Kin and Konnections: A Family History Blog

Discovering Family in Local Newspapers I have added some free newspaper resources in Quebec, Illinois, and Vermont to my Favorite Websites, in addition to updating other links.  My New Year's resolution for 2023 was to be more disciplined with my genealogy research so I could finish projects and share them with my living family!  The Quebec newspapers website is a bit challenging to navigate but so worth it after finding about 20 plus articles of my father's family in my grandmother's hometown newspaper in the 1950s.  The articles are mostly about the family visiting each other.  There was a picture of Dad as a teenager in the paper when he earned a scholarship.  Currently I am working on clipping the articles into a Word document, then typing them up in French and using Word's tools to help translate into English since my high school French is a bit rusty.

Soldiers Give Eyewitness Testimony about Christopher Tinkler's Head Injury During the Battle of Gettysburg My ancestor Christopher Tinkler served in the 107th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, Company D in the Union Army during the Civil War. In April 2001, I obtained a copy of his pension file from the National Archives Records Administration in Washington, D.C., File No. WC-488-382. Here is a transcription of affidavits submitted by his fellow soldiers prepared in support of Christopher's pension application: The State of Ohio ) Stark County         ) ss           On this 6 th day of October AD 1874 before me the undersigned authority within and for said County personally came Harrison Failor and William H. Steiner, both of Pike Township Stark County Ohio, both well known to me as credible persons, entitled to full faith and credit, and who being duly sworn say:             That the...

John Henry and Lizzie (Wright) Tinkler in 1930s Los Angeles, from family photo collection. Several months ago, my aunt and I noticed a John Henry Tinkler [my second great-grandfather] listed on the California Death Index at Rootsweb. He was born in Ohio on June 13, 1859 and died in California on March 4, 1942. The mother's maiden name was listed as Kline. This threw us for a loop since Uncle Leslie Tinkler's family tree listed John Henry's mother's maiden name as Phoebe Carey. Anyway, through postings on genealogy message boards, I got a reply listing a marriage date for John H. Tinkler and Susan E. Wright in Bethany, Illinois. I sent away for their marriage register and the birth register for [their son] Clancy Bradford Tinkler, Sr. The marriage register shows they were married in Bethany on April 29, 1888. His mother's maiden name is listed as JULIA A. KLINE and his father's name is listed as CHRISTOPHER TINKLER. He was born in Stark County, Ohio where many Ti...

Goodfellows Were From Ireland I just received the portions of the Burwell/Tate papers I requested from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. It includes several pictures (most are unidentified); the booklet from the Burwell Family picnic in 1870 at Burwell Farms in Connecticut; Mary Alice Burwell's DAR application; Moses and Isabella's marriage certificate; obituaries for: Moses, Isabella, Nettie, Lydia Wilson (Isabella's sister) and William Wilson (Lydia's husband); and various genealogy notes. Isabella Goodfellow's grandfather was Moore Goodfellow (married to Isabella or Isabel Nichelson) born about 1779 in the County of Tyrone, Ireland. He came to America in about 1804, first settling in Maryland. After a few years he moved to Ohio where he died on September 11, 1860. Mom found on the Internet a Moore Goodfellow in the War of 1812 Muster Rolls. Originally published on my personal MyFamily.com website on September 8, 2000. Edited for clarity.  Categories: Bur...

John H. Bryant, Contractor and Builder, Bloomington, Illinois The following biography is listed in the Portrait and Biographical Album of McLean County, Illinois, published in Chicago in 1887 by Chapman Brothers:  JOHN H. BRYANT, contractor and builder, having his office at the intersection of Northeast and Douglas streets, Bloomington, may be properly numbered among the pioneer settlers of Illinois, as he came here in 1837 with his parents, being then a young child. He was born in East Cambridge, Mass., Dec. 3, 1833, his parents being Eben and Martha (Brown) Bryant, natives of Wakefield and Charlestown, Mass. Eben Bryant was a farmer by occupation, and emigrated from the Bay State to Illinois in 1837, settling in Pike County, upon 160 acres of wild land, which he improved and cultivated and occupied until his death; which occurred in 1866. The mother survived him twelve years, dying at the old homestead in 1878. They were the parents of five children, four now living, as follows: ...

A note I wrote on 29 October 2002 for my ancestor John Henry Bryant in my family tree: The biography from the Portrait and Biographical Album of McLean County is one of my favorite finds.  I was in the Los Angeles Public Library on a weekend in September 2000.  I thought I had just about tapped out all of the resources the library had to offer for my genealogical research.  Boy, was I wrong.  When I pulled the old crumbling book from the shelf, I looked up the family names from McLean County: Bryant, Champion, Burwell, Ingersoll.  I was elated to find good old John H. Bryant.  I realized I had seen the biography earlier that year when I first started my research but had dismissed it because I didn't recognize the family connection.  This linked our Illinois Bryants back to Massachusetts and to the ancestor, Abraham Bryant, that came from England to America.