Saturday, December 30, 2017

Book Of The Week: Schuylkill County Pennsylvania



Schuylkill County Pennsylvania
Genealogy, Family History, Biography ; Containing Historical Sketches of Old Families and of Representative and Prominent Citizens Past and Present, Volume 2

J. H. Beers, 1916 - Schuylkill County (Pa.)



©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved


Thursday, December 28, 2017

Video Of The Week: Digging Deep into Death Records - James Tanner

We watch a lot of videos in the Cave. Webinars, instructional videos, continuing education videos, you name it! If it helps with our genealogical pursuit we are all over it!

Each week we thought we'd share one we've enjoyed.

Hope you enjoy it too!





©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Finding Faulkner: The Progeny | Thomas E Houston {Gen 4}


It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.


Thomas E Houston (Gabriel Houston, Sarah, James, William) was born in Glenwood, New Jersey October 5th 1827, to parents Gabriel Houston and Susan Ann Owen.

Thomas married Armintia Treadwell Fleet (1831-1907) on June 10th 1856 in either New York City or Brooklyn, New York.

The couple had one child:

  • Clara Fleet Houston b. 9 May 1861 d. 14 Jun 1943 never married

Thomas' life was cut short just one year after his daughter was born. He died in Yonkers, New York on June 17th 1862 at the age of 37. I have not found a cause of death or why he was in Yonkers at the time.

Armintia Treadwell Fleet Houston went on to marry the widower George Baxter about 1868/69. She became stepmother to George's six children, but never had another natural child.

Thomas E Houston is buried in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, Kings Co, New York. His wife Armintia T Fleet Houston Baxter and daughter Clara F Houston Baxter are buried there as well.


©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved


Saturday, December 23, 2017

Book Of The Week: Genealogy of the Lyman Family in Great Britain & America



Genealogy of the Lyman Family in Great Britain & America:
The Ancestors & Descendants of Richard Lyman, from High Ongar in England, 1631

Lyman Coleman
J. Munsell, 1872 - 533 pages




©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Video Of The Week: Using the Internet Archive for Genealogy - James Tanner

We watch a lot of videos in the Cave. Webinars, instructional videos, continuing education videos, you name it! If it helps with our genealogical pursuit we are all over it!

Each week we thought we'd share one we've enjoyed.

Hope you enjoy it too!




©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Finding Faulkner: The Progeny | Sarah Ann Houston {Gen 4}



It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.


Sarah Ann Houston (Gabriel Houston, Sarah, James, William) was born in Glenwood, New Jersey June 30th 1822, to parents Gabriel Houston and Susan Ann Owen.

Sarah Ann married Festus Hathaway Vail (1817-1878) on January 1st 1842 in Warwick, Orange Co, New York.

The couple had at least eight children: six born Warwick, Orange Co, New York, two born Sussex Co, New Jersey
  • Abbie Jane Vail b. 19 Dec 1842 NY d. 26 Nov 1874 m. John Grey
  • Sarah Frances Vail b. 13 Jul 1844 NY d. 18 Feb 1924 never married
  • Henrietta Mead Vail b. 19 Feb 1846 NY d. 9 Dec 1940 m. (1) Harry Hopper (2) Joseph Andrews 
  • Thomas H Vail b. 9 Jun 1848 NY d. UNK  m. Ellen LNU
  • Susan Arminta Vail b. 8 May 1851 NY d. 17 Nov 1897 m. FNU Corbett
  • Harriet Louise Vail b. 13 Feb 1853 NJ d. 24 Sep 1926 m. Alfred W Youngblood
  • Anna Florence Vail b. 26 Aug 1854 NJ d. 30 May 1930 m. Alanson Comfort
  • Jesse Fremont Vail b.2 Apr 1856 NY d. 3 Apr 1857 died in infancy

Not much is known of Sarah Ann's life. She married Festus Vail at the age of 19. Festus was a farmer in Warwick, Orange Co, New York. Glenwood, New Jersey, where Sarah Ann was born and raised, is less than 10 miles from Warwick, New York. Sarah Ann's mother's family was from the Warwick, New York area.

Sarah Ann gave birth to 8 children in 16 years, burying her last child a year before her own death. Sarah Ann Houston Vail died June 8th 1858 just shy of 36th birthday. She is buried in the Warwick Cemetery in Warwick, Orange Co, New York with her parents and grandparents.


©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved



Saturday, December 16, 2017

Book Of The Week: Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America, 1633-1897


Genealogy of the Fairbanks Family in America, 1633-1897
Lorenzo Sayles Fairbanks
author, 1897 - 882 pages



©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Video Of The Week: Using Pre-1850 Census to Find Family Relationships


We watch a lot of videos in the Cave. Webinars, instructional videos, continuing education videos, you name it! If it helps with our genealogical pursuit we are all over it!

Each week we thought we'd share one we've enjoyed.

Hope you enjoy it too!



©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Alexander Fraser: Master Baker (52 Ancestors #29)

Born in Middle Mill, Markinch, Scotland, December 8th 1807 to tenant farmer/master miller William Fraser (1767-1838) and his wife Agnes Bane (1769-1835).

Alexander Fraser was the fifth son, and eighth child born into a family of ten children. Raised in a millhouse in the shadows of Balgonie Castle in Fife, Scotland.

Alexander's father William, himself a son of a miller, was born in Craighouse mill, as was his grandfather Duncan Fraser (1725-1795).

By the time Alexander came along his parents had already lost two children, a son and a daughter.

map of Balgonie Castle/Mill area
The mill that his father ran was situated along the River Leven that was lined with mills of various sorts stretching out like fingers from the Castle.

middle mill cottages
Life as a working class family may have been hard. Any type of labor and toil as a way of living is surely hard. Working for the Royal family and whatever Earl was in charge of the land at the time. Although there was the opportunity for school, with both parochial and parish schools situated in Markinch, the best one could hope for was to apprentice and become a mill overseer one day. Eventually retiring in a worker's cottage, always a tenant.

Alexander apprenticed under his father in the trade of miller and was, according to his great grandson, a baker in the town of Edinburgh. Whether this is true or not I have yet to discover.

On March 25, 1832 Alexander Fraser wed Elizabeth Chalmers in Edinburgh. The couple emigrated to New York City later that same year. The journey would have taken at least two weeks. Elizabeth may have been pregnant at the time.

I've often wondered why Alexander and Elizabeth came to America. I like to imagine it was because they were young and had grand plans of a bigger and better life than the generations that came before them. Staying in Scotland would most certainly have limited Alexander. Perhaps becoming the next tenant farmer/mill man at one of the many mills in the shadows of Balgonie Castle. (Note: all of Alexander's siblings stayed in Scotland and are buried in the same churchyard as their ancestors)

<strong>FALLING STARS:</strong> An engraving of the 1833 night that Adventist pioneer and eyewitness Joseph Harvey Waggoner commissioned for the 1889 "Bible Readings for the Home Circle."
 a 19th century woodcut with an impression of
the spectacular Nov 13, 1833 Leonid storm.
Courtesy Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
In January 1833, their first child, a daughter named Agnes, was born. Alexander was listed in the NY City directory as a baker living at 147 Orange (rear) in what is now Manhattan. Later that year the young family experienced one of the most curious and perhaps frightening natural occurrences; know as 'The Night The Stars Fell', the Leonid meteor shower occurred pre-dawn November 12th and could be seen across the globe.

"On the night of November 12-13, 1833, a tempest of falling stars broke over the Earth... The sky was scored in every direction with shining tracks and illuminated with majestic fireballs. At Boston, the frequency of meteors was estimated to be about half that of flakes of snow in an average snowstorm. Their numbers... were quite beyond counting; but as it waned, a reckoning was attempted, from which it was computed, on the basis of that much-diminished rate, that 240,000 must have been visible during the nine hours they continued to fall." - Agnes Clerkes, Victorian Astronomy Writer

On the evening of December 16, 1835 the Fraser family witnessed the first of what would be three Great Fires in their lifetime. Very near where Alexander had his bakery a massive fire broke out in a warehouse. It quickly spread, thanks to gale-force winds, and ultimately destoyed 13 acres in the downtown business district encompassing 17 city blocks. I do not know if Alexander was directly effected, but I'm certain the family had a front row seat to the frightening event.

As the city rebuilt another disaster was looming. And Alexander was at the epicenter. May 10th 1837, known now as the Panic of 1837, began with New York banking institutions and resulted in the shortage of  currency, sending the US into a depression that would last until the mid 1840's.

But life rolled on, Alexander continued to bake and in 1838 the family welcomed their second child, a daughter named Janet (named after Elizabeth's twin sister) to the family. William, third child and first son, was born in 1840, the newly planted American family was growing.

By the early 1840's Alexander had expanded his business. He was now the proprietor of a Fancy Goods shop on Pearl Street near Hanover Sq. Scottish tenacity, perhaps, that brought him through despite the apparent hardness of the times.

A third daughter, Elisabeth, arrived in 1844. Alexander and family were now residing on Varick Place, between Bleecker and West Houston.
Fraser's business (red star and black arrow)
to right of burned area

Summer of 1845. July 19. 2:30 am. Saturday. A small fire started on the third floor of a whale oil shop blocks from Fraser's Fancy Goods Shop. By 3 am the City Hall alarm bell was sounding, likely arousing Alexander from much needed sleep. Ten hours later the blaze had been doused, leaving behind death and destruction. Alexander narrowly escaped tragedy once again. 345 buildings were destroyed, 26 people lost their lives.

The family welcomed their final child, a son named James Chalmers, in 1849.

Alexander continued to run his shop, the children grew and prospered. On May 1st, 1855 Alexander and Elizabeth's first born, Agnes, was married to a young Scottish immigrant, James Irons. For reasons unknown James and Agnes Irons decided to remove to a frontier city called Chicago shortly after the wedding. For more reasons unknown, Alexander, Elizabeth and the rest of the family decided to go as well. (Perhaps the desire to escape such a flammable city?)

Alexander quickly established a new bakery in his new city. Partnering with Mark Forsyth, the Fraser and Forsyth Bakery operated at 87 Market St. The city directory of 1856 lists the business as being established one year. The family home was on Blue Island Avenue.

Alexander and family still had one more dance with fire on their card.

red dot = origin / darkened area = fire spread
October 8th, 1871. Mrs O'Leary's Cow. Well, not really, but that's how the story goes. And once again Alexander and family are scant blocks from the conflagration, and most probably the business, this time around, went up in flames.

Alexander was 63 at the time and did not rebuild. He is found in the City Directories through 1876 as residing on Blue Island Ave, no longer listed with an occupation.

By 1878 Alexander is living with his widowed daughter Agnes in her sizable family home on West Adams.

Alexander Fraser died May 2nd 1883 at the age of 75. His wife Elizabeth followed six years later. The couple is buried in the large Irons family plot in Graceland Cemetery, along with numerous descendants, my father being one.

----------

From the pastoral landscape of Scotland, to the rough and tumble city of New York, and finally to Chicago, the city on the prairie; Alexander Fraser experienced a life none of his ancestors or siblings could imagine. He came to America with a dream in his heart and fulfilled it, the proud owner of his own business, working for himself, owning his own home, and firmly establishing his legacy on American soil.


©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Finding Faulkner: The Progeny | Susan Agnes Booth {Gen 4}



It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.


Susan Agnes Booth (Harriet Houston, Sarah, James, William) was born in  Orange Co, New York November 12th 1828, to parents Harriet Houston and John Barker Booth.

Susan Agnes married Lawrence Millar M.D.(1827-1901) in 1854 in Jackson Co, Iowa.

The couple had at least three children: all born Bellevue, Jackson Co, Iowa

  • Mary Ann Millar b. Aug 1856 d. 9 Apr 1936 m. Richard Slattery no issue
  • Harriet H Millar b. 25 Dec 1858 d. 27 Jul 1925 m. Phillip C Henry
  • Hellen McKinzie Millar b. 1869 d. 1924 m. Harry Marshall McKee

Dr Millar in Service
Dr Millar
photo Courtesy Ancestry.com
Susan Booth came to Iowa from Orange Co, New York as an adult, sometime between 1850 and 1854. She met and married Dr Millar in Iowa. Dr Lawrence Millar was a prominent physician and surgeon in Bellevue, Iowa. Dr Millar served as an assistant surgeon in the 5th Iowa Cavalry during the Civil War.

Susan Agnes Booth Millar died June 10th 1880 in Bellevue, Iowa at the age of 51. She is buried in the First Presbyterian Cemetery in Bellevue, IA . Dr Lawrence Millar died August 27th 1901 and is buried along side his wife.  



©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Saturday, December 9, 2017

Book Of The Week: Ravenel Records: A History and Genealogy of the Huguenot Family of Ravenel


Ravenel Records
A History and Genealogy of the Huguenot Family of Ravenel, of South Carolina
with Some Incidental Account of the Parish of St. Johns Berkeley, 
which was Their Principal Location.

Henry Edmund Ravenel
Franklin printing and publishing Company, 1898 - Berkeley County (S.C.) - 279 pages




©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Friday, December 8, 2017

Tools For The Dig: State Focused Research | Indiana


State Focused Research | Indiana


Some of my favorite research sites are slightly off-radar by today's definition.

First I'd like to talk about Genealogy Trails. From their homepage: "Our goal is to help you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and historical data and placing it online for the free use of all researchers. We are all about adding data for you to use in researching your family lines!!! We know that what you're looking for is data -- and we have LOTS of it right here.
Our hosts work continuously to bring you fresh, interesting and NEW data (well.... as new as hundred year old data can be!!!)" Pretty much everything you need to know to begin your Indiana research is contained within the pages of  Indiana Genealogy Trails. This is a thorough, well thought out site - and they are always looking for volunteers!

Companion Yahoo! Group: Genealogy Trails/Midwestern States

Next up, RAOGK. Another volunteer site. A treasure trove of links, well organized and easy to understand. From this site you can request look-ups from a team of Indiana volunteers. Or add you name to the volunteer list if Indiana is your home-base.

INGenWeb is an oldie but a goody! Volunteer based also, this database was founded in 1996! From their home page: "INGenWeb isn’t an ordinary genealogy website. Ordinary websites are those where text and sometimes pretty pictures are present, but trying to get in touch with a real person to help you with your research… impossible. The strength of INGenWeb is its many volunteers, some of whom have spent over a decade assisting others with their Indiana research. Using our county page visit the Indiana county your ancestors lived in and first try and find any information the county may freely provide on their pages (most have some sort of search built in). If the particular fact isn’t available online, then reach out to the county coordinator (cc) and they will try and assist you as best they can. Most county coordinators have their email address available on their website, though some will use contact forms."

Linkpendium is another all around resource hub. So What is Linkpendium, Anyway? "Linkpendium is a 10,000,000+ resource directory to everything on the Web about families worldwide and genealogically-relevant information about U.S. states and counties. We cover both free and subscription sites, with a strong emphasis upon free resources provided by libraries, other government agencies, genealogical and historical societies, and individuals. We are particularly proud of our unique indexes to online biographies."

Cyndi's List Indiana page.


FamilySearch:
Indiana State Wiki
Indiana State Catalog
Indiana Online Genealogy Records


State societies and archives include:
Indiana Genealogical Society
Indiana Historical Society
Digital State Archives/Indiana
IN.Gov/Archives

Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center

A comprehensive list of newspapers can be found at The Ancestor Hunt's Indiana page.


For social context look at LOC Indiana CollectionIndiana State Library Digital Collections and DigitalIndy.


As I discover more resources I'll update this post. Do you have any Indiana favorites that I've missed? Please share!


©2017 Anne Faulkner - Ancestor Archaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Thursday, December 7, 2017

Video Of The Week: Using DPLA for Genealogy and Family History


We watch a lot of videos in the Cave. Webinars, instructional videos, continuing education videos, you name it! If it helps with our genealogical pursuit we are all over it!

Each week we thought we'd share one we've enjoyed.

Hope you enjoy it too!



©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Finding Faulkner: The Progeny | Sarah Jane Booth {Gen 4}



It started, as good quests always do, with a family tale.


Sarah Jane Booth (Harriet Houston, Sarah, James, William) was born in  Orange Co, New York March 19th 1823, to parents Harriet Houston and John Barker Booth.

Sarah Jane married William Tell Wynkoop (1817-1870) February 28th 1850 at the First Presbyterian Church in Goshen, Orange Co, New York.

Sarah Jane and William had at least seven children: all born Bellevue, Jackson Co, Iowa

  • Isabella Houston Wynkoop b. 30 Sep 1851 d. 2 Aug 1914 m. Hiram W Ray
  • Benjamin Wynkoop b. 7 Aug 1853 d. 23 Dec 1910 m. Elinor Strobridge
  • Ella Mary Wynkoop b. 7 Feb 1856 d. 23 Jul 1897 m. Frederick Fuller no issue
  • Myra Delia Wynkoop b. 26 Aug 1858 d. 21 Jan 1913 never married
  • Edwin V Wynkoop b. 2 Dec 1860 d. 16 Aug 1936 m. Olive Harrington
  • Catherine Wynkoop b. 6 Oct 1863 d. 12 Sep 1864
  • William Trott Wynkoop b12 Sep 1865 d. UNK

The newlyweds removed to Iowa shortly after their marriage, appearing on the 1850 US Census dated September 10th 1850, in Bellevue, Iowa. In 1857 Wm Tell purchased 80 acres of government land in Jackson Co, Iowa. William Tell Wynkoop was a merchant by trade.

Sarah Jane Booth Wynkoop's death is unknown. She last appears on the 1885 Iowa State Census. William Tell Wynkoop died tragically January 30th 1870 when he was thrown from a sleigh. He is buried in the First Presbyterian Cemetery in Bellevue, Jackson Co, Iowa.


©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved

Monday, December 4, 2017

Brick Wall Ancestor | #8 Jesse Thomas Sr


We all have them! Those stubborn ancestors that refuse to come out of hiding. No matter how much coaxing we do! Well, I think it's time to bring them out of the shadows - put their redacted story out there - another piece of the puzzle could be lurking just around the (cyber) corner, in someone's basement, or closet, or sitting in a box on a bookshelf ...... You never, ever know where that loose chink will manifest, the one that allows you to push out one brick, then the next. Food for thought. So without further ado....


Brick Wall Ancestor | # 8 Jesse Thomas Sr

Jesse Thomas seems to magically appear in Chester Co, PA in 1810, prior to that time he is a complete mystery. What I do "know" is information gleaned from other researchers, none of it is sourced. The rumor floating around is that Jesse was born in 1786 in Chester Co, PA to unknown parents. He married, supposedly in 1808 in Fallowfield Meeting Hall, Chester Co, PA; Rebecah Hampton, Daughter of Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Phillips. The Hampton relationship has been substantiated through numerous DNA matches with other Hampton descendants.

Jesse appears on the 1810 US Census in New London, Chester Co, PA with three household residents; a male aged 16 thru 25, a female aged 16 thru 25 and a female aged under 10.

In March 1820 Jesse and Rebecah request removal from their Fallowfield Monthly Meeting in Chester Co, PA to join the Stillwater Monthly Meeting in Washington Co, OH. Did they actually live in Ohio at the time of the request?

I did find a Jesse Thomas on the 1840 US Census in Washington Co, OH, the household includes one male aged 50 thru 59, two males 10 thru 14, one female 50 thru 59, two females 20 thru 29 and two females 15 thru 19.

According to Quaker records Jesse died February 20th 1842 at Plymouth, Washington Co, OH. Aged 55.

End of story.

That's one HUGE brick wall!


GENEALOGY

Jesse Thomas  b. say 1786 d. 20 Feb 1842 m. say 1808 Rebecah Hampton, daughter of Jonathan Hampton and Elizabeth Phillips, b. 12 May 1790 d.  20 Dec 1850

children:

  • Elizabeth Thomas b. 1 Jan 1810 PA d. UNK
  • Sarah Thomas b. 17 Apr 1811 PA d.  UNK
  • Mary Ann Thomas b. 7 Mar 1813 PA  d. UNK m. Walter Stanley
  • Joseph Thomas b. 5 Dec 1814 PA d. UNK m. Mary G Parker 
  • Debora Thomas b. 27 Mar 1817 PA d. UNK m. Josiah Walton
  • Philena Thomas b. 9 Oct 1819 PA d. 22 Jan 1894 m. Seth Williams
  • Joanna Thomas b. 23 Jan 1822 OH d. UNK 
  • Jonathan H Thomas b. 25 Mar 1824 OH d. UNK m. Hannah E Henry
  • Eli Thomas b. 19 May 1826 OH d. 18 Nov 1855 m. Adeline McConnell
  • Jesse Thomas Jr b. 28 Jul 1828 OH d. 19 Sep 1907 m. Joanna Bell Stanley
  • David Thomas b. 26 Jun 1831 OH d. 11 Apr 1832


There were 30 'Thomas' heads of household in Chester County PA on the 1800 census, nine with a male child between the age of 10 and 15. Family tradition says the Thomas family was of Welsh origin. Was Jesse born in PA or did he immigrate as a child or young adult? Was Jesse's family Quaker? Or did Jesse join the faith upon his marriage to Rebecah? 

As is typical, more questions than answers. 

And the answers are out there ...... somewhere.


©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved



Saturday, December 2, 2017

Book Of The Week: A Genealogy of the Buford Family in America



A Genealogy of the Buford Family in America
With Records of a Number of Allied Families

Marcus Bainbridge Buford
1903 - 409 pages





©2017 Anne Faulkner - AncestorArchaeology.net, All Rights Reserved