Ancestor Approved ~ Ten Discoveries

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when Shelley Bishop over at  A Sense of Family gave me the “Ancestor Approved Award.”  The award was created by Leslie Ann of Ancestors Live Here in March 2010, and has been passed along to many genealogical bloggers.  I am honored to be in good company, thank you Shelley!

Recipients are asked to make a list of ten things they have learned about their ancestors that have humbled, surprised, or enlightened them. Then they are to pass on the award to ten other bloggers who are doing their ancestors proud.  Kind of a nice way to wrap up the old year and start out the new year.  I have learned a lot about my ancestors this year.

1.  I was surprised this year to learn my Dad's side of the family had French bloodlines and in two lines no less!  Thought they were a bunch of hot headed Scotch and Germans. I am a descendant of Maureen DuVall a French Huguenot and my Gardners are actually Gaertner's who married the Nouviers in Moselle, France.

2.  I was humbled by Maureen and his life.  The Huguenots had a lot of turmoil in their lives and then to come to a new country around 1650 and start all over is a huge step.

3.  I was enlightened this year by a "new" cousin.  I had a letter from her many years ago I inherited from my Granny.  I had finally tracked her down and it was well worth the hunt.

4.  I was also enlightened and humbled by Kentucky this year.  My cohort in research and I made a road trip to the Kentucky State Archives and Historical Society for a mad three days of non-stop research!  The Archivists at both locations have our undying love now and we are planning another revealing marathon!  Our Ancestors had been waiting for us to uncover many delightful records!!

5.  I must admit that I was surprised to find my first Confederate Soldier, Samuel Thomas Wells, in my non to distant family line.  Now that the dust has settled, we'll keep him. :)

6.  I was humbled when on my visit to Monroe County, Ohio this year when I took my Mom on her first courthouse stake out.  We both got teary eyed when she opened and held a court document with her Great Grandmother's, Mary Anne Hayes Stine, signature on it.  

7.  I guess you could use the word enlightened or even humbled when while in Monroe County, we drove through the hills early in the morning to watch the sun burn off the mist in the cemetery where many of my family are laid to rest.  I posed for a lovely photo with my Great Grandma and Grandpa.  Also nearby was my only Revolutionary War ancestor on my Mom's side of the family.

8.  I was also humbled to have been able to head over to Hancock County, Ohio to visit the graves of my Scotch ancestors after the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference.  I was able to sit down next to my fifth great Grandmother, Mary Milligan Sorbie Littrick, who was born in Scotland, survived two husbands and came to the U.S. with her two grown sons early in Ohio History.  

9.  I was surprised to find out that I am a descendant of Col. James Francis Moore who served his country and States well in the Revolutionary War and he died while on the Legislature floor in Frankfort, Kentucky.

10.  And lastly, I am extremely grateful and humbled in the progress I have made this past year with all of my ancestors.  I have been madly citing my sources, updating my tree, keeping files filed, helping others with their research and enjoying myself thoroughly in my endeavors.

After just picking ten things about this past year's ancestors, I now have the hard job of picking ten blogs that I have enjoyed this past year and passing along the Ancestors Approved Award. It is a lot of fun to read about other genealogists and their adventures in the genealogical world. So thank you and enjoy!

Kelly

My pick for the Ancestors Approved Award:

1. Adventures in Genealogy Education by Angela

2. Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog by Harold

3. Staats Place by Chris

4. The Scottish Emigration Blog by Amanda

5. Pollyblog by Polly

6. Henthorn Genealogy by Mr. Dickie

7. The Symbolic Past by Marian

8. Greta's Genealogy Bog by Greta

9. Finding our Italian Roots by Melanie

10. Our Scots by Jo

 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun ~ Genea-Santa letter

From Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!  It's Saturday Night - take some time from the Christmas shopping and wrapping frenzy - and have a little Genealogy Fun!!  Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.  Here's your chance to sit on Genea-Santa's lap (virtually) and tell him your Christmas genealogy-oriented dreams:

1)  Write your Genea-Santa letter.  Have you been a good genealogy girl or boy?  What genealogy-oriented items are on your Christmas wish list?  They could be family history items, technology items, or things that you want to pursue your ancestral quest.

2)  Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook status or comment to this post.

Dear Santa,
I think I have done a pretty good job of keeping track of all my sources this year.  I have made progress in my filing and updating my tree. I have met some new family and helped out some fellow Genies.  This year could you please bring me:

1.  The birth and death dates of my Gaertner & Nouvier family in France.
2.  The time to finish my Huguenot Lineage Application.
3.  The location in Germany my Rheinlanders came from.
4.  And last but not least, an Ipad! 

Thank you Santa!
kelly

Non-Paternity Events in Your Family

On the Transitional Genealogist's Email List this past week they have been discussing Non-Paternity Events vs. Adulterers.  Quite interesting I might say and if you are interested you can read the emails on the archives page at: TGF list  

Everybody has them in their families, the only difference is, do they talk about it or do they stuff the information in the back of the closet and in hopes that no one would come looking.  In my family there are two known non-paternity events, at least two that we know about currently.  One event was a secret and the other was just out there and everyone knew.  There is one adulterous relationship back in early Maryland that is rumored in the family, but that has yet to be proven.  We'll talk about that juicy bit another day...

My Granny's (Dollie) "non-paternity" event occurred in 1909 in Putnam County, Ohio.  The story goes that Carrie got pregnant from someone who was boarding at their house and worked on the railroad.  Frank & Samantha Littrick (Carrie's parents) sent Carrie away to a "farm" to have her baby.  Meanwhile, Samantha stuffed her dress to imitate a pregnancy.  When Carrie came back Samantha "had" her baby.  Dollie was raised as Samantha & Frank's child and Carrie was married off a couple of years later.  Carrie had nothing to do with Dollie's upbringing and did not see her much at all during her life. This was told to me by a few different cousins, but according to Dollie's children they knew nothing about the whole story (hence the reason it was a secret in our branch of the family).   Dollie's original birth record lists her mother Carrie and an unknown father.  All of Dollie's other records list a variety of combination of Samantha, Carrie and Frank as parents. To date, nothing has been found to point to a father for Dollie.

Our other "non-paternity" event was for my other side of the family.  My Great Grandmother, Ollie Minnie Laymire was working on neighboring farms in WV for extra money for the family when she was raped, according to her daughter, my Grandmother.  She gave birth to Rex Posten Laymire in 1918, two years later she married my Great Grandfather (John Rogers) and he "adopted" Rex and his name was changed.  As with Granny's birth, we don't know who Rex's father was, but our only clue is the name Posten.  There were people with the surname Posten in the area at the time that Ollie was living in WV.

I don't know about you, but I would choose to have the stories put out there and talked about.  Obviously it is a tender subject with some, (you should have been there they day I confronted my Grandma about Dollie!!) but don't you think that the family has a same right to the information about how they got here as the person with the knowledge?  My advice would be to step lightly but don't let the stories disappear with the last generation.

Kelly

The Frank & Samantha Littrick Family

John & Ollie Laymire Rogers, holding son Rex