SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Following yesterday’s post–Here are the obituaries for Stephen Wilson (1803-1871) and his wife Sarah Gillen Wilson (1808-1878)

Screen shot of the Stephen & Sarah Wilson family from my Legacy database

Yesterday I wrote about my maternal 3rd great grandaunt, Sarah Gillen.  She was married to Stephen Wilson on 24 May 1872 in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  The couple was married for 44 years, 4 months and 2 days, until his death in 1871.

Stephens’s obituary was published in the Ironton Register on 27 Sep 1871.  The text of this obituary, as well as Sarah’s were shared with me on The Lawrence Register Facebook page.  It’s an active group and many of us in the group have become friends over the past 12+ years. I encourage all of you to join and participate in Facebook groups in areas you are researching.

Text of Stephen Wilson’s obituary

Died--Wilson--Burlington, on the 26th inst. Mr. Steven Wilson, aged about 67 years. Mr. Wilson has been a resident of Burlington, in this county, for more than 34 years and was engaged in merchandising at the same spot where he died. He leaves a large circle of acquaintances, relatives and friends to mourn his departure.

Text of Sarah Gillen Wilson’s obituary

Ironton Register June 20, 1878 Mrs. Sarah Wilson, the mother of Mrs. Jona Morris and Dr. D.C. Wilson died at the residence of the former, last Saturday, in her 70th year. The remains were taken to Burlington for burial.

 Sometimes the published notice of a death contains very little information about the deceased.  These two are examples of that.  While I’m always grateful for anything that gives me confirmation that someone died, I always hope for those obituaries that contain their life story, places the deceased was born, lived and died, all family members names, where the deceased was buried and anything else that helps us in our research.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

MILTARY MONDAY ~ Civil War Pension File–Private John Gillen–Killed in Action 31 Dec 1862 at the Battle of Stones River

SEPIA SATURDAY ~ WAR and PEACE–Corp. Glenn C. Gillen–Killed in Action WW I

A MOTHER’S PILGRIMAGE ~ Bessie Cowen Gillen's visit to the grave of Glenn C. Gillen ~ Killed in action in World War I

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SURNAME SATURDAY ~ GILLEN–Today I am writing about my maternal 3rd great grandaunt, Sarah Gillen (1808-1878)

Sarah Gillen, born 12 Oct 1808 in Pennsylvania, was the 3rd of 8 children born to William Gillen & Rachel FRAMPTON.  All the children lived to adulthood.
 
Sarah was the older sister of my 3rd great grandmother, Emily Gillen HUNTER (1810-1887). Most of the children were only a couple of years apart.  It must have meant a lively household for this Gillen family. 

Sarah’s father, William Gillen moved the family to Lawrence County, Ohio, before 1820.  He was one of the early settlers of Lawrence County, Ohio and was a teacher there.  The 1882 Hardesty Atlas of Lawrence County, Ohio states “William Gillen taught the first school in 1820, on the right hand fork of Storms Creek.  The house was a big log cabin with neither floor nor windows.  There are now eleven school houses in the township….”

When Sarah was 18, she married Stephen WILSON on 24 May 1827 in Lawrence County, Ohio.  Stephen was 23 years old.

     (click on any image to enlarge it)

Sarah & Stephen had 5 known children as follows:  Emily born about 1830, died 1912, married Dr. Jonathan MORRIS; William J., born about 1836 and died 31 Aug 1857 age 21; John G., born 28 Oct 1838, died 27 Jan 1912 married Sara J. LANGSHORE; Robert Stephen born 19 Feb 1844, died 28 Oct 1915, married Nancy EATON; Dr. Dewitt C. born 1 May 1847, died 1 Feb 1935, married Electa ALDERMAN.

According to the probate record for Stephen Wilson, he owned a store and quite a lot of land in the Lawrence County, Ohio area.  The store was named S. Wilson & Sons.  After Stephen’s death the store was co owned by his son, John and wife Sarah.
 
In 1857, Sarah & Stephen’s oldest son, William died.   He was only 21 years old.  I have not located his death record, so I have no idea why he died so young.  It must have been heartbreaking for his family.  He is buried at Woodland Cemetery in Ironton, Lawrence, Ohio and his memorial can be found here #29372828

Stephen & Sarah had been married 44 years when Stephen died 26 Sep 1871.  Sarah was 62 and her four living children, Emily, John, Robert & Dewitt were now adults and two of them were married.

The following year, in 1872, Sarah was able to see her two youngest sons marry. Robert Stephen married Nancy Eaton on 29 Sep 1872 and Dewitt married Electa Alderman on 8 Oct 1872.  Both were married in Lawrence Co., Ohio.  It must have been a busy time for the family with two weddings within 9 days.

Stephen left Sarah with plenty of assets, which I hope gave her a comfortable life, until her death on 19 Jun 1878, at age 69.

According to the death record for Sarah, she died of heart disease.  Her obituary states that she died at her youngest son’s home, Dr. Dewitt Clinton Wilson.

She is buried at Woodland Cemetery, along with her husband and all of her children.

If you are related to any of the people mentioned in this post, I’d love to hear from you.  I don’t have photos of either Sarah or her husband, Steven.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SUNDAY’S OBITUARY ~ Lawrence Charles Diebel–1891-1961, Detroit, Michigan

Obituary for Lawrence C. Diebel - Detroit Free Press, 2 Aug 1961, page 22

Lawrence Charles Diebel married my 1st cousin twice removed, Catherine G. FORSYTH on 9 Sep 1914 in Detroit, Wayne, Michigan.  Catherine outlived Lawrence by 30 years, dying on 24 May 1991.  They had 3 children; Eleanor Louise, Jeanette Marie and Lawrence C., Jr.

Lawrence was the son of Lorenz DIEBEL, Jr (1860-1915) of Germany and Fredericka Victoria BOYD-BOUKALTZ (1864-1933) of Germany.

I heard mention of the Diebel family as I was growing up, but never met any of them.

 

Our common ancestors are my 2nd great grandparents, Joseph GILLESPIE and Susan BURGESS of Tiverton, Devon, England.

Here is my transcription of Lawrence’s obituary

L.C. Diebel, Executive, Dead at 70
Lawrence C. Diebel, retired title company executive, died Monday in East Side General Hospital.  He was 70.
A native Detroiter, Mr. Diebel, of 8925 E. Jefferson, retired in February, 1960, after 48 years with the Abstract and Title Guaranty Co.,
He started with the firm in 1912 in the tax department and was a director and executive vice president when he retired.
He also was a Mason, member of the Knights Templar, Detroit Boat Club, Detroit Mortgage Bankers and Detroit Real Estate Board, and was active in Episcopal Church of the Messiah
Survivors include his wife, Catherine; a son, Lawrence C., Jr.; two daughters, Mrs. Eleanor Haarz and Mrs. Jeanette Ferry; a brother, William C., and nine grandchildren.
The body will be in state at the Verheyden Funeral Home, 16300 Mack, until 10 p.m. Thursday.  Services will be at 11 a.m. Friday in the Church of the Messiah, 231 E. Grand Boulevard. Burial will be in White Chapel Memorial Cemetery.

Lawrence is buried at While Chapel Memorial Park Cemetery, Troy, Oakland, Michigan.  You may visit his memorial here #145166584

Burial plaque photo courtesy of Jim Lyles 

If you are related to any of the people mentioned in this blog post, I’d love to hear from you.  I’m happy to answer questions and/or share info.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

THE MAYFLOWER SOCIETY ~ I’ve begun my journey to join–Come along as I take my first step

Depiction of the signing of the Mayflower Compact

The Mayflower Society.  That name has always had bewitching attraction to me.  Who gets into it?  How do they get in?  Could I ever be so lucky?

When I began my genealogy journey back in 2000 I only hoped to learn more about my grandparents and great grandparents and maybe…..who knows, a little further back?

Somewhere along the way, I began to understand that I might be able to join the DAR.  After all, my maternal grandmother (our family historian before me), always said we could be members.

Mission accomplished – I was sworn into the DAR on 6 Feb 2010 under my Patriot, Anthony Bowen, my 5th great grandfather.

NOW, the next BIG step – could I prove a line back to the Mayflower?

Since I have several brick wall ancestors (yes, still) and since I have 4 great grandparents who came over from Europe in the late 1800’s,  how many do I have to choose from, who could have come from a line who came here in 1620?

I haven’t spent every waking hour doing Mayflower research.  I’ve only dabbled here and there.  I’ve spoken to their members at various conferences and watched my friend and fellow blogger, Debby Warner Anderson, go through her application and induction process.  I now attend local Mayflower Society meetings with her and another genealogy friend.  These meetings have gotten me more excited about being a member.

I will cut to the chase here.  I’ve always thought, given what few people I have to choose from, that my best bet would be my paternal 3rd great grandmother’s line.  I believed she could be connected to the DOTY/DOTEN line of Edward Doty, Mayflower passenger.

Who is she? 

Olive G. DOTEN (about 1805-10 Apr 1887) who married Henry Hart.  I have written about my long journey to find a connection between her and her alleged parents, Isaac Doten, Sr. & Sally Follett.  You can read about my big find here FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND? 

Is that big find, solid enough proof when taken together with other evidence?  I don’t know.  Will it stand up to the rigorous application process?  I don’t know.
 
Once I published that blog post I heard from a reader who is a descendant of the Doty/Doten line.  She sent me some great information which gives me hope.

As of today, I have downloaded the Preliminary Review Form, filled it out and it’s ready to go in the mail this afternoon.  WOOHOO!  It’s a start.

I’ll begin a spreadsheet for this project.  Hopefully the Historians at the California Mayflower Society will see a possibility that I might be a Mayflower passenger descendant.  All I can do is try, right?
I’ll keep you all informed as I take this journey.  Let’s hope it is a journey and not a dead end.

• Have any of you applied to join the Mayflower Society? 
• If so, how long did it take you to complete your application process? 
• Was it difficult?
• Did you succeed? 
• What advice would you give someone like me?
• Wouldn't it be great to be admitted in 2020 - the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower?

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

FINALLY! Proving the father of my 3rd great grandmother, Olive Doten Hart (1805-1887–WHAT DID I FIND?

Olive DOTEN is my paternal 3rd great grandmother.  She was born in May 1805 in Vermont.  My search for Olive’s parents began early in my research, I’d say about 2005. What were her parent’s names?  Since she is married in the 1850 census, and the census records prior to that only have head of household (usually the men), I needed to find out some other way.

In 2000, I began keeping a spreadsheet to keep track of records I had ordered by mail or online.  This was back when we didn’t have so many records available online.  Because of my spreadsheet entry I know that I sent for Olive and her husband, Henry’s death certificates on 4 Apr 2005, from Macomb County, Michigan, I received them on 22 Apr 2005 and I paid $10 each for them.

(CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT) 
 

Yes, I received them, but they were transcribed copies and NOT the original records.  Helpful, but not always accurate, as most of us know.

Here’s her death certificate as received.  We are concentrating on parent’s names so let’s see what the certificate says.  Isaac & Sally DOLERI. 

 
That precipitated a long search for the surname DOLERI in Vermont, where Olive was born and in surrounding states.  I looked in every record you can think of and found nothing for Isaac or Sally Doleri.  In fact, back when I was looking, there were very few records for that surname.

I called the Macomb County Clerk’s office and asked if they would please send me a copy of the original record.  I, of course, offered to pay for it.  They said they could not release it, and the transcribed copy would have to suffice.  Darn!

Back in 2011 based on evidence from information about the DOTEN family in Monkton, Vermont and the name of her oldest son being Isaac Doten Hart, I changed the focus of my search to the surname DOTEN. 

In the meantime, Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950 came online and later images were added.  OH BOY!!!  DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?  Her parents listed as Isaac & Sally DOTEN.

Michigan, Death Records, 1867-1950
Name:    Olive G Hart
[Olive G Doten]
Gender:    Female
Marital Status:    Widowed
Birth Date:    1806
Birth Place:    Vermont
Death Date:    10 Apr 1887
Death Place:    Armada, Macomb, Michigan, USA
Death Age:    81
File Number:    14
Father:    Isaac Doten
Mother:    Sally Doten

And when the image was added online I was finally able to make my own decision as to what was written.  Look closely at the parent’s name in the right column.  Does that say Doleri or Doten?  A transcriber should always look closely at how all the entries were written.  You can see that this person carried the cross mark on his T’s a little to the side on some of the entries.  He does that in several names like the name Walter, Hebblewhite and Milton.  ALWAYS remember to look at other entries on any record you receive. 

IS THIS PROOF THAT ISAAC & SALLY WERE HER PARENTS?  NO, it’s evidence, but not proof.  My search continued.

Fast forward to 2019.  Last weekend while attending SCGS Jamboree, I had some spare time. You can read about my experience here SCGS JAMBOREE 2019 ~ It was a fun time with friends and lots of learning.

I decided to look on Ancestry for Vermont probate records and look for Isaac DOTEN.  I’d done plenty of background research and had plenty of “possible” Isaac Dotens in my Legacy database.   Had I searched for probate records before?  Yes, but it’s been a few years.
 
I went directly to Vermont, Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 and entered Isaac Doten with a death date of 1855 plus or minus 5 yrs.  This was based on my research of the Doten family in Vermont.  No records found.  I tried all sorts of combinations of names.  First name only, last name only, no death year.  You get the idea.  NOTHING!

Now I went into the “general” search “all collections” and tried again. Look at what I entered in the search box d?tin.  We have to try everything.

FINALLY, after many tries I’ve come up with some possibles, in the right place, Vermont, with a matching first name of Isaac.

 
I clicked on the link for Vermont, Wills and Probate Records, 1749-1999 (yes, I had just searched that very database and come up empty). Never give up.  This is what I saw.  LOOK!  This Isaac is in Addison, Vermont, which is the exact county where I’ve located so many Isaac Doten’s.

I began going through the pages of this 26 page will packet and OH MY GOSH!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

On page 5 of the record is the list of Isaac Doten’s daughters AND THESE MUST ALL BE THEIR MARRIED NAMES!!!  I had no idea if Olive had siblings or who they might be.  I immediately recognized the name Hannah Burrell.  I’d found a Hannah Burrell, age 69 living with Henry & Olive Hart & their children in the 1860 census in Michigan.  I’d never been able to figure out her connection to the family (if there was one)……..until now.

Here they are, Olive and her sisters:
HANNAH BURRELL, LYDIA CREED, OLIVE HART & BETSY SUMNER

Here's a close up of that section in this probate record that nearly made me jump up and down at the conference last weekend.

 
Are you doing the happy dance with me?  I was pretty excited. I have now OFFICIALLY proven that my Olive Hart was the daughter of Isaac Doten. This record along with other evidence is my proof.  Additionally, I’ve taken my family back another generation AND I have Olive’s sisters to research.  What will I find?  By the way, there was a brother, also named Isaac.  He was the oldest and was the administrator of the will for his father.

How I am connected to Isaac Doten, Sr.

Isaac Doten, Sr. & Sally Follett – my 4th great grandparents

Olive G. Doten & Henry Hart – my 3rd great grandparents

Sarah M. Hart & John C. Gould – my 2nd great grandparents

William V. Gould & Mae E. Thorp – my great grandparents

Harry W. Gould & Marie W. Lindsay – my grandparents

Harry N. Gould & Patricia A. Milne – my parents

Stay tuned for more posts about my Doten line.

If you are related to the Doten family or anyone else named in this post, please contact me.  I need to find more cousins from these lines.  I am on Gedmatch A918842.  If you match, let me know.

Happy hunting,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SCGS JAMBOREE 2019 ~ It was a fun time with friends and lots of learning

This is the third year that I’ve been fortunate to attend Jamboree in Burbank.  This conference is hosted by the Southern California Genealogical Society, of which I am a member.

I first went in 2016 with my friend Debby Warner Anderson.  She and I attended again in 2018.  This year, along with Debby, I invited my long time friend, Pam Mohrman Paxton to join us. She flew in from Colorado.  Now there were three of us to exchange ideas, laugh and learn.

 Each time I attend a conference I learn.  Whether I get one new piece of information from a class or a dozen new things, it’s always worth it.  This conference is well run (all by volunteers) and well attended.  They also invite many nationally known speakers.  Such as Cyndi Ingle of Cyndi's List and Thomas MacEntee of Abundant Genealogy shown below.

I cannot say enough positive things about attending these conferences.  Whether you can attend every day or only one of the days, you will always come away with new info.  Being there for the entire time allows you to network with other genealogists, meet new people, reconnect with those you haven’t seen in a while and in my case, meet a new cousin. 

Some of the classes I attended were:

WHAT ARE THE ODDS (WATO) WORKSHOP – presenter was Leah Larkin, PhD

FOLD3 – DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING – presenter Anne Mitchell

GENEALOGY PIT STOP – RESEARCH IN 15 MINUTE INCREMENTS – presenter Thomas MacEntee

MINING THE CANADIAN CENSUS – presenter Dave Obee LLD

THE CASE OF THE BROKEN LINK, DECODING THE URL – presenter Cindi Ingle

ONLINE LIBRARY CATALOGS, A GENEALOGIST’S BEST KEPT SECRET – presenter D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS

BORDER-WHAT BORDER? OUR ANCESTORS WHO CALLED BOTH CANADA AND THE USA HOME – presenter Annette Lyttle, LLC

It would take me several pages to write about what I learned in these classes.  Suffice to say, I came away with new information and more knowledge than when I got there.  I’m a better researcher because of the many classes, seminars and conferences I’ve attended over the last 16 years.

Here’s some blog posts I’ve written where I’ve shared my experiences and in some gone into more detail about what I learned.

The i4GG Conference in San Diego is over for this year ~ here’s a quick take away–What a GREAT 2 days!!

ROOTSTECH PREPARATION ~ MY FIRST TIME ATTENDING
ROOTSTECH IS OVER BUT ~ We had fun……..meeting other bloggers, wandering the Expo Hall, enjoying the classes and researching at the Family History Library

TAX & ESTATE RECORDS ~ What I learned at a seminar featuring Michael Lacopo

OTHER POSTS THAY YOU MAY FIND OF INTEREST

SEMINARS, WEBINARS, SOCIETIES–WILL THEY HELP YOUR RESEARCH?

Happy hunting and I hope to see you at the next conference or seminar,
Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2019   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION