52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #4 theme - Witness to History

Today I will share about Charles W. Terry, the brother of my Gt Grandmother, Lizzie Terry Griffin. Immigrating from England with his family as a young teen in 1849, Charlie's life spanned nearly a century with many experiences.  He became a naturalized citizen of the United States. We came across a news item written when Charlie was 92 years of age.  A few quotes are following:

"Mr. Terry is said to be the original youth to whom Horace Greeley said: "Go west, young man." When Lincoln and Douglass were traveling through Illinois debating, previous to the senatorial election of 1858 in that state, Charles Terry says he was present and heard several of their verbal encounters. He was also present when Abraham Lincoln defended Duff Armstrong in that famous murder trial. The word "remarkable" describes Mr. Terry."

"Charles Terry voted for Abraham Lincoln three times while a resident of Illinois; the first time was in Beardstown, when Mr. Lincoln was a candidate for congressman at large. Mr. Terry enlisted for the civil war in 1862, with the 68th Illinois."

A history of the 68th Illinois states: "Though the boys of the Sixty-eighth were never under fire, they did the duty assigned them with alacrity. It was theirs to care for the wounded as they were sent into Alexandria from the disastrous field of Bull Run.

They once passed in Grand Review before President Lincoln, being the only Illinois Regiment present on that occasion, and when Company G, at the command of their Captain, gave a hurrah for the President, his kindly recognition of the boys from Illinois by waving his hat, and his evident pleasure, manifested by a smile which lit up his careworn countenance, waved the company from reproof by superior commanders."

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week 3 Theme - Favorite Photo

My photo for 2024 is our McGill family on their farm west of Edmond OK, about 1900. Daniel Patrick McGill, seated center, made the Land Run of 1889, claiming this free land to homestead. He came from Iowa to Arkansas City, Kansas, where he boarded the train to make the Run at the sound of a gunshot at noon, April 22, 1889. It is said that he got off the train at Waterloo Rd with 3 other men, and was able to stake the claim with the best water since he had a large family. The rest of the family came by covered wagon in the next months. My Grandmother, Hattie (Harriett Emily McGill) is in the photo, 4th from right, along with her parents, and siblings. This land is still pasture land and the pond is still there, although the suburbs of Edmond have surrounded the property.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week #2 Theme - Origins

As we keep searching further and further back in the generations of our families, we can never hope to find the origins of our ancestors. But at every level we discover clues about immigration, occupations, and family history. In a couple of cases, I've found origins of places where my ancestors had an influence in exploration or naming, etc.

When the area of Cleveland, Ohio, called Columbia Station, was being surveyed, our Frost and Paine ancestors from Connecticut were among the first settlers. Elias C. Frost, son of our ancestor, Isaac Frost, is mentioned as one of the first surveyors of the Columbia Station in 1807. These first men came from Waterbury, CT to Buffalo, NY, then spent 21 days on the rough waters of Lake Erie to reach Cleveland. Elias C. Frost and 4 others, as ax and chain men, "set out from Cleveland taking a southwest course until the northeast corner of the town was reached. From this point they proceeded west two and a half miles, thence south a like distance to the center of the township. The party made their encampment here, on the west bank of the Rocky River. A daughter of Levi Bronson, (possibly a cousin of the Frosts) Mrs. Oliver Terrell, accompanied the party to do their cooking, to whom must be accorded the honor of being the first white woman that ever set foot on the soil of Columbia.” History of Lorain County, Columbia Township (Part 1).

Father, Isaac, and sons, Elias C. and Lyman J. Frost (our direct ancestor), are shown to settle on lot #28 of the Columbia Station Township in 1808. Another direct ancestor, Seth Paine, helped survey the town of Brecksville, OH, where he was the first settler, in 1811. Streets in the area are named for Seth Paine and his daughter Oriana (our 3Gt Grandmother,first teacher in Brecksville, OH), and the first post office was Frostville.

Thus, our family was influential in the origins of what has become the metropolis of Cleveland and suburbs.

Week #12 Theme is Membership

John McCool's Church Membership I have collected much information about my husband's, Great Grandfather, John McCool. As we followed the timeline of his family, we find the church as a constant in his life. John was the grandson of Irish immigrants, John Calvin McCool and Mary Cunningham, who arrived in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. Their first association with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Deer Creek in that county, was about 1811. The minister of that congregation, James McConnell, was also an Irish immigrant. They may have come to America from the same part of Northern Ireland. The following are some quotes from various essays I've found about that congregation. In 1802, Robert Porter and others organized the Deer Creek Associate Reformed Church and began the long tradition of service to our Lord Jesus Christ. In the early 1800s, services were held outside or in homes . People came from miles around to worship at the open-air pulpit, sitting on logs or on the ground, with worship services often lasting all day. In 1811, the Rev. James McConnell, fresh from Ireland, was called as the first pastor. During Rev. McConnell's tenure, a log church was built in 1817. The first brick structure was erected in the middle of the cemetery in 1834. Two sons of the immigrant, John Calvin McCool, were James Robert and William. They were members of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. James R. and his family followed brother, William, to Iowa. The towns of Le Claire and Princeton were on the Mississippi, just above Davenport, Iowa, ferryboat ride from Rockport, IL. The following is quoted from the church history in Le Claire, Iowa. “When the pioneers came to this area, family and friends tended to travel together and settle near each other. So it was in 1840's a little band of Associate Reformed Church members left their homes at Deer Creek, near Butler, PA., and arrived in Berlin, now a part of Le Claire, Iowa. {We believe their route was on a steamboat on the Monongahela, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.} They homesteaded on the open prairie west of Le Claire near what we know as Argo. The first church services were in the log cabins of James McConnell, about 1 3/4 miles straight east of our present church. They later met in other cabins and the Parkhurst and Campbell schoolhouses in Le Claire township. They brought their own benches for sitting through the long services, because you see, there were 12 adults and all their children and that would tax any cabin. The meetings were called "The Society" and were held on the Sabbath Day. The services consisted of singing a Psalm (no musical instruments were permitted in the church until 1906), reading God's word, and prayers. These services were very lengthy. After the Psalm’s explanation, there was a sermon, then a thirty-minute intermission and another service containing a sermon. If any member left during intermission, they were classified as "lukewarm Christians". The Sabbath ended by the study of the catechism in their homes.” In 1849 James McConnell built a new barn where on May 21, 1849, nine adults met and were formally organized as an Associated Reformed Congregation under the Presbyterian Church. These members were William Jamison and his wife Martha, their daughter Martha Ann Jamison, James McConnell and his wife Mary, William McCool and his wife Lydia, William Stark and his wife Sarah. On May 26, 1849, three members were added: Andrew Jackson Jamison, his wife Elizabeth, and his brother John Jamison. These comprised the 12 charter members." Eloise Kiedrich, 2001 Most of the above named members were related in some way and had traveled together from Pennsylvania. Some may have come together all the way from Ireland. Gerry's Gt Grandfather, John McCool, son of James R., was born in Pennsylvania in 1843, and would have been a small child when the group traveled west. He grew up as an active member of the church described above. In 1861 he and many young men of that congregation joined the Union Army, and were involved in major battles, mainly in Tennessee and Mississippi. He returned home in 1864 and volunteered to "run the mail" to the areas near Deadwood, South Dakota... a dangerous area. But by 1868, he came back to Iowa and married Anna Rosalie Powell. At that time the railroad had been opened to Nebraska and land was there to claim. So by 1872, the McCools and several other church families traveled together to the area near Kearney and claimed their homesteads. The first official church organized in the area of Cedar Township, Nebraska, was the United Presbyterian. It was organized in John McCool's sod house by Rev. David Inches of North Bend, Neb., on December 20, 1882. The charter members were: John McCool, Mrs. Rose Ann McCool, James E. Miller, Mrs. Ann J. Miller and George W. Duncan." - Buffalo County History Book (Photo below is a sod house in Nebraska, not that of John McCool.) The concept of membership was the "glue" that caused these believers to bond together even as they crossed the new country at least twice (possibly even from the homeland in Ireland.) Membership in the body of Christ. Membership of an extended family. Membership in a traveling group. And Membership as citizens of a new land.

The Luck of the Irish

My Irish immigrant family brought the Luck of the Irish with them. Maybe 8 year old Mary McGill had a lucky penny in her shoe when she came from Ireland to Canada in the early 1800s. Her life was hard; her husband, Patrick, who was 30 years her senior, worked in the timbers or building the canal. But the records show that at least they had a house, as opposed to the neighbors who lived in wooden shanties. When Mary was widowed, with 3 young children, she was lucky to join a group who made their way west to the United States. In Iowa City, although she was ill, Mary was lucky again, to find a man who would help her write a will, making sure her children were cared for. My Gt Grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, was her youngest child, age 5, when she died. The Shafer family, who fostered Daniel, were childless but raised him as their own and even sent him to the University. The foster father and mother just "happened" to be related to Eva Frost, who was eventually married to Daniel Patrick. There was illness during those years in Iowa, but Daniel was lucky to survive. Sadly, his sister, Bridget, brother, John, John's wife, and one baby died. One of Daniel's nephews remained, and that lucky boy was fostered by Daniel and Eva. Years later, after the family moved to western Iowa, Daniel was lucky enough to see a flyer that told of land opening for homesteads in Oklahoma Territory. In 1889, he made his way to Arkansas City, Kansas, and boarded a train for the new frontier. Daniel, and 3 other pioneers, jumped from the train, and set off west across the prairie. As luck would have it, they came to a place where 4 quarter sections were marked with stakes. Since McGill was the only one who had a large family, he was the lucky one chosen to claim the land with the best source of water. His family, including my grandmother, age 8, came from Iowa by covered wagon to join him on the homestead. And here I am, one of the lucky descendants to come from this family, and lucky to have that story preserved for more than 200 years after little Mary McGill crossed the Atlantic. The picture above is of Daniel P. (seated) and Eva McGill (standing center) and their family on the homestead west of Edmond, Oklahoma. This land is still pasture land and the pond is still there.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week #10 Theme - Translation.

This subject had me stumped. I wasn't going to post as I haven't had any research that needed to be translated. So far, all our ancestors have been in English speaking countries. Then I realized... If it hadn't been for a translation, our family tree would have been very different. 6th Gt Grandfather, John Griffin, hailed from Wales before arriving in the colonies in about 1635. There is a possibility that John's ancestors' Welsh name was Pengruffwnd. I'm unable to find proof of this, or any proof of the timeline when John's name became Griffin. But I'm very happy that it was changed. And I'm sure that all the young men among his descendants, who carry Griffin as their first name today, would be very happy too.

Week #7 Theme is "Outcast"

Although our family tree doesn't show anyone who was shunned or cast out. We have several cases where a parent disapproved of a child’s choice of a mate. We also have a few cases where a child left the home on his own due to a dispute. Every family probably has these stories. I’ll just mention a few here. Charlotte Clark of Kent, England was daughter of a man of military position. John Clark was Steward of Royal Ordnance Hospital, in Woolwich. When Charlotte was in her early 20s, in 1836, she married William Terry, a wheelwright / carriage maker. He was also from Kent, but further east near Dover. I always wondered how they met, as their classes would not have associated (think of Jane Austen novels of the era.) They went to live in Deal, and later sold their carriage making business and migrated to America in 1848. An early letter we have found written by Charlotte's daughter, Amelia, says that Charlotte married against her parents' wishes, and was disinherited by her father, for marrying beneath her station. William and Charlotte had 10 children, 7 of whom lived to marry and have children. They were such an adventuresome family, with descendants pursuing education and business ventures all across our country. We have met (in person and online) cousins from each of those family lines, and are thankful that Charlotte met and married William, our Great Great Grandparents. In my husband's family, we have Rose Marguerite McCool, Gerry's grandmother. Her mother, Anna Roselee Powell McCool, had died in 1893, when Rose was only 14. The next year, her father, John, married a second wife. The older children had left home, but there were 5 children under 10 in the family. Story has it that Rose did not get along with her step mother. She probably had to help keep house and be a nanny to the babies. After about a year, Rose met Jordon Burris, a southerner who worked on the railroad, which didn't set well with her father, a staunch Union veteran. John was also a very strict Presbyterian, and Jordon may not have lived up to the standards John had set for his daughters. After their marriage, Rose was estranged from her father for 30 years, although she remained close to all her siblings who had scattered through several western states. She was able to see him again before his death in 1933. A sad story that is repeated in too many families. But as I am writing this on Valentine's Day, I think that both the young women above married for love, and their marriages stood the test of time.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2023 - Week #6 - Social Media

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far far away (well... 24 years ago) before Facebook or Instagram, there was a site called MyFamily dot com. It was somehow a step child of Ancestry dot com. There were private group sites with a small annual fee. Members could be invited, similar to the private groups on Facebook. In August of 2000, a few 2nd cousins (descending from a common Great Grandmother, Lizzie Terry Griffin) got together on the above site to reminisce about our childhoods and find out more about our family. We nicknamed the group "The Lizzie Site" or just "The Liz". Soon we found more about Lizzie and her life, her Terry parents, and her husband's Griffin family. Each one of us contributed photos, letters, and memories. We contacted more relatives and picked their brains. A few of us did a lot of genealogical searching and built out our family tree to share. We got acquainted across the miles, and planned a couple of reunions in Oklahoma, where Lizzie had homesteaded. I'm not sure how we were able to "branch out", but we quickly added Terry and Griffin descendants.... 3rd, 4th cousins and maybe further. We found friendships and even traveled to visit one another. This group lasted from 2002 until 2014 when it was closed down by its parent company. During that last few months, a couple of us salvaged all the photos and many historical finds, gathering them according to the appropriate family lines. It was a sad time when the site closed. We had added over 150 relatives from all different branches. Many didn't want to go over to Facebook and we lost track unless we were in email conversations. Today the many posts from MyFamily dot com groups have been saved by a group called Spokt. One can access with his or her old email and password, and search for photos or articles. I often go to the Spokt site to find posts that were memorable. Many of us have also joined private Facebook group, still finding new relatives and sharing photos and stories. If you were part of a MyFamily group who didn't know about Spokt, you should do a search and try to access using your email which you used “in those days”.

Week #5 Theme is "Oooops!"

We all make mistakes, follow rabbit trails down the wrong path, fail to record our sources of information, etc. So every family researcher has probably said "Ooops." I had to choose just one. Early in our research, we used Gerry's Grandpa Grimes' family history booklet to begin following the Grimes family. He had recorded direct family lines back to John Power Grimes, born in Georgia 1814, and challenged Gerry to go further. When you first begin to do searches, you grasp and collect the new "facts" wherever you can find them. So we found the father of John Power Grimes, Thomas Miner Grimes. And on to William Grimes, father of Thomas. He claimed a land grant in Georgia, 1784, for his father's Revolutionary service. Not realizing that William Grimes was a common name, I latched onto a little news item of the era which said "William Grimes, nephew of Mr. Mebane, was scalped and killed by Indians on the Harpeth River in Tennessee." Our family ran with it even though that river is nowhere near Elbert County, GA. Every time we traveled from Georgia back to see family in Oklahoma, we had to cross the Harpeth River. I think we held up traffic on the bridge near Nashville, taking pictures of that river, stopping short of tossing flowers, (a la Billy Joe McAlister). Our kids probably told about it in Show and Tell. I wrote up a history as far as we had researched, including poor, scalped William, and passed copies out to cousins. After a couple of years of searching, I came across a will of OUR William Grimes. He died at age 49, and the will was submitted in Elbert County, GA. I'm pretty sure that William didn't write a detailed will before traipsing off to Tennessee, about 430 miles into Indian lands. About the same time, I discovered a William “Graham”, who was related to a Mebane and was killed by Indians in Tennessee. I have since apologized to all the close family, but distant relatives may be still spreading that news item. Now I guess I should make my apologies to the Grahams and Mebanes for glomming onto their family history. Oooops!

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week #3 theme "Out of Place"

When attempting to complete the time lines of each of my direct ancestors, I try to find them in census or other records and add those to my Ancestry "Facts". But I could not find our Grandpa Charley Griffin in the 1900 census. His mother lived in Oklahoma, as did many other cousins, uncles, etc. on land that was claimed in the Land Run of 1889. I knew that Charley Griffin and Hattie McGill were married in Oklahoma in 1906, and my father, Dan Griffin, was born in 1907. I found a plat map where Charley owned property in Oklahoma in 1906. But where was Charley when the 1900 census was taken? My father had said that at one time Charley worked at a livery stable in Colorado. Could that be a clue?

I let it ride for a while and followed some other family members. Colorado? Hmmm. Now I've found that Edgar Griffin, a 1st cousin of Charley went from Kansas to Colorado and married in 1899. In 1900, his family is located in Central City, Colorado, where Andrew is working as a "Hackman" and neighbors work in the gold mines. I believe a hackman drove a wagon. Could that be similar to one who works at a livery stable? I can picture that Charley and his cousin took off for the Colorado gold fields, but ended up with a job at the livery stable. Charley made some money and came back to marry his sweetheart, Hattie, in Oklahoma where he purchased some land, and became a farmer. Somehow the census takers missed my grandpa. I believe he might have been out on his horse or looking for gold that day, not "Out of Place"...HE knew where he was.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week #51 theme is  "Perseverance". 

My siblings and cousins can tell you that one of my genealogy traits is "Perseverance".  In fact I think I've been accused of being like a "dog on a bone".  When we first began our ancestral search in the 1970s, all I had to go on were family rumors and a few names and dates in a sketchy tree. This was before internet, and grandparents were gone, so my research began in libraries... checking out old family and county histories and viewing microfilms and microfiches. I also, wrote lots of letters and discovered that you had to send SASEs to get replies.  Gerry's grandpa printed a little family history booklet which was a great start. He even "commissioned" Gerry to carry on his work, which we did, once we moved from Oklahoma to Georgia.  I bought the "Handybook for Genealogists" to study the formation of counties, and a huge fold out pedigree chart which could go on and on into the past generations.  So proud when I could conquer one more generation or branch.  

Over the years, and with the help of siblings and cousins, and the internet, we have gone a long way with our discoveries.   We have traveled to the locations where these ancestors lived, some as far back as the 1600s. And best of all, we met online and in person, many cousins we never knew of, and have been able as a group to collect photos, letters, and stories.   

There are still new discoveries to be made, but we will do it... with Perseverance .

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #49 theme is "New Horizons".

As our families arrived on the Atlantic Coast, some as early as the 1640s, they must have been anxiously waiting for the view of the new land on the horizon. They were so brave and ready for new experiences. 

Choosing just one of these many early families, I would like to chronicle our Frost family through more than two centuries of seeking "New Horizons."  The immigrant John Frost, our 9th great grandfather, was born 1614 in England. He came first to New York with his father, John, and then to New Haven CT by 1660s.  His son, John, married Mercy Paine there, and was the father of our 7th gt grandfather, Samuel Frost.  (We will find the surname of Paine again in this family line.)  But first, three generations of "Grandpa Samuels" lived in and around New Haven. They would have lived through the struggles of clearing lands and surviving the elements of a new world, including the French and Indian Wars.   Then in 1754, our 4th gt grandfather, Isaac Frost, was born.  His father fought in the Revolutionary War, and they saw the new nation on the horizon.

Soon after the war, a Connecticut investment company made plans to populate the Western Reserve which would include the new city of Cleveland, Ohio.  Isaac and his family would be among the first to make this venture.  In fact, we believe that one of Isaac's sons, Elias, surveyed the plats for the city of Cleveland. Another son, Johnson LymanFrost, our 3rd Gt Grandfather, married Oriana Paine, daughter of Seth Paine (see, I told you that name would show up again). Oriana Paine Frost was the first teacher in the Brecksville, OH area, and her name shows up in streets and institutions. Oriana’s mother, Hannah Nash Paine, descended from a most interesting line including Canada Waite, born in captivity in Canada when her mother was kidnapped by Indians.

Old Isaac, and sons, Elias, and Lyman helped establish the town of Olmstead, OH.  The Frost name is still seen in the area. But even further horizons beckoned, and in 1820, Johnson Lyman and family are found in St. Clair, Michigan. Both Elias and Lyman had studied medicine, and although Lyman was not a doctor, he used his knowledge to assist a doctor there. Then in 1830, he and his family, including our 2 Gt Grandfather; Elias Carlos Frost, have moved further into the frontier to Lacon County Illinois, near Peoria.  As a side note here, while in Lacon County, the Frosts lived about a mile from the Graves family who went west as part of the Donner party.  New horizons were difficult if not impossible to conquer for many in that era.

When the wilds of Iowa opened for settlement, Lyman, whose wife had died in Illinois, took his children, and traveled to Iowa City.  As we look back, it had been 200 years since the first Frost immigrants had arrived in North America, and they had lived in 6 states, always moving westward.  Iowa in the 1840s was a new frontier, with forts and Indian confrontations. Many settlers came with very little furniture and belongings, as they had to travel by wagons pulled by oxen. But Iowa City grew up quickly into an area of businesses, a militia, and academics. The University and debating societies were established by 1847.

It was in Iowa City that our Frosts, Herringtons, Shafers, and McGills came together through marriage. In the 70s, Elias and family, including daughter, Eva, who married Daniel McGill, moved on to the western part of the state. Our grandma, Harriett “Hattie” McGill, and her siblings were born in Audubon County.  According to family lore, farming was difficult due to the weather and the plague of locusts or grasshoppers.  And at one point, the general store in Audubon County, owned by Elias (also called Carlos) was robbed by the "Crooked Creek Gang".

The brother-in-law of Elias (D.P. McGill's foster father), Daniel Shafer, had helped to survey the state line of Nebraska; so Elias and Lucinda, along with the elderly Lyman, moved on to Stuart, Nebraska.  Lyman died there according to the family Bible. His life alone had stretched from Connecticut to Nebraska, and his very interesting personality has been recorded... another story.

After a few years near Keya Paha County, Elias and family moved on west again, to Chadron, Dawes County, Nebraska, around 1888.  The McGills, still in Iowa, headed for the newly opened territory of Oklahoma, with Daniel making the Run of 1889. And Elias also moved his family to Oklahoma, where they lived and died in Perry, Noble County. 

Many descendants and relatives of these Frost families followed their dreams even further west in the U.S.   Their stories include California during the gold rush days and later years, as well as other states. We have so many families who made similar treks, but this is an example of the pioneer spirit…seeking New Horizons.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week # 48 is "Overlooked".

My "overlooked" item was a scrapbook, probably begun at Christmas 1880, when it was presented to Bonny Lotta Vaughn, a six year old girl, in St. Louis Missouri.  Bonny was not kin to our family, and died of dipthiria, when she was only 9 or 10 years old.  But her mother, Margie Downer Vaughn, began filling every page completely with poems and news items cut from newspapers of the day.  Margie continued to do so after her husband died, and she married my husband's great grandfather, John McCool, in 1894.  Margie was John's second wife and may not have gotten on well with his children by his first marriage.  But she carried the scrapbook with her to homes in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado,  inserting clippings about John and his family members when events took place in their area. She even pasted the obituary of John's first wife, which we had never seen.  All the while, she filled every nook and cranny with poetry found in newspapers until the book was thick and aging.  Both John and Margie passed away in Colorado, so I have no idea how the scrapbook ended up with John's grand daughter, Mildred, in Oklahoma City.  Mildred was one of my husband's favorite aunts, and we found the scrapbook in a box in her home, along with a couple of very old Bibles and some letters.  I don't think she ever turned over the pages in the book or she would have found items about family members.  (Maybe because it belonged to "that step mother".)  So after it was overlooked in her home,  it was overlooked, still in a box,  in a cabinet in our home.  But nearly 100 years after Margie's death, her scrapbook is no longer overlooked.  We have digitized  many of the pages to share with interested persons found on line, found the gravesite of her only child Lotta Vaughn on Find A Grave, and still the scrapbook waits in a box for its next life. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #47 Theme is "Wrong Side of the Law".

I always like to follow "down line" from my direct ancestors' siblings. Their stories often give insight into the whole family and their lifestyles and migrations.  In the family of my paternal great grandmother, having migrated in the late 1800s  from Iowa to Nebraska to Oklahoma Territory, I followed her siblings into the rough frontier areas.  Her father, Elias Frost's, general store in Audubon Co,  Iowa was robbed by The Crooked Creek Gang, a well known "wild bunch" that held up stores and saloons.  By the time lands were opened for homesteading in Oklahoma Territory, the Frost family and several adult children claimed lands there.  One grandson, a cousin to my gt grandmother, Eva Frost McGill, is found to be married to Anna Emmaline McDoulet, in Perry, Oklahoma.  Further searching uncovered the fact that Anna (also called Emma) had been the infamous "Cattle Annie" (at left in photo.)  From her late teens in NE Oklahoma and SE Kansas, Cattle Annie and her cohort, Jennie "Little Britches" Stevens, were outlaws who ran with the Doolin Gang, and on their own, selling whiskey to Osage Indians, stealing horses and warning the gangs when the law came too close.  She dressed like a man, packed a pistol on her hip, and was reputed to be a crack shot.   The duo roamed and terrorized the area for about 3 years before they were captured by U.S. Marshals and sentenced to a correctional institution in Massachusetts.   She returned to Oklahoma after her incarceration and married my Frost relative in 1901. They had 2 sons, who were probably raised by their grandmother, as Anna went off to join one of the Wild West Shows.   She and Mr. Frost were divorced about 1909 and she married an Okla.City businessman the next year.  She had evidently turned her wild life around and settled down as a church-going, book keeper in later life.  Not surprisingly, there was never mention of this branch of the family in my lifetime, although the marriage would have taken place a couple of counties away when my grandma and her siblings were about the same age. We have been in correspondence with one of Annie's descendants who lived in California and knew her as a fun loving grandmother.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week # 42 theme is "Lost".

As we build our family trees, we try to find and add the census records for every direct ancestor, looking at all the household members and neighbors too. But in searching for my Grandpa, Charley,  in 1900,  I do not find him.  Another LOST relative.  By 1906 he married my Grandma in Oklahoma, and we have seen the marriage certificate. Someone had passed along a comment that "Charley went off and worked at a livery stable somewhere."  I believe he was saving up $ to get married and to buy land from a relative who homesteaded in Oklahoma.  So, a few years later, we were following the lives of a previous generation.  An uncle of Charley had gone to Colorado a few years earlier,  and a cousin went to the gold fields of Central City, Colorado.  (Sounds like a good place to save up $$ for coming marriage, huh?) The 1900 census for Cousin Ed, shows him in Central City as a "Hack Man".   Could that be like  a livery stable?  I think that my Grandpa Charley was not LOST at all but was caught between census records, and  had indeed "gone off and worked at a livery stable", before coming back to get married.  Among the unidentified pictures collected over time, we found this one which we thought was Cousin Ed with his children and pups.  Sure enough, a distant cousin identified the picture as his relative who was Edgar from Colorado.  So besides finding our "Lost" Grandpa, we found Cousin Ed, who wasn't lost at all.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #37 theme is Highs and Lows.  

This week, I was looking at old photos for inspiration.  The first one that fit the theme was one of my dad and his two brothers, as teens, playing around for the camera, about 1923 or so. Left to right, Jiggs and Dan, with Chick on their shoulders. Wonder why two are dressed up, ties and all, very serious....  and one in overalls.  I think they made their own fun and antics, mischief too. 

It was a tradition to line up the kids in stairstep order.  Here is an old one, probably taken in 1920 or so. Left to Right:  Bob Griffin, Jack Griffin, Chick Griffin, Jiggs Griffin, and my daddy , Dan Griffin. Little Bob's mother had died in the flu epidemic, and he came to live with the Ira Griffin family, so Jack gained a new little brother. 

More stairstep photos of the 3 brothers.  

Woops.  In their early 20s, looks like Chick, the youngest, grew taller than the other brothers.  

But at the gathering of all their children ... 1st cousins at Grandma's in 1951 or 52...  we got back to the tradition.  L-R: Lynda Griffin, Daneille Griffin, Warren Griffin, Gaye Griffin, Christy Griffin, Janelle Griffin, Diane Griffin, Jimmy Griffin. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week #36 theme is Exploration.

There are many ways to explore in genealogy searching: Online records, libraries, other people’s trees, newspapers, or in person. We have prepared by doing all of the above, and then headed out, off the beaten path, to visit the locations where our ancestors lived. So far, we have visited more than 25 locations in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York. We took many, many photographs along the way and my husband has even painted watercolors of some locations. 

There are so many photographs, that I need to choose just one family line for this post. You will see where we explored our Griffin line, starting with John Griffin, immigrant from Wales, who arrived in Connecticut about 1640. We visited Granby and Simsbury, where roads, farms and even shopping centers bear the Griffin name. The photo below is a current day sheep farm on the original land called Griffin’s Farmstead. Of course the structure was not there in 1640.  John's son, Thomas, was born on that property, in 1658. 

Thomas Griffin was the father of Benoni Griffin,Sr.,  born 1714. His mill was located at The Falls, on the Farmington River, in Simsbury, CT. It was formerly owned by his grandfather, John Griffin. We found the Farmington River, but couldn't see The Falls. 

Although other siblings stayed in Connecticut, Benoni Griffin, jr. acquired a grant in Virginia, about 1784.  He settled in the area of Bath County, which is now Arbovale, West Virginia. The photo is of the view he would have seen of the Greenbrier River valley. 

 

His son Jonathan married Rachel Sharp and lived on Stony Creek, which is near the present city of Marlinton, West Virginia. We explored the area, still known as the Griffin land. Photo is of the working  farm there. 

After the Civil War, Jonathan’s son William and family migrated (by way of stops in Iowa and Missouri) to live in Montgomery County Kansas. Their homestead in current photo is still called Griffin Hill, and down the hill is the land belonging to William’s son, Samuel, my Gt.Grandfather.  This is where my Grandfather Charley Griffin was born, and probably road his horse up that trail to his Grandfather's home. 

In 1889, when land was opened in Oklahoma Territory, a claim was staked in William’s name, by his youngest son, Pete Griffin.  A few years later, Samuel’s widow, Lizzie, brought her family to that same property, west of Edmond, and homesteaded. Charley and his siblings helped to farm the land, near Waterloo Road and Portland.  Photo is of hay bales, as the land is still agricultural, although near one of the fastest growing cities in Oklahoma. 

Charley married Hattie McGill (of another 89er family) and for a time they farmed near Ahpeatone, in Cotton County OK.  My father, Dan Griffin, shared his boyhood memories of living in Cotton County, and fun with his brothers. We believe this is the house they lived in.

 The last photo is the house where Charley and family lived in Edmond, Oklahoma, where our own family memories include porch swings, marking our heights on the door frame, fun with cousins, celebrating Christmas and Fourth of July, and more. 

   

 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Week # 35.

I would like to share the story of a special memory among my cousins.

I had made a geocities site which chronicled the immigration stories we knew of our Terry family. This site was found in an online search, by a man (Mike) who knew he had Terry names in his family, but had been separated from his paternal family as an infant. He did have a little info about his grandparents, but no knowledge of where to search. He was grasping at any straws, and sent me an email.

I was able to connect Mike with a myfamily dot com group, which a bunch of Terry cousins had formed. As we helped him search, he was welcomed as a family member although we had no known common ancestors. We found that he lived in the city where many of the cousins had grown up and we had a lot in common. Through Ancestry we were able to give him some leads as to his Terry ancestors and he took the ball from there. When we had a family reunion, he was there, introducing us to his immediate family. In fact, some of us became "blood brothers and sisters" in a little ceremony. Over a period of years of communicating, he was able to find out more about his father and was able to visit his grave. About that time, Mike shared with us that he was so happy to have been able to pass his family info on to his children and grand children, as he was undergoing cancer treatment and possibly in the last stages of the disease.

We continued our correspondence even as he was at home in hospice, sharing stories and pictures that his family would read to him. Ultimately he passed away at home, and the family contacted our group. A few of the group of extended "family" were able to attend the services, representing all those of us who were scattered all over the country.

We still think of Mike and remember that even while we were helping him with his ancestral search, he was helping us to learn to reach out and love a stranger who became a "blood brother."

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week #31 Theme - Help.   

Genealogists/ Family Researchers  are known for generosity and willingness to help others. 

Here is the long story of a helper who went the extra mile to help with our McGill Family research. We knew from Bible and baptism records that Gt Grandfather, Daniel Patrick McGill, had a sister, Bridget Jane, about 9 yrs. older than he was.  Daniel and his siblings were orphaned a few years earlier. Bridget Jane was in one census in Iowa after they came from Canada, age 14, living with brother, John. S. McGill, in 1860, Lura, Cass County, Iowa. Then she was never found in records again, although we searched all available. In Daniel's Bible she wrote, "Study well the lessons taught in this book. They will be worth more to you, my brother, than though I gave you the whole world.  From your sister, Jane.  Grove City, Iowa, Jan. 23, 1864."   Bridget Jane would have been 18 at that writing.  Very touching, but we  never heard about her after that date. 

Finally I searched "Find a Grave" for Iowa and found a grave in Wiota Cemetery, Cass Co. Iowa, for a Bridget McGill, but the  transcribed information said "wife of..." then the transcriber could not read the rest of the inscription.  The photo showed that it was all blackened with moss and age. I knew that if she had married, Bridget's surname wouldn't be McGill, so I wrote to the volunteer  in Iowa who had taken the pictures of the graves. I told her the possibility of our Bridget, but that no one could make out any words. Wiota was a cemetery that was near to where Grove City was once located.  I live in the Atlanta GA area and have never had a chance to visit Iowa. 

So my new long distance friend went to the cemetery three times, over a period of weeks, cleaning and transcribing what she could from the stone.  Sadly, it was broken, but she propped it in place for photographs.  I'm showing the pictures of her progress, before, middle, and after.  She has now posted them to  Find a Grave, and my story there memorializes "our lost girl" Bridget.  Rather than "wife of ..." we found she was daughter of  P & M McGill (Patrick and Mary).

Transcription:  Bridget J. dau of P & M McGill   Died Oct. 31, 1868  Aged 22 Y. 6 M.

Her brothers, Daniel and John would have chosen and had the stone inscribed. If not for a kind lady who volunteered to help, we would never have known about this memorial and we now have the correct information on our 2 Gt Aunt, Bridget Jane, at Find a Grave.

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.  Week # 29 theme is Fun Facts. 

While life span is not necessarily "fun" unless you are still enjoying your own life... I've been calculating the life spans of my ancestors. My hubby does NOT think these are "fun" facts as we are nearing the years mentioned below.  Here are a few facts I've gleaned.

Using my parents and grand parents... Average life span 85 years.  Females - 84 years, Males - 86 years.

Using my parents, grand parents and great grand parents... Average life span 81.5 years.  Females - 87 years, Males - 76 years. Seeing a big drop here for males.

Using my parents, grand parents, great grand parents, and 2 Great grand parents... Average life span 71.5 years.  Females - 74 years, Males 68.8 years. Ave. span has dropped by 10 years in every group.

In summary, people are living longer in recent generations, probably because of medical care availability. Among Great Grandparents, one Gt Grandfather was a Union soldier who came home with some lung problems, dying at age 51.  A couple of other males died in their 60s, one of sudden heart attack. So they brought down the male average for that group.

In the group including the 2GT grands, there was a young couple who died at ages 20 and 17.  The young man brought home an illness from the Civil War and passed it to his young wife. These and a couple of women who died in their 40s made a difference in the averages for that group.

I am thankful that I know enough about each of their lives that they are not just statistics, but loved ones that I can keep  in memory.