one got to be Frank, and so on!
1.) Dad's hands were burned when he was two years old. He was running in the house, tripped, and landed with his hands open flat on the side of the cast iron coal stove in the kitchen. His hands were burned badly and he went to the doctor, who kind of didn't know what he was doing (or had been drinking) and told Dad to close his hands and then he wrapped them up in bandages... closed. They healed stuck together and that skin later had to be cut apart. Yes, gross, I know. The stomach turns to think of it. It was horribly painful and Dad must have suffered tremendously.
The very amazing and incredible thing of it is that his grandmother Zeller, or Ma as they called her, lived with them and the very day before this happened she traced Dad's hands, both of them. (Never mind that Ma misspelled the Kelly surname to be Kelley... that was Ma all over.)
2.) Dad always made the best of a bad situation. Or at least that's how I look at it. Those bad hands kept him from serving in WWII so he took work in local factories working his way up to a management position. When the boys came back he was their inside guy who got them jobs. After the war Dad met a man from Ohio who owned a plastics plant and offered him a job running the operations end of it. Right place, right time.
Then later after a reversal, we all moved from Ohio back to little Frostburg where Mom and Dad came from. He had a plan, so Dad got into real estate. He sold homes and businesses to a lot of people, making a nice living from commissions. But the best thing he did was invest in apartment buildings. That insured a happy retirement for he and Mom.
Dad in the middle of an outing with Mom and friends just after the war.
Dad and Mom at a business event in the early 1960s.
3.) Dad laughed! A lot. He loved a good joke and especially a practical joke. There are so many stories about he and his brothers playing jokes on each other that I could post every day for years about it and not run out. This went on from the time three boys all shared a bed until they were grown men and should have known better. (What's the statute of limitations on drinking, driving a boat and chasing ducks? And can it rightly be called "duck hunting"?)
What's the point if you're not taking time to have fun and a good laugh?
Dad died at age 91 and he had always said that he thought 91 was a proper age to live to, so good to his word, that's how old he was when he died. He had dementia with Lowey bodies at the end and had hallucinations in which he'd call the police about various suspects in the yard. They know who he was and what was going on because Frostburg is a very small town and Mom had let them know. At times funny, it was hard on Mom. Yeah, it was a good life and we laughed a lot.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/sentimental-sunday-sngf-and-something.html
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Surname Saturday: Back to Williams from Wales
We're back in the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts using one of my favorite blogging prompts from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday! I like this one because I get to reacquaint myself with one part of the family tree and cover ground that's both familiar as well as unfamiliar. That's very useful. And last week I found another cousin! Yippee!
This week we turn our attention to another one of the families who had their roots deep in Wales, the Williams people, but possibly another line of this surname... or not.
This line might be related to the main branch of Williams ancestors because, as you'll see below, Jane James' mother was Elizabeth Williams before she married Daniel James. And her own Williams family lived right close to her husband, Thomas Williams' family in Cardiganshire, Wales. One can't help but connect the merry dots in ones head about that, even without proper documentation!
Let me say that we know what we do about the Williams family, and we're lucky to have that, only because Mom went to Wales years ago.
So in hopes of finding yet another cousin out there googling about the Williams and James lines, here's the line-up... and you'll notice that it looks remarkably similar to last weeks post because we're again talking about the Williams people, but this time without the Edwards family as a side dish:)
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick "Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!
6. Cambria "Camey" Williams (1897 - 1960)
7. Emma Susan Whetstone (1897 - 1956)
They had 5 children in all:
3. Virginia, that's Mom
Dorothy Williams Conrad (1920 - 2007)
Evelyn Williams (1921 - 1924)
Margaret Williams (1926 - 1926)
Cambria Williams Jr. (1925 - 1997)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
13. Jane Price (1862 - 1939)
Daniel was born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. He worked as a collier or coal miner, as his father had, in Wales, immigrated, then moved to the George's Creek Coal Mine Field in Western Maryland, one of the richest veins of coal at the time. Jane was born in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland, just over the hill from where Daniel worked, but her family came from Wales as well. Daniel was a supervisor at the mines and well respected and elected to the school board.
They had 8 children:
James Henry Williams 1882 - 1936)
William Williams (1884 - 1964)
Benjamin Williams (1896 - 1896)
Thomas Williams (1890 - 1951)
Dianna Williams (1892 - 1893)
Joseph Williams (1895 - 1948)
6. Cambria Williams (1897 - 1960), that's Mom's Dad
Charles Williams (1899 - 1979), that's Aunt Betty's Dad
24. Thomas Williams (about 1815 - 1868?)
25. Jane James (about 1815 - ?)
Both Thomas and Jane were born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. Thomas was a collier or coal miner as were a number of his sons. It is presumed that Thomas died about 1868, possibly in Lampiter, Cardiganshire, Wales. The death record is inconclusive as to confirming identity.
Jane is found in the 1870 Wales Census in Llangattock, Breckenshire, Wales. Interestingly, she's living next to a woman, a widow, by the name of Dianah James, a green grocer.
From there on her life is a mystery. It is presumed that she immigrated and lived, possibly with a daughter or son, in Upstate New York... because we have that photo of her.
They had 7 children:
Elizabeth Williams (24 Oct 1841-?)
Thomas Williams (25 Mar 1851-?)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
John Williams (Nov 1853-?)
William Williams (23 Jan 1865-?)
50. Daniel James (30 Dec 1792 - 14 Aug 1881)
51. Elizabeth Williams (1788 - Mar 1877)
Both members of this lovely couple were born and died in Cardiganshire, Wales, mostly in and around Strata Florida. They had these children:
25. Jane James (about 1815 - ?)
Elizabeth James ( 1819 - ?)
Ann James (1820 - ?)
David James (1827 - ?)
Mary James (1823 - ?)
There ya' go. End of the line. Tracks run out. That's too bad and now that I've got this all lined up I can see that the census returns could be examined for any trace of Daniel James in Wales from the 1841 time period on. I wonder if he too was a miner as were so very many of his descendants down to Mom's grandfather Williams.
This couple stayed put in Strata Florida, Cardiganshire, Wales throughout their lives and that's where I'd expect to find them in any local records too. I could also look in the Welsh BMD returns for their deaths and order up the death certificate. Yes, there's work to be done here!
Photos from Aunt Betty's Archive:
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-back-to-williams-from.html
This week we turn our attention to another one of the families who had their roots deep in Wales, the Williams people, but possibly another line of this surname... or not.
This line might be related to the main branch of Williams ancestors because, as you'll see below, Jane James' mother was Elizabeth Williams before she married Daniel James. And her own Williams family lived right close to her husband, Thomas Williams' family in Cardiganshire, Wales. One can't help but connect the merry dots in ones head about that, even without proper documentation!
Let me say that we know what we do about the Williams family, and we're lucky to have that, only because Mom went to Wales years ago.
So in hopes of finding yet another cousin out there googling about the Williams and James lines, here's the line-up... and you'll notice that it looks remarkably similar to last weeks post because we're again talking about the Williams people, but this time without the Edwards family as a side dish:)
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick "Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!
6. Cambria "Camey" Williams (1897 - 1960)
7. Emma Susan Whetstone (1897 - 1956)
They had 5 children in all:
3. Virginia, that's Mom
Dorothy Williams Conrad (1920 - 2007)
Evelyn Williams (1921 - 1924)
Margaret Williams (1926 - 1926)
Cambria Williams Jr. (1925 - 1997)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
13. Jane Price (1862 - 1939)
Daniel was born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. He worked as a collier or coal miner, as his father had, in Wales, immigrated, then moved to the George's Creek Coal Mine Field in Western Maryland, one of the richest veins of coal at the time. Jane was born in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland, just over the hill from where Daniel worked, but her family came from Wales as well. Daniel was a supervisor at the mines and well respected and elected to the school board.
They had 8 children:
James Henry Williams 1882 - 1936)
William Williams (1884 - 1964)
Benjamin Williams (1896 - 1896)
Thomas Williams (1890 - 1951)
Dianna Williams (1892 - 1893)
Joseph Williams (1895 - 1948)
6. Cambria Williams (1897 - 1960), that's Mom's Dad
Charles Williams (1899 - 1979), that's Aunt Betty's Dad
24. Thomas Williams (about 1815 - 1868?)
25. Jane James (about 1815 - ?)
Both Thomas and Jane were born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. Thomas was a collier or coal miner as were a number of his sons. It is presumed that Thomas died about 1868, possibly in Lampiter, Cardiganshire, Wales. The death record is inconclusive as to confirming identity.
Jane is found in the 1870 Wales Census in Llangattock, Breckenshire, Wales. Interestingly, she's living next to a woman, a widow, by the name of Dianah James, a green grocer.
From there on her life is a mystery. It is presumed that she immigrated and lived, possibly with a daughter or son, in Upstate New York... because we have that photo of her.
They had 7 children:
Elizabeth Williams (24 Oct 1841-?)
David Williams (22 May 1844-?)
Jane Williams (4 Oct 1846-?) Thomas Williams (25 Mar 1851-?)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
John Williams (Nov 1853-?)
William Williams (23 Jan 1865-?)
50. Daniel James (30 Dec 1792 - 14 Aug 1881)
51. Elizabeth Williams (1788 - Mar 1877)
Both members of this lovely couple were born and died in Cardiganshire, Wales, mostly in and around Strata Florida. They had these children:
25. Jane James (about 1815 - ?)
Elizabeth James ( 1819 - ?)
Ann James (1820 - ?)
David James (1827 - ?)
Mary James (1823 - ?)
There ya' go. End of the line. Tracks run out. That's too bad and now that I've got this all lined up I can see that the census returns could be examined for any trace of Daniel James in Wales from the 1841 time period on. I wonder if he too was a miner as were so very many of his descendants down to Mom's grandfather Williams.
This couple stayed put in Strata Florida, Cardiganshire, Wales throughout their lives and that's where I'd expect to find them in any local records too. I could also look in the Welsh BMD returns for their deaths and order up the death certificate. Yes, there's work to be done here!
Photos from Aunt Betty's Archive:
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-back-to-williams-from.html
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Sentimental Sunday: Lunch, but maybe it was called "dinner"
I have some very distinct smell memories from my childhood of being at either of my two grandmother's houses at lunch time. If you aren't a regular reader here, and most people aren't, then I need to explain that we're talking about the 1950s in a very small town in the mountains of Western Maryland called Frostburg. A writer friend who lives in Frostburg recently emailed that someone there had the bright idea to attach a new slogan to the town name: Frostburg, like where you are only colder. Or something like that.
And I need to explain that my grandfathers were men who worked physically hard out in that cold when they were young and strong and they came from men and families of men who worked physically hard, so they needed a hearty lunch with big calories. Except they called it dinner.
In those days, and as Mom tells me from the 1920s on, the mid-day meal was a cooked affair in both summer and winter. I can still hear Grandma Kelly say to grandpop, "Lee, are you ready to eat?" By this time in the mid 1950s grandpop was too old and ill to work in the coal mines. The coal mines really took it out of a man and by then he had serious signs of black lung disease and was worn and thin. Grandma did all she could to shovel food into him.
Grandmother Williams cooked a mid-day meal of proportions whenever hungry people were there to eat it. Grandfather Williams was a route salesman who drove a company truck all over the tri-states of West Virginia and Western Maryland and even into Pennsylvania to deliver his wares. He was out in all kinds of weather and was an excellent hunter and fisherman who would often bring home wild game for the family. By the age of 10 I'd eaten and found delicious wild rabbit, squirrel, turkey, deer, and too many fish to count. I could gut and dress a trout with the best of them too. Don't laugh until you've tasted the home-made wonder that is fresh wild rabbit or squirrel! I have eaten at the Four Seasons and I'll take Grandmother's delicately pan fried rabbit any day.
But here's where the smell memories come in. At some point when the decision had been made based on, at least to me, a mysterious set of circumstances, grandmother would grab a cast iron skillet, place it on the stove, scoop up some bacon fat from an old coffee tin and throw into that now hot pan. Shhhh, was the sound as the bacon fat gave off a heavenly aroma. Maybe it was a slice of ham that made the meal or a pork chop, so in it went. Shhhh, as it hit the hot skillet bed. In no time it got perfectly brown so out came the slice of ham or chop and in went potatoes, sliced or cubed as the cook's whim dictated. Then in a little while fresh green beans in summer or home canned green beans in winter. A lid or old plate in service as lid would sit atop the skillet until the flavors blended and food was cooked.
A slice of home baked bread and lots or fresh butter went along with it. None of this "side salad" stuff for these hard working men. If there were green on the table they were just as likely to be wild and wilted with bacon fat and vinegar. And the smell of it all! Oh, the smell.
Well, now all these years later I live in Southern California where side salad is a whole meal. Both grandmothers would not understand tofu or sushi. Or the food truck. I fear that Anthony Bourdain's show on CNN would make them shriek, throw their aprons over their faces and run from the room. Times and locations change tastes. That said, I still have my wonderful smell memories!! There aren't any calories in smell memories, are there?
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/sentimental-sunday-lunch-but-maybe-it.html
And I need to explain that my grandfathers were men who worked physically hard out in that cold when they were young and strong and they came from men and families of men who worked physically hard, so they needed a hearty lunch with big calories. Except they called it dinner.
In those days, and as Mom tells me from the 1920s on, the mid-day meal was a cooked affair in both summer and winter. I can still hear Grandma Kelly say to grandpop, "Lee, are you ready to eat?" By this time in the mid 1950s grandpop was too old and ill to work in the coal mines. The coal mines really took it out of a man and by then he had serious signs of black lung disease and was worn and thin. Grandma did all she could to shovel food into him.
Grandmother Williams cooked a mid-day meal of proportions whenever hungry people were there to eat it. Grandfather Williams was a route salesman who drove a company truck all over the tri-states of West Virginia and Western Maryland and even into Pennsylvania to deliver his wares. He was out in all kinds of weather and was an excellent hunter and fisherman who would often bring home wild game for the family. By the age of 10 I'd eaten and found delicious wild rabbit, squirrel, turkey, deer, and too many fish to count. I could gut and dress a trout with the best of them too. Don't laugh until you've tasted the home-made wonder that is fresh wild rabbit or squirrel! I have eaten at the Four Seasons and I'll take Grandmother's delicately pan fried rabbit any day.
But here's where the smell memories come in. At some point when the decision had been made based on, at least to me, a mysterious set of circumstances, grandmother would grab a cast iron skillet, place it on the stove, scoop up some bacon fat from an old coffee tin and throw into that now hot pan. Shhhh, was the sound as the bacon fat gave off a heavenly aroma. Maybe it was a slice of ham that made the meal or a pork chop, so in it went. Shhhh, as it hit the hot skillet bed. In no time it got perfectly brown so out came the slice of ham or chop and in went potatoes, sliced or cubed as the cook's whim dictated. Then in a little while fresh green beans in summer or home canned green beans in winter. A lid or old plate in service as lid would sit atop the skillet until the flavors blended and food was cooked.
A slice of home baked bread and lots or fresh butter went along with it. None of this "side salad" stuff for these hard working men. If there were green on the table they were just as likely to be wild and wilted with bacon fat and vinegar. And the smell of it all! Oh, the smell.
Well, now all these years later I live in Southern California where side salad is a whole meal. Both grandmothers would not understand tofu or sushi. Or the food truck. I fear that Anthony Bourdain's show on CNN would make them shriek, throw their aprons over their faces and run from the room. Times and locations change tastes. That said, I still have my wonderful smell memories!! There aren't any calories in smell memories, are there?
Grandfather Williams, Cambria "Camey" Williams (1897 - 1960)
Top two as hunter and fisherman, bottom as route salesman.
Grandpop Kelly in the kitchen with Grandma and Aunt Louise.
John Lee Kelly (1892 - 1969)
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/sentimental-sunday-lunch-but-maybe-it.html
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Surname Saturday: The Edwards Family from Wales
We're back in the 3rd great grandmothers, having already covered the earlier grandmothers and a bunch of the grandfathers in previous posts using one of my favorite blogging prompts from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday! I like this one because I get to reacquaint myself with one part of the family tree and cover ground that's both familiar as well as unfamiliar. I like that:)
This week we turn our attention to one of the families who had their roots deep in Wales, the Edwards people. And I have to say right at the top here, I don't know a thing about them except the names of all the children and we're lucky to have that only because Mom went to Wales years ago. But never mind because in posting this, I or you or a new-to-me cousin might have a thought that could help make connections. Ya' never know!
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick "Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!
6. Cambria "Camey" Williams (1897 - 1960)
7. Emma Susan Whetstone (1897 - 1956)
They had 5 children in all:
3. Virginia, that's Mom
Dorothy Williams Conrad (1920 - 2007)
Evelyn Williams (1921 - 1924)
Margaret Williams (1926 - 1926)
Cambria Williams Jr. (1925 - 1997)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
13. Jane Price (1862 - 1939)
Daniel was born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. He worked as a collier or coal miner, as his father had, in Wales, immigrated, then moved to the George's Creek Coal Mine Field in Western Maryland, one of the richest veins of coal at the time. Jane was born in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland, just over the hill from where Daniel worked, but her family came from Wales as well. Daniel was a supervisor at the mines and well respected and elected to the school board.
They had 8 children:
James Henry Williams 1882 - 1936)
William Williams (1884 - 1964)
Benjamin Williams (1896 - 1896)
Thomas Williams (1890 - 1951)
Dianna Williams (1892 - 1893)
Joseph Williams (1895 - 1948)
6. Cambria Williams (1897 - 1960), that's Mom's Dad
Charles Williams (1899 - 1979), that's Aunt Betty's Dad
24. Thomas Williams (about 1815 - 1868?)
25. Jane James (about 1815 - ?)
Both Thomas and Jane were born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. Thomas was a collier or coal miner as were a number of his sons. It is presumed that Thomas died about 1868, possibly in Lampiter, Cardiganshire, Wales. The death record is inconclusive as to confirming identity.
Jane is found in the 1870 Wales Census in Llangattock, Breckenshire, Wales. Interestingly, she's living next to a woman, a widow, by the name of Dianah James, a green grocer.
We have that mystery photo of Jane James Williams with her adult children taken by a photographer in Troy, New York... however, neither Mom nor Aunt Betty or silly me have been able to find a lick of a track of them in New York state! That's our brick wall.
They had 7 children:
Thomas Williams (25 Mar 1851-?)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
John Williams (Nov 1853-?)
48. David Williams (?- 1838)
49. Rachel Edwards (dates not known to us)
Again, this family was born and died in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales.
They had 6 children:
24. Thomas Williams (about 1815 - 1868?)
David Williams (1811 - ?)
Edward Williams (1814 - ?)
Elizabeth Williams (1816 - ?)
Catherine Williams (1819 - 1823)
Catherine Williams (1824 - ?)
There you have it, sadly. That's just about all we know about the end of the line. We're back in the late 1700s in Wales and good luck on that! It's on my bucket list to go to the National Archives and see what can be found. Some fine day:)
Photo taken at Troy NY. Can you help us match the names with the faces? Do you know of any of these people? Any guesses as to what year this was taken?
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-edwards-family-from.html
This week we turn our attention to one of the families who had their roots deep in Wales, the Edwards people. And I have to say right at the top here, I don't know a thing about them except the names of all the children and we're lucky to have that only because Mom went to Wales years ago. But never mind because in posting this, I or you or a new-to-me cousin might have a thought that could help make connections. Ya' never know!
1. Diane Kelly Weintraub
2. Francis Patrick "Pat" Kelly (1916 - 2007)
3. Virginia Williams, living and loving it!
6. Cambria "Camey" Williams (1897 - 1960)
7. Emma Susan Whetstone (1897 - 1956)
They had 5 children in all:
3. Virginia, that's Mom
Dorothy Williams Conrad (1920 - 2007)
Evelyn Williams (1921 - 1924)
Margaret Williams (1926 - 1926)
Cambria Williams Jr. (1925 - 1997)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
13. Jane Price (1862 - 1939)
Daniel was born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. He worked as a collier or coal miner, as his father had, in Wales, immigrated, then moved to the George's Creek Coal Mine Field in Western Maryland, one of the richest veins of coal at the time. Jane was born in Mount Savage, Allegany County, Maryland, just over the hill from where Daniel worked, but her family came from Wales as well. Daniel was a supervisor at the mines and well respected and elected to the school board.
They had 8 children:
James Henry Williams 1882 - 1936)
William Williams (1884 - 1964)
Benjamin Williams (1896 - 1896)
Thomas Williams (1890 - 1951)
Dianna Williams (1892 - 1893)
Joseph Williams (1895 - 1948)
6. Cambria Williams (1897 - 1960), that's Mom's Dad
Charles Williams (1899 - 1979), that's Aunt Betty's Dad
24. Thomas Williams (about 1815 - 1868?)
25. Jane James (about 1815 - ?)
Both Thomas and Jane were born in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales. Thomas was a collier or coal miner as were a number of his sons. It is presumed that Thomas died about 1868, possibly in Lampiter, Cardiganshire, Wales. The death record is inconclusive as to confirming identity.
Jane is found in the 1870 Wales Census in Llangattock, Breckenshire, Wales. Interestingly, she's living next to a woman, a widow, by the name of Dianah James, a green grocer.
We have that mystery photo of Jane James Williams with her adult children taken by a photographer in Troy, New York... however, neither Mom nor Aunt Betty or silly me have been able to find a lick of a track of them in New York state! That's our brick wall.
They had 7 children:
Elizabeth Williams (24 Oct 1841-?)
David Williams (22 May 1844-?)
Jane Williams (4 Oct 1846-?) Thomas Williams (25 Mar 1851-?)
12. Daniel Williams (1852 - 1920)
John Williams (Nov 1853-?)
William Williams (23 Jan 1865-?)
48. David Williams (?- 1838)
49. Rachel Edwards (dates not known to us)
Again, this family was born and died in Strata Florida, Cardigsnshire, Wales.
They had 6 children:
24. Thomas Williams (about 1815 - 1868?)
David Williams (1811 - ?)
Edward Williams (1814 - ?)
Elizabeth Williams (1816 - ?)
Catherine Williams (1819 - 1823)
Catherine Williams (1824 - ?)
There you have it, sadly. That's just about all we know about the end of the line. We're back in the late 1700s in Wales and good luck on that! It's on my bucket list to go to the National Archives and see what can be found. Some fine day:)
Photo taken at Troy NY. Can you help us match the names with the faces? Do you know of any of these people? Any guesses as to what year this was taken?
The Girls:
Elizabeth (24 Oct 1841-?) she's the oldest girl so is that her on the right, standing?
Jane (4 Oct 1846-?) is that her on the left in the fancy dress? Mom thinks that she is the wife of the man sitting to the left of her. What do you think?
The Boys, one is missing:
David (22 May 1844-?)
David (22 May 1844-?)
Thomas (25 MAR 1851-?)
John (Nov 1853-?)
William (23 Jan 1865-?)
Daniel my GGF (31 MAR 1852 - 19 APR 1920) is seated on the right
and his mother Jane Price Williams (1815-?) is seated to the left of him
and his mother Jane Price Williams (1815-?) is seated to the left of him
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/surname-saturday-edwards-family-from.html
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Treasure Chest Thursday: The C&O Canal Workers
Was thinking about my Irish ancestors who came to America, all before the Great Famine. It's interesting because all of the families -- the Kellys, the O'Farrells, and the Corcorans -- came around the 1830s and landed first in Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland, of all places. Why?
There were three things of note going on in Western Maryland about that time that might draw these hard-workers in search of a new life: coal mining, the railroad, and the C&O Canal. I know something about the coal mines and miners as well as the railroad, because my Kelly people worked on both of those. But I was lacking in information about the C&O Canal. I went to one of my fav web sites for Western Maryland history, Western Maryland's Historical Library, or WHILBR, and you can see their page about the canal here and find a collection of maps and old photos too.
That was good for the facts of it but I sought more insight into the daily lives of those, especially the Irish, who worked on the canal. So I posted a question about where to turn on the Allegany County, Maryland, RootsWeb list. In a flash someone suggested these two books by James Rada Jr.: Canawlers, and Between Rail and River. And I'm glad they did.
Here's what the listing on Amazon.com has to say about the first book in the series, Canawlers:
Hugh Fitzgerald proudly calls himself a "canawler." He works on the C&O
Canal transporting coal nearly 185 miles between Cumberland, Maryland and
Georgetown. For nine months a year, he and his family live on their canal boat,
working hard to get them through the lean winter months.
The year 1862 was a hard year to live on the canal, though. The Civil War was
in full swing and the canal, which runs long the Potomac River, marked the
border between the Union and Confederacy. To this point, the Confederacy has
stayed south of the canal, but now the Confederate Army intends to go on the
offensive and take the war into the north.
Not only are the Fitzgeralds' lives endangered by the increased activity of
warring army and raiders on the canal, but the Fitzgeralds' secret activity as a
stop along the Underground Railroad only endanger their lives all the more.Now you know this has got to be good! Both books are historical fiction so the history lesson goes down easy as the pages all but turn by themselves. I got what I was looking for on just about every page as a new detail of the hard life of those running canal boats were made all the more impossible by the Civil War. And this is a nice family whose story unwinds and I came to like them fast.
So what were my take away points from these two books that might guide further searching for my own wandering and mysterious Irish ancestors? And now that I have a deeper understanding of the canallers' life, what are the research questions based on these books?
1.) The dates are right for my Irish people coming in search for work on the C&O Canal. Now the question that pops to mind is, were they working on the Erie Canal before they came to Western Maryland? And if so, did they come in through Canada?
2.) Where are the records? Canal records are sparse. Good luck with that but sometimes records are hidden in plain sight so I'll keep looking. I did find some Kelly/Kelley people working in 1850s, and here's a link to the canal worker's document also on WHLBR. Look to the right of this image, below, to find the PDF files.
3.) Double-check the 1850 census for work records. That's late for canal builders but not those who made a living on the canal once it opened just about 1850 all the way to Cumberland. My John Kelly who came from Shannonbridge, Offlay (was Kings), Ireland, was listed simply as "laborer" in that census. Not much to go on. In the 1860 census John Kelly is listed as a carpenter while others on the page are listed specifically as miners or laborers. What can I make of that? Could he have been a carpenter in Cumberland building canal boats?
4.) Noticed a newspaper article on WHLBR dated 1846 that mentions that the work building the canal was halted due to lack of funds. My Irish ancestors, if they did come for work on building the canal, would have moved on to other work about this time. I'll be alert to that 1846 date in my tracking them down. Thanks, WHLBR.
Well, it's a start and now I know more about the lives of those who worked on the C&O Canal.
And then there's this: our Irish family has always been anti-slavery and for equal right in the extreme, as if it were personal or something. Now I think I have a clue as to why. The Irish who came here before the Civil War were escaping the type of "soft slavery" enforced by the British landholders who inflicted pain and punishment on the very people who once owned that same land. The family in both of Rada's books expresses this opinion and are a link on the Underground Railroad! There's my own ah-ha moment:)
Were my Irish ancestors canal workers after the canal opened?
All canal photos in public domain and come from WHLBR.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/treasure-chest-thursday-c-canal-workers.html
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Wordless Wednesday: Mom in Wales
That's all there is... just seeing if I can do a Wordless Wednesday, a blogging prompt from Geneabloggers! It's hard, but I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead!
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/wordless-wednesday-mom-in-wales.html
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Tombstone Tuesday: She was buried in an unmarked grave
Recently I ran into two instances of female ancestors buried with husbands but there was no marker for the wife's grave. In my head, two is a cohort and deserves thinking about. Maybe in the future when I can find no obvious grave marker for the wife I'll first double check to see if she's buried next to the husband before I go looking far afield.
The first example is in St Micheal's Cemetery in Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland and the other is in the Comps Cemetery located next to the Comps Church in Comps Crossroad, Somerset, Pennsylvania. In both cases the husband died before the wife by about 20 years. A lovely stone was erected for the husband with full information on birth and death dates. In both cases no part of the main stone or any other stone indicated that the wife was also buried there, but she was.
Now I'm starting to suspect that there might be more of this going on than I originally thought. The problem of course is proving something that doesn't exist, in this case no stone marker. I took the lack of a stone at St. Michael's Cemetery as an indication that the wife wasn't buried there with the husband and thus began a year-long search of Western Maryland cemeteries for Bridget (Corcoran) Kelly that came up empty.
Now however, I'm thinking that the obvious place to look for the missing wife, especially for ancestors interred in church cemeteries, is right next to the husband... and in church records. If you can get to them.
My first thought based on the Kelly couple is that possibly by the time the wife passed, the funds to set a separate marker or even engrave the husbands marker were sparse. There could have been small satellite markers placed for the wife that are hidden under dirt and that is worth exploring. And then there could be a lot of other explanations too that I can only guess at.
So here are my two ladies without grave markers, "living" if you will, in the shadows of the husband's markers.
John Kelly (1829 - 1891), St. Michaels Cemetery, Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland.
Find A Grave # 107263732
Also buried there is his wife Bridget Corcoran (1830 - 1912)
Find A Grave # 107271558
Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780 - 1856), Comps Cemetery, Comps Crossroads, Somerset, PA.
Find A Grave # 74544823
Also buried there is his wife Catherine Wolgerman (1765 - 1874)
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/tombstone-tuesday-she-was-buried-in.html
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Sentimental Sunday: "The sky has always been blue"
That's my Grandmother Kelly in that picture above. What is she there, four or five years old? She was born in 1894 so maybe this is 1898 or so. I really like this picture of her and I tell myself that I can see her adult face in the face of this little girl.
She has a doll baby carriage that she's loaded with some of her dogs and puppies. The one looking at the camera always says, "Help, save me from this rambunctious child!"
I know this back yard. I played there too. And here it is again, below, and her in it much later in her life.
I was glancing at Westways magazine last week. It's the magazine published monthly by the California AAA, or the Auto Club. I always turn to the next to last page right away to see the old photo and read the short write-up about it. We like old photos, don't we? This time the article was by Morgan P. Yates, and even though I don't know who he is, I like him already because of what he wrote in his article, Flower Stop. Let me quote just two sentences of it here.It's easy to think of the past as occurring in shades of gray because that's how the old pictures present it to us. We know better, of course; the sky has always been blue.
That hit a chord with me and now when I look at these old photos I try hard to think of them in full color and if I know the place like I know this yard, I try really hard to imagine the day that surrounded the image I'm staring at, sitting here thousands of miles and days away.
The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/06/sentimental-sunday-sky-has-always-been.html
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