52 Ancestors Week 33- Charles Louis Tavernier Sr

I spent the better part of half a year researching my Belgian ancestors. I got pretty good at figuring out both the French and Dutch records. This ancestor threw me a little though, since both father and son have the same name. Also, I know very little about his life

Charles Louis Tavernier (Sr.) is one of at least three children of Joseph Tavernier and Barbe Wanters. He was born 17 June 1833 in Grotenberge, East Flanders, Belgium.

On 3 March 1862 he married Adelle Joseph Leblon in Montignies-sur-Sambre, Hainaut, Belgium. Together they had 4 children.

He died, probably after 1900, but I haven't yet found his death record.



*****
Parents
Joseph Tavernier 1800–?
Barbe Wanters 1803–?

Siblings
Telagia Tavernier 1831–?
Hortense Tavernier 1837–?

Spouse
Adelle Joseph Leblon  1837–?

Children
Francois Tavernier  1865–1900
Lambertine Tavernier 1866–?
Charles Louis Tavernier 1869–1919
Marie Tavernier 1872–1892

Northwest Genealogy Conference 2015

I wasn't going to go to the Northwest Genealogy Conference this year. It is a 3 day event, I have kids that need looking after, life happens... But when my father said he wanted to go too, and my mom would babysit, how could I say no. And I'm so glad I did. Each days keynote speakers where great, I learned a lot of interesting things, and I got to geek-out with my dad over our family history.

The day 1 main speaker was Angela Packer McGhie. Her first talk was about research plans. She showed us how to write and use them, and introduced the Genealogical Proof Standard. My first break-out class was from Elissa Powell about using the census, and finding clues to lead us to other resources to explore. Then we had another talk by Angela McGhie about Federal Land Records. This is something I haven't delved into too much, but I certainly will look into it further because I know several of my ancestors had federal land grants.
After lunch we heard Angela McGhie talk about using local historic newspapers. She gave several good sources for finding them, and the things you can find in them. For the afternoon break-out I went to Cyndi Ingle's class on mapping online. It's good to know there are great resources to find historic maps, and software to map locations and migrations. The final talk of the day by Angela McGhie was all about the FamilySearch Wiki. There is lots of information on that wiki and good links to find even more.

Day 2 was focused on DNA. CeCe Moore was the main speaker. She started off the day talking about the basics of using genetics in genealogy. A surprisingly large number of people at the conference had already done dna testing, so this helped them figure out what some of that information meant. My first breakout class was from Cyndi Ingle about foreign language tools. I have used many of the tools she talked about while researching my Belgian roots, but she also showed us a few I hadn't heard of. CeCe Moore then spoke about Ethnicity Estimates in DNA reports and how accurate they are and are not.
After lunch she talked about autosomal DNA and chromosome mapping. It was very interesting to learn just how much you can really find out about how you inherited different traits. Then I listened to Steven Morrison talk about the more ancient genetic roots of people in the British Isles. And we finished the day with CeCe Moore talking about various work she's done with the TV show Finding Your Roots. A lot more goes on behind the scenes than you may ever see on TV.

Day 3 was all about Courthouse research. We heard from Judy Russell, the Legal Genealogist, about what to expect and do for your first trip to the courthouse. I've never actually set foot in a courthouse, so this was interesting to me. Then I heard Cari Taplin talk about using county histories to enrich your research. And we learned to take everything with a grain of salt, because they were often written by the person highlighted, and paid to be in the book. Then Judy Russell talked about probate and will records when there is and isn't a will.
After lunch Judy Russell again talked to us about how to use court records in your research, even if the people aren't in your family. They can give great insight into the lives of people in the area, the cost of living, and give extra clues to family relations (and be really funny at times). Then I listened to Jill Morelli talk about house histories, and how to find out who owned the house in the past and what improvements may have been made (in more recent past). And we ended the conference with Jean Wilcox Hibben talking about evaluating your sources. Often times sources conflict and how do you know which to believe, you can evaluate the source, the reasons behind it and who reported it, and figure out possible reasons people may have changed birth or name information for example.

One thing I like about this conference, other than it's close proximity to where I live, is that they give us all the handouts/syllabuses for all the classes, whether we go to them or not. This really helps ease the pain of not being able to go to all the classes we may want to. I still have lots of stuff to read and process from what I learned over the weekend. But first I have to figure out which dna test I want to take and which courthouse record needs looking for :)


52 Ancestors Week 32- Pieter Francis DeValkeneer

So far in this 52 Ancestors challenge I have completed a profile on all of my great-grandparents, and my great-great-grandparents. Now I have moved on to my 3x great-grandparents. Each person has 32 of these, and it's week 32, so that's the theme.

One of my 3x great-grandparents is Pieter Francis DeValkeneer. Until 2 years ago we didn't know who this was. We had information about his son Cyrille, but not who his father was. Then someone on one of the many helpful genealogy sites mentioned that the Belgian Archives had a website, and while it has much of the same digital images as Family Search, they are broken down into more manageable chunks to look through, and they have a few more of them. So, I looked through these images and found lots of information on my Belgian roots, including who my 3x great-grandparents were on that side of the family.

Pieter Francis DeValkeneer was born on April 18, 1815, in Sint-Martens-Lierde, Belgium. He was the son of Catharina Van Den Bossche and Judocus DeValkeneer. Just over a year after his birth, Pieter's father died, and his mother died when he was 14.

On July 5, 1848, in Sint-Maria-Lierde, Belgium, Pieter married Joanna Catherina Casteleyn. Because Pieter was an orphan, both sets of his grandparents were named in his marriage record (score!).

Together Pieter and Catherina had 4 children, of which Cyrille (my 2x great-grandfather) was the youngest.

I don't yet know when he died, but I'm still looking.

*******
Parents
Judocus DeValkeneer 1782–1816
Catharina Van Den Bossche 1787–1829

Spouse:
Joanna Catherina Casteleyn 1817–?


Children:
Anna Theresia DeValkeneer 1849–1869
Vitalis DeValkeneer 1851–?
Renilde DeValkeneer 1853–?
Cyrille DeValkeneer 1856–1941

52 Ancestors Week 31- Mark Merryweather

This weeks theme is "Easy". So I chose one of the ancestors that has been researched by several people before me. When your family is Mormon, chances are there is at least one genealogist in the bunch, and they have done some of the work for you, making it easy to find.

Mark Merryweather was born on October 24, 1836, in Newton, England to Martha Gray and George "Mathew" Merryweather. He was child number 7 out of 8 born in that family.

Mark Merryweather married Sarah Ann Thick on April 3, 1858, in Newton, England. They had 9 children.



According to the book of remembrance of Gayle Preston Wood, Mark was a detective for the Scotland Yard; I have not found evidence to support or refute this claim.

Mark Merryweather died on April 14, 1879, in Wiltshire, England, when he was 42 years old.

*****
Parents
George "Mathew" Merryweather 1795–1868
Martha Gray 1797–1876

Siblings
Daniel Merryweather 1820–1843
Hester (Esther) Merryweather 1821–?
Lot Merryweather 1824–1905
Anna Merryweather 1825–1828
Luke Merryweather 1830–1909
George Merryweather 1834–?
Martha Merryweather 1837–?

Spouse
Sarah Ann Thick 1833–1894

Children
Walter Mark Merryweather1859–1922
Sarah Kate Merryweather 1861–1869
Frank Hyrum Merryweather 1864–1947
Ernest Alfred Merryweather 1867–1867
Minnie Merryweather 1869–1875
Albert Edwin Merryweather 1871–1947
Eva Kate Merryweather 1873–1952
Annie Minnie Merryweather 1875–1902
Ernest Alfred Merryweather 1878–1879

52 Ancestors Week 30 - Elizabeth Croffts

This weeks theme over at No Story Too Small is "Challenging". Until a couple months ago I didn't even know the name of my 3rd great-grandmother. It was challenging to find the information needed to even find her name. And once I ordered the records from England, it was challenging to wait for them to come in the mail! Now that I know who she is, I can move on finding out more about her. Here is what I know so far.

Elizabeth Croffts was born in Hawarden, Wales around 1815. Some time in the 1830's or early 1840's, in Wales, she married Thomas Edwards (who may have been a widow with some children). Elizabeth, Thomas, and children moved to Monk Hesleden, Durham, England to work in the coal mines sometime between 1845 and 1847. According to various census records, we have identified 9 children in this family.

She died sometime after 1881, the last census she is found in (possibly died in 1890 in Easington, England).




******
Parents and sbilings:
unknown so far

Spouse:
Thomas Edwards (1817-?)

Children:
John Edwards (1836–?)
Thomas Edwards (1838–?)
Joseph Edwards (1840–?)
Sarah Edwards (1842–?)
Ann Edwards (1845–?)
Margaret Edwards (1847–?)
Edward Edwards (1848–1923)
William Edwards (1850–?)
Peter Edwards (1853–?)

52 Ancestors Week 29 - Isaac Carpenter

Isaac Carpenter was born on May 15, 1826 in Beaver, Guernsey County, Ohio. Isaac was the son of Richard Carpenter and Mary Carpenter (cousins).
Isaac Carpenter married Sarah A. "Sally" Brown on July 14, 1853, in Noble County, Ohio. Together they had 7 children. In the middle of those children there is a 3 year age gap right in the middle of the Civil War. There are 3 Isaac Carpenters found in the war records from Ohio, one of them could be him.
Isaac Carpenter died on February 21, 1905, in Ohio City, Ohio, when he was 78 years old.



*******
Parents
Richard Carpenter (1800–1863)
Mary Carpenter (1800–1831)

Siblings
Zephaniah Carpenter (1823–1901)
Hannah C. Carpenter (1824–1893)
Richard C. (R. C. C.) Carpenter (1827–1918)

Spouse
Sarah A. "Sally" Brown (1835–1907)

Children:
Mary Jane Carpenter (1854–1913)
John Francis Carpenter (1855–1894)
William Silas Carpenter (1857–1921)
Nancy Samantha (Amanda) Carpenter (1860–1917)
Isaac Vincent Carpenter (1862–1951)
Lavina J. Carpenter (1865–?)
Sarah Lufama Carpenter (1868–1958)

52 Ancestors Week 28- Sarah Brown

Sarah "Sally" Brown was born April 12, 1835, in Guernsey County, Ohio. She was the oldest child of Abraham "Abel" Brown and Jane Miller. She lived her whole live in Guernsey and Noble counties in Ohio.

She married Isaac Carpenter on July 14, 1853, in Noble County, Ohio, when she was 18 years old. Together they had 7 children.


Sarah Brown Carpenter died on June 19, 1907, in Noble, Ohio, when she was 72 years old.

*****
 Parents:
Abraham "Abel" Brown (1813–1888)
Jane Miller (1815–1890)

Siblings:
Uriah Brown (1835–?)
Joseph Brown (1837–?)
Mary E. Brown (1837–1936)
Nancy Brown (1840–?)
Samantha Brown (1840–?)
John Brown (1841–?)
Edward Brown (1846–1927)
Squire Brown (1847–1918)
Abel Brown (1849–1930)
James Brown (1853–?)
Jane Brown (1856–1934)
Amos Brown (1857–1919)
William Brown (?)

Spouse:
Isaac Carpenter (1826–1905)

Children:
Mary Jane Carpenter (1854–1913)
John Francis Carpenter (1855–1894)
William Silas Carpenter (1857–1921)
Nancy Samantha (Amanda) Carpenter (1860–1917)
Isaac Vincent Carpenter 1862–1951)
Lavina J. Carpenter (1865–?)
Sarah Lufama Carpenter (1868–1958)