DANNER Siblings ~ Wordless Wednesday

Harold DOWNS, Elsie DANNER DOWNS, Fred DANNER, and Eunice DANNER LAKEY (L-R)

Eunice May DANNER (1907-1996) was my adopted father’s mother. She is on the far right of this picture. Elsie and Fred were a couple of her siblings and Harold was Elsie’s husband.

Marriage Consent for Daughter to Marry ~ Garret BUCKELEW, Father

Details About These Ancestors of Mine

This is an exciting find! Garret BUCKALEW was my 6th great-grandfather on my maternal grandpa’s father’s side. This consent was for his daughter and my 5th great-grandmother to marry my 5th great-grandfather.

I am not sure when Dempsey Garrett BUCKALEW was born, because the only date I see is the year of 1780 and also her husband’s exact birthdate of March 12, 1780. If she had been born in 1780, why did her father have to give her consent to marry? It appears that Garrett was fathering children from 1775 to 1798, which would easily include the year that she would have had to be born. Dempsey was born to Garrett BUCKALEW (1755-1824) and Mary “Polly” NEWTON (1754-1828).

Dempsey married Henry Wilburn YOUNG, Jr on March 22, 1806 in Christian, Kentucky just a few days after this consent was signed. Henry was born March 12, 1780 in Virginia to Henry Wilburn YOUNG, Sr (1754-1834) and Margarett Ann FINLEY (born in 1760).

It is implied by the fact that Garret could not write (at least very well), because he had someone named Mr. John Clark actually write this consent.

The BUCKELEW surname can be found in many variations including BUCKALEW, BUCKALOO, BUCKALIEU, and likely more.

Transcription of the Consent

“I do hereby Certify that Mr. Garret Buckelew has concented for a Marriage license to ______ for Henry Young Jr. and his Daughter Demsy Buckelew and requested me to Write a few lines to you in his behalf unto you so that you may Send the licence by Mr. Moses M. Waters and Oblidge your ___________ (maybe either _blessing or Able Serv.?)”

“Mr. John Clark
March 17, 1806″

How am I Related

Henry Wilburn YOUNG Jr and Dempsey Garrett BUCKALEW where the parents of Mary YOUNG, who was the mother of Sarah E TRIPLETT, who was the mother of Nathaniel WILLIAMS, who was the father of Arthur Jacob WILLIAMS Sr, who was the father of my maternal grandpa Carlton Nathanial WILLIAMS Sr.

Carol Elizabeth WILLIAMS ~ Obituary Sunday

Carol Elizabeth WILLIAMS was my mom. She was born March 4, 1947 in Humansville, Polk County, Missouri to Carlton Nathanial WILLIAMS (1922-1991) and Ruby Irene PORTER (1928-2010). She passed away suddenly sixteen days after she turned 40. I was in my Freshman year of college at the time. She passed away on March 20, 1987 and she was buried on her mom’s birthday (March 24, 1987) in the Belton Cemetery.

Here is a copy of her obituary that ran in The Kansas City Star on March 22, 1987.

On the night of her visitation, it was raining like crazy, but that did not stop a crazy amount of people from coming. They were lined up outside around the block of the chapel. That was when the people from the funeral home decided that we needed to move the funeral to one of the largest churches in Belton (if not the largest). That was a good call, because the sanctuary was full the next day.

If you want to learn more about my mom, check out the post I wrote on the 30th Anniversary of her death.

Andrew Jackson BLAKE ~ Funeral Card Friday

Andrew Jackson BLAKE’s Funeral Card Front

Andrew Jackson BLAKE was my husband’s 3rd great-grandfather on his dad’s maternal branch. He was born in May 1826 in Ohio to Theophilus BLAKE and Phoebe ARTHUR. He passed away in 1900.

Andrew married Hannah A HAMMON on February 24, 1853 in Hocking, Ohio. They were the parents of Hannah A BLAKE (born in California in 1858), who was the mother of Josephine Marie THALER, who was the mother of Evelyn Iola JOHNSON, who was the mother of my father-in-love.

My 2021 Ancestry DNA Update

It is that time again… I was a bit nervous for what the new algorithm would show as my newest ethnicity estimates, because it hasn’t always gone in the way I believe that it should. First of all, there are certain ethnicities that are not showing up that I believe should.

There was also A LOT of talk coming up to this update that a ton of people thought that their Scottish and Irish were WAY off and too high compared to their paper trails. My paper trail is showing a lot of both, so I felt that mine (with this last update before this) was FINALLY showing around the right amount of Scottish and Irish. I do still think that I probably have a bit more Irish than it shows, although I now know that I am more Scottish than Irish.

My Native American that should show up only shows up on my 23andMe results, but it is still A LOT lower than it should be according to my paper trail. That is, I totally believe, still because they (neither company) do not have an adequate sampling to compare with. It truly seems that they mostly just have Native Americans from Alaska and South America adequately represented. One of the big reasons for this is that a lot of the tribes do not feel comfortable sharing their DNA with anyone. They don’t trust what will be done with it. I totally understand, because the track record is not good.

Our Cherokee and Choctaw are more from the east half of the United States and the “few drops” of Shoshone are more from the mid-level part of the west. I say “few drops”, because that is what my grandma always said. We were supposed to have significant amounts of Cherokee from her side and the same amount of Choctaw from my grandpa’s side. I don’t know exactly where the Shoshone was supposed to come from, but it would definitely be on my maternal side. I have not had even a wiff of anything Native American on my biological father’s side.

I believe these days that our full-blooded NA Ancestors are a bit further back than we understood and a lot of it simply washed-out of our DNA. My great-great-grandmas (two of them) were said to be 50% NA themselves, but I am not seeing that. My grandma’s maternal grandma was supposed to have hers from her mom’s side. That is still one of my brick walls. The names seem to not be NA, though, and by assumptions come from other European countries.

I have unexpectedly found, however, that her father has NA ancestry, but there is a possibility that this 5th great-grandmother of mine may not actually be 100% like is believed. There is talk that she was actually adopted by an 100% NA family in the tribe (and may not have been NA by blood… or maybe not 100%). She did, however, live her life as 100% Native American.

All of this still doesn’t automatically do away with the possibility of NA blood through this branch, though, because she was said to be NA on her mom’s side, she lived on a reservation at least two time periods during her life, and she shows up on at least one census as NA.

Either way, we definitely had family members who were made to go on the Trail of Tears on my maternal grandma’s side.

The great-great-grandma on my maternal grandpa’s side doesn’t show even that promise as of yet. I still have more to do, but it appears that if she had NA in her, it wasn’t nearly as much as we thought. Her daughter (my great-grandma) passed when my grandpa was still a toddler, so we really don’t know much about her and her side yet so that isn’t too surprising… just disappointing.

My Latest Ancestry DNA Estimate

My Ancestry DNA Results as of 9/17/2021

Unfortunately, my Scottish went down from 37% to 31% and my Irish went down from 6% to 5%. That is honestly not bad at all given the way that everyone was saying that the last update was WAY off with these two ethnicities. So, I went from being 42% Scottish and Irish to 36%. Still not bad. Either way, these estimates both reflect what I am seeing on my paper trail, although I believe that I should be a bit more Irish (even if that takes away from my Scottish). My biological father seemed to be the majority of these two ethnicities and my mom’s side is also now showing a little bit of these, too.

My Wales went up from 3% to 7%. That to me seems closer to the truth. I was guessing around 10% or a little less, so this 7% is likely about right.

My Germanic Europe has gone down from 5% to 3%. I believe this is very likely about as correct as it can be. I have only seen one branch several generations back that appear to be German. This category also includes most of Switzerland and Austria. I should have at least a little bit of Swiss in my DNA and I have found at least one ancestor way back from Austria. Given all of this, my estimate probably could be 5% like the update before this shows. Ancestry has been much more accurate on my German DNA than 23andMe, for sure. 23andMe usually has me around (or over) 20%. That is NOT correct unless every bit of my short branches are German and I don’t see that at all.

My Norway went away… which I did not know I had until it showed up on my DNA results and maybe I just don’t. I SHOULD, however, have some other Scandinavian in there. It even shows up on my paper trail.

As for the England and Northwestern Europe category, I think that my 46% estimate last time was probably relatively close to correct. I believe that my current 54% is a bit too high and that they may be lumping in some DNA that is not as clear to them (or that they just consider “noise”). This section (at least the current one) includes: England, Belgium, Channel Islands, and dips down and encompasses maybe a third of France. I clearly show a significant amount of French ancestry on my paper trail; definitely enough to clearly be included in my DNA results. If my French ancestors were from the east side of France, this explains a lot.

My Previous Ancestry DNA Estimates

My 2020 Ancestry DNA Estimate

My 2019 Ancestry DNA Estimate

As you can see above, they were way off in regards to my Irish and Scottish even though they were definitely heading in the right direction. My initial estimate showed me as less than 1% Irish, Scottish, and Welsh combined. Now, my estimate shows me as being 43% Scottish, Irish, and Welsh combined. Less that 1% was SO wrong and laughable knowing even part of my paper trail.

My Initial Ancestry DNA Estimate – July 2018

The most accurate (in my opinion) on this initial estimate was the Scandinavian. If I truly do have a bit of Norwegian in me, than this might be close to correct since I think I should have about 5% Scandinavian in me according to my paper trail and some other companies’ estimates.

If you would like to get your DNA tested, please consider using my referral links to get there. I get a small compensation when someone purchases a DNA test through my referral links. Thank you in advance for your support.

Which Test Do I Recommend?

If you are searching for an unknown parent (especially if both are unknown), I highly recommend that you test through both companies. It really helped me discover who my biological father was (without even a name) relatively quickly. It still took some hard work, but it was a lot easier and worth it. Many who really know their stuff in finding unknown parents recommend this as well; they are the ones who recommended it to me. Also, remember that some families tend to test more on one test than the other. You will not know until you test at both companies which one has more for you to work with . My mom’s side tends to test more on Ancestry and my dad’s side tends to test more on 23andMe.

If you are primarily interested in finding family and how your matches are related to you, I recommend Ancestry. There are more helpful family trees easily accessible and I really like their ThruLines, Common Ancestors, Filters, creating and tagging your own groups and labels, and the availability to clearly mark your known family members with exactly how they are related to you and through which side. Several of these features are relatively new and I love them!

If you are primarily interested in health reports, I recommend 23andMe. They, however, are adding some new features that can help more. Your raw data results from 23andMe can also be used in a few more places to upload your DNA data to other companies than Ancestry. They both can be used, though, and I highly recommend that you upload wherever you can.

Barbara BELL WHISENHUNT ~ Wordless Wednesday

Barbara BELL was one of my fifth great-grandmothers on my maternal grandma’s side. She was born in 1771 in Randolph County, North Carolina. It is believed that she was adopted by a Native American family and she may or may not have been 100% Native American by blood.

She passed away December 31, 1870 in Fannin County, Texas. Her grave had a little long house built over it. A few years ago, the man who now owned the land bulldozed the cemetery and stones so nobody would have a reason to want to see their family members’ graves. Yes, you read that correctly… This boils my blood thinking about it.

Barbara married Adam WHISENHUNT (1769-1849) and they were the parents of Elizabeth WHISENHUNT, who was the mother of Henry MEREDITH, who was the father of Sarah Elizabeth Jasmine Carter MEREDITH, who was the mother of Mary Irene Saphronia Jasmine SMITH, who was the mother of Ruby Irene PORTER, who was my maternal grandma.

25 Free Kindle Books for Genealogy

These Kindle books are all related to genealogy and/or history of particular areas where your ancestors may have lived. Many of these books also come in paperback and/or hardback. I like to check out the Kindle versions for free and then decide if I should also have a printed version for my library.

These Kindle books are free at the time of this post. But…Please be sure to check the price on each of these before clicking on the buy now button. The prices could change at anytime. Some of the books are only free if you have Kindle Unlimited, but are included since they are good resources.)

(Disclaimer: I am an Amazon Affiliate and I earn from qualifying purchases.)

1. The Genealogist’s Guide to Y-DNA Testing for Genetic Genealogy (This one is free if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership.) by David Vance

2. History of New Brunswick by Peter Fisher

3. The First Seventeen Years: Virginia 1607-1624 by Charles E. Hatch

4. Pioneers of the Old South: a chronicle of English colonial beginnings by Mary Johnston

5. The History of Virginia, in Four Parts by Robert Beverley

6. The Story of Barney and Bridget: McPhillips and Mannion Families (Includes recipes, pictures, histories of Ireland and southern Indiana…) – (This one is free if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership.) by Claudia Coffey et al

7. History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan: A Grammar of Their Language, and Personal and Family History of the Author by Andrew J. Blackbird

8. The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865 by Leander Stillwell

9. The Stephens Family: A Genealogy of the Descendants of Joshua Stevens by Bascom Asbury Cecil Stephens

10. A Trip to California in 1853 Recollections of a Gold Seeking Trip by Ox Train Across the Plains and Mountains by an Old Illinois Pioneer by Washington Bailey

11. The Twenty-fifth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion History, Reminiscences, Description of Battle of Irish Bend, Carrying of Pay Roll, Roster by George P. Bissell, Samuel K. Ellis, Henry Hill Goodell, and Thomas McManus

12. History of Prince Edward Island by Duncan Campbell

13. The Dispatch Carrier and Memoirs of Andersonville Prison (First part of book is about volunteering, training, and war. Second part is about life being a POW at Andersonville during the Civil War.) by William N. Tyler

14. Colonial Records of Virginia

15. Scotland’s Mark on America by George Fraser Black

16. The Romance of Names (English Surnames) by Ernest Weekley

17. Texas: A Brief Account of the Origin, Progress and Present State of the Colonial Settlements of Texas; Together with an Exposition of the Causes which have included the Existing War with Mexico by William Harris Wharton

18. The Planters of Colonial Virginia by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker

19. Viking Tales by Jennie Hall and Victor Ralph Lambdin

20. Bacon’s Rebellion, 1676 by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker

21. The Mayflower and Her Log; July 15, 1620 – May 6, 1621 – Complete by Azel Ames

22. The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths by Charles McLean Andrews

23. The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition Being a Concise Description of the Several Terms Used, and Containing a Dictionary of Every Designation in the Science

24. History of the Mackenzies, with genealogies of the principal families of the name by Alexander Mackenzie

25. History of India: A History In 50 Events (This one is free if you have a Kindle Unlimited membership.) by Hourly History

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More Free Resources

If you like this list, you will want to check out a couple of my most popular posts with free Resources:

Moses PORTER and Polly ROSENBERGER ~ Tombstone Tuesday

My third great-grandfather, Moses Franklin PORTER, was born January 20, 1826 in Madison County, Kentucky to Henry PORTER (1778-1868) and Nancy T BOWLES (1788-1836). Moses passed away December 26, 1900 in Oxford, Sumner County, Kansas.

Polly ROSENBERGER was Moses’ second wife after my third great-grandmother Elizabeth Ann HOSKINS (his first wife) passed away during childbirth of twins in 1855. One twin was my great-great-grandfather Daniel Marion PORTER. The other twin was evidently unnamed and passed away a few days later.

Mary Polly ROSENBERGER was born December 24, 1841 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and passed away June 15, 1904 in Oxford, Kansas.

Moses and Elizabeth had six children including: John Henry PORTER, William Thomas PORTER, Rebecca Ann PORTER, Nancy PORTER, Daniel Marion PORTER, and infant twin of Daniel who was unnamed (at least in any records I can find) and only lived from December 28, 1855 to an early day in 1856.

Moses and Polly were married in 1857 and had at least ten children including: Mary Isabelle PORTER, Ellen Sara PORTER, Laura PORTER, Aaron Dudley PORTER, Fannie Matilda PORTER, Moses F PORTER, Charles Leonard PORTER, Shirley Edwin PORTER, Bertha E PORTER, and Grover C PORTER.

Moses Franklin PORTER

Moses Franklin PORTER and Elizabeth Ann HOSKINS were the parents of Daniel Marion PORTER.

Daniel Marion PORTER (December 28, 1855 to February 27, 1925) and Caroline Adele GILBERT (1864 to 1895) were the parents of Charles Oscar PORTER.

Charles Oscar PORTER (April 2, 1884 to April 19, 1946) and Mary Irene “Renie” Saphronia Jasmine SMITH (July 4, 1890 to June 25, 1947) were the parents of my maternal grandma, Ruby Irene PORTER (March 24, 1928 to May 13, 2010).

Meredith ~ Surname Saturday

Origin

The name MEREDITH is an ancient Welsh surname. It comes from the given names Meredydd, Maredudd, and the old Welsh form Morgetiud and is derived from the name of an ancestor (for example: “the son of Meredith”).

The original spelling is said to be “Maredudd”, but was pronounced “Mahredeeth” The name is related to the Old Welsh word moriud which means sea warrior or see lord.

Early History

The earliest found use of Meredith as a surname was in Denbigshire, which is a historic county in Northeast Wales. It was recorded on a document related to the 1536 “Act of Union” between England and Wales.

This Meredith family held a family seat from very ancient times. Some say they held a seat from well before the Norman Conquest and arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 AD. A family seat was a principal manor of a medieval lord. This was usually an elegant country mansion and usually meant the that family held economic and political influences in the area.

Prominent Meredith’s before 1700:

Richard Meredith (sometimes Meredyth) was the Church of Ireland Bishop of Leighlin from 1589 to his death in 1597.

Sir William Meredith was the first Baronet of Leeds Abbey in Kent. He was born in 1603 in Wrexham, Denbighshire, Wales and passed away April 10, 1675 in Leeds Abbey, Kent, England.

Migration

Many people from Wales joined the migration to North America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in search of freedom, work, and land. Others with the Meredith surname migrated in large numbers to England, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Prevalence and Variations

Meredith is the 9,051st most prevalent surname on a worldwide basis, meaning that approximately 1 out of 116,420 people share this name. 53% of the people with the surname Meredith live in North America. This means that about 33,149 people or 1 out of 10,934 people in North America have the surname Meredith.

Compared to other countries, there are not nearly as many Welsh surnames, but they have a greater number of spelling variations. This is partially due to officials and scribes recording names as they sounded, as well as, many choosing to change their surnames slightly in order to signify their branch of the family, religious adherence, and/or patriotic affiliations.

Name variations include: Meredith, Meradith, Meredeth, Meridith, Meredydd.

Motto

The original Meredith motto (war cry or slogan) was “Heb Dduw heb ddim, a Duw a digon.” Translation: “Without God there is nothing.”

Our Meredith Line

Junor MEREDITH (spelling of first name is correct) was born about 1752 in Louisa County, Virginia and passed away about 1831 in Henry County, Virginia. He was the father of William MEREDITH, who was born in 1778 in Henry County, Virginia and passed away around 1830 also in Henry County, Virginia. He was the father of John Thomas MEREDITH, who was born October 3, 1806 in Virginia. He was the father of Henry MEREDITH , who was born in 1836 in Georgia and probably passed away June 22, 1865 in Caddo Gap Township, Montgomery County, Arkansas. He was the father of Sarah Elizabeth Jasmine Carter MEREDITH, who was born May 9, 1863 in Arkansas and passed away March 10, 1940 in Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. She was the mother of Mary Irene Saphronia Jasmine SMITH, who was born July 4, 1890 in Claremore, Rogers County, Oklahoma and passed away June 25, 1947 in Stockton, Cedar County, Missouri. She was the mother of my maternal grandma, Ruby Irene PORTER.

John Stephen Holland and Margaret Ella Cullender and Family ~ Wordless Wednesday

Family portrait taken in 1905. Front Row (L to R): Lela Bethel, Lucy Jewel, John Stephen, Daniel Booker, Margaret Ella, and William Sampson. Back Row (L to R): Jesse Clyde, Charlie Clarence, and Susan Avo

John Stephen Holland and Margaret Ella Cullender Holland were my great-great-grandparents on my paternal grandma’s father’s side. My great-grandfather Charlie Clarence Holland is in the center of the back row.

John Stephen Holland was born August 23, 1860 in Mount Vernon, Lawrence County, Missouri and passed away June 2, 1938 in Texas.

Margaret Ella Cullender was born August 21, 1870 in Osage, Carroll County, Arkansas and passed away March 4, 1946 in Shamrock, Wheeler County, Texas (literally one year to the day before my mom was born). They were married in 1889.

Charlie Clarence Holland was born October 13, 1889 in Piney, Carroll County, Arkansas and passed away March 3, 1956 in Erick, Beckham County, Oklahoma (one day before the 10th anniversary of his mother’s death). He was the father of my biological paternal grandma, Clara Odell Holland.