Saturday, July 16, 2016

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Ancestors Did You "Meet"?

Randy Seaver has another fun question for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:

Here is your assignment, if you choose to play along (cue the Mission:  Impossible music, please!): 

1) Write down which of your ancestors that you have met in person (yes, even if you were too young to remember them).

2) Tell us their names, where they lived, and their relationship to you in a blog post, in comments to this post, or in comments on Facebook.


These are my ancestors whom I have met:

Myra Roslyn (Meckler) Sellers Preuss (1940–1995), my mother, lived in Brooklyn, New York; Miami, Florida; Los Angeles County, California; Sydney, New South Wales, Ausralia; Okaloosa County, Florida (two separate stints); Villa Tasso, Florida; and San Antonio, Texas (and possibly Chicago and Hawaii).  (She died in Okaloosa County.)

Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935– ), my father, has lived in multiple locations in New Jersey; multiple locations in New York; Sanford, Florida; Miami, Florida; Los Angeles County, California; Sydney, New South Wales, Ausralia; Okaloosa County, Florida (two separate stints); Villa Tasso, Florida; Mossy Head, Florida; Cleveland, Ohio; and San Antonio, Texas.

Abraham Meckler (1912–1989), my maternal grandfather, lived in Brooklyn, New York; Miami, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Margate, Florida; and I think Sunrise, Florida (until his death in one of the two latter locations).

Lillyan E. (Gordon) Meckler (1919–2006), my maternal grandmother, lived in Manhattan; Brooklyn, New York; Miami, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Margate, Florida; Sunrise, Florida; and then in Carson City, Nevada until her death.

Sarah Libby (Brainin) Gordon (about 1890–1963), my great-grandmother (mother of Lillyan), lived in Kreuzburg, Russian Empire (now Krustpils, Latvia) and Manhattan, where she died.  I have no documentation that I met her, but my mother told me that she took me to Florida to meet her grandmother while I was still a babe in arms, and my father remembers the event also.

Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995), my paternal grandfather, lived in multiple locations in New Jersey; multiple locations in New York; and Okaloosa County, Florida (that I know of).  He died in Niceville, Okaloosa County.

Anna (Gauntt) Stradling (1893–1986), my paternal grandmother, lived in multiple locations in New Jersey; multiple locations in New York; Sanford, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida; maybe somewhere else in Florida?; and Chisago City, Minnesota, where she died.  (And likely more places I don't know about.)

Laura May (Armstrong) Sellers Ireland (1882–1970), my great-grandmother (mother of Bertram Sr.), died eight years after I was born, but I never met her.  The rest of my ancestors died well before I was born.

So I have met only seven of my ancestors, one fewer than Randy, and one of those I have no recollection or proof of.  And Randy thought eight was a low number!

4 comments:

  1. Hmmm, now you've got me thinking.

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  2. You've met two more of your ancestors than I've met of mine. I dearly wish I had met my great grandmother - who lived well into my lifetime - but she lived in Czechoslovakia, which in the 1960s was still behind the Iron Curtain.

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    Replies
    1. And I thought I had problems getting to Florida! Yes, Czechoslovakia would have been pretty difficult in the 1960's. Did they even have provisions for visiting relatives at that time?

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