Samuel Hitchcock, Revolutionary War Soldier

Samuel Hitchcock was born in New Milford, Litchfield County, Connecticut on February 28, 1731. I have the birth record. His parents were Samuel and Deborah Mallory and he was the eldest of 12 children. This much of the research had been done early on and I can still remember the phone call I made to the Town Clerk in New Milford, asking if she had birth records for the year of 1731. She asked his name and when I thought he was born. She said just a minute, put the phone down, came back and said she had the book of births from that year and would look it up. The book of records for that year - 1731. What a thrill. Don't you wish you had ancestors from CT?

Samuel was descended (and therefore I am) from Luke Hitchcock and Elizabeth Gibbons, from England. They were here by 1641 when they got married in Wethersfield, CT, in Hartford County. That is where their four children were born. There is a great deal written on the early Hitchcock family, both in the NEGHS Register and many other sources. It seems to get cloudy just before and after the Revolutionary War, at least for my Samuel.

The rest of Samuel's life - and death - is conjecture and is the basis of one of my BRICK WALLS. I wrote the following about this man and his family/life/death and have posted it on my website in hopes that others also searching might help. To date, even though I have corresponded with other descendants of Samuel's (b. 1731), we can not truly get documentation of his marriages/births of his four children or his death. The BRICK WALL (as it appears on my website):

Samuel Hitchcock - b. 28 Feb 1730/31 in New Milford, Litchfield, CT, d. 19 Feb 1801 in Sheffield, Berkshire, MA. He leaves no will/no grave/no evidence of actual death date.

Marriage1 -  Abt. 1766 in Middletown, Middlesex, MA, Sarah Sears - b. Abt. 1746 in Yarmouth, Barnstable, MA and d. Aft. 1771 in New Marlborough, Berkshire, MA. No real evidence of Sarah’s birth (although she is listed in the S.P. May book, the Sears Genealogy)/marriage/death/burial or births of children:

Ebenezer Hitchcock (b. 1767)
Reuben Hitchcock (b. 1769)
Jerusha Hitchcock (b. 1771)**     (my ancestor)

Marriage2 – Abt. 1773 in New Marlborough, Berkshire, MA, Elizabeth "Betsey" Sears (b. 19 Jun 1738 Yarmouth, Barnstable, MA and died abt 1809, probably in NY - and sister of Sarah). Child:

Silas Hitchcock (b. 1779)

The ONLY record I find for Sarah Sears is a Sarah listed in the family of Joshua and Rebecca (Mayo) Sears in the above book by Samuel P. May and reads: “married to a _____ Hitchcock.”  I believe this is my Sarah.  Her sister, Betsey Sears is also in this book and reads: “m. Samuel Hitchcock.”
Samuel May leaves no sources that I can find.


  1790 and 1800 Sheffield, MA Censuses show Samuel Hitchcock and family (but Sheffield can find NO  death record or grave for Samuel).
 
Samuel was a Rev. War Soldier from MA and his record shows Betsey as his widow.  Samuel served as a Private in Capt. Peter Ingersol's Company, Col. John Brown's Berkshire, MA Regiment. He is one of the supplementals I still need to prove for NSDAR. He has been approved in the past.

Rev. War Soldier - Robert FitzRandolph

Saturday was our Christmas luncheon for the Paradise Valley NSDAR Chapter I attend here in the Phoenix area. I am an Associate member, as I am still a member in the Alamo Chapter in San Antonio, Texas. I need to switch, but I just hate breaking more ties to San Antonio.

We were asked to talk about our NSDAR soldier, or another ancestor of interest. I think Robert FitzRandolph sounds like a rather interesting ancestor, so I went with him. He was my original DAR soldier. He was born December 14, 1741 in Woodbridge, New Jersey, in Middlesex County. His parents were Robert and Catherine Taylor FitzRandolph. They were Quakers. Robert and Catherine were first cousins and because of this, they were disowned by the Quakers for marrying. I don't know if they ever were accepted back into the Quaker Society.

Much has been written about the beginnings of the FitzRandolphs. In a nutshell, the family descended from a Norman line who accompanied William the Conqueror in 1066. They became prominent landowners in Yorkshire, England. Eventually, the original immigrant, Edward FitzRandolph, settled in Massachusetts (Cape Cod area) about 1630. He came without his parents. His father died before 27 Oct 1647 in Kneesall, Notinghamshire, England. In his will, he left his son, Edward, 10 pounds "if he cum to demand it."  They were Baptists and were threatened with banishment and so several of his children became settlers in Piscataway, New Jersey. Another member of the family (Nathaniel) was instrumental in establishing Princeton University, in 1753 he gave "four acres and a half of land to set the college on." In 1676, the FitzRandolphs were established at what became the Village of Randolphville, NJ. My cousin Rebekah Fleury is responsible for gathering much of this information for us.

Eventually, Robert and others settled in Crawford County, Pennsylvania, in Meadville. Robert died at his farm south of Meadville on July 16, 1830. He was 89 years old.

The following comes from "The History of Crawford County,"  1885. It is not quoted as I reworded some of it:
He married, Sarah Taylor, when he was quite young [abt. 1767] and in 1771 moved with his family to Northampton, (now Lehigh County, PA) and in 1773 he moved to Northumberland County, the the western frontier of the State. In 1776, the Indians swooped down upon the settlers of that locality, killing many and driving the balance from their homes. He then fled with his family to Berks County, PA. The following year he returned to his deserted home, and soon after joined Col. William Crook's regiment and fought in the battle of Germantown on October 3, 1777. He served only a brief period when he was discharged and returned to his home on the Susquehanna River. Another raid was made upon the settlement by the cruel and unrelenting savages, who murdered and pillaged along the whole frontier. Finding no prospect of peace or safety for his family, he went back to his native state where they would at least be secure from the errors of the scalping-knife. He then re-entered the army and served until the close of the war. Upon the dawn of a glorious peace, in 1783, Mr. FitzRandolph returned to Northumberland County, PA and settled on Shamokin Creek, where he resided until 1789, when he came with his family to the valley of French Creek, arriving at the site of Meadville (PA) on the 6th of July. His son, James, was one of the nine who came in 1788, and upon the land selected by James, some two miles south of the site of Meadville, in what is now Mead Township, his father settled and resided until his death.

When Robert was in his seventy-second year, the War of 1812 broke out, on the first call for volunteers he started out for Erie, with four of his sons and two grandsons to offer his services to his country. Upon arriving, he was persuaded by some friends to return home, nevertheless the prompt action demonstrates the fiery patriotism with which this old pioneer was imbued.  They also stated that he "was a man who mingled little in the controversies and cares of public life. He cultivated by precept, as well as by example peace on earth and good will toward men. The friend who visited his home was sure to receive a cordial welcome, while the stranger or unfortunate were never sent away empty-handed. Old and full of days he went down to the grave without leaving behind him a single enemy."

What flowery language and great fun to read. He sounds like quite the man. Wouldn't you love to talk to him today?  There is much, much more written about the FitzRandolphs. It is a rich history we have descended from with this family. Some of the FitzRandolphs dropped the Fitz, and just go by the Randolph name.
Anna Elizabeth FitzRandolph married Mark Beckington in 1869. Her family had moved from Meadville to the Boone County area of Illinois about 1844.

As time permits, I will write about some of our other soldiers. Joseph Hazeltine(ton) and John Noyes have already been accepted. I am now working on supplements for: John Chapman, David Rhoads, Samuel Hitchcock and Roswell Lane. Mary Ella Hazelton Childs also was accepted under all these soldiers in the early 1900s.

GenieGirls meet again.

We had a great third meeting of the GenieGirls on Wednesday, our new genealogy study group. There are nine of us, with eight in attendance this month. It was another great meeting. There was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement in the room. Everyone is eager to learn and contribute. We heard from those who accomplished more on the goals they set early on and fielded questions in a number of other areas we have discussed.

We talked further about our research trip to the Mesa Library for our February meeting, going over the LDS website (www.familysearch.org) and how to search for microfilms and books that might be available at the library for each member's area of interest. They will bring a list of films that they find are not available in Mesa to order from Salt Lake City. We will order them in January. We are also arranging a tour of the Library to begin our day.

I am now contemplating what we will do during future meetings. Susan suggested taking a member's individual project, maybe one that has some "problems" attached to it,  and spending a meeting going through the process of actual research. It would be interesting and educational for us all. What are the first steps when starting a particular research question? How does each person approach it and what steps do they take? I think that is an exciting possibility. But I need to think about how much can be accomplished in two hours (or do we need to expand to two meetings, plus some homework) and exactly how do we organize each person's contribution to get the most out of our time and extract the most information for the project.

I will talk to Kristin about whether she would be interested is using her "mysterious" grandmother for our first project.

Janet

A new article is published!

I was excited  to have the current issue (Winter 2011) of the Ypsilanti Gleanings arrive by mail today with my latest article, "The Second Wife" published in it. This publication is the newsletter for the Ypsilanti Historical Society in, of course, Ypsilanti, Michigan. I wrote the article on my great-great-grandfather, Brooks Bowman Hazelton, and his second marriage to Katherine J. "Kate" Schaff. It mostly deals with the will he left upon his death and the consequences of that will. I think it is very interesting. I hope you enjoy it. http://www.ypsilantihistoricalsociety.org/publications/gleanings.html
If that issue isn't on their website yet, check back later.

I also hope everyone had a wonderful turkey day yesterday - we were lucky to have both children here, plus my daughter's boyfriend. We had a great day - food, football, dogs (we are now dogsitting for 3 weeks), fun and more food!  What more can you ask for? Everyone is gone now (except the dogs, Scooter and Bella) and it is quiet again. Now to start getting ready for Christmas.

I have my genealogy study group next Wednesday and need to prepare for that. At the first meeting, we set individual goals and at our second meeting, we had an update from everyone.  All did very well and accomplished pretty much what they set out to accomplish. We also talked about getting organized and/or organizing the information we have already gathered. Everyone is at a different place with their research so we covered a few different topics and had good suggestions for us all to follow. We started planning a field trip for our February meeting to the Mesa Family History Library in Mesa, Arizona. It is either the second or third largest genealogy library after Salt Lake City, and we are fortunate to have it only about 45 minutes from here. Some of the group have never been. We started talking about what we need to do to prepare - each of us personally - for the trip. I suggested everyone pick a research topic/person to focus on during their time in the library. We had a demonstration on how to check on  microfilms and books connected to their topic. We will start with a tour, organized by one of our members, to familize ourselves with what the library has to offer.

I am excited about the group and we seem to have some determined members and everyone is excited to learn and fun to work with.

Sunday morning meanderings

After my days-long research to put the story of Mickey together, I took a break. I now want to write about a few miscellaneous things:

From the seminar I attended a week ago, here are websites one doesn't normally check out. I have had very little time to try many of them myself.  Of course, coming into the holidays doesn't make it easy for anyone. First, don't forget to consider researching other topics rather than just surnames: geographic location, ethnicity, religious belief and occupation. Visit the website of the local city or county public library of the area you are researching. Visit the state library of the state you are researching (city directories, if available, can be a huge resource). Then head to the state archives in that state. Check out the many state, county, and city/town historical societies in your area of interest.Then, visit the USGenWeb site (including the archives area) for the county and possibly the city/town (www.USGENWeb.org)

Try the following: worldcat.org; NUCMC (loc.gov/coll/nucmc); linkpendium.com; NARA (archives.gov); and even the National Park Service (NPS) for history and culture (nps.gov/history/history/). Here is the link to the Library of Contress and other Federal Government Documents: 
www.lcweb.loc.gov/rr/news/extgovd.html

There were many more mentioned, but this will get you started, and if you are like me - they will lead you to other sites.

Next, in tracking down another story in the family, I was trying to find out the names of the families that lived around my Beckington grandparents in rural Saline, Michigan. Unfortunately, they didn't move there until after 1930. As we all know, the 1940 census will be out next April, so I have to wait for that. The next logical step would be city directories. Unfortunately, these are not always available for smaller towns. I checked with the Saline Library and the local Family History Center in Saline. I am interested in 1935-45. The Ann Arbor Library has city directories and the librarian I talked to was gracious enough to check a 1941 directory and found it did contain Saline residents. I need to get someone to visit the Ann Arbor Library to see if the directories they do have include Saline, and if the information I need is there. If they don't have it, I will next call the Michigan State Archives in Lansing. I will keep you posted.

There always seems to be a "mystery" to solve!

Who was Mickey? - Part II

Back to our Mickey story:  (Part I ran last Friday)

 We have been able to establish Mickey's name/birth and death dates, place of burial and certainly know who his mother was. Who was his father? We will probably never know. His mother was 16 1/2 years old when Mickey was conceived. Family rumors abound. Garth married Dorothy when she had a child, he cared for Mickey very much, and he wanted more children. Dorothy did not. Was it the trauma from the conception, or the birth of Mickey that was the impetus for those feelings? After talking with an older cousin, the best we can assume is that Garth and Dorothy might have met “out on the town” in Ann Arbor. Dorothy and Mickey were living with her mother and step-father when they met. When they married on June 6, 1942, Garth was 32 and Dorothy was 23. His family thought that Garth would be a bachelor the rest of his life. Garth served in WWII. I am not sure of his dates of service and whether he was on furlough when they met or married.

 Dorothy's parents were divorced before she was 10. On the 1930 census for Ann Arbor, Michigan, her mother Alice is married and living with her second husband, William A. Gross; Dorothy and Iris are listed as his step-daughters. I can find no living children for William, from his earlier marriage to Alberta Lein, in 1911. I did find a death certificate from their child, Evelyn Gross. She died at three months of age from pneumonia. She was born eight months after they married. Alberta was 18 and William was 19. They were still together, with no children listed, on the 1920 census for Berrien County, Michigan.

Also living with the Gross family on the 1930 census is a brother of Alice's; Henry, age 24. In searching further for Alice's parents, Theodore and Mary (or Marie) Sovey Marenger, I found they too were divorced when their children were young. I don’t know what happened to Theodore, but Mary remarried three more times: first to Albert King, a man 14 years her senior; then to Michael Shea who was also about 15 years her senior. The Sheas had either two or three boys. After Michael died in 1923, she married a fourth time to a Joseph Yesavich. Joseph died in 1960 and Mary in 1966 in Escanaba. Alice and her siblings, Henry, Marie and Regina spent most of their childhood in Escanaba, Michigan. I did find Marie married Pierce Sweig in 1918 and it appears they had a son, Leonard, in 1921 and a daughter, Carmen, in 1920. I couldn’t find anything further on Henry or Regina. I couldn’t find anything on Carmen after 1920. Leonard (if I found the correct one), died in Florida in 1984. I tried following some of the other family members, but didn’t have a great deal of success.

My conclusions: I am pleased that I found more information on Mickey. I can’t really put a face to him or a personality, because so far no one remembers much about him. One cousin said that Dorothy dressed him like a “little man” (note the picture next to this blog) and that he was very well behaved. I do not know who his father was. Was it a case of rape? Incest? Or was it a stranger? Was it just “getting caught” with a young boyfriend? Did she have a choice of keeping the baby or giving him up for adoption? I hope she kept him because she wanted and loved him. I hope both Dorothy and Garth enjoyed their years with him. I hope he was a happy little boy.

This is Michael R. Bruner, born on September 24, 1936, and who died on August 28, 1946, of that terrible disease, Polio. I did learn from a cousin that they had placed him in an “iron lung” during his last day. Rest in Peace, Mickey.

Seminar

I know, for most of you, rain is not unusual. But, in Phoenix; it is. And it feels good to see it raining and it smells wonderful this morning. Of course, that was originally written on Sunday morning. It has been sunny and 70 ever since. Not complaining.

I attended a wonderful seminar on Saturday. Mr. Witcher (see Thursday's blog for details) is indeed motivating. He is an excellent speaker. He told us about federal/state/county records which are not normally included in an initial genealogical search. They aren't in MY normal searches, or haven't been until now. I am anxious to spend some time online checking out what I can find. We need to learn to include WorldCat.org and loc.gov/coll/nucmc (Nucmc) and the Library of Congress - loc.gov/index/html, in our routine searches, just to name a few. Another theme he emphasized was to make sure we look at not only surnames when doing a search, but place, ethnicity, religion and occupation. The number of federal papers and state, county and city level papers that are not normally considered by genealogists is enormous. And information in them, including possibly about our ancestors, might be just what we are looking for.

Who was Mickey?

I have spent many hours thinking about exactly what I want from this blog. Or what I want others to gain from it. I have stated previously that I think we all should be writing our family stories. I am doing that. One of the things I have decided to do on this blog, is not necessarily write or publish the story here, but to record some of the steps I took to find facts for the story and discuss what other steps need to be taken in order to find as much information as I can to write the story. Maybe I will even get comments from others about areas I haven't investigated and need to think about.

So, "Who was Mickey?"  He was a child born to Dorothy Marie Bruner, before her marriage to my Uncle Garth Beckington (see Garth's story as one of Garth and Edna Beckington's children in a previous post). Mickey was born out-of-wedlock. No one knows much about him and, certainly, no one knows for sure who his father was. His name was Michael Bruner. In talking with a few cousins and my sister, to get what information I could, the name was always Mickey.  No one knew that Michael was his actual name and there was no middle name. They did not know his birth or death dates or where he was buried. The initial facts were: his name was Mickey, he had died of polio, he was about 11 years old and died somewhere between 1946-49.

First, I researched his mother and her family, Dorothy Marie Bruner. Dorothy was the daughter of Roy H. Bruner and his wife, Alice Marenger. Roy and Alice married on August 14, 1915 in Escanaba, Michigan, in Delta County. This is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  In other words, they were "uppers" (pronounced Yuppers - for you non-Michiganders out there - just had to get that in (grin)).  Anyway, Roy and Alice, first had a son, Renold, in 1916, who died on March 18, 1917. Then Iris was born in 1917. I do not know much about Iris. I don't know if she ever married. I have a query out for additional information about her. I will write about it later, if I find anything interesting. She is on the 1920 and 1930 censuses with her parents and sister. I did find an Iris Coultes in the Benton Township, Cheboygan, Michigan area, who died in 1994. Could this be Dorothy's sister? Dorothy was living in that area when she died on July 29, 1996. She and my uncle had been separated for years, but I am not sure they were legally divorced. Roy and Alice eventually divorced. Roy died in l962 and Alice died in 1985.

One cousin had several obituaries that her mother had saved over the years, and included was one for Mickey. She was kind enough to scan and send me a copy. There was no date on the newspaper. Obituaries can be very informative. This one was. It gave his birth date as September 24, 1936. A piece of information I did not know! The headline of the obituary reads: "County's First Polio Fatality in '46 Reported."  He had "bulbar polio, a virulent form attacking the spinal cord." They did not know where he got it as no other cases had shown up in the area. He died at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor. Because of the nature of his illness, friends were requested not to attend his lying in at the funeral home. He was buried at St. Thomas Cemetery in Ann Arbor. Dorothy may have been Catholic, the Beckingtons are not. I was able to take this information and call the office for the cemetery in Ann Arbor. A kind gentleman called me back with further information I did not have. Michael was buried as "Son, Michael R. Bruner" and in addition to the birth date, his death date was given as August 28, 1946. A single grave site was purchased, so he is not buried with any other family members. Also, according to the obit, Mickey was a student at the Bach School in Ann Arbor and was in a Cub Scout troop. His parents had moved from Ann Arbor to Ypsilanti about six months previous. He probably hadn't started school in Ypsilanti since moving. They lived at 413 W. Forest Avenue in Ypsilanti at the time of his death. He had been ill for three days when he died.

Poor little guy: no one knew his name, no one knows his father, no one knew exactly how old he was when he died, and he is buried all by himself. More on this boy later.

Genealogy withdrawal

I spent the last week working on another hobby. Sewing. I don't do it very often, but decided with Christmas coming that I would make some small gifts. So, for the last week I have been cutting, measuring, sewing and ironing.

I now have a case of 'genealogy withdrawal.' I have ignored my blog because I haven't had time. I had a couple of emails asking questions and have dealt with those, and I have a great seminar to attend this Saturday in Phoenix. Curt B. Witcher, Manager of the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, is giving a seminar. This will not only be great fun, especially talking and meeting with other genealogists, but Mr. Witcher is very knowledgeable and I am certain to learn new things and get remotivated to start digging again.

I wrote to a Connecticut genealogist a few weeks ago about getting some help with research on my LANE family in his area. The miserable weather and no power slowed his response back, but he is very busy and can't take on a longterm project right now. I am not sure I really want someone else to do a longterm project for me at this point in time anyway. I just need to visit CT in the summer! The State Library in Hartford, according to this man, has many records that are not filmed or scanned. I need to spend a week (at least) sitting in the library and going through papers/books and files. I read someplace that only about 2% of the records available are filmed or online. We tend to think that if it isn't online or filmed - it must not be there. Not the case at all!

I also need to get back to reading my grandmother, Edna's, letters and continue to work on the book I am writing about their courtship, including memories of them and a bit of family history. I am hoping to share this information with cousins and other relatives, and future generations of BECKINGTONs.

Fun in genealogy

First, I am going to wait to write about Garth and Edna's last child as she is still alive and well, hopefully, for many more years.

I am going to take a break from family dates, names and places. On to another topic - well, the same, but different!

The Art of Genealogy - those of us who are involved in genealogy know it is addicting. What is it about genealogy that IS addicting? I am sure there are as many answers as there are genealogists. ME - I love the "hunt." I am pretty good at searching for people from the past, finding all I can, online at first and then branching out. I have great success with phone calls and letter inquiries to the New England area and Michigan, both are places where most of my ancestors lived. English, Scottish and a little German is about it for ethnicity. I do have a great-grandfather who was adopted and is probably from Ireland.

I start with the usual places when beginning a fresh search: Ancestry.com for censuses and birth/death/marriage records, findagrave.com, USGenWeb, familysearch.org, local historical societies, etc. It is amazing what is now available online, and it grows daily. One needs to keep checking back to any website periodically to see what is new. I love the "detective" work, when one clue leads to another. At least that is the way it is supposed to work. I enjoy that kind of detail work. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I find a key piece of new evidence that helps to link one generation to another, or find another document needed to secure an ancestor in a particular location, time, and with his or her extended family. There is always the moment when one finds something new and previously undiscovered - a "genealogy happy dance" is always acceptable at this point. I will share some of those stories here in the future.

I was taught, by my genealogy mentor and dear friend, Diane Dozier Scannell, of San Antonio, Texas, that the basics are VERY important. Start with yourself and work backwards, one generation at a time, adding the appropriate documentation and sourcing as you go. My failure in this process is the - to me - dreaded sourcing. MY failure, not Diane's, that is for sure. I am getting better, writing it down and documenting it as I go. I am not always successful, as I want to do the actual research! I like paper too. I have friends who scan everything and keep it on the computer. I want it in my hands. Another suggestion from Diane is to make copies of all original documents. Put the originals in a safe place and only carry the copies out of the house with you on research trips. I try, really I do. I use FamilyTreeMaker 2011 as my database. I am comfortable with it and it works for me. It makes good, usable charts. I do not connect to the internet through it. I just don't.

Another fast rule that we have all heard is: not everything on the internet is true. Especially trees and websites by individuals. There are lots of mistakes and you have to be wary. Do they look like they have done a great deal of sourcing and documentation themselves? Or did they just copy from someone else's tree? Can you get in touch of them and ask questions? Do they know the answers to those questions? If you have information different from theirs, can you talk to them about it? We all know that some of the information is just copied from one person's tree to another. We also know that there are people who think if they can "see" it, it is true. Some genealogists are just name/place and date collectors. Some are "purists" and want to verify everything. Some want to put "meat on the bones." I consider myself to be a bit of all those. I want to have the full names, correct dates, etc. I want to have as much evidence to verify these things as I can. And, recently, thanks especially to a new friend here in Phoenix, Susan Krueger, I enjoy writing the stories of my ancestors for posterity. I think it is very important for us to know these people better, and to make sure that future generations know them also. And some of the stories are certainly worth telling and remembering. I have had two of my stories published.

Another thing I wish I had done early on in my research is to have two separate trees on my database. One with JUST documented and sourced people and one with everyone on it, whether verified or not. I have certainly added people that I have not verified myself. I try and note that on my database. These people will most likely be collateral lines and, only if really needed, will the information be confirmed and researched more thoroughly later.

More on this topic next time.  Janet

Children of Garth and Edna - Mary

Ann Mary Beckington, was the seventh child of Garth and Edna and was born on November 11, 1919 in Willis, on Whittaker Road at the family home. The name Ann, is from Edna's mother's sister, Frances Ann (Frankie) Hazelton Burke. Mary is from Edna's mother, Mary Ella (Ella) Hazelton Childs. She was always known as Mary to the family. Mary went through 11th grade at Lincoln High School before her parents moved to the Saline farm on Bemis Road, the summer before her senior year. She quit school her senior year as she didn't liked Saline High School. She met John Frederick Seitz from Saline and they married on September 15, 1940 in Saline. John quit school in the 8th grade, his mother died when he was six and eventually had to help support his two younger siblings. John served in the U.S. Naval Service for two years during WWII. When he returned, he started United Roofing in Saline. He ran the business until he died. Mary and Johnny had five children. Christine Ella, born in 1951, died at the age of two from pneumonia and a burst appendix. Two girls and two boys survived to adulthood. Mary died on June 12, 1999 in Saline. Johnny remarried December 5, 1999. He died on May 22, 2007. Their youngest son, Roy Frederick, born on November 13, 1954, died on March 1, 2008, leaving a wife and two sons. John and Mary are buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Saline, Michigan.

Children of Garth and Edna - Thomas

Thomas Woodburn Beckington was the sixth child and fifth son of Garth and Edna. He was born November 23, 1915 on Whittaker Road at the family home. I had always assumed he was named after his great-grandfather and our immigrant, Thomas Beckington of England, who settled with his wife and family in Boone County, Illinois, having come to America in 1847. Tom's middle name, Woodburn, is from the Dr. (Thomas Woodburn Patton)who delivered Tom. I suppose it is possible the Thomas came from this Dr. also. I guess Edna was running out of family names. Tom graduated from Lincoln High School and married Dorothy Virginia Ranson on January 16, 1938 in Angola, Indiana (there is a definite pattern at play here with Angola marriages in the family). Tom spent most of his life as a farmer in the Saline and Manchester areas before retiring to Saline, Michigan. Tom and Dorothy had three daughters and a son. Tom died on July 27, 1981 in Ann Arbor, Michigan from heart failure. Dorothy passed away on May 14, 1998, in Ann Arbor. They are buried in the Washtenong Cemetery in Ann Arbor.

Children of Garth and Edna - Margaret

Finally, a girl!  My mother, Margaret Edna Beckington, was born on May 1, 1913, at the family home on Whittaker Road in Willis, Michigan. All of Edna's children were born at home, as most children were in those days. Edna had taken a 2 1/2 year break from having children. Margaret was named after a dear friend and cousin-in-law of Edna's, Margaret Mavity Childs, who lived near Edna's family in Ypsilanti which was on Congress Street. Being the first girl, Margaret was cooking and cleaning at an early age - usually breakfast and lunch was served for all the farm hands AND the family. Sometimes as many as 15-20, depending on whether they were harvesting or not. I think this is why, when mother got older, she didn't do much cooking. My dad grew up knowing how to cook, as his dad did, and he did a lot of it. Of course the three of us girls helped as we got older too. But, my mother was a natural cook and when she did make something special like chicken and dumplings on a Sunday - it was wonderful.

She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1931, she did attend Eastern Michigan University (Normal College) for about a year. She was sometimes called Peggy or Marge by people she went to school with or worked with, but mostly she was Margaret. She and my dad, Grover Kenneth "Ken" McDougall, Jr., dated for about a year, and knew each other in high school. He graduated a year ahead of her from Lincoln. They married in Angola, Indiana (remember the gretna green?) on September 15, 1933. Despite their eloping, her brother Card, went with them. My mother almost immediately contracted TB after their marriage (as brothers Mark and Thomas also did during their younger years). This was probably the result of unpasteurized milk and living on a dairy farm!  She spent a year in the Sanitorium in Battle Creek. Because of this, they waited for children as they didn't know if it would even be possible for my mother to have children, or if it would prove a problem for her. She did fine and had three daughters from 1940 to 1947.

Margaret died of lung cancer on March 11, 1978, having been a smoker from the time of her marriage. My dad, Ken, survived another 18 years, dying on October 29, 1996. Ken died of complications from colon cancer. He quit smoking after watching Margaret die. They are both buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Saline, Michigan.

Children of Garth and Edna - Garth

Child and son #4 - Garth Randolph Beckington, was born December 5, 1910 at the family farm on Whittaker Road in Willis, Michigan. For those of you keeping track, this means Edna had four boys within 41 months - or six months less than four years! Thank goodness she then took a break!  Garth is named after his father and I assume the Randolph is from FitzRandolph. In fact, there are many Randolphs in the US that WERE FitzRandolphs and when you are researching FitzRandolphs you need to look at both names. Garth, from a very early age was known as "Toot."  When I asked an aunt why, she only assumes it was because he make a horn noise as a young child.

Uncle Toot was the only son who served in WWII. I believe he was mostly stationed in England. Toot married Dorothy Marie Bruner on June 6, 1942 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dorothy had a child, Michael "Mickey" from a previous relationship. Mickey was born about 1937 and died in 1949 from polio. Toot and Dorothy lived most of their married life in Whitmore Lake, Michigan. Toot died October 22, 1994 at a nursing home in Grass Lake, Michigan of (possibly) pancreatic cancer. Dorothy died on 29 July 1996 in Benton, Michigan. I believe they were separated in the later years of their marriage. They did not have children.

I have added a picture of the four boys. Don't you wonder how they got them to stand quietly long enough to take the picture?

Children of Garth and Edna - Brooks

Brooks Hazelton Beckington, son #3 of Garth and Edna's children was born on December 16, 1909 in Willis, Michigan in Washtenaw County. This means that Garth and Edna made the move to Michigan sometime after August, 1908, when Carlos was born and before Brooks' birth. Brooks is named after his great-grandfather, Brooks Bowman Hazelton.

Brooks graduated from Lincoln High School and married Irene Marjorie Merritt (born October 26, 1912 in Belleville, Michigan) in April, 1930 in Angola, Indiana. Angola is what is called a "gretna green" - which basically means a "marriages transacted in a jurisdiction that was not the residence of the parties being married, to avoid restrictions or procedures imposed by the parties' home jurisdiction." The name comes from a famous town in Scotland named Gretna Green, which became popular in the 1700s. In the United States, other gretna green towns which have become famous are: Elkton, Maryland, Las Vegas and Reno. I don't know if Angola is still used for that purpose. Brooks's sister, Margaret, also married there a couple of years later. It was mostly a place with no waiting period and an inexpensive way to marry back then.

Brooks and Irene had two children. A girl and then a boy. They spent their married life in a house in Belleville, Michigan. Brooks was an electrician and had a radio and tv repair shop out of his garage. Irene died on September 28, 1979 of heart failure. Brooks died on March 7, 1990 of brain cancer. They are both buried in the Flat Rock Memorial Park Cemetery, Flat Rock, Michigan in the Merritt family plot.

Children of Garth and Edna - Carlos

Carlos Lane "Card" Beckington was also born in Garden Prairie, Illinois. His date of birth was August 17, 1908. He was named after Edna's father, Carlos Webster Childs, and her grandmother, Sarah Ann Lane, married to Brooks Bowman Hazelton. These are Edna's mother, Mary Ella Hazelton Childs' parents. I do not know exactly how or why he became known as Card. Carlos married Ferina Catherine "Catherine" Maxwell on February 22, 1936 in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Catherine was born on July 14, 1911 in Tittabawassee Township, Saginaw, Michigan. There was some confusion to Catherine's first name as her parents couldn't agree on Ferina (which is on her birth certificate) or Serena (which is on her baptism certificate). She went by Catherine to the Beckington family, but was called Ferina by her family in Saginaw. She does have a great-granddaughter named after her with Serena as the first name. Card and Catherine had six children. Card was killed in a farming accident on February 27, 1963 on their farm in Chelsea, Michigan. Catherine was a hair stylist for many years and died of cancer on December 10, 1973. They are both buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Saline, Michigan.

Children of Garth and Edna - Mark

I will continue with my story of Garth and Edna. After they married in Ypsilanti, Michigan, they moved to Garden Prairie, Illinois where Garth was born and raised and lived for a few years. I think the only thing Garth ever did was farm. They rented a farm next door or near, his father, Mark's farm. Their first son, Mark FitzRandolph, was born there on July 22, 1907. Mark was named after Garth's father, Mark and his mother Anna's maiden name of FitzRandolph. Mark would eventually marry three times but never had children. He told me (or in my presence anyway) that it "must have been him" because he was married three times and no children were conceived. He died in Toledo, Ohio on July 24, 1964, of pancreatic cancer. Mark was a member of the Ypsilanti Phoenix Lodge #713, F&AM, of Ypsilanti and the Excelsior Chapter, R&AM, also of Ypsilanti. While in Ypsilanti, he worked for an insurance co. He had lived in Toledo for 12 years and his obituary states that "he worked for the past seven years as specifications engineer for the Kaiser-Jeep Corp." He quit high school in his last year. His third wife, was Estelle Manley. I know she had been married previously also, so do not know if Manley is her maiden name or married name. I have not been able to find much information on her. Mark is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Saline, Michigan. I do not know what happened to Estelle.

Whittaker House

The house you see in my profile picture is the house my mother was born in. It is (or was, I am not sure) located on Whittaker Road, outside of Ypsilanti, Michigan in Washtenaw County. I love old houses and cemeteries. I tend to go a little heavy on the cemetery pictures, so thought I would do something different this time. But, of course, you can see the Beckington headstone below the picture of the house. More on that tomorrow. Sorry, I have yet to figure out how to get a bigger picture of the house, maybe I can't.

Garth M. and Edna Ella Childs Beckington were married on 28 February 1906, in Ypsilanti. Garth was born and grew up in Garden Prairie, Illinois. Edna was visiting cousins in Garden Prairie in the winter/spring of 1904/05 when she and Garth met. She left in June 1905 and they corresponded until they married. They had eight children. My mother, Margaret Edna Beckington, was the fifth child and first girl.

You can visit my website for more details about Garth and Edna's children and grandchildren. There is a link near the bottom of this blog.

Sunday - October 9

I am not going to be posting everyday on this blog, but I do want to try a few to get comfortable with it all. I have had a couple of comments from family and friends that they are having trouble leaving comments. I am not sure why. More research into the working of blogs is needed. I also want to connect the blog to my website and visa versa.

Genealogy: I started a study group - we will call ourselves the Genealogy Girls Group, or "GenieGirls." There are nine of us and we are hoping this once-a-month get together will help us to set goals and actually accomplish them as we will have to answer to the others if we don't. Also, a lesson or two, field trips to the local genealogy libraries and just helping each other in general will happen along the way.

First day - October 8, 2011

This is my first day, my first blog. This is a process and I am still establishing what I want for this blog and from this blog. I would like to share information. I do not expect this to be a blog, necessarily, about the process of my work. But I do hope over the next days/weeks to develop a style and gain some understanding of what I want to attain from it.

I do have a website and I would like it to be an extension of that website. I know this will take time to figure out just the mechanics of having a blog. So have patience (this is for me, mostly).