6. I contacted a
church in Springville, NY for information on my Thurbers. The church members are in the midst of
writing a church history book, including a piece about a lovely circa 1920 baptismal
font, donated in remembrance of a Lynn Thurber, for whom they could not find
even one newspaper article. They asked
if I knew anything about him. Indeed! I had his sister’s scrapbook which
contained newspaper clippings and photos about his death. The memorial service at the church, was
several months after his death, making it difficult to find details. In writing
the story for the church, I learned much more about this man who was killed in
WWI.
5. At www.ancestry.com, I found Jabez Weeden’s, my
husband’s third gr-grandfather, War of 1812 enlistment into the NY Militia. Other than names and dates, I knew very
little about this man. These records
showed that he served in the 3rd Battalion under John Roberts,
August-November 1813. These dates meant
he had fought during a very important battle in Plattsburgh, NY. A book titled The Battles at Plattsburgh by
Keith A Herkalo, detail the 3rd Battalion’s movements and daily
activities during this time period. Now
I have a story of interest about this elusive man. (Unfortunately the national archives and the
NY archives hold no military records on Jabez.)
4. My third gr-grandfather,
Barney Coffey, was equally elusive. But
with a free 7 day trial subscription at www.newspapers.com,
I found that he had served on the jury of a famous murder trial in Kansas. At
that time the newspapers actually reported how each juror voted. The story
starts here http://seedstotree.blogspot.com/2014/07/barney-coffey-1824-1898-and-free.htm
I’m happy to have one life story about him.
3. Through the Kansas
Historical Society, I found a lovely researcher who helped locate the current
owners of Barney Coffey’s farm. They
sent me photos of Barney Coffey’s house, (which was torn down 20 years ago) and
photos of his hand-dug, stone-lined water well.
The researcher found a copy of his wife’s, Catherine Smith Coffey’s
will. The will listed dates of two of their
children’s death, and the married name of a daughter, Dora, who we previously
thought died young, but instead married young and bore five children. I’ve learned a great deal about Catherine Smith
Coffey’s siblings and family.
2. Jemima Wolf
Dunbar, my third gr-grandmother, was born in 1806, Washington County, PA. Looking at the 1810 -1830 censuses, there
were five Wolf men, all brothers who could be her father. Over the years, I narrowed the possibilities to
three. One of the three potential men, George
Wolf, moved to Illinois about 15 years after Jemima and her husband Hiram R.
Dunbar moved here, so George was for almost 10 years, my most likely candidate
to be her father. This summer I was able
to prove that George was her father through DNA. George Wolf married Sarah Enlow, and my DNA
did show that I’m related to Sarah!
1. This fall, I
visited my hometown and spent a lovely afternoon with a high school
girlfriend. We had not seen each other
in 20 years, but talked like two 16 year olds all afternoon. She (and I) had known that she was adopted,
and she recently received her original birth certificate giving her mother’s
maiden name and place of birth. All of a
sudden the conversation stopped. Knowing
I was “into genealogy” she asked me to try to find her mother or another family
member. I thought my chances were
remote. But surprise! I found her birth
mother in the 1940 census. Using www.genealogybank.com I located her mother’s
parents’ obits which listed her mother’s married name and other family members’
names. These led me to other obits and newspaper articles. I found several
aunts and her mother and a brother who are still living. I gave her the information and she is
following up on it as I’m writing this. We are both thrilled.
What strikes me is that there is such a variety of sources,
websites, and just plain luck involved in finding new genealogy gem. You never know what you are going to find
next. Isn’t that what makes it all so
exciting?
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