Kin and Konnections: A Family History Blog

Researching my family history has changed so much since I started in 2000.  Then, I had a frustratingly slow dial-up connection.  I mostly surfed and posted on message boards.  I spent my lunch breaks in the bowels of the Los Angeles Central Library.  I remember stumbling upon my Burwell ancestors in the DAR lineage books.  I was excited when I found the biography of John H. Bryant, linking my Illinois Bryants to Massachusetts, and eventually, my immigrant ancestor, Abraham Bryant of Reading.  Even more rewarding, was piecing together the clues from city directories to my long-lost uncle and reconnecting the family after over 50 years. Many of those same resources I used back then are now available online.  Increasingly, you can access them for free. Today, I started with a short article on the remarriage of Moses T. Burwell, Jr. to Ada (Smith) Burwell on December 10, 1904, in Kansas City, Missouri.  [The article was published in the Col...

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 ...