Trying to Refocus

It has been a long couple of months! Mom is finally home and while she isn't good, she continues to improve. I am almost four weeks out from surgery and much improved. So it's past time that I start to get back on track and take advantage of the time I still need to fully recover.

Last year I was able to really focus on just a few of my maternal lines. The letter transcriptions went well and I learned much about my Carlisle and Camfield lines. I was able to take my Graham line back a couple of generations and discovered my Doughty line. A little more was learned about the Wisner's. It was fairly easy to stay focused.

This year I have been overwhelmed very lucky to have made contact with several distant cousins who would like to share information!

I was excited to connect with a Carlisle cousin on Facebook and started really working on cleaning up my online tree. I haven't done as well sharing information as I should because much of what I have is already here, but I need to put what I have on a flash drive and send it out to her. Especially full size copies of pictures and the letters, many of which I have not transcribed yet. I also need to get back to my transcriptions and contact the library in Michigan to get the remaining letters.

When John's uncle passed back in February, several members of his family showed interest in his family history so I put their tree online at Ancestry and invited them to work on it with me. To my surprise some of them did. I spent a good deal of time cleaning up what I had, adding sources and uploading pictures. Shortly after that I was contacted by one of John's distant cousin's and worked on his lines some more. A friend has just offered to help with his line too, so I really need to focus more on these lines and contact more of his family for more information.

I discovered that Brenda (Journey to the Past) and I share Glover ancestors and that discovery reconnected me to our mutual cousin, Pittsburgh, so I have been looking at that line again. Of course that line is tangled up with my Hall line so I've also been playing with that. I have many documents for these lines that I need to share/transcribe.Brenda's post, Sorting Out Henry Glover, was a wake up call for me and I need to re-look at my sources. Most of what I have for the Glover's in New England was discovered back when I really didn't know what I was doing.

I've also been contacted by two different people about my paternal, Kelly line. This is very embarrassing as it a line that I should have made much progress on by now. I've driven to Michigan to obtain letters and documents but I have yet to make the time and short drive north to obtain the records that I need. I'm thrilled that I now know where in Ireland the Kelly's came from and I have spent hours tracking down more information and adding to my tree.

I also have just made contact with someone that may have information on Berry cousins that remained in England. I'm not certain where this will lead but I'm looking forward to learning more.

I have no idea where the next few weeks will take me but I'm looking forward to the journey!

Florence A. Kelly - Obituary

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Amanuensis Monday, hosted by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch.


While working at sorting out the Kelly's that lived in Adams, NY I found this obituary. As of right now I do not know how or if Florence and her family fit into my family tree. I did find her presumed cause of death very interesting.



Jefferson County Journal, Adams. N. Y., Wednesday, July 13, 1927; page 1, top of column 5

Florence A. Kelly

Miss Florence A. Kelly, aged 46 years, died at the home of her father, John E. Kelly, on Church Street West, Thursday, July 7, at 10:45 a. m.

Because of ill health she had been making her home with her father and her sister, Mrs. Margaret Cannan, since April 30, coming here from New York, where she had lived for the past twelve years. She was employed by the government during the World war in the manufacture of gas masks, from which she suffered a severe attack of chemical poisoning which left her heart in a weakened condition. She has recently finished a complete course in a beauty culture school and the close application to this work helped to hasten her end.

At 8:30 Thursday morning she came downstairs, took her heart medicine at the usual time and then went to her room to lie down again. At 9:30 her sister entered the room and finding her seriously ill summoned Dr. Hollis, but all efforts to revive here failed.

Florence Kelly was born in Kingston, Ont., the daughter of John E. and Catherine McDonald Kelly, and came to Adams to live when about a year old. She was educated in the Adams schools and was a member of St. Ceclia's church of Adams, where services were held Saturday morning at 9:30, Rev. Father J. R. McClure of Sackets Harbor officiating. Burial was made in Elmwood cemetery.

Miss Kelly was of a very lovable, kindly nature and was always ready with services in illness or trouble. She had many friends who will miss her and her death is a severe loss to her family and friends.

She is survived by her father and the following brothers and sisters: John E. Kelly, Jr., of Watertown, Margaret Cannan of Adams, Mrs. Harry A. Brown, Mrs. John Thornley and Mrs. John F. Collins of Syracuse, Allen R. Kelly of Washington D. C., and Harry A. Kelly of Adams; also an aunt, Mrs. Flora McDonald, of Adams. A sister, Mrs. Harry A. Brown, of Syracuse, was unable to be present at the services as had just undergone a serious operation. Other brothers and sisters with their families were present at the services, also Mrs. Anna Eagan, R. W. Eagan, Geo. F. Kelly and family of Syracuse.

Card of Thanks

We wish to express our deep appreciation to friends, neighbors and relatives for the beautiful floral tributes sent at the death of our beloved daughter and sister, and for the many cards and words of sympathy in our loss.

John E. Kelly and Family.

SNGF - Matrilineal Line

This week for our Saturday night fun, Randy has challenged us to list our matrilineal line. I did that not long ago with Faces of my mtDNA.

Randy also listed his father's matrilineal line so here is mine.

1. Harvey Gordon Berry, 1926 Syracuse, NY - 2000 Haines City, FL
2. Mary Leith Kelly, 1900 Calabogie, Ontario, Canada - 1970 Syracuse, NY. Married Kimberly Powell Berry.
3. Isabella White, 1865 Ontario, Canada - 1951 Syracuse, NY. Married James C Kelly.
4. Isabella Craig, 1826 Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland - 1908 Dalhousie, Lanark, Ontario, Canada. Married James M. White.
5. Agnes Adam, 1802 Paisley, Renfrew, Scotland - 1882 Dalhousie, Lanark, Ontario, Canada. Married John Craig.
6. Isobel McDougal, dates unknown, Scotland. Married James Adam.

Mary L Kelly had no daughters so the line did not continue with her.

Isabella White had one granddaughter, who also had a daughter.

Isabella Craig had two other daughters but I do not nelieve either of them had a daughter.

Agnes Adam - as far as I know she had just the one daughter but there may have been others.

Isobel McDougal had several daughters and I have not researched this line myself.

To my knowledge no one in my or my father's mtDNA line has had their DNA tested and there a currently no plans to do so.