Events in My Family Tree: December 3

Eek!  I'm starting to fall behind!  Gotta catch up, so I can finally finish this project by the end of this year . . . .

Births

Sabrina Gaunt, daughter of Reuben Lewallen Gaunt and Jane Weatherby, was born December 3, 1837 in Washington Township, Burlington County, New Jersey.  She is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

James Owen Gaynor, son of John Francis Gaynor and Josephine O'Connor, was born December 3, 1901 in Manhattan, New York County, New York.  He is the granduncle of my half-sister Laura Sellers.

Joseph Russell Allen, son of Russell Roberts Allen and Estella A. Horner, was born December 3, 1929 in Tabernacle, Burlington County, New Jersey.  He is my 5th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Allens.

Russell Eli Smith was born December 3, 1930 in New Jersey.  He was the husband of Blanche Catherine Gauntt, daughter of Robert Elwood Gauntt and Elsie May West, who is my 4th cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line.

Bert Ross, son of Charlie Ross and Annie Garber, was born December 3, 1940 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  He is my 3rd cousin 1x removed on my Meckler line through the Garbers.

Pamela Elaine Gaunt, daughter of Robert Gaunt and Mary Evelyn Westbrooks, was born December 3, 1952 in Indiana.  She is my 6th cousin via the Gaunts.

William Scott Fitsimmons was born December 3, 1969.  He is my 5th cousin 2x removed.

Hart Ross Garfinkel was born December 3, 1995.  He is my 4th cousin 1x removed.

Marriage

Simon Krebs, son of Hirschel Krebs and Philippine Salamon, and Dorothea Schiffer, daughter of Daniel Schiffer and Henriette Meyer, were married December 3, 1828 in Gleiwitz, Obersilesia, Prussia.  Simon and Dorothea are the great-great-grandparents of my aunt Mary McStroul and the 3x-great-grandparents of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Deaths

Cyrus Kunze Allen died December 3, 1863 in Medford, Burlington County, New Jersey at the age of about 25.  He was married to Hannah Ann Gaunt, daughter of Joseph L. Gaunt and Elizabeth Hopkins, who is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

John B. Slentz, son of Ephraim Slentz and Zilpha Emily Gaunt, died December 3, 1931 in Switz City, Greene County, Indiana at the age of about 56.  He is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Adam Kyle Freitag, son of Evan Freitag and Jessica Starkman, died December 3, 1994, possibly in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the age of 12.  He is my 4th cousin 1x removed on my Meckler line through the Freitags.

Events in My Family Tree: October 14

Hattie Fuller is the niece of Anna Fuller, which means that she and Don Heath were married on the 13th anniversary of Hattie's auntr's death.  I realize this type of anniversary has shown up before in my events lists, but I still think of it as kind of creepy.  But maybe this was a common thing a hundred years ago?  Was it done in honor of the deceased?  Or did people not pay attention to these types of anniversaries then?

Births

Leo David Hannon was born October 14, 1895 in Tiffin, Seneca County, Ohio.  He was the second husband of Hazel Pearl Gaunt, daughter of Ross B. Gaunt and Mary Ann Dale, who is my 4th cousin 2x removed via the Gaunts.

Murray Lederman, son of Gabriel William Lederman and Anna Gordon (originally Chantse Gorodetsky), was born October 14, 1939 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  He is my 1st cousin 2x removed on my Gorodetsky line.

Arline Silver was born October 14, 1942 in Brooklyn, Kings County, New York.  She is the wife of Stephen Gershwind, son of Irving Lawrence Gershwind and Frances Perlman, who is my 2nd cousin 1x removed on my Nowicki line via the Perlmans.

Robert James Bagley was born October 14, 1945.  He is the husband of Lynn Wilma Carty, daughter of Wilmer Shreve Carty and Etta Marion Allen, who is my 5th cousin 1x removed on my Gauntt line via the Allens.

Linda Louise Egli, daughter of Gilbert Ayers Egli and Edith Esther Gaunt, was born October 14, 1946 in Los Angeles County, California.  She is my 5th cousin 1x removed via the Gaunts.

Mark Edward Gauntt was born October 14, 1969.  He is another 5th cousin 1x removed.

Nicholas Allen was born October 14, 1982.  He is my 5th cousin 2x removed.

Abigail Lacey Meckler was born October 14, 2003.  She is my 1st cousin 1x removed.

Marriages

Don Howard Heath, son of John Timothy Heath and Mary Etta Smith, and Hattie Lorena Fuller, daughter of Joseph L. Fuller and Sarah R. Weaver, were married October 14, 1908 in Warrensburg, Warren County, New York.  They are the maternal grandparents of my aunt Mary McStroul and her sister Jean McStroul and the great-grandparents of my 1st cousin Todd Meckler and my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Jonathan Panitch and Elizabeth Rachel Sinnreich were married October 14, 2012.  Elizabeth is my 3rd cousin.

Deaths

Anna E. Fuller died October 14, 1895 in Stony Creek, Warren County, New York at the age of 80.  She was the wife of James H. Fuller, son of John E. Fuller and Lorena G. Tripp, who is the great-granduncle of my aunt Mary McStroul and her sister Jean McStroul and the great-great-granduncle of my 1st cousin Andy Meckler and my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Henry Craawford, Jr., son of Henry Crawford and America Brooks, died October 14, 1927 in Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia at the age of 39.  He is the great-granduncle of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Benjamin Franklin Gaunt, son of Benjamin Franklin Gaunt and Elizabeth K. Frazer, died October 14, 1939, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey, at the age of 78.  He is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

Events in My Family Tree: October 13

Stacy T. Gaunt married one year after his mother died, on the anniversary of her death.  Did he hold off his wedding because his mother was ill?  Was he extremely devoted to her?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Births

Mary Clare was born October 13, 1833 in Warrington, Lancashire, England.  She was the wife of James Dunstan, son of Richard Dunstan and Jane Coleclough, who is my great-great-granduncle.

Gerge Hahneman Fort was born October 13, 1848 in Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey.  He was the husband of Elizabeth A. Gaunt, daughter of Benjamin Franklin Gaunt and Elizabeth K. Frazer, who is my 2nd cousin 3x removed via the Gaunts.

George Dayton Frake, son of Dayton G. Frake and Alice E. Gaunt, was born October 13, 1914 in Mount Holly, Burlington County, New Jersey.  He is my 3rd cousin 1x removed via the Gaunts.

Gladys Ella Easlick, daughter of Daniel Leon Easlick and Ella Ritchie Mingen, was born October 13, 1921 in Mount Holly, Burlington County, New Jersey.  She is my 4th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Easlicks.

John James Hudson, son of Henry J. Hudson and Irene Elizabeth Allen, was born October 13, 1942 in New Jersey, probably in Burlington County.  He is my 5th cousin on my Gauntt line via the Allens.

Diana Marie Gaunt, daughter of Harold Mark Gaunt and Shirley May Faux, was born October 13, 1947 in Kendallville, Noble County, Indiana.  She is my 6th cousin via the Gaunts.

Gregory Edmund Carter was born October 13, 1962.  He is my 4th cousin.

Dawn Marie Ellis was born October 13, 1967.  She is my 2nd cousin 1x removed.

Jeffrey Daniel Gordon was born October 13, 1984.  He is my 2nd cousin.

Brandy Smith was born October 13, 1997.  She is the half-niece of my half-sister Laura Sellers.

Marriage

Stacy T. Gaunt, son of Samuel Gaunt, Jr. and Ann Horner, and Emily Ede Patton were married October 13, 1863 in Camden, Camden County, New Jersey.

Deaths

Ann Horner died Octoer 13, 1862 in Gloucester County, New Jersey.  She was the wife of Samuel Gaunt, Jr., son of Samuel Gaunt and Achsah Taylor, who is my 2nd cousin 5x removed via the Gaunts.

Annie Rachel Petranovsky died October 13, 1933 in Bronx, Bronx County, New York.  She was the wife of Samuel Schneiderman, son of Joine Schneiderman and Anna Ida, who is my great-great-granduncle.

Martha Elizabeth Bowen, daughter of John Bowen and Martha Baden(?), died October 13, 1934 in Essex County, New Jersey.  She is the great-grandaunt of my half-sister Laura Sellers.

Wordless Wednesday

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Do You Have a Mary Smith?

When I read this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver, I was positive I wasn't going to have anyone who fit the bill.

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

(1) How many persons named Mary Smith do you have in your genealogy management program or online family tree?  How many persons named Mary Smith are ancestors?

(2) Pick out one of those persons named Mary Smith and do some online research for her in Ancestry, FamilySearch, or another set of record collections.  Your goal is to add something to your database.

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

1.  Well, I was totally wrong.  I actually do have a Mary Smith in my family tree.  One.  Just one.  She is not an ancestor; I have no known ancestors named Smith.  This Mary Smith is the wife of my second cousin once removed.

2.  I actually did find a record for my Mary Smith!  On FamilySearch, in an aggregated database, I found a record indicating Mary and her husband were living in Falls Church, Virginia sometime between 1996 and 2007.  I'm sure it's the correct person because the birthdate is exactly as I have it in my database.

Events in My Family Tree: May 9

This is the first appearance of Dodge and Marek family members in in my listing of family events.

Births

William Allen Gaunt, son of Uz Gaunt and Sarah Ann Whitacre, was born May 9, 1846 in Ohio.  He is my 2nd cousin 4x removed.

Rebecca Elizabeth Coverly was born May 9, 1885 in Chairville, Burlington County, New Jersey.  She was married to Joseph L. Gauntt, son of Mark Lewallen Gauntt and Rhoda Ewing, who is my 3rd cousin 2x removed.

Eliza Almira Heath, daughter of John Timothy Heath and Mary Etta Smith, was born May 9, 1886 in Warrensburg, Warren County, New York.  She is the grandaunt of my aunt Mary McStroul.

Walter Anson Dodge, son of Walter Garland Dodge and Lois Elisabeth Higgins, was born May 9, 1942 in Yuba County, California.  He is my 6th cousin on my Gauntt line through the Higginses.

Debora Losito was born May 9, 1961.  She is my 5th cousin once removed on my Gauntt line.

Lisa Catherine Stevens was born May 9, 1972.  She is my 5th cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line.

Dayle Alison Chesler was born May 9, 1993 in Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey.  She is my 2nd cousin on my Gordon line.

Moira Marek was born May 9, 1995.  She is the 3rd cousin once removed of my half-sister Laurie Sellers on her Bowen line.

Marriage

Julian Saul Perlman, son of Abraham Sam Perlman (originally Perlmutter) and Stella Joffe, and Jane Norris were married on May 9, 1974 in Manhattan, New York County, New York.  Julian is my 3rd cousin once removed on my Nowicki line through the Perlmans.

Death

Eva Imogene Calvert died May 9, 2015 at the age of 83 in Oklahoma.  She was married to Albert Giberson Ellis, son of Levi Ellis and Carrie Florence Gauntt, who is my 1st cousin once removed via the Gauntts.

Imogene

Events in My Family Tree: March 28

After March 27 having so many family events, now it's back to a short list.  What was special about March 27?  On the other hand, it's always nice to have a date with no deaths.

Births

Daniel Gantt (origiinally Gaunt), son of Joseph Gaunt and Mary A. Lobaugh, was born March 28, 1797, possibly in Perry County, Pennsylvania.  He is my 1st cousin 5x removed.

Annie T. Gaunt, daughter of Clayton Decou Gaunt and Sarah E. Edwards, was born March 28, 1851 in Gloucester County, New Jersey.  She is my 4th cousin 3x removed.

Matilda C. Githens, daughter of Thomas Githens and Mary Gaunt, was born March 28, 1859 in New Jersey.  She is my 2nd cousin 4x removed via the Gaunts.

Mary Etta Smith, daughter of James Smith and Orpha Baker, was born March 28, 1866 in Thurman, Warren County, New York.  She is the great-grandmother of my aunt Mary McStroul.

Paul Yates, son of Charles Yates and Grace Allen, was born March 28, 1958, probably in Burlington County, New Jersey.  He is my 5th cousin once removed on my Gauntt line through the Allens.

Dean Von Schmidt was born March 28, 1975.  He is my 5th cousin 2x removed on my Gauntt line.

Tobias Samuel Linkin was born March 28, 2005 in Miami, Dade County, Florida.  He is my 2nd cousin once removed on my Gordon line.

Marriage

David Floyd McHenry and Madeline Rochelle Redtfeldt, daughter of Gordon Ardel Redtfeldt and Lucille J. Vaughn, were married on March 28, 1970 in Los Angeles County, California.  Rochelle is my 5th cousin once removed on my Gauntt line through the Vaughns.

Events in My Family Tree: January 1

For the new year I thought I would become better acquainted with the individuals in my family tree database by following the vital events in their lives on the calendar.  Every day I plan to post the births, marriages, and deaths that fell on that day.  As I am doing research for (very) extended family members, not everyone in my database is actually related to me.

I have already discovered that finding this information directly in Family Tree Maker, my primary family tree program, does not work well.  The first results for a search for "January 1" or "1 January" are years with no months or dates.  I looked at the index of names, which shows birth and death dates, but there's apparently no way to export that information.  So I saved a GEDCOM file and imported it to Reunion.  The latter gives much better results than FTM but still isn't perfect — it returns those people with the correct month, but it doesn't seem to be able to also find the specific date.  No matter, it's a vast improvement.

Births

Jacob Longanecker, son of Daniel Longanecker and Sarah Mack, was born January 1, 1811, probably in Pennsylvania.  He is my 3rd cousin 5x removed on my Sellers line through the Macks.

Catherine Sellers, daughter of John Leonard Sellers and Elizabeth Wenger, was born January 1, 1835, probably in Pennsylvania.  She is my 3rd cousin 4x removed.

Florence Walton, daughter of Jerome B. Walton and Susan Sellers, was born January 1, 1868, in Union Township, Auglaize County, Ohio.  She is my 4th cousin 3x removed.

Charles Cooper Stradling was born January 1, 1895 in Texas, Middlesex County, New Jersey.  He was the husband of my paternal grandmother, Anna Gauntt.

William Kester Allen, son of Cyrus Kunze Allen and Clara Barton Shinn, was born January 1, 1908 in New Jersey, probably in Bordentown, Burlington County.  He is my 4th cousin once removed on my Gauntt line through the Allens.

I have been told that Baby Boy Gordon, son of Joe Gordon and Sarah Libby Brainin, was born January 1, 1915 in Manhattan, the first child of my maternal great-grandparents.

Kathleen Lynn Allen was born January 1, 1955 and is my 5th cousin once removed.

Brian Hise was born January 1, 1972 and is my 3rd cousin once removed.

Kaleb Appleton was born January 1, 1999 and is my 1st cousin 3x removed.

Marriages

Henry Rohr and Polly Sellers were married on January 1, 1797 in Abington, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  Polly is my 1st cousin 2x removed.

John Wengard Sellers and Mary Melissa Conkle were married on January 1, 1829 in Allen County, Ohio.  John is my 3rd cousin 4x removed.

John Timothy Heath and Mary Etta Smith were married on January 1, 1884, probably in Warren County, New York.  They are the great-grandparents of my aunt Mary.

Thomas Daniel Swain and Rachel Anna Armstrong were married on January 1, 1912 in Burlington, Burlington County, New Jersey.  Rachel is my great-grandaunt and the sister of my great-grandmother Laura May Armstrong.

Moshe Amine and Florence Meckler were married on January 1, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York.  Florence is my grandaunt and the sister of my grandfather Abraham Meckler.

Deaths

Hattie Lorena Fuller, daughter of Joseph L. Fuller and Sarah R. Weaver, died January 1, 1914 in Warrensburg, Warren County, New York at the age of 26.  She was the grandmother of my aunt Mary.

Cecil Deacon Lucas, son of John Deacon Lucas and Idella May Nixon, died January 1, 1998 at the age of 91.  He was married to Nora Elizabeth Eckman, the sister of my grandaunt Bertha Poinsett Eckman and granduncle Edwin Bunting Eckman.

Fred Adams, son of John White and Alma Adams, died January 1, 2000 in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio at the age of 76.  He is the granduncle of my not-quite-cousin Angela Williams.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Top 10 (or 20) Surnames in Your Family Tree

In this week's installment of Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Randy Seaver is updating another of his statistical analyses of his family tree database.

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

(1) Go into your genealogy management program (GMP; either software on your computer or an online family tree) and figure out how to count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

(2) Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

(3) Tell us what the top 10 (or 20)  surnames are in your database and, if possible, how many entries.  How many different surnames are in your family tree?

(4) Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a status or comment on Facebook, or in a Google+ Stream post.

I last did this analysis in 2015, although Randy mentioned that he ran it in 2016 also (I must have missed that day).  I am still using Family Tree Maker 16 on a PC (if it ain't broke, don't fix it).  To find the total number of different surnames, I go to the Tools menu, then Family File Statistis, and then click on Calculate "Total number of different Surnames."

I have 2,004 different surnames.  Two years ago I had 1,952 surnames.  I have made a little progress.

My program does not provide me with a handy list of the top surnames.  I have to count them manually.  Even though I have added more than 50 surnames to the database, the top ten are the same, and the numbers have not changed much.

1.  Gantt/Gaunt/Gauntt, 879 people
2.  Sellers/Söller, 633 people
3.  Allen, 142 people
4.  Mack/Mock, 132 people
5.  Fuller, 103 people
6.  Crawford, 66 people
7.  Dunstan, 64 people
8.  Eckman, 61 people
9.  Wickham, 52 people
10.  Smith, 50 people

So the only changes are in the top three names.  I know I've done work on the Gauntts and Sellerses, so I understand why they increased, but the additional Allens don't make sense to me.  But statistics don't lie, right?

And I still don't count "unknown" as a surname.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Surnames in Your Family Tree Database?

I always find it interesting when Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun has me analyzing the information I have in my family tree database.  It's never the kind of thing I think about doing otherwise.  This week's challenge:

1) Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer or an online family tree) and figure out how to count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!!  Or 20!!!

4)  Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a status or comment on Facebook, or in Google Plus Stream post.

Well, I've never heard the term "genealogy management program" before (I just call them "family tree programs"), but I went for it.

I use Family Tree Maker on a PC.  I went to the Tools menu, then Family File Statistics, then Total Number of Different Surnames.

I have 1,952 different surnames in my database.  Randy's program gives a lot more information than mine, and apparently more easily, but I went through my indexed list of names and counted occurrences for surnames.  My top ten are:

1.  Gantt/Gaunt/Gauntt, 845 people
2.  Sellers/Söller, 604 people
3.  Allen, 135 people
4.  Mack/Mock, 132 people
5.  Fuller, 102 people
6.  Crawford, 66 people
7.  Dunstan, 64 people
8.  Eckman, 61 people
9.  Wickham, 52 people
10.  Smith, 50 people

I found it amusing that Smith, one of the most common names in the English-speaking world (maybe the most common?), barely made it into my top ten.  It's even more amusing because they aren't in my direct family.  They're part of my aunt's family, but I have her family in the same database as my own.  Three of the other names in the top ten are also not my family:  Fuller is the same aunt's family, Crawford is her sister's second husband's family, and Wickham is my half-sister's mother's family.  (Yes, I really am researching all those collateral relatives' lines.)  At least the top four are mine!

I have several individuals in my database with "Unknown" surnames, but I did not include that number in my count.  "Unknown" is not the surname for any of those people.  I also didn't do a screen capture of how FTM showed the output; it just wasn't that exciting.