It Doesn't Add Up!

First off you need to know that I'm awful at math, and I mean simple arithmetic. They almost kept me back in second grade to repeat it because of my poor math skills. (True story.) Think I'm dyslexic or something but for me numbers just don't add up. So when I see years and try to calculate backward to figure the birth year... you see the problem here.

Have been working (forever, seems like, but not too long for all of you experienced pros) on Nehemiah Newans, my 5th GGF, and Revolutionary War soldier. His pension application written in 1818 says that he's 70 years old. A book written by his grandson says that he served as a commissioned officer with general Braddock landing at Alexandria VA in 1754-55. So grabbing up my calculator (seriously, I need one for this) If he was around 70-ish in 1818 (and that's IF) then in 1754 he would have been 6 years old. Even I know: that does not add up!

Why this didn't occur to me prior to ordering the microfilm of British Officers who served from 1754 to 1757 from FamilySearch, I don't know!! What I do know is that he is not listed on that roll as serving in either Braddock's two regiments (the 44th and the 48th) or at Fort Cumberland (the 43rd Regiment). Grabbing my calculator again, if he was with Braddock at age 16 or so he would have been 80 in 1818... and that's entirely possible. But he's not listed on the microfilm. Now maybe he wasn't a commissioned officer. That's possible, right?

Have been thinking hard about where to look next and Mom and I have come up with two seemingly sensible paths of inquiry. First, he might have been commissioned and served later in the British Army, later than the time frame stated in the Myers book. Perhaps the author of the Myers book knew that Newans, Thomas F. Myers' grandfather, had served in the British Army and because the author had geographic proximity to the Braddock Expedition, he patched the Braddock story on to Newans' life history. It's a stretch but it has Mom's seal of approval as a possibility. The Myers of that era made up puffery. So I'll be ordering more microfilm for British officers of later years.

The second theory is that Nehemiah Newans wasn't in the British Army at all. The first location we have for him in the Colonies is York PA. Maybe we should now refocus on York PA and see what we come up with? Have been wondering how he came to York PA. Now that's a mystery that doesn't add up either!

No Luck: No Nehemiah Newans Listed

Was off the Family Research Center in Mission Valley here in San Diego today and take a close look at some microfilm of British Officers circa 1745 - 55. Was hoping that my Revolutionary War ancestor who reportedly came over with General Braddock (see Thomas F. Myers book, tab above) would be listed as a commissioned officer in either the 44th or the 48th Regiments of Foot. Also checked the regiment at Fort Cumberland just for fun while I was at it. Came up empty. Nothin. Nada. Zip.

Am super bummed out by this. Yeah sure it's part of the process and we don't get a gold ring every time we dig in the pile, but come on! I was mentally set up to find him and didn't. Want to go suck my thumb in the corner.

OK, so what's my next step? Not sure. Could try to hire someone to look him up in The British Archive. That could get expensive. But first, think I'll take the advice of the British expert at the FRC who suggested checking regimental museums.

Oh, and if you notice even more typos than usual it's due to the new keyboard that came with the replacement computer... or at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it;)

Happy Birthday to Me... But it's not about me any longer

Today is my birthday and I'm having a hoot of a time! Mom and I had a chat this morning by phone where she told me my birth story (again) and I thanked her for birthing me. HA! This time she added a detail about how Dad got to the hospital late and Mom was just about to deliver so the doc gave him a lecture and Dad gave as good as he got. Aunt Dot, Mom's sister, said she thought they were going to come to blows over it right there in thye hospital!

But today I'm thinking that I'm here because of Mom, of course, and my ancestors and that in some way I really do feel that connection back through time to each one I've learned about. So today is not just a celebration for my birthday as much as it is, for me, a celebration of the ancestors.

Through genealogy I've learned so very much about my family's history and times and places. Now that's something to celebrate! FIESTA!! (After all, I live in Southern California:)

What Was I Thinking?!

I dunno. Sometimes I do stuff that's totally off base, or even more frequently, get something in my head that's kinda the opposite of what the facts are. I'm new to this genealogy stuff so guess that excuses can be made for some of the nonsense I do, but for the rest of it... oh, my!

Take for instance, the color of the cover of the Thomas F. Myers book (see tab at top) where I say in a previous post that it's tan in color. Well when last I went to see Mom I took the book out to photograph it and whatta ya know, it's black!! I was shocked! How could I have gotten it so very wrong? Tan is not black!!

Here's another example: I kept on thinking that Nehemiah Newans was a captain, but it looks like he was a sergeant. Maybe he was a captain later, and even a major after that as it says in both the Myers book and the ad that ran in Canandaigue as land for sale next to Major Newens' property.  So is it me confusing the facts again or a mish-mash of facts all pointing in different directions? Obviously I need to double and triple check my work.

UGH! This genealogy makes my head hurt...:) Is it just me???

Kris "Kringle" Comes Early

Remember a while back when I didn't find a surname board on RootsWeb Mailing lists and message boards? No? What say, you have a life??

OK, so the surname I didn't find was Newans and that's one of my Revolutionary War ancestors that I've been digging around for. So I volunteered to be the administrator for the Newan/s board. And whatta ya know, a researcher named Kris popped up and contacted me!

Now Kris is no run-of-the-mill amateur genealogist (like myself:) She's a real researcher working on her graduate thesis and is presently focusing on foodways in western New York state. She noticed the RootsWeb post to the Newan/s board and the connection to Ontario County and in particular, Canandaigua, NY.

So she and I have been back and forth and the really interesting thing is that she's opened my eyes to the importance of agriculture in the very early 1800s. She even reminded me that in the 1820 census two individuals living with Nehemiah Newans were agricultural workers. Must say that I'd been thinking of him as a stone mason, which he was. But Kris pointed out that almost everyone in the area at that time was involved in ag. There were even ag fairs!

Even more flesh is being put on his bones: he had a thriving business as a stone mason with apprentices, and Kris thinks they might have been Italian as many were at that time. He had a wife and son living with him. He owned property, which included at least four good sized lots in the center of Canandaigua. And he was also engaged in agriculture and the household had two individuals just for that purpose.

Amazing what we find out if we just go look! Thanks Kris for your gift of a deeper understanding of my ancestor!

Wait, Wait, Wait... Now Hurry Up!

This newbie has been waiting and waiting for my two microfilm rolls ordered online from Family Search to be delivered to the local Family Research Center. Yesterday I found out that they have been there since about the first week in September! Between me not knowing what I'm doing and them switching over from the old system to the new one... and some misinformation along the way: they said they'd call me... am feeling lucky to have them available at last! BTW, they do not call you when the films arrive at the Center. You are to get an email and that's where it all went kablooie for me! And yes, they did have my correct email address, thanks for asking.

Never mind, the records that hopefully contain proof that my Revolutionary War ancestor, Nehemiah Newans, served under General Braddock in the mid 1700s are at my fingertips and ready for me to sit in the darkened room, quietly, the reader before me (my head at an uncomfortable angle... am I too short, what's the deal?) making swisssshhh sounds as the rolls spin into the past. I'm gonna be a while.

The point of the title of this blog post is that I've lost precious time here, about a month as I figure it. I know that I have until the week before Thanksgiving but I'm jittery that all the work won't get done. Heck, I'm always jittery that all the work won't get done;)

Those Who Don't See The Value

Was on facebook this morning and saw a heartbreaking series of posts from people who found old letters in a dumpster. One batch was rescued and the sister of the dumpster diver was going to make some collage art out of them. I was about to post a suggestion that she try to find a home for them with a living relative, but then thought that it was perhaps a living relative that did the dumping.

One fb friend of the poster wrote: "I have lots of photos of people who were friends with my mom when she was young (30's & 40's). Some have names on the backs and others don't. What do you do with these kind of pictures. I just want to toss them, too."

Guess I am particularly touched at this time because I've been looking at Mom's saved letters from WWII. A real treasure and giving the entire family pleasure and insight into the lives of our family during the war years.

Below is a photo from facebook of the dumpster dive letters. Here's what the poster wrote: "More treasure from my dumpster diving brother. An entire grocery bag filled with old letters between a couple name Everette and Grace- spanning the late 1800s through the 1950s. So sad that this was tossed in the trash. I hope to pay them some small honor by using these things in my work."

What, if anything, do I say to help them see the value?