Ancestor Unbirthday - About 1655 - Joseph Jewett

I have decided to occasionally write about ancestors where I don't have an exact birthdate. Today I want to feature one of my 8th great-grandfathers, Joseph Jewett. Tomorrow (1 Jun 2017) is his wife's birthday so I plan to write about her then.

Much of the information I have about Joseph Jewett comes from the book, Early Settlers of Rowley Massachusetts, by George Brainard Blodgette and Amos Everett Jewett which was published by Picton Press in Camden, Maine in 1997, a third printing of the book originally published in 1933. It is a book I enjoy looking through as I had ancestors living there for almost a hundred years, and relatives for many years after that. Of course there is also a section about Joseph in the Jewett Genealogy, Volume 1, pages 24-27, copyright 1908. Now that I have downloaded to my computer a copy of that book, which would now be in the public domain, I can easily check its contents also.

So I did that. To my surprise I find that Frederick Clarke Jewett, who wrote the genealogy has assigned a birthdate to Joseph. He states that Joseph was born 1 Feb 1654. However in checking the published birth records for Rowley, I find a Joseph born 1 Feb 1656, the son of Joseph and Ann. The month and day are the same, but the year is different and my Joseph was not the son of Joseph and Ann, but he was the son of Maximilian and Ann. Maximilian and the older Joseph were the immigrants, sons of Edward and Mary (Taylor) Jewett of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The published Rowley records do not include a birth record for Joseph, the son of Maximilian, so I will leave his birthdate as about 1655.

Both publications call my Joseph, Ensign Joseph Jewett. It is recorded that he was a soldier in King Philip's War 1675-6 and received a small pension and a land grant. This War is not well known as it was a hundred years before the American Revolution. History Bits calls it "the most devastating war in American history as measured by deaths in proportion to the population of the combatants." The English settlers and allies from the Mohegan Indians battled against the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc and other native people. After many deaths and devastation, the English had control of New England.

Apparently after the War, on 2 Mar 1676/77 Joseph married Rebecca Law. Joseph and Rebecca had 4 children who all lived to adulthood and were married and had children. Joseph became a widower when his wife died in Dec 1729. Joseph remarried in Bradford, a neighboring town, 20 Jan 1731/32 to Mary who was the widow of Nathaniel Gage and before that the widow of Thomas Green. They were married over 3 years before Joseph died 29 Oct 1735. His grandson, the Rev. Jedidiah Jewett noted that he died "in the 81 year of his age."

More Cemetery Photos

Yesterday on Memorial Day I posted some photos from cemeteries visited on previous Memorial Days. Today I want to share a few photos from cemeteries where I have relatives buried that I visited on other days. These are in rural locations.

Oak Creek Cemetery, Glide, Oregon

Coburg IOOF Cemetery, Coburg Oregon

Rest Lawn Memorial Park, Junction City, Oregon

Memorial Day 2017

Today has been set aside for remembering: the veterans in our families and all who served our country. In late January and early February I wrote about some Civil War veterans from my family:

• John Wilson Smalley
• Luman Chase
• Ralph Chase
• Jordan P. Albertson
• Jesse B. Albertson
• August Falk aka John Krause

In April I wrote about some veterans of World War I

• Ruel Bond
• Ernest Albertson
• Marvin Smalley
• George Raymond Slaight
• Henry Wesley Slaight

Often we also use this day to remember our family members who have died and decorate their gravesites. Here are some photos from cemeteries visited on previous Memorial Days.

Alford Cemetery, between Halsey and Harrisburg, Oregon

Rest Haven Memorial Park, Eugene, Oregon

Creswell Cemetery, Creswell, Oregon

1000 Matches and Counting

1000

Almost 2 weeks ago, 15 May 2017, I wrote about my DNA circles on Ancestry.com. I noted that I had over 950 matches of 4th cousins or closer. As of 2 days ago, 26 May 2017, I had 1000 matches and right now on 28 May 2017 I have 1006. So it seems new matches are being added every day.

Some of these are people that I already know are related to me. However, many of them are not. And most of them don't have their DNA results linked to a family tree so I can't be sure just how we are related.

Ancestry does give another number which they call "shared ancestor hints." Yesterday I decided to check how many of that number were part of the 4th cousin or closer group. The number given by Ancestry was 153. So I just looked at that group and found that 2 were marked as 2nd cousin, 6 were marked as 3rd cousin and 36 were marked as 4th cousin. That totals 44. Of those 44, 5 had private trees so I wasn't able to check our relationship, leaving 39 matches. So 39 out of 1000 would be 3.9%. That's not a very large percentage, still that gives me 39 cousins where I should compare and share information. As I wrote on the 15th, I need to get busy and send some messages.

Early Oregon Cousins -- Seth Stephen Hayes

Seth Stephen Hayes was the son of Seth Whipple Hayes and the grandson of Seth Hayes. Seth Stephen's mother was Polly Bond Stillwell, his grandmother was Selia (Bond) Stillwell and his great-grandfather was Solomon Bond. So he was a 1st cousin of John Howard Bond on the Hayes side and a 2nd cousin on the Bond side. Therefore he was my 1st cousin 3 times removed and my 2nd cousin 3 times removed, another one of those double cousins, which keep popping up.

Seth was one of the cousins born in Jefferson County Iowa before his family moved to Oregon in 1853. As he was born 28 Oct 1852, he wasn't quite 6 months old when they started their journey and got to celebrate his 1st birthday in Oregon. He was 2 1/2 years older than John, but they lived near each other, so probably did do things together, including school, since the 1870 census indicated they both had attended school that year.

Seth's mother died in August of 1863, when he was 10 1/2 years old. His father remarried 2 years later to Sarah (Finley) Vawter, so she became his step-mother. It was in November of 1876 when Seth's father was murdered.

Sometime in the first part of June 1880, Seth married Almira Stevenson. On 22 Jun 1880 they were enumerated as a couple on the census. They were shown as boarders in a house with a number of others in Halsey, Linn County Oregon.

Apparently Almira died within the next few years because Seth married Ella Porter 22 Oct 1884. Seth and Ella had 3 children, Dean, Beulah and Seth, before the 1900 census since they are listed together in the city of Moro, Sherman County Oregon, which was in the eastern part of the state. Seth's occupation was general merchant. By 1910 the family had moved back to the Willamette Valley, to Portland, and the two younger children were still at home.

Ella died in 1918 in Los Angeles County, California. On the 1920 census Seth, now a widower, was still in Portland at the same address, 375 East 15 St N, with his youngest son and daughter-in-law. When the 1930 census was taken, Seth was still there but now it was his daughter and son-in-law and grandson who were living with him. The home was marked as owned, valued at $12,000 and they did have a radio. I wonder how much the 5 year old grandson got to listen to it. In 1940 Seth was still living with his daughter's family, but it is in a different house and it stated that they were also there in 1935.

It must have not been too long after this that Seth moved into the Restwell Sanitarium in Briarwood in Clackamas County Oregon. The death certificate stated he had been there a year before he died 19 Apr 1942 at age 89. It noted that he was buried at Lincoln Memorial Park.

Early Oregon Cousins -- Charles Clarence Hayes

Charles Hayes was one of John Howard Bond's younger 1st cousins. His father, Ebenezer Hayes, was a younger brother of John's mother, Huldah (Hayes) Bond. Ebenezer had married later in life after he was 35 and his first wife died. When he remarried at age 43 he married Laura Hill, the 18 year old step-daughter of Priscilla (Hayes) Hill, Ebenezer's youngest sister. Charles was the 4th child of Ebenezer and Laura, born 7 May 1878. He was just 2 months older than John's oldest daughter.

The 1880 census listed him as Clarence Hayes, age 2, in the household of Ebenezer and Laura in Halsey Precinct, Linn County Oregon. He was not listed with his parents in the 1900 census, but in 1905 he was shown as Chas. C., age 26, again in his parents' household in the city of Halsey. The family had moved to Portland, Multnomah County Oregon, by the 1910 census. Charles was living with his parents and he was working as a laborer at odd jobs. His father died in 1911 and Charles was one of the 5 children living with his mother on the 1920 census in Portland where his occupation was laborer in a furniture factory. On the 1930 census he was working as a farmer in the Willamette Precinct in Lane County Oregon.

Charles is not enumerated in the 1940 census since he died 28 Feb 1940, before the census was taken. I found the circumstances of his death to be sad. When I located his death certificate it stated that the cause of death was cerebral hemorrhage, due to traumatic fracture of the skull, due to struck by auto. Some of the other facts on the certificate were revealing. He died at Portland General Hospital where he had been for 3 months. The informant had no records of Charles' birthdate, or birthplace, or occupation or parents. They estimated his age as 56 and gave his address as "transient - no address."

Since his death was due to an automobile accident marked as happening 1 Dec 1939 in Portland Oregon, I thought that it might have been mentioned in a newspaper. When I checked that I found there were a series of articles about the accident and the aftermath involving Charles published in the Oregonian newspaper from Portland, Oregon. It was all so sad.

2 Dec 1939 - Headline: Car Hits Man, Skull Cracked. He was listed as an unidentified pedestrian who was struck while walking near the Jones Lumber Company. They described him as bearded and approximately 55 years old.

4 Dec 1939 - Victim Unidentified. He was described as an elderly bearded man whose skull was fractured when he was struck down by an automobile. His condition was critical. Officers reported that he had been seen walking along the road with one shoe off.

8 Dec 1939 - Unidentified Auto Victim Remains in Coma Here. They repeated the previous information, but added that he was unconscious, but improving.

12 Dec 1939 - Auto Victim Yet Unknown. It was 10 days after the accident and the hospital still did not know who he was. He had not completely regained consciousness and could only mumble responses. They described him as about 50 years old, 5 ft 4 inches tall, slender build, hazel eyes, sandy hair and Van Dyke beard.

14 Dec 1939 - Identity of Traffic Victim Still Puzzles Authorities. With this article the paper published a photo of him. They stated he was slowly improving, though not able to talk.

15 Dec 1939 - Auto Accident Victim Identified. The paper finally could say that the victim was Charles Hayes, 62. His brother, Fred W. Hayes, who lived in Portland, saw the photo, went to the hospital and was able to identify Charles.

29 Feb 1940 - Death Increases '39 Traffic Toll. When Charles died at the hospital it was counted in the traffic deaths from 1939.

I wonder how this affected the rest of the family. He had at least 2 brothers in Oregon and 1 in California.

Early Oregon Cousins -- Lucelia (Jewett) Howell

Back to some early Oregon cousins who were 1st cousins of John Howard Bond and my 1st cousins 3 times removed. Lucelia (Jewett) Howell was another one of his cousins who was born in 1859. Lucelia was born on 7 Feb 1859, just a week before Oregon became a state. She was the 3rd child and only daughter of Reuben and Lydia Louisa (Hayes) Jewett.

She appeared on the census with her parents in 1860 in Linn County Oregon at age 1 and then in 1870 in Petaluma Township in Sonoma County California at age 11. By 1875 the family was back in Oregon and her father died in 1875 in Linn County Oregon.

Just 2 days after her 21st birthday, on 9 Feb 1880, Lucelia was married to Oliver Howell in Albany, Linn County, Oregon by Judge Johns. On the 1880 census taken in June, Lucelia and Oliver were living with his parents in Monroe Precinct, Benton County Oregon.

Apparently by 1890 Lucelia and Oliver were living in Halsey since a newspaper article from December 27th tells of a fire in the rear of Oliver Howell's variety store and the neighboring billiard hall. The fire destroyed both buildings and their contents. Oliver did have enough insurance to cover his loss. The 1900 census shows them still living in Halsey with their 8 living children, out of 10. Now Oliver was listed as a day laborer. When the 1910 census was taken, Lucelia and Oliver had moved to Lebanon, Linn County Oregon where Oliver was working in the paper mill. The 2 youngest daughters were still at home.

World War I brought sadness to their life when their son, Arthur, was wounded at the battle of Chateau Theirry 19 Jul 1918 and his right arm was amputated below the elbow. But he did survive and after a stay in a hospital in Europe was back in Lebanon early December of 1918.

Lucelia and Oliver lived a long married life together. The Statesman Journal newspaper from Salem printed an article about their 60th anniversary including a photo of them. Seven of their children were still living and all were present at the celebration which included 2 large wedding cakes. The Albany Democrat-Herald stated that their 65th anniversary was   observed at their home with a quiet family reunion.

It was a little over a month after their 66th anniversary that Oliver died on 24 Mar 1946. Lucelia lived 6 more years before her death at age 93 in Lebanon 14 Apr 1952. At the time of her death her obituary noted that she was survived by 6 living children, 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She was buried next to Oliver in the IOOF Cemetery in Lebanon.

Ancestor Birthday - May 24th - Rachel Jordan 1703-1768

Today's ancestor birthday is my 6th great-grandmother, Rachel Jordan, who was born 70 years before my ancestor from yesterday. Because she was born before the calendar change in 1752 her Quaker record would show that she was born the 24th day of the 3rd month of 1703.

Rachel became one of my northeastern North Carolina Quaker ancestors, but she was born in Virginia, the daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth (Sanbourne) Jordan. It was in Isle of Wight County Virginia on 3 Sep 1719 when she married Thomas White.

I really liked how the Quaker record shows that she promised "to be to him a true and loving wife until death." I hope she kept her promise since they were married for over 40 years until Thomas died in 1761 and Rachel died 16 Jun 1768.

From deed records it is probable that the family moved from Virginia to Perquimans County North Carolina by 1724. Their 13 children are listed in the Quaker records there, born between 1720 and 1744. My ancestor, Sarah White, was the next to the youngest and she married Nicholas Nicholson in 1762 so Rachel was still alive and probably attended their wedding.

You may recognize the name Nicholson from my post yesterday. Miriam Bell's mother was Miriam Nicholson and Miriam and Nicholas were siblings. I find it fun to see how the families are connected.

Ancestor Birthday - May 23rd - Miriam Bell 1773

I'll interrupt the Early Oregon Cousins series for a couple of days to post ancestor birthdays beginning with my 4th great-grandmother, Miriam Bell.

Miriam was one of my northeastern North Carolina Quakers. She was the daughter of Lancelot Bell and Miriam Nicholson. Her father had immigrated from England about 1758 and married Miriam Nicholson in 1759 in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. They had 7 children and Miriam was the youngest, born 23 May 1773. Miriam was not yet a year old when her mother died in January of 1774. I wonder how Lancelot, who worked as a shipwright, cared for his 7 children. I have not found a record of Bell relatives of his in North Carolina. The oldest daughter Mary had just had her 14th birthday. But there was quite a large family of Nicholsons there and they were a part of the Quaker congregation. Lancelot was chosen as an elder of the Pasquotank or Symons Creek Monthly Meeting in 1780.

It was in January of 1781 when Lancelot died. Miriam was now 7 1/2 years old. In the abstracts of the Pasquotank County Wills, Lancelot had entrusted the care of his youngest children to older ones and Miriam was in the care of her sister Sarah, who was 17.

The Quaker meeting minutes reported on 16 Sep 1797 that Miriam had married Benjamin Albertson of the Suttons Creek Monthly Meeting in neighboring Perquimans County. She and Benjamin had two children Mary in 1798 and Nathan in 1801. Miriam had died before 1810 as there is no one of the correct age in the census. Also Benjamin married for a 2nd time in 1811.

I feel a little sad that Miriam had to grow up without her mother and my ancestor Nathan also lost his mother at a rather early age.

Early Oregon Cousins -- Hannah (Windom) Finley

Another one of John Howard Bond's 1st cousins (my 1st cousin 3 times removed) was Hannah Windom. Hannah was a double 1st cousin to Polly Anna Windom, who I wrote about yesterday, as their fathers were brothers and their mothers were sisters. Hannah was the daughter of Benjamin C. and Sybil Ann (Hayes) Windom.

Hannah was the 2nd child, born Mar 1857 in Sonora County, California. She had an older brother Alonzo who was born in 1855 in Oregon and two younger sisters, Mary Jane born about 1858 and Lydia born in 1860. All 4 children were enumerated with their parents on the 1870 census in Harrisburg Precinct in Linn County Oregon.

It was 5 years later, 7 Mar 1875, when 18 year old Hannah married William B. Finley, who was almost 21. William was the younger brother of Sarah Ann Finley, who almost 10 years before had married Hannah's uncle, Seth Whipple Hayes, as his 2nd wife. Therefore Hannah's aunt by marriage was also her sister-in-law and William's brother-in-law was also his uncle by marriage. So the children in these 2 families had some sort of double relationship. Who knows what they called each other.

About 1881 their family moved east to Umatilla County, about 6 miles from Pendleton. They stayed there about 3 years and then moved a little west to Morrow County, about 25 miles north of Heppner. A local history about Morrow County tells that it was in 1896 when William began his sheep business. When it was written in 1902, it states that by then he had over 4000 sheep and owned over 2000 acres of land, plus leased land from the railroad company. I wonder how much Hannah had to do in helping him with his business. In the censuses of 1900, 1910 and 1920 the family was enumerated in Alpine Precinct of Morrow County. Hannah's mother was living with them in 1910.

By the 1930 census they had moved back to Umatilla County and were living in the town of Hermiston. It was there that Hannah died 25 Jan 1932 and was buried in Hermiston Cemetery. William lived as a widower for 10 more years until his death 14 Feb 1942 and he was buried next to Hannah.

Early Oregon Cousins -- Polly Anna (Windom) Armstrong

Polly Anna Windom was born in Oregon Territory in Jan 1859, the month before Oregon became a state. She was the daughter of Drury Douglas and Priscilla (Hayes) Windom. She was about 4 years younger than her first cousin, John Howard Bond, who was the son of Solomon Bond and Priscilla's older sister, Huldah (Hayes) Bond. This makes her one of my 1st cousins, 3 times removed. Polly Anna had two older brothers in her own family, Alanson born in 1855 and Henry born in 1857. When the 1860 census was taken this family was living in the Peoria Precinct of Linn County in the household of Polly Anna's uncle, Priscilla's brother Ebenezer Hayes. Polly Anna became the big sister to 3 more siblings: Emily born in 1861, Jesse born in 1863 and Carrie born about 1865.

Sometime within the next 3 years Polly experienced a change in her life. Her father left and it was in Oct of 1868 when Polly Anna's mother Priscilla was granted a divorce. In the middle of Nov 1868, Polly Anna now 9 1/2 years old, gained a new father in her family, Mr. George Hill, a widower with at least 3 children from his first marriage. The 1870 census showed their family in the Harrisburg Precinct of Linn County with George and Priscilla and 10 children, including baby Sarah Hill, age 1. Another baby, Lydia, was born about 1871. The month of March in 1872 brought another big change to 13 year old Polly Anna's life, as her mother died on March 2nd and baby sister Lydia died on March 29th.

Polly Anna, often called just Anna, was 21 years old when she married Robert Armstrong 25 Feb 1880. She and Robert were in the 1880 census in Halsey Precinct in Linn County and her 14 year old sister Carrie was living with them.

Their family moved east over the mountains to Crook County in 1897. They lived in the part of the county which would become Jefferson County in 1914. The 1900 census showed them in Haystack Precinct of Crook County with their 2 sons and 1 daughter. Polly Anna's 3 brothers were also living in Crook County.

Polly Anna and Robert, now empty-nesters, were still in Crook County in Lamonta Precinct when the 1910 census was taken in May. It was later that year, 22 Dec 1910, when Polly Anna died and was buried at Grey Butte Cemetery.

Thinking About Maps

Anyone who knows me well knows that I really enjoy looking at maps. Of course, since I tend to collect maps I have a number that I can look at. Some of them are really attractive. Here is one of Lane County Oregon from 1910. My town, Cottage Grove is about in the center.

Recently I was asked to make a presentation at the local historical society (Cottage Grove Historical Society, Cottage Grove Oregon) and they told me to do a subject of my own choosing. They titled it "Memories by Joanne Skelton." I have done some previous talks there recently so I didn't want to repeat myself. I chose to talk about "Cottage Grove on the Map." However I did do a talk about that a number of years ago so wanted to make it different. But since I couldn't remember exactly what I said then, probably no one else could either. I gave that talk this morning (20 May 2017) with about 20 maps to illustrate the main points. No one came up and told me they remembered seeing it before.

This blog is Joanne's Genealogy Research, so why am I talking about something from the local historical society. Well, I am also doing a presentation about maps with about a dozen maps to illustrate my points at our local genealogical society (Cottage Grove Genealogical Society, Cottage Grove, Oregon) next month, June 14th. Don't worry, the talks are different, although I do have one map that I am using in both talks, since I did have a relative who lived in Cottage Grove over a hundred years ago.

Maps can't tell us everything and need helpers such as documents, newspapers, or people's memories to give us the best results. But maps are really beneficial to any type of historical research, either an area or a family. Take time to check out maps for your areas. You may be surprised at all you can find.

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Early Oregon Cousins -- Photo

My 2nd cousin, Robert Bond, has graciously shared with me a number of old photos of the Bond family. This photo was called Lowery England and sisters.

I believe that the seated young man is David Lowery England, who was a 1st cousin of my great-grandmother, Mary Ann (O'Neal) Bond, so he was my 1st cousin 3 times removed. David's father was David Chance England, a brother to Mary Ann's mother, Margaret (England) O'Neal.

A brief summary about David: he was born 15 Jun 1871 in California and moved to Oregon about 1874. His mother died in 1876 and his father in 1885. After his father died, the children lived with other family members. David married Mary Bales in 1895 and they lived in the Dorena area. His wife Mary died in 1925 and he died in 1942 and they are buried next to each other in Sears Cemetery.

In looking at this photo, I wanted to identify the others who were with David. He had the following brothers and sisters:

1. John William 1861-1885, married 1883
2. Joseph McClellan 1863-1935, married 1888
3. Mary Nancy Ann 1864-1897, married 1888
4. Eliza Jane 1867-1942, married 1891
5. Rachel Samantha 1868-1959, married 1890
6. James Newton 1874-1939, married 1895

To help with identifying the individuals, it would be helpful to determine about when the photo was taken. I am thinking it could be 1888 at one of their sibling's weddings. Then David would have been about 17, James about 14, Eliza about 21 and Rachel about 20. Looking at the clothes and hairdos, they would fit an 1888 date.

So it seems most logical that David was the one seated and the boy behind him was James. So that leaves the two young women. So they probably are Eliza and Rachel. But my problem now is which is which. Can anyone give me a definite answer?

Don't Believe Everything You Read

It was over 20 years ago when I made a presentation at the Genealogical Council of Oregon 1996 statewide conference titled "Don't Believe Everything You Read." I relooked at my handout for that talk and decided it basically still applies today. So I am posting it today (17 May 2017) with only a few modifications.

ANALYZE and EVALUATE your evidence -- THINK

Gather as many sources as possible.

Analyze and Evaluate them.

Be open to various conclusions.

Be especially careful of published information.

Errors may happen many places:

1. "How to" articles and books.
2. Family Records: family traditions and stories; family Bibles; shared pedigree charts and family group sheets; and on-line family trees.
3. Histories: both local and family.
4. Census Records: indexes, transcribed abstracts; original census.
5. Death Records: tombstones and cemetery books; obituaries; and death certificates.

REMEMBER: ANALYZE and EVALUATE

Who Comes First, Aunts or Uncles?

When I was growing up when we referred to aunts and uncles, sometimes we named the aunt first, but sometimes it was the uncle. Why was that?

From my parents' siblings we had these at family gatherings:

Aunt Vida and Uncle Fred (Johnson)

Aunt Buena and Uncle Walt (Severy)

Uncle Jerry and Aunt Ruth (Falk)

Aunt Violet and Uncle Mel (Moorehead)

Aunt Erma and Uncle Adolph (Grinde

From my grandparents' siblings we talked about:

Uncle Arthur and Aunt Della (Albertson)

Uncle Ernest and Aunt Ollie (Albertson)

Aunt Lake and Uncle Joe (Elliott)

Aunt Celia and Uncle Clarence (Pettibone)

Uncle Marvin and Aunt Evelyn (Smalley)

Aunt Julia and Uncle Roy (Everett)

Uncle Spike and Aunt Ruby (Smalley)

Uncle Roy and Aunt Grace (Bond)

In all these cases it was the sibling of parents and grandparents who was named first. I wonder if this is the same in other families.

Going in Circles 24 Times

Because so many have tested on Ancestry DNA, Ancestry tells me that now (15 May 2017) I have over 950 4th cousins or closer in their database. They also inform me that I have 24 DNA Circles. Circles require that we each have a family tree posted at Ancestry, so I can see how each match is related to me, at least according to our respective trees.

So with 24 Circles, I began wondering just how many matches that included. A circle must have at least 3 people, so that requires at a minimum 2 matches per circle. It wasn't too hard to determine the number of matches that they had calculated, since at each circle it displays the number of members (not all member match me, but match people who do match me) and the number of matches. So all I had to do was add up those 24 numbers and it came to 144.

The ancestor who showed the most matches was on my paternal side: Stephen Hoggatt with 15, his wife Margaret Thornburg had 12. Stephen's grandson Francis Hockett (the name changed after they moved north) had 14 and his wife Rebecca Hartley also had 14. The ancestors with the smallest number were also on the paternal side: Timothy Chase and his wife Lucy Irene Howe each had 2 matches.

Then I wondered how many individuals were in that 144 since some people are in more than one of my circles, especially since often there is a circle for each one of a couple. This took a little more work, but I found it interesting to list who the individuals were and while I was at it, which circles they were in. I had already determined that my circles are divided half and half between paternal and maternal ancestors, 12 in each one. So it shouldn't have surprised me that my 1st cousin once removed on my maternal side is in all 12 circles for that side of the family. If I counted correctly, the number of different individuals totaled 63. Think of that, 63 cousins that I need to contact and then we can compare and share information. It looks like I need to get busy and send some messages.

Seeing 3 Generations of Mothers

Since tomorrow May 14th 2017, is Mother's Day here in the United States, I decided to post some photos of mothers and their mothers. Today I will begin with my father's mother and will show her mother and grandmother. Then tomorrow I will start with my mother and go back 3 generations.

My father's mother was Lucie Rachel (Smalley) Albertson.

Lucie's mother was Rosa Ella (Shipman) Smalley 1883-1954.

Rosa's mother (Lucie's grandmother) was Lucy Jane (Chase) Shipman 1839-1913.

Seeing 4 Generations of Mothers

Since today, May 14th 2017, is Mother's Day here in the United States, I am posting some photos of mothers and their mothers. Yesterday I posted some mothers from my father's family. Today I am beginning with my mother and will show her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

My mother was Wilma Anna (Falk) Albertson, 1912-1982.

Wilma's mother was Florence Edna (Bond) Falk 1891-1979.

Florence's mother (Wilma's grandmother) was Mary Ann (O'Neal) Bond 1858-1918.

Mary Ann's mother (Wilma's great-grandmother) was Margaret Jane (England) O'Neal 1833-1897.

Ancestor Birthday - May 12th - Phariby Nicholson 1803 - 1888

Phariby Nicholson was my 3rd great-grandmother. She was born 12 May 1803 in Pasquotank County North Carolina, the daughter of Quaker parents Nathan and Peninah (Parker) Nicholson. She married a man with the same first name as her father, Nathan Albertson. They were married in Oct 1824 at Suttons Creek Meeting House in northeastern North Carolina.

I wrote about her husband Nathan on his birthday 5 Jan 2017. As I wrote then, the family moved north in the 1830s and resided in Indiana and then Iowa. It is probable that Phariby became a widow in Jan 1883. She was still living in 1885 as she was listed on the 1885 Nebraska State Census in the household of her son Benjamin.

In the first part of this month (May) I wrote about 6 of her grandchildren. I did mention that her son Jordan had served in the Civil War from Oct 1861 and was killed in the battle of Atlanta in 1864. Another one of her sons, Jesse, had enlisted in Sep 1862 and received a disability discharge in Mar 1863. He died back in Hardin County in December of that same year, 1863. It must have been extra sad for a Quaker mother to lose 2 sons during the Civil War.

I don't have good documentation about Phariby's death, but the Bell family history published in 1907 gives the date as 24 Dec 1888, which is most likely correct. If so, Phariby lived to be 85 years old.

Mrs. J. R. Shipman In the Newspaper

Yesterday (May 10th) I wrote about my 2nd great-grandmother, Lucy Jane Chase, who married Joshua Rodney (J. R.) Shipman. She appeared in the Goodland Republic newspaper from Goodland Kansas as Mrs. J. R. Shipman. A portion of this newspaper has been digitized and placed on the Library of Congress Chronicling America website. I found entries for her from 1898 through 1903.

It appears that the paper had local correspondents who reported what was going on in the community. In 1898 she was found under the headline New Liberty Notes. We can learn that Lucy Jane had been quite ill in the middle of May, but was improving. Many of the notations were about who visited whom. In June the Shipmans visited the L.F. Smalley home (Rosa was their daughter) and the C.C. Kipps family.

By 1900 the headline was Edson. Several of the times when Lucy Jane was mentiioned, it was due to illness. Among her ailments were: a severe attack of pleurisy, rheumatism, and a severe attack of neuralgia. This last one required Dr. Smith to come out to their home.

But more of the articles were who visited them and who they visited. Among others in the community who were mentioned were Mr. and Mrs. William Dubre, Mrs. L. F. Smalley, Mrs. J. Bobbitt, Mrs. J. W. Gogan, Mrs. G. L. Calvert, Mr. and Mrs. John Reed, Mrs. Morey, Mrs. C. W. Sigman, Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Austin.

They also went fishing. The Shipmans and the Dubres went down to the Smoky (River) on a Thursday and returned home on Saturday. They reported plenty of fishing, but few fish.

The last article I found for her was in Oct 1903 at Edson: "The quilting at Mrs. J. R. Shipman's Monday was well attended, about 17 of her friends being present, and a very enjoyable time was had."

I truly enjoy reading about the daily lives of my family. It seemed that although she had aches and pains as many of us older people do, she still was able to visit with friends and neighbors and even hosted a quilting party.

Ancestor Birthday - May 10th - Lucy Jane Chase 1839 - 1913

Lucy Jane or Jane Lucy Chase was my 2nd great-grandmother. Her name on her obituary and funeral card was Lucy Jane. On all the censuses I found she was Jane or Jane L. Maybe her "official" name was Lucy Jane, but she used the name Jane since her mother was Lucy Irene.

She was born 10 May 1839, probably in Sharon township, Litchfield County, Connecticut, the daughter of Timothy and Lucy Irene (Howe) Chase. She married Joshua Rodney Shipman 15 Jan 1859 in Ohio. So by the time my father, Lester Albertson, was living, born 1907 in Sherman County Kansas, he would have known her at Grandma Shipman, although she actually was his great-grandmother.

From looking at a Christmas postcard that my father received as a child I think she had a sense of humor.

She wrote: Lester you catch one of these piggies for Grandpa & Grandma Shipman for our Christmas dinner.

J.R and Lucy Jane had lived in Berrien County Michigan, Mercer County Illinois and Saline County Nebraska before coming to Sherman County Kansas about 1886 where they remained until she died there 8 Jan 1913. She was buried at the Edson Cemetery. Although Lucy Jane had only 2 surviving children at the time of her death, she had 13 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.

You can read more about her on my website: http://www.joanneskelton.com/p12.htm#i280

Ancestor Birthday - May 9th - Oran Jesse Albertson 1882 - 1948

Oran Jesse Albertson was my paternal grandfather. He was born in Iowa 9 May 1882, but moved to Kansas as a child and lived there until after his marriage to Lucie Rachel Smalley in 1906. The family moved to Oregon in 1911 and he lived there until his death 1 Apr 1948. He did not particularly care for the name Oran, so used Ora or O.J. as his name. You can read more about him on my website:

http://www.joanneskelton.com/p1.htm#i3

Today I'd like to share a few photos of him, some in his younger days.

Quaker Cousins - Clarence Albertson

This is the final entry in this series of Nathan Elias Albertson's 1st cousins on the Albertson side. Some of the Marsh cousins will be posted sometime in the future as well as more of the Albertson cousins. I saved this cousin until last because his family has been hard for me to be sure about.

Clarence was the son of Jordan P. and Talitha (Haworth) Albertson. The Quaker Walnut Ridge Monthly Meeting reported that Jordan was the 5th son of Nathan and Phariby (Nicholson) Albertson born 13 Feb 1839 in Rush County, Indiana. This means that Jordan was just 10 years older that Nathan Elias. As expected Jordan moved with the rest of the family to Hardin County Iowa in 1855.

According to his headstone, Clarence P. Albertson was born 30 Sep 1861. There were a number of happenings the previous year. Jordan and Talitha were married on 30 Jun 1860. When the census was taken on 10 July, they were enumerated between Talitha's parents and Jordan's parents. That census taker mostly used initials for the first names, so their listing showed J P Albertson age 21, T Albertson age 20 and A Haworth age 2 and A Haworth age 6/12. I don't know about these two children. Later they used the name Albertson. On 21 Aug 1860 a complaint was made at the local Quaker meeting against Jordan because he had married contrary to discipline, or not according to their rules. It was about 2 months later, 23 Oct 1860 when Jordan was dropped on request.

Jordan continued to not follow the rules. After the Civil War began, he enlisted on 12 Sep 1861 as a 22 year old private and was mustered in on 1 Oct 1861, which was just the day after Clarence was born. Jordan served for over 2 1/2 years with Company B of Iowa 11th Infantry Regiment until the battle of Atlanta on 22 Jul 1864 when he was declared missing and later was listed as dead. I wonder what it was like for Clarence to grow up without his father for basically his whole life. Talitha did file for a pension on 6 Mar 1865 and later on 12 Jan 1867 filed for support benefits for a minor child. An Iowa civil war researcher noted that Clarence at about age 5 had been placed in the Soldiers Orphans Home in Black Hawk County Iowa.

On 1 Mar 1875 a Kansas state census places Clarence age 13 in Miami County with an Andrew Albertson age 18 and a Martha Albertson age 10. They are with a "Tobitha" age 34, which is probably his mother since she was married to Orson Stockwell in Miami County later that year.

Our Clarence is probably the Clarence Albertson who was on the 1880 census at age 18 as a boarder working as a laborer in a farming household less than 100 miles west of Miami County in Wabaunsee County Kansas. It was 28 Apr 1897 when Clarence finally married at age 35 to Bertha Hite at Argentine, Wyandotte County Kansas. They were in Wyandotte Township for the 1900 census where Clarence was working as an iron molder and they now had 2 small sons.

Their family increased by 2 daughters in the next few years and then they moved to Quincy in Adams County Illinois where Clarence continued to work as a molder in an iron works. In both the 1930 and 1940 census Clarence's occupation had changed to minister. The family stayed in Adams County until Clarence died 24 Nov 1941 and was buried in Quincy Memorial Park.

I am glad that Clarence died a few weeks before the actual beginning of World War II since the Civil War had had such sad results for him.

Quaker Cousins - George B Soesbe

I am glad to find cousins who were willing to have their parents live with them. George Soesbe was one of Nathan Elias Albertson's first cousins, so was my first cousin 3 times removed. George was a son of Philip and Sarah (Albertson) Soesbe. Sarah was the only girl among Benjamin Albertson's siblings. She came with the rest of the family to Hardin County, Iowa in 1855 and married Philip Soesbe in 1856. She and Philip had 7 children, with 4 still living in 1900.

George was the 3rd child, but the 1st son. His birthday was 1 Feb 1861, so he was a small child during the Civil War. In 1870 the family was living in Hardin County. On the 1880 census George's parents and 3 brothers were living in Jackson Township, Linn County Iowa. I haven't yet found George on that census, but George married Lucy Ellen Fenstermaker in Maine Township, Linn County on 7 Jan 1883. Although the marriage record shows her age as 15, her 15th birthday would have been on Apr 18th. It is strange that the 1885 Iowa state census in Jackson Township shows George as single living with his parents. But by the 1895 census George and Lucy and their children Earl age 11 and Nellie age 8 were living in Boulder Township in Linn County. Although Ancestry.com doesn't provide images of this census, George's parents and his brother Charley were listed as living in the same township, but I am unable to know if it was the same household or not.

The family was still in Boulder Township for the 1900 census and Philip age 72 and Sarah age 73 were living with George's family. George was a farmer and his 2 children were attending school. The household changed within the next 10 years. Philip and Sarah both died in 1902. George's son Earl was married in 1906 and his daughter Nellie was married in 1907. When the 1910 census was taken it was Lucy's mother, Amy Fenstermaker, who was living with Lucy and George. It was just George age 58 and Lucy age 51 who were living in Maine Township, Linn County Iowa in the 1920 census. George died 5 years later on 27 May 1925 and was buried at Boulder Cemetery in Linn County. It was over 25 years later when Lucy died 9 Oct 1953 and was buried next to George.

  

Quaker Cousins - Anna (Albertson) Callen

My mother's middle name was Anna, so I like that name. Anna (Albertson) Callen was another one of Nathan Elias Albertson's 1st cousins so she was my 1st cousin 3 times removed. Anna's parents were George A. and Nancy (Jones) Albertson. George had come with his parents and other family members to Hardin County Iowa in about 1855. It was in 1862 when he married Nancy Jones. They had at least 6 children and Anna was in the middle, born 24 Jul 1870. Before Anna's next sister Sarah was born, the family moved northwest to Wright County Iowa. The youngest child was Bertha born in 1875 and she died in 1876. By the 1880 census the family had moved again and George and Nancy and their 5 children were living in the southeast part of Iowa in Keokuk County. Anna was now 9 years old and was marked as attending school.

During this time period the family was not staying in one place. Apparently they had moved a little to the southeast to Appanoose County Iowa where Anna's mother died 17 Dec 1882 and was buried at Iconium Cemetery. Anna would have been just 12 when this happened. The 1885 census showed that they had moved again one county farther north, to Monroe County where George and Anna spent the rest of their lives.

At age 19, Anna A. Albertson married Sherman A. Callen on 8 Oct 1889 there in Monroe County Iowa. The 1900 census shows Sherman as a farmer with his wife Annie and 4 children plus Anna's father, George. Anna reported that she had 4 children, all living. However by 1910 she noted that she had 7 children, 6 living. By this time the oldest child Fred was 19 and working as a farm laborer. The other 5 children were all girls: Bessie, Veva, Retta, Lyda and Nita.

That October would have been a sad month for the family as Anna died 18 Oct 1910 and then the youngest daughter not yet 2 years old died 27 Oct 1910. Anna was buried back in Appanoose County in Iconium Cemetery where her mother was. I find it particularly sad when a woman died when the children were still young. I expect that the oldest daughter Bessie at 18, helped her father care for the 3 younger girls. I know that it is hard on a parent when their child dies before them, so 76 year old George had to endure that. George himself died 6 Jan 1912 and was taken back to Appanoose County to be buried by Nancy.

I checked the 1920 census because I was interested in what was happening with Sherman and the girls. Fred had married in 1918 and was living back in Appanoose County. Sherman was still in Monroe County and was working as a laborer on a farm. Two of the girls, Vera and Retta were working as salesladies in a grocery store. I didn't continue to follow this family, but I did see that both Sherman and Bessie were buried in the Iconium Cemetery where Anna and her parents were buried.