Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestor Name Roulette; Playing Games

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born? Divide this number by 50 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?
3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandparent, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even your children!

1) My Great-grandfather James Byard Wheeler was born in 1852. Divided by 50, it brings a number of 37.04 rounded to 37.
2) This brings up interestingly enough Susan Green(e) on my husband’s side as I have our entire lines on one program/file. (Does anyone else do it this way? I started it that way and have never separated them)
Her vital information is as follows: She was born on July 14, 1815, location unknown. She died March 1, 1883 in Jefferson County New York and is buried in Sherwin Bay Cemetery in Brownville. Interestingly enough her burial records do not jive with the birthdate I have which I probably got from a family member. (I have not spent enough time on this family) The cemetery records say she was age 73, 08 months and 17 days at death, placing her birthdate at June 14, 1809. Needs more research!
3) Three facts….Hmmm could be fantasy, noting how I got the information in the first place and NEED to do the research myself (once again because I have obsessed over my own line) 1: She is the wife of Martin Williams and together the had 2: four known daughters: Sarah, Julia, Anna and Vina.3: She may have or not come to Michigan with her husband where he purchased land in Ottawa County Michigan, but never apparently settling. Their daughter Julia at least did, she is the 2nd Great grandmother of my husband. She has been noted to be thedaughter of Samuel Greene and granddaughter of the Revolutionary War General Nathanael Greene….but I only HEARD this, and until I see proof in document….just folklore!

Clearly embarrassing lol…how I have meandered away from my genealogy…coming back only to find there is so much more to do. How to divide the very little time after the boss lets me go home at the end of the day!

SNGF- Write a Poem on "Where I'm From"

After a rather long leave of absence Randy @ genea-musings has prompted me to try writing a poem on 'where I come from' from a specific format, well here's a shot at it....

Where I'm From

I am from a small town life
From dolls to outdoors games
With Prang, Bazooka and Dairy Queen
Among some other names.
I lived within the sand from the bay
Climbed maples everyday
The smell of the lilacs along the drive
made me smile along the way
Around the kitchen table some smart-alecks did reside
From Dean to Uncle Jack all around there was a gibe
We are from yellers and the schmoozers, wouldn’t you know
The introverts and extroverts, sometimes it didn’t show
I am from the Traverse Bay and Ethel & Ernie’s clan
The stories of the Captain’s tales
Refresh me if you can
The Church of England, Episcopal now
The family friend and priest
Sunday school and coffee gatherings
The dark old wood and creaking floors
The painting on the wall
The colors in the old stained glass-
They were very, very tall
I am sure I was told a lot of things for now my memory fails
I guess I ‘ll make a phone call now, to hear the infamous tales.

SNGF-Early Sunday Morning....

I receive Randy's emails in the Morning and well....I was out last night so-
GOOD MORNING ALL!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Date You Were Born-*Randy says-
It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

Youir mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) What day of the week were you born? Tell us how you found out.

2) What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

3) What famous people have been born on your birth date? Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

4) Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.
*********************************

#1: My mom told me I was born on a Wednesday, and I double checked it through my PAF program....Looks like she was right! Gee...how'd she know that? haha. It was a day in September many, many moons ago!

#2: September 30 in history-
1939-1st televised college football game (Fordham vs Waynesburg at New York City)
1934-Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicates Boulder Dam (Hoover Dam)
1791-Mozart's opera "Magic Flute" premieres in Vienna
1452-1st book published, Johann Guttenberg's Bible
1399-King Richard II of England abdicates throne
found these on Brainy History

#3: Famous people born on that fatefull day;September 30-
Found on- Famous Birthday.com see the list, some were famiar to me some were not,good discription on the site, here are 5-
Eric Stoltz, Fran Drescher,Johnny Mathis, Angie Dickinson, Truman Capote.

#4: Published here on the blog, will opst to fb via Network blogs

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun...Who's to Blame?

Good MORNING Sunday-
From Randy At Genea-Musings:
Hey geneaphiles - it's Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun for all Genea-Musing readers.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (and we need more of you to do this, otherwise it may end...), is to:

1) Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:

* Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?

* Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?

* Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?

* If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.

2) Write your responses on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a note or comment on Facebook.

Hmmm, Well It really all started with my now 29 year old - Eric’s 10th grade class project regarding a family history assignment. We started to gather Spencer & Raeburn information. The Spencer family history was pretty well documented already, but it did need some tweaking. We received some Raeburn family info from my Aunt Barbara-Dad’s sister. This really got me curious, suddenly there were names I had never heard of. She gave me a visual of many family members. This was awesome, I had been so much younger than the rest of the family I didn’t know them.....but it was put away after the class assignment....until.....

My sister was pretty much the sole care giver of our mother as they lived together. When Mom’s health started to decline- Kim needed a outlet, online where she could quietly do something or communicate quietly. So then two of us were IM-ing... a lot. I had to be doing something ‘productive’ so I started in on the genealogy and realized I really was very intrigued with it and haven’t been able to put it down since. I have learned a lot of Do’s and Don’t s, & How Tos. I have met a lot of people online, some of whom I have met in person and maintained a friendship with which I hold dearly.

All in all a pretty enriching hobby huh? ; )

SNGF-sUNdAy MoRn...I Write Like...

Randy @ geneamusings said ”Hello there, genealogy fanatics ... It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!”

1) Find something that you have written that you are really proud of - the best of your work. Do an Edit > Copy of it.

2) Go to the website http://iwl.me/ and Paste your text into the waiting box.

3) Tell us which famous author you write like. Write it up in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog, or post it on Facebook. Insert the "badge of honor" in your blog if you can.

Well....I think I write boring, analytical and sound like I blurt out stats but here goes:

Are We cousins?
This analyzer thinks I write like Stephen King! Most folks are aware of how he writes, and I will be reading his book called, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. One comment I read states that he feels the story should not be plotted out ahead but rather start from a single catalyst and grow from there and see where the story takes you...yea I like that.

Well ok lets try another post: Veterans Days: Merchant Marine WWII, Dean E Raeburn
Now it thinks I write like: David Foster Wallace

How about 3 ...and see if I write consistent at all....
Raeburn Family- Kith and Kin an Ancestral Oddysey (something I am working on)
Now I write like- James Joyce, oh BOY a little read on James Joyce

I was hoping for a two out of three, what to make of it all !!
Ok.... so comments??!! LOL!

I write like
Stephen King

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

SNGF- Happy Mothers Day

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun-Matrilineal line from Randy @ Genea-Musings


1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Note or status line on Facebook.

1) Mom
2) Joyce
3) Hester
4) Emily
5) Maria

Well that is the end of the line already! Clearly some work needs to be done here.
I have not had my mitochondrial DNA tested

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Trading Cards

Well ok.....

Here's my trading card



See Genea-Musings for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun...

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

From Randy @ Genea-Musings

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- My Genealogical Threes
It's Saturday Night - time for some Genealogy Fun!

Over on Facebook, some people have been posting their "3s of Me" with information about themselves providing three responses in different categories like "Three names I go by," "Three jobs I've had," "Three favorite drinks," etc. You get the idea.

So here is your assignment, if you decide to accept it (this is not Mission Impossible, of course):

1) Tell us your three responses to the questions:

* Three genealogical libraries I frequent
* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips
* Three genealogy societies I belong to (or want to)
* Three websites that help my research
* Three ancestral graves that I've visited
* Three ancestral places I want to visit
* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more
2) Post your responses as comments to this blog post, in your own blog, or in a Facebook comment.


* Three genealogical libraries I frequent
Hackley Library Genealogy Department: mainly used
Latter Day Saints FHL-Grand Rapids
Herrick Public Library Genealogy Dept-Holland Mi

* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips
Traverse City, Michigan
Livonia, Michigan
Lansing, Michigan

* Three genealogy societies I want to belong to
Muskegon County Genealogical Society
Ontario Genealogical Society- Simcoe Co & Northumberland Co
Irish Gelealogical Society or Clogher Historical Society

* Three websites that help my research
www.Ancestry.com Library edition used @ library
www.familysearch.org
www.ogs.on.ca

* Three ancestral graves that I've visited
Anna Youker Lillie 1824-1899 bur Traverse City, Mi
wow, I haven’t been to 3, my grown children have however!!-
William Raeburn 1853-1835 & Melissa Jane Lillie 1855-1927 bur Sault Saint
Marie, Mi
James Byard Wheeler 1852-1924 & Zilphie Elizabeth Carpenter 1859-1949 bur Sault Saint Marie, Mi

* Three ancestral places I want to visit
County Monaghan Ireland
Argenteuil County Quebec
Ontario-Simcoe County

* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more
William Raeburn b 1810 Ireland- who are his parents
Thomas Darwin Lillie b abt 1826 NY, MIA after 1870 census Jackson Co Mi
Calvin Wheeler b 1789-90 U.S. died Sheffield Twp L&A Co Ontario
THERE ARE MORE!

I have concluded that I don’t get out much....I should fix that!

Saturday Night Genealogy fun- Time Travel

Randy at Genea-Musings has this for us:

It's Saturday Night, time for some Genealogy Fun after your frustrating week of finding phantom ancestors in online family trees and trying to keep up with everybody on Twitter, Facebook and Genealogy Wise.

Here is your assignment for this Saturday Night (if you decide to accept it, of course - you can't have fun if you don't try):

1) Let's go time travelling: Decide what year and what place you would love to visit as a time traveller. Who would you like to see in their environment? If you could ask them one question, what would it be?

2) Tell us about it. Write a blog post, or make a comment to this post, or on Facebook, or in Genealogy Wise.

*******MY TIME TRAVEL********

It is the Twentith day of July in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty Six in Argenteuil County, Quebec.
I see my 2nd great grandparents, William Raeburn and Margaret McCormick standing in St. Mungo’s Presbyterian Church with their daughter Margaret Ann in hand to be baptized. Their witnesses today are William and Sarah Wilson, and their minister William Mair will baptize little Margaret.
The Raeburn’s have been in Quebec approximetly five years and another daughter was already baptized somewhere in Quebec in 1844. Three children left Ireland with them, and they now have five.

Dearest Grandparents,
This much I know, you are connected to the Reburns of Corvacken & Derrygooney Townlands, County Monaghan Ireland.....

But what I long to know is, who are yours parents? Who are your siblings? What was your life like in Ireland? Did you mean to leave it all behind, to never speak of it again and of the family you had in Ireland? Tell me dear grandparents is there a written word of all that you knew, of your ancestry somewhere yet for me to find? Please...guide me to it!!
Oops..I exceeded one question and I have so many more!

photo of St. Mungo's church from Matthew Farfan Laurentian Heritage Web Magazine

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Ancestors-Where were they in 1909?

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Where were my ancestors in 1909?

On my dad’s side-

My second great grandparents were in the great beyond...

My great grandparents William & Melissa Jane Raeburn ages 56 & 54 were living on Ashmumn Street in Sault Saint Marie, Chippewa County Michigan. William was listed as a teamster for a wood shop on the 1910 census. They had lived in the Soo for 10 years moving there in 1899 from Glen Huron in Simcoe County Ontario. Their four children were still residing there with them, Ernest age 26, William age 25 a bank teller for the First National Bank, Margaret age 21 and Anna age 14.

My grandfather Ernest Ferrier Raeburn was working as a first mate on a steamboat on the Great Lakes and in June would have been sailing. He was still a single man.

My great grandparents James Byard & Zilphie Elizabeth Wheeler ages 55 & 49, lived on Bealy(?) Street in Sault Saint Marie, Chippewa County, Michigan. James worked in a grocery store per the 1910 census, his occupation is unclear...and I have yet to figure out just exactly what he did for a living after leaving Canada where he was in the lumber business. One of their four daughters lived with them Ida age 12.

My grandmother Ethel A. Wheeler...well by golly Holly’s stumped. She was not at home with her parents James & Elizabeth. It never occured to me that she would be somewhere else in between parents and marriage to Ernest Raeburn. So I did a search, and I just couldn’t find her census wise. However Aunt Barbara’s notes say that sometime after she graduated high school, approximately 1906 and before she married Ernie in 1912...she went to Chicago with her sister Marjorie. Ethel was working for Sears in an office. So perhaps in June of 1909 my grandmother at age 19 was in Chicago working for Sears.
*****************************

On my mothers side;

My second great grandmother Sarah Maine Cornell age 87 years old was the widow of Stephen Cornell and was living in Thedford Township( in possibly Lambton County, Well there’s some follow up work) in Ontario; she died there in January of 1910.

Her son, Webster Cornell and his wife Eliza Jane Smith ages 57 & 50 (my great grandparents) were living in Cleon Township, Manistee County Michigan I can’t make out his occupation on the 1910 census, however he was a store owner in Manistee.

Leo Dewey Cornell my grandfather was age 11 and living with his parents. Leo was adopted, and his birth father William Rust died just before his birth. Both he and a sister just two years older were adopted by the Cornell families. His birth mother Mary Almira Ellis Rust remarried a Mr Guthrie and their location in 1909 is unknown.

My 2nd great grand father Mahlon P. Reynolds at age 77 was living in an unknown location. Hmmm he died in Mecosta County Michigan in 1920, where his son Wibur lived.

Wilbur A. Reynolds and wife Hettie Gorton (my great grandparents) ages 49 & 46 were living in Wheatland Township, Mecosta County Michigan. He is listed as a laborer for the county roads on the 1910 census, he was also a farmer.

My grandmother Joyce Blanche Reynolds age 10 was living with her parents in June of 1909.

So there it is....clearly more work is needed. This exercise puts a new perspective on location importance I didn’t think about. The census doesn’t have it all. I knew that but this woke up my sleepy eyes!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

Randy's calling for some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -
Birthday Fun Facts Calculator:
"Every genealogy researcher has to have a little fun, so climb onboard the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun express and enjoy the ride.

For this week's SNGF, please do this:

1. Go to the www.PaulSadowski.com web site.

2. Read his Bad Jokes page. What was the first one that popped up?

3. Click on his Birthday Calculator link. What are five Fun Facts you didn't know about your birthday?

4. Click on the "what your name means" link. What are your Number, your Soul Urge number and your Inner Dream number? Do the descriptions of your numbers match your perception of yourself? Note - females need to enter their birth name, not married name.

5. Tell the world your answers (with as much privacy protection as you wish) in a blog post or in comments to this post."


---------OK, heres it goes!!

1. & 2. Bad joke that first appeared-
An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to look at either.
3. Five fun facts about my birthday, Sept 30:
1. Your date of conception was on or about 7 January which was a Wednesday
(Thats not the story I got!!! LOL and I did get a story-family joke, sorry seriously laughing)
2. Your fortune cookie reads: You will spend old age in comfort and material wealth
REALLY? ; )
3. As of 5/30/2009 11:08:10 PM EDT You are 435,383 hours old, and 18,140 days old.
4. Celebrities who share your birthday: Angie Dickinson (1931)Johnny Mathis (1935)Deborah Kerr (1921)Truman Capote (1924)
5. Your ruling planet is Venus, and Your birth tree is Hazelnut Tree, the Extraordinary


4. what your name means-

French Female Shrub.
English Female From the plant name. Holy

Your number is: 9; Humanitarian, giving nature, selflessness, obligations, creative expression;
The expression that you exhibit is represented by the number 9. Your talents center in humanistic interests and approaches. You like to help others as you were intended to be the 'big brother or big sister' type. You operate best when you follow your feelings and sense of compassion, and allow yourself to be sensitive to the needs of others. You work well with people, and have the potential to inspire.

This suggests that you could successfully teach or counsel.[WELL I REALLY DONT KNOW ABOUT THAT ONE]

BUT THIS ONE.. YUPPER-
Creative ability, imagination and artistic talent (often latent) of the highest order are present in this expression. It's possible that you're not using or developing all of these capabilities at this time. Some of your talents may have been used at an earlier time in your life, and some may still be latent.



Your Soul Urge number is: 7; With a number 7 Soul Urge you are very fond of reading, and retreating to periods of being alone and away from the disruptions of the outer world. You like to dream and develop you idealistic understandings, to study and analyze, to gain knowledge and wisdom. You may be too laid back and withdrawn to really succeed in the business world, and you will be much more comfortable in circumstances that are tolerant of your reserve, your analytical approach, and your desire to use your mind rather than your physical being.
You are very timid around people that you don't know very well, so much so at times that casual conversation and social situations can be strained. You tend to repress your emotions to the extend that some people have a good bit of difficult understanding you. You tend to be very selective with friends and you don't easily adapt to new environments or to new people very quickly.

Your Inner Dream number is: 11; You dream of casting the light of illumination; of being the true idealist. You secretly believe there is more to life than we can know or prove, and you would like to be provider of the 'word' from on high.

5. Well this is all very interesting indeed.
Alot of the 'Expression #9 is spot on, weird. Soul urge #7 freakily knows me a bit, Inner dream #9 believing there is more to life...but yes its true.


But how can it be!

Saturday Night Genealogy fun, calculating dates

Randy's mission at Genea-Musings for us tonight...find that date using your date calculator.
Randy said-
This week, let's do something quick and easy in your genealogy software program. Are you able to calculate an age at death from a birth date and a death date? I usually can. Are you able to calculate a birth date from a death date and an age at death (in years, months, days)? I usually cannot.

Here's the challenge:
1) Open your genealogy software program and search for a "Date Calculator." You could go exploring in your Tools or Options menu, or you could use the Help menu to find it.

2) Open the "Date Calculator" and put in a death date for one of your ancestors and put in an age at death (use the one you know, or just make one up - we're just testing this feature today). Do the same thing by entering a birth date and a death date in the "Date Calculator" and see how old someone was when they died.

3) Tell us what software you're using and where you found the "Date Calculator." Tell us the information you found out from using the "Date Calculator."

Ok, Randy my turn,

I use LDS Personal Ancestry Program. The date calculator is a tool I use ALL the time! So, here is 'age at death'...

Margaret Ann Raeburn: I have learned from her baptism record, Margaret was born 20 July 1846, death record states she died 31 May 1914 [in Ontario], HOWEVER the death record did not give the usual yrs months days.
Using the date calculator with a start & end date, I find she was 67 yrs 10 months 11 days old when she died. Death record simply states she was 67 years old, if I didn't already have her birth recorded, I would be in the dark. Unfortunately this is the case for my 2nd greatgrandparents, so no way to calculate their birthdays.

Next how old would John George Youker, my 3rd gr grandfather & first generation Youker to Grand Traverse County be? Using his birthdate as the start date and today as end date, John, Johann George Youker would be......220 years, 2 months and 22 days old.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Poetic genealogy

Randy invites us back to school to write a poem....about genealogy. Poetry was NOT something I was good at!! Not back in the day...and probably no better today. So here is mine in short so as not to pull me hair out on a lenghty one! te he

William hailed from the Emerald Isle
Perhaps he struggled all the while
Told life is better across the sea
He left an Irish mystery for me!

Lame I am sure........ ; ) but it actully was fun

Do I at least get a C+ ??

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Paternal Grandmother's Patrilineal Line

Deleted post.

Who is #21 on the ahnentafel... better late than never, Matilda Smith

I just stumbled onto this exercise by Randy Seaver at Gena-Musings, and thought I would give it a try even though it will be nearly a week late by the time I post. Wouldn’t you know it, its great greatgrandma Matilda Smith.

Matilda Smith was born August 29, 1825 in Lennox and Addington County Ontario. Her parents are Nicholas Smith and Margaret Johnson. I do not yet know much on her parents but believe her father may have been a UEL. Matilda married James McLean Wheeler son of Calvin Wheeler on March 16, 1840 in Camden East, Lennox and Addington County.

Matilda and husband James raised 10 children in Tamworth, Sheffield Township in L & A Co. James was a merchant & millwright in the lumber business with his father. Their family was well established in Tamworth.

Matilda’s children: Elizabeth, Richard, Clarissa, Margaret, John [died], James my great grandfather, Alonzo, Charles, Calvin, Archibald and Ross.

I have certainly learned a lot about this family, much of the family folklore was wayyyyy off course. As history has it you don’t always get to learn much on the women in the family. I do not know much on Matilda’s life. By the 1880's she and her husband, and sons ventured into the upper peninsula of Michigan where lumbering was booming. Where exactly she and her husband ended up is unclear. I have searched high and low for the two of them in the U.P. I know her sons were in the Seney area, but she doesn’t show up. Another descendant thought they were in the Minnesota area with another son....not found there either. Right now the only clues I have are a naturalization into the U.S. of James M Wheeler in 1886, in Marquette. A photograph of their grandchildren taken in Marquette. I believe this documentation is ‘my James’ the signature is very similiar to that signed on his fathers will. The folklore has been quite interesting, stating that the Wheelers were all born in New York, and even England...well it was Canada, daddy was a British Supporter and left the U.S. by the war of 1812 when he became an adult.

I would love to know more about Matilda, put a picture with her name, and find out where she is laid to rest. Folklore has her death date as December 13, 1893... is it so and where is she?

How does Matilda tie into the Raeburns? Matilda's granddaugher Ethel Wheeler married my grandfather Ernest Raeburn.