Digging up my roots!
Obed Sisco, my 3rd great grandfather, was apparently a colorful character, as you will see from the letters and newspaper advertisements describing him. At 5’ 7”, Obed was a blue-eyed with a fair complexion and dark hair. He married three times and had at least 9 known children. Little is known of his early years,…
Susan Ann Simpson was born in Fort Covington, Franklin County, New York on 15 June 1847, the second child of six born to George W. and Achsa (Sisco) Simpson (and their only daughter). Aunt Susie (she was the sister of my great grandfather, Ernest L. Simpson) had surgery when she was young to have a…
If your colonial family came from Maine like mine did, they were likely engaged in or supported the lumber industry. Later, when the local forests were depleted and barren, many of those Mainers headed west to Minnesota and other regions where pine was still plentiful. Thus it was with my grandmother’s maternal family who relocated…
Maps are every genealogist’s friend. When you understand where your ancestor’s lived, their proximity to towns, villages and others around them, it helps reveal those elusive details that we all hope to uncover. Sometimes, however, mapping is an absolute necessity, as in the case of identifying when and where my 3x great grandparents, John Mayel…
Last week I wrote about finding the parents of my third great grandmother, Mina Wilson, by combing through clusters of autosomal DNA matches. Well, this week I get to add another person to the family tree: Uncle William M. Simpson! But first, some background: Far little is known about our Simpson family prior to my…
Who are the parents of Mina Wilson, wife of Obed Sisco? It wasn’t until I started playing with clusters of DNA that an answer appeared! Like most women of the early 19th Century, Mina didn’t have opportunities to leave much of a paper trail to give us hints about her origins and family roots. In…
Click here for Susan B. Stanwood’s genealogy Susan Belle Stanwood was the young child of Albert and Lavina (Bursley) Stanwood. She was born at Santiago, Sherburne County, Minnesota 15 May 1885, and died at Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota 22 December 1946. She married her first husband, Edwin R. Clark, at Floodwood, St. Louis County, Minnesota…
Lot 6. Block 6 Lawndale ad[dition] $850. John O. Veland bought this property in 1913, and the Minneapolis Morning Tribune published the transfer of real estate into his possession on the 5th of December. Prior to purchasing this lot, on 22 September 1913 John Veland, my great-great grandfather, paid $800 to the building inspector for…
Like many families, stories of a Native American heritage circulated. My grandmother, Goldie (Simpson) Uphouse Edwards, truly believed her father was half American Indian, but that tale turned out to be completely erroneous and false. (Oh my, I still wish I hadn’t burst my grandmother’s bubble when I learned of the unwelcome truth!) Thankfully, most…
Harriet Luzetta (Day) Freeman (1812-1887/8) was the second daughter born to Aaron and Martha (Tibbetts) Day. The sister of my 2nd great grandmother, Cynthia (Day) Bursley, Harriet had a unique perspective of the family; she was raised by her paternal uncle and aunt, Nathaniel and Sarah Day. Harriet clearly loved her aunts and uncles, and…