Crane obits ordered

Ordered two more obituaries from the Monroe County Public Library. They have been very fast in the past and the convenience of paying via PayPal is a plus.

The obituaries I requested were for my maternal 2nd-great grandaunt and uncle, Thomas Franklin & Mary Florence (Gilliland) Crane.

Mary Florence's obituary appeared in the May 7, 1924 edition of the Bloomington Telephone.  She was only 36 years old.

Thomas' obituary appeared in the August 16, 1948 edition of Bloomington World-Telephone.  He was 76 years old.

I will be interested to see what, if any, additional clues will come from these obituaries.

Shaky Leaves : Thomas Crane household, 1910 census Monroe County, Indiana

Found the 1910 census record of my maternal 2nd-great grandaunt and uncle, Thomas F. and Mary Florence (Gilliland) Crane in the 1910 census of Bloomington Township, Monroe County, Indiana through Ancestry.com's hints on my LeMaster & Allied Family Tree.

1910 US Census, Monroe County, Indiana, population schedule, Bloomington Township, enumeration district (ED) 126, SD 2, sheet 2B, dwelling 34, family 34, ; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 January 2016); National Archives, Washington, D.C..

Thomas was listed as a 32 year old married farmer, who had been married twice, married for four years this marriage.  He was born in Indiana, his father was born in Indiana and his mother was born in Kentucky.  He could read and write and spoke English.  His wife, Mary, was 23 years old and was the mother of 2 children, both living.  She was born in Indiana, her father was born in Kentucky and her mother born in Indiana.  No occupation was listed, and she could read and write and speak English.

Children listed in the household were Millard, age 6, born in Indiana; Martha E., age 3, born in Indiana; and Hellen, aged 6 months, born in Indiana.  Also living in the household was Thomas' brother, Horace E. Crane, aged 33, born in Illinois, a farmer.

Before I had located this record, I did not realize that Thomas had been previously married.  From checking with cousin Judy, I learned that his first wife's name was Bertha Brummett and she died a few years after their marriage.

If you have any additional information on this family, I would love to hear from you.

DNA : Aunt Ruby's Ethnicity Results

Back in November, I wrote about awaiting the DNA results from my oldest maternal relative, my great-aunt Ruby.  Her results have come back and below are the ethnicity estimates from FamilyTreeDNA.

Ruby's ethnicity came back 97% European and 2% Middle Eastern.  The Middle Eastern portion came from Asia Minor (Turkey).

I realize that these ethnicity results are dependent on the self-reporting of the data pool, I do find them interesting.  My guess is that the portion from Turkey is from her maternal grandfather - who is as yet unknown.  This could explain the dark hair, dark eyes and features that appear to resemble the "mystery man" photo.  More tests will have to be done on other family members to see where they compare.

For the European ethnicity, the Eastern Europe portion has not shown up in the known paper trail DNA, though there is much of Ruby's paternal ancestry that remains unknown.  The maternal lines include much of the British Isles.

How does this compare with my ethnicity from FamilyTreeDNA?  

A little less Middle Eastern, but overall, similar results that I would expect from being a generation removed.

I've already reached out to two of my first cousins, who come from this same line.  Will compare these results and be able to track exactly what DNA we share from our common ancestors.  Then, hopefully, I can triangulate with others who match us and find common ancestors to break down the brick walls.