Saturday, January 28, 2012

Bi-Weekly Rewind

I know when I was stuck in rural upstate New York in the death grip of winter I really did not want to hear how nice the weather was elsewhere. So with apologies to my northern friends, the weather here in the Sunshine State has been phenomenal! It has just been too nice to not enjoy so I've been spending less time on my computer. Of course my husband is still telling me I need less computer time and more outside time.

As for genealogy, it's also been a great couple of weeks.
  • After a brief correspondence with a gentleman in Michigan he very kindly sent me a photo of my great-grandfather. To my great delight, one of the other men in the photo who hadn't been identified was my grandfather!
  • Did you hear the sound of tumbling bricks? I now know the name of  a 3rd great-grandmother, Helen Scott! Now that I have a name I'm looking for more information.
  • I also have discovered where in Scotland the White's were from.
  • I feel I have wasted a great deal of time with fruitless searches on both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. Obviously I have a new learning curve when it comes to searching for Canadian records. Paging through record sets and searching sideways have paid off.
OK, my husband is right, I have been at my computer more than I'd thought!

I'm short on time so rather than leave out some of the great posts that I read over the last couple weeks I'll skip descriptions and just link them up so you can check them out.

Family History Posts

 A Birth that Didn't Go According to Plan by Cheryl Cayemberg at Have You Seen My Roots?

The Home Place Brought Home
by Susan Clark at Nolichucky Roots.

The Great Ohio River Flood of 1937 by Kathy Reed at Family Matters.

Thriller Thursday - The Murders at Rocky Fork
by Lori at Genealogy and Me.

An FBI Investigation??? and Anti-American hobbies by Linda Gartz at Family Archaeologist.

Mysterious Mrs. Munroe Grout by Heather Wilkinson Rojo at Nutfield Genealogy.

THOMAS, A SLAVE by Bill West at West in New England.

Walter M. Runyan - He Wasn't Born on Wednesday by Lisa Wallen Logsdon at Old Stones Undeciphered.

Madness Monday – The Mysterious Older Brother and Orphan Train Riders by Wendy Littrell at All My Branches Genealogy.

A Schmolke Chronology
by Marlys at Hesch History

Purple Irises by Skip Murray at Our Tree Became A Forest.

Solving My Foley Family Puzzle by Ian Hadden at Ian Hadden's Family History.

1890 NY Civil War Widows by Norah Glover at Digging Our Family Roots.


History

Who Wrote the Pledge of Allegiance? by Matt Soniak at Mental Floss.

Barrage Balloons in the Adirondacks by Lawrence P. Gooley at New York History.

A Christian Nation? Be Careful What You Preach by Elementary History Teacher at History is Elementary.


Great Tips

Can't Read a Will? -- Tuesday's Tip by Barbara Poole at Life From The Roots.

I Think I Have it! Maybe... by Becky Wiseman at Kinexxions.

Say Cheese! Remember the Town Photographer in Your Genealogical Hunt by Amy Coffin at The We Tree Genealogy Blog.

Smiths in New York City by Leah at Leah's Family Tree.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

White / Whyte - Surname

My White ancestors were from Scotland and emigrated to Canada around 1820. They  used both spellings, White and Whyte and some descendants can now be found using both.

Me
>Harvey Gordon Berry, 1926 Syracuse, NY - 2000 Haines City, FL
>>Mary Leith Kelly, 1900 Calabogie, Ontario, Canada - 1970 Syracuse, NY (married Kimberly Berry)
>>>Isabella White, 1865 Watson's Corners, Ontario, Canada - 1951 Syracuse, NY (Married James Kelly)
>>>>James M White, 1824-1907, both Dalhousie, Ontario, Canada (Married Isabella Craig)
>>>>>John White, abt 1800 Hawick, Roxburgshire, Scotland - 1877 Dalhousie, Lanark, Canada.

Related posts

Craig - Adam / Craig - White Marriages
White - Kelly Marriage
Kelly - Berry Marriage
Eliza? Jane? Mary?
Where Were They 100 Years Ago?
A Large Piece of Family History
Canadian Roots
Nameless Faces
16 Great Grands
Matrilineal Line
Middle Name Mysteries
Caldwell and Leith Connections Found?

Thursday, January 19, 2012

McDonald's First Drive Thru?

You never know when or where you'll run into family history. My husband and I went to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge today and the sign below was in one of the trail parking lots.



I tells of the family that once lived here and how they lost their land to the government for Kennedy Space Center. I didn't transcribe all of it, just this part that caught me off guard and made me laugh.

Doctor and Mrs. George McDonald, cracker farmers, lived about 1.2 mile east of here. They raised chickens and sold eggs from a drive-thru window of their home.