Twists and Turns Can Lead to Great Genealogy Surprises

 Unraveling Samuel Butler & Anna Jane Maria Peer

1861 Census Samuel Butler

“Sadie Butler Pue's Marriage Certificate lists her mother as Anna Jane Peer, Carolyn Hubbard (granddaughter) speaks of her grandmother as Jane Peer but Sadie Pue's death certificate lists her mother as Jean Duff” [source: http://person.ancestry.com/tree/35937585/person/18920073378/facts]

Those simple words caused what I call the light bulb effect in my head. A quiet “Bingo!” escaped my lips. I was positive I now had the answer to what has long been an extremely convoluted genealogy puzzle.

As any genealogist knows, a new clue can spark great excitement. I could hardly wait to open my genealogy program and check my notes for the woman I now believed was Sadie Butler’s mother. If I was correct, the woman found in the 1861 and 1871 census for Nassagewaya Township, Halton County Ontario as wife to Samuel Butler and mother to six children, was the daughter of my great-great-grand uncle Alphaeus Peer. Since we believe that this Samuel Butler may be the missing brother of my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather, that would link our two families together. 

The Butler children were:

Angeline Butler 
Henrietta A. Butler
Caroline Helen aka Carrie Lena Butler
Elizabeth Victoria aka Sadie Butler
Samuel F. Butler
Margaret Ellen Butler 

I knew who Jean (aka Jane) Duff was! Anna Jane/Maria Peer born circa 1833, daughter of Alpheaus Peer and Mary Young, had been a challenge to find in my original research of the Peer family of Nassagewaya. Anna was born in Stratford Ontario according to a Chatham Kent County marriage record dated November 1881. 49 year old Anna was listed as the Mrs. Jane Baker and her father’s name was given as Alphaeus Peer. Her spouse was Robert Duff.

I had previously found another marriage record for Anna in November 1911 to Robert McDonald. Here she was recorded as Anna Jane Duff age 57 with parents Alphaeus Peer and Mary Young. Her residence was Bothwell Ontario.

I’d never found a marriage to this mysterious “Mr. Baker” nor found them on any pre-1881 census record. But I did find Anna Jane in 1881 with her husband Robert Duff. There were several children listed with them, all born before 1881 and all with the surname Duff so I’d assumed that they were all children of Robert by his first marriage. But I was wrong.

A check of my genealogy program showed that in the 1881 census Anna Jane was recorded as Anna Jane M. Duff with these children in the family:

Angeline Duff,  Caroline Duff, Elizabeth V. Duff, Jennie Duff, Christina Duff ,  Robert A W Duff, Richard Christofer Duff. Those first three names were Anna’s Butler children using their step-father’s surname! The last four would be children by Robert Duff’s previous marriage. That explained Sadie Butler’s death certificate statement that her mother was Jane Duff.

There is a great deal more to this story of Samuel Butler and Anna Jane Maria Peer (and many more sources found to substantiate my findings) and I am still searching and putting more pieces of the genealogy puzzle together.Thanks to a tiny clue found in an online tree, I was able to take a huge step.

Serendipity Brings Soldier's Diary Back to his Sweetheart after 70 Years

This is truly a beautiful story. 90 year old Laura Mae (Davis) Burlingame was visiting the National WW2 Museum in New Orleans when she spotted her photo in a display case.

The photo was of Laura Mae as a young woman and was part of a display featuring the uniform and diary of Marine Corporal Thomas Jones. Corporal Jones had been killed by a sniper's bullet in 1944 at the age of 22. Laura Mae's photo, signed by her with "Love, Laurie" was taped into the back cover of his diary.

Inside Jones had written  "my life history of my days in the U.S. Marine Corps ... And most of all my love for Laura Mae for whom my heart is completely filled. So if you all get a chance please return it to her. I (am) writing this as my last life request."

Jones and Laura Mae were sweethearts in High School and she gave him the diary before he left to go overseas. Laura Mae now has copies of the entire diary dedicated to her by her sweetheart of so many years ago.


Read more and view photos at Marine's World War II diary, bequeathed to his high-school sweetheart, found by her 70 years later

What a Story I Have to Share!

Today I became the very excited owner of the coffin plate of my 2nd great grandfather, Isaac Vollick.

Isaac was born in 1832 in what was then Upper Canada (present day Ontario) and he died in 1904 in Hillsdale, Simcoe Co. Ontario. I've never found his gravestone or burial site, nor his wife's even though I know what cemetery they are in.

I hear you asking "ok what's a coffin plate and why is this a great story?"

Coffin plates were decorative adornments attached to the coffin that contain free genealogical information like the name and death date of the deceased. After the funeral service, these plates were often given to family to take home as a memorial to the deceased.

My becoming the owner of this coffin plate is an amazing story. I call it The Domino Effect, meaning everything had to fall into place, one tiny moment at a time.  Here is how it happened, step by step:

1.  Last week I realized I could not log into my website AllCensusRecords.com as I did not remember my password. No amount of searching found it so I did the usual thing - hit the "I forgot my password" link on my webhost. No problem, they email a new temporary password. But I wasn't sure what email address I had used to sign up on this host.

2. After checking my main email addresses with no luck (no response from the web host) I realized my account must be under a very old email address I haven't used in years. I rarely check mail there even though I do still have access. But off I went and yep, the password was there.

But what was even more interesting was an email, months old, from Gary French, the author of "Men of Colour: An Historical Account of the Black Settlement on Wilberforce. Street and in Oro Township, Simcoe County, Ontario 1819-1949" 

Gary was writing to me about my husband's black ancestor, Jonathan Butler, who settled in the Queen's Bush (near Waterloo Ontario) circa 1834. It seems Gary had found some evidence that pointed to Jonathan being originally from Pennsylvania. This was a very exciting lead as we had not been able to find any record of where in the USA he came from. So I quickly replied to Gary's email, hoping he was still interested and still at the same email addy.

Isaac Vollick 1831-1904

3. After a few emails back and forth, I casually mentioned in closing that I thought we had a "sort of" connection, as I knew that a son in his French family married a daughter of one of my Vollick family in Elmvale. When Gary wrote back I almost fell off my chair. This is what he said "..

I am interested in them [the Vollicks] as important settlers in the Elmvale/Orr Lake area. By coincidence, I recently purchased the coffin plate of Isaac Vollick (the one who died in 1904). macabre, but a very Victorian artifact."

 I was so excited. Not only was this MY Isaac Vollick (my great great grandpa) but my husband and I collect coffin plates! We have over 200 in our collection and my husband has put many of them online on AncestorsAtRest in hopes descendants will spot an ancestor.

4. Immediately I responded, telling Gary about our own coffin plate collection and how the coffin plate he had was for my 2nd great grandfather. Then I asked Gary to consider selling the plate to me IF and WHEN he ever decided he no longer wanted it. 

5. Gary agreed to sell it to me since I had such a strong family connection, even though he does not sell the items he finds which have some connection to Flos Township in Simcoe County. One of his missions is to find and preserve as many historical artifacts as he can for this local area. 

Coffin Plate displayed and sold as a tray

And so this morning hubby and I drove to Gary's office and the coffin plate was turned over to me to preserve and cherish. But the story does not end there. I asked Gary where he found the coffin plate and his reply gave me shivers! 

He found it in an antique store in Barrie - one which my husband and I go to frequently. The plate had been turned upside down (see photo on right) and was being sold as a tray! 

For some reason Gary picked it up and turned it over. To his surprise he realized it was actually a coffin plate for a Vollick! Since he recognized the surname and knew they settled in Elmvale he purchased it to add to his collection of historical artifacts for the area. 

And that is how I came to be the very happy and grateful owner of my great-great-grandfather's coffin plate. No doubt his widow Lydia carried it home with her and after her death most likely one of her daughters took it to her home. And so, 104 years later, the coffin plate has come to me. I will have it framed along with a photo I have of Isaac and Lydia, then in turn it will eventually go to one of my sons.

And that is what I call serendipity and an item wanting to be found.




Update: If you are interested in the Vollick family I also wrote three books on the Vollick and Follick descendants of Lambert Van Valkenburg. They are: 


From Van Valkenburg to Vollick: The Loyalist Isaac Van Valkenburg aka Vollick and his Vollick & Follick Children (Volume 1) 

From Van Valkenburg to Vollick: V. 2 Cornelius Vollick and his Follick and Vollick Descendants to 3 Generations 

From Van Valkenburg to Vollick: V. 3: The Loyalist Storm Follick and his Follick and Vollick descendants in North America

Serendipity Strikes and a Tombstone is Found

Photo I took in 2009 of Elizabeth Bell's Tombstone

My brother's DNA results on 23andMe.com had many suggested "cousins" but after writing to two of them, one came up a winner! It turns out we share a 3rd great-grandfather, Peter Bell, who came from Cheshire England to Arkell Ontario Canada around 1831.

We have been happily sharing information and pictures for the last few days. Chris, the wife of Gerald who shares Peter Bell with my brother and I, has an amazing story which I want to share. In 2007 Chris and Gerald took a trip from the USA to Ontario, specifically to Arkell to look for the graves of Peter Bell and his wife Elizabeth.

Peter's tombstone is near the front entrance of Farnham Cemetery and was easy to spot. But there was no sign of a grave marker for Elizabeth Higginson Bell. As Gerald walked across the lawns, he stumbled on a rock buried in the ground. He was struck by the shape of this rock so bent down to have a good look.

You know what's coming - it was one corner of a tombstone that lay buried. So Gerald got out his pocket knife and began digging. Lo and behold it was the tombstone for Elizabeth, wife of Peter Bell.

She obviously wanted to be found. And because Gerald dug around that tombstone and uncovered it, it was there for me to see when I went to Farnham Cemetery for the first time in 2009. I had no idea that I had Gerald to thank for being able to view my 3rd great grandmother's headstone from 1855.

Boy Finds Photo of Long Dead Uncle in Garage Sale Camera

This is such an odd story that I felt compelled to share it. A 13 year old boy bought a camera at a garage sale. He got it home and opened it to find a photo of his uncle who'd been killed several years before.

The family who owned the camera have no known connection to the boy or his uncle. 

Read the complete details of this strange tale of serendipity in Wichita Kansas

Nick and the Fort Garry Hudson's Bay Co. Tin

Fort Garry Hudson's Bay Co. Tin

Recently I met Nick when he emailed me about a man named Henry Taylor. Henry was a British soldier who was hidden from the German army in Italy by Nick's grandparents.

Nick wanted to find Henry's family so that his aunt could reunite with them. During our many email and Skype conversations Nick found out that I collect, among other things, antique tins.

 Much to my surprise and delight Nick sent a gift - a tin he found in the bush up north many years ago. Nick told me he was working near the Albany River when he found this tin pictured on the left.

The Albay River flows northeast from Lake St. Joseph in Northwestern Ontario and empties into James Bay. So it's pretty far north.

Tin cleaned and displayed with  my smaller tin collection

The tin may look in rough shape to a non-collector but it's actually a very nice tin made circa 1910.  It's not easy to find tins with Hudson's Bay Company wording. So for me it's a gem!

And having been sent it as a kind gesture from a new friend makes the tin even more special in my eyes. I think it's so great that Nick kept the tin all these years in hopes that one day he'd meet someone who would cherish it and give it a home.

Once the tin arrived from Nick's home in British Columbia, my husband cleaned it up a bit to get rid of some of the rust. You have to be careful doing that as you don't want to damage the surface or the graphics.

Some of you will be wondering what kind of tins a person can collect. Well I collect themes as well as miscellaneous tins that appeal to me for their graphics or colours. I enjoy thinking about the people who might have owned them.

One of my collections is antique coffee tins. Here is one of my favourites on the left. I also collect antique medicine tins and vintage marshmallow tins.

 Someone once asked me how many tins I have displayed in our home.

Well I just counted and I have 29 coffee tins displayed in the kitchen, 21 medicine tins in the bathrooms, 7 marshmallow tins in the family room, 5 WW1 tins, 5 starch tins and 5 tea tins also in the family room.

Really, not many, less than 75. Nick's tin is a very welcome addition - thank you Nick! Not just another great tin to add to my collection but a new friend. And as an added bonus Nick's wife sent a jar of her homemade Saskatoon Jelly - yummy! How lucky can one person get!

Why Connecting With Other Genealogists is Important

A few days ago a correspondent who I've not chatted with for several years wrote to me. He'd been searching for our ancestors, John Greenlees and Elizabeth Johnston and had exciting news to share. Bill found their marriage in Ireland. This is a huge deal.

None of the descendants knew anything except that John and Elizabeth were born in Ireland. No county, no town, no parish, no townland... nothing had been found on any records other than "Ireland". I knew from census records and death registrations that John was born circa 1791 and Elizabeth circa 1783-1787.

Census records for early Ontario (Upper Canada and Canada West) are often missing. Many have not survived. The earliest census which records all persons in the household is 1851 although there is an 1841 which shows heads of household and numbers of family members. John died in 1868 and Elizabeth in 1872 so there are not many records to be found for them. The surviving 1851 census records do not exist for their location and thus the earliest record found is the 1861 census.

I knew from the approximate years and places of birth of their children that they arrived in what is now the province of Ontario circa 1820. But ships passenger lists to Canada before 1865 did not have to be archived and thus they are few and far between. No record of John and Elizabeth's passage has been found.

Searching for death records and obituaries of both John and Elizabeth and their children proved fruitless in providing a more exact location for their origins in Ireland. I even have a copy of a letter written in 1841 by their son-in-law (my 2nd great grandfather) which mentioned that his wife Jane (their daughter) was "Irish to the bone" but sadly gave no indication of her place of birth. The search has been frustrating over the years.

Then Bill found the following church record online:

From the parish register of Galloon in the diocese of Clogher, County Fermanagh: John Greenlees of the parish of Aghalurcher and Elizabeth Johnston of Drumy were married 1st September 1814.

This was pretty exciting and I spent a few hours learning more about Co. Fermanagh, Aghalurcher and Drumy (which I could not find). I also looked for other Greenlees names in the vicinity and found a few which I copied down in case they later prove to be part of John Greenlees' family.

My John Greenlees and Elizabeth Johnston had the following children, the first 3 born in Ireland, the last 4 in Upper Canada (Ontario):

George b 1815
Thomas b ca 1815-1816 (there has been some speculation that George & Thomas were twins)
Jane b ca 1819 (my ancestor)
Margaret b ca 1821
Catherine b 1825
John b ca 1825 (John and Catherine might also be twins)
James b ca 1827

I found a Sally (aka Sarah) Greenlees married to Thomas Liddle of Kilturk baptising children in the Galloon church records. Notice the naming pattern and the twin births:

Thomas b 1807
Margaret b 1809
Elinor b 1813
Elizabeth b 1815
John & Robert (twins) b 1817

If naming patterns were followed that honoured parents, we can see that there's a possibility that Sally and John were siblings and that Thomas and Margaret were their Greenlees parents. Sally gives her first son and first daughter  those names, while John gives his second son and second daughter those names.

IF my speculation proves eventually to be correct then it's also a good possibility that Elizabeth Johnston's parents were George and Jane (the names given to her first son and first daughter).

At this stage it's only speculation but it's a working theory and I'll try to prove or disprove it as I continue researching my elusive Greenlees ancestors. Thanks to Bill, I have a wonderful new lead to follow!

A Chance Genealogy Revelation

Some of Olive Tree Genealogy blog readers know about my good luck genealogy-wise on a day last week when I was bored. Well, my good luck continued the next day!

After the success I had finding genealogical information about my 3rd great grandfather John Sandwell Stead and his wife (my 3rd great grandmother) Emma Sutton and her parents and siblings, I decided to google a few more ancestor names.

Since this wasn't my usual methodical search method, I opted to continue with the random typing of ancestor names and places of birth into various search engines. Maybe Stead was a good one to continue with and yep - there it was - a hit on one of my Stead "relatives" from Australia. This hit interested me because the blurb showed that Ramsgate was also mentioned.

Ramsgate England is where my Stead ancestors were from and some settled in Australia in the mid 19th century. In fact my 2nd great grandmother Sarah Stead (nee Elvery) died in Sydney Australia in 1867 on her way from Ramsgate to make a new life there with her husband and children.

What I'd found in my search was a 2009 newsletter called "About Ramsgate" in .pdf format. Included in the newsletter were extracts (and photos) from several 1923 letters sent by Jessie Broadfoot Stead to her family in Australia while she was visiting relatives in Ramsgate.  Jessie was my great-grandmother's cousin through their grandparents John Sandwell Stead and Emma Sutton (my 3rd great grandparents).

The letters were fascinating, as Jessie was a very detailed and descriptive writer. Never having been to Ramsgate personally, I enjoyed reading about the town and the people and Jessie's impressions. She also talked about the social customs and the food, all of which I found interesting as  I could imagine my great grandmother Sarah Simpson (nee Stead) being part of it all.

Then came the surprise.  Among the photos published was a photo of six women in front of a house. The caption read

40 Grove Road, Ramsgate, July, 1923. 2nd from left Jessie Stead

The author of the article with Jessie's letters and photos explained that his aunt Jessie had boarded a few weeks at 40 Grove Road. 

What astounded me was that I own the identical photograph! It was given to me by my mother many years ago and I know who two of the women are in it.

The lady third from the left is my great-grandmother Sarah Jane Simpson, nee Stead and beside her (4th from the left) is her sister-in-law Jane Stead nee Kingsland.

40 Grove Street today

The boarding house at 40 Grove Road belonged to my great-grandmother Sarah Jane! She ran it for many years and my grandmother (her daughter) often told me stories of the lodgers who stayed there and the wonderful meals my great-grandmother cooked for them.

In fact my great-grandfather David George Simpson died in that home in 1921.

I never knew who the other women were or when the photo was taken although I knew it was taken in Ramsgate. Now I know one other woman - Jessie Broadfoot Stead. Perhaps one day the identities of the other women (no doubt Stead cousins or in-laws) will come to light.