Earl O. Burdg household, 1940, Jay County, Indiana

Located the 1940 census record of the Earl O. Burdg household in Jay County, Indiana.  Earl's wife, Lois, was my paternal second cousin twice removed.  Our common ancestors were Johannes "John S." Wehrly and Barbara Petry.  Earl's parents were Joseph Franklin Burdg and Mattie Merchant.

1940 U.S. census, Jay County, Indiana, population schedule, Wayne Township, enumeration district (ED) 38-25, SD 5, sheet 6B, household 133, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 22 January 2017); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

At the time of the enumeration, Earl and his wife were living in Wayne Township.  The census states Earl owned his home, that it was a farm, and that the value was $6000.  Earl was 57 years old and born in Indiana.  His wife, Lois [listed as Louise B.], was 50 years old and born in Indiana.  Their residence in 1935 was the same place.

The record shows that Earl had completed 4 years of high school and that Lois had completed 2 years of college.  Earl's occupation was listed as a farmer, and Lois had no occupation listed.

Also living in the household was Earl's mother, Martha Manuel, widow, aged 78 and born in Indiana.  Her residence in 1935 was Linn, Randolph County, Indiana.

If you have any additional information or are related to this family, I'd love to hear from you.

Ishmal Wells household, 1940, Vanderburgh County, Indiana

Located the 1940 census record of the Ishmal Wells household in Vanderburgh County, Indiana.  Ishmal's wife, Rhoda, was Corinne's maternal great grandaunt.  Their common ancestors were Alpha Revis Chivlare and Clara Belle Followay.  

1940 U.S. census, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, population schedule, Evansville, enumeration district (ED) 93-20, SD 8, sheet 8A, 313 Clark Street, household 190, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 January 2017); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

At the time of the enumeration, Ishmal was living in the city of Evansville.  The census states he was renting his home and that the rent was $8 per month.  Ishmal was 70 years old and was born in Kentucky.  His wife, Rhoda, was 42 years old and born in Indiana.  In 1935, their residence was the same place.

The record shows that Ishmal had completed no formal schooling and that Rhoda had completed the 8th grade.  Neither of them had an occupation listed.

If you have any additional information or are connected to this family, I'd love to hear from you.

MyHeritageDNA Matches

While at RootsTech last week, I was reminded that MyHeritageDNA was allowing people who had tested at other sites to upload their raw DNA data into their database for free.  I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to fish in another pond before that offer went away.  Yesterday, I received an email letting me know that the first of my DNA matches were in.


How to take a MyHeritage DNA test from MyHeritage on Vimeo.

MyHeritage was out in force at RootsTech and they have a big following, so I will be interested to see how their database develops as I obtain more matches.  Right now their test kits are on sale at a competitive price as well.

My top three matches were for ones who I already matched with at other sites, but the rest of the matches did not look familiar at all.  So I have a new set of relatives to reach out to.

It does seem as if more of these matches have the family trees than those found at 23andMe or Ancestry.