52 Ancestors Challenge Week 9: "Females" - great-great-great aunt, Isabelle Nancy McLean

I think that aunts fill a really important role in one's life. If for no other reason, they have the ability to help a child understand the parent. I have 4 magnificent nieces. No boys here. Just beautiful feisty girls. I certainly have much more experience in dealing with their mothers than any of the girls do, simply based on my age. As the oldest sibling, my nieces' mothers have been my sisters their whole lives. So, I would hope as the girls grow up, they each know they can come to me for some insight into why their mom is being like that. What else are aunts for? Besides showering them with gifts and field trips .

The women in my family are strong, independent, hardworking women. By hardworking, I do not mean they worked outside the home necessarily. Historically the women in my family have held very traditional roles; they were mothers and homemakers for the most part. Except for the women on my mother's paternal line, almost none of my foremothers have an occupation recorded in a census record. My mother, though, descends from several women who were listed as nurses in census records and city directories. One of those women was Aunt Belle.

Back in 2012, early on in the start of my blogging days, I wrote about Aunt Belle. She is a story I often revisit in my mind but she deserves revisit in word. Aunt Belle was Isabelle Nancy McLean. She was born on April 4, 1871 in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada. She died on May 24, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts. She was the younger sister of my great-great grandmother, Lydia Ann McLean-Sharp (15 September 1868 - unknown).

As you can see I don't know when my great-great grandmother died. I can estimate that it is between 1911 and 1915. I also don't know when Belle moved from Canada to Lowell, Massachusetts but it was prior to WWI. When her niece, my great grandmother Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner (2 October 1891 - 25 January 1961), moved to the U.S. with her younger brother Daniel, it was Aunt Belle who they went to live with. This signifies to me that there was an obvious caring relationship between Aunt Belle and her niece, Mayme. It is also meaningful to mention here that Mayme is one of the women in my family tree who also listed as a nurse in several U.S. census records; just like her Aunt Belle.

It was actually a medium who told me I'd research this Aunt Belle which is the strangest of all my genealogy research stories.  A friend of mine has a sister, Mary, who is a medium. Regardless of how you feel about psychics, Mary is no joke. I had never had a reading before I sat with her. She said the most amazing things to me; things no one could have possibly know. And I am sure everyone who goes to a psychic and is taken back by what they say, says that; "the medium told me things no one else could possibly know." But can you tell me how Mary could have known this...

There were many things Mary said during my reading that still stand out to me, including that it was wonderful to read someone who knew their family history. I do believe the spirit of our loved ones surround us and it was easy for me to understand who Mary was referring to in the reading. Towards the end of the session Mary said to me, "You're going to come across two family names in your research; Williams and Evans." It didn't strike me as remarkable at the time; I mean, they aren't that uncommon of surnames. In fact, I completely dismissed the Williams at the time because my Cousin Kelly had recently married into a Williams family. I took what Mary said with a grain of salt and filed it away.

She then asked me, "Who is David?" I shrugged. I didn't know a David. I mean I had in my lifetime met many Davids. I had worked with a few. My father's cousin had a son named David, but I didn't really know him well. Nope, I didn't really know any David really well.

Not more than 3 days after my reading, I was going through some family papers, papers I had looked at a hundred times if I had looked at them once, and there on my great grandmother, Mayme's boarder crossing card from Canada into the United States I noticed a name. Mayme listed that she was headed to Lowell, Massachusetts to see her Aunt Belle EVANS. EVANS. And Mary's words floated back to me.

At that point I had not branched out and researched my great-great grandmother's siblings at all. I didn't recall finding an Aunt Belle in the research I had done. Now I was on a mission to find out who this Belle Evans was. It was a mission that took a very long time and depended significantly on the kindness of well-connected friends.

I began by searching census records for Belle Evans and sure enough I found a Belle married to a Fred Evans in Lowell, Massachusetts. I assumed this was Aunt Belle but then I put my research down for a while, as we all do from time to time. 

Several months went by. I attended a genealogy conference. There I befriended a genealogist who was from Massachusetts. His name was...wait for it...wait for it....David. It didn't really strike me at the time that I now knew a David. Sincerely, I had forgotten that Mary asked me about a David. But here he was.

It wasn't long until I called upon David's expertise in locating records in Massachusetts to helped me locate a marriage certificate for this couple, Belle and Fred Evans. At that point I wasn't even 100% sure that this was "Aunt Belle" or that Aunt Belle was really my great-grandmother's aunt. Belle could have been a friend of the family as is often the case with my family. There are many instances when very close family friends are called Aunt and Uncle despite the fact they are not related; it can and often is just a term of respect. Sometimes Aunt and Uncle are titles given to near relatives too. For example, I call my father's first cousins Aunt Ro, Uncle Charlie, Uncle Ed, etc. So was this Aunt Belle really an aunt to my great grandmother?

David helped me to secure this document:

If you look at the details about Isabelle you'll see her last name is listed as Williams. What?!?! Yes, Williams, was the surname of her first husband. Her marriage to Fred Evans was her second marriage. In parentheses after the Williams you will see the name McLean. 

I knew the parents of my great-great grandmother were, Lydia McLean-Sharp, were Donald McLean and Elizabeth Walker-McLean. I now knew, without a doubt, that Isabelle Nancy McLean-Williams-Evans was the sister of of my great-great grandmother Lydia McLean-Sharp. Aunt Belle was absolutely the biological aunt of my great grandmother Mayme.

And there it was; Williams and Evans. Staring me square in the face were the names I was told I would research. A document I probably would not have seen if not for the help of a David. Again, Mary is no joke.

Aunt Belle played a pretty critical role in my family's history. She was the person who facilitated my great-grandmother's move from Canada to the United States. Several generations before, this line had lived in New Hampshire but moved up to Canada for land. Great Grandma Mayme moved to from Canada to the U.S. for work, likely because she had just lost her mother. I don't know how she met my Great Grandfather Albert Gardner (21 September 1891 - 11 February 1946) who lived most of his life in New York. However, had Mayme stayed in Canada, someone else would be writing this blog. Thus, I am incredibly grateful to Aunt Belle. Thank God for aunts!!

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 7: "Landed" - great-great grandpa, Daniel Sharp's Moore Line

It is very common for American's to hyphenate their ethnicity. We're kind of obsessed with it and, dare I say, hung up on our ethnic identities. The irony of American culture, if you ask me, is that while we pride ourselves on being an immigrant nation, and yet, historically we are not very fond or accepting of the newcomers, also known as immigrants. 

I don't really identify as a hyphenated American. I don't say I am Irish-American or German-American, etc., although I am. I descend from a bunch of ethnic groups. I don't feel especially any ethnicity. I just say I am an American because I am. It's where I was born and my people have been here a long time. A long time. I'm just American.

I do not know when all of my ancestors arrived on this continent, or "landed" as it were. If I reflect on my most recent immigrant ancestors, though, I am Canadian-American. Canada, though, is also a nation of immigrants, although Americans really do not think of our neighbors to the north as equal in that way. If I didn't do genealogy research I would know little to nothing of Canadian history. Before researching my Canadian ancestors I thought of Canada as the place where the un-American went; 1970s draft dodgers, British Loyalists who lost the Revolution, people who couldn't get into the U.S. because of immigration quotas.

All of my grandparents were born in the U.S.; a stone's throw from where I live now. All of them were born in New York. Only two of my great grandparents weren't born in New York; they were born in what is now Canada. Great grandpa Abram Thomas Earle was born in Twillingate, Newfoundland. At the time of his birth, Newfoundland was a British colony so technically he was never Canadian. Which brings me to my maternal line and my great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Sharp-Gardner, who has frequently been recorded as "Mayme" and who is my most recent immigrant arriving in Lowell, Massachusetts in about 1919.

Mayme was born October 2, 1891 near Drummondville, Quebec to Lydia Ann McLean-Sharp and Daniel Sharp. Although they lived in Quebec, an area dominated by French inhabitants, records (and her maiden name) identify this family as being of Scottish origin. With my very American mindset of believing those who live in Canada are "un-American", you will understand my awe when I discovered that this line links me to 2 American Patriots. Yes! Two! Two men who served in the American Revolution, not as British Loyalists but as American Patriots.

So how did this line wind up in Canada? I'll get to that.

My great grandmother Mayme's father, Daniel Sharp (1822-1898), was named after his great grandfather, Daniel Moore (1730-1811). Make that Colonel Daniel Moore.

Here is a little snippet of my tree to help you follow who I am writing about:

You will notice that Daniel Sharp's mother, Annie Moore-Sharp (1782-1868) was the offspring of William Moore (1763-1817) & Eleanor Moore-Moore (1767-1836) (and Moore and Moore and Moore - hee hee). William and Eleanor were first cousins. Their father's were brothers. Robert Moor (1724-1778) - correction: Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moore and Colonel Daniel Moor (1730-1811) both served in the American Revolution and both were sons of John Moor (1683-1774) & Janet Gray-Moor (1685-1776). You will also probably notice that the spelling of Moore also appears as Moor. But whatever, people, spelling is fluid, we just need to accept that.

John Moor (1683-1774), my 6th great grandfather, was born in Colerain, Antrim, Ireland but his father, my 7th great grandfather, Samuel Moor (1655-1734), was born in Glencoe, Argyle, Scotland and is from the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe. Samuel's brother, also named John, was killed in the infamous Massacre of Glencoe on February 13, 1692.

It was my 7th great grandfather, Samuel Moor, who settled in Londonderry, New Hampshire, now Derry, New Hampshire in the 1720s. His son John followed a few years after him. Robert and Daniel were both born in New Hampshire. So I guess that makes me Scottish-Irish-American-Canadian-American. Anyway - -

There is that kind of "landed," when Samuel and John stepped off the ships onto the earth of the New World and then there is being granted land which, I suppose, is an odd interpretation of the theme "landed" but exactly how my Moore family wound up in Canada. They received a land grant. Now I can't actually find any documentation of a land grant but I have several published family histories that state such.

These include:

Moore, George Washington. 1925. Genealogy of the Moore family of Londonderry, New Hampshire and Peterborough, New Hampshire, 1648-1924.

History of Bedford New Hampshire from 1737: Being statistics compiled on the occasion of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the incorporation of the town, May 15, 1900.

And my favorite: 

Moore, J. Clifford. 1996. The life and times of a high school principal in rural Quebec. 

The consensus is that in 1802, when William and Eleanor were in their mid-to-late 30s, they left their home in Londonderry, New Hampshire and settled in Kinsey, Quebec. As French families moved into the area, the town's name was changed to its present day name, St. Felix-de-Kinsey. French Catholics like to slap a saint on to the places they live.

All that remains of their once beautiful farm and homestead is the Moore Family Cemetery across the road, along the east bank of the St. Francis River. In 1996, Clifford Moore noted in his book that the cemetery was still well maintained by the community. On my visit there in August of 2019 it did not appear to be well maintained.

However, it was an incredibly beautiful piece of land they lived on. This is the view of the St. Francis River from the grave of my great great grandfather, Daniel Sharp, and his mother Annie Moore-Sharp.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 8: "Courting" - great-great grandparents, Daniel Sharp and Lydia McLean-Sharp

Last week I wrote about my great-great grandfather, Daniel Sharp (1822-1896), and his maternal line, the Moore Family of Londonderry, New Hampshire. This week's theme of "Courting" brings me back to Daniel.

Daniel Sharp was born on March 18, 1822 to Annie Moore-Sharp (1782-1868) and Peter Sharp (1783-unknown). His second wife, my great-great grandmother, Lydia McLean-Sharp was born on September 15, 1868. Oh yeah, that's not a typo. When they married on July 25, 1891 Daniel was 69 years old; Lydia was 22. Three months later their first child, my great grandmother, Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner, was born. You do the math.

The Moore line is where my American Revolutionary War soldiers are; Colonel Daniel Moore and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moore. When I applied to become a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), I did so primarily to have a reputable lineage organization validate my research. No one on my line had gotten into the DAR before. Many members enter the organization based on the fact that their mother, or grandmother, were members. When you apply that way, you just have to document your connection to a previous member. I had to document my lineage all the way back to Colonel Daniel Moore. He was already an accepted Patriot but I had to document the birth, marriage, and death of 8 generations of my family.

1. Colonel Daniel Moore (1730-1811) married Ann Cox (1729-1804) begat

2. Eleanor Moore (1767-1836) m. William Moore (1763-1817) begat

3. Annie Moore (1786-1867) m. Peter Sharp (1783- unknown) begat

4. Daniel Sharp (1822-1898) m. Lydia McLean (1868- unknown) begat

5. Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp (1891-1961) m. Albert Gardner (1891-1946) begat

6. Clarence Albert Gardner (1927-2004) m. Marilyn Irene Fay (1931-1972) begat

7. my mom who married my dad 

8. and then me

Again, I had to include birth, marriage, and death record for every individual named above. Even with the marriage registration in hand the DAR questioned the validity of Daniel and Lydia's marriage. 

What young woman marries someone 47 years older her? 

Well, Lydia did. 

And they had 2 children together; my great grandmother Mayme and her younger brother, Daniel Sharp (1895-1974). 

My great-great grandfather, Daniel, had been married once before to a woman named Mary Ames. Little is known about her. She appears in the 1861 Census of Canada married to Daniel, as well as in the 1871 and 1881. She appears to have been approximately 9 years older than Daniel. She died on July 6, 1890 at the age of 78. 

In the 1891 Census of Canada, Daniel is living with Lydia but she is listed as his "niece". WHAT?!?! I'll explain. It should be noted first though, that on the date that census is taken, April 28, 1891, Daniel and Lydia are not yet wed and great grandma Mayme is not yet born.

So did Daniel marry his niece? Well, kind of.

Daniel's first wife, Mary Ames-Sharp (1812-1890), was the daughter of John Ames (1790-1819) and Hannah Lester-Ames (1796-unknown). After John died in 1819, Mary's mother Hannah remarried to Archibald McLean (1792-1884). 

See that McLean name? 

Yeah. 

Well, Archibald McLean and Hannah Lester-Ames-McLean are the grandparents of Lydia McLean-Sharp. Daniel Sharp, my great-great grandfather, married his first wife's half-brother's daughter. 

Such an arrangement, in my mind, was likely just that, an arrangement. Lydia, who was the daughter of Donald McLean (1821-unknown) and Elizabeth Walker-McLean (1842-1871), probably went to live with her uncle (well, half-uncle by marriage), after he was widowed. At that point Daniel was well into his 60s and Lydia was probably, initially, his caregiver. The one child he had with his first wife, also named Mary Sharp (1844-1869), died very young. Note that Lydia was significantly younger than Daniel's daughter would have been. Sheesh.

What was that courting like? 

Daniel would have been alone after his first wife died. Perhaps he married Lydia so that she could inherit his property. That being said though, she would have been about 6 months pregnant when they married. And they did have 2 children together. One would hope there was a loving relationship there. I hope there was but there are no accounts of the life they lived together. It is indeed a relationship I wonder about and I struggle to find out what happened to Lydia after Daniel passed in October 1896. 

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 6: "Maps" - 4th great grandmother, Lydia Ann Smith-Losee

I shared this map a few weeks ago. 

It is an 1873 map of the northern end of Freeport in a section that was once known as Greenwich Point. Now the area is Roosevelt. My 4rd great grandfather Leonard Losee and his son Leander Losee owned large tracts of land clearly indicated on the map; towards the bottom on the right side of the map.

Leonard's wife, Lydia Ann Smith-Losee, my 4th great grandmother, was born May 15, 1820 and died on December 31, 1887. She lived her life in what is now Freeport and Roosevelt, Long Island, New York. She married Leonard L. Losee (21 January 1817 - 21 November 1886) and together they raised 5 children: Mary Jane, John M., Benjamin Franklin, Leander L., and Sarah Elizabeth; all born between 1840 and 1856.

Many years ago it was brought to my attention that there was a Losee Family bible. I don't remember the cousin who had the bible in her possession. It was one of my Grandpa Earle's second cousins; that much I recall but I have photocopies of some of the pages of the bible that contained family history notes. 

They aren't good photocopies. These were made for me back in the early 1990's; back before people had scanning technologies in their own homes. Remember when you had to go to a place called a copy center, places like Kincos, and pay like a quarter to get a copy? What I wouldn't give to get my hands on that bible now. If for no other reason than to digitize these pages. 

Among the notes scrawled in that bible was a description on Lydia Losee's passing and funeral which included a list of her pallbearers. Rich detail. 

My photocopy looks like this:

Don't even try to read it. I cleaned it up digitally to look like this:

It reads:

Freeport Dec. 31/87
Lydia A. Losee departed 
this life at half past twelve
in the day the last day of the 
year of the month & week sat.  
funeral Jan 3 /88 at half past 
twelve at W. B. Seaman's house

This hair was taken from 

mothers head Dec 31/87

Greenfield Cemetery 

Mon Dec 19/87 mother commenced 

to feel bad went to bed wed 

21st 7 31 = Died & Mr Pesell 

tended the funeral services at 

Paulbarers Nelson Smith &

Mothers     Strangers

hair lite      Daniel Terry 

                  Noah Terry 

                  Henry Rhodes 

                  Alexander Smith

What does that have to do with the map? Well, this map shows where those bottom 4 pallbearers lived in proximity to the Losees. Pallbearers names are circled in red. Lydia's husband's property is circled in blue.

If you ask me, is very cool and says something very profound about community and the kindness of neighbors.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 5: "Branching Out" - Great-great grandparents Michael & Agnes Fay

For the last few years I have been working a lot with genetic genealogy. Mainly helping people find their biological parent or parents. In the summer of 2020 I decided I would dive more deeply into my own AncestryDNA results. My goal was to place 100 of my matches into my family tree. In order to do that, I most certainly had to expand my family tree; branch out as it were. I'll explain a little bit about how I did that.

Last week, though, I received an Ancestry message from a DNA match suggesting we might be 2nd or 3rd cousins based on what AncestryDNA suggested. Well, I already had built Cousin Lori in my tree and was able to quickly say, "Oh, we're 2nd cousins once removed on my mother's side." I Love it!

Ideally, Step 1: Make a fleshy tree! 

I really think it is best to do your DNA testing after you have developed a really fleshed out family tree. Get back at least to a few great-great grandparents and expand the tree by including everything you can find on your direct ancestors' siblings and their offspring. Make a fleshy tree!

I do realize though that it is not always the order in which genetic genealogy research comes into play. For example, I had a friend who had a good fleshy tree. He took an AncestryDNA test and linked it to his tree. And oddly, none of his matches popped up in ThruLines. 

ThruLines is a feature of AncestryDNA that shows you how you may be related to your DNA matches. It is based on information from your DNA matches' family trees. Now if you have been doing genealogy research for sometime you know how shitty some family trees can be. Lots of "researchers" just copy information from other people's trees without vetting the information themselves and backing it up with documentation. In short, you can't trust ThruLines. It might not place your DNA matches in the right place - - BUT once you link your DNA to your tree, ThruLines should recognize some of your direct ancestors in the trees (even shitty trees) of some of your DNA matches. For my friend it did not.

I had to break it to him that he was adopted. 48 years-old and the thought never crossed his mind. That is when genetic genealogy comes to play a bigger role. For most of us though, we aren't adopted and our fathers are our biological fathers. Thus, once you link your AncestryDNA results to your fleshy tree, ThruLines will show how some of your matches may be connected to you. If it doesn't, hate to break it to you but you're probably adopted or you have some bad research going on in your tree.

I generally, I did not use ThruLines to get my 100 matches in my tree though.

Step 2: Look at your match list.

That ethnicity pie chart is junk science if you ask me. It's interesting, sure, but it's not going to tell you who your great-great-great grandparents were or where they lived. I wish people would stop caring about estimates so much. Sure busted fender, need a kitchen remodeled, want to know how long the wait will be for dinner, go get all the estimates you want. Genealogy isn't an estimate.

And ThruLines I already discussed. 

You want to figure out who you have in common with each of your matches!

I am fortunate to have a lot of known family members who have tested through AncestryDNA. Let me count... 43! 43 of my DNA matches on Ancestry are people that I have either spoken to face-to-face in-person during my lifetime or conducted online genealogy research with and expected to see in my DNA results. That's a lot. Then again though, it is a big family.

When you open your match list, Ancestry now asks you if you know the person. You want to fill that out if you can.

Step 3: Link the known family members into your tree!

You should know almost everyone in the following groups: Parent/Child, Full Siblings, and Close Family. 

Towards the bottom of the Close Family group there might be a few people you don't know; typically some cousins of your parents or some second cousins wind up there. Second cousins are people with whom you have the same great grandparents in common. A majority of your Parent/Child, Full Siblings, and Close Family should already be in your fleshy tree. If not, maybe your tree isn't really that fleshy. Go flesh it up! Or maybe we need to have that heart-to-heart.

When you click on the name of a match in the list, it opens their DNA profile.

Next to their name you'll see a symbol which to me looks like the face of the Man in the Moon; a circle with a little pedigree shaped Y and a plus sign. Like this: 

Right? Looks like the Man in the Moon's face, doesn't it? Well, that is what I see. Anyway...

Once you click on that, a panel will open to the right and you can search for the person in your tree. If they are in your tree, it will link the match to the tree. 

Done!

Wait! What about the other 57 people that I worked into my tree that I didn't know in real life??

Well - - - 

This is when the work starts!

Step 4: Look at their linked and unlinked trees.

Sometimes Ancestry will show you that you and your match have a common ancestor in your respective trees. That will look like this:

Examine their trees. Build their line down into your tree from the ancestor you have in common down to the person you match to. Making sure you review their connected documents, etc. Build them right in. THEN you can use that "Man in the Moon"-tool and connect that match to your tree.

That technique added about another 30 linked DNA matches.

The remaining 27 to 30, you ask. Well about a dozen or so had unlinked trees that or "unavailable" trees. It took a few more clicks then to open their trees and look around for our possible common ancestors.

The additional dozen required much more work to link them to my tree. I had to apply the Leeds Method, look at what shared matches we had, email some of them, snoop for them on social media, etc. I used a bunch of techniques but you can do this. YES you can!

AGAIN, Branch out! 

Explore the siblings of your direct ancestors through documentation. Add them into your tree.

So, when my 2nd cousins once removed on my mother's side reached out to me because we had a DNA match - - remember her, back in paragraph 2 - - Cousin Lori - - she was already in my tree because I "branched out." 

Based on her Ancestry tree, which was not linked to her DNA, I could see exactly who we had in common; Michael Fay (October 1852-  13 January 1915) & Agnes Joyce-Fay (12 August 1865 - 12 December 1933), my great-great grandparents.

The Family of Michael & Agnes Fay

Michael Fay, my great great grandfather, was born in Saugerties, New York in October 1852 to Lawrence Fay and Bridget Kelly (or Kelley)-Fay who were both born in Ireland. Based on census records and records from St. Mary of the Snows Roman Catholic Church in Saugerties, New York, I believe that Lawrence and Bridget had 7 other children after Michael from about 1854 to 1869: Thomas, James, John, Martha, Joseph, Anne, and Lawrence J.

Agnes Joyce-Fay, Michael's wife and my great great grandmother, was the daughter of John Aloysius Joyce (11 February 1829 - 30 September 1910) and Mary Ann O’Neil-Joyce (about 1829 - 11 January 1911), again, both of whom were born in Ireland. Agnes was the youngest of their five Joyce children. Her four older siblings were named James, John, Mary, and Gertrude; all born between 1854 and 1863. 

Michael and Agnes Joyce-Fay had six children of their own: Leo (28 January 1888 – 27 January 1819), Anna (3 February 1889 – 5 February 1819), James (my great grandfather - 11 February 1893 - 1 October 1964), Mary Ann (17 June 1897 – 1965), George (7 October 1898 – 6 April 1976), and Agnes (April 1900 – unknown). 

This is what I mean by "branching out" and making a "fleshy tree". I had all these siblings in my tree when Cousin Lori contacted me. I descend from Michael and Agnes's son, James. Cousin Lori descends from their son George. I had already had documents attached to George including his marriage record and census records identifying his children. Years before I had already communicated with other cousins from this line. So although I don't "know" Cousin Lori, she was already in my tree thanks to that DNA match and good old fashion genealogy research through documentation.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 4: "Curious" - Grandma Gardner's Side

I am struggling with this week's theme of Curious. I'm not sure how to interpret it. I am curious about all sorts of things, especially history. Not just my own personal family history but history in general. How did things get to be the way they are today? is always a question on my mind. I think I do genealogy research because I am curious. 

So I have been staring at my family tree pondering which one of my direct ancestors I am most curious about. They all make me curious. I'd have to say I'm probably most curious about my mother's maternal side. My grandmother, Marilyn Irene Fay-Gardner (29 August 1931 - 5 June 1972), passed away before I was born. In June it will be 50 years since she died, which, on a positive note, means I can order her New York State Death Certificate. I already have the form filled out. (These are things genealogist say.) She was so young; only a few months shy of 41. I'm definitely older than her now. 

Her youthful passing creates a void in many ways. It leaves me with little connection to her family history. I don't have any of her family stories really, not from her mouth at least. I have researched her side of my tree extensively though. Connected with a few researching cousins. Yet still, there is an absence felt there; an absence filled with curiosity I suppose.

Grandma Gardner's ancestry presents my most exotic ethnicity. I am American but ethnically speaking, well, I'm White American. Kind of a mutt. My ancestors were mostly waspy white Early Americans, Irish Catholics, and Canadians (French, Scottish, and English). Pale people. Kind of bland really. I mean no disrespect to those ethnicities or lines of my family tree but I learned something about all those regions in grade school. 

Grandma Gardner was 1/2 Irish (on her paternal side, the Fays and the Joyces), 1/4 German (the Krantzels), and 1/4 Czech. Yeah - Czech. Exciting right? 

I was always told by my mother that the Prince Family was Polish but all documentation shows my great-great grandfather, John Prince Jr., was born Jan Prinz on May 2, 1853 in Jungwozic, Bohemia which was part of Austria, then it was Czechoslovakia for a while, and now it is known as Mladé Vožici in the Czech Republic. 

I didn't know anything about that region of the world except it's landlocked. I have so many sea captains and sailor is my family history but I suffer terrible motion sickness. So part of me thinks my landlubbering is derived from my Czech ancestors. Although, they made it here by ship so maybe not.

I also know that WWI and WWII impacted the area tremendously, shifted all their borders around. That made for a good puzzle in my search for Czech records for my Prince ancestors. 

I recall the first time I saw the name of the town of John's birth. It was on his New York City Marriage Certificate from 1881, a relatively early vital record for NYC's vital records. At the time I had a colleague who loved to visit the Czech Republic and I asked him if he could figure out with me where the town was on a map. And sure enough, through all the boarder changes and city name changes, he found it.

It was not much longer after that when I found a cousin on Ancestry researching John's parents, Jan Prinz (14 May 1826 - 22 May1888) & Franciska Preis-Prinz (17 November 1830 - 29 November 1902). Cousin Carol is my 3rd cousin once removed, meaning we share that couple, my 3rd great-grandparents, in common.

In 2013, Cousin Carol made the trip to our common ancestors' home town in the Czech Republic. Although Cousin Carol shared a great deal about her trip, including photos and genealogical finds, I think I am most curious to see the place for myself and walk the road my ancestors traveled. 

So yeah, I guess I am just curious about it all.

52 Ancestors Challenge Week 3: "Favorite Photo" - 3rd great grandpa John Losee Sr.

I love this photo.



The little boy is my Grandpa Earle's brother, Allen Preston Earle (17 March 1916 - 8 November 1956). The older man is his great grandfather, my 3rd great grandfather, John M. Losee Sr. (17 August 1841 - 10 February 1918).

Aside from the fact that not too many people have an image of their 3rd great grandparent, I know almost exactly where and when this photo was taken. That is part of why is it one of my favorite photos.

It was taken at either present-day 56 or 60 Stevens Street in Freeport, Long Island, New York. If I thought the owners would let me wander around their properties to line up a recreation of the photo, I bet I could find the exact spot.

The Losee family owned that property for a long time and that house is still standing. John Sr.'s father, Leonard Losee, owned that property as far back as 1873 according to a historic map of the area. That block is very close to a dividing line between the towns of Roosevelt and Freeport, but at one time the area was called Greenwich Point. I suspect they may have owned it even longer than that but that is the oldest map I have seen.

The Losees sold the property to a developer, Albin Johnson, in about 1912 but family resided on the land well into the 1930s. That is where John Sr.'s daughter, Georgianna Losee, was living at the time of her death on November 29, 1935 at the age of 69.

As for the date on which this photo was taken, there is a very small window as to when it could have been taken. Allen was born on March 17, 1916 and John died on February 10, 1918. Only 696 days have lapsed between those 2 dates. It looks to me as though Allen is over a year old. He's not in summer clothes, in fact, they are kind of bundled up; John has gloves on. So I am guessing it was taken in the Fall of 1917 or a nice warm winter day shortly before John's death.

What I really love about it is the fact that its a casual, candid photo of a smiling little one hanging out on a log with his great grandpa and a dog. Just chillin'.