Friday Fotos (October 10, 2014) -- William Wood

William Wood

William Wood, pictured above, was the father of Mary Jane Wood (1841 - 1891) who married Robert Fennell on December 22, 1859 in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.  William was born in Ireland and it is believed that his daughter Mary was also.

Mary Jane Wood and her husband Robert Fennell had seven children -- four boys (William, Albert, Robert and Thomas) and three girls (Jane, Elizabeth and Susannah).  Elizabeth Ann Fennell (born in 1866) married Herbert Beverly Jeffs on September 16, 1891 in Bradford, Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada.  Elizabeth and Beverly had three children (all girls): Eulalie Lillian Mary; Helen; and Kathleen Lorena.

Eulalie Jeffs married George Douglas Jeffs who she met while at college at the University of Toronto.  Although they had the same surnames, no connection or relationship between the families has ever been found.  Eulalie and Doug had two children: Doreen Elizabeth and Robert Douglas.

Doreen Elizabeth Jeffs married Daniel Joseph O'Kane, Jr. -- who she met while in graduate school at Cornell University.  Doreen and Dan had three children: Patrick Joseph; Kathleen Elizabeth; and Mary "Molly" Nora (my wife). 

William Wood is thus the 3rd great grandfather to my wife and the 4th great grandfather to our sons.  Little more is known about William Wood at the moment and he needs to be the subject of further research.

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Scan of original photograph in the family collection.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Tombstone Tuesday (October 7, 2014) -- Elizabeth [Moulton] Carpenter

Yesterday I posted about Thomas Carpenter III, my 5th great grandfather. Thomas served in the Revolutionary War as a colonel in the Massachusetts Militia. Today I post about his wife, Elizabeth Moulton.

Thomas married Elizabeth Moulton on December 26, 1754. She is my 5th great grandmother. Elizabeth was born on July 22, 1736 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts.  She was the daughter of Stephen Moulton and his wife, Rebecca Chase. Elizabeth died in Rehoboth on May 17, 1804. Her grave is located in the Village Cemetery in Rehoboth (also known as Rehoboth Historic Cemetery 8). Her headstone is pictured above.

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Photograph of headstone in Rehoboth Historic Cemetery 8 taken February 8, 2012 by Kenneth Zirkel "kickstand" of Find-A-Grave.  Used by permission granted by Mr. Zirkel at his membership profile (#47213883).  Thank you Mr. Zirkel!

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (October 6, 2014) -- Col. Thomas Carpenter of Rehoboth, Massachusetts

Thomas Carpenter III is my 5th great grandfather.  He was born October 24, 1733 in Rehoboth, Massachusetts the son of Thomas Carpenter and Mary Barstow. He was the great great grandson of William Carpenter who was born in England in 1605 and immigrated to Massachusetts in 1638. 

Thomas Carpenter III died in Rehoboth on April 26, 1807.  He was married to Elizabeth Moulton (1736 - 1804) and they had twelve children together, including my 4th great grandfather, James Carpenter (1767 - 1812).

Thomas and Elizabeth built their home in Rehoboth at what is now 77 Bay State Road. The home was completed in 1755. In 1983, the home was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The home is pictured immediately below.

The Thomas Carpenter House, 77 Bay State Road, Rehoboth, Massachusetts

  

Thomas Carpenter III was a colonel in the Massachusetts Militia during the Revolutionary War. He commanded the First Bristol Regiment (known as "Carpenter's Regiment") from 1776 - 1780. He had been elected in 1774 to serve as a delegate to represent Rehoboth at the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and in 1775 he was elected Deputy to the General Court of Massachusetts.

Col. Thomas Carpenter served under Major General Lincoln and marched to New York in 1776. In July 1778 Thomas was part of the Rhode Island expedition and he served for one month and nineteen days.  On August 18, 1778 he was ordered to Rhode Island and on the 29th of that month his regiment was involved in action where several of his men (residents of Rehoboth) were killed.  Thomas Carpenter himself was "distinguished for his activity and bravery" at that time. Later, Carpenter's Regiment served under Brigadier General Godfrey and in July and August 1780 he served at Tiverton. 

Col. Thomas Carpenter is the ancestor upon whom my membership in the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR) is based.

My descent from Col. Thomas Carpenter is as follows:

          Thomas Carpenter (1733 - 1807)                    m.    Elizabeth Moulton (1736 - 1804)

          James Carpenter (1767 - 1812)                       m.    Lucy Bliss (1769 - 1817)

          Joseph Carpenter (1789 - 1880)                      m.    Nancy Mason Bullock (1793 - 1880)

          Samuel Carpenter (1828 - 1904)                     m.    Ruth Ann Miller (1828 - 1893)

          Samuel Eber Carpenter (1853 - 1929)            m.    Sarah Etta Freeman (1858 - 1945)

          Everett Shearman Carpenter (1891 - 1962)    m.    Ruth Eaton Cooke (1897 - 1979)

          Shirley Carpenter (1927 -     )                         m.    Arnold G. Tew, Jr. (1922 -     )

          John D. Tew

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Photograph of headstone in Rehoboth Historic Cemetery 8 taken February 8, 2012 by Kenneth Zirkel "kickstand" of Find-A-Grave.  Used by permission granted by Mr. Zirkel at his membership profile (#47213883).  Thank you Mr. Zirkel!

Photograph of The Thomas Carpenter House is from the Historic American Buildings Survey and is the property of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, MA-394-1. The work is in the public domain as a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of official duties. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Carpenter_House.jpg

See, Thomas Carpenter III at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Carpenter_III

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Sunday Serendipity (October 5, 2014)

The automatic posting of yesterday's usual Saturday Serendipity failed for some reason (quite probably user error!), so this week for the first time ever we have "Sunday Serendipity." The following are recommended for inclusion on your reading list this weekend: 

1.  Back in June they said they were going to do it and as of October 1, it appears to be done. Ancestry.com has deleted the Y and mtDNA databases from their site and in the process destroyed tens of thousands of irreplaceable DNA records. To read about and understand the full extent of this action, read Roberta Estes blog post at her DNAeXplained -- Genetic Genealogy here.

2.  When The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, opines about a MUST READ, I for one pay attention. Readers of Saturday Serendipity know I am a fan of the way cool items posted at The Vault. Judy has now called attention to a new online magazine, JSTOR Daily, with content that she tells us is "just plain cool." The magazine will strive to do daily blog posts and "one captivating long read each week" along with occasional scholar interviews and other features. As The Legal Genealogist describes the magazine, it "draws connections between the stories you read about in your favorite news publications and the material housed on JSTOR." To learn more and get the link to visit the magazine, read Judy's post here. 

3.  And speaking of way cool posts at The Vault, this week one item will be of interest and perhaps use to those who have ancestors among the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who passed through New York City in the late 19th century. Using data from the 1890 census, maps were published in 1894 that illustrated the population density and nationality in the numerous small sanitary districts of Manhattan. As Richard Hite has explained in his recent book, Sustainable Genealogy [See the post of September 25, 2014 here at The Prism.], knowing the nationality/ethnic background of the neighbors of early immigrant ancestors, can be very useful to determining the correct nation of origin and original surname of one's ancestors.  Read about these maps of Manhattan and see the maps themselves here.

4.    Do you enjoy the challenge of a rebus? If you are from New England, have roots in New England, or just plain love New England, you can test your knowledge of 19th century New England and your rebus skills at another fun link at The Vault. In 1875, Anna Heerman published a project called A Hieroglyphic Geography of the United States. It was an ambitious project to engage children in geographical information about the U.S. through imagery -- pictures used in a rebus format like hieroglyphics to convey little geographical facts about various states. The project was to be a multi-volume effort, but it turned out that only one volume was produced -- a volume about some New England states.  Have a look at some of the rebus creations for Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut here.  Good Luck! 

5.  Bill West of West in New England blog is now accepting submissions to his 6th Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge through Thursday, November 20th.  Bill will publish links to your poetry submissions on Thanksgiving Day (November 27th). Your submissions can be original poetry written by you, poems from ancestors or relatives, or poems you have discovered that you find speak to the subject of genealogy.  Read Bill's rule details here.

6.  Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings blog has admitted to being a little hooked on the search capability at Geni.com that can help one find relationships with people. Randy shared with us this week some quick looks he did at Geni.com and how he discovered his cousins Jimmy, Ronnie, Billy, two Georges, and Barry. Read about Randy's explorations and discoveries here. I think Randy might need to take a trip to the east coast soon to have his cousin Barry give him a personal tour of the residence in DC that is almost a family homestead.    

7.  And finally, Donna Catterick of This I Leave blog went to a great deal of effort to figure out how to create and post a clip of a home movie from the 1950s showing her grandmother sewing a "geranium leaf hat" for Donna's sister Jeanie.  The clip is only 44 seconds long and we get a passing glimpse of the manufacturing process and part of the completed hat, but the post is a wonderful capture of a moment in time of fun and happiness shared between grandmother and granddaughter.  Have a look here and learn about a fashion that has apparently been lost -- the geranium leaf hat! Who knew?

  
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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Wordless Wednesday (October 1, 2014) -- Minnie [Brown] Jeffs (1862 - 1950)

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Scanned from the original photograph in the family collection.  Minnie Brown was born in February 1862 in Ontario, Canada. She was the daughter of Thomas Brown and his wife, Ann Parry. She married Dr. William Henry Maines Jeffs on Christmas Day 1890 in York, Ontario, Canada. Minnie [Brown] Jeffs died in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 1950 at age 88.  She is the great grandmother of my wife and therefore the great great grandmother of our two sons.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Pay It Forward -- Create Your Own Family History Documents (October 1, 2014) : October is Family History Month

Today is October 1st and so it is the start of the annual month-long recognition of Family History  here in the U.S. The month of recognition in October was first passed by Congress in 2001 based on a resolution introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah. As stated by Sen. Hatch,  "By searching for our roots, we come closer together as a human family."

Back in September 2009, David A. Fryxell wrote a piece for Family Tree Magazine (FTM) titled "Trace YourFamily Tree on Your Lunch Hour." The piece was essentially 14 projects one could do during a lunch hour to advance one's genealogy. This October FTM suggests revisiting Mr. Fryxell's list for quick ways to celebrate Family History Month.

As mentioned in last week's Saturday Serendipity post here at The Prism, I would like to add my own suggestion for a project to celebrate Family History Month -- a 15th project idea if you will. The idea is to "pay it forward" to your descendants by tacking in a slightly different direction during this next month. Instead of spending time on discovery of past family history, make some time to sit down and create and preserve some family history for your descendants.  The idea is explained in this edited excerpt from last week's Saturday Serendipity . . .

Don't just discover your family history -- create it! . . .  [T]his coming week begins Family History       Month, which comes around every October. In what may well be some shameless self-promotion, I would like to suggest you read my post of October 3, 2013 "Family History -- Memorializing Your PersonalExperience of Big Events" and then resolve to take the time during October to write down some piece of history you experienced so your personal observations and emotions surrounding the event can be preserved for your descendants. You can see my most recent such effort here where I posted my admittedly somewhat lengthy personal experience of 9-11 as someone who was at the Washington Navy Yard on the day of the attacks.

Everyone has a story to tell of how a big event that descendants will read about as history was a real-time experience for us.  The events need not be terrible ones like 9-11; the Kennedy assassination; the devastation of hurricane Katrina; or the family loss as a result of any number of western wild fires.  A story to write and preserve for your descendants could be a very positive experience such as where you were and what you felt when you saw Neil Armstrong land on the moon; your time at the Woodstock rock festival; completion of a through-hike of the Appalachian Trail; attending an Olympics; or personally meeting a famous person.  You can make your project a story about anything that a descendant 100 years from now can read and maybe take to school for show-and-tell in history or social studies class to demonstrate what an ancestor thought of a big event at the time it actually happened.  

If you take on the challenge during this month, please post your writing on your blog (if you have one) and then send me notice of your project posting with a link. At the end of the month I will do a post here at The Prism with a listing of all the projects that were accomplished and with the link you provide. In this way others can see in one place the various ways in which family history was created to pay it forward.  Perhaps other readers will get ideas and motivation to create their own family history projects during the coming year.

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Family History Month logo obtained from https://www.tsl.texas.gov/texshare/newsletter/texzine/?p=3351

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Hereditary and Lineage Societies -- Who Knew? (September 30, 2014)

I recently received the latest issue of The SAR Magazine, the quarterly publication of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR). I have been a member of NSSAR for several years, but I have to admit that I have never paid close attention to the contents of the magazine other than articles of interest to me. With the latest issue though I found some time on my hands on a rainy day and sat with a cup of coffee for a leisurely and thorough read of the publication. And for the first time I really noticed the advertisements and notices in the magazine.

Inside the NSSAR magazine I found notices for four different hereditary/lineage societies other than SAR.

There was a notice about the National Society Sons of the American Colonists . . . 

And there was the more specific National Society Sons of Colonial New England . . . 

Then there was the Order of the Founders of North America, 1492 - 1692, which was seeking charter members . . . 

And finally there was The Order of the Founders and Patriots of America . . . 

I knew, of course, that there were other hereditary/lineage societies out there, but seeing these four society notices made me curious about just how many more there might be and what kind of hereditary and lineage connections they might be honoring. This naturally led me to the Google -- and from there to Wikipedia. The "List of Hereditary and Lineage Organizations" entry in Wikipedia has some 238 such organizations more or less. Who knew?

There are many recognizable Societies, National Societies, and Orders made up of various Sons and Daughters, but there are also some surprisingly specific and perhaps esoteric organizations.  For example, there is the Hereditary Order of Descendants of Colonial Governors, the Cleveland Grays, the Order of Daedalians, the Aztec Club of 1847, the Bloodlines of Salem, the Descendants of the Illegitimate Sons & Daughters of the Kings of Britain, and -- perhaps my new personal favorite -- the Flagon and Trencher, which is a hereditary society comprised of women and men who can "trace ancestry to one or more licensed operators of an ordinary tavern, inn, public house, or hostel prior to July 4, 1776".  Have a look at the more than 200 other known hereditary/lineage organizations at the link above . . . your genealogy research just might help you qualify for membership in one or more of these esteemed organizations!

If this subject interests you and you want more information about various hereditary societies, you should also check out the website of The Hereditary Society Community of the United States of America here. The Hereditary Society Community website also has lists of organizations and provides known addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses to contact many of the organizations for membership or other information!

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Scan of the SAR emblem and the four notices from the author's personal copy of the Summer 2014 edition of The SAR Magazine Sons of the American Revolution, Vol. 109, No.1.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (September 29, 2014) -- Everett S. Carpenter in the Rhode Island Militia: Part III

On January 19, 1946, my maternal grandfather, Everett Shearman Carpenter, was thirty-four days away from his 55th birthday. He had been serving in the Rhode Island Militia for a number of years and had attained the rank of Major.  World War II was over and he apparently was serving as the Commanding Officer of N Section of the Provisional Company of the Rhode Island State Guard Reserve when he decided to discontinue his service with the Militia.  His "Honorable Discharge" from the Rhode Island Militia with the rank of Major is shown above.

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Scan of the discharge paper from the original in the collection of the author. 

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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