The RootCellar.org holds contests for biographical sketches every year, it is a group out of Sacramento, and they are also offering Pioneer Certificates for ancestors who were living in California prior to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. This would include Abraham Gardiner Barnes (1795-1869) who left Cooper, Missouri and arrived in Yolo County, California in 1854. This by default also would allow his son, William T. Barnes (1831-1895) who also came in 1854, and grandson, Charles Marion Barnes who was born in Cache, Yolo, California in 1857 (d.1933) both to qualify for the Pioneer Certificate as well. The latter two did move to Washington State, between 1875-1880.
I think it would be nice to contribute to this database, so I will definitely need to write up a biographical sketch of the family, and then submit it for both the contest, and the Pioneer Certificate.
A Cluster-Based Research Family Genealogy Blog
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Friday, February 8, 2013
Lydia B Ferris and Polly Ferris
Some thoughts on the family of my 5th generation great grandfather, Sherman Thomas Johnson.
Lydia B. Ferris (1837-1929) is the second wife of Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798-1880). They married in 1870 when Lydia was 31. Sherman's brother Clark Johnson's (1813-1892) first wife Polly Ferris (abt 1815-1849) died at the age of 34, when Lydia was only about 12 years old. I am curious how these two ladies are related. My current theory is that Polly is Lydia's aunt. I think Polly is the sister of Lydia's father Joseph Ferris (1812-1864). Joseph Ferris is the son of John Ferris (1787-1869) and Mary Salome Zerbe (1787-1867) and I think Polly is thier daughter or niece.
Additionally, Sherman and Clark both had two wives, and between the two of them fathered 22 children (of only six were boys, Clark only had one son, and nine daughters). I am not sure why this intreagues me so much, perhaps because I have a blended family of children, and it is interesting to know that it has been happening thoughout the ages (though not through a product of divorce).
Dawn T. sent me a list of deeds issued in Hinckley, Medina, OH in November that I was just able to process today. this family is listed in numerous places, but the one worth noting for this topic is that Lydia as grantor on behalf of her husband Sherman sold a piece of property to James N. Mattingly for $4576.25. This was signed on April 18, 1880 and in today's terms this amounts to $105,028.56. They were living in Almira, Benzie, MI at the time. Considering Sherman died shortly after, it would appear, at least currently, that Lydia was not left in dire straits, even though she had five children under the age of 10.
Lydia B. Ferris (1837-1929) is the second wife of Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798-1880). They married in 1870 when Lydia was 31. Sherman's brother Clark Johnson's (1813-1892) first wife Polly Ferris (abt 1815-1849) died at the age of 34, when Lydia was only about 12 years old. I am curious how these two ladies are related. My current theory is that Polly is Lydia's aunt. I think Polly is the sister of Lydia's father Joseph Ferris (1812-1864). Joseph Ferris is the son of John Ferris (1787-1869) and Mary Salome Zerbe (1787-1867) and I think Polly is thier daughter or niece.
Additionally, Sherman and Clark both had two wives, and between the two of them fathered 22 children (of only six were boys, Clark only had one son, and nine daughters). I am not sure why this intreagues me so much, perhaps because I have a blended family of children, and it is interesting to know that it has been happening thoughout the ages (though not through a product of divorce).
Dawn T. sent me a list of deeds issued in Hinckley, Medina, OH in November that I was just able to process today. this family is listed in numerous places, but the one worth noting for this topic is that Lydia as grantor on behalf of her husband Sherman sold a piece of property to James N. Mattingly for $4576.25. This was signed on April 18, 1880 and in today's terms this amounts to $105,028.56. They were living in Almira, Benzie, MI at the time. Considering Sherman died shortly after, it would appear, at least currently, that Lydia was not left in dire straits, even though she had five children under the age of 10.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Isreal Alden and Hannah Johnson
The ancestral line that people are probably most interested about in my family is the one that traces us back to John Alden and Pricsilla Mullins of the Mayflower. John and Pricsilla Alden were my 10th generation great-grandparents. I have learned more about history and humanity through the genealogy of this line that I can share in my lifetime. There are thousands of people researching the Alden lines, and so I thought I would branch out and work on the wives (grandmothers).
My most recent work has been on the Hannah Johnson (1824 – 1908) line. She was married to Isreal Timothy Alden (1824 – 1892). This couple spent the latter part of their life in Iowa, and my great-grandmother, Iva Ann Kretsinger (1893 – 1967), was born in Iowa while my young great-great-grandparents Eldridge Ulysses Kretsinger (1871 – 1955) and Lottie Mae Knodle (1872 – 1954) (Hannah's grandson and his wife) were working on the Alden farm following Isreal's death.
I have written a lengthy biographical sketch about Hannah's father, Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798 – 1880) that I am reserving for publication at some point. Sherman has been a mystery for some 20 years, due to his popular last name it was unclear if he was indeed Hannah's father.
A Story of Discovery:
Enter the 1910 Federal Census. I randomly pulled up this census in front of my class (in 2011), where I was teaching how to read one. I had never looked at it before because "I knew this family and all of their records" etc. I noticed that there were two boys listed as "1st-cousin-in-laws" to Samuel Kretsinger, essentially making them the foster brothers of Eldridge. The adopted children have never been mentioned anywhere except for the 1910 and then following 1920 census. These brothers turned out to be Johnson decendents.
These boys were the children of Cora Anna McKee (1869 – 1908) and she was the first cousin of Phoebe Ann Alden. When Cora died, her children were spread between two families of relatives in the Lincoln County, MN area. Eventually it came out that Cora's mother was Elizabeth Johnson, sister of Hannah, and they both were mentioned in various biographical sketches, and other sources. I was able to track these details back to to Sherman, and considering that Hannah's first child is Abner Sherman Alden (named after the fathers on both sides of the family) it really began to fit nicely together.
I have been agressively working with a cousin who seems to have found Sherman's father's will, and really is putting to rest some of the outstanding issues. I hope to get to the will soon, when we get the house finished and I can spread out a bit more...
My most recent work has been on the Hannah Johnson (1824 – 1908) line. She was married to Isreal Timothy Alden (1824 – 1892). This couple spent the latter part of their life in Iowa, and my great-grandmother, Iva Ann Kretsinger (1893 – 1967), was born in Iowa while my young great-great-grandparents Eldridge Ulysses Kretsinger (1871 – 1955) and Lottie Mae Knodle (1872 – 1954) (Hannah's grandson and his wife) were working on the Alden farm following Isreal's death.
I have written a lengthy biographical sketch about Hannah's father, Sherman Thomas Johnson (1798 – 1880) that I am reserving for publication at some point. Sherman has been a mystery for some 20 years, due to his popular last name it was unclear if he was indeed Hannah's father.
A Story of Discovery:
Enter the 1910 Federal Census. I randomly pulled up this census in front of my class (in 2011), where I was teaching how to read one. I had never looked at it before because "I knew this family and all of their records" etc. I noticed that there were two boys listed as "1st-cousin-in-laws" to Samuel Kretsinger, essentially making them the foster brothers of Eldridge. The adopted children have never been mentioned anywhere except for the 1910 and then following 1920 census. These brothers turned out to be Johnson decendents.
These boys were the children of Cora Anna McKee (1869 – 1908) and she was the first cousin of Phoebe Ann Alden. When Cora died, her children were spread between two families of relatives in the Lincoln County, MN area. Eventually it came out that Cora's mother was Elizabeth Johnson, sister of Hannah, and they both were mentioned in various biographical sketches, and other sources. I was able to track these details back to to Sherman, and considering that Hannah's first child is Abner Sherman Alden (named after the fathers on both sides of the family) it really began to fit nicely together.
I have been agressively working with a cousin who seems to have found Sherman's father's will, and really is putting to rest some of the outstanding issues. I hope to get to the will soon, when we get the house finished and I can spread out a bit more...
Friday, February 1, 2013
A Teacher Should Teach ... about his research
I have no idea about how I am going to work a blog into my life, especially one about genealogy. However, after reading the article by Thomas MacEntee in the National Genealogical Society Magazine, "Why genealogists blog (or why they should!)", I decided I should get writing.
I teach workshops in genealogy at our local university, University of Sioux Falls, and I get excited to start a new project every term. I also think that teachers should actually teach (instead of painting houses, etc.) when they are not working their primary jobs. To that end, I teach quite a bit outside of my regular school day, and of course, I try to teach what I know, and what I like. Genealogy workshops fit both criteria. Here are the courses I am teaching this year so far:
For this term's project, I will begin this blog. Let's see how many entries I have logged by April 09, 2013! Thanks to Thomas MacEntee... I think...
I teach workshops in genealogy at our local university, University of Sioux Falls, and I get excited to start a new project every term. I also think that teachers should actually teach (instead of painting houses, etc.) when they are not working their primary jobs. To that end, I teach quite a bit outside of my regular school day, and of course, I try to teach what I know, and what I like. Genealogy workshops fit both criteria. Here are the courses I am teaching this year so far:
INSTRUCTOR:
Jason Kurtz
PK-12 Like any project,
exploring one’s family history is easy when one has the right tools. This class will train students to use the
tools necessary to cut down mountains of family documents in a matter of
keystrokes and clicks. Designed for the
novice, this course also has quite a bit to offer the Internet savvy
genealogist, and will help students make meaning out of the piles of artifacts,
statistics, and data, and will demonstrate how to construct family trees,
biographies, and online family websites. This workshop is also available
for undergraduate credit (GEN 199U).
Dates: April 09-10, 2013 OR June 17-18, 2013
Location: University of Sioux Falls, Cleveland Computer Lab, Room 121
EDU 541W GENEALOGY: PRIMARY RESOURCES
INSTRUCTOR: Jason
Kurtz
Finding details surrounding one’s family history is easy when one has the right
tools. This class will train students to
use some advanced techniques when reviewing and locating primary family
documents. Designed for the novice to
intermediate researcher, this course will train the Internet savvy genealogist
to sift databases and locate items in the real world, as well. It will continue to help students make
meaning out of the piles of artifacts, statistics, and data, and will
demonstrate how to collect them logically and develop methods for storage and
archiving. This workshop is also available for undergraduate credit (GEN 199W).
Dates: June 19-20,
2013
Location: University of Sioux Falls, Cleveland
Computer Lab, Room 121
For this term's project, I will begin this blog. Let's see how many entries I have logged by April 09, 2013! Thanks to Thomas MacEntee... I think...
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