SNGF: Your Maternal Grandfather's Paternal Line

Here's Randy's challenge for today:

Find a living male person in your database from your maternal grandfather's patrilineal line who could take a Y-DNA test. Answer these questions:

1) What was your mother's father's name?

2) What is your mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?

3) Can you identify male sibling(s) of your mother's father, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

4) Tell us about it in your own blog post, or in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or Google Plus post.

Part of me wants to cut to the chase (#3) but I'll do the whole thing.

1) Emery Julius Ogden

2) This line goes back a long way:

6. Emery Julius OGDEN (b. 9 Sept 1896 in Elk Point, Union Co., SD, USA, m. 19 Mar 1929 in Gordon, Sheridan Co., NE, USA, d. 8 Apr 1984 in Martin, Bennett Co., SD, USA)

12. William Fredrick OGDEN (b. 10 Oct 1871 in Simcoe, Norfolk Co., Ontario, Canada, m. 25 Jan. 1895 in Elk Point, Union Co., SD, USA, d. 19 May 1951 in Platteville, Grant Co., WI, USA)

24. James Robert OGDEN (b. 9 Feb 1836 in New Brunswick, Canada, m. 12 Nov 1861 in Grey Co., Ontario, Canada, d. 6 Aug 1910 in Rapid City, Pennington Co., SD, USA)

48. Robert OGDEN (b. abt 1807 in New Brunswick, Canada, m. 13 Jan 1825 in Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada, d. 26 Jan 1892 in Bruce Co., Ontario, Canada)

96. Jonathon OGDEN (b. 1748 in NY, m1. before 1794 to Millie Whitlock in ?, m2. 20 Oct 1801 to Mary Clark in Gagetown, Queens Co., New Brunswick, Canada, d. 14 Nov 1845 in Greenwich, Kings Co., New Brunswick, Canada)

192. Michael OGDEN (b. 1703 in Rye, Westchester Co., NY, m. ?, d. 30 Mar 1790 in Queens Co., New Brunswick, Canada)

384. John OGDEN(b. 1672 in Rye, Westchester Co., NY, m. ?, d. 1746 in North Castle, Westchester Co., NY)

768. John OGDEN (b. 3 Sept 1600? in England, UK, m. 19 Apr 1865 in Stamford, Fairfield Co., CT d. 1682 in Rye, Westchester Co., NY)

3. The person I'd chose for a Y-DNA test would be my mother's only living brother. He also has four sons and a couple of grandsons through them. In addition, my maternal grandfather has three brothers, Elmer, Cecil and James Robert. The last of them died in 1991. I can't find any records of any of them having any children. These are probably branches of the family tree that my brother neglected when he was in charge of my mom's branch of the family tree. My great grandfather had two brothers, Delbert and John. Delbert had two sons, but we don't have any info on John. So my mom's cousins and her dad's cousins are wide open research opportunities.

The main benefit to having a Y-DNA test done on this branch would be to see if there is really a family tie between John Ogden of Rye, NY and the John Ogden of Elizabethtown, NJ. They were contemporaries in the colony of Connecticut and are rumored to have been cousins. The descendants of the latter John Ogden are well documented, those of my Loyalist ancestors, not so much. The other benefit would be to get a foothold on research into our roots in England. Knowing the area of England where our Ogden line sprang from would give us a starting place of where to look for source documents.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 4: Free Offline Genealogy Tools

For which free offline genealogy tool are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefited your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.

I had a hard time figuring this one out until I read some other posts. Then I had lots of ideas.

But the first thing that occurred to me was the Clinton IA Public Library Root Cellar. My Irish immigrant ancestors settled in Clinton Co., IA. I've made a couple of trips across Illinois to visit this library and go down in the basement to the Root Cellar. It has been a tremendous resource in discovering details about my Kain and Kennedy ancestors. It was there that my wife and I learned about the possibility of the crossing of paths of my great-great-grandfather, John Kennedy, and her grandfather, Albert Crowe. I have a long list of resources to check there the next time I find time to cross the Mississippi River into Iowa. The Root Cellar librarians are very knowledgeable and helpful. I wish I lived even closer so I could spend more time there.

SNGF: Random Research

Randy's challenge this week is random genealogy research, meaning research on a random  person. The details are here.

My random name was Neal Barnett. The first census result was for an H. Neal Barnett in 1930, so I went with the second which was Neal Barnett of Brazil, IN in 1930. Mr. Barnett was a lodger with Nathan and Cora Harris and their two adult children. He was 19 years old. His birth place and the birth place of his parent's is listed as "Unknown". That's going to make any further research very tricky. He must mot have been at home when the census taker came calling and the Harris family knew nothing of his background. His occupation is listed as piece worker at the clay plant. A quick Google of "brazil indiana clay plant" informs me that Brazil, IN is in fact in Clay Co., IN. That's in the southwest part of the state. It's named for Henry Clay and not the clay plant. Jimmy Hoffa and Orville Redenbacher were both born in Brazil.

But enough about Brazil and back to Neal Barnett. I wish Randy had posted this after the 1940 US Census was released. I hope in 1940 that the census taker found where Neal was from. Anyway, I'm left with trying to find a 9-year-old Neal Barnett in the 1920 US Census with no way of knowing if I have the right one.

In 1920, there is a 10-year-old Neal Barnette in Sycamore, Montgomery Co., KS. His parents are Charles J. and Ethel E. Barnette. Charles was born in Indiana. Ethel was born in Kansas, but both her parents were born in Indiana, so this Kansas-born Neal Barnette does have some Indiana connections. The Barnetts are also listed in Sycamore in the 1915 and 1925 Kansas state censuses.

So how do I verify that this is the right Neal Barnett? Next thing is to look for Charles Barnett in earlier censuses and see where in Indiana he's from. Lots of Charles Barnetts in earlier Indiana censuses, but none appears to be near Brazil. Let's see if there are any other Barnetts in Brazil in the 1930 census. OK, tons of Barnetts in Brazil in 1930. So it's plausible that Neal went to Indiana to be near relatives.

I went back to the original search for Neal Barnett to follow up on an entry in "Illinois, Deaths and Stillbirths Index, 1916-1947." Here are the details:

Name:	Neal Barnett
Birth Date:	23 May 1910
Birth Place:	Neodegha, Kansas
Death Date:	29 Nov 1942
Death Place:	Chicago, Cook, Illinois
Burial Date:	30 Nov 1942
Burial Place:	Hammond, Lake, Indiana
Cemetery Name:	Local
Death Age:	32
Occupation:	Queen Anne Candy Co.
Race:	White
Marital Status:	M
Gender:	Male
Father Name:	Charles Joe Barnett
Father Birth Place:	Indiana
Mother Name:	Ethel Edith Betts
Mother Birth Place:	Russell, Kansas
Spouse Name:	Leona

So this is obviously the Neal Barnett from Kansas. Is it the one from Indian in 1930? The next step would be to look for a 1942 obituary from a Chicago paper and see if it mentions Indiana. He was buried in Hammond in northwest Indiana. Unfortunately that's about all I have time for tonight.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Weeks 2 & 3: Online Tools

It's two, two, two weeks in one!

Week 2: Paid Genealogy Tools
My favorite paid genealogy tool? Ancestry.com hands down. It has been the source of tons of research and discoveries, mostly through the census records. It has also been where we have built our family tree.

By we, I mean my brother Ross and me. In fact, it's his subscription that he generously shares with me. That is what I am most grateful for. He did a tremendous job getting our tree started. I just add twigs and leaves to the trunk and branches he first built.

Week 3: Free Online Genealogy Tools
This one is a lot tougher. I am grateful for familysearch.org and also for the USGenWeb collection of sites. I guess I'll go with the USGenWeb sites because I'm grateful for the hundreds of volunteers that built these sites and keep them running. I'll especially mention Marshall County, IL, Knox County, NE and Clinton County, IA. These were a great help in working on my paternal family lines. My dad's Irish ancestors settled in Clinton Co., the German ones in Marshall Co. Both sets of his grandparents settled in Knox Co., where his parents met.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Week 1 - Blogs

I think I'll try writing about abundant genealogy this year. Gratitude matters a lot to me. I find it useful when I'm feeling down.

This week's prompt:
For which blog are you most thankful? Is it one of the earliest blogs you read, or a current one? What is special about the blog and why should others read it?


Hands down it's Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings. I find it very insightful and informative. I started genealogy blogging to take part in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. It's where I first learned about Surname Saturday and other daily prompts. I felt very honored when Randy  used my suggestion for a SNGF topic.

January 2012: Status of research on Joseph Andrew Huigens

New year, new try at blogging more. Last year's plan to post weekly about one of my grandparents or great-grandparents each month did not go so well. This year I'll try one post a month on them that shares the current status of my research. I've been organizing my research as a series of questions about each person. I then list all the various answers along with the sources and a to-do list of other possible sources. This helps me to identify what I know for sure and what I think I know but don't have a good source for. It also helps me organize research plans. I also plan to use it to add source citations to my TMG database where everything is sourced. This is currently a very small database, unfortunately.

I'll start with my paternal grandfather.

4. Joseph Andrew HUIGENS

What was his full name?

Joseph A HUIGENS: WWI draft registration, 1920 US Census, 1930 US Census, wife’s obituary, grave marker

Joe Andrew HUIGENS: NE state death record

Joseph Andrew HUIGENS: JAH2 birth certificate, SS-5, delayed birth record

To-do: St. Ludger baptism record, newspapers, children’s vital records

Who were his parents?

John HUIGENS and Mary FITZLER: marriage license, NE state death record, “100 years of progress, Creighton, Nebraska, 1874-1974.”, 1912 Nebraska history, SS-5

John HUIGENS and Mary F FITZLER: delayed birth record

John and Mary HUIGENS: 1900 US Census

John and Mary HIGGINS: 1910 US Census

To-do: St. Ludger baptism record, newspapers, parents’ obituaries
When was he born?

9-Mar-1891: Grave marker, obituary, WWI draft registration, marriage license, NE state death record, SS-5, delayed birth record

Mar-1891: 1900 (Age 9) US Census record

1891: 1910 (Age 19), 1920 (Age 28 before 1910 birthday), 1930 (Age 39) US Census records

To-do: St. Ludger baptism record, newspapers

Where was he born?

Creighton, NE: obituary, WWI draft registration, NE state death record, SS-5, delayed birth record

NE: 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930 US census records

Section 3 in Logan Twp., Knox Co., NE (10 miles west of Creighton) on family farm if born at home: 1903 Knox County plat map

To-do: find exact location of family in 1891 in land records, newspapers

Where did he go to school?

1912 father’s bio says he is attending the Catholic parochial school

To-do: NE school census, St. Ludger school records

How long did he go to school?

1900 US Census shows he was in school for 8 month in the previous year

1910 US Census states he had attended school sometime since 1-Sept-1909, when he was 18

1912 father’s bio says he is attending the Catholic parochial school, but would have been about 21 years old (How long before publication was the interview done?)

        To-do: NE school census, St. Ludger school records
When did he marry?

18-Feb-1914: his obituary, hand-written note on wedding picture, marriage license

18-Feb-1910: Julia’s obituary (contradicted by 1910 US Census which shows them both single and with their families)

abt 1913 or 1915: Married at ages 22 and 19 according to 1930 US Census [matches  their ages on the 18 Feb 1914 wedding date]

        To-do: St. Ludger marriage record, newspapers
Where did he marry?
        St. Ludger Catholic Church, Creighton: obituary, marriage license
        To-do: St. Ludger marriage record, newspapers
Where did he farm in Knox Co.

His father left the farm in Nov-1904 according to bio, but he was only 13 then

        Section 9 of 1920 Logan Twp. map says “John Parkhurst, Jos Huigens (contract)”

“P. O. Walnut, R. 1. O. 160 ac., sec. 9; R. 160 ac., sec. 11; R. 320 ac., sec. 3.” : Farmer's Directory of Logan Precinct 1920 Atlas  (O= owns R = rents)

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/county/knox/1920atlas/logan.htm

To-do: Knox County land records, county directories

When did he move his family to Sheridan Co.?
      Before Jan. 1926: Obituary
Before 12-Feb-1927: My dad’s birth date

To-do: Knox Co. land records, Sheridan Co. land records, County directories, newspapers from both counties

Why did he move west?
        To-do: Knox Co. land records, newspapers from both counties
Where was the farm in Sheridan Co.? Who owned it?

        Rushville Precinct: 1930 US Census

Logan C. Musser owned it: notes of 7 Mar 2010 conversation with 

Mom

NW of Rushville, within walking distance: 2011 emails with Mom

Box 514, Rushville, NE in Oct. 1942: SS-5

        To-do: Sheridan Co. land records, county directories, ask Mom
When did he retire to Rushville?
To-do: ask Mom, Sheridan Co. directories and land records, 

newspapers
What did he do for a living?
Farmer: WWI draft registration card, 1920 US Census, 1930 US 

Census
Worked for Consumers Oil & Refining Co., Rawlins, WY in Oct. 

1942: SS-5
To-do: Directories
When did he die?
        8-Nov-1957: Obituary, grave marker, NE state death record
        To-do: Rushville Immaculate Conception church records, probate records; died before the  

SSDI started
Where did he die?

At home: Obituary

At his home in the city [Rushville]: NE state death record

To-do: Nothing

What was the cause of death?
        Lingering illness: Obituary
        Uremia due to Chronic Glomerulonephritis: NE state death record
To-do: Nothing

Where is he buried?
        St. Mary’s Cemetery: Obit, grave marker photo

To-do: Nothing

The purple marked questions are the extra, nice to have that's more family history than genealogy. I haven't decided yet which I want to be when I grow up--family historian or genealogist.

The yellow marked questions are where I have a doubt about the exact right answer to the common Birth/Marriage/Death where and when questions. In this case, I think I know where the family was living when my grandfather was born, but I don't have enough info to make an unquestionable claim.