Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Ancestors Did You "Meet"?

Randy Seaver's Funtime was too much to resist this week. So here are his directions and my answers follow!

1) Write down which of your ancestors that you have met in person (yes, even if you were too young to remember them).

2) Tell us their names, where they lived, and their relationship to you in a blog post, or in comments to this post, or in comments on Facebook.

Here is my list:

* My mother.

* My father.

* Franklin Louis Depperman (1918-2004), my mother's father, who resided in Peotone IL his whole life.

* Clementine Mae (Hamilton) Depperman Bernier (1922-2002), my mother's mother. Resided in Watseka IL and Kankakee IL.

* Minna Anna Louise (Papstein) Depperman (1888-1985), my great-grandmother (mother of Franklin, my mother's grandmother), who resided in Germany until she went to Peotone, IL in 1889.

* Beulah Ethel (Garrard) Browning (1900-2002), my grandmother (mother of my father). She was born in Crawford Co., IL and lived most of her life there before moving to TX in the mid-1980's.

* Virgil Joseph Browning (1901-1989), my grandfather (father of my father). He was born in Crawford Co., IL and lived most of his life there before moving to TX in the mid-1980's.

---

Wow, this is a pretty short list. I've only "met" seven of my ancestors. That's a pretty low number -- even less than Randy himself!

Mine is limited for two reasons:

1) my father's parents were both nearly forty before they had my dad. My dad's mother's parents were also nearly forty so my great-grandparents on that side died by the 1940's, at least twenty years before I was born.

2) My mother's parents divorced when she was 6 months old and her mother disappeared. I was lucky to even be able to list her since we only met once, when I was about eight years old. I certainly never met any of her family.

This has been fun. Thanks again, Randy!

(Late!) Saturday Funtime - The "Sweet 16"

I had fun tonight working up my "Sweet 16" -- the g-g-g-grandparent assignment that Randy Seaver of GeneaMusings had given us over the weekend. As usual, I turn mine in late. I wonder if this means I'm still a member of the "Procrastinator's Club" from my high school Chemistry class?

1) List your 16 great-great-grandparents in pedigree chart order. List their birth and death years and places.
2) Figure out the dominant ethnicity or nationality of each of them.
3) Calculate your ancestral ethnicity or nationality by adding them up for the 16 - 6.25% for each (obviously, this is approximate).
4) If you don't know all 16 of your great-great-grandparents, then do it for the last full generation you have.
5) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on Facebook or in this post.


Here's mine:

1. James Madison Swan, son of James Swan and Jane Taylor: born 8 Dec 1844 in Champaign Co., OH; married 5 Aug 1873 in Crawford Co., IL; died 26 May 1876 in Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery, Montgomery Twn., Crawford Co., IL. ENGLISH.

2. Eliza Ursula Nichols, daughter of Joseph Nichols and Delinda Jane Plymell: born 6 Jul 1847 in Duncanville, Crawford Co., IL; died 16 Feb 1931 in Robinson, Crawford County, IL and was buried in the New Hebron Cemetery, LaMotte Twn., Crawford Co., IL.

3. Joseph Browning, son of James Browning and Jane Nevitt: born 2 Jun 1842 in Tippecanoe, Harrison Co., OH; married 13 Mar 1866 in Palestine, Crawford Co., IL; died 24 Jun 1916 in Palestine, Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Palestine, Crawford Co., IL. ENGLISH?

4. Almarena Mathewson, daughter of Daniel Mathewson and Mary Brimberry: born 29 Nov 1846 in Palestine, Crawford Co., IL; died 6 May 1886 in Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Oak Grove Cemetery, Palestine, Crawford Co., IL. SCOTCH?

5. William A. Garrard, son of William Garrard and Rebecca Dunlap: born 30 Oct 1822 in Hardinville, Crawford Co., IL; married 5 Apr 1849 in Crawford Co., IL; died 25 Nov 1864 in Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Haskin Cemetery, Honey Creek Twn., Crawford Co., IL. FRENCH.

6. Mariah Elizabeth Haskin, daughter of Robert Cochran Haskin and Martha Elizabeth 'Betsy' White: born 10 Apr 1830 in Crawford Co., IL; died 16 Feb 1868 in Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Haskin Cemetery, Honey Creek Twn., Crawford Co., IL. ENGLISH.

7. David Newton Eagleton, son of James Eagleton and Margaret J. Montgomery: born 18 Apr 1825 in Edgar Co., IL; married 6 Nov 1851 in Crawford Co., IL; died 28 Dec 1878 in Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Eaton/Grand Prairie Cemetery, Crawford Co., IL. SCOTCH.

8. Margaret Jane Conrad, daughter of James Conrad and Charity Shook: born 6 May 1834 in Crawford Co., IL; died 8 Oct 1878 in Crawford Co., IL and was buried in the Eaton/Grand Prairie Cemetery, Crawford Co., IL. DUTCH.

9. Herman Depperman: born unknown; married unknown; died bef 1900. buried unknown. GERMAN.

10. Henrietta Sennhausen, daughter of Jacob Sennhausen and Wilhemina Schultz: born 11 May 1840 in Germany; died 13 Feb 1918 in Peotone, Will Co., IL and was buried in the Peotone Cemetery, Peotone, Will Co., IL. GERMAN.

11. August Carl Papstein, son of Friedrich Papstein and Wilhemina Koplen: born 6 Sep 1864 in Neu Lobitz, Kreiß Dramburg, Hinterpommern, Germany; married 17 Oct 1887 in Neu Lobitz, Kreiß Dramburg, Hinterpommern, Germany; died 20 Nov 1946 in Peotone, Will Co., IL and was buried in the Peotone Cemetery, Peotone, Will Co., IL. GERMAN.

12. Anna Marie Louise Koehn, daughter of Johann Koehn and Johanna Vierkow: born 9 Jun 1868 in Neu Lobitz, Kreiß Dramburg, Hinterpommern, Germany; died 26 Apr 1952 in Peotone, Will Co., IL and was buried in the Peotone Cemetery, Peotone, Will Co., IL. GERMAN.

13. Barton Warren Hamilton, son of John Hamilton and Mary Ann Zumwalt: born 20 Mar 1848 in Harrison Co., KY; married 5 Jan 1882 in Latona, Jasper Co., IL; died 10 Mar 1912 in Jasper Co., IL and was buried in the Tate Cemetery near Bogota, Jasper Co., IL. ENGLISH.

14. Clementine Jeannette George, daughter of David George and Martha H. Clark: born 27 Sep 1863 in Richland Co., IL; died 14 Apr 1942 in Peotone, Will Co., IL and was buried in the Onarga Cemetery, Onarga, Iroquois Co., IL.

15. William T. Dow, son of Lorenzo Dow and Susan Baker: born 12 Jan 1871 in Latona, North Muddy Twn., Jasper Co., IL ; married 26 Sep 1889 in Jasper Co., IL; died 28 Nov 1943 in Effingham, Effingham Co., IL and was buried in the Trexler Cemetery, Jasper Co., IL.

16. Clarissa May Newell, daughter of Robert Newell and Mary Armour and adopted daughter of Henry Lesser and Lovie Jane Whitehurst: born 20 Jan 1873 in Latona, North Muddy Twn., Jasper Co., IL; died 12 Oct 1941 in Effingham, Effingham Co., IL and was buried in the Trexler Cemetery, Jasper Co., IL.


So this means I am......

4/16ths English (25%)
4/16ths German (25%)
4/16ths unknown (25%)
2/16ths Scotch (12.5%)
1/16th French (6.25%)
1/16th Dutch (6.25%)


This was so much fun! I now know that I need to do some more research on my mother's side of the family. I'm woefully lopsided; my dad's family has been easier because of the amount of information that was available to me via my grandmother Beulah. Well, shame on me!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Show us your Genealogy Space!

Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings does his Saturday Night fun thing and though I'm late -- as usual -- I'm still coming to the party!

My cave is to the left -- you'll have to click on it to make it a bit bigger.

You can see the big oval picture of Delinda Jane (Plymell) Nichols suspended over my workspace. The smaller version, as well as a post I wrote about her, is here. There are a few random tombstone snapshots under my printer, Pat's memorial card that I have to scan (sitting on top of more old letters and pictures next up on the agenda) and the resource books that I turn to the most on my shelf. I'm a pretty organized soul, really.

And as for the things you cannot see.......well, there is the old 50's Coca-Cola ice cooler that houses my collection of old photographs. I've been slowly scanning them all in but at least I've managed to make labels and groupings! It feels like such a monumental task when I look at it all as a whole. I try to think of it in small increments......

(And yes, the blanket you see to the left in the photo IS all those colors. Just thank your lucky stars you don't see my room. You'd think I stepped right out of the psychedelic 60's!)

Then there is my eyesore of a purple Browning file. It lives under my desk. It houses a LOT of files. It's over to the left.

My atlases of Ohio and Illinois are tucked under there too but you can't see them either

Anyway, that's my stuff. Thanks for the fun, Randy!

Saturday Night Fun - Your Paternal Grandmother's Patrilineal Line

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings puts together Saturday Night Fun every Saturday and this week's looked like fun:

Provide a list of your paternal grandmother's patrilineal line.
Answer these questions:

* What was your father's mother's maiden name?

* What was your father's mother's father's name?

* What is your father's mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?

* Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

Let's see....here's mine!

* My father's mother was Beulah Ethel Garrard (1900-2002), born in Robinson, Crawford Co., IL.

* My father's mother's father's name was Robert Elbert Garrard (1853-1938), born in Honey Creek Twn., Crawford Co., IL.

* His father was William A. Garrard (1822-1864), born in Hardinville, Crawford Co., IL

* His father was William Garrard (ca 1793-??), born in KY.

* Beulah Ethel Garrard had two brothers -
** Ralph Earl Garrard (1891-1970), who had two sons, one b. 1939, one b. 1942.
** Raymond Orlond Garrard (1892-1987), who had one son b. 1925.

From this, I can see at least two and possibly three living male relatives on the Garrard side who could contribute samples of their Y-DNA markers. I am not sure if Ralph or Raymond's sons had any sons because my database shows only daughters.

I am interested in getting my father tested for our Browning line. Since my father is a direct male descendant of Samuel Browning, and is the only one I know of other than my own brother, I'd best get on this fast! I think a Christmas present idea just occurred to me, though I'm not sure if it's for my dad or for me! Ha!

Thanks for the fun, Randy!

The Genealogy Junkie True Confessions

Randy Seaver from Genea-Musings (see sidebar) has a Saturday Night Funtime tradition and his latest one was the following:

The Assignment: Answer These Questions about Your Genealogy Life

As usual, I feel like Rabbit from Winnie The Pooh. Wasn't he always rushing about yelling "I'm late! I'm late?" Well, I am. Aaaagain. So here are my answers!

1. When did you start genealogy research?

1992, when I was pregnant with my daughter. Lots of time on my hands then!

2. Why did you start doing research?

My grandmother was my inspiration. After my grandfather died, my then 90-year old grandmother decided to remain alone in their home. I lived in the same town as she did but my parents lived about an hour away so they made it clear to me it was my responsibility to check on her daily. At the age of 22 that wasn't exactly the most exciting assignment, let me tell you! We'd never grown close -- the age difference between my grandparents and I was even greater than most and seemingly insurmountable then. I thought, if I got up early and went for breakfast, I could visit shorter amounts of time and my excuses for leaving would be better ones! So that's what I did.

But life has a funny way of turning out in ways you don't expect. I went for breakfasts. Grandma would make me coffee, eggs and oatmeal and we'd talk. At first they were rather stilted conversations because at 22 everything was about me. I suspect grandma pulled out her old boxes full of pictures because of the lapses in conversation, or maybe it was because when she'd tell me things like her mother was a Quaker or that her father was a tintyper, I showed a little bit of interest.

The clincher was when she handed me a paper written by my grandfather. On it were tombstone transcriptions of my Browning relatives from a cemetery in Crawford County. She told me that grandpa had always wondered who these people were. It wasn't long before I began to wonder as well.

3. What was your first big success in research?

Discovering who the "S & M Browning" written on my Browning tombstones were.

4. What is your biggest genealogy regret?

Up until recently, that I'm not able to sit down with my grandfather and tell him all the things that I've discovered about his family. He was interested in genealogy and researched his own roots, things I never knew about him when he was alive. Though he and I were close we never really talked because I was young and too wrapped up in my own little world to pay attention. I'd pay attention now.

I suspect that my biggest genealogical regret will be coming soon, if it isn't already here unbeknownst to me. A researcher and cousin I've worked with and have developed a friendship with has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Her deepest regret is not being able to prove that the John Browning found living in Harrison County in 1820 (though Ancestry doesn't show him or Samuel it's a database error -- I have the original) is our Samuel Browning's father. I would LOVE to prove this before she goes. I'm making a trip back to OH in April and I am hoping to find something then but I fear April may be too late. I haven't heard from her in a month or two. It could already be too late.

5. What are you best known for in the genealogy world?

I wrote a book on my Browning family that I self-published on CD for family members and other interested parties. It took eight years of research and much more in sweat equity. Worth every penny.

6. What is your professional status in genealogy?

Intermediate-skill family historian and researcher. I have no professional credentials whatsoever, though I've done a few paying gigs for clients.

7. What is your biggest genealogy achievement?

See #5 above, I'd think. That, or reuniting two long-lost family members after more than 60 years apart. I've been told by one of the ladies' nephews that I should consider that my greatest achievement. He says there is no way to measure the enrichment of their lives in their golden years because of this. I'm thrilled and humbled that my actions have meant so much.

8. What is the most FUN you've had doing genealogy?

Other than the happy dances of new research or informational victory? Meeting cousins and introducing them to each other, going on trips and feeling instant camraderie, and of late, beginning a blog! It's a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

9. What is your favorite genealogy how-to book?

Uncovering Your Ancestry through Family Photographs, followed closely by Ohio Genealogical Records.

10. What notable genealogist would you like to meet someday?

Elizabeth Shown Mills