My Surname Christmas Tree

Here's my yearly surname Christmas Tree. It's the only one I'm doing this year.

Some of my surnames are

Peer, Vollick, King, McGinnis, Downey, Stead, Simpson, Burkholder, Fuller, Greenlees, Johnston, Shuart, Van Slyke, Ryckman, Bradt, Van Valkenburg, Damen, Caiser, Taine, Philpot, Norris, Dawson, Motteram, Wildbore, Higginson, Bell, Caspall, Holford, Smith, Dawson, Marical, Baker, Larroway, De Graw, Gingerich, Jamieson, Hubbard, Laming, Williams, Norman, Whibley, Page, Crunden, Fryer, Van Horn, Snediker, Sutton, Elvery, Anson, Blandell, Jackson, LeRoy, Winne, Hommell, Snider, Bellinger, Warner, Van Alstyne, Muller, Deroche, Wust, Kehl, Earl, Cole, Burd, Vrooman, Van Horn, Snediker, Post, Shuart, Uziele, and more.

Woman of Courage Sarah Stead 1836-1867

Because February is Women's History Month I wanted to share with my readers the story of strong and courageous women in my life. You will be able to follow along as you wish by choosing the label "Women of Courage" in the right side bar. I encourage my readers to join me in honoring women of courage in your own families.

Sarah Elvery Stead 1867

Sarah Elvery has always been an ancestor whose life story brings tears to my eyes. Born in Kent England in 1836, Sarah grew up in a hard-working family. At the age of 20 she married William Stead, a local gardener. William was deaf, having suffered from measles as a 10 year old and losing his hearing as a result. 

Children soon followed in rapid succession - Edward, William Jr. and Charles. In 1862 their only daughter, my great-grandmother Sarah, was born. Sadly one year later little 6 year old Edward died. 1866 saw the birth of another son who they named Edward after their deceased first-born son.

William decided the family would emigrate from England to Australia where his brother had been living since 1855. It was 1867, the Civil War was barely over in the United States, and 29 year old Sarah was pregnant with her 6th child.

The voyage on the Light Brigade was a rough one. They encountered many storms and the voyage was much longer than normal. Sarah was nearing her time to deliver her child an they were still at sea. Then tragedy struck. Sarah gave birth to a son who they named Ebenezer but shortly after his birth she was bitten by a flea on a rat, and fell ill with Typhus. When the ship reached Sydney Harbour, they were quarantined and poor Sarah died on board without ever setting foot on land.

My mother at Sarah's grave

Sarah would no doubt have been heart-broken at what happened next. William took his 5 year old daughter Sarah and 7 year old son Charles back to England, leaving his other two sons behind with his brother. They were later adopted by William's brother, and William himself remarried in England one year later and had more children with his new wife.

Are You Your Own Grandpa or Grandma?

Today I had an interesting genealogy find ...my son's 5th great-grandfather's sister Sarah Stead was a witness at my son's wife 's 4th great-grandmother's marriage in 1817 in Ramsgate, Kent, England.

Since my daughter-in-law's 4th great grandma was a Fuller born in Ramsgate and we descend from a line of Fuller in Ramsgate back to the 1700s, it would not surprise me if eventually I find that my son and his wife are "cousins"

Believe it or not, this is not unusual. I use FTM for my preferred Genealogy program. One day out of sheer boredom I ran a kinship report and was shocked to learn that my father was also my cousin.

To be exact, my father is listed as my father AND as

my 8th cousin once removed
my 9th cousin once removed
my 11th cousin once removed
my 10th cousin twice removed
the husband of my 5th cousin once removed

Phew!

I was stunned. And confused. I knew what once removed meant - that we were a generation apart. Okay so far. Being 8th cousins meant we shared a common 7th great-grandparent. Being 9th cousins meant we shared a common 8th great-grandparent, and so on.

"husband of my 5th cousin once removed"? Well that meant my mother was my 5th cousin once removed and that she and I shared a common 4th great grandparent.

It wasn't making sense to me, as of course my parents and I share common ancestors! But how did we get to be cousins as well as father-daughter? This sent me off to have a good look at how my relationship to my father became a cousin relationship too.

It's a bit confusing but here is how it happened beginning with my father's 3rd great grandparents, Cornelius Vollick and Eve Larroway who married in 1795.

Cornelius and Eve shared two sets of common 2nd great grandparents. That is, Cornelius' great great grandparents were Jochem & Eva (Vrooman) Van Valkenburg. So were Eve's. Cornelius' other set of great great grandparents were Pierre & Cornelia (Damen) Uzielle. So were Eve's.

Two of Jochem & Eva's grandchildren (through their son Isaac and daughter Jannetje) married two grandchildren of Pierre Uziele and Cornelia Damen.

The Van Valkenburg grandchildren were Isaac Van Valkenburg (who married Maria Bradt the daughter of Storm Bradt and Sophia Uziele) and Marytje Van Alstyne who married Petrus LeRoy the son of Maria Uziele (who was Sophia's sister!) and Leonard Le Roy.

Here's a chart which might show the relationships in a less confusing way

I'll go into my mother's line and that tangled web of cousinship on another day.

The confusing relationships reminded me of I'm My Own Grandpaw a song written about a man who, through a combination of marriages, becomes stepfather to his own stepmother — that is, he becomes his own grandfather. Am I my own Grandma? My grandchildren love hearing how they are my cousins as well as my grandchildren....

My Christmas Tree 2016

Merry Christmas everyone! I put up my Christmas Tree today!

Some of my surnames are

Peer, Vollick, King, McGinnis, Downey, Stead, Simpson, Burkholder, Fuller, Greenlees, Johnston, Shuart, Van Slyke, Ryckman, Bradt, Van Valkenburg, Damen, Caiser, Taine, Philpot, Norris, Higginson, Bell, Caspall, Holford, Smith, Dawson, Marical, Baker, Larroway, De Graw, Gingerich, Jamieson, Hubbard, Laming, Williams, Norman, Whibley, Page, Crunden, Fryer, Van Horn, Snediker, Sutton, Elvery, Anson, Blandell, Jackson, LeRoy, Winne, Hommell, Snider, Bellinger, Warner, Van Alstyne, Muller, Deroche, Wust, Kehl, Earl, Cole, Burd, Vrooman  Post, Shuart, Uziele and more.

6 Generations of Mothers in a Direct Lline Mother to Daughter

 

These are the wonderful mothers in my direct unbroken maternal line from mother to daughter. 

Left to right are my 2nd great grandmother Sarah (Elvery) Stead (1836-1867); her daughter Sarah (Stead) Simpson (1862-1952); her daughter Ruth (Simpson) Fuller (1894-1985), then my mother, me and my daughter.  The line is broken now as my daughter has sons but no daughters.

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing mothers out there!

How a Toast Rack Keeps a Memory Alive

My great-grandmother Sarah Jane Simpson, who was born in 1862, owned this toast rack. Sarah lived in Ramsgate England, where she kept a boarding house. I suspect she used this toast rack on the table for her family and boarders.

In Victorian times, toast was made and then placed in a rack to be set out on the table. The toast rack, along with many other small items owned by Sarah, were given to me by my grandmother Ruth Fuller (her daughter). 

 

The toast rack is safely displayed in one of my China Cabinets but it seems a shame to not put it to use.

 

 

David Simpson & Sarah Stead Wedding Day 1862

 

It is always difficult to know how or even if to use treasured family items but I have figured out a once-a-year use!

 

Every Christmas I host a large family dinner (30 or more guests). Putting Great-Grandmother's toast rack to use as a napkin holder works well. 

 

Every time I see the toast rack on my table I think of my grandmother and the talks we used to have. I think of great-grandmother Simpson who I did not know in life but know her through the stories my grandmother told me and the treasures I now hold that once belonged to her.

 

6 Generations of Mothers and a Matrilineal DNA Line

 

Here are 6 direct line females, mother to daughter - my matrilineal MtDNA line. From left to right:

My 2nd great grandmother, Sarah (Elvery) Stead

Sarah Stead's daughter, my great grandmother Sarah (Stead) Simpson

Sarah Simpson's daughter my grandmother Ruth (Simpson) Bates

Ruth Bates' daughter, my mother Joan McGinnis

Your truly

My daughter Judy

Have you ordered your Ancestry DNA Kit yet? Why not get one today on Mother's Day!

5 Generations of Mothers

In honour of Mother's Day here are four generations of mothers whose DNA is part of me. From left to right:

My 2nd great-grandmother Sarah (Elvery) Stead (1836-1867), her daughter my great-grandmother Sarah (Stead) Simpson (1862-1952), her daughter my grandmother Ruth (Simpson) Fuller (1894-1985), her daughter my mother Joan (Fuller) McGinnis (1916-2009) and me Lorine McGinnis Schulze

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!

Inside History Magazine and Top 50 Genealogy Blog List

A fellow blogger, Amy Coffin of WeTree Blog, wrote an article about her blog being included in Australia's Inside History Magazine's top 50 genealogy blogs. I went to Amy's blog to congratulate her, then headed off to see what other blogs made it to the list. I'm always looking for new genealogy blogs to follow.

Jill Ball, another fellow blogger whom I met at RootsTech 2010 wrote the article called "Entering the Blogosphere" which lists 50 top genealogy blogs organized by topic. 


I did discover some blogs listed that I wasn't familiar with, so that was great. But much to my surprise, I also found my own Olive Tree Genealogy blog listed in the Top 50! I'm in the category of "must reads from overseas" That makes sense since the magazine is Australian based. So thank you to Jill and Inside History Magazine for this honour! I'm thrilled to be included in such good company and especially pleased since Australia has a special meaning for me. 


My 2nd great grandmother Sarah Stead, nee Elvery headed to Australia from England to settle with her husband and four young children in 1867. Sadly the pregnant Sarah delivered her baby on board the ship and then died a few weeks later in quarantine in Sydney Harbour. She was only 32 years old. She's buried in the old Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney and the gravedigger was her husband's brother who lived in Sunny Corners. 

Sarah's husband William Stead left two of his children behind with his brother and sailed back to England with the other two (the baby died at 9 months old and is also buried in Australia). One of the children he brought back to England was my great-grandmother.  In fact I wrote a 5-part blog series called Abandoned in Australia chronicling my journey to find out what happened to the two boys left behind, and what happened to Sarah and her baby.  


I also have many Simpson and Stead relatives in Australia, since my grandmother's brother and uncles settled there in the late 1800s. So you can see I have a strong emotional attachment to Australia. And being placed in the Top 50 Genealogy blogs means a lot to me.