This is my space to share my quest to collect as many broken branches as I can in my fractured family tree which resembles a bramble bush more then a proper tree.As I go forward in this blogging journey I hope to share how I have searched far & wide for family - with no regard for where they come from or if I should really want them. You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 30 (RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS)
Today, on Ron's 79th birthday, I will write about my father-in-law.
Ronald Clare (Ron) Buchner Birth 24 JUL 1946 • Tillsonburg, Oxford, Ontario, Canada Death 6 FEB 2021 • Puerto Vallarta Hospital, Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
Ron will always be remembered as a larger than life man who kept everyone amused. He really was the life of the party.
Chris was Ron's first born child, and only son.
Ron was the grandson on Brethern in Christ Pastor, Alonzo Vannatter.
Alonzo Vannatter with great grandson Chris
Remembering Ron on his birthday
Ron school photo - 2nd row third from the left 1957 1958 school year grade 5 and 6 Rolph St public school
Glendale Football 1961
Now at rest
Gone too soon!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
According to Family Search Ann Franklin & I share 51% of our looks.
Check out the photo below provided by Family Search
We are 9th cousinx X6 removed via my maternal grandmother's paternal line (Bayes, Merrill).
"More than 200 years after her death, Ann Smith Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame at the University of Rhode Island. She is also remembered as the owner of the press on which Benjamin Franklin learned to set type."1
We are also inlaws because Chris is related to her husband James Franklin via his mother's paternal line via marriage.
This mean Chris shares in common relatives with Benjamin Franlin, but a direct connection has not been found at this time.
We seem to be getting closer to be able to introduce ourselves as cousin!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
Death 1 MAY 1950 • Woodstock, Canada, Ontario, Canada
In the 1881 & 1891 Census her birth place is listed as Switzerland, but there is no arrival date included in those census records.
In 1900 arrival from Switzerland is listed at 1879 In 1911 arrival from Switzerland is listed at 1878
In 1921 arrival from Switzerland is listed at 1880
In 1931 arrival from Switzerland is listed at 1890
We know she was in Ontario when she married Mark on March 18th 1879 in the Methodist Church at Houghton.
This was a first marriage for 20 year old Barbara, and a second marriage for 41 year old widowed Mark. Step mom Barbara was only 3 years older than Mark's oldest child with first wife Sarah Ann Louks.
I have found some records for her siblings that suggest she wasn't the only child who left Switzerland.
In fact her brother Daniel signed as a witness to the marriage. I'm not sure when Daniel went to the United States, but he is found on records there including his death registry from Detroit in 1908.
Daniel Walser
Birth 5 FEB 1853 • Teufen, Appensell, Switzerland
Death 2 SEP 1908 • Detroit, Michigan, USA married December 24th 1888 Detroit, Michigan, USA divorced February 4th 1908 Detroit, Michigan, USA Elisabeth Louisa (Eliza) (Louisa) Biernbaum
Her sister Bertha's obituary notes she arrived in Canada (or maybe it was referencing the USA) at 13 years old in 1877.
Bertha Walser
Birth 18 DEC 1864 • Teufen, Appensell, Switzerland
Death 28 MAR 1927 • Walkerville, Essex, Ontario, Canada married March 9th 1883 in Houghton Township, Ontario, Canada William Henry Stephens
I have found DNA matches through the descendants of these 3 siblings.
I have not found a descendant match for brother John who claimed 1869 & 1871 on various census records - he resided in Detroit.
Johannes (John) Walser
Birth 2 SEP 1850 • Teufen, Appensell, Switzerland
Death 2 AUG 1937 • Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA
married 1882 Elisa Schiess
The remaining four children did not live to adulthood.
At this time I have no records for the parents beyond birth/marriage/death of their children. I do not know if they came to Canada, the United States, or stayed in Switzerland.
Bartholomew (Bartli) Walser & Anna Elisabeth (Eliza) Oertli
I would be surprised if they stayed in Switzerland since all the children who lived to adulthood were recorded in Ontario & just south of the border in Michigan, USA.
Now back to our traveler Barbara.
Her parents named her Anna Barbara, but at some point she didn't want to be known as Anna (the gracious one), and instead wanted to be known as Barbara (the traveler).
She left Switzerland - with or without her family
She arrived in Canada - possibly USA first
There is much we still don't know about X2 great grandma Barbara.
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 27 (FAMILY BUSINESS)
This is week 8 of my blogging style switch
For the next several weeks I will post a photo and a brief description.
This new style of posting is due to CMC Arthroplasty surgery on my left thumb.
I will continue with this style until my thumb has sufficiently recovered.
~
A few years ago Chris' cousin gifted this framed photo collection to him. Each of the letters is special to the family is some way.
All the years while Chris was growing up his Grandpa Lyle owned the Massey Ferguson Dealership.
When I first met Chris it was one of the first family facts he shared with me.
Chris worked one summer for his grandfather Tobacco Farming.
He was very proud of all his grandfather accomplished.
For this reason it was my immediate thought for the prompt Family Business.
The R in the photo above is from the Massey Ferguson dealership signage.
When Chris and I met & he told me his stories, I had no idea I was related to Daniel Massey who was one of the founders of what would eventually become Massey Ferguson.
That knowledge appeared in an email from WikiTree telling me how I was connected.
Daniel Massey
Birth 24 FEB 1798 • Windsor, Windsor County, Vermont, USA
Death 15 NOV 1856 • Newcastle, Durham, Ontario, Canada
As often happens with WikiTree Connections Daniel is not directly related. We are in the same general neighbourhood of this Bramble Bush.
Daniel is the Brother-In-Law of my 4th Great Aunt:
Rachael Merrill
Birth 5 FEB 1795 • Waterdown, New York, United States
Death 1 JAN 1878 • Haldimand, Northumberland, Ontario, Canada
married Daniel's brother
Jonathan Massey
Birth 23 JUL 1792 • Windsor, Windsor, Vermont, USA
Death 9 AUG 1834 • Haldimand, Northumberland, Ontario, Canada
The family connections do not end there.
Daniel Massey married
Lucinda Bradley
Birth 24 MAR 1803 • Watertown, Jefferson, New York, USA
For the next several weeks I will post a photo and a brief description.
This new style of posting is due to CMC Arthroplasty surgery on my left thumb.
I will continue with this style until my thumb has sufficiently recovered.
~
In 2004 our oldest found an ad in the newspaper for Model & Talent Search.
He really wanted to go.
I had reservations about the field of acting, and was reluctant to take him.
Additionally I thought it was scammy.
Chris convinced me we needed to support our child in what they wanted to do reminding me he had wanted to be a pilot as a child and his family didn't support him.
He also told me that nothing would come of it because it was scammy, but our child would know we supported him.
The only concern Chris had was the event was during CSI, and he would be missing the episode (this was pre-pvrs so he really did miss that episode).
We went off to that convention with no expectations beyond enjoying a family visit in the city with fantastic hotel discounts.
Our oldest left that convention signed to an agent.
In the weeks after he received 3 callbacks he didn't attend due to already being represented by an agency.
Turns out belief that nothing would come of this venture was mistaken, and now we were committed to supporting however we could.
This led to 3 years of multiple trips a week into Vancouver for auditions where he memorized pages of script to compete with others.
He decided he wanted to have more time for school & friends so left the acting business.
He joined a local youth theatre group where he performed in many productions.
AND continued to receive random cheques in the mail years later.
Head Shot (1 of 4 different ones used that year)
He has a page on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), and was an apprentice with The Union of British Columbia Performers (UBCP/ACTRA).
Not all of his projects are listed on IMDB.
There was this short filming about bullying he was cast as the popular boy who bullied the not so popular boys.
back row right in the classroom scene
On set I had to be within sight & sound of our son due to his age. As I watched all the goings on I realized 'this is where all those school films come from".
He was also a model for an author's illustrations for a fantasy adventure children's novel.
The short film, Shadows, below he was a voice actor in.
His younger brother Child Voice 2.
He wasn't an actor, but the the Director heard him talk while we were waiting for his brother and asked him to join his film.
In another project our son played a child soldier named Daniel in a project with with Matilda Aslizadeh. The film was called Hero of Our Time
Matilda Aslizadeh explained the film:
"Hero of Our Time” (2009), tells the story of a child soldier in a fictional and unmentioned country. In it, the fictional sequences are combined with video games, a miniature model city, an operatic aria, documentary images from the internet, and footage of the location where the fictional sequences were shot, which happens to be the site of a residential school in Mission BC. This varied and layered approach attempts to turn the well-meaning documentary about unspeakable violence happening somewhere else in the “third-world” on its head."1
During our son's emotional death scene I inhaled a mosquito.
The mosquitos were so bad that day. The actors were being bitten so many times that day because crew members had to stop waving them off while the cameras were running.
If memory serves correctly Reace had more than 50 bites that day.
BUT back to my inhaled mosquito ... there are times over the past many years I have seriously pondered what exactly that mosquito is doing in my lungs.
I hope when he thinks about his acting years he remembers the fun & that his parents supported him in pursuing his dreams.
Our oldest had a fan club that included his parents!!!
This is why I search -
Cause ...
You can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family you know!
***Any errors are my own. Please send me any updates or corrections via the comments at the bottom of this blog post***
