Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Who Are Your 32 3rd-great-grandparents?

I'm not sure how many names I'll be able to come up with for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Who are your 32 3rd-great-grandparents?  List them (with birth names).  Tell us when and where they were born, married, and died.  [NOTE:  This is easily done in your genealogy software program or online family tree by making an Ahnentafel or Ancestors report from yourself as #1, then copy and paste.]

2.  Share your list of your third-great-grands on your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, or BlueSky post.  Leave a link on this blog post to help us find your post.

Let's see how well I do.

32.  Unknown.

33.  Unknown.

34.  Unknown.

35.  Unknown.

36.  Franklin Armstrong:  born about 1825 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County; married Unknown before 1849, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey; died September 13, 1870 in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.

37.  Unknown:  born before 1832 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County; died before October 8, 1850, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.

38.  Abel A(mos?) Lippincott:  born about January 26, 1825 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County; married Rachel R. Stackhouse before 1846, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey; died May 28, 1888 in Florence, Burlington County, New Jersey.

39.  Rachel R. Stackhouse:  born about 1825–1826 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County; died November 15, 1890 in Chester Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.

40.  Hananiah Selah Gaunt:  born about January 25, 1795 in Burlington County, New Jersey; married Abigail Atkinson 1826–1829, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey; died April 15, 1852 in Burlington County, New Jersey.

41.  Abigail Atkinson:  born about August 19, 1804 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County; died February 1883 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County.

42.  John Gibson:  born before 1814 in New Jersey; married Mary before 1832, probably in New Jersey; probably died in New Jersey.

43.  Mary:  born before 1814 in New Jersey; probably died in New Jersey.

44.  Richard Dunstan:  born about June 9, 1813 in Manchester, Lancashire, England; married Jane Coleclough December 25, 1833 in Manchester, Lancashire, England; died after April 7, 1861, probably in Lancashire, England.

45.  Jane Coleclough:  born about 1811 in Lancashire, England; died April 12, 1865 in Chorlton, Manchester, Lancashire, England.

46.  Thomas Winn:  born about 1792 in Lambrook, Shropshire, England; married Mary Parr(?) about 1812, possibly in Shropshire; died in England, possibly in Lancashire.

47.  Mary Parr(?):  died before June 7, 1841, probably in Lancashire, England.

48.  Zvi Mekler:  born before 1854 in Russia; married Esther before 1872 in Russia; died before 1903, possibly in Kamenets Litovsk, Russia.

49.  Esther. born before 1854 in Russia; died in Russia.

50.  Unknown.

51.  Unknown.

52.  Abraham Yaakov Nowicki:  born before 1839 in Russia; married Sirke before 1857 in Russia; died before 1896 in Russia.

53.  Sirke:  born before 1839 in Russia; died before 1893 in Russia.

54.  Ruven Yelsky:  born before 1841 in Russia; married Frieda Bloom before 1859 in Russia; died about 1898 in Russia.

55.  Frieda Bloom:  born before 1841 in Russia; died about 1898 in Russia.

56.  Gersh Wolf Gorodetsky:  born before 1823 in Russia, probably in Orinin or Kamenets Podolsky; married Etta Cohen?/Kagan? before 1840; died after 1905 in Russia, possibly in Kishinev, Bessarabia.

57.  Etta Cohen?/Kagan?:  born before 1823 in Russia; died before 1891, possibly in Kamenets Podolskiy, Ukraine.

58.  Joine Schneiderman:  born before 1841 in Russia; married Anna Ida (Chane Etta?) Kortisch? before 1868 in Russia; died before 1893 in Russia.

59.  Anna Ida (Chane Etta?) Kortisch?:  born before 1841 in Russia; died before 1891 in Russia.

60.  Solomon (Zalman?) Brainin:  born before 1846 in Russia; married Yetta before 1864 in Russia; died in Russia.

61.  Yetta:  born before 1846 in Russia; died in Russia.

62.  Joseph Jaffe:  born before 1854 in Russia; married Anna Binderman before 1872 in Russia; died in Russia.

63.  Anna Binderman:  born before 1854 in Russia; died in Russia.

Not anywhere near as bad as I thought it would be.  Seven totally unknown names, and for one of those I do have a small amount of hypothesized information.  For the 27 with names, only four are missing surnames.  It could have been much worse.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Autosomal DNA Matches Descend from Your Eight Pairs of 2nd-great-grandparents?

My participation in tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver is not going to be pretty.  Or fun.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  How many autosomal DNA matches do you have descended from your eight 2nd-great-grandparents (they would be your third cousins)?  Do you know how they are related to you?  Have you corresponded with them?  Why are your numbers high or low?

2.  Share the number of your autosomal DNA matches for each of your 2GGP and answer my questions above on your own blog, on Facebook or other social media, or in a comment on this blog.  Share the link to your post on this blog, so readers can respond.

Oh, this is going to be painful.

First, I need to mention a couple of clarifications.

I do not have eight 2nd-great-grandparents.  I have sixteen 2nd-great-grandparents, as does everyone else.  I have eight pairs of 2nd-great-grandparents, which I'm pretty sure is what Randy meant (and what I changed the title of mine to).

And not all of my autosomal matches who descend from any given pair of 2nd-great-grandparents are going to be my 3rd cousins.  I can have other relatives in addition to 3rd cousins who descend from one pair of ancestors.  If the question was intended to be "How many autosomal matches do I have who are identified as 3rd cousins?", that's significantly different from what Randy wrote, and he wouldn't have to ask, "Do you know how they are related to you?"  Maybe he started with one idea and it morphed into another.

Now that I've cleared the air on that (once an editor, always an editor), on to the disaster of my response for this challenge.

I have mentioned before (particularly when the question of DNA comes up) that my mother was Ashkenazi Jewish and that Ashkenazi Jews suffer from high degrees of endogamy due to lots of intermarriage.

Well, on Family Tree DNA, my current results show that I have 24,697 autosomal matches.

I'm sure that the vast majority of those are on my maternal side, and I have no idea (and probably never will) how they are specifically related to me, due to endogamy and the lovely obstacles that can exist for doing Jewish research in the former Russian Empire in general, particularly in the former Grodno guberniya, where three of my lines go back to.

For reasons unknown to me — I have not actually done much with my FTDNA matches in quite a while and have not kept up with all of the announcements — 1,525 of those matches are identified as paternal, 38 as maternal, and 710 as both.

I have very few matches on FTDNA where I have identified the specific relationship I have with them.  So I have no idea how FTDNA has come up with the numbers of matches that are paternal, maternal, or both.  I'm pretty sure I have not identified 38 relationship matches total, much less 38 on my maternal line alone.

And there is absolutely no crossover in a genealogically relevant period of time between the paternal and maternal sides of my family.  Absolutely none.  Period, end of report.

So I have no idea how FTDNA has identified 710 of my matches as being both paternal and maternal.  That is just flat-out wrong.  Unless there is another way to interpret "paternal and maternal" that I'm not coming up with on my own.

On top of all that, I don't even know one set of my 2nd-great-grandparents, because I as yet have not identified the biological father of my paternal grandfather.  If I don't know who that great-grandfather was, I don't know who his parents were.

As for the number of matches I have who are descended from my eight sets of 2nd-great-grandparents?

To quote Randy:

The number of autosomal DNA matches I have on FTDNA with a known common 2nd-great-grandparent is:

NONE.

The number of autosomal DNA matches I have on AncestryDNA with a known common 2nd-great-grandparent is:

Three total.

• James Gauntt (1831–1899) and Amelia Gibson (1831–1908):  2

• Mendel Hertz Brainin (c. 1860–1930) and Ruchel Dwojre Jaffe (c. 1866–1934):  1

Some days it's just not worth chewing through the straps.

I do have additional cousins who descend from various of my 2nd-great-grandparents and for whom I know the exact relationship who appear as autosomal matches in both databases.  I have corresponded with almost all of them.  Several of them I was able to determine the exact relationship only because I corresponded with them.  Some I recognized by name and knew the relationship immediately.

The huge numbers of matches on my maternal side I already discussed above.  I don't really know that I would characterize the numbers of matches on my paternal side as being particularly low.  It's more that I don't know the exact relationship for most of them.  That is due mostly to a lack of response when I have reached out, particularly with matches on AncestryDNA.  I attribute that to the fact that many, many people who test at Ancestry do it strictly for the cutesie-poo (and mostly useless) pie chart and don't care about anything else.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Did Your Grandparents Know Their Grandparents?

We have a really fun challenge today for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Marie Cooke Beckman on her blog, MarieB's Genealogy Blog--Southeastern USA, asked and answered this question, and it is right up the SNGF alley:  Did your grandparents know their grandparents?  Thank you for the idea, Marie!

2.  Tell us about your grandparents and their grandparents in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

This is a really cool topic!  I love it!

My maternal grandparents were Abraham Meckler (1912–1989) and Lillyan "Lily" E. Gordon (1919–2006).

• Abraham Meckler's maternal grandparents were Gershon Itzhak Nowicki (c. 1856–1948) and Dube Yelsky (c. 1848–1936).  Gershon and Dube immigrated to the United States in 1922 and lived in Brooklyn.  They changed the spelling of their family name to Novitzky, and Dube used the name Dora.  My grandfather knew both of them.  My maternal uncle Gary Meckler, who was born in 1951, was named after Gershon.

• Abraham's paternal grandparents were Simcha Dovid Mekler and Beila (birth and death years unknown for both).  They both died in Europe, almost definitely before my grandfather was born, and he never met them.

• Lillyan Gordon's maternal grandparents were Mendel Hertz Brainin (c. 1862–1930) and Ruchel Dvojre Jaffe (c. 1868–1934).  The immigrated separately to the United States in 1906 and lived in Manhattan.  They used the secular names Morris/Max and Rachel Dorothy, and my grandmother knew both of them.  She was born in their house.

• Lily's paternal grandparents were Avigdor Gorodetsky (c. 1863–1925) and Esther Leah Schneiderman (c. 1867–1908).  Esther Leah was my grandmother's birth name, following the Ashkenazi tradition of naming after a deceased ancestor (my grandmother changed her name as an adult).  Esther Leah's death was what precipitated the chain migration of this branch of my family to the United States.  Avigdor came in 1914 and changed his name to Victor Gordon.  My grandmother knew him, and I have a big family photo with the two of them in it.

My paternal grandparents were Bertram "Bert" Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995) and Anna Gauntt (1893–1986).

• Anna Gauntt's maternal grandparents were Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873) and Martha Winn (1837–1884).  They both died in England before my grandmother was born, and she never knew them.

• Anna's paternal grandparents were James Gauntt (1831–1899) and Amelia Gibson (c. 1831–1908).  Everyone lived in Mount Holly, New Jersey and the nearby vicinity.  Since Anna was born in 1893 and James died in 1899, there's a reasonable chance she knew him.  Amelia died when my grandmother was 15 years old, so I'm pretty sure she knew her.

• Bertram Sellers' maternal grandparents were Sarah Ann Deacon Lippincott (1860–aft. 1904) and Joel Armstrong (c. 1849–c. 1921).  I don't know if he knew them.  I don't have documented dates of death for either person or confirmation that they were divorced, which I believe to be the case.  I suspect he might have known his grandmother; I'm pretty sure she's in the household with Grandpa's mother in 1900, so his mother was apparently on speaking terms with her mother.  If I have researched the correct person, his grandfather remarried and had a second family, so maybe he didn't know them, but I really don't know.

• Bert's biological paternal grandparents are still unknown to me, as I have not yet determined his biological father.  His adoptive father's parents were Cornelius Godschalk Sellers (1845–1877) and Catherine "Kate" Fox Owen (1849–c. 1923).  As Cornelius died so young, none of his grandchildren knew him.  Kate had a second husband, George W. Moore (1840–1920).  Bert did know Kate, and we have a photo of her.  In fact, she's the person who paid for his father's funeral, as he also died very young.  It's reasonable to believe that Grandpa probably knew George Moore, even though we don't have a photo of him, as Grandpa's brother was named after George.  I was told that Grandpa's father loved his stepfather so much that he named his second son George Moore Sellers after him.  That certainly suggests he was around the family.

And I am proud to say that I didn't need to look up any of the above information except some of the birth and death years.

Events in My Family Tree: December 31 (at last!)

I have a copy of a big family photo that was taken on the occasion of Anna's wedding in 1924.  Hymie died on the 40th anniversary of his sister Anna's wedding.

Births

Edmund Hoffman was born December 31, 1825 in Pennsylvania.  He was the husband of Mary Gaunt, daughter of David Gaunt and Pamela Plummer, who is my 2nd cousin 4x removed via the Gaunts.

Clarence Eugene Easlick, son of Allen Severs Easlick and Mary E. Shemeley, was born December 31, 1912 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County.  He is my 3rd cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

Carol Alene Gauntt, daughter of James Kirkland Gauntt and Newita Wanda Scott, was born December 31, 1940 in San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, California.  She is my 1st cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line.

Marriages

Henry C. Buckley and Ella Gaunt, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Gaunt and Elizabeth K. Frazer, were married December 31, 1868, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Ella is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

John B. Gaunt, son of James Gauntt and Amelia Gibson, and Sarah V. Woolston were married December 31, 1876 in Mount Holly, Burlington County, New Jersey.  John is my great-granduncle.

William B. Gaunt, son of Abner H. Gaunt and Emeline Severs, and Fannie Rebecca Hall were also married December 31, 1876, but I don't know where.  It was likely New Jersey or Pennsylvania.  William is my 1st cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

William Lippincott Gaunt, son of Benjamin Franklin Gaunt and Mary A. Woolman, and Clara M. Taggart were married December 31, 1921, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  This William is my 3rd cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Gabriel William Lederman and Anna Gordon (originally Chana Gorodetsky), daughter of Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman, were married December 31, 1924 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  Anna is my great-grandaunt.

Jose "Uchey" Yngber and Edie Ida Jakowszycka, daughter of Aaron Samuel Jakowszyck and Findle "Novinska" (probably Nowicka?), were married December 31, 1939, probably in Cuba.  Edie is likely my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Nowicki line.

Philip Charles Alexander and Jessie Utley Easlick, daughter of Vinton Thompson Easlick and Beulah Anna Elizabeth Bozarth, were married December 31, 1951 in Burlington County, New Jersey.  Jessie is my 4th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

Melvin Cecil Gordon, son of Alexander Gordon and Roslyn Rubin, and Marcia Urrutia were married December 31, 1982 in Dade County, Florida.  Melvin is my 1st cousin 1x removed on my Gordon line.

Joel Ian Katz and Leala Rona Birnboim, daughter of Chaim Avraham Birnboim and Shirley Hirt, were married December 31, 1989 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.  Leala is my 4th cousin on my Meckler line through the Birnboims.

Deaths

Hyman Gordon (originally Chaim Gorodetsky), son of Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman, died December 31, 1964, probably in Manhattan, New York County, New York, at the age of 65.  He is my great-granduncle.

John F. Kelly, son of Joseph Kelley and Martha W. Lawrence, died December 31, 1975 in New Jersey.  He is the 2nd cousin 1x removed of my half 1st cousin Albert Lore on his Eckman line through the Lawrences.

Events in My Family Tree: December 14

I'm starting to suspect that Elizabeth Atkinson might be related to the Atkinsons in my cousin Albert Lore's father's side of the family.

Births

Mary Gaunt, daughter of David Gaunt and Pamela Plummer, was born December 14, 1825 in Pennsylvania, possibly in Philadelphia.  She is my 2nd cousin 4x removed via the Gaunts.

Selector Thackeray, son of Joseph Thackeray and Mary Dubois, was born December 14, 1844 in Union County, Indiana.  He is my 3rd cousin 4x removed on my Gauntt line through the Thackerays.

Beulah Susannah Easlick, daughter of Allen Severs Easlick and Mary E. Shemeley, was born December 14, 1847 in New Jersey, possibly in Burlington County.  She is my 3rd cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

Patrick Aaron Thomas was born December 14, 1971.  He is my 2nd cousin 1x removed.

Jason Rothwax was born December 14, 1987.  He is my 3rd cousin.

Joseph Randell was born December 14, 1989.  He is the 3rd cousin 1x removed of my half-sister Laurie Sellers and her half-sister Shanyn James.

Marriages

Samuel T. Gaunt, son of James Gaunt and Amelia Gibson, and Elizabeth S. Atkinson were married December 14, 1894 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County.  Samuel is my great-granduncle.

Robert Gaunt, son of Walter Clayton Gaunt and Lulu May Sherman, and Mary Evelyn Westbrooks were married December 14, 1946 in Allen County, Indiana.  Robert is my 5th cousin 1x removed via the Gaunts.

David Nathaniel Preisner and Tasha Weeks were married December 14, 2002.  David is the nephew of my aunt Mary McStroul, the son of her sister Anna McStroul, and the 1st cousin of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Deaths

Reuben Cooper Gaunt, son of Reuben Lewallen Gaunt and Jane Weatherby, died December 14, 1874 in New Jersey at the age of 29.  He is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

Sophie Garfinkel, daughter of Yikusee'ael Koifman Gorfinkel and Sora Rivka Mekler, died December 14, 1974 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada at the age of about 66.  She is my 2nd cousin 2x removed via the Meklers.

Adeline E. Pearson died December 14, 1980 in Olathe, Johnson County, Kansas, at the age of 62.  She was the wife of Oren Wilson Clark, Jr., son of Oren Wilson Clark and Anna G. Gaunt, who is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Top End-of-line Ancestors

The Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post that Randy Seaver posted tonight is a rerun from 2018, and I don't have anyone else in my extended family I have researched to the same degree where I could readily pull up that information, so instead I went back and found an older Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, from September 2023, that I did not write about at the time.

Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along; cue the Mission:  Impossible music!):

1.  Show us your pedigree (or fan) chart.  Who are your end-of-line ancestors?  Describe the top five or ten of them.

2.  Write your own blog post, leave a comment on this post, or write something on Facebook.

Okay, bowing out of showing the pedigree/fan chart.  I have tried to create those in the new version of Family Tree Maker that I have, and I must be doing something horribly wrong, because it just isn't working.  So, feh.

But I can write about the end-of-line ancestors!  Not sure what Randy means by the "top" five or ten, though.  Top problem causers?  Top frustration generators?  Maybe just furthest back in time.  I decided to write only about my father's side, since I don't have a lot of real concrete data on my European-born ancestors on my mother's side.

• Paternal grandfather Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995):  Born out of wedlock to his mother, with no father listed on the birth certificate, he gained the name Sellers when his mother married Cornelius Elmer Sellers seven months later.  I proved with Y-DNA testing that he was not biologically a Sellers, but I'm still trying to find his biological father.  (I researched the Sellers line back to 1615 in Weinheim, Baden, so not much to worry about there,)

• 2x-great-grandfather Joel Armstrong (1849–c. 1921):  I know two more generations back on his paternal line (see below), but I still don't know who his mother was, because his father was apparently widowed by 1850.  With more information available nowadays than when I got hung up on this, I probably should be able to resolve this question if I simply get back to working on it.

• 3x-great-grandmother Rachel R. Stackhouse (c. 1826–aft. 1885):  Married Abel A. Lippincott before 1846, probably in New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandfather Joel Armstrong (c. 1798–1854):  Married Catherine Stackhouse in 1823 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandmother Catherine Stackhouse (c. 1798–c. 1865):  Married Joel Armstrong in 1823 in Mount Holly, New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandfather Stacy B. Lippincott (?–?):  Married Alice Parker before 1826, probably in New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandmother Alice Parker (?–?):  Married Stacy B. Lippincott before 1826, probably in New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandfather John Gibson (?–?):  Married Mary before 1833, probably in New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandmother Mary —?— (?–?):  Married John Gibson before 1833, probably in New Jersey.

• 4x-great-grandmother Jane Coleclough (c. 1811–1865):  Married Richard Dunstan in 1833 in Manchester, England.

• 4x-great-grandfather Thomas Winn (c. 1792–?):  Married Mary Parr(?) c. 1812, possibly in Shropshire.

• 4x-great-grandmother Mary Parr(?) (?–bef. 1842):  Married Thomas Winn c. 1812, possibly in Shropshire.

So I included twelve ancestors, nine of whom are 4x-great-grandparents.  I really need to get back to work on this!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Where Were Your 16 2nd-great-grandparents Born, Married, and Died?

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun exercise from Randy Seaver had me looking up a lot of information!

Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along; cue the Mission:  Impossible! music!):

1.  Where did your 16 2nd-great-grandparents live and die?  What are their birth, marriage, and death dates and locations?

2.  Write your own blog post, leave a comment on this post, or write something on Facebook.

I can write about only twelve of my great-great-grandparents.  I may have their names committed to memory, but not all that other data.

• James Gauntt:  born June 18, 1831 in New Jersey; married February 1, 1851 in Westhampton Township, Burlington County, New Jersey; died February 16, 1889 in Rancocas, Burlington County, New Jersey

• Amelia Gibson:  born June 1831 in Burlington County, New Jersey; died June 19, 1908 in Lumberton, Burlington County, New Jersey

• Frederick Cleworth Dunstan:  born January 18, 1840 in Deansgate, Manchester, Lancashire, England; married October 18, 1858 in Manchester, Lancashire, England; died September 21, 1873 in Hulme, Lancashire, England

• Martha Winn:  born August 12, 1837 in Manchester, Lancashire, England; died November 26, 1884 in Manchester, Lancashire, England

• Simcha Dovid Mekler:  unknown when born, possibly in Kamenets Litovsk, Grodno gubernia, Russia; married before 1885 in Russia; died before 1904, possibly in Kamenets Litovsk, Grodno gubernia, Russia

• Bela <unknown maiden name>:  unknown when born, in Russia; died before 1924, possibly in Kamenets Litovsk, Grodno gubernia, Russia

• Gershon Itzhak Novitsky:  born about 1858, probably in Porozowo, Grodno gubernia, Russia; married about 1875 in Russia; died December 12, 1948 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

• Dora Yelsky:  born about 1858, probably in Porozowo, Grodno gubernia, Russia; died February 9, 1936 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

• Victor Gordon:  born between 1864–1868, probably in Kamenets Podolsky, Podolia, Russia; married before 1891 in Russia; died January 25, 1925 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York

• Esther Leah Schneiderman:  born between 1868–1874 in Russia; died December 10, 1908 in Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russia

• Morris Brainin:  born between 1860–1863, probably in Kreuzburg, Russia; married before 1883, possibly in Kreuzburg, Russia; died February 13, 1930 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York County, New York

• Rose Dorothy Jaffe:  born between 1866–1871 in Russia; died November 9, 1934 in Harlem, Manhattan, New York County, New York

As fuzzy as some of the information is for my great-great-grandparents on my mother's side, at least I have something, which is more than I can say for my paternal grandfather's paternal side.  I'm still hunting for that biological father.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Ancestor Photographs

We're going on another scavenger hunt through our family hstory holdings for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver!

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

(1) How many ancestors do you have photographs of?  What is your oldest ancestor photo (the year it was taken)?

(2) Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook.  Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog post on this post.

At first I (mis)read this challenge to be how many photos do you have of each ancestor, instead of how many ancestors!  I was thinking, How in the world am I going to count all those photos Zadie took before the end of the day today?  Phew, thank goodness I only need to figure out which ancestors had photos taken of them.

• Parents (Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr.; Myra Roslyn Meckler):  I have many of both, going back to childhood, teenage years, marriage, and later, including after their divorce.

• Paternal grandparents (Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr.; Anna Gauntt):  A good number for each of them individually and one of them together.  I think the oldest are for their teenage years (none when they were children), and then throughout their lives.

• Maternal grandparents (Abraham Meckler, Lillyan E. Gordon):  Many of my grandmother (a lot taken by my grandfather), very few of my grandfather.  The ones of my grandmother go back to when she was fairly young.  I have one of my grandfather when he was 13 and then only three or four during young adulthood, but I have many more from while he was married to my grandmother.

• Great-grandparents (Cornelius Elmer Sellers versus Mr. X; Laura May Armstrong):  Only one of Elmer Sellers, my grandfather's adoptive father and the only father he knew; it is with Laura Armstrong.  Mr. X, my grandfather's biological father, is as yet unidentified.  A few of Laura May Armstrong, mostly later in life.

• Great-grandparents (Thomas Kirkland Gauntt, Jane Dunstan):  A couple for each of them when they were younger, and then several during their life together.  I think I have cousins with more photos of Thomas Gauntt.

• Great-grandparents (Morris Mackler [Moishe Meckler], Minnie [Mushe] Zelda Nowicki):  One photo each of Morris and Minnie.

• Great-grandparents (Joe Gordon [Joine Gorodetsky], Sarah Libby [Sore Leibe] Brainin):  A few of them here in the States, including two from before they were married (one is an engagement photo).  One of Sarah in Europe circa 1905.

• Great-great-grandparents (Catherine Fox Owen, Cornelius Gottschalk Sellers):  One of Catherine (Owen) Sellers, none of Cornelius Sellers.

• Great-great-grandparents (Joel Armstrong, Sarah Ann Deacon Lippincott): One that has been identified as them, but I'm not sure the identification is correct.

• Great-great-grandparents (James Gauntt, Amelia Gibson):  One of James Gauntt, none of Amelia Gibson (although cousins might have photos of her).

• Great-great-grandparents (Frederick Cleworth Dunstan, Martha Winn):  None.

• Great-great-grandparents (Simcha Dovid Meckler, Baila):  None.

• Great-great-grandparents (Gershon Itzhak Nowicki, Dube Yelsky):  Two different photographs of them as a couple, one from Europe and one from the United States.

• Great-great-grandparents (Victor Gordon [Avigdor Gorodetsky], Esther Leah Schneiderman):  Two or three of Victor Gordon, one of them from Europe, which includes Esther Leah.

• Great-great-grandparents (Morris [Mendel Hertz] Brainin, Rose Dorothy [Ruchel Dvoire] Jaffe):  One of Rose Dorothy Jaffe in Europe; one of the two of them in New York City.

• Great-great-great-grandparents:  Only one possibility, 3x-great-grandfather Gersh Wolf Gorodetsky.  What I have is a photo of a photo, so dating it accurately is pretty much impossible.  It being of Gersh Wolf is my best guess based on the little bit of information I have.

I think the oldest photo I have is the one of Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman in Kamenets Podolskiy, Russian Empire, circa 1890.  And I counted a total of 25 ancestors of whom I have photographs.

I really should talk to cousins about getting more copies of photographs.

Events in My Family Tree: June 19

I wonder what it is like to share a birthday with a sibling, even though three years apart.

Births

John Lewallen Gantt, son of John Gantt and Rachel Carl, was born June 19, 1845, possibly in Perry County, Pennsylvania.  He is my 2nd cousin 4x removed via the Gantts.

Blanche Mildred Sax was born June 19, 1924 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.  She was the wife of Samuel Michael Brainin, son of Nathan(?) Katz and Lena Brainin, who is my 1st cousin 2x removed on my Brainin line.

Diane Emily Furman, daughter of Leon Furman and Evelyn Buzen, was born June 19, 1956 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  She is my 2nd cousin on my Meckler line through the Furmans.

Andre Joachim Rocke was born June 19, 1963.  He is my 2nd cousin.

Riana Amine Rocke was born June 19, 1966.  She is the sister of Andre Rocke and also my 2nd cousin.

Erin Brooke Kirsh was born June 19, 1990.  She is my 4th cousin once removed.

Marriages

William Heath, son of George Heath and Philadelphia Lucas, and Emily Lucas were married June 19, 1849 in Hambledon, Surrey, England.  William is the great-great-granduncle of my aunt Mary McStroul.

Amos Valentine Gaunt, son of Moses M. Gaunt and Margaretta Baucher, and Sadie Penneo were married June 19, 1896 in Camden, Camden County, New Jersey.  Amos is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

Harry Garfinkel, son of Eliezer Loius Garfinkel and Doba Ajzner, and Bella Raber were married June 19, 1955 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  Harry is my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Meckler line through the Garfinkels.

Clarence Allen, Jr., son of Clarence Allen and Agnes Viola Ledger, and Jean Sylvia were married June 19, 1971.  Clarence Jr. is my 5th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Allens.

Deaths

Amelia Gibson, daughter of John Gibson and Mary, died June 19, 1908 in Lumberton, Burlington County, New Jersey at the age of 77.  She is my great-great-grandmother and died one day after what would have been her late husband/my great-great-grandfather James Gauntt's 77th birthday.

Abraham Sam Perlman, son of Maishe Eli Perlmutter and Ethel Nowicki, died June 19, 1982 in Manhattan, New York County, New York at the age of 85.  He is my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Nowicki line.

Sidney Baker died June 19, 1999 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada at the age of 69.  He was the husband of Adele Garfinkel, daughter of Eliezer Louis Garfinkel amd Doba Ajzner, who is my 2nd cousin 2x removed on my Meckler line through the Garfinkels, as is her brother Harry, listed in the marriages above.

Raymond Merle Darr, son of Raymond A. Darr and Ethel K. Gaunt, died June 19, 2000, possibly in Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey, at the age of 76.  He is my 2nd cousin once removed via the Gaunts.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Who Is #42 on Your Ahnentafel?

Well, I'm a little confused by parts of this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver, but I shall press on and attempt to do it anyway!

Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along; cue the Mission:  Impossible! music!):

(1) Have you identified #42 on your ahnentafel list?  If not, how about #21, the mother of #42?  If not, how about #10 on your ahnentafel list?  Do you even have an ahnentafel list?

(2) Anyway, tell us about your #42 ancestor (or #21, or #10, etc.):  full name, parents, spouse, children, birth, baptism, death, marriage, burial, etc.  

(3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status post.  Please leave a link in a comment to this post.

So, I'm confused because I thought ahnentafels increased the numbers as they went backward in time.  If that is the case, then #21 wouldn't be the mother of #42, she would be the daughter of #42 (which is what my ahnentafel indicates).  So maybe Randy just mixed that part up?

As it so happens, I know next to nothing about my #42 ahnentafel ancestor, and not much more about #21.

Mr. #42 on my ahnentafel is my 3rd-great-grandfather John Gibson.  I have no birth or death information for him, merely his name.  His wife, my 3rd-great-grandmother (#43 on the list), was said to have been named Mary, and that's all the information I have on her.  I'm pretty sure they were born and died in New Jersey, but that's an educated guess.  I have looked for more information about them online, but with no success.

Their names were gleaned from the death certificate of my 2nd-great-grandmother Amelia Gibson (#21), who married James Gauntt.  Amelia's death certificate states that she died June 19, 1908.  Her birth, which I have as June 1831, was found in the 1900 census.

Obviously, I don't have much information on the Gibson branch of my family.  Yet another reason I need to find a lot of time to spend conducting on-site research in New Jersey.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Children Did Your Ancestors Have?

I'm playing catch-up to an older Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post that I intended to comment on at the time, so no, you are not in a time warp.  That's why my topic doesn't match what's on Randy's blog today.

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

(1) Thinking about your ancestors back through 2nd-great-grandparents — in other words, ancestors #2 to #31 on your pedigree chart — how many children did they have?  How many lived long enough to marry?  How many died before age 10?

(2) Tell us all about it in a blog post of your own, in comments on this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.  Be sure to link to them in a comment on this blog post.

So I took my cue from Randy and am only recording children born to my ancestral couples, not to other marriages or relationships those ancestors might have had.

#2–3:  Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935–2019) and Myra Roslyn Meckler (1940–1995), 3 children, all lived long enough to marry.

#4–5:  Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995) and Anna Gauntt (1893–1986), 1 child, who lived long enough to marry.

#6–7:  Abraham Meckler (1912–1989) and Lillyan E. Gordon (1919–2006), 3 children, all lived long enough to marry.

#8–9:  Unknown, possibly Mundy (?–?) and Laura May Armstrong (1882–1970), 1 known child, who lived long enough to marry; small possibility of a second child, who died before the age of 10.

#10–11:  Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870–1951) and Jane Dunstan (1871–1954), 10 children, 6 lived long enough to marry, 3 died before the age of 10.

#12–13:  Morris Meckler (~1882–1953) and Minnie Zelda Nowicki (~1880–1936), 7 children, 6 lived long enough to marry, 1 died before the age of 10.

#14–15:  Joe Gordon (~1890–1955) and Sarah Libby Brainin (~1885–1963), 4 children, 3 lived long enough to marry, 1 died before the age of 10.

#16–17:  Unknown, possibly Mundy (?–?) and Unknown (?–?), 1 known child, who lived long enough to marry.

#18–19:  Joel Armstrong (1849–~1921) and Sarah Ann Deacon Lippincott (1860–after 1904), 3 known children, all lived long enough to marry.

#20–21:  James Gauntt (1831–1899) and Amelia Gibson (1831–1908), 9 known children, 7 (that I know of) lived long enough to marry

#22–23:  Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873) and Martha Winn (1837–1884), 6 children, 4 lived long enough to marry, 2 died before the age of 10.

#24–25:  Simcha Dovid Mekler (?–before 1905) and Bela (?–before 1924), 2 known children, both lived long enough to marry.

#26–27:  Gershon Itzhak Novitsky (~1858–1948) and Dora Yelsky (~1858–1936), 7 known children, all lived long enough to marry.

#28–29:  Victor Gordon (~1866–1925) and Esther Leah Schneiderman (~1871–1908), 9 known children, 8 lived long enough to marry, one died before the age of 10.

#30–31:  Morris Brainin (~1861–1930) and Rose Dorothy Jaffe (~1868–1934), 8 known children, 7 lived long enough to marry, one died before the age of 10.

I didn't break down the children by sex, but the total number of children is 74.  Of those, 62 lived long enough to marry (the original question Randy posed, not whether they actually did marry) and 9 died before the age of 10, but I don't have death dates for everyone, so both numbers might actually be higher.  In addition, there is one child whose father is unknown, but that man might be the same as someone else's, which would bring total number of children to 75 and 10 children who died before the age of 10.

I had 15 families, the same number as Randy, but my average was 4.93 children per family and 4.13 children who lived long enough to marry.

One family had only 1 child and two other families had only 1 known child.  One family had 2 known children, but there were almost definitely more.  Three families had 3 children; one of them might have had more.  One family had 4 children, one had 6, two had 7, one had 8, two had 9, and one had 10.  Several of those might have had more children.

My parents had 3 children and no deaths before the age of 10.  My grandparents' generation averaged 2 children and no deaths before the age of 10 per family.  My great-grandparents' generation averaged 5.5 children and 1.25 deaths before the age of 10 per family; and my great-great-grandparents' generation averaged 5.625 children and 0.5 deaths before the age of 10 per family.

My numbers differed from Randy's in some ways, but as he said, it's hard to tell what exactly that signifies.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Birth Order in Your Line

For Saturday Night Genealogy Fun this week, Randy Seaver has us looking at birth order in our families.  Not much to be gained from this, I suspect, but an interesting exercise nonetheless.

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you to:

(1) Pick one of your ancestral lines — any one:  patrilineal, matrilineal, zigzag, from a famous ancestor, etc.  Pick a long one if you can.

(2) Tell us which position in the birth order your ancestor was in each generation.  For example, "third child, first son."  Also list how many children were born to these parents.

(3) Share your birth order work with us on your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a comment on Facebook, etc.

Since Randy recommended choosing a long line if possible, I started with my father, zigged to his mother, and then zagged to her father, because I know I have several generations of Gauntts documented.  I could go further back with them, but I haven't entered all the information I have into my database.  I also could have gone further with the Sellerses, but just not emphasizing them anymore.

1.  Janice Marie Sellers (1962– ):  first child, first daughter of Bertram Lynn and Myra (Meckler) Sellers (2 daughters, 1 son)

2.  Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935– ):  only child, only son of Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. and Anna Gauntt

3.  Anna Gauntt (1893–1986):  second child, first daughter of Thomas Kirkland and Jane (Dunstan) Gauntt (5 sons, 5 daughters)

4.  Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870–1951):  eighth child, fifth son of James and Amelia (Gibson) Gauntt (3 daughters, 6 sons)

4.  James Gauntt (1831–1889):  second child and first son of Hananiah Selah and Abigail (Atkinson) Gaunt (5 daughters, 4 sons)

5.  Hananiah Selah Gaunt (1795–1852):  fourth child and fourth son of Hananiah and Rebecca (Mulliner) Gaunt (5 sons, 1 daughter, but not sure all children have been documented)

6.  Hananiah Gaunt (1762–1799):  first child and first son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Borton) Gaunt (5 sons, 3 daughters)

7.  Joseph Gaunt (1740–1806):  second child and second son of Hananiah and Ann (Ridgway) Gaunt (2 sons, 2 daughters, again not sure all children have been documented)

My averages are:

• child number:  3
• number of children:  7.14

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Longest Ancestral Marriage

It's Saturday, which means another interesting genealogy challenge from Randy Seaver for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music!), is:

(1) Marcia Philbrick wrote Celebrating 50 Years today on her Heartland Genealogy blog and suggested it for a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge, so here it is:

(2) How many of your ancestors were married for FIFTY years?  What is the longest marriage of your ancestors in your tree (from marriage to first death of a spouse, or divorce)?  Consider, say, the last six generations to make it manageable!

(3) Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a comment on this blog post to lead us to your answers.

I saw this challenge and thought I was going to have only one pair of ancestors who made it to 50 years.  I was wrong about that!  On the other hand, Randy had 52 couples, while I have a total of only 18, and I had to go all the way back to 6th-great-grandparents to get that many.

Parents

• Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. and Myra Roslyn Meckler:  16 years (1961–1977)

Grandparents

• Abraham Meckler and Lillyan E. Gordon:  50 years (1939–1989)
• Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. and Anna Gauntt:  0 years (They were never married.)

Great-grandparents

• Cornelius Elmer Sellers and Laura May Armstrong:  15 years (1903–1918)
• Thomas Kirkland Gauntt and Jane Dunstan:  59 years (1891–1951)
• Morris Meckler and Minne Zelda Nowicki:  36 years (1900–1936)
• Joe Gordon and Sarah Libby Brainin:  41 years (1914–1955)

Great-great-grandparents

• James Gauntt and Amelia Gibson:  38 years (1851–1889)
• Frederick Cleworth Dunstan and Martha Winn:  15 years (1858–1873)
• Joel Armstrong and Sarah Ann Lippincott:  about 22 years (1878–about 1900)
• Gershon Itzhak Nowicki and Dora Yelsky:  60 years (1876–1936)
• Avigdor Gorodetsky and Esther Leah Schneiderman:  about 19 years (about 1889–1908)
• Morris Brainin and Rose Dorothy Jaffe:  about 39 years (about 1881–1930)

Great-great-great-grandparents

• Hananiah Selah Gaunt and Abigail Atkinson:  about 23 years (about 1829–1852)
• Richard Dunstan and Jane Coleclough:   21 years (1833–1865)

Great-great-great-great-grandparents

• Hananiah Gaunt and Rebecca Mulliner:  about 14 years (about 1785–1799)
• Joel Armstrong and Catherine Stackhouse:  30 years (1823–1854)

Great-great-great-great-great-grandparents

• Joseph Gaunt and Elizabeth Borton:  44 years (1762–1806)

Great-great-great-great-great-great-grandparents

• Hananiah Gaunt and Ann Ridgway:  61 years (1730–1792)

The longest marriage I have recorded is 61 years, for my 6th-great-grandparents Hananiah Gaunt and Ann Ridgway.

The lengths of the marriages range from 14 to 61 years.  Two of the marriages were ended by divorce; the others ended with the death of one spouse.

The average length of the 18 marriages is 33.5 years.

Four marriages of the marriages lasted 50 years or longer.  That's 22.2% of the marriages.  Randy had 15 of 52 marriages last 50 or more years, which is 28.9%.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Where Were They 150 Years Ago?

This wee's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is an "encore" theme, but moved forward in time a few years.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

(1) Determine where your ancestral families were on 12 January 1869:  150 years ago.

(2) List them, their family members, their birth years, and their residence locations (as close as possible).  Do you have a photograph of their residence, and does the residence still exist?  How many do you have in each generation living in January 1869?

(3) Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status  post.

So Randy posed this question almost four years ago, on May 16, 2015, but since we're now looking at 1869 instead of 1865, one additional ancestor of mine might have been alive.  One thing that has changed since 2015 is that I learned that my grandfather was a Sellers through informal adoption, so this time I am not posting about all the Sellers family ancestors.

Catherine (Stackhouse) Armstrong (born 1796–1800), my 4th great-grandmother, may or may not have been alive.  I have narrowed down her death to 1860–1870 (and I have not narrowed it down further since 2015).  If she was alive, she was living somewhere in Burlington County, New Jersey.  I don't know who she might have been living with or if she lived alone.

Franklin Armstrong (1825–after 1870), my 3rd-great-grandfather, was living in Mansfield Township, Burlington County, New Jersey with his son, Joel Armstrong (1849–~1921), my 2nd-great-grandfather.

Abel Amos Lippincott (1825–after 1885) and Rachel (Stackhouse) Lippincott (~1825–after 1885), my 3rd-great-grandparents, were living in Burlington County, New Jersey.  I don't know exactly where.

Sarah Ann Lippincott (1860–after 1904), my 2nd-great-grandmother, was almost definitely living somewhere in Burlington County, New Jersey.  In the 1860 census she was not yet born and in the 1870 census she was not with her parents, however.

James Gauntt (1831–1889) and Amelia (Gibson) Gauntt (1831–1908), my 2nd-great-grandparents, were almost definitely living in Burlington County, New Jersey.  I don't know exactly where.  They likely had three to five children living with them, but not my great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt, because he was born in 1870.

Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873) and Martha (Winn) Dunstan (1837–1884), my 2nd-great-grandparents, were living in one of the suburbs of Manchester, Lancashire, England.  I don't know exactly where.  They had four children living with them, but not my great-grandmother Jane Dunstan, who was born in 1871.

Zvi (died before 1903) and Esther Mekler, my 3rd-great-grandparents, were probably living in Kamenets Litovsk, Russia (now Kameniec, Belarus), with their son Simcha Dovid Mekler (died before 1903), my 2nd-great-grandfather, and his older brother Eliezer.

Bela (died before 1924) (I don't know her maiden name yet), my 2nd-great-grandmother, who would later marry Simcha Mekler, was probably somewhere in the area of Kamenets Litovsk, but that's just a guess.  She would have been young, maybe between 10–15 years old, and probably living with her parents, but I still don't know their names either.

Abraham Yaakov (died before 1896) and Sirke (died before 1893) Nowicki, my 3rd-great-grandparents, were probably living in Porozowo, Russia (now Porozovo, Belarus) with their son Gershon Itzhak Nowicki (~1858–1948), my 2nd-great-grandfather.

Ruven Yelsky (~1838–~1898) and Frieda (Bloom) Yelsky (~1838–~1898), my 3rd-great-grandparents, were probably living in Porozowo, Russia with their daughter Dora Yelsky (~1858–1936), my 2nd-great-grandmother.

Gersh Wolf Gorodetsky and Etta (Cohen) Gorodetsky (died before 1891), my 3rd-great-grandparents, were almost definitely living in Podolia gubernia, Russia, probably near Kamenets Podolsky (now Kamyanets Podilskyy, Ukraine).  Their son Isaac/Avigdor Gorodetsky (died 1925), my 2nd-great-grandfather, should have been with them; I have approximated his birth year to 1864–1868, so by 1869 he had probably been born.

Joine (died before 1893) and Chane Etta (died before 1891) Schneiderman, my 3rd-great-grandparents, also were likely living in Podolia gubernia, Russia, probably in the area of Kamenets Podolsky.  My 2nd-great-grandmother Esther Leah Schneiderman (died 1908) may have been with them; I have approximated her birth year as between 1868 and 1874.

Solomon (died before 1909) and Yetta Brainin, my 3rd-great-grandparents, were probably living near Kreuzburg, Russia (now Krustpils, Latvia) with their son Mendel Hertz Brainin (~1862–1930), my 2nd-great-grandfather.

I still don't have photographs of any of the residences and don't know if any of them exist today.  I really do want to work on that, though.

Without the Sellers family lines, it appears that I had 29 (maybe only 28) ancestors who were alive on May 16, 1865.  The breakdown is:
• 1 4th-great-grandparent
• 15 3rd-great-grandparents
• 13 2nd-great-grandparents

And still none of my great-grandparents had been born yet, but we're getting closer!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Zigzag Ancestor Lines

There's probably an existing term for what Randy has come up with for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, but I don't know what it is.

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

(1) What is your father's zigzag ancestor line (NOTE:  I just made that up}?  In other words, your father's mother's father's mother's etc. line back as far as you can go.

(2) Tell us in your own blog post (and drop a link here in a comment), or on Facebook with your response.

Okey-dokey, here are mine.

My Father:

1.  My father is Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935– ) of New Jersey, California, and Florida.

2.  His mother was Anna Gauntt (1893–1986) of New Jersey, Florida, and Minnesota.

3.  Her father was Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870–1951) of Burlingotn County, New Jersey.

4.  His mother was Amelia Gibson (1831–1908) of Burlington County, New Jersey.

5.  Her father was supposedly John Gibson, about whom I have no additional information.

So I go back five generations on my father's line (and obviously need to do more research in Burlington County to get past that roadblock).

My Mother:

1.  My mother was Myra Roslyn Meckler (1940–1985) of New York, California, and Florida.

2.  Her father was Abraham Meckler (1912–1989) of New York, Nevada, and Florida.

3.  His mother was Mushe Zelda Nowicki (about 1880–1936) of Grodno Gubernia, Russian Empire and New York.

4.  Her father was Gershon Itzhak Nowicki (about 1858–1948) of Grodno Gubernia, Russian Empire and New York.

5.  His mother was Sirke (?–before 1893), for whom I don't even have a family name, much less the name of a parent.

And I go back five generations on my mother's line also.  I don't know if I'll ever find more information about Sirke, since Grodno Gubernia is the black hole of Jewish records.

I didn't do as badly as I thought I would.  I have one fewer generation for my father's family line than Randy did but one more for my mother's.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Ancestors In the 1900 Census?

I love when Randy Seaver has us looking through our records for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, but my database is still offline, so it's a lot harder to do right now!

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

(1) How many of your ancestors are in the 1900 United States census?  List them all, their locations, their ages, and their occupations.  Were any ancestors missed by the census enumerator?  (Note:  For folks who have census entries in other countries, substitute your country for the U.S. and the closest available census to 1900.)

(2) Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a comment to this post with a link to your post.

Here are mine.  I also worked backward in time.

• My grandmother Anna Gauntt is the only grandparent I have who was born before 1901.  In the 1900 census she was 7 years old, lived in Mount Laurel, Burlington County, New Jersey, and had no occupation.

• Great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt was 30 years old, lived in Mount Laurel, Burlington County, New Jersey, and worked as a farm laborer.

• Great-grandmother Jane (Dunstan) Gauntt was 29 years old, lived in Mount Laurel, Burlington County, New Jersey, and had no occupation.

• Great-grandmother Laura May Armstrong was 18 years old, lived in Westhampton, Burlington County, New Jersey, andi is listed as a "helper" in the occupation column.

• Great-great-grandmother Amelia (Gibson) Gauntt was 68 years old, lived in Chester, Burlington County, New Jersey, and had no occupation.

• Great-great-grandmother Sarah Ann (Lippincott) Armstrong was 40 years old, lived in Westhampton, Burlington County, New Jersey, and for occupation had "boarder" listed.

So I have a grand total of six (!) ancestors I have found in the 1900 census.  I don't know of anyone who was missed by enumerators.  My list is short for several reasons:

• Jane (Dunstan) Gauntt's parents (and grandparents) died well before 1900.

• I have not yet identified my biological great-grandfather, who fathered a child with Laura May Armstrong.

• Amelia (Gibson) Gauntt was widowed before 1900.

• Sarah Ann (Lippincott) Armstrong was apparently divorced from Joel Armstrong before 1900, and he in all likelihood was still alive and was enumerated in the 1900 census, but I have not definitively identified him yet in the census.

• I don't actually know whether Sarah (Lippincott) Armstrong's parents were alive in 1900.  I don't have death dates for either of them.

• All of my ancestors on my mother's side of the family were still in the Russian Empire in 1900, and I have been unable to find a single one of them in the 1897 revision list.  The closest record to 1900 I have found for an ancestor on that side is for my great-great-grandfather Gershon Itzhak Nowicki; he appears in a 1904 or 1906 (I can't find it right now to check) voter list, living in Porozovo, Grodno Gubernia (now Porazava, Belarus).

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Generations Did Your Parents or Grandparents Know?

I skipped last week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun because it was a repeat, but this week's is one of those that's interesting because it makes you think about parallel timelines.

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

(1) Miriam Robbins wrote a wonderful post today about her grandson playing with a toy first used by Miriam's great-grandfather.  See Seven Generations for the details.

(2) So how many generations of family did you know, or your parents or your grandparents know?  Ancestors and descendants.  

(3) Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a comment on this post with a link with your response.

Ok, here's mine:

1.  I (born 1962) knew:
• My paternal grandparents, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995) and Anna Gauntt (1893–1986), and my maternal grandparents, Abraham Meckler (1912–1989) and Lillyan E. Gordon (1919–2006)
• My parents, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr. (1935– ) and Myra Roslyn Meckler (1940–1995)
• My siblings
• My two stepsons
• My five grandchildren

2.  My father, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr., knew:
• His paternal grandmother, Laura May Armstrong (1882–1970), and his maternal grandparents, Thomas Kirkland Gauntt (1870–1951) and Jane Dunstan (1871–1954)
• His parents, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. and Anna Gauntt
• His siblings
• His four children
• Seven of his grandchildren
• At least two of his great-grandchildren

3.  My mother, Myra Roslyn Meckler, knew:
• Her paternal great-grandfather, Gershon Itzhak Nowicki (~1858–1948)
• Her paternal grandfather, Morris Meckler (~1862–1953), and her maternal grandparents, Joe Gordon (~1892–1955) and Sarah Libby Brainin (~1890–1963)
• Her parents, Abraham Meckler and Lillyan E. Gordon
• Her siblings
• Her three children
• Three of her grandchildren

4.  My paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr., knew:
• His paternal grandmother, Catherine Fox Owen (1949–1923), and possibly his maternal grandmother, Sarah Ann Lippincott (1860–after 1904)
• His parents, Cornelius Elmer Sellers (1877–1918) and Laura May Armstrong
• His siblings
• His five children
• At least nine of his grandchildren
• Probably seven of his great-grandchildren
• Probably three of his great-great-grandchildren

5.  My paternal grandmother, Anna Gauntt, knew:
• Her paternal grandmother, Amelia Gibson (1831–1908)
• Her parents, Thomas Kirkland Gauntt and Jane Dunstan
• Her siblings
• Her four children
• Her six grandchildren
• Her two great-grandchildren
• One of her great-great-grandchildren

6.  My maternal grandfather, Abraham Meckler, knew:
• His maternal grandparents, Gershon Itzhak Nowicki and Dora Yelsky (~1858–1936)
• His parents, Morris Meckler and Minnie Zelda Nowicki (~1880–1936)
• His siblings
• His three children
• His five grandchlidren
• Probably one of his great-grandchildren

7.  My maternal grandmother, Lillyan E. Gordon, knew:
• Her paternal grandfather, Victor Gordon (~1866–1925), and her maternal grandparents, Morris Brainin (~1861–1930) and Rose Dorothy Jaffe (~1869–1934)
• Her parents, Joe Gordon and Saray Libby Brainin
• Her siblings
• Her three children
• Her five grandchildren
• Three of her great-grandchildren

So, as in Randy's family, the most I seem to have is seven generations, but in my case for two ancestors.  Both of my paternal grandparents knew seven generations in their families (and I have five-generation photographs of each of them with a child, grandchild, great-grandchild, and great-great-grandchild).  My parents and my maternal grandparents each knew six generations, and I know five.  There's a chance my father will get to meet a great-great-grandchild.

I did find it interesting that among my parents and grandparents, only my mother knew a great-grandparent.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Recent Ancestor Photographs

Even while he's busy posting about Genealogy Jamboree, Randy Seaver found time to come up with a new challenge for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I challenge you:

(1)  Do you have photos of all of your ancestors back to the 1850 time frame?  Which recent ancestors do you not have a photograph of?  

(2)  Review your files, and list the ancestors for whom you want and/or need to find a photograph.  Also list where they resided and where they died.  Where would you look to find a photograph of them?

(3)  Share your answers on your own blog post (and leave a comment here with a link), or on Facebook or other social media.

1.  I have photographs of my parents, all four grandparents, and eight of nine great-grandparents, counting my paternal grandfather's adoptive father.  As I have not yet identified my grandfather's biological father, it would be surprising if I had a photo of him.  Of my sixteeen great-great-grandparents (eighteen if I count the unidentified great-grandfather), I have photos of only ten.

2.  The great-great-grandparents of whom I have no photographs are:

• Frederick Cleworth Dunstan (1840–1873) and Martha (Winn) Dunstan (1837–1884), who lived and died in the area of Manchester, Lancashire, England
• Amelia (Gibson) Gauntt (1831–1908), who lived and died in Burlington County, New Jersey
• Cornelius Godshalk Sellers (1845–1877), who was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and later lived and died in Philadelphia
• Simcha Meckler (?–before 1903) and Baila (?) Meckler (?–before 1925), who lived and died in the area of Kamenets Litovsk, Russian Empire (now Kamyanyets, Belarus)

My great-grandmother Jane Dunstan had a brother, Frederick, who also immigrated to the United States.  I could try to track down his descendants to see if any of them have photos of the parents.  I also know of some cousins on a collateral line of that family who are still in England.  They would be another possible resource.

I am in touch with several Gauntt cousins.  I'm sure that at least one of them has a photo of Amelia, right?

Cornelius Sellers is a tough one.  He died young and his widow remarried.  Cornelius' only surviving child died young also (before his mother), but one son survived from the widow's second marriage.  Perhaps someone on that side of the family might have a photo of Cornelius.  Another possibility is through his Civil War service.

I doubt any photograpohs of Simcha and Baila Meckler ever existed.  The only person I know of to ask is my cousin in Israel.

Unfortunately, other than Cornelius, it is unlikely that these great-great-grandparents appear in any archival collections, but one should always check, just to make sure.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Three Degrees of Separation

I looked at the title of this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, and I thought it looked familiar.  I was right!  Last year about this time Randy Seaver did "Two Degrees of Separation."  This year he has extended it a generation:

For this week's mission (should you decide to accept it), I want you to:

1)  Using your ancestral lines, how far back in time can you go with three degrees of separation?  That means "you knew an ancestor, who knew another ancestor, who knew another ancestor."  When was that third ancestor born?

2)  Tell us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a status line on Facebook or a stream post on Google+.

Well, this is frustrating already!  Two of the three examples I used last year for this challenge can't go back another generation:

• My great-grandmother Rose Dorothy (Ruchel Dvorje) (Jaffe) Brainin probably knew at least one of her grandparents, but I have no idea who any of their parents were.

• My grandmother Anna (Gauntt) Stradling almost definitely knew her grandmother Amelia (Gibson) Gauntt, but I don't know who Amelia's parents were.  Her paternal grandfather, James Gauntt, died four years before she was born.  And she never knew her maternal grandparents, because her mother was from England and they never came to the United States (or vice versa).

1.  I guess I'm lucky that I can still work backward from my paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr.  Here's the information from last year:

"Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr., born in 1903, the son of Laura May Armstrong and Cornelius Elmer Sellers (if my grandfather was actually a Sellers, but that's still research in process).  He may have known his maternal grandfather, Joel Armstrong, who was born about 1849 and seems to have died about 1921 or so in Burlington County.  Grampa also probably knew his paternal grandmother, Catharine Fox (Owen) Sellers Moore, who was also born in 1849 and died in 1923."

Since that post, which was made in January 2016, I proved through DNA testing that Grandpa was informally adopted by Cornelius Elmer Sellers, so his paternal grandmother was through the adoptive line.  But Grandpa's maternal grandfather, Joel Armstrong, knew his paternal grandfather, also Joel Armstrong, because he lived in the latter's household when he was young.  Joel the elder was born about 1798 and died in 1854.

2.  I can go through a different line to get another three degrees, even though that line stays in the 19th century.  I knew my maternal grandfather, Abe Meckler (1912–1989), who knew his maternal grandfather, Gershon Itzhak Nowicki (~1858–1948).  Gershon most likely knew his father, Abraham Jacob Nowicki.  I don't know when Abraham Nowicki was born, but it pretty much had to be 1837 at the latest (and was probably earlier), because Gershon had an older brother.  I know Abraham died before about 1896, because his granddaughter named a son after him that year.

So Randy can go back to 1711, and I'm stuck at 1798, a difference of 87 years.  I feel . . . stunted.

This is simply as far as I can go on my biological lines.  If Randy does make next year's challenge four degrees, I'll be SOL, because I don't know the names of Abraham Nowicki's or Joel the elder's parents!  Apparently I need to find time to take a trip to New Jersey and do some serious archival research, so I can at least go farther back on the Armstrongs.