Ancestral Notes

My Grandchildren, My Cousins?

2012-01-21T09:26:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago when I was married for the second time I had no clue that my new husband was already a part of my extended family tree. Our families were joined by marriage when my son was married in 1995 and by blood when my first grandchild was born!

My father-in-law and my son's father-in-law were first cousins. I knew that there was a relationship between my husband and daughter-in-law, but I thought it was a distant one, since their families both lived on Pelee Island and they say everybody from the island is related.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago when my daughter-in-law shared some pictures on Facebook that I realized how they were related. she posted a photo of her great-grandparents and they were Charles and Alzina Bradt, my husband's great-grandparents! My grandchildren are related to me by marriage as well.

centre, Charles and Alzina Bradt on Pelee Island.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt U.E. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Follow Friday - Madeline's Essex County - A History of Canada's Deep South

2012-01-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

I must admit, I may be a bit biased in reccomending this genealogy blog since I have lived all my life in Essex County, but this blog is unique in that the author, Madeline Wallace, is no longer with us, and her daughter, Victoria Fenner, has created a blog for her mother's memoirs and research to be shared with the world.

Madeline's Essex County is worth checking out, the stories are interesting to read even if you're not from Essex County. Thank you Victoria for sharing with us.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt U.E. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

A New Year, New Genealogy Goals

2012-01-19T09:13:00.000-05:00

Reviewing 2011, it was less than eventful here at Ancestral Notes, there wasn't much blogging done compared to the year before. I want to thank all of my readers for hanging in there, 2011 had a lot of family happenings that occupied my time. I've decided to make this a goal for 2012, to start blogging at least bi-weekly.

I did achieve one of my most important goals, I have proven that I am descended from Joseph Haines, Sr., UEL and Nathaniel Haines, UEL. I am the first of what I am hoping will be many of Nathaniel Haines' proven descendants. I feel that my research has paved the way for other family members and future generations to prove their descent without much difficulty. Now I am honoured to be able to use the only Canadian hereditary title "Unity of the Empire" or U.E. with my name.

Another goal I achieved was to get more involved in the Bicentennial Branch of the UELAC. As of the first of this month, I am the new editor of our branch's quarterly newsletter. I have big shoes to fill, the last editor, Bonnie Schepers U.E. is now the Dominion Vice-President. It will be a challenge for me, but with the War of 1812 Bicentennial activities there will be no shortage of articles to share. My goal is to continue to publish the newsletter as it has been in the past, informative, educational and entertaining.

I am also sewing my own 18th century wardrobe as well. The most difficult part of this was all the research I had to do to pick out the correct fabric for the period. I found one print and two linen fabrics suitable for the time period but I will have to order shoes online. I would like to have an ensemble ready for the next meeting in March. I am also sewing a summer outfit to wear at our picnic in June. I will be chronicling my progress on another blog, Crafted By Hand

My genealogy hopes for 2012 are beyond my control. I just have to hope that the remains of my loyalist ancestors will be returned to close to their original burial site, overlooking Crystal Beach at Point Albino. If not, they will be re-interred at a cemetery in Fort Erie: Pioneer Graves
Previous blog posts on the topic:
Sarah's Bones
Sarah Will Rest in Peace, Thank You Fort Erie

I have also discovered an interesting twist in researching my husband's loyalist Bradt family that is winding up with more research of my own descendants' ancestors. I will be posting the loyalist research on my dedicated UEL blog as well.

We are going to be holding our 2nd Fairbairn Family Reunion this summer and preparing for the Haines Family Reunion next summer. I think 2012 will be a busy year.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt U.E. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Advent Calendar - Dec. 3rd - The Evolution of My Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-01T09:13:00.002-05:00

When my sons were little maybe I was a little over-protective I guess, or my boys were a little rambunctious, but I didn't put any glass ornaments on our tree. Everything had to be edible, or at least non-toxic when they were babies, so I decorated with strings of popcorn, candy canes, gingerbread and sugar cookie cut-outs.

As the boys grew out of the "mouthing" stage, I made salt dough ornaments which I painted with enamel so that they would last a few years. We made tin foil and construction paper chains for garlands and and glittery Chinese lanterns with a gold cardboard star on top.

The first hint that I had that the kids were getting tired of the same thing is when they went to "The House of the Christmas Mouse", a kids' Christmas shopping event that the Community Centre had that year, no adults allowed in. They came home with Christmas ornaments made from walnuts so I bought some walnuts so we could make ornaments.

The boys were growing up and I started to make Victorian crochet ornaments to replace the crumbling salt dough ones, I could finally have a grown-up tree, still with the unbreakable ornaments in case they started wrestling around the tree and knocked it over.

My kids grew up and went out on their own so finally, I started collecting glass ornaments, my first ones were clear hand-painted blown glass and then I started collecting vintage ornaments. I found a Christmas mouse pompom decoration that I hung from a bottom branch for the cat to play with, she swatted it around when she walked by but didn't touch any other decorations, just hers. We have always had cats so needless to say, tinsel is taboo on our tree so I have acquired a lot of crystal prisms from old chandeliers to hang on the tree. I can"t put anything edible or chewable on the bottom of the tree so that the dogs will leave it alone, no cookies, no wooden ornaments, no pompom ornaments, no popcorn, but I still hang candy canes up out of their reach for the kids.

I enjoyed it for one year, then the grandchildren started arriving and I had to change how I decorated the tree, the glass ornaments were put out of reach and I found some pompom reindeer and hung them as well as some vintage brushed aluminum bells and vintage plastic balls that I had. I hung all of the chidrens' crochet ornaments, teddy bear, snowman, toy soldiers and some photo frames where they were visible to them and it looked nice.

As my grandchildren are growing up, they make ornaments for the tree as well. I have had a blue construction paper snowman adorning my tree for a few years now and I hang miniature birdhouses that they painted surrounded by some bird ornaments I have, they really like that.

I usually get one new special ornament for the tree, I have a snowman with shells on it that I got the year we lived by the lake, I have a Hallmark Dumbo that the kids like a lot, it looks like a soap bubble. Last year I bought an ornament at the craft fair, five penguins, and I had the grandkids' names put on it and they loved it.

I am in the process of putting my tree up this week and I am finally getting around to putting the ornaments on the tree. There are so many. I think I'm going to have to start putting up more than one tree so that I can use all of my ornaments.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Contacts Are A Blessing

2011-08-31T09:49:00.000-04:00

Where would I be without my contacts? Contacts are essential in my experience, I don't know where I'd be in my research without them. they expand your vision worldwide. I'm not talking about the kind you wear, but they do improve your vision. If they come across something of interest to you they don't hesitate to share it.

Genealogy contacts are a blessing! I would not have many of my ancestors' photos without them. It would have taken a while longer to find out that I was searching for wrong surnames, wrong locations, wrong parents etc. I may never have discovered my loyalist ancestry.

The only thing better than Genealogy contacts is finding out that they are members of your family!

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Sad News - Pattison Family Cousin - Barbara Burt Brown 1923-2011

2011-08-29T10:19:00.002-04:00

I had no idea when I read about genealogist Barbara Burt Brown's death that it had any impact on me personally. She was known in the genealogy world, a published author of "The Abraham Family of Lengerich, Germany and the Abrams Family of America, with the Blodgett Ancestry of Eliza Jane (Blodgett) Abrams" in 2008.
Her death was a loss for Michigan genealogy but I have found that she was also a cousin. This is what I found this morning posted by a new-found cousin on my Facebook newsfeed:

In memory of a grand lady who was an inspiration in my life and helped me solve many genealogical mysteries. She was my father's second cousin, a granddaughter of Eliza Pattison-Burt who was a sister to my great-grandfather George Pattison.

My cousin's great-grandfather, George Washingtron Pattison, was my 3rd great-grandmother, Catherine Pattison Robbins' nephew. So Eliza, Barbara's grandmother, was also Catherine's niece. So Barbara Burt Brown was my 3rd cousin twice removed. I admit, I had to use my genie program to figure it all out, way too confusing for a Monday morning. I am going to be busy updating my genie program with all of the new data today. Now I am taking a more personal interest in the work of this great lady.

Barbara J. (Burt) Brown

| Visit Guest Book

Barbara J. (Burt) Brown Age 88, died August 25, 2011; Barbara was born in Battle Creek, MI, on April 4, 1923. She was the only child born to David C. Burt and Zada E. Abrams. In 1936 the family moved to Jackson, MI where she graduated from high school in 1941. Barbara then attended Michigan State University for two years, and went on to become a Cadet Nurse at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, during World War II. On January 10, 1948 she married Donald F. Brown. They continued to reside in the Chicago area where their two children, Kyle and Craig were born. In 1966 the family moved back to MI, settling in Okemos. While living in Lansing, Barbara served for over 30 years as a Sparrow Hospital Gift Shop volunteer. In 1985 she became the President of the Talbert and Leota Abrams Foundation, which was created by her Uncle and Aunt in 1962. In addition she served as President and Board member for Abrams Arial Survey Corporation in Lansing, until its sale in 2003, after 80 years as a Family owned business. During Barbara's 26 years as the President of the Abrams Foundation, she has become a leading Philanthropist within MI. Both via the Foundation, as well as personally, Barbara has given back to the people of MI in numerous ways. She has supported many Nursing scholarships at Lansing Community College, United Way, The Abrams Planetarium at MSU, Starr Commonwealth, MI and New England Genealogical Societies and the Veterinary School at MSU, to name just a few. For over 30 years, Genealogy has been a passion and a lifestyle for Barbara. To say that she had done extensive research on her ancestral lines was an understatement. When asked how far back she had gone, she simply laughed. For her the search was not only about going back, but about branching out in every direction. She loved her research; to her it was a never-ending puzzle of information. During her Genealogy career, she published two books; "Descendants of Christian Geiger, the Immigrant, 1700-1779" and "The Abraham Family of Lengerich, Germany and The Abrams Family of America". In addition, Barbara's work on the Abrams Foundation built "The Abrams Genealogical Collection" at the Library of Michigan. The "collection", one of the top ten Genealogy Collections in the country, was one of Barbara's proudest accomplishments. Barbara's personal Genealogy Collection will be on indefinite loan to the State Archives of MI. In 2001 Barbara and Don moved to Rochester, MI to be near their family. Don died in October of 2002, and Barbara remained at Sunrise Assisted Living in Rochester, where she resided with her best buddy, Beau the cat. She loved her "tree house" at Sunrise, as she had a room with all windows, looking out over Paint Creek Trail. Barbara's greatest passion and most proud accomplishment was her family. She is survived by her daughter, Kyle Abbott of Rochester and her son, Craig Brown of Florida, as well 2 Grandchildren, Tiffany Patzer of Shelby Township and Shane (Marcy) Patzer of Hartland. In addition, Barbara was blessed with three Great-Granddaughters, Sophia Patzer (Tiffany) and Riley and Breanna Patzer (Shane). Visitation will be Sunday 1-4 and 6-8 p.m. at Pixley Funeral Home, 322 W. University Drive, Rochester; Funeral service Monday 10:00 a.m. at the funeral home. Prior to her death, Barbara asked that those considering a gift of flowers, please consider a donation to the Michigan Humane Society or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Both organizations were close to Barbara's heart and ones that she personally supported. Please leave condolences at www.pixleyfuneralrochester.com

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Proud To Be Canadian, But Why?

2011-07-12T11:41:00.001-04:00

What is wrong with the people living in Canada in the 21st century and not being the least bit curious about why this country is so similar to our neighbours to the south but yet so different in so many ways. We say that we're proud to be Canadians but we give little thought as to what we are proud of. Is it that our crime rate is lower than other countries in North America? We have a universal health care system? Is it that we are known as a peace-keeping nation? Or maybe our justice system is better? What are we so proud of anyway? What makes this great country so unique?

I'll bet if we took a national poll we would find that the majority of Canadians would give these answers but the real reason our country is so great is forgotten by most of us. We would not have the advantages listed previously if it weren't for the sacrifices that were made by the United Empire Loyalists.

I am proud to be Canadian because my ancestors and people just like them were determined to start fresh in a new country rather than stay where they were and compromise their beliefs.

I am embarrassed for our nation at this time because our ancestors deserve better, they deserve to at least be remembered by their own descendants and honoured for their sacrifices and hardships endured. With a population of over 30 million, there are less than 3000 members of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada (http://uelac.org).

Canadians know more about George Washington than they do about the first Lieut.-Governor of Upper Canada, "what's his name" (John Graves Simcoe for those who didn't know). I'll bet more Canadians can recite the "Declaration of Independence" and "The Emancipation Proclamation" than those who have even heard of "The Simcoe Proclamation". Slavery in Canada was abolished decades before it was in the United States. They say that "history is written by the winners" but in the long run, I feel Canadians are the winners, we just don"t realize what we, as a nation, have accomplished in a little over two centuries. This would not have been possible if it hadn't been for the "Simcoe Proclamation" and the Loyalists. Together they made this country.what it is today.

There were tens of thousands of loyalists that came to Canada after the war, but once things settled down a majority returned to their homes and their everyday lives, they would rather go "home" than have to start rebuilding in a new and hostile land. Those who stayed in Canada were the strongest, most loyal and most determined ones who chose to call Canada "home".

Because of their loyalty, what's his name, drew up a proclamation, known as "The Simcoe Proclamation" whereas every loyalist was honoured by the initials U.E. following their names, which stands for Unity of the Empire. This honour is Canada's only hereditary title, the first generation having an "S" for son and "D" for daughter before the U.E. that showed they were children of United Empire Loyalists. Every generation from that time forward is entitled thus providing they can show their direct descent.

In September I will be receiving my certificates for my Loyalist ancestors, my 4th great-grandfather, Joseph Haines, Sr. U.E. and my 3rd great-grandfather, Nathaniel Haines U.E., his son, and will proudly sign my name Earline Hines Bradt U.E. to recognize their contributions to building our great nation and to honour them. This is the least I can do in appreciation for their loyalty.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Tombstone Tuesday - William and Rachel Doan

2011-06-21T10:25:00.000-04:00

I found my 2nd Great-grandparents', parents of Harriet Fernetta Doan Hines, gravestones on Find-a-Grave.com. They are buried in Doan's Ridge Cemetery. I also found more information about their parents there as well.

According to the information provided on Find-a-Grave, William was the son of Elijah Doan, grandson of Titus Doan Sr.

Rachel was also a Doan, daughter of Aaron Doan, there were a few of them in the Welland area then.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Owed To My Mother

2011-01-20T10:04:00.001-05:00

I'd like to start the new year off by publicly apologizing to my mother, Marian Neil Hines, and acknowledging that I made an error in publishing a draft of my mother's poem, "Mother".

I assumed that it was the version that was published in a local newspaper, it was all typed up neatly (with my typewriter, an elementary school graduation gift that she suggested that I needed).

It was a long time ago and I had forgotten that I had saved the clipping and had it laminated. I found it recently while searching for some old papers and much to my embarrassment I had not published the final draft.

So, as a result of my error, my family has a draft of her work on my mother's funeral card.

That's not the extent of it, have you heard the expression "it's not written in stone", well, it is! My mother-in-law took one of mom's funeral cards and had a memorial stone made for me for Christmas, it's written in granite!

Here is the poem "Mother" that was published in a local paper, written by my mother about 40 years ago:

Mother

Time never nor space could ever erase
The picture that's hung in my heart,
Of that dear lovely lady's sweet beckoning face,
Expressions will never depart.

The smile that was gleaming when 'er I knew joy,
The bitter tears when I knew sorrow,
The frown, when I, evil task would employ,
The hope of much gladder tomorrows.

Whenever I failed there was naught but despair,
In achievement was nothing but pride,
And no artist's brush can ever compare
With the picture of her, here inside.

Glowing with sun-rays of love, just for me
In every chore and all duty
Thru the eyes of my soul filled with love I can see
Her face beaming with radiant beauty.

Angels in Heaven above never sung,
Nor is there a song in the land,
Would compare with the music of bells that are rung
In my heart when I hold her hand.

Hands that applauded me when I was right,
That wrung in a frenzy when wrong.
Hands that covered me up in the night,
That wrote on my sad heart a song.

Hands ever sowing and showing me how
To see my work through to the finish.
All that I am, I owe to her now,
May gratitude never diminish.

Because that I feel in Heaven above,
Angels whispering to one another,
Can find among burning turns of their love
None with the devotion of Mother.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Mobile Monday: PhotoNote

2010-11-29T10:15:00.000-05:00

My husband and I have already exchanged our gifts this year, Blackberry Torches. We were considering IPhones but if I have a choice, I like to buy Canadian brands. Being from Southwest Ontario, I like the idea of boosting the local economy and since Research In Motion, creator of the Blackberry, is in London, Ontario it was an easy decision.

There aren't as many apps availale for the Blackberry as the IPhone, but there are some good apps. One app. that I bought I'm using now to create this post, it's PhotoNote. I love this app., it is great for mobile blogging as well as adding information to photos such as gravestones, landmarks, houses for further references at home; transcriptions, location etc. PhotoNote is searchable as well. Did I mention that with PhotoNote I can post photos to Twitter as well?

Sent with PhotoNote from Swoosh Software LLP.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Sunday's Obituary - The Aunt I Never Met

2010-11-21T08:36:00.000-05:00

Born Harriet Evelyn Hines, my Aunt Evelyn died tragically as a result of burns received in a fire at her home on November 18, 1921:

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

"I Just Want A Peek Inside"

2010-11-09T09:04:00.002-05:00

While at the Military Muster 2010 at the Canadian Transportation Museum and Heritage Village in August I had the opportunity to enter the buildings in the village, I usually find them padlocked for security. I was hoping to see the interior of my 3rd great-uncle, John Holden's cabin. My hopes were dashed as I walked up to the Holden homestead and saw that there was a padlock on the door. I was surprised to see that it wasn't locked and proceeded to remove the open lock and go inside. My husband was protesting, saying that it wasn't open to the public, but I said that I was going in anyway and take a few pictures and slip the lock back on, nobody would know and what harm could there be?

I went inside and hubby hesitantly followed me in. As I was walking around the house I was taking longer than anticipated, reading the history of the people that lived there. By the time I was finished there were other people coming into the house so I just left it open. I'm pretty sure that the padlock being there was an oversight, at least I hope it was.

John and Rhoda Holden

Willard Holden family

living area


another view of living area

kitchen

master bedroom

another view of bedroom, there was an open loft on the second floor.

Sarah Will Rest In Peace, Thank You Fort Erie!

2010-09-17T10:42:00.000-04:00

The local government approved a staff report on Tuesday night to amend the 2010 operating budget and pull $60,000 from the emergency management reserve fund to the cemeteries operating budget.

The town of Fort Erie will be contibuting $60,000 towards the investigation and re-interrment of the remains of the ten people unearthed at Point Albino last month. The Ontario Cemeteries Act provides the registrar with the authority to order the investigation of the site to be conducted by a licensed archaeologist. The registrar then makes a declaration about the nature of the site and orders the landowner to work with representatives of those buried in the site to enter into a disposition agreement, whereby the remains can be re-intered into a cemetery.

related article: Sarah's Bones

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy- Week #35- DAR GRS

2010-09-04T09:51:00.002-04:00

The Genealogical Research System (GRS) on the DAR website is a great tool for researching my patriot ancestor. The information gathered from this is a great starting point, in addition to pointing out resources that have documentation. You may find a DAR member's Descendants tree for the ancestor as well, I was fortunate to have found one proven descendant from a different line of the Hawkins-Stonecipher family, my 3rd great-aunt, Temperance Stonecipher Click. It wouldn't be too difficult for my line to be added to the proven list.

Here is my Patriot ancestor, my 5th great-grandfather:

Joseph Hawkins

Ancestor #: A134663
Service: VIRGINIA
Rank: CORPORAL
Birth: (CIRCA) 1753
Death: (ANTE) 8- -1797 GREENE CO TENNESSEE
Service Description: 1) CAPTS THOMAS BRESSRE,JAMES MOODY,COLS2) WILLIAM BRENT,GREGORY SMITH,2ND REGT
Comments (Overview ) 1) SS: INDEX TO REV WAR SERV RECS,V.D.WHITE, VOL.II P.1232, COPY IN DATA
Residence 1) County: WASHINGTON CO - State: VIRGINIA
Spouse Number Name 1) ESTHER X Associated Applications and Supplementals Nat'l Num Add Vol. Docs
Child/Spouse Number/Spouse
720261 820 ELIZABETH / [0] SOLOMON STONECIPHER
804908 TEMPERANCE / [1] GEORGE CLICK

© National Society Daughters of the American Revolution 2010

Maybe, after I have my certificates for my loyalist ancestors, I'll see about honouring my patriot ancestor as well.

Earline Bradt
websites: My Home Site - My Favourites Place
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Sarah's Bones

2010-09-02T14:19:00.001-04:00

There have been several skeletons unearthed in the name of progress that are of particular interest to my Haines family research, they are likely my loyalist ancestors' families. As of the 31st of August, there were four adult and three childrens'skeletons dating from the late 1700's and early 1800's found on land once owned by Sarah Haines Bland Otway-Page at Point Albino, near Fort Erie, Ontario. I posted the family sketch written by her son, Peregrine Otway-Page previously which states where she was buried.

This is indeed a great discovery for our family, so many of the loyalists burial sites remain a mystery, forgotten, any markers long gone. We are very fortunate to have located Sarah's family. I am hoping that with further investigation the skeletons will be identified by their age, sex and how long they were buried and maybe positively identify them through DNA.

When the time comes to re-interr the remains I would love to attend the ceremony. How often does an opportunity like this come up, being able to attend your ancestors' funeral?

Articles: Two Skeletons Found On Point Albino Road
Pioneer Age Skeletons Found In Ontario
More Bodies Unearthed
Remains Will Be Treated With Dignity
Descendant Fleshes Out Bones' History

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Surname Saturday - Doan, Doane

2010-08-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

I have learned recently that I am a descendant of two different lines from my immigrant ancestor John Doane. As well as being descended from the Quaker Doans from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, I am also directly descended from the ones in the Cape Cod area through my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Robbins Doan. She is a direct descendant of Benjamin Doane and Hannah Small.

Benjamin Doane was Daniel Doane, Jr.'s great-grandnephew, the great-grandson of Daniel's brother, Joseph. He was born in Harwich, Mass. on June 20,1772 and died there on Sept. 25, 1856. He married Hannah Smalley, daughter of Edward and Hannah Smalley, on Jan. 29, 1795. They had nine children, i. Joseph, born Jan. 10, 1796, Jan. 15,1802,ii. Sarah, born Oct. 7, 1797, iii. Benjamin, born Oct. 13, 1799, iv. Abish, born Jan. 15, 1802, v. Zemira, born Nov. 28,1805, vi. Patience, born Nov. 26, 1807, vii. Hannah, born June 24, 1811, and twins viii. Marsella and xi. Arsella born on Apr. 9, 1814.

Hannah Doan married Elkhannah Nickerson, Jr. on Jan. 3, 1829 in Harwich, Mass.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Lately I've Been Relatively Busy

2010-08-13T12:08:00.000-04:00

I just thought I'd let my readers know what I've been doing lately that has my time consumed, I've been working on my pages at WeRelate.

I have been reading Randy Seaver's series of posts about the site at Genea-musings and decided to join. I uploaded my Gedcom file a couple of days ago. I thought it would be a simple process, I was wrong. My Gedcom had some problems that my RM4 program didn't find. I had to review it and match some 200 People and Family pages that were already created by others. Then, I had to match all of the places to Places pages on the site. Finally, I matched my sources to Source pages already created.

Finally my Gedcom was uploaded and the matching and merging of duplicate pages started again, but at least I have some help from the volunteers now.

I have started adding my documents and images to the pages and I think that I will be doing that for a while, I have at least 6 GB of images I have gathered. I am planning on working on one family a day, I have 288 family pages so it should keep me busy for a while.

I am really excited about making more connections and finding new cousins. I am going to post a link on my Facebook profile so other family members can add information and images to it. I think that it is well worth the time and effort to have a site with the most accurate information and sources about our ancestors in one place.

Last Post: Jerry Douglas Fisher U.E. April 8, 1947 - Aug. 4, 2010

2010-08-09T13:35:00.000-04:00

I was shocked when I read my Loyalist Trails newsletter yesterday and found out that Jerry Fisher U.E. had died. He was the driving force to have the Doan cemetery renamed and wrote book about the Aaron Doan family history as well as others. Here is the post:

Last Post: Jerry Douglas Fisher U.E. April 8, 1947-August 4, 2010

    Colonel John Butler (Niagara) Branch Members were shocked and saddened to learn that the Branch Assistant Genealogist, Jerry Douglas Fisher U.E. passed away on Wednesday August 4th, 2010 at the Welland Hospital. Jerry was the dear friend of Gail Woodruff. Loving father of Shelly Mae Fisher (William Cowell), and Wendy Eleanor Mercier, Grandfather of Nathan, Ashley, Sandra, Billy, and Alexandria. Dear son of Eleanor and the late Orlin Fisher, brother of Shirley Charbonneau (Arthur), and Larry Fisher (Dana). A celebration of Jerry's life will take place at Fenwick United Church on Monday, August 9th, 2010 at 11:00 am. Visiting from 9:00 am till time of service. Memorial Tributes to Fenwick United Church.
    Jerry was a father, a grandfather, a brother and a son, a researcher, a genealogist and a friend to all. He was extremely generous with his time and valuable research. Jerry was excited by his United Empire Loyalist background and was proud to use the initials U.E. after his name.
He spent many years researching his Loyalist Ancestors, Joseph Doan, Aaron Doan, Robert Cook, Isaac Vail, John Bradt, Hart Smith and Sgt. John Wilson and was especially proud of the Doan Family. His hero was Aaron Doan who was part of the notorious "Doan Gang". Jerry travelled to Bucks County Pennsylvania to copy many original historical documents.
    On July 19, 2008, after much research into the ownership of the Steele Cemetery in Port Colborne, Jerry directed a dedication of the cemetery as an historical site and a Loyalist Burial Plot. This included the plaquing by the Col. John Butler (Niagara) Branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association designating the burial of a Loyalist. He personally erected a similar plaque at the tombstone of Aaron Doan U.E.
Jerry was not content to let the name of the Cemetery remain Steele Cemetery, as in fact, there were no members of the Steele family buried there and part of the land had belonged to the Doan family as a burial plot. Relentlessly, working through the City of Port Colborne, providing immaculate research materials, he managed to have the name of the cemetery changed to Doan Cemetery. On July 10, 2010 members of the City of Port Colborne and of the Provincial Government convened to unveil a plaque and sign renaming the land "Doan Cemetery". A large number of Loyalist descendants participated.
    Jerry was the Niagara Regional convenor for the nationwide Doan Association and on July 11, 2010 he arranged the first local Doan Association Reunion that was a great success. He worked tirelessly to produce the new Doan Book: "History in Our Own Backyard: The Sons and Daughters of United Empire Loyalist Aaron Doan". Last week he completed the printing of the History of the Mitchell Family and The History of the Misner Family. Jerry can be credited for helping hundreds of Loyalist Descendants prove their descent and therefore join the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.
    Jerry was thorough with his research techniques, as in all of his work. He was a great friend who always had a hug for everyone. He will be truly missed.
                Submitted by Gail Woodruff, U.E.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Wordless Wednesday - Where The Geese Go For The Summer

2010-07-21T08:53:00.000-04:00

Canada geese in Omeeme, Ontario

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Back To Basics

2010-07-19T11:51:00.001-04:00

"Why do I have to learn history, all the dates and places, I'll never use it anyway".

How many of us have said this when we were going to school? For the past four years that I have been researching my family history I have found that learning more about the times that my ancestors lived in helps me to know and understand their lives, beliefs, economic and political conditions of the time and the decisions they made to immigrate and migrate from one place to another. I have often found myself searching for someone and getting sidetracked by the stories of their daily lives. I imagine that all of them had dreams of a better life for their children and hope for future generations in their new homes.

I have found that a lot of different subjects I learned in grade school and thought I would never use I am putting to good use with my genealogy research. First of all, I am learning more about history than I ever imagined, but through fresh eyes, my ancestors' eyes. I have learned about the religious persecution in England that forced my ancestors to risk their lives crossing the Atlantic in the early 1600's via Leiden, Holland. My research has taken me to Plymouth Colony, where I learned about the hardships of the colonists, the harsh elements, disease and living in fear of native attacks. My Acadian and French-Canadian ancestors who chose to go to the New World, with the military and as colonists to explore and expand the realm of the King of France. My German ancestors escaped their war-torn homelands in the 1700's, arriving in New York and Pennsylvania. My Scottish ancestors lived on the Borders which were going through much change, religious and political unrest when they immigrated. I learned a lot about the history of Scotland to better understand what was going on in their lives and why they left. Some of my Irish immigrant ancestors left before the famine, seeking employment opportunities in North America, some endured the famine and left a generation later.

I am also learning a lot more geography with my genealogy research, searching Google maps for ancestral homes, comparing maps from different times and noting the changes in territorial lines, borders, etc. I have found some family that appear to have moved from state to state only to find that the borders have changed, not their residences. Mathematics is used every day in my research as well, working with the censuses, charts, dates etc. One subject that I find I can't do without is English Grammar, I use it everyday in my blogs. I confess that I am not the most creative writer but I do want my posts to be easy to read, I try to write in a way that if my grandson or granddaughter reads my posts, they will understand them.

Science also plays a role in my research, learning about the diseases and how they were spread, what medicinal herbs they used to treat them, the impact of the weather on their lives, what crops they grew, their daily diets. I am learning different traditional recipes and old-world techniques. I even made sourdough starter from wild yeast spores in the flour and air, like they used to do before packaged yeast was readily available, I was successful first try! I'm making more food from scratch, like pasta and noodles, soda crackers, etc. I never use prepackaged mixes for baking anyway, I've always baked from scratch. I think there are several advantages in practising the old way of doing things, you keep old skills alive to pass down to future generations and preserve your heritage, and instill a sense of self-sufficiency that is priceless. Our ancestors didn't run to the corner store to get their bread, they had the ingredients to make their own so there was no need. If great-great-grandma was making chicken soup, she made fresh noodles from an egg and a handful of flour.

When you grow your own vegetables, as well as preserving and practising skills that your ancestors depended on for survival, you know where the food is from, you control the ingredients, no preservatives or artificial ingredients, so the food is healthier, fresher and also tastes better as well as being more economical. I have been growing my vegetable gardens the old-fashioned way for a couple of years, instead of using a modern roto-tiller to till the soil in the spring, I have used just a pitch fork to loosen and turn the soil over in the spring. I have found that newer is not always better, I can get better results, more consistent depth, more thoroughly worked up, deeper than if a tiller was used and the worms aren't chopped up. It may take longer but my garden isn't very big, about 15' x 36', so I can get it done in a few days and it is great exercise too. I have had a small herb garden for years, chives, oregano, sage, garlic, a few varieties of thyme, catnip and even medicinal herbs like yarrow and feverfew, I have migraines and the tea really works. I am learning about their daily lives and am trying to learn more about the native foods they ate and the different ways they prepared and preserved their produce for winter.

I am learning to use different cooking implements and how to cook over an open fire with a Dutch oven, not a casserole kind like the modern ones, a cast-iron one that was made for baking over an open fire. So far I've baked a shortcake and a blueberry pie successfully in it. I tried to bake a chocolate cake but the Dutch oven was too close to the fire and the bottom was burnt, but hubby ate it anyway, next time I'll get it right. I still haven't made any cornbread in my vintage cast iron corncob pans, I'll try that next.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

More Changes For Canada's History

2010-07-18T09:47:00.001-04:00

The social media for Canadian genealogists, Canadian Roots@Canada's History, formerly Canadian Roots@ The Beaver, a Ning group will be leaving Ning as of July 20th, 2010.
The reason for the change is simple, Ning is going to start charging for the service and the site creator wanted to keep the site free.
The Canadian Roots @ Canada's History is moving to the Canada's History website. "Canada's History" formerly known as "The Beaver" has been publishing magazines about Canadian History for 90 years, I have a subscription.
While it doesn't have some of the features of the Ning platform for social media, it has a community and there will be improvements to the community site in the near future. The threads and photos will be moved from the Ning site to their new home at Canada's History.

Visit Canadian Roots @ The Beaver

What I Do...

2010-07-12T11:44:00.000-04:00

Today's genealogists and family historians have a great number of tools with which to work that were not available for previous generations. Thomas McEntee at Geneabloggers decided to create a meme in which we share the tools that we use everyday to do what we do to inform beginners and experienced researchers about what tools are available. Well here's my list of what technology I use to do
What I Do:

* Hardware: HP Pavilion desktop with 250 GB hard drive with XP SP 2; Lenova Notebook with 160 GB hard drive with Windows 7.

* External storage: 160 GB Maxtor Mini ext.HD, 1 TB Iomega ext. HD

* Online storage: Skydrive (25 GB), Springnote (@ 2 GB), Dropbox (2 GB)

* Online Image Storage: Picassa, Flickr, Facebook, Picnik on Facebook

* Image Editors: Windows Live Photo Gallery, Picassa, Facebook, Picnik on Facebook

* Backup: 16 GB Sansa backup USB flash drive(backup program), 8 GB Rally USB flash drive (Rootsmagic-to-go), DVDs, 160 GB Maxtor Mini ext. HD

* Online Blog backup: Wordpress, Springnote

* Offline Blogging: Windows Live Writer, email and SMS

* Online Backup: McAfee Online Backup

* Firewall: McAfee Internet Security

* Virus protection:
McAfee Antivirus

* Spyware: Windows Defender

* File cleaner:: McAfee Internet Security

* Printer: Lexmark 1400 wireless printer, HP Photosmart Essentioal 3.5 wireless PSC.

* Phone: Blackberry Curve

* Mobile media: Lenova Notebook, Blackberry Curve

* Music player: Ipod Nano

* Car audio: Kenwood

* eBook Reader: Adobe
Reader 9.1

* Browser: Mozilla Firefox

* Blog: Blogger, Wordpress, Viviti

* RSS: Google Reader

* FTP: Filezilla

* Text editor: Notepad, Wordpad, Open Office, Office Live

* Graphics: Windows Live Photo Gallery, Picassa, Paint

* Screen capture: Win 7 Snipping tool

* Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Genealogywise, Google Buzz, Windows Live Messenger

* Office suite: Open Office

* E-mail: Google, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail

* Calendar: Google Calendar, Reminderfox, Blackberry calendar

* PDF generator: Adobe Reader 9.1

* File Conversion: Paint, Irfranview,

* Genealogy database: Rootsmagic 4, Rootsmagic-to-go

* Genealogy tools: Rootsmagic 4 tools (reports, charts, books etc.)

* Online Family Tree Sites: Ancestry.com, Tribal Pages, Bravenet

* Other gadgets:

Win 7 Speech Recognition
Win 7 Magnifier
Win 7 Sticky Notes
Blackberry to-do lists
Blackberry memos
m.Google (Notebooks, Maps, Reader, Photos, Calendar etc.)
Tom Tom (for directions to cemeteries, libraries etc.)
digital cameras
WiseStamp

I didn't realise how many tools I use for my research until I created this list!

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Sentimental Sunday - Cemetery Ceremony

2010-07-11T09:17:00.003-04:00

My husband and I went to the renaming of the Steele Cemetery to the Doan Cemetery yesterday on our way home and unveiling of the plaque presented by the Heritage Port Colborne Committee.

There is an article about it here: Welland Tribune.

Here is a video of the unveiling of the plaque by the mayor of Port Colborne, Vance Badaway. He spoke of the history of Port Colborne and Humberstone Township and the Doan family's mark on the community. The hospital in Port Colborne is on land originally owned by Joseph Doan Sr., Aaron Doan's father.

A recent article: Port Cemeterey Designated as Historic

I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the video, it is my first one and I don't know what happened but the audio didn't get recorded.

The ceremony was continued at Aaron Doan's grave site with four people receiving their UEL certificates , some family members spoke about the life of Aaron Doan and family history and members of the Doan family placed roses on his grave. The ceremony was closed with the Loyalist's Prayer.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

2010-07-05T10:17:00.001-04:00

I am just sitting here outside the tent with my coffee thinking about going fishing. I haven't done any researching this week, just waiting for the weekend to get back at it again.

We decided to go to the UEL cemetery renaming on Saturday afternoon, but we are going to stay in the area and visit Fort Erie afterward instead of going to St. Catherines to check out the Friends of the Loyalists Collection, we'll go in August instead, we'll have more time.

We are going to the Doan family reunion Sunday, I want to talk to the family historian and find out more about my great-grandmother's family and correct a few errors. First error I would like corrected will be that Harriet was not Polly and Isaac Doan's daughter, as it shows in the Doan Family book.
There was a transcription error, the will of Isaac Doan lists a daughter, Ha____(illegible) Fernetta and it was assumed that this was Harriet Fernetta. Since Isaac Doan's will was proved in 1850, a few years before Harriet Fernetta Doan's birth it is likely that it might be Hannah Fernetta named in the will. I also have Harriet's death record which states her parents were William and Rachel Doan. They may have come from Ohio, I can't wait to see what information there is about this family and their connection to the Isaac Doan family.
Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Being Canadian

2010-07-01T09:10:00.000-04:00

I was born in Canada, live in Canada and I imagine I will most likely die in Canada, and I wouldn't want it any other way. But being born here doesn't make me any more Canadian than anyone else that has chosen Canada as their future home.
Being Canadian, one of the youngest countries in the world, is the pride that can't be put into words, pride in our ancestors achievements and pride in our nation's acceptance of people from different cultural backgrounds since the vast majority of the population of this country was created by immigrants.
This is what seperates Canada from other couintries, our multiculturalism. Where the United States is a "melting pot" where individuals from different cultures are supposed to assimilate and become "American", we in Canada take pride in the celebration of people's different cultures, heritage and customs.

Sent on the TELUS Mobility network with BlackBerry

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources

2010-06-27T08:59:00.010-04:00

Library and Archives Canada is one of many government sites for researching your loyalist ancestor. The LAC has many original documents on microfilms that can be ordered. You can browse the topics alphabetically or search the archives. There are land records, military records, censuses and several collections as well that can be ordered on microfilm. The censuses on-line don't have much data about loyalist families, but they can be used to determine where the descendants of the family settled or migrated or if they returned to the United States later on as many did.

Provincial Archives have a lot of information as well, Archives of Ontario has vital statistics, land records, wills and estate records, court records, war records etc.

Search for your loyalist ancestors in records in the states where your ancestors lived prior to the Revolutionary war, the provinces where they lived afterward and the national archives as well. My ancestors lived in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania before 1776 so I search in those state files as well as the US National Archives site.

Municipal sites may have historical information about the people who settled the area, historic events, etc. that may be of some help to you as well.

related posts:
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors -Ancestry.com Resources
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors -UELAC
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors -Internet Archive

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Internet Archive

2010-06-23T10:45:00.002-04:00

I have found that e-books that are downloadable and for reading at leisure can be very helpful. Internet Archive has several books available about the United Empire Loyalists and the Revolutionary War that I have found invaluable. I have downloaded several and saved to read offline. The pdf books are searchable and the text can be easily copied and pasted. They are available in several formats for easy reading.

To get the most results I decided to try different keywords, I entered United Empire Loyalists and got 16 hits. Then I chose the keyword loyalists and got over 280 hits. When I entered Revolutionary War I got 1760 hits and American Revolution I got 2,757 hits. I tried different places, I entered Upper Canada and I got 1001 hits. Tryon County only produced 12 hits while New York History yielded 38,161 hits.

There is also a collection of Genealogy books available. To get to this collection you have to select texts from the top menu. Under the top menu will appear tabs for different libraries and a tab for Additional Collections. Here you will find the Genealogy Collection with almost 30,000 items available.

My next post will be about loyalist resources within the government archives.

related articles:
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Ancestry.com
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - UELAC
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - UELAC

2010-06-23T09:39:00.002-04:00

One of the first sites I went to when I started to research my loyalist ancestors was the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada or UELAC website. I learned a bit more about who the loyalists were. I also checked the Loyalist Directory on the site, where there is a list of all known loyalists and more names are being added all the time. I found my ancestors Joseph Haines, Sr. and Nathaniel Haines listed in the directory and found that Joseph Haines,Sr. had proven descendants but Nathaniel Haines didn't have any proven descendants, yet.

The Loyalist Trails Archives on the site are listed with the topics of each weekly issue outlined. There are loyalist family histories, research tips, events, queries, obituaries, etc. There is a lot of valuable information about the loyalists, where they came from, how they came, where they settled, who they associated with, what their daily lives were like, their different cultures and customs.

There is also several links for further loyalist research resources, such as the On-line Institute For Advanced Loyalist Studies and Olive Tree Genealogy.

related articles:
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Ancestry.com
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Internet Archive
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Ancestry.com Resources

2010-06-22T10:21:00.003-04:00

I am currently researching my Loyalist ancestors and I have found information in several different places, on-line, in published works, libraries and museums. First, I would lke to share some of my on line resources.
The Card Catalogue at Ancestry.com has many reference books such as:

Coldham, Peter Wilson. American Migrations 1765-1799: The lives, times, and families of colonial Americans who remained loyal to the British Crown before, during and after the Revolutionary War, as related in their own words and through their correspondence. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2000.
PERSI is the largest and most widely-used subject index covering genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French (Canada). The collection dates from approximately 1800. There are currently over 1.7 million searchable records and nearly 6,000 different periodicals, which library staffers at the Allen County Public Library have been compiling for over a decade. PERSI is widely recognized as essential for high-quality genealogy research.
Smith, Clifford Neal. British and German Deserters, Dischargees, and Prisoners of War Who May Have Remained in Canada anad the United States, 1774-1783. Part One and Part Two. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.
Reid, William D. The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of the American Loyalists of Upper Canada. Lambertville, NJ, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1973.
Births-deaths-marriages, Christian messenger. Hamilton, Ont.: Hamilton Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 1960.
Ezra E. Eby. A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character, v. 1. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.], 1896.
Centennial Committee. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Toronto, Canada: Rose Publishing Co., 1885.
United Empire Loyalists, Parts I-II Fraser, Alexander. [United Empire Loyalists]: Second Report of the Bureau of Archives for the Province of Ontario. Toronto, Canada: L. K. Cameron, 1905.
Chadwick, Edward Marion,. Ontarian families : genealogies of United-Empire-loyalists and other pioneer families of Upper Canada. Toronto: Rolph, Smith & Co., 1895-1898.
Ontario People 1796 - 1803 - transcribed and annotated by E.Keith Ftzgerald (I own this book)
A brief sketch of the county of Essex, in the province of Ontario, Canada: also a short history of the formation and growth of the town of Essex, with biographical sketches of some of the public men, descriptions of buildings &c., describing its climate, situation, resources, soil, productions, and advantages as a place of settlement. Essex, Ont.: J.E. Johnson, [1889?]
William Henry Egle, ed.. Journals and diaries of the war of the revolution with lists of officers and soldiers, 1775-1783. [Harrisburg, Pa.?]: [s.n.], 1893
Caniff, William. History of the Settlement of Upper Canada, With Special Reference to the Bay of Quinte. Toronto, Canada: Dudley & Burns, Printers, Victoria Hall, 1869.

There are also many church, county and family histories, too numerous to mention as well as genealogies, diaries and memoirs, military and court records, historical buildings, etc.This is a good place to start, but you need a subscription so I'm going to offer some free sites that I have found very helpful in my next post.

related posts:
Reasearching Your Loyalist Ancestors - UELAC
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Internet Archive
Researching Your Loyalist Ancestors - Government Resources

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

What Is Freedom?

2010-06-19T09:01:00.000-04:00

Today is Loyalist Day in Ontario and Juneteenth. What do they have in common? They are both celebrating Freedom. Freedom from oppression and persecution, freedom to choose where we want to live, what we want to believe, freedom to live life.

We take our freedom for granted, couldn't imagine life without it, but there were times in our history that our forefathers made great sacrifices to obtain and keep their freedom and ensure the freedom of future generations.

The Revolutionary war took away many people's freedom of choice, either you had to take up arms against the British or you were the enemy, there was no neutral ground. Whether because of differing political beliefs, religious beliefs or personal beliefs, if you didn't comply you were persecuted. These are the times that our ancestors lived in, never knowing if their long-time neighbours and friends today would be their enemies tomorrow.

Freedom is not physical, it's a state of mind. Hope and faith, that is what kept our Loyalist ancestors going against all odds. Without them there is no sense of direction, no future. We will comply with anything as long as it makes life easier, forgoing our beliefs and long-term goals for an easy way out.

Today's youth, more and more, are losing hope and faith, in their leaders, their government, their world. It is up to us to give that back to them, tell them of the struggles that our ancestors went through for our freedom, they may recognize their sacrifices and want to honour them by being more hopeful for their own futures. Only with hope and faith are you truly free!

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Follow Friday - Loyalist Blog - Our Ryckman Roots

2010-06-18T09:04:00.001-04:00

It's been a busy week for me, first a death in the family, then I wasn't able to get on-line for a couple of days so I'm trying to catch up on my blogging and haven't had much chance to read a lot of my favourites this week. I can read them on my Blackberry, but it's hard to read, so I just starred the posts that most interested me to read later.

To commemorate Loyalist Day in Ontario tomorrow, June 19, and Loyalist Week June 21-27 in the Niagara area, I am recommending a Loyalist blog, Our Ryckman Roots. Katheryn Lake is the author of this blog as well as LOOKING4ANCESTORS . She is working on her certification for her loyalist Ryckman ancestors. She has hit a brick wall with William Ryckman but if anyone can break through the brick wall, she can. Kathryn is our branch genealogist at the Bicentennial Branch of the UELAC.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Sentimental Sunday – We Will Miss You Grampa Morrison

2010-06-13T10:59:00.002-04:00

This weekend has been a difficult one for my family, my children lost their grandfather Friday evening. Don Morrison was my father-in-law from my first marriage. He could have ended our relationship when his son and I ended our marriage, but he was a special man who always treated me like one of the family. Not too many people would invite their previous in-laws to their wedding, but I didn't give it a second thought, they were part of my family and I wanted to share my day with them.

Photo taken for 50th Wedding Anniversary by Due South Photography.

He helped me through a lot of hard times after his son and I were divorced too. He didn't have to, he had no obligation, that's just how he was. I don't know what I would have done without him.

He really enjoyed spending time with his family, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, My granddaughter, Mackenzie spent almost every weekend at their home.

Whenever there was a family gathering, for holidays or birthdays, Christmas pageants, dance recitals, Grampa and Granma Morrison were there.

Even when there wasn't any special occasion, just playing Chase the Ace at the Hoopers (my son's in-laws) on Saturday night.

Or Saturday afternoons at my son’s house, having a barbecue, watching the kids swimming, watching the older kids with their toys

and just enjoying family.

He would always give me a great big hug upon arrival, I will miss his hugs. I am glad that my grandchildren had a chance to know one of their great-grandfathers, my dad died three months before my first grandson was born.

I am thankful for having known this man, I have many wonderful memories of him that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

My Juneteenth Project Part 1 - Who Was Annie Fox?

2010-06-09T13:23:00.008-04:00

I was reading from the archives of The Essex Free Press, a local newspaper to see what was going on a century ago, what they weather was like, what the political climate was like and I ran across this sad obituary in the June 3, 1910 Essex Free Press in the County News:

She had suffered the inhumanity of being born into slavery and she suffered a painful and tragic death as well. I wonder if she had any happy moments in her life, or was it also filled with grief. The saddest part is that she was all alone in the world when she died, no one to remember her or bother to do her family history.

I thought that since she had no known relatives that I would try to find her family for her. I want to find out as much as I can about this woman, where she was from, where she was married, if she had any children, when she came to Canada etc.

I am going to start with her death record, it should have some information about where she was born.

Well, I didn’t find out too much information on the death record, I did learn that her full name was Mary Ann and that she must have been in agony for 11 hours.

The 1901 census should give me more information if she was here, maybe her husband was still alive. I’ll work back in the censuses to see if there were any children listed.

I’ll look for any marriage records, if I’m lucky, her parents’ names will be on it as well. Then I’ll look for any vital records for any of her children if she had any. I am hoping to at least find out what her maiden name was.

Madness Monday -The Tornado In My Backyard

2010-06-07T13:33:00.007-04:00

I was up most of the night on Saturday watching the Doppler radar as the storm was raging across southern Michigan headed straight for the northern shore of Lake Erie. After the storm seemed to be weakening and the weather alerts were downgraded, about 1:20am, the station went back to regular programming and my husband went to bed and I stayed up watching tv.

After about an hour my dog, Angus, started whimpering and trembling and he was climbing all over me. Angus is an 80 lb. Lab mix who is scared of thunder, but there wasn't any thunder, just rain, it wasn't even windy. I've never seen him so upset and scared. Then the power went out and my husband's scanner started going off upstairs and my husband got up and settled him down.

The first reports of storm damage started flooding in to the Emergency Services. There were numerous hydro poles sheared off and power lines down, broken gas mains and water mains, trees on houses, trees through houses, there was a clear path of destruction starting just east of Kingsville down County Road 20 below the ridge and into the south of Leamington and eastward to Hillman marsh. It was the worst tornado Leamington has seen in over fifty years. Having occurred in the middle of the night, it is a miracle that no one was injured. Several houses were destroyed by falling trees.

After all of the excitement, we went out into our backyard yesterday afternoon, not expecting anything unusual, we didn't get much wind at all, and discovered that our birch tree had two branches twisted and broken half-way up the tree.

Nothing else was disturbed, not even any leaves or twigs in the yard or in the neighbourhood. My rose bushes in the front yard didn't even lose a petal!

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Surname Saturday - Doan

2010-06-05T08:07:00.007-04:00

I have been waiting patiently for Ancestry to update the death records so that I can find out who the parents of my paternal great-grandmother, Harriet Doan Hines were. I assumed that my maternal 2nd great grandfather, A.C.Doan, and she were siblings until I found the obituary for my 3rd great-grandfather, Linus Doan and Harriet wasn't named as one of his children.

I made this assumption from information on my granduncle's delayed birth certificate. Since both of his parents were deceased when he applied for his birth certificate in 1940, A.C.Doan signed an affidavit that he was his uncle. And then there is my other granduncle's first WWI attestation papers that he put his cousin, Allen Doan as next of kin, was this A.C.Doan or his son.

So now the death records have been updated and I found my great-grandmother's death record and I discovered another Doan family that I know nothing about, her parents were William and Rachael Doan who lived in Welland. I looked for the family in the 1861 census and found them in Welland, Ontario. I don't know if these are the right people, but they were the only William and Rachael Doan in Ontario and they did have a daughter, Harriet. William was a tavern keeper in the town of Welland. Now the confusion, I looked in the 1871 census, William was still the tavern keeper but he had a different family. I don't know what happened to Rachael and her family. I hope I can find out more information next month when I attend the Doan family reunion.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Follow Friday - Old Time Corner

2010-06-04T06:46:00.004-04:00

I have lived in Essex County my whole life and I am very supportive of genealogy sites and blogs that are preserving the history and heritage of the county. My ancestors have been in the county since the early nineteenth century and I am interested in how they went about their daily lives, their occupations, political views, who they socialized with, what they did for entertainment etc.

I have recently discovered a new site, Old Time Corner authored by Sharon Taylor Mulcaster, who I have since discovered is a distant cousin, also being descended from my fourth great-grandparents, Alexander McIntaylor and Grace Duncan, who immigrated from Rothesay, Isle of Bute, Scotland in the early 1800's.

What is the Old Time Corner!
The Old Time Corner, published in the Essex Free Press, Essex, Ontario, has stories and photographs of local historical and genealogical interest. Located in the centre (hub) of Essex County, Essex has a claim to fame of blowing up TWICE in it's 125 year history.
The purpose for researching the history of the Town of Essex, (again called Essex Centre) and the surrounding area for records, Stories and Photographs is to collect and preserve a thorough and accurate history of the Town and it's people for all those who have ever...
worked
went to school

went to church

were involved in sports
or
...called Essex home

I would like to thank Sharon for creating this site and sharing the history of Canada's Sun Parlor and it's inhabitants through old photos and stories.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

My Dedicated Blog

2010-05-30T07:41:00.008-04:00

Lately I have been busy with my non-blogging life, getting my gardens planted, getting our boat finished and getting a new deck built. I'm just about caught up now so I hope to have more time for blogging now. I have a number of blogs, My Favourites Place, my homepage general blog, Creation and Recreation, my hobbies blog, and a few genealogy blogs.

Ancestral Notes is my main general genealogy blog, where I do most of my blogging, but I also have a blog dedicated to my Loyalist research, United Empire Loyalists Re-United, where I have two blogs. There is one for general loyalist history, individual loyalists and research sources I have another one for my husband and my specific loyalist families where I share information and sources.

I have been posting more on my loyalist blog recently since I am doing more research in that area for my certification. I will be duplicating some of my past posts from Ancestral Notes about my loyalist families on my dedicated blog as well. If you are interested in the Loyalist era or in my certification research process and progress stop by and add UEL Re-United to your blog reading list.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Follow Friday - Kindred Footprints

2010-05-21T08:59:00.000-04:00

The excitement is mounting for my summer vacation this year and Sharon, from Kindred Footprints has written a couple of posts about her weekend in the Niagara region which only made my anticipation grow. She shares some beautiful photographs of some of the historic sites the area in her posts. I am looking forward to going to the Niagara Falls Museum again. Last time I was at Fort George it was pouring rain so I couldn't take any pictures, hopefully the weather will be more co-operative this year.

I am looking forward to going to the Haynes cemetery as well, there may be some connection with my Haines ancestors who settled in Grantham township too. I will also be going to the Arent Bradt cemetery as well as attending the renaming of the Steele cemetery to the Aaron Doan cemetery.
Thanks, Sharon!

Weekend In Niagara - Saturday
Weekend In Niagara - Sunday

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Surname Saturday - Holden, Barr

2010-05-15T06:55:00.000-04:00

Political unrest in America has had a profound effect on my family history, from my Loyalist ancestors who came to Upper Canada after the Revolutionary War to my American-born ancestors who crossed the border just prior to the American Civil War.

The Holden and Barr families came to the Sandwich area of Essex County, Ontario between 1860, where they appear in the Wayne County, Indiana census and March 4th, 1863, when my second great-grandmother, Rosetta Holden O'Neil was born in Sandwich, her older sister, Viola Holden O'Neil was born in Wayne County, Indiana in 1861. Their father, Thomas, was the second of eleven children and was married to Sarah Elizabeth Stonecipher in 1860, after the census, as he was still living at home when the census was taken in 1860.

Thomas' parents were immigrants, James Holden was born in Bolton, England about 1804 and his wife, Elizabeth Barr, was born in Ayrshire, Scotland about 1815. They were in Indiana by 1837 when their oldest son was born. I don't know if they were married before they immigrated or after they came to the U.S.

Timeline:

James Holden born in England about 1804.
Elizabeth Barr born in Ayrshire, Scotland about 1815.
James Holden married Elizabeth Barr in ? about 1836.
Thomas Holden was born in Richmond Indiana in 1839.
James Holden family in Wayne County, Indiana in 1840, 1850 and 1860 census.
Thomas Holden married Sarah Stonecipher in 1860.
First child, Viola, born in Wayne County, Indiana in 1861.
Second child, Rosetta, born in Sandwich, Essex County, Ontario in 1863.
Two more children, Frank and Albert, born in Sandwich, Essex County, Ontario.
Rosetta Holden married Wm. James O'Neil in Sandwich, Ontario.
Charles O'Neil born in 1881.
Charles O'Neil married Mary Queen, daughter of Robert Queen and Sarah Stevenson
Orville Neil was born Sept. 30, 1910.
Orville Neil married Ruby Fairbairn, daughter of Jessie Doan and Robert Fairbairn about 1930.
Marian Neil was born Nov.30, 1936.(my mother).
Marian Neil married Earl Hines in 1957.(my father)

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You Don't Have To Be Canadian To Be A Certified U.E.

2010-05-10T10:11:00.002-04:00

I am applying for my U.E. certification this week, and with Kathryn Lake's help, I will have my certificate in September, she is our branch genealogist. I was going to wait until after my visit to Brock University and The Friends Of The Loyalist Collection in July, but I am sure I have enough sources to prove my loyalist ancestry from Joseph Haines Sr. U.E.L. and his son, Nathaniel Haines U.E.L.. Anything I find when I go to the Niagara region in the summer will be for my research. I am going to get more information about my Doan ancestors while I'm there as well as information about my husband's family in case he wants to get his certification in the future. His 4th great-grandfather, Myndert Bradt U.E.L. fought with Butler's Rangers in the Revolutionary War and the Lincoln Militia in the War of 1812. I'd like to find out what battle he died in.

The United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada was created to unite all of the different Loyalist organizations in the country almost a century ago. With the emigration of the descendants of United Empire Loyalists to all corners of the earth, and the growing interest in genealogy I am sure that as people discover their loyalist ancestry there will be a rise in the membership of the UELAC and increased certification around the world. If you don't live in Canada, you can join the branch closest to where your loyalist ancestors settled and you will receive the branch newsletters and the Loyalist Gazette. You can submit articles to share about your ancestors to the branch newsletter, the UELAC weekly e-newsletter, Loyalist Trails, and the Loyalist Gazette magazine. You can subscribe to the Loyalist Trails and Loyalist Gazette worldwide without membership in the UELAC.

The UELAC came into being with a Federal Charter, passed by Parliament on May 27th, 1914.

The one hundred and thirty years since the Treaty of Separation had seen the growth of a nation, from sea to sea, and a great scattering of the Loyalists descendants. The length and breadth of the new country made it difficult to unite the Loyalist descendants in the common cause of keeping the Loyalist history alive and telling it to their countrymen and to the world. In 1913, the various provincial societies met in Toronto to discuss their future. Col. George A.S. Ryerson strongly advised the delegates that the best solution rested in uniting local and provincial societies into a Dominion of Canada association.

The Purpose of the Association as specified under the Charter was stated:

to unite together irrespective of creed or political party the descendants of those families who during the American War 1775 to 1783 sacrificed their homes in retaining their loyalty to the British Crown, and to perpetuate their spirit of loyalty to the Empire.
to preserve the history and traditions of that important epoch in Canadian history by rescuing from oblivion the history and traditions of the Loyalist families before it is too late.
to collect together in a suitable place the portraits, relics and documents relating to the United Empire Loyalists which are now scattered throughout the Dominion.
to publish a historical and genealogical journal, or annual transactions.

Any one in the world can become a member of the UELAC, and any descendant of a United Empire Loyalist, regardless of where they are living, can apply for U.E. certification.

For those who believe they have Loyalist ancestry, you have the option of proving that ancestry. Once a member, work with the Branch genealogist to verify that your ancestor was a Loyalist and collect the genealogical proofs between yourself and that Loyalist. The genealogist will provide direction and guidance. However, being a volunteer like the rest of us, the branch genealogist generally is not free to do the research. You can then submit a certificate application form, available from the branch genealogist, with proofs and a fee to our Dominion Genealogist for review. If all is in order, you will receive a certificate attesting to your Loyalist ancestry.
We have members in several countries, with most of those outside Canada residing in the USA. Some of these members have proved their Loyalist ancestry; others have joined because of an interest in all aspects of the Revolutionary War/Loyalist era. It is intriguing that quite a number of members both in Canada and in other countries have proven ancestors who were Loyalists and others who were Patriots. We can't do anything about the ancestors we have inherited, so why not celebrate them all.

Maybe next year I'll apply for certification with the DAR!

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

SNGF - My Matrilineal Line

2010-05-10T08:17:00.000-04:00

Hey genealogy buffs - it's Saturday Night again -- time for more Genealogy Fun from Randy at Genea-musings!!

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

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.

Here is my matrilineal line:

me - Earline Hines Bradt
Marion Neil Hines
Ruby Fairbairn Neil Allison
Jessie Doan Fairbairn
Mary Elizabeth Robbins Doan
Catherine Pattison Robbins
Catherine Rinker Pattison
Lamarain Schultz Rinker

I haven't had my mitochondrial DNA tested.

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Follow Friday - HSP's Hidden Histories

2010-04-30T09:02:00.001-04:00

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania's Hidden Histories blog is an entertaining blog authored by Daniel N. Rolph, PhD.

Highlighting the depth and scope of our varied and diverse collections that contain an abundance of undiscovered individuals and events of the past.

He writes about unusual, humorous and sometimes macabre historical customs, events and people that he has discovered and uncovered. Here is an excerpt from one of his recent posts, A Quaint Colonial Custom: "Ears Cut Off & Nailed To The Pillory":

During the 'Starving Time' in the early Virginia Colony, a large needle or 'bodkin' was inserted through one's tongue for the stealing of food, while 'taking God's name in vain,' or the failure to attend Church, could literally lead to one's death if repeated, and were considered to be 'capital crimes' worthy of the death sentence. One such antiquated custom for 'petty crimes' included the use of the pillory.

HSP's Hidden Histories is an interesting blog that is worth checking out.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Davy Crockett, Frontiersman, Politician, Poet?

2010-04-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

This poem was the only one written by Davy Crockett after he lost the Congressional election to Adam Huntsman.

He said: "I had Mr. Adam Huntsman for my competitor, aided by the popularity of both Andrew Jackson and Governor Carroll, and the whole strength of the Union Bank at Jackson."..."The thorn still rankles, not so much on my own account, as the Nation's."..."I told them that I had been knocked down and dragged out, and that I did not consider it a fair fight anyhow they could fix it. I put the ingredients in the cup pretty strong, I tell you, and I concluded my speech by telling them that I was done with politics for the present, and that they might all go to hell, and I would go to Texas."

Tennessee Old and New

Farewell to the mountains whose mazes to me
Were more beautiful far than Eden could be;
No fruit was forbidden, but Nature had spread
Her bountiful board, and her children were fed.
The hills were our garners -- our herds wildly grew,
And Nature was shepherd and husbandman too.
I felt like a monarch, yet thought like a man,
As I thank'd the Great Giver, and worshipped his plan.

The home I forsake where my offspring arose:
The graves I forsake where by children repose,
The home I redeem'd from the savage and wild;
The home I have loved as a father his child;
The corn that I planted, the fields that I cleared,
The flocks that I raised and the cabin I rear'd;
The wife of my bosom -- Farewell to ye all!
In the land of the stranger I rise -- or I fall.

Farewell to my country! -- I fought for thee well,
When the savage rushed forth like the demons from hell.
In peace or in war I have stood by thy side --
My country for thee I have lived -- would have died!
But I am cast off-- My career now has run,
And I wander abroad like the prodigal son --
Where the wild savage roves, and the broad prairies spread,
The fallen despised -- will again go ahead!

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Loyalist Trails: Loyalist Blogs And Websites

2010-04-26T11:40:00.004-04:00

The United Empire Loyalist Assn. of Canada is encouraging Canadians to learn more about the men and women who made this country what it is today. Ontario might well have been just another state if it weren't for the bravery of the United Empire Loyalists who fought in the Revolutionary War, and their descendants, who in the War of 1812, protected what their parents and grandparents had suffered so much to achieve in their new country.

I was reading my weekly newsletter from the UELAC, Loyalist Trails, April 25/10, and the article The Tech Side: Publishing your Research – Websites and Blogs, by Wayne Scott particularly interested me. Since I am interested in the Loyalists, and blogging, I am hoping that this article will get more people with Loyalist heritage blogging about their research about their ancestors and the sacrifices they made. He starts the article with the pros and cons of having your family history published in a book or ebook format as opposed to having a website or blog:

Publishing a hard copy of your research can be quite gratifying, however, there are limitations to this form of publishing. Once information is committed to paper, it requires a re-write to edit or add new information, whereas with publishing electronically, information can be amended quickly. However, the process of updating pdf copies at download sites, or in the hands of relatives, is not instantaneous. Websites and blogs (web logs) can be a viable alternative.

The author then goes on to tell readers the advantages of having a website or blog and he suggests visiting Cindi's List for information about setting up a free site or blog . He also points out the advantages and disadvantages of having a free site vs a paid site. Wayne Scott winds up his article with advice on setting up a blog and a few of the different blogging platforms. I am hoping that more than a few of the "Loyalist Trails" readers will be encouraged to start their own blogs and share their own Loyalist family history.

To read Loyalist Trails Newsletter Archives
To subscribe to Loyalist Trails Newsletter

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My "Southern" Roots

2010-04-14T09:37:00.008-04:00

I have recently discovered that I have ancestors who settled the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. The Ringger family came from Switzerland to America via Philadelphia, PA in 1743. They were known as the Rinkers after arrival.

My 6th great-grandfather, Hans Casper Ringger was born on Christmas Day, 1727 in Nurrensdorf, Zurich, Switzerland. His parents were Jakob Ringger and Barbara Morff. His mother died when he was 9 years old and his father remarried Susanna Bachman. After Jakob's death in 1743 the family came to America. Hans Casper grew up in Pennsylvania and was married in Germantown on April 11, 1757. The newly married couple went to Virginia soon after their marriage. They settled around Gainsboro, his brother, Hans Jacob Rinker, settled in the Shenandoah Valley in 1749.

Jacob, Casper and Henry, brothers, came to America in l743 after their father died. The step mother, Susanna Bachman Rinker, came with them. It is said they left Switzerland May 5, 1743 on the Ship "Francis and Elizabeth" from Rotterdam.

Source: 'Pennsylvania German Pioneers' by Strassburger & Hincke

It is said they settled in Philadelphia for a time before moving to Virginia by way of Lancaster, Pa. At least one of Jacob's sons was born in Lancaster. Shenandoah County histories state that Jacob settled in Shenandoah Co. in 1749, while the Will of Casper states they settled in Frederick Co. in 1757. Henry, the brother was also in Frederick Co. It is said there were also sisters.

The Rinker family were all industrious people and the boys all accumulated sizable acreages of land. Ail were active church people and Jacob started the Reformed Church in his area. It was a type of Lutheran so when Ministers could not be gotten of the Reformed churoh, Lutheran Ministers were used.

Jacob Rinker built a small rock home over a good spring of water with port holes in the lower part for firing guns. This was for protection from the Indians who still molested the early settlers. This house built in 1749, still stands today as a monument to the sturdy pioneers who first settled Shenandoah.

Rinker, Casper, born in 1727 and died on Feb. 11, 1804, according to a tombstone inscription in the Quaker Graveyard (Back Creek Meeting) at Gainsboro, Va. Buried next to him In the Quaker cemetery (Back Creek Meeting at Gainsboro, Virginia) is wife Mary Rinker, born in 1729 and died on Jan. 26, 1820. In a Circuit Court record in Augusta County, Va., Mary testified in a deposition that she and her husband, Casper, moved to Frederick County, Va. in 1757.

Casper settled in Gainesboro, VA where he was the overseer of the Poor House in 1771 and kept a tavern in his home at which General George Washington stayed. Washington's diary reads: Oct 7 1770 "Dind at Rinkers..."

Historical Records Of Old Frederick County, Va.
Page 321

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Thanks, Ancestor Approved Award

2010-04-08T16:39:00.010-04:00

I would like to thank Jo, author of the blog "Those Who Went Before" and Aline Cormier author of Acadianroots blog for presenting me with the Ancestor Approved Award.

As a recipient of this award, I am to list 10 things I have learned about my ancestors that have surprised, humbled or enlightened me and then pass the award on to 10 other genealogy bloggers who I feel are doing their ancestors proud.

So here is my list of 10 things:

I was enlightened to learn that my great-grandfather, John Hines, changed his surname from Haines. I don't think that my dad knew about it, he never mentioned it, although he did point out that my brother's classmate, who lived a few miles away with the Haines surname was a distant cousin. He didn't say how he was related and I still haven't found the connection.
I was surprised when I discovered that I was related to the Doan Gang, notorious for supporting the British and spying on the patriots.
I was humbled by the fact that my Haines ancestors were loyalists from New York and went through all kinds of hardships to survive in the wilderness of Upper Canada after the hardships suffered during the Revolutionary war.
I was surprised to learn that my ancestor Hans Casper Rinker was host to General George Washington at his tavern in Frederick County., Virginia and it was mentioned in a letter written by Washington in 1770.
I was surprised by how many of my ancestors were here before 1700, in New England and New France.
I was surprised by how far back I could trace much of my French-Canadian ancestors with parish records.
I was surprised to read about my ancestors in the writings of William Bradford in the Plymouth Colony records.
I was also surprised to learn that I can prove my ancestry for several lineage groups.
I was enlightened to the hardships all of my ancestors endured before they left their homelands and upon arrival, even the ones that arrived most recently had to clear virgin forest when they came in the nineteenth century. Essex County was the latest area of the southern part of the province to be settled. They were still clearing virgin forests into the late nineteenth century.
I was surprised to find out that I am related to Davy Crockett, Joseph Hawkins was his uncle and my 6th Great-grandfather.

Now, I have to pass on this award to 10 fellow geneabloggers, on second thought, I think every geneablogger deserves this award, don't you? Any one who takes the time to blog about their forgotten ancestors and share stories of their life are doing their ancestors proud and deserves the award!

If you want to, you can do the first part of the task on your blog.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Canadian Genealogy Carnival – Canadian Fashion Fads

2010-04-02T13:01:00.003-04:00

Canadian Genealogy Carnival #9 - Fashion Fads is hosted by Kathryn Lake at her LOOKING4ANCESTORS blog.

I don't think there is much difference between Canadian and American fashions and fads, so I am going to share some of the fads when I was growing up. I wasn't very much into fads, being from a fairly large family we didn't go out to the mall every week, we went school shopping and maybe we would get a new outfit for Easter, mostly made by my mom, but if I wanted anything during the year, I had to sew it myself.

Fortunately, I could sew, so if I wanted a new outfit, my mom would take me to the fabric shop and I would chose my own patterns and fabrics. I made a few things that might be called "faddish". I made myself a peasant dress when they were popular, I think I was in grade seven and a denim pant suit, the kind with a high waist and huge flared legs with cuffs and bomber jacket in ninth grade Home Economics.

My older brother's friends had those pants that were popular in the seventies, the kind with the huge flared bell-bottoms with contrasting insets from the knee down. He wanted a pair but my parents wouldn't buy him any, so he asked me if I could make him a pair. I just got a pair of his pants, ripped the seam up to the knee and sewed a contrasting fabric insert in the legs and he wore those pants all the time.

I also made a shirt for him, a green tie-died kind of pirate shirt with long full sleeves. That was the first time that I created anything from scratch, other than doll clothes. I did a good job, if I may say so myself, and he loved it. I was just in the eighth grade and his friends couldn't believe that his shirt was home-made.

I was happy when chokers came into fashion, I could make as many as I wanted, a piece of velvet ribbon, a fancy button, maybe some lace and fasteners and I was done.

Creative Commons License
Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Wordless Wednesday - Easter 1965

2010-03-31T07:23:00.001-04:00

me, Easter 1965

My mom made my sister and I matching dresses of pink dotted suisse for Easter in 1965.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Planning My Summer Vacation

2010-03-30T09:48:00.004-04:00

We already have our reservations for the campground at Emily Park, just like previous years but it's the drive home I have to plan for. We are going to go to the renaming of the Steele cemetery and the Doan family reunion on the way home. I'm looking forward to the way home just as much as the week of camping and fishing.

I have a to-do list, which includes a lot of research at the Welland Library, Thorold Library and the Niagara Peninsula Library while I'm in the area. I am making a to-do list for each location, checking out what is available online and copying the information to my Google notebook so that it is accessible on my Blackberry.

I am going to be looking up some newspaper articles about Linus C. Doan in the Welland Tribune Archives as well as any information about my great-grandparents, John & Harriet Hines' marriage.

I'll look for land petitions and grants for my early Haines ancestors. I'm gong to look in the 1828 census for more information about Benjamin Haines' family, his parents both died when he was a child, I want to find out who he was living with, so I'm going to see if I can find any guardianship records for him and his siblings.

I'm going to research some of my husband's family too, he is starting to get interested in his ancestry now, but only if someone else does the work, namely me. I am also going to see if I can find what relationship, if any, there is between our Van Alstine ancestors. Benjamin's sister, Elizabeth, was married to Daniel Van Alstine in Niagara and my husband's 3rd great-grandmother was Catherine Van Alstine, married to William Bradt in Niagara.

I am going to see if I can get the Titus Doan Family book by inter-library loan, if available, if not I'll have to check it out while I'm there too. So many things to do, I'll have to spend an extra day getting it all done.

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Sentimental Sunday - Wm. Edgar (Bill) Hines

2010-03-28T08:33:00.012-04:00

My brother and I with my grandparents, Bill and Josie Hines
at their home on Arthur Ave.

My grandfather William Edgar (Bill) Hines, was born on March 27, 1894 and passed away on March 29, 1977. Since today is the 28th of March, I thought I would write something about him.

Bill was born in Aldborough Twp., Elgin County, eleventh of thirteen children of John and Harriet Hines. His family moved to Rochester, Essex County by 1897, when his younger brother, Fleming was born. He was in Rochester in 1903, and I suspect that he was one of the brothers mentioned in this next article:

The family moved to Gosfield North, Essex County and Bill was enrolled in the school system in 1905. In January, while walking home from school, he and his little sister ate some blue flax roots and as a result, his sister died. He would have died also, but he was given an emetic and didn't get as much of the toxic roots in his system.

Bill was married to Josephine Desbiens (Josie), Oct 6, 1917, and worked for the Michigan Central Railway. They lived in the house his father built on Arthur Avenue in Essex.
On Nov. 18, 1921 there was a fire in the house which resulted in the death of their youngest daughter.

They had three more children, a daughter and two sons, the youngest being my father, born in 1926, all born at the family home.

Bill was an avid gardener and bee-keeper. I used to love eating honey right out of the combs when I was young. He was a hunter as well, always having his shotgun beside the side door. I remember one time he brought home a raccoon and my younger sister helped him clean it on the back porch. As usual, after cleaning the hide, he would nail it to the wall of the garage.

Bill smoked a pipe and had a mission-style recliner/rocker that has a hollow in the arm from decades of tapping his pipe when he filled it. After his death, my dad inherited the chair and after my dad died, my brother inherited it.

My grandfather used to play the fiddle, but I never heard him play, he had arthritis in his fingers and was unable to play, but he would bring it out once in a while and show us his violin.
He brought out a large document once in a while to show us as well, saying that it was his father's from the Orange Lodge.

Since the Great Depression, my grandfather didn't trust banks and he didn't believe in credit. It was nothing for him to have a couple of thousand dollars in his wallet. I remember one time, my grandmother was throwing out some newspapers and he put his wallet on the table on top of them. Without looking, she just grabbed the papers and threw them out. After a couple of hours, he went to get his wallet and it was gone. He had $1500 dollars in it and it was already at the dump. He never left his wallet laying around again.

My grandparents rarely drove out of town, my grandfather would go to the Essex Farmers once or twice a week to chat with his friends, my brother went with him but he said it was no place for a girl, so I couldn't go. On the way home sometimes he would stop at the liquor store and get a bottle. He never brought it into the house, my grandmother wouldn't allow it, so, whenever he headed out to the garage, we all knew that he was going out for a drink. He would think he was being sneaky but everybody knew what he was up to.

On my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary, we had a family dinner at the Aberdeen Hotel to celebrate the occasion. All of my aunts, uncles and cousins as well as more distant relatives attended.

My grandfather died in the home six months before my grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary, but he didn't wait, he gave my grandmother her gift early, he managed to buy her a diamond ring, I don't know how he did it because he was bed-ridden for the last few months of his life. He must have had the jeweller come to the house when my grandmother was out shopping.

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Surname Saturday - O'Neil

2010-03-27T09:29:00.003-04:00

I have decided to choose my mother's paternal ancestors for this week's surname. I have recently found a marriage notice for Charles O'Neil and Mary Queen, my great-grandparents, in the archives which has incorrect information concerning Charles parentage. I haven't been able to find the marriage record for them.

Charles O'Neil's father was not Alexander O'Neil, he was the oldest son of William James O'Neil and Rosetta Holden. He is living with William and Rosetta O'Neil in Sandwich in 1891 and 1901 census of Sandwich, Essex County, ON. He is married and living in Sandwich in 1911, wife, Mary, born April 15, 1885 (1901 Queen census,Colchester S.,Essex County) .
He died in Paquette, Essex County about 1940.

Ancestral Notes by Earline Hines Bradt is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License.

Follow Friday - Windows Live Skydrive

2010-03-25T10:32:00.005-04:00

Do you need more online storage for your backed up genealogy files and photos? This week I am recommending that you check out Windows Live Skydrive if you haven't already done so. Skydrive is an online storage service at Windows Live which has a storage capacity of 25 GB. That's a lot of storage and at a great price, free!

If you have a Windows Live ID, you already have Skydrive, all you do is log in to your Windows Live account and go to the "More" tab at the top and Skydrive is there. If you don't have a Windows Live ID, you can sign up for one.

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Wordless Wednesday - Hellen Keller

2010-03-24T08:47:00.002-04:00

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Loyalist Settlers Of The Lost Villages

2010-03-23T11:18:00.008-04:00

I had writer's block, so I decided to pick a year and see what happened in that year of any genealogical significance. I decided to pick the year of my birth, and googled for any events in that year. What I found was that some of the villages on the St. Lawrence River that were founded by early loyalists are now at the bottom of the river.

The Loyalist settlers of this area were disbanded military of the King's Royal Rangers and Butler's Rangers. "The Lost Villages" as they are known, consist of Mille Roches, Moulinette, Wales, Dickinson’s Landing, Farran’s Point, and Aultsville and the hamlets of Maple Grove, Santa Cruz and Woodlands.

On July 1, 1958, while the rest of the country was celebrating Canada Day the inhabitants of these villages were watching as the places they called home were lost forever under the waters of the St.Lawrence in the name of progress.

THE LOYALIST SETTLERS AT MILLE ROCHES

William Claws (Clause) was born in America in 1765, enlisted with the KRRNY on November 13, 1781, and was ranked as an ensign. He was promoted to Lieutenant on August 24, 1783 and was the eighth senior lieutenant in the regiment until its disbandment in 1783. He originally settled in Montreal in 1784, but by 1786 had settled in Royal Township #2.

Abraham Marsh was born circa 1750 and died at Mille Roches, Cornwall Township, on May 8, 1833. He married Catherine French, daughter of Jeremiah French of Maple Grove. On the April 3, 1790 Muster Roll for Cornwall and Osnabruck, Abraham Marsh is listed in Captain Jeremiah French’s Company. He was formerly of the 84th Regiment (Royal Highland Emigrants). Abraham Marsh was buried in Maple Grove Cemetery and his remains and gravestone were moved to the new Maple Grove Cemetery, (Vincent Massey Drive, Cornwall) prior to the inundation of July 1, 1958.

THE LOYALIST SETTLERS OF MOULINETTE

James Forsyth was a Corporal in the King’s Royal Regiment of New York. He settled on Lot No. 30, Royal Township #2, (Cornwall Township) in 1784, with his wife and two daughters.

Jacob Summers was a Corporal in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York, Captain John McDonell’s Company, in 1777. He was a Light Infantryman in 1781 and 1782, and was appointed Corporal of same in 1783. Although drawing a lot in Royal Township #1, (Charlottenburg Township), he was on Lot #30, Concession #1, Township of Cornwall, in 1786.

Barnabus Spencer was born in America in 1761 and his occupation was farming. He enlisted in the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on August 15, 1778. He was a Sergeant in Captain Joseph Anderson’s Company, First Battalion, in 1781 and 1782, and was a Corporal in the Light Infantry in 1783. In 1786, Sergeant Spencer had settled on the east 1/2 of Lot 31, Royal Township #2, (Cornwall Township).

John Connolly was born in Ireland and enlisted in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on November 16, 1781. On that date he was ranked as Ensign, and on November 15, 1782, he was Ensign in Captain Patrick Daly’s Company.

Sir John Johnson, Knight and baronet, was born in America in 1742, and enlisted in the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on June 19, 1776. In 1759, he was a Cadet in the New York Provincials, and by 1763 he was Captain. He was Major-General of the Northern District, New York Militia, in 1776. He was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain of the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on June 19, 1776, and of the Second Battalion on June 21, 1780. He attained his highest rank as Brigadier-General on October 1, 1782. By 1784, he had acquired lots at Cataraqui, Montreal and Royal Township #1. By 1784, he had married Mary (Polly) Watts and was the father of four sons and one daughter. On March 14, 1782, Johnson was appointed Superintendent and Inspector-General of Indian Affairs and on May 17, 1784, he was appointed Superintendent-General of Refugee Loyalists.

THE LOYALISTS AT DICKINSON’S LANDING

Doctor James Stuart (Discussed under Wales)

James Crowder was a private in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York. He was in Lieutenant-Colonel John Butler’s Corps of Rangers from 1777 to 1781, and in Captain Alexander McDonnell’s First Battalion in 1783. He was a farmer from Susquehanna River, New York, the son of William Crowder sr. He settled in Royal Township #3 with his wife, son, and two daughters.

Jacob Eamon was born in America in 1760 and enlisted in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on May 22, 1780. He was in Captain John Munro’s Company from 1781 to 1783, and in Captain Archibald McDonell’s Company in 1783. He was a farmer in New York.

Joseph Eamon (No information), Possibly the son of Jacob Eamon above.

James Morden (Mordin) was born in America in 1764, and enlisted in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on May 5, 1779. He was in Captain Joseph Anderson’s Company until December 24, 1782, and then Captain Archibald McDonell’s Company in 1783. James Morden was the son of Joseph Morden, from the Mohawk River.

Joseph Fitchet (Fetchet) was born in America in 1765, and enlisted in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on May 16, 1780, as a Private. He was in Captain Joseph Anderson’s Company until December 24, 1782, and then Captain Archibald McDonell’s Company in 1783. His occupation was that of a tailor in New York state.

THE LOYALIST SETTLER OF WALES

Dr. James Stuart was born in Scotland. He enlisted with the 42nd Regiment of Foot in 1766, and served as a surgeon’s mate until his emigration to America. He enlisted with the KRRNY on August 18, 1777. Upon disbandment of the regiment in 1783, he had served for a total of fourteen years under the British ensign. Dr. Stuart had settled in New Stamford, Ulster County, New York. He was a practicing physician in Wales.

THE LOYALIST SETTLERS OF FARRAN’S POINT

Peter Everitt was born in America and enlisted in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on October 28, 1776. He achieved the rank of Second Senior Lieutenant. He was a Volunteer in the Colonel’s Company, Sir John Johnson, in 1776, and promoted to Ensign in the Major’s Company, Major James Gray, on August 24, 1777. He was promoted to Lieutenant on November 14, 1781, and was Lieutenant of the Grenadiers from 1781 to 1783. Peter Everitt was a farmer in New York state.

Jacob Farrand (Farent), was born in America, and enlisted in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on November 2, 1777. He achieved the rank of Seventh Senior Lieutenant in the Regiment. He was a Volunteer in Major James Gray’s Company from 1777-1781. He was promoted to Ensign in this company in 1782, and promoted to Lieutenant on December 25, 1882. He was a Lieutenant in Captain John Munro’s Company in 1783. Jacob Farrand was a nephew of Major James Gray.

THE LOYALIST SETTLERS OF AULTSVILLE

William Empey was born in America in 1759 and enlisted with the Kings Royal Regiment of New York (KRRNY) as a private soldier on August 15, 1777. He originally served with Capt. Angus McDonnell’s Company, and then served as a light infantryman under Capt. Steven Watts until 1781. In 1782 and 1783, he served with Capt. Patrick Daly’s Company. William, a carpenter by trade, was the son of Philip Empey Sr., of Stone Arabia, New York. He settled in Royal Township #2 with his wife, Catterina Von Hildenbrandt, and their two sons.

Abraham Freeze was born in America in 1757 and enlisted with the KRRNY on January 22, 1777 as a private soldier. He originally served in Capt. Stephen Watts Light Company, and later as a grenadier with Capt. Jon McDonald’s Grenadier Company. In 1779, he served as a scout to the Mohawk Valley, prior to the 1780 raid on Johnstown and the subsequent burning of the valley. Abraham was a farmer in New York State before moving to Canada.

Francis Albrant (Albraut) was born in America in 1754 and enlisted as a Private in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on June 19, 1776. He was a Grenadier in 1782 and 1783. He was a farmer from Tryon County, New York.

Alexander Rose (Ross) was born in Scotland in 1760 and enlisted as a Drummer in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on September 13, 1779. He was a Drummer from 1781 to 1783. Alexander Rose was a farmer in New York state.

Michael Ault (Alt) was born in America in 1759 and enlisted as a Private in the First Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York on May 6, 1777. He served as a Grenadier from 1781 to 1783 and was also a farmer from Tryon County, New York.

Loyalist Settler of Hamlet of Maple Grove

Captain Jeremiah French, late of the Kings Royal Regiment of New York, and of Manchester, Vermont, settled the hamlet of Maple Grove in 1784. French built a magnificent house at the mouth of Robertson Creek and later sold it to his son-in-law George Robertson, also a UEL refugee from Vermont. The French-Robertson House can now be viewed at Upper Canada Village.

Captain French originally served with the Queens Loyal Rangers and was taken prisoner by the Americans at the battle of Bennington. As a condition of his release, he was ordered not to take up arms against the rebel uprising in Vermont, so he made his way to New York and subsequently joined the KRRNY, under command of Sir John Johnson.

The Lost Villages Historical Society has a lot of great photos and stories from the people that once lived in the villages.

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Community Newspaper -The Essex County Crier

2010-03-23T09:17:00.007-04:00

What do you know, one of my blog posts may be read in half the households county-wide! An employee of the new local newspaper, The Essex County Crier, just contacted me via Facebook asking if their paper could publish one of my blog posts about Leamington. They are interested in discovering and sharing the history and heritage of Essex County with the residents of the county.

"We as a family of Essex County give this
publication to the people who live here.
We are only stewards of this gateway."

The Purpose

Hope - To raise the ambition of our great community, create a want for achievement and endurance when hard times fall.

Inspiration - To awaken our minds that we may gain enthusiasm for life!

Unity - The emergence of community revival for strength, pride and harmony.

The Goal

"To bring awareness and pride to Essex County through inspired and well informed articles.

To provide a quality platform with which business and the consumer are united."

" While The Crier cannot exist without its advertisers, it is designed to be an actual newspaper and not a shopper....give us your patience as readers and we will ultimately deliver an interesting, attractive and quality newspaper to your door. Besides providing your patience, The Crier is also calling for your stories, ideas, recipes, photographs, and help. These submissions from you will truly make the Crier Essex County's premiere community newspaper."

By Shayne Bedal
The Essex County Crier

The Essex County Crier is a free, bi-monthly newspaper delivered via Canada Post and available at news stands in the county. Even the way it is distributed is unique. It will be delivered to every house once a month, the mail routes are split, so that 1/2 of the community gets one issue and the rest get the next issue. This way, the paper will reach every household and it is suggested that you go a few blocks over and exchange papers, which should create a greater sense of community.

The Crier's first edition has a lot of good articles, about endangered heritage sites, history of the natives who lived in the county, the wine industry, gardening, recipes, a self-improvement series and a photo gallery. I wonder what will be in the next edition, I'll have to find out where it is being delivered and go for a little walk!

The Essex County Crier can be found on Facebook and on Twitter.

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I Found It!

2010-03-21T08:46:00.007-04:00

After all of the worry about not being able to see the front page of the newspaper that had my great-grandmother's obituary on it, I went and downloaded the whole issue of the paper and there it was. And as I suspected, it had more conflicting information in it.

It states that the family came to Essex in 1883, but they were in Aldborough Twp., Elgin County in 1891 in the census. My grandfather was born there in the spring of 1893. They came to Essex County between March of 1893 and January of 1897 when their son, Fleming W. was born in Rochester. It states that she was born in Welland, in 1853, but the censuses state she was born in 1854 in the USA. At least I found out her cause of death was cancer.

related posts: Evidence Unexplained, Who Was Harriet's Father?

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Wordless Wednesday - My Irish Ancestors,The Stevensons

2010-03-17T10:30:00.008-04:00

James Stevenson immigrated from County Armagh, Ireland with his wife, Elizabeth Cowan Stevenson and three daughters, Mary, Sarah and Elizabeth. I posted their 50th Wedding announcement earlier.

photos from public member tree on Ancestry.ca.

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St. Patrick's Day Parade at Small-Leaved Shamrock!

2010-03-17T08:41:00.008-04:00

How are you spending St. Patrick's Day this year? Are you going to go out for a pint of green beer or maybe having corned beef and cabbage?

I am going to the 3rd Annual St. Patrick's Day Parade hosted by S mall-Leaved Shamrock, I'm just an observer this year so I'm going to just relax and enjoy. Come join me for some old-fashioned Irish fun!!

Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture - St. Patrick's Day Parade 2008 & 2009.

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Twice Upon A Time - New Canadian Blog

2010-03-16T08:30:00.005-04:00

I would like to introduce a new Canadian geneablogger to the community. Her name is Cheryl Lundy Stuart and her blog is Twice Upon A Time "Family history connected to the Lundy family who arrived in the New World in the late 1600's." Yes, she is a descendant of the Lundys who lived on Lundy's Lane, site of one of the bloodiest battles in the war of 1812. Her family was in Canada pre-loyalist, they were true pioneers of Upper Canada.

I first met Cheryl on a now defunct MSN genealogy group and we have been sharing information about common family lines for a few years. She has been following my blog and asked me the other day hew she can start her own blog to share her family's stories. My advice to her was to go to the Geneabloggers website and she will find everything and anything she wants to know about starting a geneablog. She took my advice and is off to a great start.

I am interested in seeing what stories she has to share, judging by her first post, she won't be keeping any family skeletons hidden away for long!

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Madness Monday - Evidence Unexplained

2010-03-15T08:39:00.001-04:00

I have a mystery that I would like to solve, it is driving me mad! I am stumped! How could this be? My great-grandmother, Harriet Doan Hines, is my most recent brick wall. I thought that I knew who she was and how she fit in but the more I find out about her, the more I don't know.

Here's what I have about Harriet Fernetta Doan:

the evidence:

Harriet Doan was born in Dec. 1854 in Ohio, USA. (1911 census)
Harriet immigrated to Canada in 1855. (1911 census)
Harriet Doan was married to John Haines in Welland, Ontario.
Harriet Haines (Haynes) was living with her husband and four children in 1881.(census)
Harriet Haines was living and children in Aldborough Twp., Elgin Cty. in 1891. (census)
Harriet Hines was living with her husband and children in Rochester, Essex Cty. in 1901 (census)
Harriet was living in Gosfield North, Essex County in 1905-06.(children enrolled in Gosfield North school Sept./05, daughter's obituary, Jan./06)
Harriet was living with her husband and children in Essex, Ontario in 1911. (census)
Harriet was living with her husband in the town of Essex in September, 1916. (news article about son's death)
Harriet was living with her husband on Maidstone Ave., Essex in 1930. (son's obituary)
Harriet was living on Maidstone Ave., Essex, in 1932. (husband's obituary)
Harriet died Dec. 20, 1935 in Essex, Ontario. (death notice, gravestone)
Harriet Doan Hines was buried in Woodslee Jarriet Cemetery. (gravestone)

This is what is conflicting:

Harriet died Dec. 20, 1935 at the age of 82 years, 16 days. That would make her birth date Dec. 4, 1853. (death notice)
Harriet was born on Dec.4, 1857. (1901 Rochester, Essex North census)
Harriet (Haynes) was born in Ontario. (1881 Monck, Moulton & 1901 Rochester, Essex North census)
Allen Clark Doan was Harriet's son's uncle and was present shortly after his birth in Welland in 1881. (affidavit on delayed birth cert.).
Harriet was not in the Linus C. Doan family censuses in Welland in 1861 and 1871. (censuses)
Allen Clark Doan's father's obituary in 1904 in Essex doesn't mention Harriet as daughter or sister, only mentions one living brother, Isaac, Jr.. (Linus C. Doan obituary)
F.W.Hines 1st attestation papers lists Allen Doan as cousin. (Allen C. Doan's son, Allen C. born June 11, 1886?)
The Doan family book has Harriet listed as the daughter of Isaac and Polly Doan, Linus C. Doan's sister.
Isaac Doan died in 1850. (1848 will, proved 1850)

I am planning on ordering Harriet's marriage and death certificate and see if they will give me some answers or just raise more questions.

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Sentimental Sunday - Mother and Daughter

2010-03-14T09:14:00.008-04:00

Today is the 10th anniversary of my sister-in-law's death and it is also the 1st anniversary of her oldest daughter's funeral as well.

Barbara Fuller Lumley Hines' short life was filled with tragedy. She buried two of her three small children, Paul and Michelle, in the spring of 1983. She was dating my brother at the time and hired a babysitter and spent the night at my house with my brother. My dad gave her a ride home and when they got there, there was nothing left, the house had burned to the ground, and her oldest daughter,Jen, who was six at the time, was the only survivor, her two children and the babysitter perished. She never got over their deaths, but eventually my brother and she were married and had two more children. When their youngest was a few years old, they separated. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and died just after her 41st birthday. Jen, her oldest daughter, died March 9th last year of an aneurysm at the age of 32. She also left three children.

Barb and daughter, 1985 at my house

Jen and daughter, Aug. 2004 at my son's house

Barb was more than my sister-in-law, she was my best friend, if I wasn't at home I was at her place. I was her matron of honour at her wedding and even made her wedding dress. She babysat my boys when I was working. My youngest son was a handful, but she didn't mind, when he started throwing a tantrum, she said that he needed hugs and she hugged him until he settled down. I gave up my job to babysit for her while she went to work in my place, my brother was off work because of a back injury and she needed the job more than I did. I will always remember the friendship we had and I know that she is with her children now.

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I Am The Sum Of My Ancestors

2010-03-04T09:34:00.007-05:00

Faces of America's final episode aired last night, about how similar we are genetically to our ancestors. I was thinking about this yesterday, I have many traits that come from generations of women passing on their skills to their daughters, whether it be sewing and needle crafts, cooking, gardening, or family values, child-rearing, beliefs, and traditions.

It makes sense, when you think about it, that certain traits run in families, such as singers, actors, politicians or athletes. It is more than just outside influences that steer people towards their vocation, genetics plays a large roll in it as well. People are born with natural abilities that predispose them to follow certain paths.

From quite a young age, children are praised for their performances, so are more apt to enjoy doing the activities that they are able to do well and get the most attention. If they enjoy the activities, they are more likely to keep doing them and "practice makes perfect".

I have often wondered why I have so many different hobbies and interests, and I have come to the conclusion that it is in my genes, my maternal DNA. My mother and grandmothers were all creative, whether it be sewing, knitting, crocheting, embroidery, cooking, gardening, woodworking, painting, etc.

I have my female ancestors to thank for the skills and talents I have come to take for granted. I can't count how many times that I have saved money because I had the skills to do-it-myself instead of paying someone else to do it. I just wish I would have had a daughter to pass my knowledge on to as well. Being the mother of two boys, I passed on as much of my skills and values as I could, they weren't interested in cooking and sewing, but I think that the one trait that I passed on from my ancestors was their "can do attitude", you can do anything you put your mind to.

I see it in them all of the time, whether it be my oldest son, working on his truck, or my youngest son making a shelf, with every achievement, they have more self-confidence. I think that I passed on the best of my ancestors to my children; honesty, perseverance, attention to detail and taking pride in their achievements.

I've repeated my mother's words to my children more often than I can count, "a job worth doing, is worth doing well," "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," "tell the truth and shame the devil", but I never gave much thought to where she heard those words herself until now. Of course, she heard them from my grandmother, and my grandmother heard them from her mother, and so on....

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Geneabloggers Winter Games 2010 - The Podium

2010-02-28T08:33:00.005-05:00

I would like to thank Thomas McEntee at Geneabloggers for organizing the Geneabloggers Winter Games 2010, and footnoteMaven for designing the medals for the Winter Games.
I would specially like to thank all of my ancestors, without them I wouldn't be able to be here, accepting these medals. Last but not least, I would like to thank all of the geneabloggers that cheered me on and gave me encouragement.

Go Back And Cite Your Sources

Back Up Your Data

Organize Your Research

Expand Your Knowledge

Write, Write,Write!

Reach Out And Perform Genealogical Acts Of Kindness

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - If I Won

2010-02-27T21:27:00.004-05:00

It's Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver of Genea-musings!

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

1) If you won the grand prize in the Ancestry.com Ultimate Family History Journey Sweepstakes of $20,000 for genealogy travel to places of your choice, where would you go, and what would you do?

2) Tell us of your dream genealogy trip using the prize money in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this post, or in a comment on Facebook.

I would book a cabin on a cruise ship to Great Britain, I don't fly so an airplane is out of the question. I would visit all of the places that my ancestors lived, Cheshire, England, then across the English Channel to La Rochelle and Perche to learn more about my French-Canadian ancestral homes. I would then go to Etaples and visit my grand-uncle's grave in the Etaples Military Cemetery. My final stop in France sould be the south of France, just for a break.

I would cross over to Germany and see if I can find out who my 5th great-grandparents were.
I would then set sail for the Scottish borders, visit the site of the Battle of Culloden, Fogo, Coldstream and Edinburg, tour some castles, then to the eastern shore to Port Patrick, then to Ayrshire and Rothesay on the Isle of Bute. I would then go to Ireland, to County Armagh and County Kerry to find any records of my ancestors there and tour more castles. Of course I would stop at every antique store and museum that was in my path, that goes without saying!

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Surname Saturday - Stevenson

2010-02-27T08:43:00.006-05:00

I recently found an announcement in the newspaper archives about my 3rd great-grandfather, James Stevenson's 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1913 and I was surprised at how much information it contained:

He was born in 1841 and his wife was born in 1843 in County Armagh, Ireland.
They were married on November 12, 1863 in County Armagh.
Their three oldest children were born in County Armagh .
The family immigrated to America in 1869 and the voyage took nine weeks and three days.
The family came to Maidstone Twp, Essex County, Ontario and have lived there since.
They had three sons and nine daughters.
They had fourty-six grandchildren, thirteen great-grandchildren.
They were both in good health.

Finding this article has given me more information on where and when to look for records. I had very little information about him before this, only that he was from Ireland and he had a daughter Mary who married Robert Queen.

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Follow Friday - FTM Fab 40

2010-02-26T10:30:00.005-05:00

The geneabloggers have voted, the tallies have been counted and the best of the best have been chosen, Family TreeMagazine's Fab Forty . If you haven't already subscribed to these blogs, I highly reccommend that you add each and every one of them to your reader. There is a lot of great advice, stories and information about anything and everything "genealogy" in these blogs. I am following all of them and I hope you will too.

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Did Edison Bite Off More Than He Could Chew ?

2010-02-26T09:53:00.008-05:00

The newspaper archives are full of fascinating articles, news of the day as it happens, but some of the articles are just hard to believe. For example I was reading the Essex Free Press newspaper archives for 1913 when I came across an unbelievable article about Thomas Edison's newest invention.

Here is the transcript:

"In four weeks time it will be possible to see the face of a person that you are talking to over the telephone. No matter how far away the party is you can converse and study the expression of his or her face at the same time. The wizard electrical inventor, Thos. A. Edison has completed the invention with which he hopes to revolutionize the telephone business of the world and according to information received, in four weeks time it will be given to the public. To see the person that you are talking to has long been the dream of inventors but at the present time it has never been accomplished successfully and is practicable. The cost of operation is very little and it is expected that the invention,it is stated, works successfully and is practicable. Just how invention works is a secret, but it is said to be very simple in operation."

What do you think? Was he a visionary or was it a hoax?

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GBWG 2010-AN Update- Just Two Days Left

2010-02-26T08:46:00.007-05:00

It's Friday and the games are going strong, but I am starting to slow down, running out of energy. I haven't achieved some of the goals I set for myself yet, but I have exceeded my expectations in some categories.

I need more self-discipline, I suppose, I get sidetracked easily, specially when reading the newspaper archives, the history of our county and it's people are fascinating and I learn something new every time I read them. If there was a category for reading newspaper archives I would have a Platinum!

Here's my list of accomplishments so far:

1. Platinum
2. Gold,Platinum
3. Gold
4. Platinum
5. Platinum
6. Diamond

I am quite proud of how well I'm doing, considering my attention span, ;-).

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Faces of America - My Newfound Cousin

2010-02-25T08:31:00.006-05:00

While watching Faces of America last night I found a new cousin, Meryl Streep. My ears perked as soon as Henry Louis Gates,Jr. mentioned Bucks County, PA. I know that my Doane, Twining and Deane ancestors came from Eastham, MA. to Bucks County before 1700 and therefore was quite interested in seeing if there were any connections in Meryl's tree. When the generations chart came up, I noticed a familiar name, Mary Twining. I knew that there had to be a connection because my Twining ancestors lived in Newtown in Bucks County.

I opened my RM4 program and there was Mary Twining. She was the grandniece of my seventh great-grandparents, Daniel and Mehitabel Twining Doane. Her grandfather was Stephen Twining, Mehitabel's brother, named after his maternal grandfather, Stephen Deane, who came over on the Fortune in November, 1621 to Plymouth Colony.

When Meryl Streep mentioned that she was told that some of her ancestors were hanged in PA. for being horse thieves, it is quite possible that she was speaking of cousins Levi and Abraham Doane, two members of the notorious Doan Gang, hanged September of 1788. I would have loved to hear more about this branch of the family.

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Genealogy And The Next Generation

2010-02-24T09:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the internet and the rising popularity of genealogy, the next generation will find it a lot easier to trace their ancestry and learn about their ancestors. New websites for researching family history are sprouting up, more databases are added all the time and more genealogy blogs are being created every day.

A lot of the genealogy sites are aware of the trend and have pages and activities that help get children involved in discovering their family history, making it fun, like Family Tree Magazine's "Family Tree Kids" pages , WorldGenWeb For Kids from Rootsweb/Ancestry.com and even childrens' game sites like Kids Turn Central have links for budding genealogists.

Now is the time to begin to train the youngsters on the correct way to scan documents and photos, store documents safely, cite their sources, and safeguard their research.
Doing research on family history and documenting the research will help them with their schoolwork as well, and they will develop skills that will last a lifetime.

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Wordless Wednesday - David Scott's Family

2010-02-24T09:00:00.000-05:00

My husband's great-grandparents' family, the Scotts

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Tombstone Tuesday - Happy Birthday Great-grandpa, John Haines

2010-02-23T09:12:00.008-05:00

166 years ago today my great-grandfather, John Haines was born in Niagara Twp., Lincoln Cty., Canada West (Ontario), son of Benjamin Haines, SUE and Sarah E. Freisman Haines. John Haines grew up and lived in the Niagara region, working for the railroad, and followed it's expansion into southern Ontario first to Taylor Station in Elgin County and finally ending up in Rochester, Essex County about 1895.

During this period, he and his wife, Harriet, had eleven children, 7 girls and 4 boys and the surname was changed to Hines. He had two more children after coming to Essex County.

There were some family tragedies in the first two decades that his family was in Essex County. His youngest daughter, Hariett Melinda, died after eating poisonous roots at the age of six. Her name is incorrect in the obituary:

Then the war broke out and his youngest son was over-eager to enlist, fibbing about his age, then being the first man in the town of Essex to die in the war, he was buried in France.

Then if that wasn't enough, his daughter, Henrietta Kennedy, was murdered by her second husband in New York City and died on John's birthday.

John's grand-daughter died form burns in a fire in 1921, the week before Christmas,

his oldest son, Wm. John, died in 1930,

and John died in 1932 at the age of 88.

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I Am Sooo Going!!!

2010-02-22T16:41:00.003-05:00

I just read my email and my Loyalist Trails came yesterday. There was an article in it about the 2010 Olympics and loyalist heritage. The article mentions an article in the Bicentennial Branch Newsletter by Ted Steele about the Doan family and some famous and infamous relations.

I was surprised to read the next article:

Doan Reunion and Aaron Doan UE Heritage Designation
The Port Colborne Heritage Committee will be honoring the name of Aaron Doan UE with a Heritage Designation and name change from Steele Cemetery to Doan Cemetery on Saturday July 10, 2010 @ 2:00 p.m. The Cemetery is located @ 2146 Second Concession Road, in the City of Port Colborne. This cemetery, which contains the family burial site, is on the original Crown Grant to Aaron Doan UE.
Doan descendants will be celebrating a family reunion on Sunday July 11, 2010 @ Bethel Community Centre, 2703 Chippawa Road, Port Colborne, Ontario. Family history information starting @ 10 a.m. with a pot luck lunch @ 12.00 noon.
If you need further information on the Doan Reunion or Cemetery Designation contact Jerry Fisher UE at 905-892-5477 email: jfisher14@cogeco.ca

It just so happens that we'll be in the neighbourhood, we're going camping in the Kawarthas for two weeks and we'll be coming home that weekend, we'll be within fifty miles of Port Colborne so I plan on attending the reunion. I'm hoping my cousin Judy will go too, she lives up there. It will be great to meet all of the family north of Essex County and share our family history.

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Congratulations To The FTM Fab 40 Blogs

2010-02-22T14:00:00.003-05:00

I'd like to congratulate all of the blogs that made the Family Tree Magazine's "Fab Fourty" list, they are all great blogs, "the cream of the crop". And I would like to thank everyone that voted for the blogs, great choices!

FTM Fab Fourty blogs

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Happy Dancing

2010-02-21T07:47:00.003-05:00

Hey, it's Saturday Night (again), time for some Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver at Genea-musings!

Your mission, if you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Think of any number of genealogy events or moments that make you have a genealogy happy dance, an ah-ha moment, or a genea-gasm.

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

My first happy dance was when I discovered that my surname had been changed by my great-grandfather and I finally found his family in the Niagara Twp. 1851 census. Before that I was starting to think he was an only child.

My second happy dance was when I discovered that my Haines ancestors were loyalists who were in the Butler's Rangers.

My third happy dance was when I found my immigrant ancestors in the Plymouth Colony records kept by Wiliam Bradford.

My fourth happy dance was when I visited Doan's Ridge Cemetery where the first Doans in Upper Canada are buried.

My fifth happy dance was when I visited Niagara-on-the-lake, and Fort George where my loyalist ancestors lived when they first came to Upper Canada.

My sixth happy dance was when I discovered my French-Canadian ancestors back to the early 1600's in the Drouin Collection.

That was my first year, I could go on and on...

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GBWG 2010- Stonecipher Timeline

2010-02-21T07:38:00.001-05:00

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GBWG 2010 - AN Update-Week 1

2010-02-20T06:16:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been a week now and the games are proceeding well. So far, I have a Platinum in the "Expand Your Knowledge" category and I'm working on my Platinum. I also have a Gold in the "Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness" and the"Write, Write, Write" categories as well.
I have been working behind the scenes as well on the first three categories, hoping to pick up at least a Gold in those events too.

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Josephte Desbiens - My Grandmother

2010-02-19T09:15:00.005-05:00

My grandparents, Josephine and Bill Hines holding my brother and me,1959.

Josephte (Josephine) Desbiens was born on April 7, 1897 in Rochester, Essex County, Ontario but her first language was French. Her parents, John and Celina Tremblay Desbiens had only been in the province for seven years, having come from the Saint Jerome, P.Q. She lived in a predominately French-speaking area of the county, so she never learned to read or write more than a few words in English, but she spoke it fluently.

Josephine was the middle child, she had twelve siblings, three were born in Quebec, one sister died before her parents and maternal grandparents, Philias and Marie-Louise Dallaire Tremblay, came to this province. Josephine's maternal grandfather died within the first year of arrival to Essex County,so she didn't know him, but her grandmother lived next door all of her childhood.

Josephine married William Edgar Hines at the age of twenty and lived in the house that his father built until her husband's death in 1977. Her five children were all born at home, and her second child, Evelyn, died from burns in a fire in the house.

My grandmother loved sewing and needle crafts, she was always working on embroidered pillowcases or crocheted doilies. She sewed her dresses, she always wore dresses, and always had an apron on, unless she was going to the dime store or the market, then she would take it off, but as soon as she got home, she put it back on. My grandmother never wore a pair of slacks until she was in her '90s!

Josephine, my grandfather always called her Josie, loved gardening, always puttering in the flower garden, deadheading her roses, they always looked spectacular. She loved African Violets and wherever there was a window, there were pots of them, always full of blooms.

One peculiarity of hers was that, although being mild-mannered easy-going lady, she loved to watch wrestling. Every Saturday afternoon she would watch Bobo Brazil, the Sheik, Haystack Calhoun among others fight it out, her arms swinging with every punch, hollering up a storm. I think that's the only times that I even heard my grandmother raise her voice.

Our family would go for Sunday dinner about once a month, and the whole family, all of my aunts and uncles and cousins would be there on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter or any other special occasion. Grandma was a great cook, she would often cook wild game that my grandfather hunted. She could even make squirrel and raccoon taste great. One thing I loved was her date nut loaf, I don't know what she did, but I can't even come close to making it the way she did, but she didn't use a recipe. I have never seen her with a cook book, she couldn't read English anyway, she did all of her cooking and baking from memory.

My brother, sister and I would take turns with my cousins going to Grandma's for the weekend, there were always grandchildren there. We would spend the week there in the summer-time. I don't know what the attraction was, there were no toys to play with there, we would take a colouring book and crayons, but we didn't do much colouring. There was a lawn swing in the back yard, but the back yard also bordered on the railroad tracks. My grandfather kept bees and he had beehives lined up across the back of the property and we weren't to go near them, so we just sat on the swing watching the trains pass by. My grandmother didn't let us play in the living room, unless we were watching TV. So we were restricted to the dining room and kitchen. We would go into the sewing room, but only when she was in there, otherwise it was off limits. So many rules.

I guess the attraction was my grandparents, just spending time with them, watching my grandmother doing her embroidery, helping in the kitchen, helping to hang the laundry on the clothesline, my grandmother chatting to the neighbours over the fence, watching my grandfather's reactions while he was watching The Little Rascals, he really liked that show.

My grandparents didn't come to my wedding, my grandfather was very ill and my grandmother stayed home to take care of him, but we did stop at their house after the wedding for a visit. My grandfather died the next spring and my grandmother moved in with my aunt, her oldest daughter, who was widowed.

There was a huge birthday party for her at the Moose Lodge for her 80th birthday, she got up was dancing around as spry as can be when the band played "Josephine".
My sister had us over to her house for a barbecue a couple of years later, she invited grandma too, and she was running around playing Frisbee with my kids. My grandmother had been living with diabetes for years and later in her life, she developed cataracts and couldn't see and didn't go out much at all. She lived with my aunt until she died at the age of 97 on July 4, 1994.

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Follow Friday - Canadian Roots @ The Beaver

2010-02-18T10:46:00.007-05:00

I subscribed to "The Beaver, Canada's History Magazine" yesterday and discovered this site:

Canadian Roots@The Beaver is a social network like Genealogywise, but specifically for Canadian family history researchers. The site was created in 2008 by Tanya Hutter of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Anyone whose family is from Canada, lives in Canada, had ancestors who lived in or passed through Canada, had loyalist family members who came to Canada, or are interested in Canadian history will find this site useful.

Visit Canadian Roots @ The Beaver

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GBWG 2010- 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy- Week 7

2010-02-17T09:04:00.005-05:00

My grandparents' house in Essex.

I have chosen my great-grandfather's and grandfather's home on Arthur Ave. in Essex, Ontario, Canada for this exercise. My great-grandfather,John Hines, and my granduncle, Wm. John (John) Hines built this house when they first came to Essex, prior to the railway explosion of 1907. Like many houses in town at the time, the foundation was moved and the walls were no longer square. My grandfather Wm. Edgar (Bill) lived in this house from the day he was married until the day he died, 60 years later, in 1977.

From this view, the garage is not visible, but it was built by my grandfather entirely from used railroad ties. He and his father worked for the railroad all their lives.

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My Surnames - Word clouds - WordItOut

2010-02-15T10:40:00.002-05:00

My Surnames - Word clouds - WordItOut

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GBWG 2010 - AN Update

2010-02-15T08:51:00.005-05:00

I'm off to a slow start, Valentine's Day was a washout, I was too busy. I have 1 citation for "Go Back and Cite Your Sources", I need to get this done anyway, this event gives me some incentive. I have a bad habit of adding Media to my RM4 program and not taking the time to fill in the Sources form at the same time.

I have started a few posts in draft for the "Write, Write, Write" event. I have already made an About Me and Surname page before the games began, so I will have to think of something else for that task.

I am gathering my hard copies together and organizing my folders on my computer for "Organize Your Research". I have to move my NP archive clippings to one folder, I have them three different places right now.

After the folders are organized I'll back them up on my external HD. I plan to scan my hard copies and photos onto DVD and my external HD for the "Back Up Your Research" event.
.

In the "Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness" event, I've helped a fellow Twitterer with a census look-up for parents' names and was contacted on Facebook by message about how our families were connected, I sent an obit to her, she was happy because her grandfather was named in the obit.

"In the Expand Your Knowledge" event, I am going to make an "I Remember" page today for my niece, who passed away last March.

I'll step up the pace today and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up for the rest of the games.

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Cite Your Sources - Mary E. Robbins Doan

2010-02-13T08:13:00.006-05:00

My cousin found this anouncement in the March 16, 1945 Essex Free Press and emailed it to me. My great-greatgrandmother, Mary Elizabeth Robbins, married Allan C. Doan in Welland in 1875 at the age of 15.

This is my first entry in the Category "Cite Your Sources".

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Follow Friday- www.yourancestorsfree.com

2010-02-12T09:45:00.003-05:00

This blog site, www.Your Ancestors Free.com, has free resources for researching family history in England and Ireland.

"Welcome to''Your Ancestors Free. Com'' The best resources for your family history.
Find here help for your family tree . What are the best free and the best paid sites. Where and how can you save money on your family history.' 'Your Ancestors Free .Com'' covers mainly England and Northern Ireland at the moment. It has grown from ''English Ancestors'' to include Australia.
I have included some of my own research, please leave a comment if something interests you.
If you have an interesting story to share , then leave a comment and we could publish your story."

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Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games

2010-02-12T00:00:00.001-05:00

It will be an honour to represent my country at the Geneabloggers Winter Games 2010. I hope to be more organized and perect the skills that I have learned. Even if I don't win a medal, I feel like I will be a winner with the improvement of these skills.

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My Rootsmagic4 Site - Ancestral Pages

2010-02-11T06:28:00.004-05:00

I fiinally got around to updating my Rootsmagic generated site, Ancestral Pages, which has been offline since last spring. It was created with Rootsmagic 3, and was done in a pedigree and family group sheet format. I decided to change it to a book format, with Rootsmagic 4. I had to manually upload the files, 10 at a time, since the FTP applet wasn't working. I was glad I chose the book format, there were less files to upload.

I was disappointed that there wasn't any new features in the Rootsmagic 4 website creator, there is still no choice of font or text size. I can only edit the HTML after the page has been created. It is very tedious changing the font style and size page by page.

The advanced options allow HTML script to be placed in the header and footer of each page, so I created some glitter text for the header and I put my copyright in the footer.

Overall, the site works, nothing fancy, but the pages are all there. I've got the home page finished and I'm going to be working on the site when I have some extra time.

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I Missed My First Blogaversary!

2010-02-09T08:27:00.004-05:00

I have been too busy to even notice that I have been blogging for a full year now, my blogaversary was yesterday and I missed it. I knew it was in February but I took my blogaversary icon off my site when I did my Christmas redecorating and forgot about it.

I started this blog a year ago because Sheri at Twig Talk and I belonged to the same genealogy group and she was always posting about blogging and how rewarding it was. Well, that group that we belonged to is now at another site and Sheri and another member, Norma, started their own group, Seeking Our Twigs. Since I was a regular, Sheri decided to make me a manager as well. So we three are managing a group of eleven members. We usually talk about the weather and other things going on in our lives, but we do brainstorming there as well. I follow the group in Google Reader, the same way that I follow the blogs. I don't miss the larger group at all since I've left, it has been replaced by a much larger group, Geneabloggers, where every member has their own website. I don't have to decide, I can be a big fish in a little pond as well as a little fish in a big pond!

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Who Is "Genealogy" And What Can We Do To Protect Our Blogs?

2010-02-09T07:20:00.011-05:00

Thomas MacEntee brought this subject to our attention last summer on the group on Facebook as well as at Geneabloggers. Splogs are created to direct traffic to their site which is full of stolen content. I was on Your Family Tree, a splog that Thomas MacEntee alerted us about and it was like deja vu, a lot of blog posts that I've read before. I haven't seen any of my posts out there yet but I searched and found a Follow Friday Geneabloggers post that mentioned my blog. I didn't take time to go through over 1800 genealogy posts that were there, so there probably is one. To people that aren't bloggers, the site looks like an authentic research site, but once you start searching, it is obvious that none of the material on the site is original.

I have posted my Creative Commons License on my website but I don't think anyone from these sites actually go to the sites to read them, so I am going to be putting my license on every blog post. It clearly states that it is not to be used on a commercial website. I hope that this makes them think twice about adding my content to their sites.

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2010 Winter Games Coming Soon...

2010-02-08T11:17:00.002-05:00

The Geneablogger's 2010 Winter Games is starting in a few short days, time to get into shape. First thing I had to do was make my flag. I went to We Are Multicolored and created my flag. I decided on this flag, which represents Canada, where I was born and live, Great Britain, representing my English and Scottish roots, France, where my French-Canadian ancestors came from and my German ancestors are also represented with the British flag for my loyalist heritage.

Now that I have decided on my flag, I have to decide on which event or events I will be entering, I've never been very athletic, but these games focus on skills and endurance rather than physical strength.

Another Somber Anniversary

2010-02-07T09:54:00.001-05:00

Today is the anniversary of my father, Earl Douglas Hines`death 1926-1996 as well as my maternal grandmother, Ruby Fairbairn Allison 1912-1995.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Super Bowl of Genealogy

2010-02-07T07:53:00.003-05:00

It's Saturday Night - time for some Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver!!

So, your mission, if you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible theme), is to:

1) Tell us about your dream game of the Super Bowl of Genealogy!

* Where would it be played?
* What teams would play?
* Who would be the head coaches?
* Who would be the stars of the game?
* Who would win?
* Who are the cheerleaders?
* If you were playing in the game, what would be your dream play?

2) Who do you think will win the NFL Super Bowl Colts-Saints game on Sunday? Your score prediction, please!

3) Post your thoughts on your own blog, on a Facebook comment or Note, or as a comment on this blog post.

My Superbowl would be played at Ellis Island and I would have the following teams: the Ancestry Factfinders vs the LDS Fanatics. Of course, the star of the Ancestry Factfinders would be Vital Stats and the star of the LDS Fanatics would be Census. Rootsmagic is coaching the Factfinders and PAF is the coach for the Fanatics. I believe that the Factfinders would dispell the Myths of the Fanatics with source citations and tackle the LDS Fanatics' Census and whack it for all it's worth.
Cheering on the Factfinders are all of the genealogists and family historians intersted in discovering the truth, and cheering on the Fanatics would be all of the Mormons trying to baptize as many people as possible. The Factfinders team would finally break down the Brickwall and make some connections with the Statue of Liberty play for a winning touchdown.

I think the Colts will beat the Saints 28:21.

Two Heads Are Better Than One

2010-02-07T07:40:00.002-05:00

At least that's what I have found this week when my cousin Judy, guest author of the Remembrance Day post "Yield Not To Difficulties", suggested that we start doing our research of our common lines together. We've been sending emails a couple of times a day sharing documents and thoughts, correcting errors and finding sources to support the facts. I have a lot of documents, but she has her mother still living and with a wealth of family history and photos and a great memory.

We are concentrating on one of our common lines, her maternal grandmother, and my maternal great-grandmother and paternal great-grandmother, the Doans. We would like to find sources to support the facts and family stories so that the rest of the family will benefit from our research as well. Judy has already submitted one correction to the Doane Family Assn. genealogist with sources. The next supplement will contain the correction.

I created an online Google notebook to share with Judy that I can use on a smartphone when an idea pops into my head while I'm away from the computer. I can also record any notes in it when I am out at the library. The only problem with this notebook is that we can't use it to share images, so I made a group notebook on Springnote for this purpose. We also share our discoveries with family with updates on Facebook.

Hopefully, between the two of us, we will find some of the answers we are looking for.

Who Was Harriet's Father?

2010-02-06T11:04:00.000-05:00

I have recently found my 3rd great-grandfather's obituary in The Essex Free Press. Linus Clark Doan was married three times and had eight surviving children. The mystery is that one of the surviving children, Allen Clark, or AC as he was known, (my maternal great-great-grandfather) swore out an affidavit that he was the uncle of my granduncle, Harriet's son, and was present shortly after his birth, but there's no mention in the obituary of my paternal great-grandmother, Harriet Fernetta Doan.

I looked in the archives for my great-grandmother's obituary because it might solve the mysery of who her parents were. The front page of the paper where it is doesn't display, just an error page. I know it's there because the death announcement is in the paper. I can even see a thumbnail of the front page so I know it is on microfilm.

What I do know about Harriet Fernetta Doan Hines is in the censuses. She was born in Ohio on December 4th, 1854 and came to Ontario in 1855. She was married on May 18, 1872 to John Haines in Welland, Ontario. By 1891 census the family was in Aldborough Twp, Elgin County still listed as Haines. By 1901 census, the family was in Maidstone Twp., Essex County listed as Hines. She had thirteen children, five sons and eight daughters. Harriet Doan Hines died on December 20, 1935 and is buried at Woodslee/Jarriet Cemetery, where most of her children are buried.

Was she born before Linus met Hannah Maude, his first wife? Was Hannah sent to Canada by her parents because of a scandal ? Who was my grgrgrandfather, if not Linus Doan?

Doing A Little Redecorating Today

2010-02-06T09:49:00.004-05:00

Now that I have decided to make Blogger my main blog, I see that they added a feature that I liked about Wordpress, adding pages. (Maybe someone at Blogger read my post??) So I have been creating some new pages. I have my surnames, which were at the bottom of my blog, had to do a lot of scrolling to get to them, so I put them on a separate page. Then I made an About Me page and now I think I'll make a page for the Geneablogger's Winter Games coming up.

I want to add some colour to my blog as well, it is too plain for my liking. I haven't decided if I want to change the background colour or add a picture to the page, so I'll be experimenting today.

Surname Saturday - Desbiens

2010-02-06T08:05:00.003-05:00

I am searching for any of my grandmother's sibling's family. My grandmother, Josephine, was born in Essex County in 1897. Her family was from the Charlevoix Quebec area and came to Essex County, Ontario about 1890. John Desbiens and Celina Tremblay had a large family but I don't know much about them other than what I have from obituaries. As far as I know, three of her oldest siblings were born in Quebec, the rest were born in Essex County.

John and Celina Tremblay Desbiens' family:

Marie Louise, born 1884, died before 1891 census
Joseph, born 1885, married Aurize Laliberte in Belle River on Oct. 15, 1912, she died a year later during choldbirth
Emile,born 1890
Louis Thomas
Medard married Marie Girard in Bele River on Oct. 20, 1914
Eugene, born 1893
Delia, born 1893
Adelina Debrah
Ercules
Josephine, born 1897, married Wm.E. Hines, Oct. 6,1917
Celina married Walter Randall in Belle River on Jan.16, 1912
John J.,born 1901
Eva, born 1905

If you are researching these families or have any information about them, please leave a message or contact me.

1921 Enumerations in Canada

2010-02-03T09:32:00.000-05:00

I found an article in the local newspaper archives about the coming enumerations in Canada in June of 1921 and I can't wait for it to come out. According to the article, the census is supposed to collect more agricultural information about the individual families, not just the farmers, but anyone who has a backyard garden has to show how much produce the garden yielded, even if there was just one plant, they wanted to know about it.

Here's a transcription:

Information About Census

Arrangements are already going forward under the direction of the Dominion government preparing the way for the official census of the whole of Canada immediately after June 1st. In order that our readers may have some idea of what to be prepared for in the way of questions, we have summarized the following information to think over in the meantime. The enumeration will begin by finding out exactly every man, woman and child in the Dominion at the hour of midnight when May 31st is giving place t0 June 1st. If you have a patch of garden no bigger than a man's hand that grows one currant bush capable of producing one quart of berries, that quart will swell the total. If you have a brood of the most tiny chickens. so will they. For not only must the farmer make complete returns of almost every blade of grass, but so must the town folks of the products of their gardens and their hen houses. The Essex enumerators have received implicit instructions from Ottawa about making the census.There are really four forms to be filled in as follows: 1. Covering the ordinary household or place of permanent residence. 2. Covering deaf mutes and blind people. 3.Covering business firms, giving the class of business (wholesale, retail or manufacturing) and the kind or nature of the business. Covering products other than those grown on farms. So that the Essex people will have to supply details as to the number of horses, mules, cattle, poultry, bees, gardens, and hot houses, fruit trees and fruit. They will have to tell the number of apple, plum, pear and cherry trees that flourished in their back yards during 1920, and the tonnage of each fruit tree harvested, also how many quarts or boxes of small fruit such as grapes, strawberries and raspberries they gathered in. The ordinary form (No.1) which the enumerator will fill in at every house has some 34 details to be filled in as follows: Names of each person in the house, street, town. Is the house owned or rented. If rented, what rent.Class of houses. Materials of construction.Rooms occupied by family. Relationship to head of family. Sex, single or married. Age last birthday. Where person born. Where father born.Where mother born. If born outside of Canada, year of immigration. If a foreigner, year of naturalization. Nationality, racial or tribal origin. Can speak English. Can speak French. Can speak any other language. Religious denomination.Can read. Can write. Months at school since September 1920 (children). Chief occupation or trade. Employer, employees working on own account. Total earnings in past twelve months.If out of work on June 1st,1921. Number of weeks unemployed in the past twelve months. Number of weeks unemployed from June 1st 1920 because of illness. The enumerator has to go into every house in Essex to get this information. The principal is simple, where a man sleeps, there will his census be taken. The census enumerators are very insistent that peoples should understand that facts or answers given to enumerators my not be used except for statistical compilation ( the rest is illegible).

Thanks for Voting

2010-02-01T11:16:00.004-05:00

Blogger VS Wordpress

I would like to thank everyone who voted in my poll this past month. Blogger was the preferred platform by 64% so I will keep using my Blogger site and keep Wordpress as a back-up site. I will be making regular back-ups for those who prefer Wordpress.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My Other Interests

2010-01-24T11:00:00.004-05:00

I haven't been dong as much genealogy stuff lately, just a couple of hours a day reading blogs, researching and blogging. When I'm not doing genie stuff, or housework, I spend time with my family.

I babysit my 4 year old grandson two or three mornings a week. I look forward to his company, and my two dogs do too. They are getting better at settling down when he comes, only a minute or two of chaos.

I like baking and I bake a couple of times a week. I've recently started to make my own pasta, I made some tortellinis and raviolis last week. It was made more difficult as my left wrist is in a cast from an accident two weeks ago skating with my grandkids' on the neighbour's pond. I hadn't been on skates for over thirty years, but I used to just about live on skates when I was growing up, we skated from dawn 'til dark.

I am going to paint the livingroom as soon as I am able, and I'm spring cleaning as much as I can, cleaning closets, shelves, getting more organized.
I also like to sew, I have a sewing room that is way overdue for reorganization too.

I also like collecting and going to auctions. I have a variety of glassware, sewing, kitchenware, pottery, toy, china, bottle, collections and I'm fortunate to have a husband who is also a collector mostly sports collectibles, trading cards, his teams, books, keychains, banks, games and toys. We go to estate sales and auctions when we can and we go yard saling almost every Saturday in the season. I am starting an online store sometime this year so I can keep on going to auctions guiltfree. I was hoping to have it open for last Christmas but it is taking longer than I thought it would.

I also enjoy gardening and will be going out and tilling the soil in my vegetable garden and cleaning up my flower beds and water gardens as soon as it warms up. My wrist should be okay by then .I am starting seeds indoors next month, I have to get my seed order in this week.

I like fishing, I've been fishing all my life. We go camping for two weeks every summer in the Kawarthas during bass season.

We also have a full-size pool table in our basement and we shoot pool or play darts in the evenings. We have three tvs so there's always one on. I like to watch Ghost Hunters and Destination Truth as well as history documenteries.

I like being creative and I watch craft shows and go to arts and crafts shows. I have a few projects on the go at any time, sewing, woodworking, painting, refinishing, reupholstering, etc. so I don't get a chance to be bored. I am home most of the time, there's no place I'd rather be, and I always have something going on.

Surname Saturday - Bradt

2010-01-23T11:04:00.000-05:00

I am gathering information about my husband's ancestors and here's what I have so far.

Myndert (Minor) Bradt was born in Albany, New York in 1758 and was baptized in 1760. His parents were Jan Brat and Sanje Zeger (John Bradt and Susan Seger)of Albany , New York.
Minor Bradt joined the Butler's Rangers and settled in the Home District after the Revolutionary War. He married Catherine Van Alstine in Niagara and had several children.

One son, William Bradt, married Eizabeth Austin. The Bradt family is in the 1851 Canada West census for South Cayuga Twp., Haldimand Cty., William, 53 and Elizabeth Bradt, 47, children, Eleanor, 15, George, 12, Alexander, 10, Minor, 6, Robert, 3. (age next birthday).

In the 1861 census for Dunn Twp.,Haldimand Cty., William, age 61,Elizabeth, 57, David, 28, George, 20, Alex. 18, Minor, 14, Robert, 12.(age next birthday).

George Nelson Bradt from Haldimand County, Ontario, son of William and Elizabeth Austin Bradt, married Catherine Hoover, born in Ontario about 1849 .

In the 1881 census George and Catherine Bradt were in North Middlesex district with children Elizabeth E., Charles W., Samuel, Rosa M., Lucy A., twins Albert E. and Alfred E.

In the 1891 Kingsville , Essex County census George was a widower with children Charles, Samuel, Rosa, Lucy, Albert, Alfred, Maggie, Mary and George. Charles Phipps lived next door with wife, Emma Bradt Phipps (probably Elizabeth E. from 1881 census).

Since George Jr.was three years old, Catherine was still living in 1888.

In 1901 Pelee Island census George was living with sons Albert and Alfred.

In the 1911 census of Pelee Island, Charles Bradt and Alzina Lee Bradt were living with children William, Nellie, Vina, George, Charles, Milfred, Harold and Orlie G.

George Nelson Bradt died Sept. 16, 1921 on Pelee Island (son, George was informant, said John Bradt and Mary Austin were George Nelson Bradt's parents) and is buried on the island.

Joseph, Ann and Naomi Bradt were born after the 1911 census.
Joseph Bradt never married and lived in Kingsville with spinster sister, Naomi for the last 25 years of hs life. Joseph died age 91 and Naomi died age 85.

Orlie Glen Bradt was my husband's grandfather. Glen,as he was known, was married to Doris Scott and had seven children, all living. He died in 1965 in Leamington, Ontario. Doris Scott Bradt died about 1980 in Leamington, Ontario.

It's Nice To Belong...

2010-01-11T08:08:00.012-05:00

It's nice to belong to the ever-growing Geneablogging community and having great genea-friends to share experiences with and learn from.

I really enjoy being a part of the community and getting involved with the events and one of them is receiving awards and passing them on, it is a great way to bring the community together and get to know everyone.

Thank you to fellow Canadian geneablogger Joan Miller, author of the Luxegen Genealogy and Family History blog , for presenting my blog with the Happy 101 award, I'm glad you enjoy reading it.

By accepting the Happy 101 Award I have to share 10 things that make me happy so here's my list, in no special order:

Being a part of the geneablogging community.
Playing with my pets.
Sharing my research with others.
Having family members interested in my research.
Having nothing to do but blog and research.
Going to auctions and flea markets.
Creating, whether it be sewing, cooking, or woodworking. I like knowing that if I need something I can make it rather than going and buying it ready-made.
Gardening, I like that there's something new to see every day and that I am helping to feed my family. I even enjoy pulling weeds!
Fshing off a boat with my husband.
Spending time with family and friends.

Now, I want to spread some Happiness around, I'll list 7 of the many blogs that I am happy to follow:

1. ScotGen

2. Relatively Curious About Genealogy

3. TwigTalk

4. The Dutch Rose

5. Our Twigs

6.Lessons From My Ancestors

7. Karen About Genealogy

I hope you will find these blogs interesting and add them to your reading list as well.