Thursday, February 25, 2016

In Memoriam : Edmund G. Pierce, Anderson Democrat, January 29, 1875

Located this remembrance of my maternal 3rd-great grandfather, Edmund G. Pierce in the Anderson, Indiana Democrat of January 29, 1875.  Edmund had died on January 8, 1875.

IN MEMORIAM 

WILSON GRANGE, No. __ , Jan. 19, 1875.

WHEREAS, We, with deep regret, must announce the death of our beloved brother and worthy lecturer, Edmund G. Pierce, and,

WHEREAS, We regard his death as a great loss to  the community, and to his bereaved family and friends, in as much as he was a good citizen, kind brother, true christian, and as affectionate husband and parent.

RESOLVED, We tender our sincere and heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family and friends.

RESOLVED, That, as a tribute of respect to our deceased brother, we drape our hall in mourning for thirty days.

RESOLVED, That these preambles and resolutions be entered upon the minutes of this grange, and that a copy be presented to each of our county papers with a request to publish.

D.C. HUFF
D.E.H. THOMAS
LEVI BREWER , Committee


Sunday, February 21, 2016

DNA Files & Horizontal Pedigrees

Found a great idea for helping to connect with my DNA matches and figure out where we connect - horizontal pedigrees.  Thanks to a post at Analytic Genealogy, I've been creating horizontal pedigree charts for myself, my parents, and other relatives that I've convinced to do DNA testing.  My hope is that I can use them to share with my genetic cousins in an easier way to find the common ancestors.  The blog post describing how these horizontal pedigree charts can be used is linked here.

So often my matches either don't have a family tree online or if they do, it can become unwieldy to read and figure out where the matches lie.  I find that the horizontal pedigree chart not only makes it pretty easy to see your family lines extended out, but also can show you where there are gaps in your tree without having to look at your software.

I've created a Dropbox folder for my DNA Files and am including these horizontal charts.  I might eventually include other information, but for now I will be sharing the link to the Dropbox folder with my DNA matches so they can easily see where we connect.  Since most matches are below 5th-6th cousins, they should be able to see a common surname on the chart.  

If you are interested, the link to my Dropbox folder and the charts is included here.

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

Catherine & William Pierce lot, Maplewood Cemetery, Madison County, Indiana

Maplewood Cemetery Records, Anderson, Madison County, Indiana

This is a copy of the cemetery records at the office of Maplewood Cemetery in Anderson, Madison County, Indiana for my maternal 3-great grandparents, William and Catherine (Groenendyke) Pierce.  The cemetery is split into two sections, and the section the Pierces are buried in is considered West Maplewood.

According to the cemetery office, many of the records were destroyed in a fire.  Isn't that always the case with my Madison County ancestors?  But in this case, at least they had this log.

The owner of the lot # 694 is Catherine & William Pierce.  In the list of persons buried there were some interesting finds :

infant Pierce - stamped "See File".  Need to find out who this might be.  I believe I saw another record that stated this was the child of Lyman Pierce, but I'm not sure now.

Edmund  - this is Edmund Pierce, whose tombstone is marked. He died January 8, 1875.

1 adult - I believe that this record refers to William F. Pierce's first wife, Clara, who died in 1906.  Her obituary stated she was buried in the Anderson Cemetery, which was the old name for Maplewood.

Catherine Pearce - note the spelling.  Notes that she was buried December 13, 1913.  Catherine was the wife of Edmund.

Lillian Pearce - note the spelling.  Only 18 years old, she was buried August 14, 1921.  Lillian was the daughter of William and Clara Pierce.

John Granville (Groendyke) - aged 79.  Burial date was February 4, 1929. This must be John Thomas Groenendyke, the brother of Catherine, son of Elias & Nancy (Jenkins) Groenendyke.  Will need to do more research on him.

William F. Pierce - aged 85, buried September 25, 1950.  This was my maternal 2nd-great grandfather.  He has a marker at the cemetery with his second wife, Vida.

Vida Pierce - age not given, buried November 22, 1968. This was Vida (Maddox) Pierce, second wife of William.

Chad Pierce - aged 21 hours.  Infant, buried June 3, 1972.  Chad was the son of George & Annette Pierce.

James Louis Pierce - age 70, buried Feb. 1, 2002 (cremation) at the foot of Lillian Pierce.

These records are interesting for what they show and don't show.  There is a large monument that says "PIERCE" on it, with "E.G. Pierce" on one side and "W.F. Pierce" on the other.  Edmund and Catherine Pierce have a footstone, and there is a military marker for James Louise Pierce.  The infant Chad Pierce has a marker, as does William and Vida have a joint marker.

There is no marker for Lillian Pierce or Clara Pierce or John Groenendyke at the plot.