Skoryky (Скорики), Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine - Origins Of My Genealogical Search

  52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2025: Week 16 (OLDEST STORY)

In thinking about oldest story I immediately thought about the origins of where my interest in my own genealogical story began. 

I was 29 when I first heard my Scottish grandfather, Clyde Robertson, might not exist & was in fact a Ukrainian man named Max Pellack.

It took 20 years & DNA matching to confirm this tale was true.

Over the past 30 plus years I have found little information about my family's origins before 1909's arrival in Canada.

What I do know is they lived in a small village in Ukraine - Skoryky (Скорики), Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. 

It's a strange feeling to know the family you thought you knew never existed. 

So many times I look at the map & wonder what my family's homeland looks like. 

Google Streetview offered me a small peak into that world

Someday I may get a chance to visit in real life!!! 

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:

Google Maps Clips, Retrieved April 20th 2025

Links:

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

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!

______________________________________________________________

Stepping Outside the Prompts ~ X6 great grandfather STEPhen Claus

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2024: Week 16 (STEP)

Taking a different approach to this week's STEP prompt I will write about Chris' 6th great grandfather, Johan STEPhen (Stephen) Claus (born Abt. 1695 in Waltersdorf, Germany, and died Abt. 1780 likely in Germany). His son was the immigrant ancestor for this family line. 

5th great grandfather
Johan Georg (John) Claus
BIRTH 10 APR 1750 • Backnang, Württemberg, Germany
DEATH 18 JUN 1824 • Vineland, Niagara, Ontario, Canada
He was 56 years old when his daughter, 4th great grandmother Mary, was born via his 3rd wife. 

John Claus was a Loyalist who settled in Ontario. He received land grants in what later became known as Ontario. 

He was married 3 times. 

He's buried with his 2nd wife at the Vineland Mennonite Cemetery. 

"Another interesting feature of the site is that not all of the people buried there were Mennonites. In fact, just a row over from Mennonite pacifists lie John Claus and his wife Mary, United Empire Loyalists who came over as part of a group that included Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant. Unlike the Mennonites, who came from Pennsylvania, Claus and Brant came from Tryon County, New York, after fighting with Butler's Rangers (in Brant's case commanding his own warriors as a British ally), a fierce unit that fought guerrilla-style warfare and terrorized the New York countryside in support of the British Crown. The Claus stones are some of the earliest that have survived, a fact that is easily discernible by the amateur carving of the inscriptions, which have uneven lettering, and in the case of Mary's stone, is slightly slanted." 1

Chris descends from the only child, Mary, with his 3rd wife, Margaret. I haven't yet found where Margaret is buried. Their daughter Mary was born, raised and died in this area that became home. This was also the area their descendants remain in. 

Mary Claus (X4 great grandma)

BIRTH 1806 • Bayham, Elgin, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 19 MAY 1879 • Bayham, Elgin County, Ontario, Canada
married
Isaac Williams (X4 great grandpa)

BIRTH 19 MAY 1802 • New York, USA
DEATH 19 MAR 1868 • Bayham, Elgin Co, Ontario, Canada

This is Chris' father's maternal line. It is their son who merged his father's maternal & paternal lines when he got married.

X3 great grandparents:
Robert Henry Williams
BIRTH 31 MAR 1831 • Ontario
DEATH 12 FEB 1896 • Bayham, Ontario, Canada
and
Katherine E Rittenour
BIRTH 11 OCT 1836 • Niagara, Ontario, Canada
DEATH 18 SEP 1920 • Norfolk, Ontario, Canada

This Williams line also connects to Chris' mother's maternal line. 

While Chris grew up primarily in Western Canada he was born in Southern Ontario where these first settlers arrived. The majority of his relatives continue to reside in the nearby vicinity. 

When adding new folks to our Bramble Bush to this area it's a must to check if they are already there because there is a good chance they are since all of Chris' lines wrap back around to each other. 

How the Bramble Bush visual was first created!!! 

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  Doors Open, Lincoln, Niagara, Ontario - The Vineland Mennonite Burial Ground. Canadian Heritage Matters. Originally published October 12th 2019. Retrieved April 12th 2024 from
https://canadianheritagematters.weebly.com/in-the-field/doors-open-lincoln-niagara-ontario-the-vineland-mennonite-burial-ground

Sources:

Claus, John. Undated Upper Canada Land Petition of John Claus Received at the Executive Council Office on 8 Aug 1795. Retrieved April 12th 2024 from 
https://sites.google.com/site/niagarasettlers/upper-canada-land-petitions/petitions-c/petitions-chewett-to-claus#h.p_ID_450

John Claus. FindAGrave. Retrieved April 12th 2024 from
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/111715736/john-claus

Links:

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

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!

______________________________________________________________

BUT What About the Dog? ~ Canine DNA

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2023: Week 16 (SHOULD BE A MOVIE)

Our dog gets extra treats because I love watching her eat them.

I have never seen a dog who chews her food more mindfully. 

When she's chewing I think she looks like she's talking so have wanted to add a voiceover. 

This week for SHOULD BE A MOVIE I decided to do it!

The video was 13 seconds long so I created a 13 second voiceover related to genealogy for this week's blog.

To be honest I have created voiceover for Tori since she first arrived to us 11 1/2 years ago as a foster dog, but never in video. 

Right from the start she had a face that looked thoughtful. 

Every morning she meets me in the kitchen, and sits with a hopeful look that she will receive the exact same morning treat she has received for years. When I dawdle she will look shifty eyed to the top of the fridge and the drawer where the treats are kept. If I try to leave the kitchen she will herd me back to the area where her treats are dispensed. The voiceover goes like this "Hurry, use those thumbs. Let's get this breakfast party started." 

In looking at the video I'm not sure she looks like she's actually saying the words. 

Maybe it's my video skills?  

Maybe it's my voiceover skills? 

Maybe it's the software?  

I don't think I will pursue the skill and training to actually turn the dog into a spokesperson, but I am fairly confident I will continue her day-to-day voiceovers. 

Frequently heard is "BUT what about the dog?" at meal, snack, or leaving the house times.

That was what I was thinking about when I created the voiceover script. 

I had run out of humans I wanted to do DNA for so had looked at the dog as the next candidate.

When we adopted her they said she was an Irish Terrier X. Her puppy fur was the non-shedding Irish Terrier. When her adult fur came in there was no doubt she was crossed with German Shepherd (or maybe Lab) due to the excessive shedding. 

When she arrived as our foster dog we were told she was full grown. She was perfect sized, and her fur was the Irish Terrier non-shedding. 

Then she started to grow, but her fur was still non-shedding.

Then we discovered she was at max 6 months old when she arrived to our home, and she doubled in size becoming a house hippo. 

When her adult fur arrived she became a shedder. We realized her cross was some sort of shepherd or maybe a lab.  

We wondered what her cross breed were so I began researching which company had the best reviews for Canine Breed DNA.

We had almost made our decision when I I read the article "How accurate are dog DNA tests? We unleash the truth" from CBC on March 4th 2023 (linked in sources below)

"Marketplace recruited two mixed-breed dogs, one purebred dog
and one human (Marketplace's very own Travis Dhanraj) to test the
accuracy of consumer dog DNA tests. Their DNA was sent to four
companies that claim to specialize in dog genetic testing:
Wisdom Panel, Embark, Accu-metrics and DNA My Dog. 

Nearly all the results were different, even for the same dog, despite
all claiming nearly 100 per cent accuracy rates." 1 

After reading the article we decided not to test the dog's DNA since the results would likely be suspect. 

We will likely never know the story of how she was found abandoned on the Abby Mission Highway, and then spent 2 weeks at the shelter unclaimed. 

They sent her to us to foster while she recovered after being fixed. 

How could we not fall in love with her. 

She arrived as a friendly & obedient 6 month old puppy. 

She had obviously been cared for. 

She attached immediately with all she met regardless of species, and regardless of how they felt.

BUT, what about the dog!!! 

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***

Somehow Related Past Blogs:

Footnotes:

1  Cowley, Jenny & Travis Dhanraj. How accurate are dog DNA tests? We unleash the truth. CBC News, Business, Marketplace. Originally published March 4th 2023. Retrieved April 16th 2023 from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-dog-dna-test-1.6763274 

Sources:

Cowley, Jenny & Travis Dhanraj. How accurate are dog DNA tests? We unleash the truth. CBC News, Business, Marketplace. Originally published March 4th 2023. Retrieved April 16th 2023 from
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-dog-dna-test-1.6763274

Photos & Video:

Personal

Links:

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

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!

______________________________________________________________

Reminiscing ~ Photos From the Past

Recently my husband and I started sorting the multiple boxes of photos that we had accumulated over the almost 30 years we have been together. Most of the photos were still in the envelopes from the developer with the negatives in the pocket. The rest of the photos were stacked loosely in boxes. Only our favourite photos were in albums.

We planned to put them all in the several photo albums we had purchased. It wasn't too long before we realized that we did not have enough photo albums. 

We also realized that many of the photos that we had been storing over the years were not worth keeping. We had so many duplicate copies of bad photos that our stack of garbage grew and grew and grew.

Many times over the years we have sorted through the photos and pulled out the ones we wanted for whatever project we were involved in. Never did we remove the negatives. The plan was to use them to reprint the photos should we ever desire to do so.

Flash forward to current times. 

The costs associated with reprinting photos from negatives are prohibitive - assuming you can find someone who will do so. It honestly broke my heart to throw the negatives out. At the same time what exactly were we going to do with them?

Heading to the curb for garbage pickup was a very heavy garbage bag half filled with photos and negatives.

Looking at how many printed photos were not good we talked about how great it is that we use digital now. We have 2 digital frames that cycle 100s of photos using a small footprint. 

BUT we still pang for the many different steps of old school photography.

We used to have a darkroom in our basement. Both of our boys learned, from their dad,  to develop the photos they had taken. 

Several years ago we decided the darkroom equipment took up too much room given how easy digital is, and gave it away. 

This photo of our youngest, taken by his older brother, is a perfect example of a photo that could never be reproduced again.

Somehow the original photo OR the printing resulted in two photos merging into one. We aren't sure how it happened, but there is no doubt it couldn't be reproduced in a digital process. 

This photo hangs in our hallway as a remembrance of a perfect moment in time. 

Sorting through old photos & reminiscing about days of old!!!

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!

______________________________________________________________

When the DNA Produces a Paper Trail ~ It's In Your Blood

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 2021: Week 16 (DNA)

When I received my DNA results I discovered I was 1/8th European Jewish (Ashkenazic). One of my great grandparents was Jewish or they were both 1/2 Jewish. In all the records I have found they belonged to the Greek Catholic church. I can find no records indicating they practiced the Jewish faith. 

My great grandparents
Alexander & Mary (nee Maximiw) Pellack 

This was the part of the tree that I knew very little about due to my grandfather recreating himself from a Ukrainian born in northern Saskatchewan to a Scots born in San Francisco. 

Clyde & Mary (nee Thomson) Robertson
Clyde was born Max Pellack
Photo taken in 1940

I was 29 years old when I discovered this mystery, and it was my primary reason for doing Ancestry DNA. It took me 20 years, but I finally confirmed my grandfather who I knew as Clyde Robertson was born Max Pellack. 

My dad, me, Grandpa

When I first received my DNA results I tried to use my matches to figure out the missing parts of my tree. I had great difficulty. I had no close matches. I had 1000s of distant matches. I was overwhelmed trying to find the in common ancestors. After I convinced my dad to do Ancestry DNA it was even worse because he had almost 20,000 matches. All his close matches were via his maternal line which we had solid research & connections for. Dad's paternal line past my X2 great grandparents remains a mystery. 

As I tried to connect the shared matches to create some sort of logical tree it never worked. I finally learned why. The majority of my matches on my father's paternal line were very far back. On first glance they appeared to be closer. It was only when I learned about Endogamy that I was finally able tease apart which matches were relevant to my modern day searching & which ones I could ignore for the current mystery solving. 

How to spot endogamous relationships
One way to help you tell the difference between someone who is closely related and someone who shares DNA because of endogamy is to pay attention not just to the total amount of DNA shared, or your relationship prediction, but to look at the size of the pieces of shared DNA. All of our testing companies provide this information. Here’s a screenshot of a father-daughter genetic relationship described at MyHeritage, showing the total amount of shared DNA, how many segments are shared, and the length of the largest segment:

Looking at the size of the biggest piece of DNA, you want that piece to be larger than 20 cM (centimorgans). If the biggest piece is smaller than that, it is unlikely you are related recently, and you can chalk up all that shared DNA to the tight-knit nature of your ancestral community, and not waste your time looking for a common ancestor. 1

In the years since the matches have grown to more than 30,000 for my dad and almost 25,000 for me.  I am no further ahead on my father's paternal side of this Bramble Bush, but I have found a lot of relatives that we didn't know about before via DNA matching.

In the years since I added our DNA to GedMatch & My Heritage I was able to connect with relatives who had information and photos to share. I have made little progress in climbing higher up this branch that was my initial reason to do genetic genealogy for. 

Although it wasn't my initial plan I have learned about mysteries on other parts of our Bramble Bush that have made for difficult researching. They usually start with a message from another researcher who we are related to.  

In July 2020 I received an Ancestry inbox message from a DNA match. She asked me how I was related to Artemissa Merrill (my 3rd great grandmother) because she descended from Artemissa's brother Thomas Forest Merrill who was known as Forrest. This message was the first I heard about brother Forrest. I didn't have him in our Bramble Bush. After adding him there was no doubt that he fit perfectly as expected due to the shared DNA with myself, my aunt, and my grandmother with this newly found cousin from the United States. 

My newly found cousin shared that her X2 great grandfather had disappeared in 1860 leaving behind a wife and young son. She wondered if the Canadian part of the family knew what had happened or had any ideas. I talked to my 95 year old grandmother who said she remembers the name, but no details. Grandma would have been 10 when her great grandmother Artemissa died. She wasn't born when Forest disappeared. 

As we understand what happened. 

Thomas Forest Merrill (known as Forrest) and brother Albert Forest Merrill (known as Albert) were loggers in Alpena, Michigan. They were born in Ontario, Canada. According to coworkers Forrest was heading home to Climax via Detroit. He was walking. Somewhere between leaving work in Alpena and arriving home in Climax he disappeared. 

Source: Google Maps

The family wondered if he had been killed somewhere along the way. They wondered if he had drowned in a river. Maybe he had enlisted, and was killed in the Civil War?  Leaving behind a wife and son by choice didn't sound right. The family never knew what happened to Forrest. Brother Albert searched for him. No one ever found out what happened to Forrest. 

After adding Forrest and descendants to our Bramble Bush I began searching for more information. I found the record below:

U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
Name Forest Merrill|
Birth year 1837
Birthplace Canada
Enlistment Age 23
signed up in Detroit
Enlistment period - 5 years
profession - laborer
eyes - hazel
hair - brown
complexion - ruddy
height - 5' 8 1/2"
no regiment or company listed
Remarks: Deserted May 16 1860

When I sent the record to my newly found cousin asking if she had already found it she replied she had not. The question remains did Forrest leave his family by choice?  Did he sign up voluntarily?  Was he conscripted?

In looking at the document I suspect he was conscripted. Maybe he was found on the road between his destinations and the military gave him no choice?  

The reason I think he was conscripted is because of how many of these men deserted. That one document had the records for 41 men whose last names started with the letter M who enlisted in April 1860.
21 were discharged
17 deserted
3 died

In looking at the document I discovered another Merrill who I do not yet have in this Bramble Bush. Joel E Merrill who was a physician born in Concord, Minnesota. He enlisted on April 6th 1860, and deserted on May 22nd 1860. 

I'm no expert, but those desertion odds seem pretty high to me for anyone who enlisted by free will. 

If any of my readers have anything further to add for the mystery of Thomas Forest Merrill (known as Forrest) we would love to hear from you. 

Sometimes the cousins you find have family treasures to share. 

In 1860 when Forest went missing family members from Ontario sent letters to his wife Ana. There were also letters sent before Forest went missing, and some with dates unknown. The family kept those letters, and my newly found cousin sent me scans of the original letters dating 1860 & earlier. 

These letters from 1859:

These letters from 1860:

These letters from dates unknown:

Seeing the actual writing of my X3 & X4 great grandmothers & other relatives was an emotional moment. Reading their words, and hearing their thoughts when there was no chance of my every knowing them. 

Definitely a highlight of my genealogy researching. 

Family treasures from newly found cousins!

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 DNA Testing and Endogamy, Your DNA Guide. Retrieved April 19th 2021 from https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/2019/2/23/endogamy

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!

________________________________________________________________