DNA Monday: Stuff, random and otherwise

My DNA test results from 23andMe are continuing to work to connect me to new DNA cousins. And some interesting projects are in progress over on GEDmatch. Additionally, a tip off from the medical results from 23andMe.com has helped me solve a personal medical mystery. These are exciting times, my friend!

DAR soon to accept DNA: Hey, check this blog post out from The Legal Genealogist, Judy G. Russell about the big news that the DAR is going to be accepting DNA evidence for membership approval... along with the other usual stuff they want. As Judy sharply points out, they are only taking Y-DNA, which is a guy thing. Please read her blog post because this is a very big deal (at least to me) and marks our changing times.

The Basics of DNA testing for genealogy: If you are wondering about DNA for genealogy, here's a wonderful blog post by DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy, and you can see it here. Here is a lovely beginner's guide to the topic and while I know a bunch of stuff covered in this post, it was really good to have a re-check to make sure my understanding was clear. Thanks, Roberta!

A new GEDmatch project: Got an email from someone named Vivian because we matched through GEDmatch and 23andMe. She sent the same email out to a couple of hundred people telling them about their shared connection and letting us know that if we were interested in participating, to reply to the email. I replied, of course. Why wouldn't you want to?
In a couple of days she sent a rather long email letting us know that she'd found a sub-group of participants who all had Quaker ancestors. One of Mom's brick wall ancestors married a mystery man named Waggoner and that was one of the surnames included in the list. I just about stumbled over myself in crafting a quick reply!
This Waggoner guy has us stumped, but good. Sarah Wooden (1810 - 1870) married the mysterious Mr. Waggoner, had a daughter from whom we descend, that being Sarah (Waggoner) Whetstone (1825 - 1880). Presumably Mr. Waggoner died or otherwise made himself scarce such that Sarah Wooten then married Peter Yeast (1808 - 1851) in 1829. On his passing she married Phillip "Major" Durst (1817-1888) and they owned a whole big bunch of land together in what is now Garrett County, Maryland.
We know nothing about Mr. Waggoner and it's about to drive us (Mom and I) crazy! Maybe this DNA study group will give us a hint. There were very few Waggoners in what was then Allegany County around 1825 when Sarah Jr. was born and most of those were residing a ways east of where Sarah lived. Other researchers have suggested to Mom that Sarah wasn't married to Mr. Waggoner at all and that she was a "grass widow", meaning left in the grass where he lay with her. What Mom has found is that her marriage record to Peter Yeast states that her name was at the time of the marriage "Sarah Waggoner".

My medical mystery: I feel like one of the older ladies sitting on the porch chatting about their aches and pains in writing this:) Just to say that a clue for the 23andMe DNA test has uncovered a medical mystery that has been bothering me for a very long time. K304E: that's my mismatched gene. That was all I needed to get going and do a lot of googling to find what ails me. Science is amazing!!

Yours truly and Grandma Williams, Emma Susan (Whetstone) Williams (1897-1956)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/10/dna-monday-stuff-random-and-otherwise.html

Surname Saturday: Wooden / Wooten and Waggoner, a "2-fer"

It's time for this week's version of one of my favorite blogging prompts from GeneaBloggers called Surname Saturday. And it's a two-for-one, or 2-fer. This line ends in a jumble right here at Sarah Wooden/Wooten Waggoner Yeast Durst. And if you've been doing this a while, you can probably detect where the problem is by looking at that name! What was her maiden name: Wooden or Wooten, or even Woodin? And who are the misters Waggoner, Yeast, and Durst? Mom and I have some answers and a couple dozen questions, right here, right now.

We're up in Garrett County, the most Western county of the state of Maryland and the location of a patch of one of the early roads west. It's still a place where the citizens are hearty and rugged and love to brag about how high the snow drift was last winter on the road in front of their house. I've personally seen a 20-foot drift! Fun and dangerous.

And again this week, I'm including all the names back from the great grands so as to better attract any cousins out there searching randomly;) So here we go!


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:
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
Joseph Hampton Whetstone followed his father's chosen occupation as a stone mason in a time when even the streets were cobble stones and needed to be set by hand. They lived just on the outer edged of the town of Frostburg, Allegany, Maryland.
Catherine Elizabeth kept a garden and was often seen working in it sporting her large sunbonnet. Joseph turned a portion of the basement into a cold cellar with his masonry skills so that what Catherine grew would be well kept over the winter.
When Mom's mother, Emma, was small and maybe less than 8 or 10 years old, their house in town burned to the ground. The entire family was left in the middle of January with only the clothes on their backs. Afterward, Joseph did two things: he joined the Frostburg Fire Department, all volunteers, and built for his family a fine house on the outer edges of town, the one with the big garden and cold cellar in the basement.
Joseph H. and Catherine were the love birds in this line-up. Mom has letters they wrote back and forth while he was away working as a stone mason. They are sweet and tender. Interestingly, she was his housekeeper after his first wife, Amanda Dennison, died. They eventually married.
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
Joseph Edward and wife Sarah were born and died in Garrett County Maryland in and around the tiny community of Grantsville. He was a stonemason. The winters are harsh here and my guess is that daily life then was not easy. I blogged not too long ago about a letter Sarah received from her mother, also named Sarah, just before she died and you can read it here to get a feel for the times.
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 1887 - 1965

58. Unknown Waggoner
59. Sarah Wooden 1810 - 1870
Sarah, mother of Sarah Waggoner Whetstone, full name was Sarah Wooden Waggoner Yeast Durst. Her maiden name was Wooden, sometimes seen as Wooten, or even Woodin. Her first husband was a mister Waggoner, but this was the frontier and there are no clear records. Who exactly Mr. Waggoner was, we don't know, but hold that thought for a paragraph or two.
Sarah married Peter Yeast (1808 - 1851) before 1830. He's an interesting person and we might just as well talk about him right here because there doesn't seem to be any other spot to do it on Surname Saturday. Peter Yeast ran a roadhouse tavern on the old National Road. The Old Pike at this time was the main way west, before the railroads opened the county for easy travel to western territories. Running a roadhouse and inn was a position that gave one access to many people, both local and passing through, so in 1842 Peter Yeast was elected to County Commissioner. During that time his son-in-law and my 2nd GGF, Joseph Edward Whetstone, who was working as a blacksmith and living close to the inn, took over running the road house.
When Peter Yeast died in 1851, Sarah married Phillip "Major" Durst (1817 - 1888), a prominent landed man of the area. Frankly, I still haven't figured out why they called him Major, so that goes on my to-do list.
But here's something that has my attention of late. On the Allegany County message board I met a woman who was also researching her Waggoners of the area. Long story short, we are going to compare our DNA to see if there might be a Waggoner connection. She's just purchased the kit so it will be a while. She pointed out that there is a whole thing about the spelling of the Waggoner name that might be a clue that our Waggoner people are connected. She knows a lot about this line so we're hopeful, and if there is no trace of a match that connection can be set aside.
Sarah and Mr. Waggoner only had the one child:
29. Sarah Waggoner 1825 - 1880
Sarah and Peter Yeast had a bunch of kids, and some of the boys served in the Civil War:
William B. Yeast (1828 - ?)
John Yeast ( 1830 - ?)
Alfred Yeast (1834 - ?)
Thomas Yeast (1836 - ?) He died in Filmore County, Minnesota.
F. F. Yeast (1837 - ?)
Elizabeth Yeast (1840 - ?)
James Michael Yeast (1842 - ?)
Sarah and Major Durst had no children together. He had children from a previous marriage.

William Wooden (1777 - 1834)
Sarah Sally (1782 - 1843)
We don't know too much about this couple, except that he was born in Prince George's County, Maryland and died in what's now Garrett County, Maryland. He was a slave owner, sad to say. That still creeps me out. He had four slaves in 1830.
Poor Sarah Sally. Not 100% sure that was her name and no surname. Not a lot to go on there. My to-do list at this juncture on the tree is gigantic.

William Woodin (Wooden) on Find A Grave,

memorial number  81802114

The URL of this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/07/surname-saturday-wooden-wooten-and.html

 

Amanuensis Monday: Sarah's Letter

Amanuensis Monday

What's an Amanuensis, you say? It's a copyist: someone who sits like a crazy person squinting their eyes and probably ruining eyesight to read that old document hand-written so very long ago and type it out. We do because we love:)

Mom warned me that this letter we'll be looking at today and penned by my 4th great grandmother, Sarah Wooten Waggoner Yeast (dates unknown, but possibly 1808 - 1870), to my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Waggoner Whetstone (1825- 1880) on 5 Mar 1869 was hard to read. It also showed the limit of Sarah Yeast's literary skills, and I have to tell you those limitations make this whole thing more charming. Add that to the fact the she likely wrote it in the 6 months to a year before she died and you have one of our favorite finds in Mom's Archive!

This family line is really interesting with lots of stories to tell. Sarah, the mother and let's call her Sarah Mother, had Sarah Daughter on 20 Feb 1825 in Grantsville, Garrett Couty, Maryland. Garrett County is the western most county of the state and even now it's mostly farm land and woods. Back in 1825 it was really wild and life was impossibly difficult for us softies to even imagine, except if frontier history and times is your thing. Sarah Daughter lived in Frostburg, Maryland, a distance of about 19 miles. Easily travelled today but at that time, very difficult over roads that were not much more that dirt pathways through the woods and a hard day's ride by horse or wagon.

Mom and I find this letter has a poignancy all its own. Sarah Mother is all but pleading for her daughter to come for a visit. She's old, she writes, i am gitting ould. Then she goes on to give a news roundup of Sarah Daughter's step-siblings. I wonder how much Sarah Daughter was moved by this plea and did she make the visit to see her mother that spring or summer?

Sarah Daughter was the first of Sarah Mother's children and fathered by a Mr. Waggoner, who it seems is missing from the records as far as we can tell. Mom has dug in every archive in Garrett County and the mysterious Mr. Waggoner or Wagoner (given name unknown to us) has come up missing. Mom heard a rumor still afoot in Grantsville that Sarah Mother was never married to him. There are a hundred possible explanations.

Peter Yeast came along and married Sarah on 15 Mar 1841. It was his will that was transcribed last week and you can see that post here and the mention of his wife Sarah but no mention of the daughter Sarah: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-will-of-peter-yeast-ancestry-tree.html

Peter and Sarah had 7 children together and with Sarah Daughter that's 8 kids in all. Daughter Sarah married Joseph Edward Whetstone (1816 - 1897) and they had 13 children. Two of their daughters married the same guy, Enoch Clise and that's a whole can of worms right there and I'll save it for another day.

But while I'm sorting around this family for interesting stuff, here's a copy of an email Mom sent about Peter Yeast's brother, Daniel Yeast, and here's what she wrote.

Another Story
Here's another one for you. Daniel Yeast was born on 24 Apr 1818 in Mercer Co Ky. His parents were John Leonard Yeast and Elizabeth Peavler. John Leonard's brother was Peter Yeast who married our g.g.g. grandmother Sarah Wooten.
This is the story of Daniel Yeast who married Mary Jane Curry. Daniel was a traveling salesman and on 02 Apr 1875 on this way home he stopped at a saloon for a libation. He left the saloon and was robbed and murdered and his body was found the next morning near the river. Apparently he was 43 when this happened. He left 6 sons.
The next thing I want to know is what river was it and how far away from home was he when it happened.
Love M
PS: I think it is the Salt River as near as I can tell. Love M
PSS: Our ggg grandmother Sarah Wooten Yeast would have been Daniel's aunt. Love M
July 27 2011


Now on to the letter from Sarah Mother. I'm not the best transcriptionist and haven't had much experience, so this is my best shot... and fair warning! But the best way to learn, I've always thought, is by doing.

So here's the image of the letter and I'm disappointed in it because it's a copier version of the real deal... and why I didn't just go ahead and scan the actual letter last time I was back east to see Mom, I do not know! On the list for next time: redemption. Click on the images below to have a closer look.

March the 5 1869

Deair Sarah i take my pen to
rite to you few line to let you know
that we air owl well at this time
and I hope that when this lines I have
Seen you and some times I think
you have forgot your hare ol mother
but i have not forgot you i often
think you mite come to see mee
it is not so fair but what you
mite cum and see your mother
you must think i am gitting
ould and not abel to git souns (?)
but likel(?) and therefore you out
to come to see mee it is a giting
near Spring time and I would like
to now if you air going to move
from whair you aire this Spring
or not and if you air I wod like
to now

well Sally Sissy has moved
near accident Bill is a making it
Shook and he is duing verry well
James is living in Grantsville
Alfred is living on the hil
i often hear from Billy and Thom
tha air (?) a giling along well i will send
Billy leter(?) to you well Sally i will
tell you that magor is not well
nor sarant (?) benn all winter
I do not now if he will git beter
when warm withe cums or not
but I hope he will but we have
plenty to dyeait (?) i inted to cum
to see you this winter but it was
to cold I lold (?) not lurne out
well I delera(?) that . I save no
more to rite this time rite
to me very soon and tell
all about the children
no more at this time
but remain your Mother
til later(?)


Sarah Wooten Waggoner Yeast and Peter Yeast's children are:
William Yeast 1828 - ?
John Yeast 1830 - ?
Alfred Yeast 1834
Thomas Yeast 1836 - ?
FF Yeast 1836 - ?, died in Minnesota
Elizabeth Yeast 1840 - ?
James Michael Yeast 1842 - ?

How many does Sarah Mother mention in the letter? And who is Sally Sissy, do you think? And who are Sergeant and Major? This letter was written after the Civil War but none of the boys achieved those ranks as far as I can tell.

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/amanuensis-monday-sarahs-letter.html

The Will of Peter Yeast: Ancestry Tree Payoff!

Amanuensis Monday

What's an Amanuensis, you say? It's a copyist: someone who sits like a crazy person squinting their eyes and probably ruining eyesight to read that old document hand-written so very long ago and type it out. We do because we love:)

This last year Mom decided that she finally wanted to put her big tree on Ancestry. She had been reluctant to do so but we chatted about it and figured out a way to avoid the pitfalls. You see, Mom built out her tree over the last 40 years plus, and did it for her own pleasure. She has plenty of notebooks with copies of original wills, birth and death certificated, marriage certificated, email and handwritten and typed letters to people all over the place chasing down this or that ancestor. When she got a computer, internet access, and finally Family Tree Maker she was in heaven! But the thought of putting her tree online and have people picking at her, "hey, lady, where did you get that?" was not for her.

Long story short, her Big Tree with all 60,000 people is now on Ancestry as Virginia Williams Kelly's Big Tree. Every week I field a couple of comments about it and invariably the question, hey lady where did you get that. At 94, Mom is not about to go diving into her numerous files for sources. And mostly we get question inquiring about wives names, and the names of all the kids. We answer what we can.

Last week I got an Ancestry message that made all this back and forth messaging worth it. This one was different in that it was short and gave a link to an image on FamilySearch. Hmmm. It said:
"I came across this will which may or may not fit into your tree. It can be seen at:...."

Well I don't just go clicking on links cause you know how that is... next thing, some Nigerian prince has the pin number to my bank account and we're married;) But I checked it out and then loaded it in my browser. Sure enough, up popped a beautifully clear copy of the will of Peter Yeast 1808 - 1851, my great, great, great step grandfather naming his wife, GGGGM Sarah Wooten Waggoner Yeast 1810 - 1870, all of his children (but not naming my GGGM, Sarah Waggoner 1825 - 1880, who was not his child.) Mom and I were both thrilled to have it!

OK, so I'd like to give you a peek at it but my Blogger photo uploader really isn't working and I don't know what to do about that, but I can provide the transcription of it and that's what I'll do. (See fix, below.)

Will of Peter Yeast, dated June 11, 1851:

Maryland Register of Wills Book, 1629-1983 > Allegany > Wills 1851-1863 vol B > Image 13 of 178

In the name of God Amen, I Peter Yeast of Allegany County, State of Maryland being sick and weak of body, but of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, considering the certainty of death and the uncertainty of the time thereof, and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs, and thereby be the better prepared to leave this world when it shall please God to call me hence, do therefore make and publish this, my last will and testament in manner and form following, that is to say,
First and principally, I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God and my body to the earth, to be decently buried, and after my debts and funeral charges be paid, I devise and bequeath as follows after my debts are all paid. – I devise and bequeath all my property of whatever kind, real and personal to my dear wife Sarah for her natural life, or so long as she remains my widow; at her death, or in the event of her getting married, all the property herein bequeathed and devised shall descend equally to my children; namely, William, John, Alfred, Thomas, Elizabeth and James Michael Yeast. There remains yet to be paid five hundred dollars, due in seven years on the real estate which I purchased of W. M. F. Magraw and Asa Beall and their wifes, which sum of money it is my wish shall be paid when due or sooner if possible without a sale of the above real estate, or any part thereof: but if it becomes necessary to sell any part for the payment of the said five hundred dollars, it is my wish it shall be taken from the back part of the land.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this Eleventh day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand Eight hundred and fifty one.

Peter Yeast (Seal)

Signed, sealed, published and declared by Peter Yeast the above named testator, as for his last will and testament in the presence of us, who at his request, in his presence and in the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses thereto.
Jacob Brown
Nancy W. Hofford
Basil T. Garlitz

Addendum, 1 8 2013 RE: Blogger Photo Uploader: I googled "Blogger photo upload help" and read what it had to say. Long story short, IE doesn't read the box at the top of the Upload line, but it works just fine in Google Chrome! Am back in business uploading pix:)

The URL for this post is: http://nutsfromthefamilytree.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-will-of-peter-yeast-ancestry-tree.html