I worked quite a bit yesterday on my maternal lines. The only drawback is it burned me out a little bit on researching. So I decided to switch to my paternal line, and just kind of observe it in pedigree format in FTM2012.
click for full size
Here are some things I’ve noticed:
Josephine Doremus is the only one of my 3rd great grandparents that wasn’t an immigrant. All others that are listed were born in other countries
The missing spots in my 3rd great grandparents aren’t immigrants… at least I don’t think. I have possible parents for both Jennie Featherson and Sarah/Sadie Sutcliffe, just no paper trail yet.
My Moore line is completely Irish.
My Thorward line is a quarter German, a quarter ?, and half Scottish.
My Redford line is half English and half ?.
My Parkin line is half English and half ?.
All the known immigrant ancestors on my paternal line were all here before 1875.
This entry has been sitting idle for 45 minutes because I’m watching Ugly Betty on Netflix Streaming.
I probably shouldn’t “work” in a room with a TV, much less one with Instant Streaming capabilities.
Featherson and Sutcliffe don’t sound like normal names. They’re not exactly Thorward, if you get my drift, but they aren’t Moore or Johnson either.
I bought myself a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills shortly after Christmas. I had wanted a copy for a long time, but finally made the leap and purchased it with my genealogy funds. I haven’t been able to dig in as much as I’d like, but I’ve been able to use it to source a blog post and to help with my genealogy file cleanup. I’ve been using my own method for recording census citations in my FTM2012 file since I began the new file, now I’m going back and adding structure to those citations.
Above, you see the three children that I found birth records for in parish records. If you have your eagle eyes on, you’ll also notice that in all three records, they show “Andrew Love of Hoodsyard”. I took that and added in an estimated birth date from various records.
In my previous post about Martha Love’s birth record, I was very surprised to find out that Martha was actually the third child of Andrew Love and Agnes Hamilton.
The problem was that we were going off the records in America and tracing back. I had known there was a first born Robert, through my long lost cousin Grace (is she still long lost if we e-mail regularly?). It was even Grace who clued me into Martha who married Duncan Walker, and through them I was able to identify one of my Mystery Monday posts. Which I was then able to smack myself upside the head because Duncan and Martha were living next door to Andrew and Agnes in the 1880 census.
Just remember folks there is a reason I named my blog the Misadventures of a Genealogist. I don’t do things the easy way, I do them the banging your head against a brick wall way!
Here we have the second child of Andrew Love and Agnes Hamilton. ((Beith Parish (Ayrshire, Scotland). Old Parish Registers, OPR 581/3, James Love birth (1829); New Register House, Edinburgh.)) Unfortunately James doesn’t appear with the family in censuses or any other records so far. Another great thing about this record is another mention of “Hoodsyard”. This place is mentioned on a few of the birth record for Andrew’s children.
In fact, it might just help me find Andrew’s birth record, but you’ll have to stay tuned for that! I have to head to the grocery store before the week begins again and then I have to update my website and e-mail my Love connections with all my progress!
Have you ever made tons of progress in the indexed database from Ancestry.com or FamilySearch? I have! It always makes me feel so accomplished.
One of the things you have to remember about these indexes is this. It’s not the original. I’m no expert but I have learned this. Nothing is like seeing the original document. The best of circumstances would be in person but because of logistics, this is not always possible.
With the advances in technology, we’re definitely making progress though! I decided to go ahead and purchase some credits from Scotlands People the other day. I bought enough to really have some fun. I ended up getting the images for almost all of the children of Andrew Love and Agnes Hamilton, some of the Menzies family. I even ordered a copy of John Menzies and Jane Ferris’ marriage record before I realized I could just use a credit and print out the record. Oh well!
In the index on FamilySearch, I would have been lucky to have had the parents names indexed. Then I would have been even luckier if both the birth and baptismal dates were recorded. If only one was recorded I would have been left wondering which date it was, baptismal or birth.
Love > Martha, Eldest Daughter and Third Child of Andrew Love, Hoodsyard and of Agnes Hamilton, his spouse. Born 29 July. Baptized 28th August. ((Beith Parish (Ayrshire, Scotland). Old Parish Registers, OPR 581/3, Martha Love birth (1831); New Register House, Edinburgh.))
I learned a lot just from that simple little blurb written in an old parish book. First of all… I thought Martha was Andrew and Agnes’ second child. Oops. Luckily, I fixed that lickity split while I was already on Scotlands People. Second, there was another Love birth recorded a few records up the page. However, it wasn’t Andrew and Agnes’ child. So now I can try and see if that was a family connection to Andrew.
There’s only one problem after all this wonderful progress. I used all my viewing credits in one day. Oops! That’s alright, that gives me time to analyze what I’ve recently learned!
January 1852: George was born in Germany. I used to have an article that stated a place in Germany, but it has disappeared with the other records I can’t seem to find anymore. So I’m back to just plain Germany. ((1900 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 215, sheet 7-B, dwelling 133, family 145, George Thorward))
Between 1865 ((1910 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED156, sheet 2-B, dwelling 38, family 39, George Thorward)) , ((1930 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ., Caldwell, ED 353, sheet 11-A, dwelling 238, family 254, George Thorward.)) -1867 ((1900 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 215, sheet 7-B, dwelling 133, family 145, George Thorward)): George immigrated to the United States
1870:George “Yohn” is living in the household of Harvey Bond as a cigar maker’s apprentice. His birthplace is listed as Wurtemburg. Wurtemburg happens to be the same place that the disappearing newspaper obituary gave. However, I no longer have the article to prove that. I have to get to the New Jersey archives so that I can search old newspapers. ((1870 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, page 112-B (stamped), dwelling 118, family 134, Harvey H Bond household)).
November 1871: George “Yohn” marries Josephine Doremus in Verona, New Jersey. My Great Grandma Llewellyn’s diary gives their exact marriage date and year. The marriage record refers to the groom as “George Yohn”. ((Moore, Llewellyn (Thorward). “Diary” MS. Caldwell, NJ, 1923-1926. Privately held by Kathleen Moore, {Address witheld for private use,} Lexington Park, MD. 2005.)) , ((Essex Co., NJ. “Marriage Records, 1795-1893.” Book D, pg. 176, for “George Yohn, Josephine Doremus,” marriage return.))
September 1872: George and Josephine’s first child, Frank Springsted Thorward, is born. ((1900 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 215, sheet 7-B, dwelling 133, family 145, Frank Thorward.)) , ((World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, images , Ancestry.com, card for Frank Springsted Thorward, serial number 3485, Local Draft Board 4, Essex Co., NJ.))
January 1875: George and Josephine’s second child, Lewis Thorward, is born. ((1900 U.S. Census, Hudson Co., NJ, Harrison city Ward 3, ED 19, sheet 28-B, dwelling 422, family 613, Louis Thorward.)) , ((Moore, Llewellyn (Thorward). “Diary” MS. Caldwell, NJ, 1923-1926. Privately held by Kathleen Moore, {Address witheld for private use,} Lexington Park, MD. 2005.))
October 1879: George and Josephine’s third child, Dora Thorward, is born. ((1900 U.S. Census,Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 215, sheet 8-A, dwelling 145, family 158, Dora Plume.))
1880: George’s family is living in Caldwell. George’s occupation is listed as Cigar Maker. ((1880 U.S. Census,Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 94, page 403-B (stamped), dwelling 96, family 101, George Thorward.))
20 Aug 1890: George arrives back in the US after a trip to Germany. His port of departure was Antwerp and port of arrival was New York. However his occupation was given as ‘cooper’. I can’t be sure this is the correct George because of that. The birth year of around 1852 fits though. ((“New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” roll M237_553, list number 1227, images, Ancestry.com:2010.))
December 1897: George’s daughter, Dora, marries Leslie Plume. ((Atlantic – Hudson Co., NJ., “Marriages, Atlantic-Hudson v. 34,” 1897-1898, pg. 166, record 154, for “Leslie J Plume, Dora Thorward”.))
31 Aug 1898: George arrives back in the US after a trip to Germany. His port of departure was Antwerp and port of arrival was New York. His occupation, marital status, age, and address all match my George. ((“New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957,” roll T715_29, page 298, images, Ancestry.com:2010.))
October 1898: George’s son, Lewis, marries Jennie Love. ((Atlantic – Hudson Co., NJ., “Marriages, Atlantic-Hudson v. 36,” 1898-1899, pg. 169, record 1, for “Lewis Thorward, Jennie V Love”.))
1900: George’s family were living on Central Avenue in Caldwell, New Jersey. ((1900 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 215, sheet 7-B, dwelling 133, family 145, George Thorward))
1910: George and his wife were living in Caldwell, New Jersey. ((1910 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 156, sheet 2-B, dwelling 38, family 39, George Thorward))
1920: George’s household at 110 Central Avenue is counted, however it doesn’t seem like they were actually home at the time. I think the neighbors must have given information because it is very sparse. ((1920 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ, Caldwell, ED 22, sheet 19-B, dwelling 425, family 458, George Thorwood.))
1930: George and his wife were living at 112 Central Avenue. George gives a immigration year of 1865 and an occupation of cigar maker. ((1930 U.S. Census, Essex Co., NJ., Caldwell, ED 353, sheet 11-A, dwelling 238, family 254, George Thorward.))
1940: George passes away after a 6 month illness.
George Thorward obit. I have no source info for this one. It was among Llewellyn’s thing.
I’m coming clean today about my addiction to naming patterns. My brother is a 4th generation William Moore, and that wasn’t even the beginning of the Williams. In my old “Original” family file, I had 180 Williams in a database of 4,349 people. That’s 4% of my tree being made up of men named William. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot in the grand scheme of things but in my new revamped file, where I still have two branches of the tree to add, there are 49 Williams out of 923 people. That’s already 5% without adding in the Taylors, Crabbs, or Webbs. To anyone but me that doesn’t seem like much but I know for a fact I have 475 people with the Taylor surname in my old “Original” file.
I think it’s this over abundance of Williams that has led to my fascination with naming patterns. I’ve used naming patterns for the Scottish ancestry on my father’s side of the tree. I’ve talked about naming patterns on the blog. I’ve printed out every naming pattern variation I’ve ever come across online. I’ve tried to find patterns in my families that don’t follow a naming pattern. When I say obsession, I mean OBSESSION.
One thing I haven’t done with naming patterns is see if they pertain at all to my Mays line. The Mays family were the most prolific of my lines, so it would be really interesting to dissect them!
It’s now time to face my music. I didn’t get as far on my yearly goals as I would have liked. My life turned a little upside down this year and threw me off balance. That’s alright though, I’m learning how life throws you a few punches every once and awhile and I’m definitely back on my feet again… I think!
Personal Genealogy Files Goals
I want to finally finish re-organizing my ‘To Be Sorted’ folders on my second hard drive. Right now I have a folder of Mays photos, a folder of Moore photos, a folder of scanned photos and a folder of tombstones to be sorted into my 2010 filing system. (Hopefully it’s my final filing system!)
Well, sorry to say I still have things in my To Be Sorted folders. The good news is most of it is for the side of the family I haven’t finished verifying yet. I don’t have ID numbers created for them yet, so they aren’t going into sorted folders yet. I do get bursts of energy to sort through these files every once and awhile but I need to make more of an effort to double check them as I go.
I want to have the whole Mays side of my family entered into my website and both FTM and RootsMagic. This is a big feat, since I’m behind on my RootsMagic work and there are a lot of Mays family members.
I am nowhere near finished with the Mays side of my family. I’m getting there though. There were a lot of 10-15 children families to hash out, so it’s coming along, albeit slowly.
Online Genealogy Goals
Order at least 4 microfilm from the Family History Center. I’m hoping for one a quarter. I keep talking myself out of it because I want to get the most bang for my buck, so to speak. Enough of that! Time to get on with it!
I haven’t ordered any, this will still be a goal in the new year! It’s just been so hard to get out this year and get much done, but hopefully next year will be better.
Record Ordering Goals
I want to obtain the marriage certificate for William and Llewellyn. (I have notations of the date in Llewellyn’s records and a newspaper announcement, but I would like a copy of the actual certificate)
I would like to find the death certificate of Robert J Moore. (Brooklyn has no record of his death in 1925, so my next search would be Caldwell, NJ)
I have a copy of Llewellyn‘s birth certificate but it might be in New York at my Aunt Diane’s house. I’ll have to ask Uncle Chris about it in July.
Order death certificates for Lewis and Jennie Thorward.
I was short on genealogy funds this year and was only able to order the marriage record for George Yohn/Thorward and Josephine Doremus and the death record for John Menzies from the New Jersey and New York State Archives.
General Goals
BE MORE ORGANIZED! I ordered a copy of Elyse Doerflinger‘s Conquering the Paper Monster ebook and I plan to put it to use in the new year! With all that’s been going on in the last few months, I just haven’t had the time to touch my archives. I’m usually very good about starting and finishing big projects, it’s just I need a guideline sometimes.
I am MUCH more organized, I actually went through and organized all of my papers. I even wrote about it in a few posts: here. The only job left is scanning in my photos and organizing them but I plan to accomplish that slowly.
Website Goals
Don’t break the site! I’ve had a horrible habit of breaking the genealogy software on my website. Usually because I mess around with it too much. I think I’ve learned enough through trial and horrible errors to successfully keep this goal!
The website isn’t broken! I’ve been working on a new design for over a year, but haven’t had a lot of time to devote to it, so I credit that with the great luck. The new design will hopefully get done this year for sure. With easier to read text and better organization of the site!
Hopefully, I can think of some challenging, attainable goals for the next year!
I have a situation that has recently come up. You see, when I was rebuilding my father’s side of the family tree, I didn’t have the problem I’m about to explain.
