Saturday, August 15, 2015

Surname Saturday : Cheney

The CHENEY surname is in my maternal line.  The origins of the surname are English.  I have not yet made a connection to my other Cheney lines, and much more research is needed.

Ahnentafel # 1529 : Mary Cheney (1671-    ).  Mary was born September 2, 1671.  She married Francis Worcester (   -1717). Francis birth date is unknown at this time.  They lived in Essex County, Massachusetts.  Francis died December 17, 1717.  Mary's death date is unknown.

Ahnentafel # 3058 : Peter Cheney (c1639-   ).  Peter was born circa 1639 in Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts.  He married Hannah Noyes.  Nothing further is known at this point.

Ahnentafel # 6116 : John Cheney (   -1666).  John married Martha ______. John died July 28, 1666.  Nothing further known.

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Old Cousin Bait is Still Cousin Bait

You never know when "cousin bait" might be effective.  This week I received an email from a fellow Groendyke/Groenendyke researcher that stated the following:


I saw an old sept 15 1998 RootsWeb request from yourself for descendants of James Groenendyke and Barbara Buck . I will not go much further as this was an old request and I do not know if you are still out there.
I'm so glad that I posted to RootsWeb back in 1998 and also glad that this cousin had the persistence to find me and reach out.  Now that we have each other's email addresses, we can begin to share information.

This is a family line that I'm not aware of many others researching, so I'm hopeful that we can expand on each other's research.

Old cousin bait never gets stale, it's like a fine wine, better with age!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Shaky Leaves : Anna L. (Wright) Vinson (1864-1914)

Anna L. (Wright) Vinson (1864-1914) was my maternal 2nd-great grandaunt, the daughter of Joseph and Rebecca (Heaton) Wright.  She was married to Albert Morris "Ab" Vinson (1858-1921).  Ancestry.com is currently showing 4 hints for her in my LeMaster and Allied Families Member Tree.


One of the hints is a link to Anna's memorial page at the FindAGrave website, which I created and maintain.  Anna is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana.

In the 1910 census, Anna was living in Alexandria, Madison County, Indiana with her husband Albert, who was a deputy sheriff.  Also in the household was Anna's brother, Jesse, and a boarder, Addie Hughs, who was laid off from the paper mill.


In the 1880 census, Anna was living in the Joseph Wright household in Monroe Township, Madison County, Indiana as a 16 year old student.


While neither of these 'hints' were new facts to my database, I did link them to Anna's record in the Ancestry Member Tree and downloaded copies of the images so I can add to my RootsMagic database.

In the database, Indiana Deaths, 1882-1920, which contains data from the WPA index, the following information was found:

Name:Anna L. Vinson
Date:6 Jun 1914
Location:Alexandria
Age:50 Yr
Gender:Female
Race:White
Source Location:City/County Health Office, Anderson or City Health Office, Elwood/Alexandria
Source notes:The source of this record is the book 2CH-8 on page 37 within the series produced by the Indiana Works Progress Administration.

This matches the death date I have for Anna, and provides the book and page number so I can obtain a copy of her death certificate.  Will add this to my list of "to-do" items for a future research trip.

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