SNGF - Your "Heritage Pie" Chart

From Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musing: 

Ah, Genea-folks, it's Saturday Night again - are you ready for more Genealogy Fun?
Your mission tonight, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1)  List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).  [Hint - you might use an Ancestral Name List from your software for this.

2)  Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.
3)  For extra credit, go make a "Heritage Pie" chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the  chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the "Heritage Pie" chart idea.]
4)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook or google+.

1. James Elza Shaw, b. 30 Sept 1859 Ohio; d. 7 June 1934 California

2. Katherine Cole, b. 6 May 1860 Ohio; d. 15 May 1939 California

3. James M. Edmison, b. 8 Aug 1873 Canada; d. 18 Jan 1951 California

4. Anna Linderman, 1 Jan 1872 Michigan; d. 26 Mar 1950 California

5. Demetris Birbilis, b/d. Greece

6. Polexene "Polly" ?, b. 1861 Greece, d. New York

7. Gregory Devriotis, b/d. Greece

8. Anastasia ?, b/d. Greece

9. Giuseppe "Joseph" Spedale, b. 14 May 1869 Sicily, Italy; d. 7 Jan 1930 Ohio

10. Leonarda "Eleanor" Bugica, b. 12 Nov 1863 Sicily, Italy; d. 26 Sept 1958 California

11.Cologero "Charles" Geraci, b. 24 Dec 1869 Sicily, Italy; d. 4 Dec 1921 Ohio

12. Irene "Rose" Spedale, b. 22 Jul 1880 Sicily, Italy; d. 30 Nov 1969 Ohio

13. Joel Gustafsson Linner, b. 19 April 1867 Sweden; d. 28 Jun 1897 Minnesota

14. Anna Lydia Johansdotter Davidson, b. 21 May 1868 Sweden; d. 17 Apr 1921 Minnesota

15. Philip McCall, b. 6 May 1860 Pennsylvania; d. ?

16.  Dora Emily Rutter, b. 3 Feb 1861 Iowa; d. 29 Mar 1936 Minnesota

 Yes these are my great-great-grandparents; I really am that young. 

Two of my g-g-grandparents were born on the same day: 6 May 1860 (#2 & #15).

I am:

1/4 Greek

1/4 Italian

1/8 Swedish

1/16 Canadian (English/Scottish)

1/16 Irish (#15 was the son of Irish immigrants and one of my brick walls)

1/4 American (colonial roots)

 

SNGF: A Prolific Dad

From Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings:

Your mission for Father's Day, if you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Determine who is one of the most prolific fathers in your genealogy database or in your ancestry. By prolific, I mean the one who fathered the most children.

This is easy. My prolific father is Charles Wesley Shaw, my gr-gr-gr-gr-grandfather. The story even includes some skeletons!

Charles W. Shaw
b. 17 Aug 1794 in [West] Virginia.
d. 31 December 1872 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
-m. 1 - Ann Coon Bishop
--Alexander Shaw
b. abt 1817 in Ohio
m. Mary Cathan or Mary Nichols
--John Marion Shaw
b. 2 March 1823 in Muskingum County, Ohio
m. Jerusha Adaline Mershon 2 Jul 1853 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 26 Oct 1908 in Kentucky
--Jonathan Shaw
b. 15 Jun 1827 in Ohio
m. Nancy Elizabeth (Hall) Royse 25 Dec 1858 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 2 Nov 1878 in Scioto County, Ohio
--Charles Shaw
--Reese Shaw
--Osborne Shaw
--Julia Shaw
-m. 2 Anna Wood 12 Nov 1827 in Scioto County, Ohio
---Mary Ann Shaw
b. 11 Nov 1830 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. George B. Mershon 3 Mar 1847 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 18 Sep 1897
---Ella Ann Shaw
b. 15 Jan 1835 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. James McGraw 21 Jun 1855 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 4 Aug 1816 in Washington township, Scioto County, Ohio
---Little Ann Shaw
Died with her mother in childbirth
-m. 3 Elmira Herbert 25 Sep 1841 in Brown County, Ohio
----Hester Ann Shaw
b. 3 May 1844 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
m. George H. Freeman 10 Dec 1863 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 30 Jan 1931 in Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio
----Jasper Newton Shaw
b. 30 Aug 1846 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
m. Harriet M. Hazelbaker 14 Jan 1869 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 2 Nov 1913 in Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
----Melissa Shaw
b. 9 Jul 1847 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. James Nelson Odle
d. 17 Nov 1922 in Buena Vista, Nile township, Scioto County, Ohio
----Margaret R. Shaw
b. abt. 1852 in Ohio
----Mahaley Catherine Shaw
b. 9 Feb 1856 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. Andrew Jackson Mershon 21 Oct 1881 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 5 Oct 1938 in Union township, Scioto County, Ohio
----Bella Ann Shaw
b. abt 1858 in Ohio
m. Clay Mershon
----Ursa B. Shaw
b. abt 1859 in Ohio
m. Henry Mershon
d. 19 Nov 1918 in Scioto County, Ohio
----Francis M. Shaw
b. 16 Sep 1861 in Scioto County, Ohio
m. Sarah Piatt 8 Nov 1855 in Scioto County, Ohio
d. 24 Nov 1943 in Fayette County, Indiana
----Samuel R. Shaw
b. abt 1865 in Ohio


So now for the dancing skeletons:

Courtesy of Ruth Shaw Book, this family story was written by a daughter of Charles in the late 19th century:
    "Charles Shaw was from the Shenandoah Valley of VA. He and his first wife had a farm and he also drove livestock west, which kept him away from home a lot. He had been told that his wife was stepping out while he was away on drives. One trip a storm came up and he returned after only a short time. There he found his wife and the local preacher. The next morning he left with only some money and his clothes. (He wanted to protect her and their children's standing in the community.)
    "He traveled to the Tennessee hills, stopping at an inn where he met a waitress named Ann. He had to make another drive and told her to wait and that he would come back for her. In Nile Twp he purchased a farm (now the Yeager farm) on Route 125 near the Boy Scout camp. Then he returned for Ann and left her with the local dressmaker (known to Stella Shaw) until they could be married. They had 3 children, Malinda Ann, Elllie Ann, and a third daughter who along with Ann died in childbirth. These daughters all were named Ann after the wife he so loved. He buried them in a grove on the Yeager farm.
    "After some time he began dating Elmira Harbert, daughter of his neighbor. She was very young and he was in his 40's so her father was very opposed to their relationship. Before one date, he tied her by the hands to the rafters of a shed so she couldn't meet Charles. Her brother Reese found her, untied her, and told her to keep her date and marry Charles. After this incident her brother was never seen again. It is believed by local people that her father killed him, as the next day his well was filled in and a new one dug!
   " They were married and had 8 children."

Charles Wesley Shaw had a total of 19 children by 3 different wives.

SNGF - Genea-gasms

It's Saturday night and time for some fun... 
From Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings:
 
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. 

1)I e-mailed someone about a record on Ancestry.com. Turns out he's a cousin. Who directed us to another cousin, who happens to live in the same city as my family. Who's daughter lives a block away from my parents. Read the whole story here.

2) This past summer I went on a research road-trip. I found a lot of information, quite a few gasms, and attended the Linner family reunion. I love small towns. Everyone is super friendly and helpful. For example, while in Pipestone, Minnesota I was at the Pipestone County Historical Society and Museum. The old family house in town is still standing. The librarian looked at the address, told me the owner is a member, and called her up to see if she would let us look at the house. The owner was more than willing, giving up a tour. The house has been remodeled a few times, but the basement was still original, built by my ancestor.

3) I was contacted by a cousin who had pictures and records that I'd never seen, including a picture of my great-grandfather and his sister as children and their mother's wedding picture with her second husband. He was able to fill in a lot of blanks for me.

4) A few days ago I found That family, the one who liked to avoid census takers. Well, they're enumerated on the 1855 New York state census.

4) Someone had posted a picture on Findagrave for my Linderman family. It's a family stone that lists the parents, the paternal-grandfather, and all but two of the children, with their birth and death dates. Using that information I was able to find the family in the censuses and learned that my ancestor was a Civil War veteran (with a pension file).

SNGF: Letter to Genea-Santa - I want a letter

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musing has posted this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:

1) Write a letter to Genea-Santa and ask for only ONE thing. It could be hardware, software, a missing family Bible, a record that you desperately want, etc.
2) Tell Genea-Santa what a good genea-girl or genea-boy you've been this past year and give examples.
3) Exhibit your letter on your own blog, in a Facebook post commenting on this note, or in a Comment to this blog post.
Dear Genea-Santa,
I would like to find a letter. It was up for auction on e-bay several years ago and I have found part of the listing. The e-bay people don't keep records for that long ago so I have no idea what happened to it. From the listing (via the Way Back Machine, via a cousin):
This stampless letter has a circular date stamp for CUBA N.Y., a handwritten 25 cent rate, and is addressed to Mr. Jotham Meriam, Clapp hill, Worcester county, Mass, and is a lengthy three+ page 'Dear Mother' letter written by 'your affectionate daughter' Mary Rutter. that line is inside, on the margin of the inner fold. The back page, on the folds adjacent to the front cover, is all written by Emerson Rutter to 'Dear Father' [in-law]. The headline is Cuba Jan 14 [?], 1839. I think that's the year date, it almost looks like 1831. Spelling is a bit phonetic in places. Some abstracts:"I feel dear mother that we are a great distance from you and all our relations but we are contented and happy, we are surrounded with christian friends ...""... we have joined this presbyterian church to day with many others, I know not the exact number but the was 21 baptized ...""... when I lived in Uxbridge and visited you I stod up for the unitarians and I new when I did it that I was injuring your feelings ...""I was separate from my husband 5 months which was a lonesom season, I left Carolines the 2 week in Oct ..."Mr. Rutter came out here last spring and got rite into business and has not ben out a day cense and the prospect is the will be enough for the future.""We live in the vile[???] which is in a florishing state ... ther was but one or 2 decent houses here they hav built 2 meeting houses this season, presbeterian and baptist. Mr. Rutter has ben the head workman on both there is 2 taverns and 4 stores besides grocery shops and it is but 15 years cense the wild beast romed here ...""... dear still lingers in the forrest where once was herd the howl of the woolf the sound of the chirch bel echos from hill to hill, and gathers the people far and near to the worship spot."[Emerson] "Soil is much better here than in Madison but the country is new and the farmers have not got fairley into the business of farming as yet as most of them ware poor people when they came in here but they begin to pick up their crumbs and they have everything to encourage them for the present.""The Genesee vally canall goes directly through this village from Rochester to the naviagable watters of the Allagany river, and it makes business ...""There is a railroad located through this village from New York city to Dunkirk through the southern toes of county ..." Condition of the letter rates average, there were some separations along some folds, which were mended lightly with archival tape, in order to hold it together well for reading. All the words are there, and readable. As usual with stampless letters, after writing on one or more sides of a sheet of paper, the letter was folded several times and mailed. An interesting letter good for genealogy and history research. See my other auctions for similar items. Terms and conditions: Shipping for a single cover or letter is $1.00 via USPS to USA addresses. Shipping to Canada and United Kingdom is $2.00. Other countries please write and ask first. Save on postage on multiple purchases.Unconditionally guaranteed authentic. Member of American Philatelic Society.Money order or cashier's check ships within 24 hours. Personal checks require 7 days to clear unless you've purchased from me before. Paypal is fine, use their main web site and my email address for payment via Paypal.Thank you for sending payment within 10 days. Powered by eBay Turbo Lister.
I have been a good girl this year, making sure all of my information is sourced and cited. I started a blog to share my experiences with others and have begun to get involved with SCGS as a lecturer and possibly a librarian.
Jen

Paper Ahnentafel

When was the last time you wrote out an Ahnentafel? We have computer programs and databases that will do this for us. Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings puts out a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. Yesterdays prompt: Who is your MRUA - your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name. I decided to write about my gr-gr-grandfather, Philip McCall. I needed his Ahnentafel number, so I quickly jotted one out. Looking at it I realized that I had two Unknown Ancestors with lower numbers (but same generation) than Philip.


My challenge is for you to sit down and write out your Ahnentafel. How many generations back can you go from memory? What is your highest number that you have research for?


I went back 8 generations. From memory I was able to trace one line all eight generation and another seven. I can trace the first back further, but it's kind of cheating; the next three generations of men are all named John Nichols. The highest number I can trace is (that I have research for) is 16008 Robert Tucker, he is generation 14 and my earliest immigrant to America.