The Story of the Orphan Elsie Markham

My husband's great-grandmother Elsie Phyllis Markham was orphaned at the age of 8 months. Her older brothers ages 8 and 2 years old were also orphaned when their parents succumbed to illness in London England in October and November 1898.

The boys were sent to orphanages but Elsie was taken in by relatives, eventually brought to Canada by her brother Albert Finch who had been sent to Canada as a Barnardo Boy in 1901.

Read Albert's story at O is for Orphans 

The story of 8 month old Elsie

According to Elsie's son Bert, Elsie was an orphan. Her parents Albert and Edith were said to have died in an epidemic in England ca 1900. Elsie was sent to an orphanage then out to work for a Jewish lady, then her brother sent for her to come to Canada. Elsie had 2 brothers - Albert Finch and Frederick Markham. 

Intrigued by the family lore I decided to research Elsie and find out what happened to her. 

In February 1899 Elsie was with her paternal aunt and uncle, Frederick and Maria Markham in London England. Her brother Frederick Markham was in Millers Orphanage in Bristol, and her brother Albert Finch was in Barnardos Homes.

Her aunt and uncle gave Elsie up sometime between 1899 and 1901.  Records reveal that her uncle was growing tired of the extra expense caring for her.

1901 found 3 year old Elsie living with the MacGregor family. It appears they took her in as a foster child.

Donald G Macgregor Head M 44 M House Painter Worker Scotland
Hannah Macgregor Wife M 41 F   Undefined Scotland
Elsie Markham Daughter S 3 F   Undefined Shepherds Bush

I do not know how long Elsie was with the MacGregor family but in 1913 at the age of 15 she was on her way to Canada, thanks to her older brother Albert. Albert, how I wrote about previously  at O is for Orphans  had saved his merger earnings as a Barnardo Home Child sent to Ontario Canada and paid for Elsie's passage to join him in St. Mary's. 

Elsie sailed on the Royal George, arriving in Quebec in September 1913 and was soon on her way to her new home. Four years later Elsie married a hard-working farmer Bristol Holden. She was already pregnant with a son (my husband's grandfather) by Bristol's hired man George Cooper, but whether or not Bristol knew the child was not his, is not known. She and Bristol had a happy marriage, and Elsie bore 5 more children. 

She lived until the age of 94, dying in St. Mary's in 1993. Her husband Bristol had died almost 30 years previously and she never remarried. 

All three children who were orphaned at such young ages, reconnected in Canada. Little Frederick's story will be next, and I  must warn readers it is not a happy ending story. 

Y is For Yorkshire Ancestors

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is Y for Yorkshire

My youngest son has Yorkshire ancestors through his father's Schulze lineage. I don't have any that I know of (yet).

Georg Heinrich (Henry) Christian Schulze was born (out of wedlock) in the City of Hannover on 18 December 1840 and baptized at Market Church on 4 April 1841. His mother was listed as Sophie Wilhelmine Reinecke, of Hannover, and as the father of the child the mother indicated Heinrich Christian Schulze, of Goslar, who was a foreman in a cutting-factory at that time. Among the godparents of the child were Georg Christian and Georg Heinrich Reinecke (who were brothers of the child's mother.


Henry Schulze emigrated to Yorkshire England circa 1868. We do not know if he was married when he arrived, or married later in England, but no marriage has been found in England. His wife's name was Marie (Mary) Catharina Friederke Gercken and she had been issued travel documents in 1867 as a single woman. Her immigration record has not been found.

For more details on the Schulze family in England, and the Schulze lineage in Germany, please see my book The Schulze Family of Germany & Yorkshire England


The Schulze Family of Germany & Yorkshire England
 
 Georg Heinrich Christian (Henry) Schulze, a skilled cabinet maker, left Germany for Yorkshire England between 1867 and 1868. He and his wife Marie Catharina Friederke (Mary) Gercken settled in Bradford where their ten children were born.

W is for Walloon

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is W for Walloon

Walloons come from Belgium and have many historical and cultural similarities with Huguenots from France.

I have written a book about one Walloon immigrant who settled in New Amsterdam (now New York City), New Netherland.

New Netherland Settlers: A Walloon in New Amsterdam:: Adriaen Vincent and his Wife Magdaleen Eloy - 2nd edition! available on Amazon

Adriaen Vincent, a Walloon from Belgium, made the perilous journey to New Netherland with his wife Magdaleen and their young family in the early 1640s. 

A former West Indies Company soldier, Adriaen was embarking on a new life. The family settled in the village of New Amsterdam, which would one day become the city of New York. Life could not have been easy for the couple, faced with a different culture and language. But settlers were pouring in and New Amsterdam was flourishing. 

Within a few years Adriaen and Magdaleen opened a tavern which catered to sailors and new arrivals. Their fortunes soon took a turn for the better and the family settled into their new life. This book contains new information on the family in the Netherlands and New Netherland, as well as details on descendants of Adriaen and Magdaleen

V is for Van Names

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is V for Van Names. I have several, all from Holland. They all ended up in New Netherland (present day New York) in the 17th century. You can read about some of them on my New Netherland Settlers section.

Vanderburg
Van Alstyne
Van Horn
Van Rottmer
Van Slyke
Van Schaik
Van Woert
Van Valkenburg

T is for Tightrope Walker

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is T for Tightrope Walker and yes, I have one in my family tree.

So today I want to tell you about my very adventurous 2nd cousin 3x removed, Stephen Peer the Tightrope Walker of Niagara Falls. I've talked about Stephen before on this blog but he gets another spot. He is the only tightrope walker to be killed on the wire. He was killed in 1887 and to this day there are rumours of murder.

Here are some of his adventures as noted in various newspapers of the day.

"Daredevils of the Falls".
It was unusually windy on June 22, 1887, but Peer gave his performance as scheduled. His five-eighths inch cable was a mere thread compared to the heavier ropes of his prdecessors, and the wire was held steady by 20-30 guy wires and weighted down between them with 12-20 sandbags, each weighing about 35 lbs. His walk was a complete success, and he returned to Canada in a carriage via the suspension bridge, welcomed by thousand sof applauding spectators. Three days later he was dead, discovered on the gorge bank below his cable. The reason for his death remains a mystery, but stories suggest murder.

Peer performed under his own billing for the first time on June 22, 1887. His performance was free, but a collection box was passed through the crowd. Somewhere along the way, Peer had gained the title of Professor and added an extra "e" to his surname for effect. [Prof. Steve Peere] HIs first 'official' ropewalk took place between the Great Western's suspension bridge and the Michigan Central's cantilever bridge. These bridges were replaced by the present Whirlpool Rapids Bridge and the Penn Central Bridge, in 1897 and 1925 respectively.

From "History of Welland County"
"On Wed. June 22 [1887] Stephen Peer of Niagara Falls outdid Blondin by walking across the Niagara River between the cantilever and suspension bridges on a wire rope only 5/8ths of an inch in diameter. This is the first occassion on which Niagara River was ever crossed on so slender a rope. The elevation was about 200 ft from the water. Peer carried a balancing pole twenty-one feet in length and of forty-five pound weight. He got a collection of $35.00 for his daring, but reckless deed. On the Sat. evening following, Peer either fell or jumped over the bank or off his cable. He had been drinking heavily, went out from the hotel and was last seen alive near his rope. Not returning soon, a search was made and his body was found down the bank under the cable dying from the effects of the fall. And thus was added another but not unexpected victim to Niagara."

S is For Swiss Ancestors

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is S for Swiss Ancestors. My Swiss ancestors were Mennonites. I only have a few:

• Burkholder Mennonite Genealogy - Ancestry of Jacob Burkholder of Hamilton Ontario (Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario)
• Gingrich Mennonite Genealogy - Gingrich Family, Switzerland to Pennsylvania to Ontario
• Hunsicker Mennonite Genealogy - Hunsicker, Hunsecker, Hunsiker, Hunziger, Huntzinger and Hunsucker families of Switzlerland 

I have not done in-depth research except on the Burkholder line but if you have these surnames in your tree, feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment below. 

R is for Rogues

Nov. 21, 1879 Guelph Daily Mercury

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is R for Rogues. We all love a good rogue in our family tree. I have several - ancestors I wouldn't call criminals but definitely rogues.

For instance my great grandfather Alexander McGinnis was fined for selling liquor in the City Park.

Nov. 21, 1879 Guelph Daily Mercury. Local News. Alex. McGinnis of Puslinch, fined for selling liquor without a license in the Agricultural Park, has made arrangements with the Inspector for the payment of the fine, and therefore is not in gaol.
 
Who are the rogues in your family tree?

Q is for Quackley

1629 Marriage Judith Quackley & John Stevens

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is Q for Quackley. I'll be interested if I connect with any other Quackley descendants!

My 9th great-grandmother was Judith Quackley. I know nothing about Judith except that on 06 May 1629 she married John Stevens in Sandwich, St. Peter, Kent England. My best guess for her year of birth is 1613 or earlier. I may never find out any more about Judith but I'll keep searching.

Do you have a Quackley in your family tree?

P is for Palatines

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is P for Palatines

At the invitation of Queen Anne in the spring of 1709, about 7 000 harassed Palatines sailed down the Rhine to Rotterdam. From there, about 3000 were dispatched to America, either directly or via England, under the auspices of William Penn. The remaining 4 000 were sent via England to Ireland to strengthen the protestant interest.

In 1710, three large groups of Palatines sailed from London. The first went to Ireland, the second to Carolina and the third to New York with the new Governor, Robert Hunter. There were 3 000 Palatines on 10 ships that sailed for New York and approximately 470 died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival. 

I have several Palatine ancestors. My list of Palatine ancestors is at Palatine Family Names

O is for Orphans

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is O for Orphans. My husband's great-grandmother Elsie Phyllis Markham was orphaned at the age of 8 months. Her older brothers ages 8 and 2 years old were also orphaned when their parents succumbed to illness in London England in October and November 1898.

The boys were sent to orphanages but Elsie was taken in by relatives, eventually brought to Canada by her brother Albert Finch who had been sent to Canada as a Barnardo Boy in 1901.

Albert was admitted to Barnardos Homes as an orphan on 16 Feb. 1899 age 8 years, 4 months. He spent one night at the Receiving House in Stepney East London and on 17 Feb. 1899 he was transferred to Sheppard House in Bow, East London. On 10 May 1899 Albert was boarded out with foster parents in Romsey Hampshire where he remained for two years before returning to East London to Leopold House on 8 March 1901. On 21 March 1901 he was sent to Canada on the SS Tunisian

Luckily for those with orphans in the family tree, there are many good orphanage records available. We were able to obtain Albert's records from Barnardo's but his brother's records could not be found as he was sent to a different orphanage in England called the Miller Homes. We could not find records for this orphanage.

No child left the Miller Homes until employment had been found for them. The boys were apprenticed to a trade and some with the ability to teacher training. They were always provided with three suits and a sum of money. The girls left at 17 and went into domestic service, nursing or teacher training, they too were provided with an outfit of clothes and some money. George Miller gave his blessing to every child on leaving his care, and gave each a Bible.

As one orphan recalled upon leaving, "My belongings were my Bible, my clothes and half a crown and, best of all, was the priceless blessing of George Miller's prayers."

 

UPDATE: Many readers have asked what happened to Elsie and her little brother. I am writing their stories today and will publish them here on Olive Tree Genealogy blog in the coming weeks.

N is for New Netherland

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is N for New Netherland

Many of my readers know I have dozens of New Netherland ancestors. For those not familiar with the term, New York state was originally settled by the Dutch and named New Netherland. If you have New Netherland ancestors please take a look at my pages with ships lists 1624-1664 including an exclusive project I have been working on for many years - compiling lists of those who sailed to New Netherland that are not found on published lists.

You will also find a history of New Netherland, and several interesting databases where you might find an ancestor name.

Some of my many New Netherland ancestors can be found on my site:

* BRADT. BRATT Bradt Family Descendants of Albert Andriessen de Noorman aka Bradt
* DAMEN Damen Family Descendants of Jan Cornelise Damen from Bunik Netherlands
* LEROY. LARAWAY. AUDY.  Simeon LeRoy dit Audy French settler to New France (Quebec) then New York
* PIER Pier Family Jan Theunissen and Arent Theunissen Pier and their descendants
* POST The New Jersey Post Family Descendants of Adriaen Crijnen Post. Book Available
* RYCKMAN Ryckman Family Harmen Janse Ryckman of New Netherland
* VAN ALSTYNE The Van Alstyne Family - The descendants of Jan Martense de Wever aka Van Alstyne
* VAN SLYKE. VAN SLYCK The Van Slyke Family - The descendants of Cornelise Antonissen Van Slyke and his nephew Willem Pieterse Van Slyke. Two books on the family also available
* VAN VALKENBURG Van Valkenburg Family Lambert Van Valkenburg and his son Jochem Lambertse
* VROOMAN The Vrooman Family in New Netherland New York Book Available

M is for Murderer

 Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail
Saturday 09 July 1842

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is M for Murderer. I don't have any murderers or ancestors who were murdered, in my family tree. But my husband does.

In September 1813, my husband's 5th great grandparents William and Mary Massey were murdered in their beds in Temple Carrick, Wicklow Ireland.

The burial registers have this note with their entry of burial on September 9th:

"Murdered in their bed, 8 children thus left orphans." 

Their murderer was never found, but rumours persisted that their son Edward (my husband's 4th great-grandfather) had killed them.

In 1842 Edward sued a man who continued to spread the gossip and accuse Edward of being a murderer. The courts found in Edward's favour. The mystery was never solved and to this day no one knows who murdered William and Mary.

L is For Loyalist Ancestors

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is L for Loyalists.

A Loyalist is any person who is loyal to their allegiance (especially in times of revolt). During the American Revolution in what was to become the United States of America, a Loyalist (also called UEL - United Empire Loyalist) was anyone who remained loyal to the King of England. They were called Tories in their own country but Loyalists elsewhere. Most fled to Canada and helped settle that country, particularly Ontario and Nova Scotia

I have 3 Loyalist ancestors - Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick, his son Cornelis Vollick and Jacob Larroway, the father-in-law of Cornelis Vollick. All of them fought in Butler's Rangers and settled in the Niagara area of what is now Ontario.

If anyone else is a descendant of Isaac the Loyalist, or his sons Cornelis Vollick and Storm Follick, I wrote a 3 volume set of books on this family for genealogists.


 From Van Valkenburg to Vollick: V.1 The Loyalist Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick and his Vollick & Follick Children by Lorine McGinnis Schulze


Available on Amazon.com or Amazon.ca or e-book version V. 1 From Van Valkenburg to Vollick

 





I've also written a guide for researchers who are seeking a Loyalist ancestor in Ontario. 


 

Guide to Finding a Loyalist Ancestor in Upper Canada (Ontario) is available in paperback or as an e-book on Amazon.com and on Amazon.ca
 

K is For Kent England Ancestors

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is K for Kent UK. My mother was first generation Canadian. Both her parents were born in Ramsgate, Kent UK. Her lines on both sides go back many generations in Kent.

Here are some (but certainly not all) of my Kent surnames:

Fuller, Caspall, Norris, Phylpot, Simpson, Stead, Elvery, Laming, Fryer, Hinds, Wildbore, Page, Sutton, Rayner, Friar/Fryer, Prigg, Peerless, Hubbard, Smithett, Badcock, Moses, Ellington, and more.

I started writing books about my Kent ancestors so that I could share them with my adult children. I've only just touched the tip of the Kent iceberg with these:


The Caspall Family of Kent England

 The Caspall family can be found in Kent England with John Caspall's birth circa 1710-1717. This book follows the descendants of John Caspall and his wife Mary Prigg for six generations.










The Wildbore Family of Kent England by Lorine McGinnis Schulze
 
This book follows 4 generations of descendants of George Wildbore and his wife Alicia Pamphlett (nee Sackett) who married in Minster, Thanet, Kent England in 1571.








The Hubbard Family of Kent England by Lorine McGinnis Schulze


 Isaac Hubbard married the widow Mary Ducy in St. James in Dover in 1698.This book follows Isaac and Mary's descendants down four generations through their son Isaac, their grandson Philip, their greaat-grandson Philip and their great-great-granddaughter Milly Elizabeth who married John Caspall. 





The Hinds Family of Kent England


The Hinds families were in Ramsgate Kent England for many generations. This book follows the descendants of Thomas Hinds and his wife Sarah Ammis who married in 1693 in Canterbury.








The Laming Family of Kent England
by Lorine McGinnis Schulze


The Laming family is found in Thanet and Minster Kent England for over 200 years. This book follows six generations of descendants of William Laming born circa 1610 and his wife Mary Culmer.







The Norris Family of Kent England
 
This book follows two distinct Norris families in Kent England. The first is the Norris family found in Lenham Kent in 1773 when Edward Norris and Catherine Earl were married in the Lenham parish church. Four generations of their descendants are followed. The second is the Norris family of Elmsted and Waltham Kent.
 

The Problem of Family Not Wanting Your Genealogy Research

Several years ago I came to the realization that no one in my immediate family wants my 40 plus years of research on our genealogy. A few are mildly interested in hearing the more exciting stories of blacksheep ancestors or famous relatives or an intriguing mystery. No one but me does actual research into our ancestors.

That means that my binders and file folders full of documents and charts are not something anyone is going to take and preserve when I'm gone. I'm sure many of you are facing the same problem. So...what to do?

My solution has been to create family books for each surname. I keep them short, no more than 30 pages for each book. Some surnames have multiple volumes and each volume is for one generation including children. These books are what I call "Coffee Table" books, meant to be picked up and thumbed through casually. Not all documents are included because that would turn into a book consisting of hundreds of pages! 

After publishing them on Shutterfly I give them as gifts at Christmas. That is one way the family stories and research might be preserved for future generations. If you are unfamiliar with Shutterfly I have a tutorial on using it on my Olive Tree Genealogy YouTube Channel.

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 1)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 2)

Creating a Memory Book in Shutterfly (Tutorial 3)

From Van Valkenburg to Vollick
V.1 The Loyalist Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick
and his Vollick & Follick Children

Another solution I use is to create books for sale to other descendants. Since I tend to research all siblings in a family I can often provide details, facts and documents on a large number of family members for each generation. I use Amazon KDP for those books which then are made available on Amazon. 

See my list of books I have published here.  Money I make from these sales helps offset my expenses in subscribing to online companies for their databases.

I also donate a copy of any books I create to local archives or libraries where the family settled.  This helps ensure that even more descendants will have access to my research in the future.

How have you overcome the problem of your family not wanting your genealogy records?

J is For Jailbird

1863 Indictment William Massey for Theft

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames.

Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter isJ for Jailbird.

Do you have any ancestors who ended up in prison? I do, but not as many as my husband.

My husband's 3rd great-grandfather William Massey lived in St Mary's Ontario from 1860 until his death in 1865. 

William, a teamster, worked for the newly formed American Express Company which had an office in St. Mary's in the mid 1800s. In 1862 William was charged with stealing over $800.00 from the Company (approximately $20,000.00 now) and arraigned for trial. One of the jurors at his arraignment was non other than Timothy Eaton, founder of Eaton's Company stores.

Read more about William and the lies he told his family to explain his absence while in jail. 

Olive May Peer, born November 1898 in Port Credit Ontario, has a common Peer ancestor with me. Her 3rd great-grandfather Jacob Peer, who I wrote about in the book "The Peer Family of North America" is my 4th. great-grandfather. My grandmother, also named Olive Peer, was Olive May's cousin.

In February 1927 Olive May married Robert Jackson. She could not have known that her husband was using an alias, that his real name was Robert Rodgers, and that her husband would be charged with two counts of bigamy and sentenced to time in jail.
 
Read more about Olive and her bigamist husband.

For something a little lighter, perhaps even humourous read Baa baa blacksheep, have you any cows? My great-grandmother's brothers spent time in jail for stealing a cow! Imagine going to jail in 1901 for a year and a half just for stealing a cow.

To find more exciting and troubling stories of ancestors who have been sent to prison for various crimes ranging from being drunk and disorderly to murder, use the topic "JAIL"  That topic will also bring up lists of prisoners in various jails, and more!

What's In A Name?

1794 Petition of Jacob Burkholder

Do you have ancestors whose surnames were mangled in a variety of ways? Most of us do. Spelling wasn't exact prior to 1900 and clerks often recorded names as they heard them.

Often our ancestors could not read or write so they had no way of knowing if their name was misspelled.

In his 1794 petition for land, my ancestor Jacob Burkholder stated he arrived in Upper Canada (present day Ontario) in July 1794, and  applied for land 7 Aug. 1794.

He was recorded as Borghonder in records. That was a new one for me. I had seen the name recorded in other records as Burki, Borcholder, Borcholter, Borckholder, Borgholder, Borkholder, Burckhalter, Burckholdr, Burgholder, Burgholdter, Burkhalter and Burkholder.

Some of my other challenging names to search are: 

My Vollick family not only changed their name from Van Valkenburg to Vollick, it was also found in records as Valk, Follick, Volluch, Folluck, Valick, and more. 

How about my Rabbit family in Kent England? I've found their name as Rabbett, Rabbet, Rabbit, Rabbitt, Rabet, and Rebitt

Sometimes it seems more like Alphabet Soup than any resemblance to the actual name. But that's part of the fun of Genealogy.  What are some of your misspelled ancestor names?

I is For Immigrant

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is I for Immigrant. Who was your first immigrant to arrive in N. America or your country of residence? My first to arrive in Canada, where I live, was Jacques Hertel.

Jacques was one of Samuel de Champlain (The Father of Canda)'s interpretors, brought to New France (Quebec) in 1613

Jacques' daughter Ots-Toch, a half French half Mohawk woman, married the Dutchman Cornelis Van Slyke in New Netherland.

My most recent immigrant ancestors were my maternal grandparents who came from England to Canada in 1913. That is 300 years of dozens of my ancestors coming to North America from their home countries!

Here's a few of my ancestors who arrived in that 300 year time span. I'm sure most of us have similar multiple immigrant arrivals.

1. Cornelis Van Slyke from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1634
2. Albert Andriessen de Noorman (Bradt family) from Norway to New Netherland (New York) in 1637
3. Leendert de Grauw from Holland  to New Netherland (New York) in 1637
4. Cornelis Van Schaik  to New Netherland (New York) in1640
5. Jan Snediker from Germany to New Netherland (New York) in 1641
6. Lambert Van Valkenburg from Holland  to New Netherland (New York) in 1643
7. Adriaen Crijnen Post from Brazil  to New Netherland (New York) in 1650
8. Christian Van Horn from ?  to New Netherland (New York) in 1653
9. Jan Van Alystyne from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1655
10. Willem Pieterse Van Slyke from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1655
11. Herman Coerts from Holland  to New Netherland (New York) in 1659
12. Simon de Ruine  to New Netherland (New York) in 1659
13. David Usille from Calais to New Netherland in 1660
14. Soert Olferts (Shuart family) from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1663
15. Georg Wilhelm Kehl from Germany to New York 1709
16. Johann Frederich Marical from Germany to New York 1710
17. Harmanus Hommel from Germany to New York 1710 
18. Nicholas Bieri from Germany to Holland then New York 1727
19. Hartmann Hunsaker from Switzerland to Pennsylvania in 1731
20. Ulrich Gingerich from Alsace to Pennsylvania in 1747
21. Jacob Burkholder from Switzerland to Pennsylvania in 1765 
22. Sophia de Roche from France to Pennsylvania in 1765
23. Thomas King from England to Canada 1831 
24. Betty Bell (nee Higginson) from England to Canada 1831
25. Joseph McGinnis & Fanny Downey from Ireland to Canada in 1846

 So there you have just a few of my many immigrant ancestors to North America in that 300 years between 1613 and 1913. Who were your immigrant ancestors? Who was your earliest?

Hi is For Huguenot

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is H for Huguenot. What is a Huguenot ancestor?

Philippe Casier from Calais to New Netherland 1660

The Huguenots had long been persecuted in their homelands. Many families, in terror, fled for other lands after the fall of La Rochelle and Montauban. The West Indies, inviting because of its climate and fruitfulness, was becoming the refuge of many Huguenots for whom the cold region of Canada had no attractions. Removals to these islands had been going on under the direction of a company formed at Paris in 1626, under M. D'Enantbus, who the year before had visited the island of St. Christopher in a brigantine from Dieppe. There he planted the first colony in 1627. 

In 1635, Martinique was occupied by a hundred old and experienced settlers from St. Christopher, including Phillippe Casier and his wife Maria Taine. But D'Enambue died. In 1640 Jesuit missionaries arrived at Martinique where there were almost a thousand French, "without mass, without priest,". Having been reluctantly admitted by the governor and the people, the Jesuits heightened the public dissensions which broke out in the islands and which grew so violent five years later, especially in Martinique, that many of the Huguenots were glad to get back to Europe. 

Many of them went to the Netherlands, some of them, as the Casier family of Calais, eventually finding safe haven at Harlem, New York. Philippe Casier and David Uziele sailed on the Gilded Otter in 1662. They were listed on the manifest as:

• Philip Cassier, farmer from Calais, wife and 4 children, 23, 16, 12 and 3 yrs
   
• David Usilie, farmer from Calais wife and nursing child

G is for German

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is G. I have several German ancestors, mainly Palatines who fled religious persecution in 1710 and were sent to New York. In 1710, three large groups of Palatines sailed from London. The first went to Ireland, the second to Carolina and the third to New York with the new Governor, Robert Hunter. There were 3 000 Palatines on 10 ships that sailed for New York and approximately 470 died on the voyage or shortly after their arrival.

PALATINE GERMAN PIONEER ANCESTORS

BELLINGER a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

DECKMANN aka DEGMAN a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

WARNER aka WERNER a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

HOMMEL a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

SCHNEIDER aka SNIDER a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

KEHL a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

MERCKEL aka MERKLEY aka MARICAL a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

MULLER a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

WUEST aka WUST a Palatine German pioneer family to New York

Looking for a Good Read in the Pandemic?

Are you looking for a good book to fill some of your time in the Pandemic? Why not try my genealogy mystery Death Finds a Way

Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery by Lorine McGinnis Schulze

Janie Riley is an avid genealogist with a habit of stumbling on to dead bodies. She and her husband head to Salt Lake City Utah to research Janie's elusive 4th great-grandmother. But her search into the past leads her to a dark secret. Can she solve the mysteries of the past and the present before disaster strikes?

Available  on Amazon.com and and Amazon.ca

F is For French Ancestor

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is F. Do you have a French ancestor in your lineage? I do. In fact I have several.

Sophia De Roche was born in France 21 May 1748. Jacob Burkholder (a Mennonnite born in Switzerland) and Sophia (a French Huguenot)  fled religious persecution in Switzerland  to come to Pennsylvania in 1765 on the ship Myrtilla.

Jacob and Sophia Burkholder were the first settlers in Hamilton Ontario Canada on land called the Burkholder Settlement. A monument to them was erected in 1949. Jacob filed a petition for land where he states arrived July 1794, applied for land 7 August 1794.

A few of my other French ancestors were:

David Demarest
 David de Maire, [Demarest] from Picardy, and Wife and four children 18, 12, 6, 1 yr od were recorded on the ship Bonte Koe arriving in New Netherland (New York) in 1663

Philippe Casier
 Philippe Casier (my 10th great-grandfather) of Calais France, is first mentioned in the Huguenot settlement of Martinique in the French West Indies. In 1635 a party of old and experienced settlers had gone to Martinique from the neighbouring island of St. Christopher, which had been settled by French Huguenots in 1627. In 1645, Philippe Casier and others left the island and returned to Europe. Casier went first to Calais, then to Sluis, Flanders where his daughter Hester was born. Some time after 1652, Philippe and his family moved to Mannheim in the Lower Palatinate of Germany, along with other Huguenots and Walloon Protestants.

David Uziele
David Uzille was from Calais but his family came originally from near La Moussaye (south of St. Malo) in lower Brittany. He was a farmer, born about 1635. He married Marie Magdalina, the eldest daughter of Philippe Casier from Calais, before 1659. David Usilie, as he was recorded, emigrated from Calais on the ship the Gilded Otter in 1660

Simeon LeRoy dit Audy
Simeon LeRoy dit Audy was born in 1640 in Creance, Normandy, France.  About 1681 or 1682 Simeon and his wife took some of their family to Kingston,New York. Nine of their eleven children were recorded in Canada. Several of the sons began using the surname Larroway. My branch were Loyalists arriving in Upper Canada during the American Revolution

Jacques Hertel 
Jacques was the father of Ots-Toch, the Mohawk woman who married Cornelis Van Slyke in New Netherland (present day New York)

and more!

101 Best Genealogy Websites 2020

Wow! My site OliveTreeGenealogy is listed in Family Tree Magazine 101 Best Websites for 2020. So is my son's site Blacksheep Ancestors!! 

Olive Tree Genealogy "This site hosts more than 1,900 pages on topics ranging from Loyalists to orphans, Huguenots to almshouses, Palatine genealogy to Native Americans."

BlackSheep Ancestors "Maybe the solution to your pedigree puzzle lies in this site’s tales of outlaws and pirates or records of prisons, courts, executions and insane asylums. You’ll find these “black sheep” here in links and lists for the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada."

Can You Match or Beat Mine?

Family Trees can be very confusing with intermarriages, step-parents, multiple marriages, etc. 

Davd Annal posed an intriguing question on Twitter asking if anyone could beat his four brothers marrying four sisters. I can. 

Here's mine - in the early 19th century 6 Vollick siblings married 5 Burkholder siblings (you'll figure that out when you look below):

1826 Matthias Vollick m Catherine Burkholder

1827 Isaac Vollick m Sophia Burkholder

1830 Janine Volllick (1) md Jacob Burkholder

1831 Richard Vollick m Elizabeth Burkholder (My ancestors)

1831 Margaret Vollick m David Burkholder

1846 Eliza Vollick (2) m Jacob Burkholder

The Vollick family sometimes used the surname Follick. You can read more about the family at Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick, Loyalist from New York with Butler's Rangers in Niagara

Can you match or beat mine?

 

E is for Explorer - Do You Have One?

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag

Today's letter is E and the tag word is Explorer. I don't have any explorers like Columbus or Henry Stanley but I do have Eileen Vollick, Canada's first licenced female pilot. Perhaps I can call her an Explorer.

My third cousin twice removed, Eileen Vollick (1908-1968)  became the first Canadian woman to obtain a pilot's licence in March 1928. Eileen was related to me in two ways, and was also my 7th cousin twice removed. 

"Canada’s first licenced woman pilot was born in Wiarton, Ontario. By the age of 19, she was a textile analyst at the Hamilton Cotton Company and had also won a local beauty contest. She was a spirited girl who had parachuted into Burlington Bay before taking flying lessons. It was 1927. Charles Lindbergh had just flown the Atlantic and Amelia Earhart was beginning to capture the public’s imagination. The diminutive Beach Boulevard resident had already set her sights much higher than anyone could have imagined!

She enrolled in the Flying School owned by Jack V. Elliot at Ghents Crossing on Burlington Bay. The only reservation that her instructor, Len Trip had, was that she was only 5' 1"s and had to use pillows to see out of the cockpit of the ski-equipped Curtiss JN-4 Bi-plane (affectionately known as a "Jenny")

The Comptroller of Civil Aviation issued Eileen a private pilot’s licence #77 on March 13, 1928, the first woman in Canada to qualify as a pilot.

After passing her flight test, she flew in the U.S. and Canada, often demonstrating aerobatic flying which she enjoyed immensely. Shortly afterwards she became Mrs James Hopkin, moved to New York State and raised a family, where she lived until her death in 1968."

Read more about this pioneer woman.

D is for Dutch Ancestors

Image by ArtTower from Pixabay

Olive Tree Genealogy is continuing a new Alphabet Genealogy series of blog posts. I'm not following the usual way of going A-Z surnames. Instead I will create a one word "tag". Then I will share an ancestor (mine, my husband's, an inlaw's or one of my children's) who fits the tag.

Today's letter is D and the tag word is Dutch. I have so many Dutch ancestors who left Holland for New Netherland (New York) that I've lost count! Here are the names of twelve with their years of immigration.

1. Cornelis Van Slyke from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1634
2. Albert Andriessen de Noorman (Bradt family) from Norway to New Netherland (New York) in 1637
3. Leendert de Grauw from Holland  to New Netherland (New York) in 1637
4. Cornelis Van Schaik to New Netherland (New York) in 1640
5. Jan Snediker from Germany to New Netherland (New York) in 1641
6. Lambert Van Valkenburg from Holland  to New Netherland (New York) in 1643
7. Adriaen Crijnen Post from Brazil  to New Netherland (New York) in 1650
8. Christian Van Horn from ?  to New Netherland (New York) in 1653
9. Jan Van Alystyne from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1655
10. Willem Pieterse Van Slyke from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1655
11. Herman Coerts from Holland  to New Netherland (New York) in 1659
12. Soert Olferts (Shuart family) from Holland to New Netherland (New York) in 1663

So there you have just a few of my many Dutch ancestors to North America. Do you have any Dutch family?