A Little Member Connection Time On Ancestry.ca

Every so often, I like to search for other members on Ancestry's genealogy site. Today, I looked up those that would be connected to the Shelly and Teeft surnames as part of the sixteen branches of my family tree. I came up with a number of matches. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Mitchell Family Tree by [purpleblackfish] - The owner has a new addition to my family tree, Annie Shelly (1831-1904) who was the daughter of Francis Shelly (1800-1865) and Mary Overholt (1803-1891). She married Nathaniel Piper (1828-1908). I knew that there were a couple of daughters I might not have had on my tree. About a month ago, one of the Piper's contacted me and had a picture that was the same as a picture I had of Anna Shelly (missing the other half that had Nathaniel Piper on it).
2. Svetina Family Tree by [BelovedSaint] - The owner is concerned with the South Dakota Shelly's - the issue of Francis Shelly (1833-1908), son of Francis and Mary (Overholt) Shelly, and Rebeca Sherk (1839-1914), the daughter of Jacob Sherk (1815-1900) and Salome Rudt (1820-1872).
3. Taylor Family Tree by [spyderpain] - Obviously the amateur tree of one of my Great Aunt Violet's children, it has numerous inaccuracies. I know their mother would be shocked and appalled at the mistakes - many of which she would be able to correct herself. Yes, this is a public display of shame. It just shows you that you really need to check sources before taking another person's tree as the truth!
4. Boatright Family Tree by Eunice Boatright - I have contacted Eunice on a number of occasions. She is researching the Deming's as well, as father's branch of the family were the Vermont Deming's. Not very closely related, but her tree is flawless.
5. Piper Family Tree by Mark G. Piper - This is the gentleman who provided valuable research and truth to the fact that I had not completed the entire Shelly Family Tree. He is the great great grandson of Levi (1820-1850) and Martha Amanda Horton (1820-1850) Piper, the brother of Anna Shelly's (1831-1894) husband, Nathaniel Piper (1828-1908). Interestingly, he has Anna as being the daughter of Jacob Shelly (1829-1893) and Eliza Jane Cudney (1829-1893). I have to make sure I comment on this for him.
6. Stallard Family Tree by [meshakim] Stallard-Hakim - The lady who posted this tree is the great great great granddaughter of Jacob Shelly (1825-1893) and Elizabeth Jane Cudney (1834-1883). Jacob is the son of Francis and Mary (Overholt) Shelly.
7. Tobin Family Tree by [ladydawg96] - She is the great great great great granddaughter of Jacob and Rebecca (Sherk) Shelly.

I think that's it for today. I haven't any news on the research front. Somedays, it comes in hoards of research opportunities, and others, I have to just take the day off!

Just When I Thought I Knew It All ...

In family research, months (and even years) can go by and nothing interesting is found. You plod on just because it's what you have to do. There are countless relatives to index and catalogue, and Lady Genea is a hard taskmaster.
Then, along comes something that completely knocks you off of your feet. It changes how you thought your family history progressed. A couple of days ago, I received this email from Cindy Sileo:
"Emma left Edward Waymen Bye in Feb. 1907. Charles Francis Badder was the father of Walter ... Charles never married Emma and by August 1910, Emma and Walter, traveling under the Bye last name, crossed into Michigan at Detroit."
Okay, that changes how I thought my great grandfather's family lived. Family folklore suggested that Emma Ruth Shelly (1889-?) was disowned when she married Edward Wayman Bye in Walsh, Ontario. Turns out, she was probably disowned because of her shenanigans after the fact. Read what Cindy sent me yesterday:

"Canadian Police Had Hot Time With Lady Prisoner
Mrs. Edward Bye Left Her Husband and Eloped With a Farm Hand Only To Be Apprehended At Niagara Falls, Ontario on a Warrant - Husband Charges Her With Assault
Niagara Falls, Ont. Feb 27 - "There's no comparing her with anyone else - she's the limit," - that was the verdict of the detectives at police headquarters last night after Mrs. Edward Wayman Bye got through with them. She certainly was the hottest prisoner that the cells have held for a long time.
Mrs. Bye was arrested on Wabash train No. 2 from the west yesterday afternoon on information sent by telephone to Chief Detective Mains by Chief of Police Van Mere of Simcoe. The Simcoe Chief gave a description of her, said he had a warrant for her arrest for assault and asked that she be arrested.
Chief Mains and Detective McNamara met the train and quickly located the woman and a man with whom she was traveling. The chief got the man away from her and induced him to show which was the woman's baggage. When the fellow found that he was dealing with the police, he was anxious to do what they wanted. Meanwhile, Detective McNamara got the woman off the train on the pretext of having her baggage checked by custom officers and she was in the office in police headquarters before she realized that she was in custody.
Then things broke loose ... Jealousy of Parker had been the cause of all the trouble in the Bye home, Bye being certain that his wife thought altogether too much of the hired man. The Bye's and the Shaver's all lived together and the girl-wife's mother took her part in all the rows and finally helped her run away."
Needless to say, the "..." takes the place of quite a tirade that resulted in Emma Ruth being locked up and the tale of her vindications (Edward Waymen Bye was pretty beat up from the night before). I know there are always black sheep in one's family but a whole family of them!
The picture attached shows sister, Bertha May (1896-1969), mother, Emma Jane (Teeft) Shelly-Shaver (1870-1925), sister, Delia Labetus (1898-?), and brother, Charles Theodore Shelly (1901-1948). I believe it was taken after 1915 since brother, William Francis (my great-grandfather), brother, Emerson Dewitt (hanged in 1915), and Emma Ruth are all missing. If you look in the background, you also see an American flag, so the date most likely between 1915-1917, before the second marriage of Bertha May to John Robb.
I am really hoping I can move forward in the research of both Emma Ruth and Delia Labetus after the recent news. I remember finding records of an Emma R. Bye in the American Ancestry records. Well, I really should get back to digging. Maybe I'll be posting on this subject soon!

And the Emails Keep Piling Up!

I love email, I really do. Sure, letters are much more personal and allow for so much embellishment (I've been known to drop cash for stationary more often than not), but emails are timely and efficient. So, I email for Unitarianism.

Well, I spent some time answering the various emails that come across my desk on a regular, and sometimes alarming, rate. The first, of course, is from Pat Thompson. For those who need a reminder, she was the family historian who provided key information that led me to some surprising conclusions regarding my ggg grandfather, Alva "Alvey" Thompson, who was born in Lennox and Addington Counties. I finally discovered, through vital records and the Simcoe Reformer, that Alva's parents were John Foster and Mary Jane Thompson. I have yet to further develop the branch, but when the time is right, I'll get to it.

Another email I received in the last week was from Elaine (Giles) Vanderwal. She is the progeny of the Collver branch as well. Her grandmother, Louesa Jane Collver (1851-1915) was the older sister of my gg grandmother, Amanda Monera (Collver) Deming (1864-1937). The silhouette attached to this post is of their father, Hiram E. Collver, who was both an eccentric and a savant. I guess that's what happens when you have the Double Collver Quartet in your family! Anyway, she provided some more information and sent some photograph scans that I greatly appreciate. She has quite a few treasures that I think any family member would covet. Plus, she is one of the many distant cousins that have helped me over the years. It seems distant family members tend to be more helpful than closer relations.

I know its not an email, but Carla Kennedy posted a comment on my Public Ancestry Tree this week. She is one of the many Culver/Collver/Colver researchers. The loyalist family is pretty prominent and quite large in membership. She wanted me to name the persons found in a reunion photo of my great, great uncle's family (Lorne Charlton Deming) in the 1950's. I had had some of them identified by my cousin, Marion, but I really don't know the rest. If you think you can help out, follow this link.

Finally, here is the most interesting email of all this week. I received from my posted Rootsweb tree this week on my great grandfather's eldest sister, Emma Ruth Shelly (1889-?). It seems, Cindy Sileo has information regarding her marriage to Edward Wayman Bye (1884-?) and a child I found in border crossing documents. She says, "Emma left Edward Wayman Bye in Feb. 1907. Chalres Fancis Badder was the father of Walter." Enter expletive here.

Okay, so the first thing that came to mind were family stories regarding my Grandpa Frank's family. His brother, Emerson Dewitt Shelly, was hanged in 1915 for the murder of the aged Christian Shoup, a close family friend. After the media circus had died down (i.e. the O.J. Simpson fiasco in the backwaters of southern Ontario), most of his family had fled to Ohio and then to California. Aunt Mabel Luedell (Shelly) Pretty had said - via cousin Marion - that one sister was disinherited because of marrying a Catholic and another used to phone on occasion to let Mabel know she had remarried and changed her name yet again. I always thought it was Emma that was disinherited (although the Bye's were Baptists and Methodists) and Delia was the name-changer. I think it might be the other way around. The news requires much consideration and research to be filled out. Wish me luck!

Who Are These Guys? 1911 Says They're Family ...

Well, I told you I would talk about my current Thompson findings but something came up. Yesterday, I said I had received a letter from my cousin, Doris. Well, she goaded me into researching the two Freere boys in my great-grandparents' wedding photo from 1910. I just can't give up a good lead...

A little background information: Pictured, according to my late great Aunt Reta, are two home boys that belonged to my great great grandfather, James Edward Mudford. In the 1911 Census of Canada (South Walsingham Township, Norfolk County, Ontario), they are listed as sons of J. Edward and his second wife (the strange one looking off to the right), Jane Ellen Robertson. In the 1916 Western Canada Census (Maple Creek, Saskatchewan), only Walter is found with my great-grandfather's brother, Austin William, and family. There, he is first listed as a servant, then it is stroked out and listed as a cousin.

So, a mystery like this is just asking for some sleuthing. It was quite easy to find their births. The Feere name is still around in that part of the country - both my cousin and Mom remember Feere's living in Port Rowan, Ontario.

I located both birth records, which had their birth years and months exactly as in the 1911 census. It turns out they were the sons of George Henry and Ellen Elizabeth (Crandall) Feere. Their mother died in 1906, and the father married (his third wife). I suspect that the two were either a burden to the family (there were quite a few children from the two previous marriages and more to come) or were not wanted by the new wife. How they came to live with the Mudford's is still a mystery. By that time, only Pearl (pictured between them) were living at home (Austin, Ada and Ruth were in Saskatchewan going to normal school) and great great grandfather probably needed help on the large farm located north of Port Rowan one concession south of Highway 24. The boys were young, but it was better than paying for farm hands. And Mudford's are quite the skin flints!

So, here I am, with the pedigree of the Feere boys figured out but no clear idea of how they ended up with Edward and Jane (Robertson) Mudford. I hope there's some help out there!

News on Two Fronts

I received a letter today from my cousin, Doris, who's mother was my maternal grandmother's older sister. She published a family history book on the Mudford's in 2004. I wrote her a few weeks ago and was anxiously awaiting her reply. I had asked her a number of questions, many of which she answered.

My Mudford line stems from Charles Mudford, born about 1814 in the Somerset area of England, as far as I can figure. He came to New York in the summer of 1837, bound for Lower Canada. He married Elizabeth King in 1843 in Montreal, and then doesn't show up until 1850 in Toronto, where he marries my ultimate grandmother, Hannah "Annie" Jackson. He had one child from the previous marriage, Charles, who last shows up in 1861. He also had a number of sons and daughters with Annie, one of whom was James Edward Mudford (1852-1931).

The questions were regarding two brothers, Walter Feere (b. 1901) and Frank Feere (b. 1905) who show up in the 1911 Census of Canada with my great great grandfather, James Edward Mudford, and his second wife, Jane Ellen Roberston (1872-1944). Walter also shows up with my ggg uncle, Austin William, and family in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, in 1916. Both boys also appear in my great grandparents'. Robert Henry and Stella (Harris) Mudford, wedding photo, taken 1910.

Doris writes, "Walter and Frank Feere: My Mom always said she thought they were home children, but I see in your research Jane Ellen [Robertson] was born in Port Dover as were the Feere boys - possibly a connection there." Hmmm ... I really need to check in on the Feere (pronounce Fairy) surname, more.

I had made couple of mistakes in confusing Harold Henry, my last surviving Mudford great-uncle, and Howard Henry, my second cousin. I fixed that.

She also writes about a few other questions, but offers little in explanation. Unfortunately, it looks like I have more research than Doris -- a problem I find all too frequent.

The second front is concerning the Thompson line. Pat Thompson emailed me some information I need to disseminate before I post anything on it. It looks like, by the end of the month, I will have more research on this family!

News on the Thompson Front

After coming home and taking down the Christmas lights and decorations outside, I sat down to do a little digging. It's funny, I had meant to just spend some time warming up (although it was really a warm day) and got hooked. At first, I search for any Alvey or Alva Thompson's to be found in 1861. Only one was found - living with a family at age 20. From GGG Grandfather's death record, I knew he was born in Lennox County, and from the obituary I knew he came to Norfolk "as a young man." Since no other Alva's were found, this had to be him.

Hmmm .... so I checked to names on the census. Although very difficult to read, I finally surmised that it was Joel and Mill Thompson, with Joel being born about 1830 in Upper Canada. Since the census says Alva is a member of household, I thought Joel must be his brother. In searching for a Joel Thompson (b. abt. 1830), I ran across one, the son of William and Hanna (Wees) Thompson in Lennox County. One tree says he was married to a Mary Mills. At that point, I had to walk away, and do what I have done since university when I need to think - keep my hands busy in household chores.

So, the evening went by (yes, I returned to the computer, but only to email a couple of researchers who have posted their trees on Ancestry.ca), and went to bed at a decent time. Since I had not a clue as to how to develop a game plan to solve this riddle, I knew I needed more time to consider my findings - what's better than sleep for that? The next morning, I woke and returned to the computer to check my email (something I have to do at least 4 times a day to stay on top of things). Lo' and behold, a Pat Thompson had emailed me! She said my Alva could not be part of her William and Hannah (Wees) Thompson tree, but she had run across him and had no idea where he fit in. Crestfallen, I returned to my primary line of research - to find the parents recorded on Alvey Thompson's death record - John and Jane Thompson.

Well, I have now spent a couple of hours researching - no luck. The only John and Jane Thompson on the 1852 census are from Woodhouse Township in Norfolk County -no children. As well, the only Alva Thompson is living with a Blyth Armstrong in North Gwillimbury Township, York County. So, here I stand, being no further than nearly 40 hours ago.

The Thompson Branch

So, I have been working on developing a simple, graphic family tree that I can take with me to remind me of the progression and pedigree of my 16 branches of my family tree. The actual family tree is quickly approaching 9 000 individuals, and I really need something that I can pull out and refer to when in the midst of research. I never thought the tree would get so large so fast!
Anyway, as I was progressing through my father's side, I realized I had done very little research on the Thompson's. I guess I should have known that when, at Bayfest in Port Rowan, Ontario, my mother introduced me to a Thompson relative. I had no idea how she was related to me. I really don't like not knowing ... well anything, really. So, now I have turned my attention to developing the branch.Granted, I really should be working on my mother's family tree book, but I just can't get into it. I'm not in the right frame of mind to begin writing another book, especially when there seems to be so many unfinished business and unanswered questions. Therefore, off I go to research a branch that has withered under my care. A little time and attention will have it growing in no time!
Note: Pictured above are my great grandmother, Hazel V. (White) Smith, and her parents, Ada (Thompson) and Hezekiah S. White.

First Post!

Hello!
This being my first post, I thought it would be a good idea to let everyone know that I have an extensive family tree documenting the members of the 16 branches of my family tree. For newbies, that's the descendants of my great-great grandparents. Of course, many of the lines extend far past the 5th generation and into the 15th, 17th, and 18th centuries, but it's really about these 16 names right now.
You don't have an ancestry account *gasp*? Well, problem solved! I created two ghost accounts to allow non-members to view the tree. They are blogguest1 (p/w 12345678) and blogguest2 (p/w 12345678). If you are a member of on of the main branches, I also have a Contributor ghost account set up for you to use. Hopefully, soon, I hope Ancestry will wise-up and allow a free exchange of information that is controlled by users and owners alike.