Archives for TOPICS - Page 8
DNA Testing – add yours to our tree
My mom and I took the Ancestry DNA test. Turns out I'm about as European as it gets: I was surprised by how much Irish I have, but as I do more research, I can see why. I'd been told that I had Cherokee blood from my paternal grandmother. Nope. Another cousin's DNA test on that side also showed absolutely no American Indian blood. If you'd like to add your DNA to this tree,…
Snippets, Anecdotes and Shorts
As I enter data into the family tree, I discover interesting snippets that I extract that would otherwise be buried in the thousands of records. Stories and anecdotes handed down in the family or written up in the local newspaper: One day William Giegerich's father Nick came in his grocery store (in Canton) and told him "You know somebody shot at me this morning." What William didn't tell him was that he'd been cleaning his…
Addie’s Duck
This incident happened at the home of Addie Hanning Weiler when she lived alone in Loveland, OH, after her husband, Rev. William Weiler had passed away. It was the custom of the Paul Weiler family to visit her regularly almost every week. This was to do her weekly grocery shopping and see what else might be needed. Daughter Ophelia had brought to her a cute, small duck which had been given to her children as…
Observations
As I go through the documents and photos, I have made various observations: None of the photos ever show the women pregnant, and yet most were pregnant most of their lives. In the few photos that show hands, married people often don't have wedding rings. I noticed this in photos of my maternal great grandparents Addie and Rev. Weiler, as well as a photo of Theo and Susan Hanning. Some of the people in a…
North Side Convergence
I discovered that multiple branches of my tree lived in North Side, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I was born at exactly the same time. They probably were riding on the same trolleys and shopping at the same stores. Earnest Thornton and Helen Strawser, my paternal grandparents, moved to North Side Pittsburgh around 1929 to find work. William Weiler and his daughter Louise Weiler (my maternal grandmother), moved to North Side Pittsburgh in 1927 to pastor a…
Dear Nephew Frank
A letter from William "Old Bill" Wagner to Frank Funkenbusch regarding his journey to America. "Old Bill" William Wagner Frank Funkenbusch Canton, Mo, Feb 22, 1927 Dear Nephew Frank, I think letters Father got from friends in American influenced him somewhat and he also thought he could better himself and family by coming to America as I have frequently heard him express himself so to Mother and others. Father owned a fair sized house…
First Names
I noticed that people's first names often changed throughout their lives. Here are a few I've extracted. Danie Mathilda Hanning is first called Matilda in the census when she's 6 months old. 10 years later she is called Maudana. Most other records called her Danie. Johanne "Lenora" "Caroline" Christiane Hanning was listed as Lenora on the passenger list when she was 8 months old immigrating from Germany. About 10 years later her marriage record and…
Wagner Family Home Movies
These are the Raw unedited videos from the Super 8 Transfer. There is no sound or captions. The number corresponds to the DVD/chapter. It takes hours to upload each one, so as they finish I'll post and email out. If it doesn't have a link, I'm still uploading. My next task will be to edit like scenes together (like all the Chatauqua Lake footage) Here's a link to the folder that contains all the videos,…
Home Movies – Staryn, Will and Chris
These home movies were taken by Will Wagner of his son Staryn and wife Christina. I edited some of these into the Staryn movie. Here is all the raw footage used in that plus a lot more. 2-21 Seneca Indian Reservation 1968 2-22 Baby Staryn (1970) (has Seneca Indian title card in beginning) 2-24 Chris and friends at Houston, PA and area. Summer 1969 Chris - At Houston PA back yard getting into car with…
[CD] Lonesome as the Land: The Civil War through the diaries of boy soldiers
I recently discovered an album of music by Lynette Westendorf of her compositions based on the letters and diaries of civil war soldiers. I included several of the quotes from the album in my narratives to illustrate the experience our ancestors were going through. Please support Lynette by ordering her CD. It's very interesting. You can purchase it on Amazon HERE.