CategoriesBig NewsPersonal

It’s A Girl!

Baby
The first furniture

That’s what the banners and balloons should read in November when our baby arrives. According to the Ultrasound technician, we’re having a girl and she sounded pretty confident. Finding out now is exciting to us. People always seem like we should wait until it’s born to find out, but we’d rather find out now. It gives us a fun surprise early and from what I’ve heard, you sometimes don’t get to enjoy the surprise during the delivery since there is so much other stuff going on.

As for having a girl, I’m very excited. I’d be just as excited either way, but I was secretly hoping for a girl (maybe 60/40 girl/boy.) I grew up a boy (surprise!) and I had two brothers, so a baby boy didn’t seem that crazy to me. I know how to handle a boy. Having a girl is another story. I have very little experience with little girls. Thankfully, my wife is a girl (no way!) so I’ll have help there. When you find out the gender a lot of things go through your mind. Now you can get a clearer picture of the future. Beforehand, it was somewhat blurry. All thoughts had the baby replaced with “generic child” in my brain, now I can put a face, or at least gender, on it. Obvious thoughts of “Daddy’s Little Girl” and all that stuff float on through sometimes. It’ll sure be an experience and I’m ready for it.

As for a genealogy point-of-view, we’ll be able to give her a pretty clear picture of where she gets certain traits. Obviously, as a girl, she won’t get my Y-DNA passed down to her, but she will get her mother’s mtDNA. We just need to get her mother an mtDNA test at some point to pinpoint her maternal genetic genealogy. The way it looks, it’s possibly English or at least from somewhere in the UK, but we don’t have enough info, yet.

My wife, who is much better with the written word than I am, has been blogging about the new baby experience on our website. Feel free to pop on over there.

Now on to paint the nursery this weekend.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: June 27th – July 3rd

I missed the Way Back Wednesday this week, oops. Anyway, here is the weekly history for this week. As always, you can find this on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

June 28th

2005 – Died – Edwin Bernard CORRIGAN – Edwin is my great-granduncle on my father’s side. He was the last surviving child of Thomas & Emma Jane CORRIGAN. I met him many times at a few of the family reunions. He was a very nice man and was very interested in genealogy, which was good for that side of the family. I transcribed a few of his letters in the past and put them on my site. He was born 4 Oct 1909 in Ashland, Ashland Co., Wisconsin. He married Esther Mae EIDE and has one child. He passed away in L’Anse, Baraga Co., Michigan at the age of 95.

June 29th

1725 – Died – Louis QUINET – Louis is my 9th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born about 1635 in France. He married Marguerite BROSSIER and had 4 children including my ancestor, Georges QUINET. He passed away at Contréglise, Haute-Saône, France.

June 30th

1664 – Born – Ernest Ludwig FABER – Ernest is my wife’s 8th-great-grandfather on her father’s side. He was born at Neipperg, Baden, Germany. In 1691, he married Maria Catherina STOLTZENHABER and had 4 children. He passed away on 10 Mar 1739 at Neipperg, Baden, Germany.

1941 – Married – Keith R MORAN and Barbara COLLINS – Keith and Barbara are my wife’s grandparents. They were married at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Together they had two boys. Keith passed away in 1985.

July 3rd

1863 – Born – Augusta Johanna LUEDTKE – Augusta is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Storkow, Pommerania which is now just east of Szczecin, Poland. She immigrated to the US at an early age and married Carl F H LAST in 1883. Together they had a whopping 16 children. Carl passed away in 1926 and Augusta lived to be 100, passing away 2 weeks after her 100th birthday on 14 Jul 1963.

CategoriesUncategorized

Weekly History: June 20th – 26th

Joseph & Emily Zalewski
Joseph & Emily (Troka) Zalewski

History from our family trees for this week. As always, this information is available on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

June 20th

Happy Fathers Day to my dad and all of my male ancestors! This is also my last non-father’s day, or my father-to-be day.

June 21st

1891 – Married – Johann THIELKE & Wilomene RATHKE – Johann and Minnie are my great-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married in Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin. This was Minnie’s second marriage and, as far as I know, Johann’s first. My great-grandfather, Arthur THIELKE, is their only child that I am aware of. Johann passed away in 1927 and Minnie in 1929. They are both buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Grafton, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

1894 – Born – Margaret S BRAATZ – Margaret is my great-grandaunt on my father’s side. She was born in Philips, Price Co., Wisconsin, the older sister to my great-grandmother, Agnes (BRAATZ) CORRIGAN. According to my info, she married Louis PETERSON. She passed away on 2 Dec 1974 at Munising, Alger Co., Michigan and is buried in Ashland, Wisconsin.

1931 – Born – Robert John ZALEWSKI – Robert is my great uncle on my father’s side. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, younger brother of my grandfather, Richard ZALEWSKI. He married Elizabeth PFEIFFER and had 4 children. He passed away not long after my grandfather on 7 Sep 1999 in Bowie, Prince Georges Co., Maryland.

June 23rd

1615 – Born – Richard CUTTS – Richard is my wife’s 10th-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He was born in Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire. In 1649 he married Eleanor ALDERSEY. My wife’s ancestor is their daughter Margaret CUTTS. Richard passed away on 10 May 1675 in Portsmouth.

1809 – Born – Sophia Elizabeth STRASSMAN – Sophia is my 4th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born in Wahmbeck, Hanover, Germany. She married Frederick MUHM in 1844 in New York State before moving to Wisconsin. They had 2 children, including my ancestor Peter MUHM. She passed away on 23 Nov 1869 in Germantown, Washington Co., Wisconsin and is supposedly buried nearby at Christ Evangelical Cemetery in Dheinsville, Washington Co., Wisconsin. We looked for her headstone a few years back and did not find it, though it may be missing or very worn by now.

1873 – Born – Emma Jane FIRMENICH – Emma is my great-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born at Wrightstown, Brown Co., Wisconsin, the 4th of 13 children for Mathias & Paulina FIRMENICH. She married Thomas CORRIGAN in 1892 and had 9 children. The last child, Sadie,  was actually born on the day Thomas died. She married twice more before she passed away on 28 Apr 1941 in Ashland, Ashland Co., Wisconsin. She is buried there next to Thomas at St. Agnes Cemetery.

June 24th

1800 – Born – Rachel MINK – Rachel is my wife’s 4th-great-grandmother on her father’s side. She was born in Virginia and married her husband, Peyton WEY, there at Lovettsville in Loudon Co. They later traveled to Ohio and then to Wisconsin where Rachel passed away on 24 Dec 1870 at West Fork, Richwood Co., Wisconsin.

June 25th

1908 – Born – Mary Elizabeth WEY – Mary is my wife’s 3rd-great-grandmother on her father’s side, daughter to Rachel and Peyton above. She was born in Ohio. She married Jesse TONEY in 1851 in Preble Co., Ohio. She passed away on 25 Jun 1908 at West Fork, Richwood Co., Wisconsin.

1919 – Married Joseph ZALEWSKI & Emily TROKA – Joseph and Emily are my great-grandparents on my father’s side. They were married at St. Hedwig’s Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They had 3 children from 1920-1931. Emily died early at the age of 45 in 1941. They are buried together at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

June 26th

1778 – Married Christoph DIETER & Elisabeth VENNINGER – Christoph and Elisabeth are my wife’s 4th-great-grandparents on her father’s side. They were married at Evangelisch, Adelshofen, Heidelberg, Baden, Germany. They had 7 children, including her ancestor, Frederick DIETER. Christoph died in 1863 and Elisabeth in 1876. They are both buried in Richland Co., Wisconsin.

1929 – Died – Wilomene C RATHKE – Minnie is my great-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 1 Sep 1857 in Pommerania, Prussia. She married Johann THIELKE in 1891 (above) and had one child. She is buried at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Grafton, Wisconsin.

CategoriesWay Back Wednesday

Way Back Wednesday: Margaret

DeBroux Margaret

This isn’t a direct ancestor of mine, but I’ve always like the photo. Maybe it’s her eyes. They seem to pop out compared to the rest of the photo. I don’t have any proof on this, but the photo seems to be of Margaret DeBroux, who according to my guess is my great-grandaunt (or my great-grandfather’s sister) on my mother’s side.

CategoriesTombstone Tuesday

Tombstone Tuesday: Rosina Shannon

Rosina (Arnold) Shannon

When we were last visiting my in-laws up in central Wisconsin, we decided to take a trip a few miles east to the Plover, Wisconsin area. It turns out that a few of my wife’s ancestors settled in that area and were supposed to be buried nearby. We took a drive out there one morning and happened to find a cemetery in Whiting, Wisconsin where our info said they were buried. It turned out to be the correct one, fortunately. We were looking specifically for Nathaniel & Rosina (ARNOLD) SHANNON, my wife’s maternal great-great-grandparents. There were a lot of SHANNONs in the cemetery and we did find Rosina’s headstone. Unfortunately, due to the position of the sun, it is very hard to make anything out on the stone. I’m pretty sure it says, “Rosina – wife of N Shannon – Dec 18 1824 – Dec 20 1899.” There was an Nathaniel SHANNON buried next to her, but since it was a Civil War stone I don’t think it was her husband since he would’ve been in his 50s when that war was fought. More than likely that is their son, Nathaniel. We didn’t find her husband’s burial spot, but we may have missed it on the side of her’s or another’s.

[ Find-a-Grave link ]

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: June 13th – 19th

Weekly History for my family tree. As always, you can find this on the Dates & Anniversaries page and now even with a cool calendar.

June 13th

1774 – Died – Josephte CHEVREFILS-BELISLE – Josephte is my 7th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 11 Nov 1719 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She married Antoine LAFOND in 1750. She passed away in Baie-du-Febvre, Yamaska, Quebec, Canada.

June 14th

1757 – Born – Antoine QUINET – Antoine is my 6th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was born in Contréglise, Haute-Saône, France. In 1781, he married Monique MARIZOT and had 5 children. He passed away sometime after 1811.

June 16th

1897 – Died – Robert MORAN – Robert is my wife’s 3rd-great-grandfather on her father’s side. He was born about 1820 somewhere in Ireland. In 1845. he married Dorothea COOK in either Canada or Ireland and together they had 9 children and then finally settling in Wisconsin. He passed away in Tarver, Wisconsin, located in the southwestern section.

June 19th

1807 – Died – Pieter JUNIS – Pieter is my 6th-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born about 1753 and married Jacoba KNUDDE. They had 5 children including my ancestor, Anna Threzia JUNIS. He passed away at Hoofdplaat, Zeeland, Netherlands.

CategoriesEnglishFamily TreeSite

Family Tree Update

I thought I’d do a general post about recent updates to family tree research and the site itself.

I just updated the Family Tree section of the website to the latest release of The Next Generation of Genealogy Site Building (TNG) to version 8.0. I have yet to see all of the new features and changes, but if previous versions are any indication, it should be pretty nice. So far, there is now a Calendar on the Dates & Anniversaries area, a nice photo viewer and slideshow (example), and many other “under-the-hood” tweaks. I also changed the background image/color of the family tree site to be a bit lighter. I noticed, even for my young 30-year-old eyes, that some of the smaller text was hard to read. It seems better. As always, please let me know if anything is hard to read or broken on the site. More than likely I just didn’t notice it yet.

On the family tree research front, I’m still going back through every census record for our families and inserting much more detailed source information, including house and family numbers and exact pages, etc. My previous sourcing wasn’t too good and I had accidentally deleted a lot of the details when I merged sources in my software. Anyway, it’s good to go back through. I’ve noticed some small details that I missed.

I haven’t broken down any major brick walls on my family recently, but I have added more people to my wife’s family tree. They are temporarily inserted as I find more credible sources. For example, some info was only found in Ancestry.com’s family trees area and I don’t exactly trust it due to many problems/wrong info in the past. But, it’s good to at least get the data in there so I can research it more in-depth. Again, her family history is much more “exciting” than mine. I say that with much humor, because all family breakthroughs are exciting. Her’s just has a lot more history with it, especially early American history. This latest line ties back into the ROGERS family of Connecticut, which seems to be pretty well-researched and rumored to be both possibly connected to the Mayflower and John the Martyr, but more research is obviously pending on those. We’ll just add that to the list with her connection to English royalty. *sarcastic eye roll* All kidding aside, doing Colonial American research is fun for me since my family is basically all European straight from Wisconsin (and some Canadian.)

I plan on doing an export and updating the info on the online family tree soon.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: June 6th – 12th

Weekly history from our family tress. As always, you can find any of this information on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

June 7th

Today is my mom’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!

1669 – Born – Maria Catherina STOLTZENHABER – Maria is my wife’s 8th-great-grandmother on her father’s side. She was born in Stettin, Baden, Germany and married Ernest Ludwig FABER in 1691. They had 4 children. She passed away on 10 Jan 1726 in Neipperg, Baden, Germany.

1796 – Died – Marie MATTOT – Marie is my wife’s 6th-great-grandmother on her mother’s side. She was born about 1733 in Dhuy, Namur, Belgium. She married Hubart ETIENNE in 1756 and had 6 children. She passed away in Dhuy, Namur, Belgium.

June 8th

Todays is my maternal grandmother’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Grandma!

1770 – Died – Marie BOURGEOIS – Marie is my 7th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 22 Dec 1704 in Port Royal, Acadia, Canada. She married Pierre ROBICHAUD in 1724. She passed away in Quebec, Canada.

June 11th

1757 – Born – Anna Catherina CROX – Anna is my 6th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born inGenk, Limburg, Belgium. She married Wilhelmus van CRAYBECK in 1778 and had 4 children. She passed away on 8 Mar 1787 at Genk, Limburg, Belgium.

June 12th

Today is my older brother’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Eric!

CategoriesGenetic GenealogyPersonal

23 and Me

My maternal results

On National DNA Day, April 23rd, there was news that 23andMe was selling the “Complete Edition” of their genetic test for $99. The usual price for this test is $499, so a savings of 80%. I couldn’t pass up this deal since a) I am always curious about data and information b) I wanted to go deeper into my ancestry with DNA as I’ve only done basic tests. I also planned on getting it for my wife, also, but by the time we checked the site later in the evening the price was back to normal even though it was only about 8PM here.

Well, I sent in my sample and it says it will take 6-8 weeks for results. I got my results about 4 weeks later, so that was a surprise. The Complete Edition also includes the “Health” information, which is interesting. As they mention many times, I take all of that information with a grain of salt, even though there isn’t anything major to worry about in my results.

But, this site is less interested in what type of earwax I have or my Alcohol Flush Reaction and more interested in my Maternal and Paternal DNA information. I had previous known that my maternal line was H and my paternal line was R1a1. This gave me some insight into my genetic history, but it was a basic overview. I now know more details.

My maternal line has been traced in more detail to the H11a group. Their site describes it:

H originated in the Near East and then expanded after the peak of the Ice Age into Europe, where it is the most prevalent haplogroup today. It is present in about half of the Scandinavian population and is also common along the continent’s Atlantic coast.

My maternal line is basically all German, as I wrote about in a recent SNGF post.

My paternal line (or my Zalewski line) has been traced in more detail to the R1a1a subgroup.

R1a1a is the primary haplogroup of Eastern Europe, where it spread after the end of the Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. The haplogroup is most common in a swath from Ukraine and the Balkans north and west into Scandinavia, along the path of the men who followed the receding glaciers into Europe. It is also common near its presumed point of origin in south-central Asia. R1a1 is one of the two most common Y-haplogroups in Slavic-speaking populations.

That makes sense, since the Zalewski line traces back to Poland/Prussia, which is in the area mentioned.

The site also has a nice “Relative Finder” that will show you people who are more than likely closely-related to you based on your genetics. You can then send an introduction to them and if they accept, you can compare your basic results. I’ve sent a few intros to people who it predicts are somewhere between 3rd and 7th cousins to me. I have yet to receive a response, but it’s only been a few days.

All of the other info it gives like my “Health Traits” and my “Disease Risk” are interesting to browse. While they have useful info, such as certain risks, it shouldn’t (and doesn’t) affect my daily life due to the new nature of this field, but it’s nice to know.

Anyone else in either of these haplogroups?