Genealogy in the fast lane

Back when life was slower and technology was limited to black & white televisions and rotary dial telephones, genealogy research and record keeping was conducted by visiting libraries, digging through musty or moldy documents, and sharing information with relatives and neighbors.

Today, genealogy research has taken a new twist. Much like our ancestors, we love to share what we find, but on public forums and boards. The future for accuracy and completeness scares me. It is becoming more and more evident on various public family trees. One cannot and should not believe what they find until they do 'due diligence' to find the origin of that information. It can be a daunting task, to say the least, especially when there are several generations of a same given name, regardless of the gender.

One example is in my Wildasin ancestral line, and it begins with three sons born to Peter Wildeson (1797-1887) and Catherine Sterner (1807-1887) in York County, Pennsylvania.

• Peter Sterner Wildeson (1836-1911) married Margaret Bollinger (1835-1906). One of their children was a daughter named Amanda Ellen Wildeson (19 Mar 1864-5 Apr 1933) and who married a William John Elder and later a John L. Reily and lived in York County. [Her PA death certificate #40516 confirms: dates of birth and death; parents of Peter and Margaret; location of death and residence at the time of death.]

Photo taken by
Mary K. Wildasin-Staub,
Lazareth Church, Maryland.

• Jacob Sterner Wildeson (1832-1915) married Catherine Yost (1835-1915). One of their daughters was named Lamanda (aka Amanda) Susanna Wildeson (5 Jan 1861- 15 Nov 1933) and who married a George Monath in York County, PA but died in Maryland. [Proof of this Lamanda comes from several sources: marriage announcement and certificate 28 Sept 1884 at the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary to George; death certificates for Lamanda (#11007) and George (#03541) both in Maryland; a child's death obituary for George Edward Monath dated 13 May 1899; and Lamanda's father Jacob obituary dated 3 Feb 1915, not to mention a land sale from Jacob Sterner Wildasin to his son-in-law George (ref. Book R, page 3 dated 13 mar 1896).]

• Andrew Sterner Wildeson (1846-1926) married Amanda Sipling (1855-1920). They were smart and did not name their daughters Amanda! [This information was confirmed by reading the death certificates for Andrew (#20494) and for Amanda (death certificate #104753).]

I suppose you might say that I have way too much time on my hands to spend time digging in old files and driving to out of state repositories like the Maryland State Archives. To me discovering my ancestral roots and proving their lives is all part of the challenge of genealogy.

Word to the wise ... please be careful in believing what you find. Go the extra mile to find original records, compile a chart to compare your findings, and then make a determination. Later down the road you will appreciate it that you did! 

Happy researching.

P.S. My email is patwistedroots@gmail.com should you want to discuss or share. 

Writing on the Wall

What would you do if you discovered a hidden message inside your home and learned that an ancestor was indirectly related to a previous owner of the land on which your house is built?  This discovery 31 years ago held more meaning for me than I expected!

In 1987 my husband and I purchased our second home. The former owners gifted us with a detailed list of all the home renovations complete with contractors' names, and dates of those renovations, and I still have this slip of paper!

As most new homeowners there were a few rooms that needed to be updated, one being our bathroom. After convincing my husband he conceded, and the project was soon underway.

Gold shag carpeting that covered the floor was replaced with a vinyl floor and the six colors were reduced to three. Plastic tile that lined the walls was removed, and a huge unframed mirror, 32.5" x 48.5" in size that hung over the vanity, still resides there. Our surprise came when we removed the mirror.

The previous owner or the builder signed the wall giving us details of when our house was built, by whom, and the name of the first homeowner. This was a thoughtful surprise!

Jumping ahead to 2018 I took this photograph to preserve the house history in the event someone accidentally paints over it, like I almost did several times. I researched the builder and previous owners of our house. The project is still a work-in-progress and revealed more surprises.

A deed search proved the ownerships of the house from 1987 to 1960 and of the land back to the 1920s. The small plot of land on which our house is built is part of a much larger piece of land that was surveyed in 1738 by a Philip Shute/Sheetz. His land purchase was part of what was Digges' Choice.

I often what the reason was in the naming of our street. Research showed that the said land owner's middle name was Ruel, hence Ruel Avenue.

A surprising discovery was that of the said land owner's relative who married a Wildasin, and just happens to be in our family lineage. Talk about connections!

As it turns out, the author of this writing on the wall probably did not realize what this means to me. As for the future owners of this home and little piece of land, I plan to share this story with them and hope that they do not paint over the writing on the wall.

Changes are good, right?

After some soul searching, I decided to revitalize the purpose of this blog. My main reason is to streamline my research findings and experiences, and to write about them in one place. I will occasionally post in one of my other blogs, if I find something extraordinary to share, and link to this blog. However, this will be my main blog going forward.

The part of Pennsylvania where my ancestors lived is deeply saturated with history and so my decision makes sense. Over the years family members intermarried with neighbors, and, yes, a first cousin once removed, were married. Because the connections within my families and my husband's, it became clear why I needed to make this change. So, because of a recent research project for our home and the land on which it is built I made a discovery about a Wildasin ancestor who married the man who owned the said tract of land. So, the project became more meaningful for me.

My most recent genealogy education endeavors was attending a class at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP). For one week I sat in a classroom with 14 adults learning that mastering documentation is both an art and science. Did I master anything? Not quite but I am determined! I have a lot of practicing to do before before considering myself proficient at citing sources.

Our pre-class assignment was to bring a citation to class that we wanted to discuss. Mine was out of the ordinary. It was the image of writing found on our bathroom wall in our present home (2018) and behind the bathroom mirror. I wanted to know how to cite my source correctly because I am including it in my land deed research on our house and of the land on which our house is built.

I am currently working on my first ever property search and used this image as the spring board of my written report. I can only assume who wrote this on the wall and when. I did prove that Luther Freed was the first owner of our home. The land search is near completion, then the fun writing the citations begins.

Namaste.

Honoring Our Silent Heroes

Henry Sherman, served two months during the War of 1812.

When I began researching my family trees, both for my husband's family and then for my own, I created an event allowing me to create a report of all the military veterans in our combined families.

This morning I compiled the data and was amazed of the 14 pages of information I logged.  The

Charles Smith, aka Johan Carl Schmidt

military careers were not exceptional, well, Brig. General Conrad Sherman was a big deal, Johan Carl Schmidt, was a big deal.  Both served during the American Revolutionary Wars.  That says much for our family military history, right?

To our Military Veterans, thank you for your service to our country.

History from a cemetery

I love cemeteries so much that I now volunteer for one, Mount Olivet Cemetery in Hanover, Pennsylvania.  I have been researching the souls residing within the cemetery and on a recent trip, which have been many, I saw this cute and very old tombstone with a military medal sticking in the ground for Henry Sherman who served during the War of 1812-1814.  While it is standing strong and proud, the engraving was not very clear, but I did determine the name and a year.  So, began my search!

 

I spent an afternoon at the York County Heritage Trust's research library and found a genealogy of Henry Sherman.  His service was at the end of the War for two months.  He was paid $2 for each month that he served.  But the most interesting fact that I learned was that his father was the General Conrad Sherman, Revolutionary War veteran who served between 1776 and 1780. 

 

Then I remembered that my paternal great grandmother was a Sherman.  Could Henry and Conrad be a relation to my paternal grandmother, Amelia Ellen Sherman-Wildasin?  She was!  Until this discovery, my relatives were generally very quiet folk living in the Pennsylvania-Maryland areas. 

 

Now the question, do I want to pursue applying to the D.A.R.?