Kin and Konnections: A Family History Blog

The Christmas season is a feast for the senses: a freshly cut evergreen tree to decorate, the warmth of a favorite sweater, the tasty goodness of homemade cookies, the twinkling lights, the sounds of familiar carols.   These things all remind me of my precious childhood memories…   Hiding under a pile of stuffed animals so that Santa could not spy on me.   Arguing with the big kids (2 nd graders) about the existence of Santa. Extra helpings of my grandmother’s Snickerdoodles.   Creating works of art in school to decorate our family tree.   My surprised delight in finding a Barbie dreamhouse from Santa.   My mother helping us to bundle up just to play outside. Long treks to the hills by our house to go tobogganing with my dad, brother, and dog (poor dog!).   We always fell of the sled!   Christmas dinner with our Canadian grandmother. Sticking out our tongues to catch falling snowflakes. Building a giant snowman a...

Bloomington, Illinois was home to the Bryant and Ingersoll families for more than fifty years.   The city of Bloomington is located in central Illinois and serves as the county seat of McLean County.    Its claim to fame is that AbrahamLincoln represented clients in several cases here in the circuit court as a young lawyer.   Here is a timeline of some historical and family events: 1820s              The first white settlers arrive and call the area Blooming Grove. 1831                 The city of Bloomington is founded. 1837                 The Bryant family, Eben and Martha and sons Eben Francis and John Henry, move from Massachusetts to Illinois, settling in Pike County.    Eben buys 160 acres and runs a farm.   The parents remai...

Today, I am googling my 5 th great grandfather Moore Goodfellow (ancestor of my great-grandmother Alice Burwell) from Ballygawley, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, progenitor of the Goodfellow line from Clark County, Ohio.      So here goes… Will of John Nicholson, father-in-law of Moore Goodfellow http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohclark/Probate/John_Nicholson.txt An 1839 marriage announcement for the widow of Moore Goodfellow and daughter of John Beggs in Ballygawley.   Could they be Moore’s parents? http://www.cotyroneireland.com/marriages/aughnacloy.html   1840 U.S. Census for Harmony Township, Clark County, Ohio http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ohclark/1840Census/Clark67.htm A biographical sketch of Roy A Goodfellow whose great-grandfather was Moore Goodfellow. http://archive.org/stream/astandardhistor00socigoog#page/n300/mode/2up Moore Goodfellow’s headstone at Wraggs Cemetery, Clark County, Ohio   ...

In genealogical terms, getting married means adding whole new branches to the family tree.   Of course, I was excited when my new husband told me what he knew about his family and I began researching new family lines.   Unfortunately, sometimes the thrill of the chase gets in the way of sound research practices.   Boy, did I learn my lesson! It all started innocently enough.   I typed his grandmother’s first name and maiden name into Ancestry.com’s search engine.    Her last name is a bit unusual in the U.S.   When I found someone who had the exact same name and was about the same age living in California in the 1930 U.S. Census, I assumed I had found the right person. Instead of confirming with my husband’s family whether or not the information was correct, I kept going, hot on a trail.   Perhaps, it was because I found this family so interesting.   The census record included four generations of women, revealing three surnames to research. ...

ESTABLISHING THE FACTS After finding the articles about Agnes Tinkler, I wanted to know if this person was indeed family.   A search of the Illinois Statewide Death Index, Pre-1916 database  on the Illinois Secretary of State website revealed the death of only one person named Tinkler in 1913 in Macon County: Alice Tinkler.   I obtained the death certificate from the state archives which confirmed that Alice was the daughter of my great-great grandparents, John Tinkler and Lizzie Wright and therefore, Agnes’s sister.   So,  the previously unknown family tragedy was true! Alice worked as a chambermaid in a hotel.   She was barely eighteen when she took her own life by taking carbolic acid on the evening of 13 May 1913.   The place of death was at the corner of Main and Prairie Streets, at or near the district known as the Wabash Shops in Decatur.   As for Charles, I don’t believe that he ever existed.   The newspaper must have misident...

Yesterday’s article raised several questions.   Is this Agnes Tinkler my relative or a member of one of the other Tinkler families living in Decatur at the time?   Who was Charles Tinkler?   Agnes’s only brother was Clancy and he was very much alive in 1913.   Another brother, Christopher, died in infancy before she was born.   Half-brother?   Her parents’ marriage record identifies their marriage as their first.   No half-siblings are known to exist.   From the Decatur Review, Saturday Evening, 17 May 1913, page 8 (Decatur, Illinois): NO MORE SHORTCAKE FOR AGNES TINKLER "Agnes Tinkler, the girl sent to jail for refusing to answer questions before the grand jury, had strawberry short cake and cream for dinner Saturday.   Her relatives brought the dainties to the jail and the girl had eaten before Sheriff Nicholson knew about it. Judge Johns told the sheriff not to make the girl's stay in jail any too pleasant, but the sheriff ...

I n the last few years more and more images from newspaper archives have become available online.   Generally, most of these can be accessed through various genealogy databases such as Ancestry.com, Genealogybank.com, or NewspaperArchive.com either on a pay as you go basis or via a subscription.   Some sites are free like Chronicling America from the Library of Congress. Often, family members appear in the news in relation to social events – a birth, a wedding, an anniversary, or a death.   Sometimes they are visiting relatives in another town and recovering from an illness.   Other times their names are included in legal notices regarding a parent’s estate or a lawsuit.   I have encountered a few instances where my relations are involved in something out of the ordinary.   Such is the tale of my great-grandfather’s teenage sisters, Alice, age 18, and Mary Agnes, age 14, in May 1913 in Decatur, Illinois.   From the Decatur Review, Friday Evening, 16 Ma...

There will be no new post today.  I am busy planning future stories.  Please come back next week for more blogs.

A few years ago, I obtained from the  National Archives and Records Administration  the civil war pension file for my ancestor, Christopher Tinkler (1834-1899)*, the first in this family line to be born in America.  In a family tree prepared by my great uncle Leslie Tinkler, Christopher's wife's name is given as Julia Carey.  Her name in the marriage record was Julia Ellen Carey.  It took some time to uncover her maiden name.  It can be challenging to find details about female ancestors.  Often the details of their lives are hidden in the records of their husbands, sons, fathers, and brothers.   Below is a transcription of an affidavit filed by Julia's brother, George Washington Kline, and sister, Lydia Ann (Kline) Nicholson, in support of Julia's widow's pension:   No. 707102   General Affidavit   Case of Julia A. Tinkler, Widow of Christopher Tinkler, Co. D 107 Ohio Infantry   ...

I promised to feature stories about ancestors, in-laws, and out-laws.  Here is the story about the adventures of a Tinkler cousin, Charles Castley Tinkler (1868-1949), and his young bride, Tillie Meier, that appeared in several Ohio newspapers in 1888: MRS. TINKLER'S RETURN. Completely Discouraged By Her Adventures With the Young Forger. CINCINNATI, Dec. 13.-A. H. Meier, of Mt. Lookout, who went to England after his sister Tillie, who eloped with Charles C. Tinkler, the young bank forger, has arrived home with the newly-made Mrs. Tinkler. It will be remembered that Tinkler and Tillie were married in Brooklyn by Justice Courtney, October 17, just before embarking for England. The young forger and his bride were caught in London by means of an intercepted letter that Tinkler wrote to William Hopkins, a friend in this city, and a son of the ex-cashier of the Fidelity bank, now at Columbus. Mrs. Tinkler seems very much worried and worn by her adventures, which rivals those of the ...

Various newspaper clippings: Mr. M. T. Burwell, a former old resident and banker of this city, now of Kansas City, Missouri, arrived here yesterday, on his way home from Chicago, and is visiting his relatives, W. J. Wilson, Evan Mattinson, Dr. Ragsdale, and his numerous friends here for a few days.  The people have a warm place in their hearts and homes for Mr. Burwell and his family. Mr. and Mrs. M. T. Burwell, of Wichita , Kansas , expect to visit their many friends here, arriving next week.  They will find a most cordial greeting. Mr. and Mrs. M. T. Burwell went to Hoopeston, and Oakland , to visit many friends, and will then return to their home at Wichita , Kansas . WILL ARRIVE TODAY. Two of Gibson City 's staunchest friends, Mr. M. T. Burwell and his daughter, Miss Nettie Burwell, of Kansas City , will arrive today for a ten days visit among their relatives, old friends and neighbors; they will receive a most cordial welcome. HANDSOMELY ENTERTAIN. ...

Invitation: Thos Burwell and Mose T. Burwell. Assisted By Will J. Wilson. At Home, After Contest. FRIDAY EVENING, NOV. 20, 1891. Residence Corner Church and 3d Streets. One of the most pleasant receptions of the season was given by Mr. Thos. Burwell and Mose T. Burwell, assisted by Will J. Wilson, at the elegant home of Messrs. Burwell on the corner of 3d and Church Street Friday eve.  The reception was given immediately after the contest, and although the weather was stormy and kept some away that were expected from abroad, over fifty were in attendance and one of the most enjoyable evenings was spent.  Among the honored guests from abroad were the Misses Earl, Mr. Earl; Mr. Rezner and Mr. Mason, of Paxton, and the Misses Rodman, of Saybrook.  The evening was taken up with games and social conversation.  An elegant banquet was partaken of, supervised by Miss Nettie Burwell who has charge of the home while Mr. and Mrs. Burwell are in Louisiana ....

ELEGANT HOME BURNS Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Wilson's Elegant Residence on North Sangamon Avenue and all Its contents burned to ashes About 9 o'clock Sunday night the Electric _____ plant fire bell called the people to North Sangamon Avenue where W. J. Wilson's elegant new home soon burned to the ground without saving anything but two chairs.  The family were part in bed and partly undressed and were driven out without a moment's warning, some of them hatless, some without shoes and some without clothes.  The fire was first noticed bursting through from a closet and in less than two minutes it had spread to the whole house.  The loss is estimated at $7,500 to $8,000, with insurance of only $2,700, in the Home Co., of New York , J. Will Jones, Agt.  The fire laddies were quickly on the scene and but for them the Rapp residence on the north would have burned.  The boys and little engine worked bravely, while many citizens by hard work saved the barn and thus sa...

GRAND OPENING OF THE BURWELL HOUSE A home thrown open to the "Boys," and the traveling public of which Gibson may justly feel proud.    A host of invited guests from home and abroad partake of a banquet at 6 p.m. this evening prepared by J. R. Lott and wife the genial host and hostess. Who will always be found pleasant people. For some months, attention of our home people and visitors from abroad has been directed to the fine brick hotel being erected by Mr. M. T. Burwell, a well-known banker, real estate broker, and wealthy citizen.    The hotel building is 26 x 160 feet, two stories high, and basement, built very completely with every convenience usual to a first class hotel, the whole structure costing about $15,000.    To-day this hotel is opened to the public by Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Lott who formerly kept the St. Nicholas in this city, and who enjoy a wide reputation for keeping a first class hotel, and a hearty patronage in the past, together with...