Family Lore Update

Many a genealogist can relate to this. I have been looking at the wrong Elbridge Gerry.

The Elbridge Gerry that signed the Declaration of Independence did have a wife and several children. Still, no connections found. Still looking for a cousin connection farther back. At least I am looking at the correct person now. 

Today I Shed Tears

While listening to an older episode of Extreme Genes I was reminded about the RelativeFinder site. The site pulls from you FamilySearch Tree and gives you clues to persons of interest to whom you may be related.

I have to say I take any leads I get from FamilySearch with "a grain of salt". I have personally discovered some very erroneous connections to my own family members. However, it is a clue to possible directions to follow when looking for parentage to a known family member.

Well, I was looking through the extended list of possible groups you can look at and saw the Salem Witch Trials. I had commented to a friend recently that it would be interesting to find a connection to the trials but I doubted there would be as I was sure my lines did not date back that far.  But, I figured why not look just in case. I was heartbroken to find possible distant relatives on both sides of the story - 2 accused and 3 magistrates who played a part in the trials. I checked the charts showing the links between myself and each person and I could recognize most of my side almost up to the connecting person.

I know I said I would talk about both the "heroes" and the "scoundrels" in my family but I am not sure I can pursue these lines. I am not sure I can endure the sorrow I will feel for the wrongfully accused or rage I will feel for the accusers and judges.

For now, I will put these in my "maybe one-day" file and continue to work on fleshing the stories of closely related families.

Family Lore - Fact or Fanciful Stories?

As I mentioned in my introduction there are several stories I grew up hearing from my grandparents. I always wanted to more. How are we related? Where did they live? What impact did they have on my world?

The first is supposedly my 2x great grandfather Arthur Angel was on a ship that traveled to the South Seas and brought back a Tasmanian Devil for Smithsonian. I was told there is a newspaper article title "Angel Brings Devil". My grandmother and Dad have both have told me they have seen an actual copy of the article but an internet search on numerous newspaper sites has never produced it. I have asked my grandmother to see if she still has the article in her trunk and have my sister or one of my cousins take a picture of it for me. In the meantime, this is what I know:

• I found documentation for an Arthur Angel working aboard a Naval ship. 
• That ship was commissioned to sail to Australia and the surrounding islands for scientific exploration. 
• That ship brought back an assortment of specimens of animals and plants for the Smithsonian.

I will continue my search to confirm that that is my Arthur Angel and a copy of the article.


The next story is that we are related to Elbridge Gerry, signer of the Declaration of Independence of the state of Massachusetts. Supposedly my grandfather's cousin paid a genealogist to prove or disprove the story but refused to share the results. Since her passing her son has refused to share it as well.  Elbridge Gerry does not have any known children, so we would only be linked as distant cousins. I have not gotten back enough generations yet to find a possible link but I do have a lead that we might be linked through his mother. THE HUNT RESUMES.

The last story is that we descend from a Prussian baron that was exiled from Prussia due to being persecuted and fled to Eastern Europe and changed his name. I have traced the family back to England but without more information, I can't go back any farther. I  think DNA may be the key to break through the brick wall.

What's in a name?

One of my biggest headaches, when I am doing research, is names.

One branch has 3 generations (2x great grandfather, great grandfather, and grandfather) all have the same first and last name. Two have the same middle name as well and married women with the same first name. Thankfully I have birth years for all three and keep a cheat sheet nearby while working on them. There are other families on all sides that will reuse the same names generation after generation across all families. I can't tell you how many times I have had to go back to the drawing board while working on my husband's side of the family because I confused nephew or son with uncle, father, or grandfather.

Another 2x great grandfather regularly switched back and forth between his first and middle names in documents. I think he also has at least one son that shares either his first or middle name; so I had to create a cheat sheet for his family as well. 

My husband's family, Middleswarth,  has had two different spellings. It started out spelled with an "a" then there was apparently a huge fight between two brothers and one changed the spelling to  Middlesworth. His descendants have since started going back to the first spelling, but not all. In fact, in one very recent family, two siblings spelling it with the "o" and two spell it with the "a". How confusing is that?! Then, of course, every time I give my name I immediately start to spell it because they inevitably type it with the "o" and won't find me. 

My most memorable name related headache was straightening out the three wives of my 4x great grandfather, Captain Perry Spellman. One was named Mary, one named Marie and the last was Elizabeth. All three were from Illinois. Mary was known to go by Marie and Elizabeth had gone by her middle name Marie on occasion. I kept coming across inconsistent ages for Marie and could not figure out what was going on. Was she lying about her age to seem younger? It took seeing Perry's Civil War Pension records to realize that there were three wives. My heart went out to him. He had fought in a horrific war and buried two fairly young wives. 

Then there are the issues with using nicknames or family names in place of given names. I heard of an aunt that as called Dump  (not her given name) by some of the family but I haven't run across it yet. 

I am guilty of this one. For official purposes, I have always used Jennifer and Jenny with friends and family. Then, around 1985, I started spelling my nickname Jenni because my best friend went by Jenny as well. In college, I started going by just Jen because Jenni was juvenile sounding. Family and friends I have known for most of my life will forever use Jenni and I am OK with that but friends made in the last 20 years have been strongly encouraged to use either Jen or Jennifer. (It's a pretty big deal if I let you call me Jenni and I have known you less than 20 years.) I apologize to any future genealogists in my family. I swear I didn't set out to drive you crazy; I was just trying to be unique.

Who or what will I write about?

I wanted an outlet for sharing my passion project and spare my family/friends from hearing the same stories over and over again. So, I created this blog and anyone interested can check in an see that latest updates. 

I believe that any family history should include both the "heroes" and the "scoundrels". I heard a great line recently. The gist was "there is a little scoundrel in every hero and a little hero in every scoundrel". Both should be included in the family story. No matter which, he/she contributed to the makeup of who we are as a family. The scoundrels are what make the story interesting. I would hope that everyone reading would agree that we are all human. Mistakes and wrong decisions happen. We should just move on. In addition, whether or not someone said or did something that you agree with should not determine their worthiness to be included in the family story. 

FAMILY:

I will be sharing stories about noteworthy ancestors whether she/he be a hero or a scoundrel. If you don't want to know about the scoundrels, you might not want to follow this blog.

I will also be sharing genealogy articles, tips/tricks, and other things I find of interest (i.e. pictures of owls). Or venting about my frustrations and celebrating my breakthroughs.