From the Irish Civil War to the American Revolution, and from the
African nation of Cameroon to the Republic of Bulgaria, Season 3 of Who Do You Think You Are? will take you all over the world and inside the fascinating family histories of 12 celebrities.
The celebrities that WDYTYA will take on a journey to find their ancestors are Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba
McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones,
Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen.
Episode 1 with Martin Sheen airs Feb. 3, 2012 at 8/7 Central so be sure to mark your calendars.
Olive Tree Genealogy has been invited to participate in a Media interview with Martin Sheen early next week so be sure to watch my blog for my follow-up post. I'm very thrilled by the invite from NBC! I've got most of my interview questions ready but if readers have anything they want me to ask Mr. Sheen, make your suggestions in the Comments Section of this blog.
January 28, 2012
January 27, 2012
You Can Transcribe it! NARA's Transcription Project
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| NARA Transcription Pilot Project |
The document I transcribed was the 1851 Petition of Edward Gorsuch found in a Fugitive Slave Petition Book. Edward lived in Baltimore County Maryland and the first page (which I transcribed) mentions the full names (first and last) of several of his slaves as well as their ages
There are 3 categories of documents - beginner, intermediate and advanced. I've transcribed hundreds or possibly thousands of documents over the years so I jumped into advanced. You can enlarge the page you are reading and the scans are crystal clear so it truly isn't difficult.
If you're just starting out or the document you chose is difficult, you can leave and pick another one. This is a great way to contribute a few minutes or more of your time and help make these historic documents more accessible to all.
January 26, 2012
Henry Louis Gates Jr. Hopes DNA Will Find Great-Great Grandfather
"Finding Your Roots" is a 10-part series on PBS about the genealogy
and genetics of famous Americans. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the host of this show which will explore family trees of 22 celebrities.
In an interesting twist, Gates will seek to discover the name of his own great-great grandfather, the man who sired 5 children by the slave Jane Gates. Jane did not reveal the father's name to any of her children, only telling them they had the same father.
Gates will use DNA to look for a match in the descendants of a pool of 178 possibilities of men who might be his ancestor. Gates has already had his DNA tested and to his surprise found he has Irish roots going back to Nial of Nine Hostages. His theory is that his great-great grandfather is a descendant of Nial. By collecting and analysing DNA samples from male descendants of the 178 possibilities, Gates hopes to find a match.
Residents who send in a DNA sample to see if they are related to Gates will get a separate website with the results, said Gates. Those whose DNA matches Gates may be featured in the new PBS miniseries "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates," which will premiere March 25 at 8 p.m.
Read more at Harvard Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr Hunting for Great-Great Grandfather
In an interesting twist, Gates will seek to discover the name of his own great-great grandfather, the man who sired 5 children by the slave Jane Gates. Jane did not reveal the father's name to any of her children, only telling them they had the same father.
Gates will use DNA to look for a match in the descendants of a pool of 178 possibilities of men who might be his ancestor. Gates has already had his DNA tested and to his surprise found he has Irish roots going back to Nial of Nine Hostages. His theory is that his great-great grandfather is a descendant of Nial. By collecting and analysing DNA samples from male descendants of the 178 possibilities, Gates hopes to find a match.
Residents who send in a DNA sample to see if they are related to Gates will get a separate website with the results, said Gates. Those whose DNA matches Gates may be featured in the new PBS miniseries "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates," which will premiere March 25 at 8 p.m.
Read more at Harvard Prof Henry Louis Gates Jr Hunting for Great-Great Grandfather
January 25, 2012
Help Send Frank Crummy's Tombstone Home!
The tombstone was etched with
Father
Frank Crummy
1869 – 1952
No one knows how the tombstone got to Gleichen or who Frank Crummy is. Mounties are asking for help.
This lost tombstone intrigued me so I spent a bit of time yesterday on a hunt. I'm hoping my readers will put on their sleuthing hats and join me!
Grande Prairie Alberta Crummy Family
I found quite a few newspaper articles and references to a Frank Crummy living in Grande Prairie Alberta in the 1930s and 1940s but nothing substantial that might lead to family members. He was a Mason and was the District Deputy Grand Master for Spirit River Lodge in 1942. It is very possible this is Frank of the wayward tombstone.
I also found reference to "the Crummy brothers" settling in Grande Prairie before 1916. The index to "Pioneers of the Peace", a local history book which I don't have access to, lists Frank, George and Joe Crummy. If anyone can access this book we might find out more about Frank.
Minnesota Connection
Minnesota seems to come into play and the 1880 census for Minnetonka Minnesota finds the family of John Crummy, wife Jane with several children including Frank age 9 years old born Pennsylvania. Frank had brothers John, George and Joseph.
Joseph had a son John aka Jack born ca 1906 in Minnesota. This son John married Mavis Paul and settled in Grande Prairie, dying there in 1987. So I am fairly certain that the Minnesota family is the Crummy family that settled in Grande Prairie Alberta.
Marriage in Edmonton Alberta
One tidbit I found on Peel's Prairie Provinces was in a publication called "The Trail". It listed a marriage in Edmonton Alberta in November 1939 for Frank Grey Crummy son of Mr. & Mrs. F. Crummy of Grande Prairie Alberta. It is possible that Frank Grey Crummy is the son of Frank.
I've done no further research so please jump in and help the Mounties find where Frank Crummy's tombstone belongs. You may use the comment section of this blog post to post information you find. If it involves living people, please send it privately to olivetreegenealogy @ gmail . com (no spaces in the email address)
January 24, 2012
Pinterest - Oh No, Another Addictive Distraction!
I'd heard about Pinterest over the past year from many Facebook friends but never ventured into it, thinking it would just be a waste of time. How wrong could I be?
Pinterest is the bomb. I'm loving it!
It's a way of bookmarking sites and objects you like or things you want to try.
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| Part of my Genealogy Board on Pinterest |
It's so easy - you download the Pin button addon to your web browser. Then when you are on a website you like you hit that Pin button and a choice of images pops up. Choose the image you want to represent what you've chosen and add it to your board
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| Another part of my Pinterest Genealogy Board |
The URL of the website is automatically given so anyone looking at your board or following your board can click through to learn or see more!
The cool thing is that now you have a handy reference of things you might want to look at again, or try out, or read about. I found some really innovative family tree ideas (you can see some on the left) so I pinned them to my board. Now I can think about creating some of my own that are similar.
I also created a board for Recipes and Antiques and more things that I like. Pinterest is a social media site in that you need to engage with others on Pinterest, either by following their boards or repinning something they pinned or liking or commenting on something they pinned.
A look around Pinterest gave me so many great ideas for genealogy, antiquing and cooking that I spent an entire day on it yesterday! I found many others interested in genealogy so naturally I followed all of them.I have now begun following individual boards rather than blindly following all the boards that one person created. I don't care about seeing a board on Scuba Diving for example.
Interested? Check out my Pinterest page at https://pinterest.com/lorinems/
Want to follow me or my genealogy board? Just click on the "Follow me on Pinterest" logo above. Warning: Pinterest is addictive! If you want to get a page quickly, drop me an email with your email address and I'll send you an invite. Send your note to olivetreegenealogy @ gmail.com (no spaces)
January 23, 2012
Cemetery Walk: Creemore United Cemetery, Simcoe Co. Ontario
It's Movie Monday and this week's Movie is a Cemetery Walk through Creemore United Cemetery in Simcoe County Ontario Canada on the OliveTreeGenealogy Channel on You-Tube.
There are many Cemetery Walk Videos online on the OliveTreeGenealogy Channel on You-Tube and lots of tombstone photographs on AncestorsAtRest
There are many Cemetery Walk Videos online on the OliveTreeGenealogy Channel on You-Tube and lots of tombstone photographs on AncestorsAtRest
January 22, 2012
Sharing Memories (Week 4): Sleepovers & Hair Dye
It's Week 4 of our THIRD YEAR of 52 weeks of Sharing Memories - A Genealogy Journey for 2012. This is our third year writing our memoirs and childhood memories for our descendants.
If you are just joining us, you can take a peek at the last two years' of topics by clicking on the Sharing Memories tab at the top of the blog. You can jump in at any time and you can skip topics that you don't like. There are no rules, and the topics are just a guide if you want or need them.
The goal is to write - to put your memories on paper for your descendants. So please join us and write either here as a comment, or in your private journal or on your own blog.
Did you have sleepovers as a child? I did. My mom was really good about letting us have friends over and since there were four of us, often the house was full of noise and other kids. One thing I got to have as a teen was sleepovers - lots of them! None of the other girls in my class were allowed to have them so it was a pretty exciting time when I set one up.
We'd stay up all night. My room was upstairs and my mother's bedroom was on the main floor so all night long she'd come up the stairs and tell us to shush as she had to go to work in the morning. I don't know how she got through work the next day as we couldn't stay quiet for long.
We'd put our hair in rollers and have pillow fights, giggle and talk about boys. And around 5 am we'd all fall asleep - so much for our goal to stay awake all night.
At one sleepover I talked the other girls into buying packages of hair dye at our local drugstore. We went crazy, buying various colors. Hair dye was a powder and it came in little envelopes. We helped each other dye our hair in the laundry tub in our basement. It didn't really do much for most of us but some of the girls with blonde hair had a mess once the dye took. I still remember that the other mothers were furious with my mother for not stopping us.
The sleepovers didn't stop but we did smarten up a bit. What were your sleepovers like?
If you are just joining us, you can take a peek at the last two years' of topics by clicking on the Sharing Memories tab at the top of the blog. You can jump in at any time and you can skip topics that you don't like. There are no rules, and the topics are just a guide if you want or need them.
The goal is to write - to put your memories on paper for your descendants. So please join us and write either here as a comment, or in your private journal or on your own blog.
Did you have sleepovers as a child? I did. My mom was really good about letting us have friends over and since there were four of us, often the house was full of noise and other kids. One thing I got to have as a teen was sleepovers - lots of them! None of the other girls in my class were allowed to have them so it was a pretty exciting time when I set one up.
We'd stay up all night. My room was upstairs and my mother's bedroom was on the main floor so all night long she'd come up the stairs and tell us to shush as she had to go to work in the morning. I don't know how she got through work the next day as we couldn't stay quiet for long.
We'd put our hair in rollers and have pillow fights, giggle and talk about boys. And around 5 am we'd all fall asleep - so much for our goal to stay awake all night.
At one sleepover I talked the other girls into buying packages of hair dye at our local drugstore. We went crazy, buying various colors. Hair dye was a powder and it came in little envelopes. We helped each other dye our hair in the laundry tub in our basement. It didn't really do much for most of us but some of the girls with blonde hair had a mess once the dye took. I still remember that the other mothers were furious with my mother for not stopping us.
The sleepovers didn't stop but we did smarten up a bit. What were your sleepovers like?
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