Tag: genealogy (Page 4 of 5)

52 Ancestors, No. 17: Henry Balmer, Swiss Tinner and Farm Laborer

April 29, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

I think this will be a short entry. I haven’t yet had much to say about this branch of the family tree, and it may be a while before I have any more to say. I don’t know too much about this gentleman, or where he came from, genealogically speaking. This is Henry Balmer, my maternal grandmother’s maternal grandfather. He was born in Switzerland on March 17, 1858. Sometimes I call him “Heinrich”, because I imagine that’s what he would have been called there. Do other genealogists make up nicknames for their research subjects? I dunno. Whatever. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 16: Grandma Cora Harrison, Born on Easter Sunday, 1877

April 20, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

This week I bring you Cora Kline Harrison, my paternal grandmom’s paternal grandmom. that would be my great-great-grandmom I’ll tell you how my grandmom’s cousin, Doris, and I honed in on her birthday.

A questionable report.

The 1900 Census placed Cora’s birth date in February of 1878. Doris rejected this claim, and insisted instead that her grandmother was born on April 1, 1876, although she had no documents to prove the fact. I had inquired about baptism records at the Lancaster County Historical Society with little else to go on. The archivists there told me that many of the churches of that time and place were inconsistent with birth records, so I might have trouble finding a baptism record for Cora. I did not know the parish in which she was baptized. I did find a record of Cora’s birth among her father’s Civil War pension file, but the record was ambiguous. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 15: Bridget McShane, Irish Woman of Property

April 15, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

This week I offer the third installment of my McShane series, as I am still compiling McShane family documents for my great aunt and uncle, in between other tasks. There may be another installment next week, depending on whether I can wrap up the project this week. Today’s subject is Bridget McShane, the matriarch of my branch of the McShane family in America. Among her children were my third great-grandfather, Patrick McShane, and Villanova University President Fr. Francis J. McShane, O. S. A. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 14: Patrick McShane, Irishman. Boatman. Milkman. Watchman.

April 8, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

I’m continuing McShane research this week for my great-uncle, Gabby. He had asked me a few weeks ago to build him a CD of McShane family history in anticipation of his Grand-daughter’s wedding. I went to the Philadelphia Archdiocese Historical Research Center about a week and a half ago to learn more about Fr. Francis J. McShane, and Augustinian priest and one-time president of Villanova University. I copied some articles of interest there, including a published history of one parish where Fr. McShane was pastor, and I have spent the past several days compiling these articles into easily readable PDF files. I’ve probably spent more time on this than I should have, but hey. I’m a data miner. I’m a family history completist. If Fr. McShane’s name is on it, I want it for this collection. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 13: Fr. Francis J. McShane, Augustinian Priest and Villanova University President

April 1, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

Ancestor No. 13 is the Reverend Francis J. McShane, O.S.A. (of the Order of St. Augustine). My great-uncle wrote to me a couple of weeks ago and asked me to clarify our relationship to Fr. McShane. You see, their granddaughter, my second cousin will shortly be getting married at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Philadelphia. St. Nicholas was an Augustinian, like Fr. McShane, so they are looking perhaps to tie our family’s Augustinian heritage a little more tightly into the celebration. Well, Uncle Gabby came to the right place, because I happen to know the answer to his question. Fr. Francis J. McShane, O.S.A., was the uncle of my great-great-grandmother, Anne (McShane) Graham. That would make him my third-great-granduncle, and the same for the bride, who is also in my generation. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 12: Sorrelona Angeline Butera, Big Sister

March 24, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

I don’t know a whole lot about my ancestor No. 12, but her image here is a great reminder of why I got into this business. It is the quintessential photo restoration project. I have exactly one picture of this woman, and guess what: It’s wrecked. Wrecked, but salvageable. A little digtial wizardry and voila! Virtually good as new!

Well, enough about me. Let’s get to our subject. Meet Angeline Scaletta, or Aunt Angel, as my grandmother called her (pronounced AHN-jel). She is standing at right in the above photo, next to my great-grandmother, Katherine (Balmer) Scaletti. She was the older sister to my great-grandfather, Antonino Rocco Scaletti. According to civil birth records, she was born in Trabia, Sicily, on April 15, 1884. That made her a full nine years older than Nino, who was born in 1893. Nino also had two older brothers: Giuseppe, aka Joseph, who was born in 1881, and Carmelo, aka Uncle Charly, who was born in 1890.

52 Ancestors, No. 11: John C. Graham, and Celebrating My Family’s Irish Heritage

March 19, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

This photo didn’t really need a lot of work, but I gotta do what I gotta do to get a legit 52 Ancestors post up on here, and there is no better way to do that on St. Patrick’s Day than to honor John C. Graham, my great-great-grandfather along the paternal line. He is the Irish ancestor of my surnamesake. Although I’ll never hear his brogue, it still reverberates in the memory of my grandfather, who has done his best to help me preserve the family’s history. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 8: Antonino Rocco Scaletti, Prolific Sicilian Farmer

February 24, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

Of all the heros on my family tree, I believe none are more widely and openly venerated by his living descendants than this man, Antonino Rocco Scaletti. I say widely because that describes the breadth of his progeny. I say openly because he is the only one of my great-grandparents for whom photographs and memories are facebook news feed staple among his living grandchildren. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 4: Anne Reibold, Bighearted Farm Woman

January 27, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

I haven’t yet planned out my year of ancestors. I might plan it, so as not to neglect some essential persons. (Who would be a non-essential person?) So far, I’ve chosen whom to write about week-by-week, and preference has gone to heroic people with great stories,for whom I have a picture suitable for restoration, and about whom, I suspect, most living people in family would not have known, but for my research. The trend continues this week, with one slight difference: This week’s ancestor is a hero of the everyday variety. I don’t expect to find her picture in the newspaper, or any recordings of her in the Library of Congress. No buildings bear her name. No gimmicks. No tricks. Don’t let any of that fool you. She’s a family hero. She is Anne Reibold. Continue reading

52 Ancestors, No. 3: John P. Boland

January 20, 2014 / tim / 0 Comments

Maybe I’m front-loading my list with family superstars whom I truly admire. I think you’ll begin to see, however, that no story is too small, as Amy Johnson Crow will remind us. To the contrary, I think the heroism of my everyday ancestors will reveal itself once it is properly showcased beside the legends. All stories are big, in a way.