Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Great Grandparents #1

Ira W and Phebe (Flint) Green were married June 1849 in New York.  They had three sons together, the oldest one was born in New York and the younger two were born in Michigan.  Ira was born November 17, 1823 in Duanesburg, New York and died April 20, 1872 in Sidney, Michigan at the age of 48.  Phebe Flint was born in 1829 in New York and died April 13, 1872 in Evergreen, Michigan at the age of 43.  I have not found the cemetery where they are buried yet.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #16

Johannes and Gertrude (Boes) De Vries were married October 5, 1887 in Zeeland, Michigan.  Johannes was born July 23, 1863 in Zeeland Township, Michigan.  Gertrude was born October 4, 1866 in Beaverdam, Michigan.  Together they had twelve children together.  Johannes died October 1, 1943 in Zeeland, Michigan at the age of 80.  Gertrude died April 28, 1936 in Zeeland, Michigan at the age of 69.  They are both buried in the Zeeland Cemetery, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #15

Otto and Wilma (Meulenbelt) Brand were married December 31, 1890 in Bedum, Netherlands.  Otto was born November 9, 1860 in Zuilichem, Netherlands.  Willemke was born February 2, 1863 in Aduard, Netherlands.  Together they had four children.  Otto died July 3, 1947 in Holland, Michigan at the age of 86.  Wilma died 11 days later on July 14, also in Holland, Michigan at the age of 84.  They are buried in the Pilgrim Home Cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #14

Gradus and Dena (Sneller Bol) Lubbers were married March 14, 1896 in Fillmore Township, Michigan.  Gradus was born December 1, 1872 in Fillmore Township, Michigan.  Dena Sneller was born December 26, 1875 in Olive Township, Michigan.  (Dena was adopted by the Bol family after the death of her mother.)  They had three children together.  Gradus died January 20, 1947 in Holland, Michigan at the age of 74.  Dena remarried to Jacob Haveman and died November 8, 1960 in Holland, Michigan at the age of 84.  They are buried in the East Holland Cemetery, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #13

Johannes and Aaltje (Hellenthal) Naber were married March 6, 1876 in Holland, Michigan.  Johannes was born March 6, 1855 in Holland Township, Michigan and Aaltje was born October 31, 1854 in Fillmore Township, Michigan.  They had 6 children together.  Johannes died October 13, 1904 in Holland Township, Michigan at the age of 49.  Aaltje died October 22, 1919 in Holland Township, Michigan at the age of 64.  They are buried in the East Holland Cemetery, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #12

Jacob and Agnes (Marlink) De Vries were married March 23, 1887 in Zeeland, Michigan.  Jacob was born May 23, 1861 in Zeeland Township, Michigan.  Agnes (Agina) was born November 25, 1867 in Zeeland Township, Michigan.  They had twelve children together.  Jacob died May 29, 1949 in Zeeland.  Agnes died August 11, 1949 in Zeeland.  They are buried in the Zeeland Cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #11

Symon and Pietje (Hiemenga) Stremler were married May 5, 1866 in Wonseradeel, Friesland.  Symon was born December 11, 1843 in Wonseradeel.  Pietje was born October 19, 1845 in Wonseradeel.  They had 8 children together.  Symon died May 8, 1925 in Olive Township, Michigan.  Pietje died August 6, 1920 in Olive Township, Michigan. They are buried in the Borculo Cemetery, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #10

Jacob and Allie (Vander Meer) Steigenga were married May 24, 1877 in Hemelumer Oldeferd, Friesland.  They had ten children together.  Jacob was born April 7, 1853 in Hemelumer Oldeferd and died July 30, 1923 in Borculo, Michigan.  Allie (Aukje) was born December 30, 1856 in Workum, Friesland and died March 20, 1916 in Blendon Township, Michigan.  They are both buried in the Borculo Cemetery in Michigan.

Brick Wall Comes Tumbling Down, Pt. 2

After locating the birth records of Jan De Vries and Luiktje Mulder, I felt fairly confident that this was the correct couple.  But how could I be positive since there had been mistakes made before?

Based on family naming practices in the Dutch tradition, the first born son would be named after the paternal grandfather, the first born daughter named after the paternal grandmother, the second born son named after the maternal grandfather and the second daughter after the maternal grandmother.  Looking at the children of Jan & Luiktje should reflect the family names that I found on the birth records.

Jan De Vries's father was Kornelis Geerts de Vries and his mother Jantje Geerts.  (The Geerts should reflect the previous generations first names.  I wonder why Jantje doesn't have a last name listed?  Maybe because it was 1816 and she was married before the whole "pick a last name" mandate came down?)  Jan and Luiktje did have a daughter Jantje born 1860 and died in 1881. She was the only daughter that we know about so that does fit with her grandmother's name.  There is also a son named Cornelius but very little is known about where he fits into the family.  Since there were no dates, he always fell at the end of the family but it makes sense if he was the first born son. The only record he can be found in is the burial records at the Beaverdam Cemetery.  There is no stone for him while Jantje does have one.  And he is not listed in any of the census records I have seen.  So he must have been born and died somewhere between census records.  Plus the couple immigrated in 1854 so there are a number of years between then and 1860 where a child (or two) would fit and there are very few records from that time.

Luiktje Mulder's father was Jakob Hendriks Mulder and her mother Pieterke Lammerts Jolman.  As soon as I saw her father's name I knew it fit!  My ancestor Jacob was born 1861 and died 1949.  His marriage record has his name spelled as Jakob.  He should be the second born son so having Cornelius before him works out with the naming practices.

My other ancestor is the third son, Johannes was born 1863 and died 1943.  He was probably named after his own father.  I will have to do more research around Kornelis and Jantje to see where the name Jan fits in.  Jan K. must have older brothers otherwise he would have been named after the grandfathers Geert.

Brick Wall Comes Tumbling Down, Pt. 1

I finally had a big break through on one of my double family tree lines after many years of frustration!  I am related through BOTH my parents to a pair of brothers, Jacob & Johannes De Vries.  From a family tree created by another family member, I knew their parents were Jan Kornelius De Vries & Luikje Ebels.  I never questioned that information.  Why not?  I guess I figured they had documentation to back it up.

But now I have new information and it came about because I wanted to correctly source my main tree.  As many newbies do, I was so excited collecting information that I didn't source anything.  Maybe this is because there is SO MUCH information coming at you at first that it is just so overwhelming.  Whatever the reason, I wanted to make sure my sources where documented.  I started with my own birth & marriage records and started going back, looking for birth, marriage and death records for each ancestor.  This finally brought me back to the Johannes De Vries & Jacob De Vries brothers.

Johannes De Vries's marriage record in 1887 to Gertrude Bos lists his parents as Jan De Vries & Luikje Mulder.    Jacob De Vries's marriage record in 1887 to Agina Marlink does not list parents.  It actually was a few years ago that I looked up the marriage records and I really hadn't given it much time since then.  I figured that it was a mistake.  But recently that old block was haunting me again.

In past years, I had done numerous searches on Genlias (now WieWasWie) for a De Vries married to an Ebels, coming up with nothing.  I looked for any name close to Luikje Ebels in birth records and found nothing.  Yes, there were a lot of Jan De Vries's but I only knew the father was Kornelius so I wasn't able to pin point the right record.  But guess what happened when I tried De Vries and Mulder?  Yep, it came right up!

From this record, it was an easy search to find both birth records.  Jan De Vries was born November 13, 1816 NOT February 1816.  (I think the February date came from his death record which listed is age as 75 years 11 months.)  Luiktje Mulder was born February 29, 1822 to Jakob Hendriks Mulder & Pieterke Lammerts Jolman.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #9

Minne and Maria (Kool) Groenhof were married June 7, 1878 in Hemelumer Oldeferd, Netherlands.  They had 8 children together.  Minne was born March 10, 1850 in Hemelumer Oldeferd, Netherlands.  The family immigrated together in 1890 with six of their children.  Minne died October 22, 1895 in Olive Township, Michigan at the age of 45.  Marijke Kool was born April 28, 1852 in Hemelumer Oldeferd, Netherlands and died April 8, 1932 in Blendon Township, Michigan.

Scrapbooking Journey

So my journey into scrapbook started in 1994, the year I got married.  I wanted to do something different with my wedding album so I signed up for a class through community education.  The instructor was part of Creative Memories and that is how I started out.  Yes, I even had a crop at my apartment for friends and family, managing to get a few of them hooked as well!

The next four years went by with me doing a few albums for those years and actually finishing the wedding album.  Then I had kid number one.  And that was okay.  Still managed to work on my albums and start another one for him.  Then bam - kid number two comes along 18 months later and everything falls apart, at least in terms of scrapbooking!  I did manage to work on some of it but over all was so busy that I fell behind.

In 2003 I decided it was time to really work at the albums. I spent time cropping outside the house with my mom and sister.  But what I decided to do at that point was to start fresh from that year and keep up from there.  So I dropped the missed years and just worked on current stuff since it was better to be doing some rather then none.  I actually did really well through most of 2007.  But 2008 is the start of all digital pictures and also when I decided it was time to go back and take care of those old pictures before I started printing the digital prints.  They were printed already and just sitting in a box gathering dust.  This is also about the time that the scrapbook store we cropped at decided to scale back and moved to a smaller space.

A couple years ago, the company I used for my albums and page protecters decided to redo their business and everything was being discontinued.  I had to figure out, as best I could, what I needed to finish the albums I already had.  The albums start before 1998 and I was missing large sections of a few years!  So I guesstimated and bought supplies and hoped for the best.  I'm still waiting to see how that all turned out.

So now it is finally 2014.  My space is more organized and I have put a lot of time & effort into finishing the incomplete years between 2000 - 2003.  I also had to start at the beginning of each kids albums and finish some of the pages I just didn't get around to completing.  And progress was made, finally!

I have finished all my KIDS albums from 1998-2007.  They have page protectors and finished pages!  They are done!  Now I need to go through my own albums for those years to finish the pages I skipped, for what ever reason.  I also have the added pressure that my son is a junior (where did the time go!) and I should have something to show for his high school years, which I don't!

Progress and Pressure :)

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #8

Charles and Sarah (Case) Burnett were married Sept. 5, 1860.  They had two children together.  Charles Burnett was born in 1837 in Canada and died May 1, 1876 in Victor, New York at the age of 39.

Sarah Jane Case was born April 28, 1840 in New York.  After the death of Charles, she married Truman Case in November 10, 1880 in Petoskey, Michigan.  After Truman died in 1908, she married Charles Ramsey July 5, 1909 in Charlevoix, Michigan.  Sarah died June 8, 1915 in Bay Shore, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #7

Oscar and Ardennes (Geer) Tillotson were married February 10, 1869.  They had 6 children together.  Oscan Tillotson was born June 7, 1844 in Prairieville, Michigan and died Sept. 2, 1933 in Hayes Township, Michigan.  Ardennes Geer was born July 22, 1849 in Granby, Canada and died Dec. 17, 1921 in Hayes Township, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #6

Frank and Abbie (Nuite) Stinchfield were married in September 1869 and had four children together.  Abbie Nuite was born August 25, 1850 in Sangerville, Maine.  She died April 15, 1899 in Benton Township, Michigan at the age of 48.

Frank Henry Stinchfield was born about 1847 in Dover, Maine.  He lied about this age and joined the northern side of the Civil War as a Bugler.  After the death of his first wife, he married Ada May Sherman May 29, 1901 in Cheboygan, Michigan.  They had three more children together.  Frank died July 28, 1933 in Burton Township, Michigan.  (Thanks to Find-a-Grave for the picture.)

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #5

Elisha and Jemima (Howell) Vorce were married June 9, 1857.  They had 10 kids together.  Elisha Alden Vorce was born November 14, 1832 in New York and died Oct 1913 in Michigan.  Jemima Howell was born June 2, 1839 in Pennsylvania and died May 27, 1889 in Michigan.  Both are buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #4

William and Jane (Helbert) Cook also need additional research.  The child I have information on was born in 1884 in Hastings, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #3

Hugh and Margaret (Cameron) Livingston are the Scottish portion of the family and need more research.  They were married December 14, 1855 in Glasgow, Scotland.  They had at least one son, Duncan born in 1856.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #2

John and Bertha Nelson are in the section of my research where more work needs to be done!  John Nelson was born in 1862 in Sweden and died in Michigan probably after 1930.  Bertha Anderson was born August 17, 1863 in Norway and died November 5, 1894 in Michigan.  She is buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Elk Rapids but there is not a picture of her stone.  John & Bertha were married March 2, 1888 in Traverse City, Michigan and they had three children together.  John married Henrietta Hansen January 25, 1900 and they had six children together.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Great-Grandparents #1

Clark and Jennie Green are buried in the Maple Lawn Cemetery in Boyne City Michigan.  Clark V. Green was born March 19, 1859 in Kalamo Township, Michigan and died June 8, 1930 in Marquette, Michigan.  Jennie Kidder was born December 10, 1859 in Irondale, Missouri and died January 12, 1934 in Boyne City, Michigan.  They were married July 3 or 4 in 1886 and had three sons together.  Clark was well known in the lumber industry as a young man but died in prison.  Jennie was a gifted midwife in the Boyne City area.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #8

Otto and Jeanette Brandt are buried in the Restlawn Memorial Gardens in Holland, Michigan.  Otto Brandt was born June 1, 1898 in East Saugatuck, Michigan.  Jeanette De Vries was born February 15, 1899 in Michigan.  They were married October 31, 1918 in Michigan.  Together they had 11 children (3 still living).  Otto died at the age of 93, December 25, 1991 in Holland, Michigan.  Jeanette died April 17, 1975 in Zeeland, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #7

Walter and Priscilla Naber are buried in the East Holland Cemetery, Michigan.  Walter Naber was born August 22, 1895 in Holland Township, Michigan.  Priscilla Lubbers was born November 28, 1896 in Fillmore Township, Michigan.  They were married February 14, 1918 at the bride's parents home in Fillmore Township, Michigan.  They had 9 children together (three still living).  Priscilla died May 20, 1963 in Holland, Michigan. Walter remarried to Cornelia Beyer in 1965.  He died March 24, 1975 in Holland Township, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #6

Ben and Lucy Stremler are buried in the Borculo Cemetery, Blendon Township, Michigan.  Binne Stremler was born April 23, 1881 in Wonseradeel, Friesland, Netherlands.  Lucy De Vries was born September 17, 1888 in Zeeland, Ottawa County, Michigan.  Ben and Lucy were married March 26, 1908 and they had 7 children together.  Ben died March 26, 1926 in Ottawa County, Michigan.  Lucy remarried to Hessel Bremer who died in 1948.  Lucy died August 16, 1968 at the county poor farm in Eastmanville, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #5

Ben and Emma Groenhof are buried in the Borculo Cemetery, Blendon Township, Michigan.  Berend Groenhof was born November 25, 1881 in Hemelumer Oldeferd, Friesland, Netherlands.  Ymkje Steigenga was born September 7, 1883 in Hemelumer Oldeferd, Freisland, Netherlands. They immigrated with their families to Michigan and were married in Borculo, Michigan on May 10, 1905.  Together they had four children.  Ben died August 15, 1967 in Cutlerville, Michigan and Emma died January 26, 1938 in Zeeland, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #4

Asahel and Nellie Tillotson are buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Michigan.  Asahel was born in 1869 in Barry County, Michigan.  Nellie Burnett was born in 1864.  Asahel and Nellie were married in 1892 in Bay Side, Michigan.  They had 3 children together.  Asahel died in 1963 in Charlevoix county and Nellie died in 1951.

Scrapbook Organization Project

I might need to change this to the Getting Organized blog instead!  I haven't scrapbooked in about a year, except very small here and there stuff.  Part of the problem is that my desk downstairs is a dumping ground for every piece of paper in the house!  Well, it feels like it at least.  So my desk is always covered with stuff that needs to be put away before I can work.  Part of the issue is the heritage pictures I still need to scan.  I had them stacked on the desk but they kept creeping over to take up more space.  Then the cat would use it for a jumping off point to get to the window and knock things unto the floor.  So looking at my space, I realized that I needed to use the farthest away portion of the desk for scrapbooking, since that takes up the most space.  So all the pictures had to be moved and I needed to move a large file cabinet from under the desk as well.

Fast forward to that being accomplished.  Next I knew I needed a better way to organized the stuff I had since I really hated having my stickers in the portable container that worked great when I actually scrapped at other locations.  I came across the Scraprack which sits on the desk and this also comes with a whole new way to organize ALL your stuff together!  Just what I needed.  Used my Christmas money and bought a kit and have been busy organizing ever since!

Hobbies: Do you have one?

I find it interesting when people say they don't have hobbies.  I actually seem to have to many since I tend to skip around from one to another; Jack of All Trades, Master of None.  So I'm going to list my hobbies alphabetically and what I have been done recently (or not recently) with them.

1. Crochet: This is the most recent one to learn and I want to make a striped scarf - just didn't start it yet!
2. Cross Stitch:  This is a LONG neglected hobby that I recently took up again.  I had a lovely tree skirt started with the 12 days and I have recently finished most of the it!  Yeah!  I am looking forward to using it this next December.
3. Genealogy: Most recently (December 2013) I requested Death records for Great-Grandparents but I need to get back to my picture scanning very very soon.
4. Knitting: I LOVE making washcloths!  During the winter especially, I make a few a month since this can be done while watching TV.
5. Reading: Seriously, I never really stop doing this one - I read all the time: regular books, ebooks, audiobooks, most have books!
6. Scrapbooking: This is a very neglected hobby.  I really need to finish the books I started.  I bought albums from CM (before they changed everything last year), I just really need to finish off the books I currently own.  But not working on this hasn't stopped me from purchasing stuff since it is very hard to resist supplies!  But I have recently undertaken a large organization project so I will have room to work!
7. Sewing: This is barely a hobby since I don't really do it much.  I know how to sew basic stuff and I have had my own sewing machine since about 1995.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #3

Thank you to find-a-grave DeLyle for the picture!

Thank you to find-a-grave DeLyle for the picture!

Edwin and Susie Vorce are buried in Pine Hill Cemetery in Cheboygan, Michigan.  Edwin Charles Vorce was born 1867 in Tonawanda, New York and Susie Augusta Stinchfield was born 1878 in Grant, Michigan.  Edwin and Susie were married in 1895 in Burton Township.  They had 4 children together.  Edwin died in 1934 in Harbor Springs. Susie was remarried to Frank Crowl.  Susie died in 1945.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #2

Duncan and Ida Livingston are buried in Maple Lawn Cemetery in Boyne City.  Duncan was born in 1857 in Scotland and Ida May Cook was born in 1884 in Petoskey.  They were married in 1901 in Charlevoix, Michigan.  They had 9 children together.  Duncan died in 1945 in Boyne City.  Ida remarried in 1948 to James Johnston.  Ida died in 1970 in Petoskey, Michigan.

Tombstone Tuesday: Great-Grandparents #1

Philmore and Edith Green are buried in Maple Lawn Cemetery in Boyne City, Michigan.  Philmore was born in 1893 in Stanton, Michigan.  Edith Nelson was born in 1891 in Elk Rapids, Michigan.  They married in 1914 in Boyne City, Michigan and had six children, one who is still living.  Philmore died in 1959 in Boyne City, Michigan and Edith died in 1958 in Petoskey, Michigan.