Genie Road Trip

It seems I either read (for work or pleasure) or do genealogy in a lot of my off time. This past week has been spent reading but the two weeks before that I wandered far off my path following a distant line by marriage after realizing a friend and co-worker’s family showed up a page after my own in a Kent County, Michigan.  I doubt we’re actually related but it is always fascinating to me how small the world is.

But in my “wandering”—and it truly is wandering because this is not the family living near my friend but another offshoot from the neighborhood—I found more information about the Botruff families of Kent County who are tied tightly to my Helsel and Morningstar families.

Jacob and Mary Helsel Morningstar (my 3^rd Great Grandparents) had a daughter, Lavinia, also known as “Viney,” who married William Henry Botruff. William was the eldest of nine children born to Adam and Barbara (Hammer) Botruff who had come to Michigan from West Sparta, Livingston, New York in the 1850s. His next sibling, Isaac J., married Mary’s cousin (and Jacob’s sister-in-law) Melissa Helsel Morningstar.  Also, William and Viney’s daughter Alice married her first cousin once removed (and Mary’s nephew), Darius Helsel. Additionally, Mary and Jacob’s son, William, lived with Adam and Barbara Botruff at the time of the 1870 Census and that same year Norman Morningstar (I have no idea who he belongs to) lived in the next farm with Isaac’s family. The Botruffs also tie into the Magoon and Hoyt families in Kent County.

An additional fun find… I knew Isaac was a veteran of the 3rd Michigan Infantry but I found a fabulous biography of him on Steve Soper’s blog here.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

This is my 3^rd Great Grandmother Harriet (Vaughan) Packer and today is the 186^th Anniversary of her birth. Harriet was born in 1826 in England to John and Frances Vaughan. She married Joseph Packer at St. Mary the Virgin at Upchurch, Kent in 1847. The couple had at least seven children: William James, Thomas William Horton, Joseph Malcolm Ross, Sarah Maria, Charles, my 2^nd Great Grandfather Cornelius, and their youngest child Albert. In 1871 the whole family immigrated to Canada and my Gran and Aunt June remember being told about Albert being young and active enough that they were afraid he’d go overboard during their journey. They settled first in Hamilton, Ontario near her siblings but moved quickly on to Woodstock, Ontario until the early 1890s when Joseph, Cornelius, Charles, and Albert eventually moved their families to Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Harriet died in Grand Rapids and is buried in Fairplains Cemetery.

This photo is from the collection of my Great Aunt.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

Update: And now with picture!

Update: Picture will get added in tonight. For some reason I can’t get to at the moment. Thanks, Ariana!

Today is the Anniversary of the birth of my 4^th Great Grandfather, Seth Porter. He was born January 19^th in 1825 in Rutland County, Vermont to Seth and Rheumina Porter. He came to Michigan with of his brothers Dennis and Harvey in the 1840s and they settled in Kent County. In 1852 he married Rebecca Huntington and they had a family of seven children including my ancestor, George Erwin. Seth was a successful sawyer and miller settling in Edgerton at what became known as Porter’s Hollow. He was a lifelong Spiritualist. He died in 1911.

Happy Hunting,

Jess

I did make it out to Howell this past week—despite cough and winter weather advisories—to check out the Howell Carnegie District Library and more specifically visit its Archives. I had a great time going through boxes of materials on the Michigan State Sanatorium which gave me even more insight into that institution. And some wonderfully illustrative material which I think will bring it to life better for my relatives.

I also noted earlier that my 4^th Great Grandfather was listed in one of the online indexes for the Archives. He was listed because they have indexed all Livingston County Civil War Veterans and Henry R. Massy was a replacement soldier for a Hartland, Michigan draftee. So I didn’t really find new information there but it gave me the chance to better study the information offered in the regimental histories created by the state of Michigan.

The volunteers were fabulously helpful gentleman with interesting stories about the more recent history of the hospital (before it was demolished) and about fellow researchers. And the collection looks like it could be a gold mine for researchers with Livingston County roots. Also, the building itself is lovely, with an ornate Carnegie façade, and an unobtrusive modern addition off the back including space for the fiction and non-fiction collections on one floor and an enviable children’s and teen area on the lower floor.

It was definitely a worthwhile road trip!

Happy Hunting,

Jess

Today marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of my 4th Great Aunt Xantippe Roseanna Holden. She was born 13 January 1852 in Kent County, Michigan to Charles Morrill and Sarah Ann (Skiff) Holden (introduced in this post last year). She married Edwin Percival Nelson, on 26 Dec 1869 in Kent County. After the birth of their first child the young family headed north to make a life near Harbor Spring, Michigan. The story of their first few years there are laid out in a book entitled Home is Where the Heart Is by her niece, Lorna Holden DeBoer.

Ed and Tippie had seven children: Gilbert Arthur, Jay Hartwell, Cassisus, Clara, Rowena, Rose, and Berniece. I took a bit of time this weekend to follow out the children. I had more success with the men, of course. Gilbert and Cassius settled in Chicago—Bert working as an engineer and Cassius as a street car conductor. Jay settled his family in Detroit where he also did a stint as a conductor but ultimately worked as a pipefitter. As for their sisters… Bernice married Guy DeArment and they settled in Detroit where he worked as a machinist in an auto factory and I believe both Roe and Rose married and settled in Chicago—but I haven’t had much success tracking them yet.

Today also marks the 190 Anniversary of the birth of my 4th Great Grandmother, Mary Helsel Morningstar Whitebread who I discussed in this post last year.

Happy Hunting!

Jess

My step-Great-great-grandparents Lizzie Groner and George Bailey were married on this date in 1893 in Cannonsburg, Michigan. They were the parents of 7 children including two sets of twins (which run steadily through that line). They are also the reason I will never give twins cute matching names—no offense meant to Aunts Lydia and Lyndia or any of their line. My great grandfather, Harold, was their youngest child.

Happy Hunting!

Jess

So, assuming I can breathe comfortably without coughing fits, I will be heading over to the Howell Carnegie District Library this week for a little more research on the Michigan State Sanatorium for Tuberculosis. As noted in previous posts, both of my Grandmother’s parents did a stint there, and though their patient dates don’t actually match up—the family story is that they met there.

I’ve been doing a bit of research up front to try and figure out what I’d like to look at. I’ve spent a little time making a list of items that show up on MeLCat, the Michigan eLibrary shared catalog that can be used for interlibrary loan or to just figure out who has what in state. It includes some archival collections including the Michigan State Sanatorium Hillcrest Center collection, 1907-1990 and the Michigan State Sanatorium photograph collection 1917-1957—both of which cover the period when my great-grandparents were patients.

In addition to the material listed on MeL, the Howell Carnegie District Library has a nice newly updated website that includes a set of searchable collection indexes on their archives page. Somewhat idly, I decided to look at the scrapbook indexes and happened to zero in on a relative’s name—it wasn’t either of the grandparents I was hoping to research there. Instead, there is a listing for my 3rd Great Grandfather, Henry R. Massey, who was a replacement soldier for a Hartland resident… You never know where you’ll find things.

So I have a plan… now I just need to get rid of the cold.

Happy hunting,

Jess

Photo: 8 Miles to Coons in Howell, MI: I can’t identify the women but the men are both Sheas. The younger one on the left is probably Dick Shea and the gentleman on the right is my Great-grandfather Robert Shea. I have numerous shots around this sign so my guess based on people subbing in and out of them is that my grandmother actually took the picture. It is from the collection of my Great Aunt.

This happy looking pair (I love old photographs!) is my 5^th Great Grandmother Katherine (Gilbert) Lapham and her older brother the Reverend David Johnson Gilbert. The Gilbert and Lapham families moved across Michigan together settling first in Washtenaw County in the late 1820s and then moving on to Kent County in the 1840s. David and Katherine were two of eleven children born to Asa and Hannah (Johnson) Gilbert. The photograph is taken from a series of articles by Homer Birch run in the Rockford Register.

Happy Hunting!

Jess

The family found out about the death of my cousin (twice removed) Kay (Ammerman) Miller at our holiday party on Saturday. I did not know her well but she has come up in conversation a great deal lately as my mother and I have talked to my grandmother about how she met my grandfather. If I have the short version of the story kind of straight (because it gets confusing), Kay went to Creston High School in Grand Rapids with my Great Aunt June and Grandmother Ethel and somewhere along the way she introduced Gran to her cousin, Gene Johnson. My impression was that he was younger by almost four years, a bit hot-headed, and handsome. It took him a long time to convince Gran to marry him and then it had to be before her birthday so it didn’t look like that much of an age gap.

Thank you, Kay, for whatever role you played in my being here today and my deepest sympathies go out to all of her loved ones!

Sincerely,

Jess

Welcome all to 2012! I’ve taken a bit of time to reflect on my genealogy year and am doubly determined to keep this blog going as it’s had a profound effect on my research and connected and re-connected me with a group of wonderful people. And it’s the season for resolutions and while I haven’t really planned out anything yet I have a few goals to work towards:

Close to home, I hope to better utilize the Library of Michigan and the Archives of Michigan. I have had fabulous success with both institutions and I just need to keep making time to do research at the Historical Center.

The winter will see me trying to plan out spring/summer road trips… I’m currently eyeing Alison/Packer/Massy research in Ontario, trips to ACPL in Fort Wayne, and the Burton Historical Collection in Detroit. Though my travel wish list is huge and if it works better to head in other directions I’ll do it.

I’m looking forward to taking some time with the 1940 Census after it’s posted in April. I am hoping it will shed more light on my many Bradley County, Arkansas families in particular.

Also, I need to get a little more organized—something the blog is definitely helping. As I go through and decide on what to write about in the between trip and trip planning parts of the year I’m coming up with a number of questions that need answers both to further and flesh out my research.

But whatever happens, I’ll keep up the posts and let you all know what I’m working on.

Happy Hunting!

Jess