A Close-up Look at One Brick-Wall Mother

Combining two #52Ancestors challenges ("Close Up" and "Mother's Day") with this month's Genealogy Blog Party theme of "Marvelous Mothers," I thought it would be fun to take a closer look at a particular brick-wall mother on my husband's tree.

Eleanor Kenny (1762-1841) was hubby's 4th great-grandma. She is intriguing because, according to some family trees, she is shown as the daughter of James Kenny, a private in the Cumberland County (PA) militia who died during the Revolutionary War in 1784. He served in the 7th Co., 1st Battalion of this militia.

Eleanor's father (hubby's 5th great-grandpa) would be the first direct family connection to that war, if this is the right Eleanor and right James Kenny.

Now, before you say "grain of salt," this James Kenny's will specifically lists his daughter "Elinor Kenny" (she wasn't yet married). That's not enough, of course, but consider that one of the witnesses was . . . Brice Smith, who married Eleanor Kenny one year after her father died. Seems more likely that this is hubby's family after all.

The only other clues I currently have about Eleanor Kenny are:

• Her marriage to Brice Smith took place on Aug. 23, 1785 in Carlisle, Cumberland county, PA. The Family Search transcription of the original ledger is shown above.
• She is mentioned (as "Elenor") in her husband's will of 1828. So she was clearly alive when he died.
• She is buried in Driver Cemetery, Bremen, Fairfield county, Ohio, alongside her husband. The Find A Grave memorial provided her birth/death dates and shows her as "Ellen Smith."

So very possibly this James Kenny is hubby's 5th great-granddaddy and his only ancestor who we know fought in the Revolutionary War. And I discovered this link by taking a closer look at his probable daughter Eleanor, an elusive brick-wall mother on my husband's tree.

Remembering Little Sis with Love

On what would have been my youngest sister's birthday ...

 ... remembering her with love.

War Memorial Honor Roll Project: Woodbury, Connecticut

Memorial Day is only a month away, which means it's time to photograph and transcribe war memorials so I can participate in Heather Wilkinson Rojo's Honor Roll Project.

This year, I'm paying tribute to the service of men and women from Woodbury, Connecticut. The neat little town green is the setting for plaques honoring those who served during three wars.

At top, the memorial that honors those from Woodbury, CT who served in Vietnam. Their names, as inscribed above, are:

Alba, Louis G.                   Anderson, Mark E.            Bacon, William Jr.
Barry, Kevin G.                 Benjamin, John D.             Brown, Edward C.
Brown, Thomas M.           Brownell, Thomas D.        Burmeister, Richard R.
Cacy, Thomas E.               Carroll, Peter J.                  Cassidy, Brian J.
Castings, Walter J.            Churchill, James H.            Cole, Arthur R.
Cole, Donald E.                Connelly, Joseph F.            Coppola, Andrew F.
Creighton, David B.         Curtiss, Alan C.                  Daury, James P.
Eyre, Harry D., Jr.            Eyre, Stephen B.                 Faraci, William S.
Garrick, Edmund J.          Geraci, Joe L.                     Geraci, Richard J.
Green, Kenneth G.           Hoffman, Theodore A.        Hollister, Gordon E.
Hotchkiss, Berkeley W.    Hoxley, Martin D.               Huff, Harold C.
Jasper, Carl S.                   Jefferson, David W.            Jensen, Linda S.
Jones, K. Nickerson          Jones, Steven W.                Judson, David P.
Judson, Donald H.            Judson, Ronald P.               Kelleher, Robert D.
Koeppel, Robert A.          Leavenworth, Jeffrey M.    Leigh, David F.
Lonegan, Daniel P.           Marquis, Gene D.               Maxwell, Barry W.
Maxwell, Philip D.           Neal, Harris G.                   Neal, Leslie R.
Newell, Charles R.            Newell, Edward W.           Newell, Wales A.
Norton, Frank L.               Peck, Hiram W.                 Pond, J. Lawrence
Quint, Donald P.               Quint, Michael G.              Rehkamp, George M.
Rehkamp, Ronald D.        Richards, Donald W.          Roberts, Dennis A.
Rogers, Christopher C.     Rowell, James P.                Ryan, Robert F.
Scherer, Celester C.          Scherer, Martin A.             Seymour, Terry R.
Shanny, David E.              Taff, Frederick S.              Talarico, Thomas J.
White, John F.                   Winus, Richard J.              Woodward, Charles S.
Woodward, Lawrence S.   Woodward, Thomas M.

Nearby is the plaque paying tribute to the men and women of Woodbury, CT, who were in the Korean War. Their names are:

Abbott, Frank K.                                Clark, John E.
Cole, Norman F.                                 Cole, Walter H.
Cowles, Robert B.                              Creighton, E. Donald
Deschino, John J.                               Drakeley, George M.   
Fawcett, Edward F.                            Hardisty, Chester C.
Hellwinkle, Ronald F.                        Judson, Melvin P.
Metcalf, Fred L.                                 Phillips, Edward W.
Rehkamp, Dr. Charles J.                    Robinson, Kenneth L.
Robinson, Richard H.                         Terrell, Donald W.
Warner, Thomas H.

The plaque above is one of two honoring people from Woodbury, CT who served during World War II. This is A through N, with an asterick denoting those who were killed in action.

On this plaque are listed:

Abbott, H. Ellsworth                 Atwood, Gilbert               Atwood, Henry S.
Atwood, Kenneth                      Balch, George F.              Barnes, Randall C.
Bassett, George G.                    Bassett, Harold E.            Beauregard, Howard F.
Belz, Mary E. (nurse)               Bennett, Sherwood           Bergensten, L.J.
Bowker, Ruth N. (nurse)          Bradley, Kenneth A.         Brown, Charles E.
Brunet, Richard D.                   Brunet, William M.           Bull, David
Burdick, Elward C.                   Burdick, Harold              Burton, William J. Jr. *
Bynack, Joseph G.                    Cable, George                  Cable, Louis D.
Carlisle, David                          Cassidy, J. Donald           Cassidy, Joseph J.
Cassidy, Marjorie E. (WAC)    Cassidy, Paul F.                Chatfield, Robert E.
Churchill, Howard                   Coats, John E.                   Coey, Albert L.
Cole, Ferris E.                           Cole, Francis P.               Cooper, Ralph E.
Cooper, Earl D.                        Cooper, James R.              Cowles, Paul G.
Crane, Robert T.                      Crighton, David B.           Cunningham, Harold W.
Daury, Vincent P.                     Davidson, James H.          Dawson, John
Dawson, Richard                      Decker, E. Norton, Jr.      Decker, Robert S.
Dillon, James *                        Dillon, Richard                  Drake, Arthur W.
Drakeley, Robert I.,  Jr.            Duda, Casimir J. *            Duda, Peter A.
Dyer, Carroll L.                       Elting, Charles E.               Elting, Stewart E.
Eyre, Alfred G.                        Eyre, Harry D.                    Eyre, Stanley B.
Ferrell, John W.                        Fegen, Charles W. * .        Fleming, William P.
Fray, Ralph                            Fray, Robert                       Frazier, Charlotte (nurse)
Freeman, Arthur                    Gardiner, Shirley B.            Giggey, Kempton L.
Gillis, Carter E. (chaplain)    Goodrich, Ruth H.               Graham, Leslie W. *
Green, Ernest H.                    Green, George A.                 Green, Robert
Griswold, Hobart W.              Hahn, William A., Jr.          Harriman, Charles S. Jr.
Harriman, Ellen                      Hirsch, Arthur Z.                Hirsch, Charles E.
Hirsch, Clifford B.                  Hogan, Michael J.              Hohimer, Ernest
Hower, William D.                  Johnson, Clifford M.         Judson, Donald F.
Kalesky, John C. *                  Karagulla, Selim M.           Kenny, John *
King, Arthur C.                     King, Charles W.               Klatka, Catherine (nurse)
Knox, Delmar A.                  Koch, Edgar M.                  Kozenieski, Lloyd M.
Laukaitis, Anthony               Lavery, James                     Leach, John
Leesemann, Frederick W.     Lewis, Warren                    Lizauskas, Stanley
Lundin, David J.                   Lundin, Frank G.                Lucas, Frances A.
Lyon, Frank C.                      Lyon, James G.                  Macbeth, S. Alexander
MacCallum, John *               Mansfield, Paul H.            Manzi, Edward J.
Manzi, Roland                       Manzi, Vincent D.           Markham, Fred. A. Jr.
Markham, Hurlburt A.        Markle, Raymond D. MD  Martinson, William F.
Marvin, Everett D., Jr.         Mason, Howard F.R. Jr.     May, Russell C.
Michaels, Richard W.          Miller, Robert E.                 Miller, Vincent A.
Minor, Emerson *                Minor, Lewis R.                  Morgan, Addis W.
Morgan, Henry                   Morris, Hobart D.               Morris, Vernon H.
Mosevage, Anthony J.       Mosevage, George W.         Munson, Richard S.
Munson, William L., Jr      Murphy, Franklin                Nichols, Joel L.
Nutting, Parker B.

The WWII plaque honoring those who served from Woodbury, with surnames P through Z, lists the following servicemen and servicewomen:

Pagano, Anthony            Pastore, William E.            Pearson, James E.
Pearson, Robert R.          Peck, Hiram W., Jr.            Petruzzi, Marco
Petruzzi, Michael             Phelan, Robert L.               Phillips, John M.
Phillips, Thomas J.           Pinard, Alton H.                  Platt, Alfred H.
Pond, Sebastian L.           Quint, Carmen G. (nurse)  Quint, Carleton L.
Quint, Donald H. *          Quint, Franklin E.               Racenet, Amelie H. (nurse)
Racenet, J. Ernest           Reichenbach, Frank (MD) *  Reichenbach, Herbert I.
Rice, Roy E.                     Richards, David K.               Richards, James H. Jr.
Richards, Robert K.         Richardson, Phillip E.            Riese, Frederick K.
Robinson, Walter A.        Savage, David W.                  Schmidt, Clifford
Scott, Joseph M.              Sears, Richard A.                  Sharp, Charles M.
Shaw, Raymond W.          Sherwood, Albert C.          Sherwood, Charles C.
Shippee, Harold E.           Slattery, Frances P.             Slattery, James J.
Smith, Allen G.               Smith, Carleton E.               Smith, Edward
Smith, Robert G.              Smith, Walter E.                 Snyder, Melvin L.
Somers, Harold               Starr, Robert F.                   Stevens, Fannie P. (Marines)
Stockwell, Charles         Strattman, Dwight              Strever, Charles W.
Sturges, Edward B.         Sturges, George R.             Sweeney, Bernard J. *
Sweeney, Lawrence W.   Talarico, Joseph                  Talarico, Louis
Talarico, Thomas             Taylor, Raymond                 Thomas, Ferris F.
Thompson, David        Thompson, Louise J. (WAVE)   Titus, Howard
Tomlinson, James H.      Towne, Ernest H. Jr.               Travers, Sherwood W.
Underwood, H. Gilbert   Underwood, Homer R.         Voytershark, Frank P.
Walcott, C. James           Wallace, Raymond D. *      Walston, Harvey D.
Weeden, Willis M.           Weeks, Carnes, Jr.              Weeks, Robert
Westerlund, Charles H.   Westerlund, Harry F.        Weymer, Russell W.
Wilson, Herbert R.          Wilson, Robert L.            Wolcott, George
Wooden, Paul M.           Yurkunas, Kasimir           
Farrell, John J.
McConville, Marion
Weeks, Carnes
Cam, John H.
Coe, Albert B.

Sad Family History Buried in Oceola #2

A few years ago, hubby and I took a genealogy trip to Ohio to see where his Steiner ancestors lived and pay our respects at their burial sites.

Tucked away in a less-traveled part of Crawford County, Ohio, was Oceola #2 Cemetery, shown above. Since this week's #52Ancestors challenge by Amy Johnson Crow is all about cemeteries, I'm looking back at our time there.

Edward George Steiner (1830-1880) and Elizabeth Jane Rinehart (1834-1905) were my husband's maternal great-grandparents. They were born, married, and lived their entire lives in Ohio. Both are buried in historic Old Mission Cemetery, Nevada, Wyandot county, OH, a couple of miles away from Oceola #2.

Most but not all of Edward and Elizabeth Steiner's 9 children are also buried in Old Mission Cemetery. And yes, that's the cemetery where the famous gravestone for Christiana Haag is located--the stone showing her death date as February 31. (Of course, like everybody else, I took a photo as a reminder that gravestones are not necessarily correct!)

Once we left Old Mission Cemetery and located Oceola #2 (a bit off the beaten track), we found the gravestones for two other children born to Edward and Elizabeth. Sad to say, their eldest, "infant son Steiner," was born and died on October 23, 1852. Their second child, Elvaretta, was born some time in 1854 and unfortunately died on February 17, 1855.

As heartbreaking as those little grave sites were, we already knew that, thankfully, the next child born to the Steiner family was a son who lived to be 80 years old!

Celtic Connections Conference in Boston, Aug 10-11

If only my hubby's Irish and Scots-Irish ancestors had been more considerate about leaving clues! Identifying who, what, when, and where is why we need genealogy events like the Celtic Connections Conference in Boston, scheduled for August 10-11 at the Boston Newton Marriott Hotel.

Sponsored by the Irish Ancestral Research Association and the Irish Genealogical Society International, this star-studded conference features two days of lectures about Irish, Scots-Irish, Scottish, and Welsh genealogy, DNA, and culture. Arrive on Friday and stay till Saturday for the 33 lectures, and the chance to network with other genealogy researchers.

Among the many experts who will be speaking are:

• Audrey Collins: "Tracing Irish Ancestors in The National Archives – in England"
• Dr. Bruce Durie: "Scottish Records You Cannot Get on Ancestry.com"
• Nora Galvin: "Mapping Your Ancestral Home in Ireland Using Google Earth"
• Maurice Gleeson: "Using Y-DNA to Research Your Surname"
• Christine Woodcock: "In Search of Your Scottish Ancestors: Search Your Roots, Discover Your Heritage"

The early-bird registration discount ends on June 4th, so click over to the conference website to take a look. And as a bonus, conference registration includes a ticket to the New England Historical Genealogical Society in Boston!

Do the "Write" Thing for Genealogy: Set the Stage

Harold Burk proposed to Daisy Schwartz on the last day of 1945 - a wintery, snowy day!

When writing family history, we can help our readers envision the lives of our ancestors (and what influenced their actions and decisions) by "setting the stage."

This week's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow, about "storms," is a perfect prompt for setting the stage. I've been researching how weather affected my ancestors, to make the everyday lives of my ancestors more vivid and add drama to my family history.

Setting the Stage for My Parents' Engagement

I wanted to know what the weather was like on the final evening of 1945, when my parents (Harold Burk and Daisy Schwartz) got engaged. They had been dating since mid-October--just a couple weeks after Harold got out of the Army. Daisy hoped and believed that he would pop the question soon, and he chose that special night to propose.

Because both my parents were living in New York City, I researched the weather by clicking on Weather Underground's history tab. I entered the location (you can enter any city) and then the date of December 31, 1945. The result: It was a cold day (low of 28, high of 39 degrees F), but not windy. Just under a quarter-inch of snow fell that day. I can use this info when writing about my father proposing to my mother on a wintery New Year's Eve, with a dusting of snow all around. Sounds like a romantic setting, doesn't it?

Who Lived Through the Blizzard of 1888?

Another way to "set the stage" in family history is to consider who might have been affected by a terrible storm like the Blizzard of 1888. It came on suddenly, and dumped lots of snow on my ancestors who lived in New York City on Sunday, March 11, 1888. In fact, the city was paralyzed. Who in my family's past got caught in this snowstorm?

My paternal great-grandparents, Meyer Elias Mahler and Tillie Jacobs Mahler, were then living on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, in a tenement on Chrystie Street. Their second son, Morris Mahler, was born on Sunday, February 27, 1888--exactly two weeks before the Blizzard.

Did the heat stay on as the snow piled up? Did the family have enough food? How many days were they forced to stay inside until the city got the streets cleared? I don't know the answers to these questions, but raising them is a good way to show how ancestors were real people coping with real (and very challenging) situations.

The Hail Storm That Brought My Family to New York

Moritz Farkas

My maternal great-grandpa, Moritz Farkas, supervised farmland and vineyards for his family and in-laws in Hungary. One year, he saved money by not buying crop insurance. That was the year a big hail storm destroyed the crops. Financially ruined, Moritz left for America and never returned. His wife followed him to New York City a year later, and they sent for their children to join them.

So a huge hail storm in Hungary set the stage for my family's journey across the ocean. If not for hail, I might not be here today to keep these family memories alive for the next generation.

For more ideas about bringing family history to life and sharing with relatives, please see my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, available from Amazon in US, UK, Canada, and Europe.

Do the "Write" Thing for Genealogy, Part 3: Find the Drama

When you think about writing your family's history, look for the drama that may be below the surface (or in plain sight).

Remember: You know more than you think you know! Gather your Census data, vital records, Bible entries, photo albums, news clippings, and whatever else pertains to the person or people in the story you want to tell.

Jot notes about your memories and ask relatives what they remember about a particular ancestor or couple, a family occasion or situation, or a special photo (wedding portrait, for instance).

All of this will help you identify key points and people in your family's history, and uncover the drama that you can play up in your narrative.

If you're lucky enough to have letters, diaries, or interviews, go through and select quotes that add color and personality to your ancestors and reflect the drama in their lives.

Above, a quote from my late father-in-law, Edgar J. Wood, who said this 30+ years ago when my husband interviewed him about his earlier life and his love of playing the piano. The quote hints at the conflict between Ed and his father. It also explains why Ed had to play in so many jazz bands to make money for tuition, room, and board at Tufts, where he was in college during the 1920s.

The conflict came to a boiling point when Ed's mother, Mary Slatter Wood, died unexpectedly near the end of Ed's senior year. After Ed returned home for the funeral, he never lived at home again. He left college a few weeks later, not able to pass a language course needed for graduation. Then he moved to New York City and tried to make a living through his music. More drama!

What dramatic moments or conflicts are in your family's past? Look for them and use them to "hook" your readers.

This is an excerpt from my latest genealogy presentation, "Do the 'Write' Thing for Genealogy."