52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks 2021 ~ Looking Forward To Another Year

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 52 (RESOLUTION)


First I reflect on last week's blog where I said I would not get my wish for a  White Christmas. 

I am happy to admit I was wrong. This was our front yard as we went for a walk in our neighbourhood this evening. The Christmas lights were beautiful. The hot chocolate in our insulated mugs delicious. The air was crispy. The moon reflected off the snow. The sights and sounds were beautiful. 

Christmas 2020 hasn't felt like Christmas, but my Christmas Spirit arrived on Christmas Eve on a walk though our neighbourhood. We resolved (Resolution #1) to decorate our house and yard next year. 

This evening I signed up for 2021's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. It will be my 3rd year with the challenge.  I resolved (Resolution #2) to write every week focusing equally on all 4 trunks of the Bramble Bush.

This week I brought some books home that tell the story of Ukrainians detained in internment camps in Canada during World War 1. Knowing my grandfather was a preschool child when this first began happening. His parents and three older children were from Austria because Ukraine was under Austrian rule. 

I do not believe my grandfather and his family were interned, but I have no first hand knowledge of the family's history. For many years I have wanted to visit the archives in Saskatchewan. Maybe 2021 will be the year I finally can find the story of how my grandfather left his heritage behind and became a whole new person. I resolve (Resolution #3) to continue to dig on the Pellack family line in search of the truth.

*** check out the sources below if you want to learn more
about the internment of Ukrainians in Canada  ***

I have several brick walls that have stubbornly held for many years. I resolve (Resolution #4) to create a research plan to assist with a focused search on these lines. 

Most importantly I resolve (Resolution #5) to continue to seek where my family fits in our family tale. 

2021 - Spending another year breathing life into our ancestors!

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***







Sources:


And we are witness: Canada's Internment Operations, Sask Culture, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from 
https://www.saskculture.ca/impact/success-stories/and-we-are-witness-canadas-internment-operations

Descendants of Ukrainians interned in WWI demand provincial acknowledgement, CBC, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ukrainian-internment-camps-bc-world-war-1.5809240

Enemy Aliens,  The Internment of Ukrainian Canadians, Canadian War Museum, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from

https://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/life-at-home-during-the-war/enemy-aliens/the-internment-of-ukrainian-canadians/

Internment, Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from
https://www.ucc.ca/issues/internment/

Internment of Ukrainians in Canada 1914-1920, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from

http://www.infoukes.com/history/internment/

Resources, Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from 
https://www.internmentcanada.ca/resources-videos.cfm#

“That never happened:” Film reveals the hidden history of Canada’s First World War internment operations, Canadian Geographic, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from
https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/never-happened-film-reveals-hidden-history-canadas-first-world-war-internment-operations

Ukrainian Internment in Canada, The Canadian Encyclopedia, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ukrainian-internment-in-canada

Ukrainian-Canadian internment operations detailed in new documentary, Nov 08 2018, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from
https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/ukrainian-canadian-internment-operations-detailed-in-new-documentary

Redress Required, Why Canada’s Treatment of Ukrainians During WWI Still Matters, Retrieved December 24th 2020 from 
https://www.internmentcanada.ca/PDF/articles/Ryan%20Boyko%20-%20Prairies%20North%20-%20Magazine%20Article.pdf?iid=i20130524070656757

Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

Winter is Coming ~ Finding the Starks

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 51 (WINTER)

I am Canadian. Much of the world believes that we live in one of the snowiest placed on earth. I live on the west coast of British Columbia. I fondly call it the WEsT COAST. The first winter we lived here there was 42 days in a row of measurable rain. Not one bit of snow. It never got very cold, but I spent that winter thinking I would never get warm. The dampness is hard to shake. For something different - it's raining again today, and there is no snow in our 14 day forecast. 

Every year I wish for a White Christmas, and most years I am disappointed. 

This Christmas will be no different. There is no snow in the forecast. With the Covid essential travel only orders I don't think we will even get to go to the ski hill.  Here are a few photos of family ski trips of the past. 

I wonder if my kids remember when we used to have snow when we lived in the interior of British Columbia. I would shovel it into piles up against our cedar hedge yard perimeter so the town deer could have some winter snacks. Our neighbours burlap wrapped their cedars to protect them from the deer all winter. Oddly enough our cedars were always healthy and full all year round even with the deer partaking. One year we shaped the piled snow into a ginormous whale extending the full length across the front of our yard. We made it a rainbow whale by 'painting' it with spray bottles of water & koolaid powder. That was the most beautiful whale I had ever seen. I return to the original question - do they even remember that beautiful rainbow whale?

I remember playing in the snow as a youngster. My dad built me a skating rink in the back yard. It came from a kit that had a giant bag you filled up with water, and then cut the plastic off once frozen. In Edmonton it was cold enough to freeze through the giant thickness. When we lived in the BC Interior it wasn't cold enough for that. I laid a giant tarp over the garden. I added an inch or so of water to the tarp, once frozen added another inch, and continued until we had a skating rink in our backyard. We had two older gents who lived on our street who would stop to chat from the fence when they saw me working on the skating rink. Each time they would tell me that it wasn't going to work because it no longer got cold enough to freeze solid enough to skate on.

 

Later, when they stopped to watch our boys skating they would comment that it only worked because I was too stubborn to know better. I have such fond memories of watching our boys skating in our backyard by the light of the moon. I wonder if they remember?

When I was small we lived in Quebec & then in Alberta before moving to the mountains of British Columbia. The photo below is of my mom and I building a snow fort when we still lived in Quebec. 

 I have always loved playing in snow.  

I think that is why I wasn't surprised to find a branch of STARKS in my tree.

I did a Which Game of Thrones family do you descend from, and not surprising House Stark was the answer. 

WINTER IS COMING 

I sit the Iron Throne
at the PNE in 2014

My 6th great grandmother

Anne Stark

BIRTH ABT. 1757 • Lanarkshire, Scotland

DEATH Scotland

her husband, my 6th great grandfather

John Weir

BIRTH ABT. 1755 • Lanarkshire, Scotland

DEATH Scotland

As usually happened in these 'royal' family lines intermarrying resulted in intertwining lines. I descend via one Stark family line, and another (or maybe the same one) married into the same family line.

Anne's granddaughter, and my 4th great grandmother

Susanah (Susan) Hamilton

BIRTH 03 NOV 1814 • Carnwath, Lanarkshire

DEATH 11 APR 1894 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland

married my 4th great grandfather
Robert Graham

BIRTH 16 JAN 1814 • Thornhill, Closeburn, Dumfries-shire, Scotland

DEATH 24 MAR 1892 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Robert's sister, and my 4th great aunt

Elizabeth Graham

BIRTH 10 FEB 1821 • Muirkirk, Ayrshire, Scotland:

DEATH 22 NOV 1903 • 16 Anderson Street, Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire
married
William Stark 
whose family of origin I have not yet researched. 

House Stark's family motto WINTER IS COMING holds very different meaning for me now that I live on the WEsT COAST. The 2020 Coronavirus has made our usual 'lets go play in the snow' daytrips illegal under the current Provincial Health Orders.  The longterm forecast does look like some snow between Christmas and New Years.

WINTER IS COMING!!!

When you find your family in Pop Culture!







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***









Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

Deb, we've found your Mayflower connection! ~ When an Email Changes Everything You Thought You Knew

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 50 (WITNESS TO HISTORY)

As a small child I was always interested in history. I remember listening to my teacher talk about critical times in history, and wondering if my relatives were there.

None of the history lessons were as intriguing to me as the Pilgrim's arrival on the Mayflower at Plymouth, Massachusetts, British Colonies. I was entranced with the tales, and imagined that I had relatives who were there. 

In first learning about the Mayflower it seemed like everyone had a relative that was there, but when I asked my grandparents, none of them knew of any relatives who arrived on the Mayflower. I pored over the names on the passenger list, and never saw a name that I knew as a relative.  I asked relatives if they recognized any of the last names from the passenger list. None of them did.

When I realized only 102 passengers were on that boat I realized that it wasn't true that most people could track back to the Mayflower. I also realized some who claim a relative on that ship were likely operating in the realm of family lore. 

I'm not sure how old I was when I decided that I had no relatives who sailed on the Mayflower, but it was long before I began genealogy researching. 

In the years since I have never found anyone that I suspected had been connected to the Mayflower.

Imagine my surprise on December 6th 2020 when I received an email from FamilySearch with "Deb, we've found your Mayflower connection!" in the subject line.  Thinking there must be a mistake I clicked the link:

I clicked Read More:

Still thinking there was a mistake I began researching in earnest, and I discovered that William Bradford is my 1st cousin X12 removed via my mother's maternal line. His grandfather, the Reverend John Hanson, is my 12th great grandfather. 

I Remember wishing I had a relative on the Mayflower as I sat in class listening to the details of this historical event. 

With the name and details I was able to discover details about the life lived by William Bradford. Just typing his name into a search engine brings up pages and pages of information about his successes and disappointments. 

My 1st cousin X12 removed:

William Bradford

BIRTH 19 MAR 1590 • Austerfield, Borough of Doncaster, S. Yorkshire, England

DEATH 9 MAY 1657 • Plymouth, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA

whose parents were:

Alice Hanson (my 11th great aunt)

BIRTH 8 DEC 1562 • Austerfield, Yorkshire, England

DEATH 23 MAY 1597 • Austerfield, Yorkshire, England

and

William Bradford

BIRTH 19 MAR 1559 • Austerfield, Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, S. Yorkshire, England

DEATH 15 JUL 1591 • Austerfield, Yorks, England

Alice was the daughter of (my 12th great grandparents):

Revered John Hanson 

BIRTH 23 JUL 1532 • Austerfield, Yorkshire, England

DEATH 27 FEB 1602 • Austerfield, Yorkshire, England
and

Margaret Gressam (Grasham, Gresham) 

BIRTH 1542 • Austerfield, Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England

DEATH 31 JUL 1603 • Austerfield, Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England

William first married

Dorothy May

BIRTH 1597 • Wisbech, Cambridgeshire

DEATH ABT. DEC 1620 • Mayflower, Provincetown Harbour, Massachusetts, USA

whose death by falling off the Mayflower while it was anchored offshore has sparked numerous stories that I had heard about, but never realized had anything to do with me. 

Second William married a widow named:

Alice Anne Carpenter

BIRTH 3 AUG 1590 • Weymouth, Dorset, England

DEATH 26 MAR 1670 • Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonies

William was father to three children: 1 boy named John with 1st wife Dorothy. 2 boys and a girl named Joseph, William, Mercy with second wife Alice. Alice had a boy and a girl with first husband Edward Southworth (who died in 1621 in Holland).

I wish I had known the family connection to the Mayflower when I was first learning about the Pilgrims as a wee one. 

Finding your relatives in historic events!







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***






Photos

Clipped from FamilySearch.com




Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

Oops: Too Young for the Boer War ~ Thomas Thomson

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 49 (OOPS)

I remember Grandma telling me how her dad had signed up to go to the Boer War when he was underage. His mother (my X2 great grandmother, Isabella (nee Glass) Thomson) marched down to the local Army office and demanded he be sent home since he was not actually old enough to be there. 

Oops.

I asked dad if he remembered the story grandma told since I was looking for more details to write about.

Dad's recollections: "The only part of the story of my grandfather's involvement in the Boer war was that he joined the British Army by saying he was older than his 16 years when he joined and went to South Africa. When his mother found out she went to the Army and got him sent home. I don’t know when he went but he was 16 in 1896 as he was born in 1880. That’s all I know, don’t know if he actually got into action or not."

Definitely an Oops for the British Army since they had to send Great Grandpa back home. Definitely an Ooops for 16 year old Thomas who would have been in trouble with the British Army as they were sending him home & his parents when he got there. I would have loved to be witness to the conversations in South Africa & at home.

Realizing how very little I knew about the Boer War I began researching.

Oops. 

The Boer War took place October 11th 1899 to May 31st 1902. 

16 year old Thomas couldn't have been there in 1896. 

Maybe he signed up for the Anglo-Zanzibar War that happened August 27th 1896 which fits nicely into the expected dates. 

Or maybe it was the Battle of Ferkeh that took place June 6th 1896. 

Maybe there were other 1896 events the British Military was involved in.

I was feeling pretty confused at this point in my research.

Grandma and dad were pretty confident he went to South Africa for the Boer War. 

In genealogy research it's very common to hear family lore that doesn't pan out after being scrutinized. 

I knew there was a good possibility that the details were wrong, but Dad is retired career military & rarely does he get military facts wrong.

With that in mind I began searching with very specific terms - Boer War 1896. 

I was not finding anything that looked promising.....

BUT WAIT - Had I given up too quickly I wouldn't have found this nugget. 

British Troops Leave For Boer War (1896-1899)   1

The discovery of this footage from British Pathé suggests the family tale is accurate. 

The British Military began forming their troops in 1896 for the Boer War (also known as: Second Boer War, Anglo-Boer War, or South African War).  I watched the short clip, and couldn't see great grandpa Thomas Thomson among the men. I do not have a photo of Great Grandpa Thomas Thomson at the age of 16 so am unsure I would recognize him if he were there, but I would like to believe he's there. 

These are the different stages of life that I have photos of Great Grandpa, Thomas Thomson:

Photo believed to be young Thomas Thomson

Thomas with sister Mary Thomson and brother James Devlin Glass Thomson

Thomas with brother-in-law Dave Slicer

Thomas with daughters: Marion & Mary (my grandma)

Thomas with his bagpipes

This family tale - CONFIRMED!

When family lore proves to be correct!







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***









Footnotes:

1 British Troops Leave For Boer War (1896-1899), British Pathé,  Retrieved November 30th 2020 from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyiqSW1ZLmU






Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________

Grizel to Grace ~ Changing the Optics

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2020 Week 48 (GRATITUDE)

When I first found the name Grizel in an ancestor's record I pondered why anyone would name their child after the tough inedible part of meat (gristle). I just couldn't imagine why a parent would name their new baby girl after such a yucky thing. Next I wondered if the child was particularly whiny, and named after the grizzly noises they made.  I then thought maybe the child was born with hair the colour of 'salt & pepper', and it was a spelling variation of grizzled. 

When I found several named Grizel in the records I was searching I realized there must be something more to this name. 

The name Grizel is: 

"Scottish and English variant of Griselda, from Old German,
possibly meaning "grey battle-maiden". " 
                                           1

What I found interesting is that all of the Grizels I found were known as Grace.
The name Grace invokes far more attractive visuals that the name Grizel did for me. 

I love the name Grace. I also love the word Grace. It's a part of my everyday language. I frequently comment that I am grateful the people that care about me give me grace. I am not perfect, and the grace offered by those around me assists me in living life authentically.

GRACE & GRATITUDE walk hand in hand. 

Now back to the name:

"Grizel / Grizelda / Griselda

This name is thought to have been derived from the Old German
"grisja" (grey) and "hild" (battle). The 14th century author Boccaccio
wrote a story about Patient Griselda in the Decameron and the English
author Chaucer wrote a version of this in "The Clerk's Tale" which
popularised the name and associated it with patience. Grizel became a
popular form in Scotland though there were many variations -
Grizzel, Girsel, Girzel and Goirzel. It was used by both the nobility and
commoners - one well known bearer of the name was
Lady Grizel Baillie (1665-1746), daughter of a Covenanter,
the 1st Earl of Marchmont. She wrote a number of Scots songs and her
"Household Book" was reprinted by the Scottish History Society in 1911.
In Scotland, Grizel sometimes became Grace
and a diminutive form was Zelda."   1

and 

"Grace

The name Grace came originally from the Latin "gratia" meaning
"grace" or "favour". It was not found often in Britain or Scotland until the
Puritans took it up in the 17th century, prompted by their phrase
"by the grace of God". The Puritans took the name to North America.
In Scotland it became quite popular in the 19th century but in a
number of cases it was derived from another popular name, Grizel, which
became "gris" and "Grace" (see also below). The name was given a boost
as a result of the heroine Grace Darling (1815-1842) who rescued some
shipwrecked sailors off the coast of Northumberland. In 1900, Grace
was the 22nd most popular first name in Scotland. However, in recent years,
despite Princess Grace of Monaco, the name is
not found often in Scotland."   2

 

All of the Grizels I found were in Scottish records. The first Grizel I found in our Bramble Bush was the mother-in-law of my 5th great uncle.

Grizel (Grace) Watson

BIRTH 25 MAR 1787 • Lamington, Lanarkshire, Scotland

DEATH 1 OCT 1865 • Kirkmuirhill, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
her husband was|

Alexander Pate

BIRTH 10 DEC 1779 • Clannochdyke, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland

DEATH 25 MAY 1826 • Abbeygreen, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Their daughter

Elizabeth Pate

BIRTH 16 JUL 1818 • Lesmahag, Lanark

DEATH 19 JULY 1873 • Turfholm, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
married my 5th great uncle|

James Graham

BIRTH 16 JUL 1811 • Closeburn, Dumfries, Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotlan

DEATH 23 MAR 1886 • Drowned in River Dothan, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire

This couple has been very memorable for me because it is through one of their descendants that I was finally able to confirm this family line.  Prior to the DNA match I had taken my 5th great grandparents out of my tree several times. I had started my tree over twice concerned I may have not researched accurately. 

The DNA match finally allowed me to believe I had reasonably exhausted my search, and could claim my 5th great grandparents: Peter & Ann (nee Kirk) Graham.

The DNA match confirmed that James Graham was the brother 

of my 4th great grandfather 

Robert Graham

BIRTH 16 JAN 1814 • Thornhill, Closeburn, Dumfries-shire, Scotland

DEATH 24 MAR 1892 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland
married (my 4th great grandmother)

Susanah (Susan) Hamilton

BIRTH 03 NOV 1814 • Carnwath, Lanarkshire

DEATH 11 APR 1894 • Forth, Lanarkshire, Scotland

The parents of James & Robert Graham were:

Peter Graham

BIRTH ABT 1788 • Closeburn, Dumfriesshire

DEATH Unknown
and

Ann Kirk

BIRTH ABT 1785

DEATH Unknown

James and Robert had two sisters that I have found so far:

Mary Graham

BIRTH 9 FEB 1819 • Crawfordjohn, Lanarkshire, Scotland.

DEATH Unknown
and

Elizabeth Graham (who married William Stark)

BIRTH 10 FEB 1821 • Muirkirk, Ayrshire, Scotland:

DEATH 22 NOV 1903 • 16 Anderson Street, Cambusnethan, Lanarkshire

My brick wall still stands at Peter Graham & Ann Kirk. I have found birth records for the 4 children I have listed. I have found no birth, marriage, or death records for either of them. I have found no records for other children. |I am still searching.

By using family line specific DNA profile photos I can easily see where DNA matches have confirmed the paper trail research.

Still searching to get past the brick walls!







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***






Footnotes:

1 What's in a Name? Grizel, Retrieved November 28th 2020 from
https://www.whatsinaname.net/female-names/Grizel.html

2 Popular Scottish Forenames, Grace, Grizel, Retrieved November 28th 2020 from
http://www.rampantscotland.com/forenames/blnames_fg.htm





Links:

Amy Johnson Crow, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge
https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/

If you reference or use my blog posts in any way please

include a link to the specific blog and

credit http://somehowrelated.blogspot.com/

My blogs are ©Deborah Buchner, 2014 forward.

All rights reserved.

Please & Thank you!

___________________________________________________________