How old was your great-grandfather when you were born?

We have a family member who has the unusual distinction of having a great-grandfather who was born in 1791.

Thomas Lee Combs, was born on August 30, 1947, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Tom's father was born on January 7, 1897.

Tom's grandfather was born on July 28, 1850.

Tom's great-grandfather was born in 1791.

     Tom's father, George, was the youngest of five surviving boys, born in Stoney Creek, Washtenaw Co., Michigan. George was married to Fannie Barnum (1896-1940). They had two children: Ester and Dean. The babysitter for the children was Elberta D. Alber (1916-1979). George married Elberta on 3 Aug 1942, and they are Tom's parents.

     George's parents were: Seymour Erastus Combs and his wife, Frances J. Potter. Seymour was the youngest of six children. His parents were:

     Richard, born in 1791.His wife was Anna Coffee (or Hill) Crosby. Richard was born in England and came to the United States probably in the late 1820s or early 1830s and settled in New York. He was married to Clarissa. At some point, he abandoned Clarissa (she eventually divorced him) and settled in Michigan, probably traveling via the newly built Erie Canal. He met Anna Crosby, probably in New York, wife of Lemuel Crosby. Anna had three children with Lemuel. Richard and Anna married in 1843. They had six children, at least three were born before they married: Charles, Hiram, Alice, Mary, Almon (who died as an infant), and Seymour. Seymour was born a few months after his father, Richard, was gored by a bull and died.

     For those who are math-challenged (!) - George, was 50 years old when Tom was born, George's father, Seymour, was 47 at the time of his birth, and HIS father, Richard, was 59 when Seymour was born. A lot of years in between - 156 to be exact. Naturally, the mothers of these men were younger than their husbands. Richard's and George's wives were both 19 years younger. Frances was 8 years younger than Seymour.

     Seymour was about five years too young for the Civil War, but he had many contemporaries who served. I don't see any evidence that his older brothers served in the Civil War, but more research needs to be done. Many of Tom's contemporaries had fathers who served during WWII. Tom's father was in the very last days of WWI.

     On the other end of the spectrum: A cousin was born in 1954, she had her first child when she was 18. This child had his first baby in 1993 at the age of 20, so she  was a grandmother at 38. Her mother was born in 1936, which made this woman a great-grandmother at 57. The great-great-grandmother of the child born in 1993, was born in 1914. If she had lived to 79, they could have posed for a five-generation portrait.

     Tom's great-grandfather was 156 years older than he was, whereas the cousin's lineage had 57 years between a baby and her great-grandmother. So, I got curious about my great-grandfathers - 111, 102, 99 and 76 when I was born. None were alive and neither were any of my great-grandmothers. How old were yours?

Bits and Pieces

It has been a fast two months since I added to this blog - what have I done in two months?

     The most exciting answer to that question goes to writing an article which will be published any day now in the current issue of the Illinois State Genealogical Society Quarterly.  http://www.ilgensoc.org.  It is titled: "Water - Both Life and Death to the Beckington Family." It is about the Beckington family's journey to the United States from England in 1847. I can't wait to see it in print and for everyone to read it. You can request a copy of the issue, but they don't print a great many extras. Let me know if you would like a copy of the article. I can send you one via email.

     The holidays are upon us and of course that means family. We had eight around our table at Thanksgiving this year. It was fun to catch up with everyone. Too much food - but then, that is the point - right? My husband is the pie maker in our family - this year he made three: Chocolate Pecan (the favorite), Apple (always wonderful) and a Sweet Potato (maybe because we are northerners - it wasn't the biggest hit). It was especially fun to have a nephew and his family fly from Florida to join us for the weekend. I was excited to meet his wife and son (6) for the first time - and loved them both!

     Our Study Group celebrated three years in September (actually early October). We had new goals and some being a continuation last year. I am continually amazed at the different levels,  interests and strengths that each of us brings to the table. We all learn from each other.

I still have a client that I have ignored this fall, but I hope by early January to get a summary done of the information I have gathered and see where we stand, and where we still need to go to complete the project to his satisfaction.

     The writers group - Writers on Wheels - is keeping me on my toes. I have started another article. This time I am tackling Bruce's mother's family. His paternal grandmother (Madelyn) was born in Massachusetts and I am writing about a fire in their hometown (at the time) of Chelsea, MA that affected her mother (Minnie) and consequently Madelyn's life.

     For family members, we lost our Aunt Jim (Alice Louise Beckington Templeton) on November 23, just a few weeks shy of her 91st birthday (December 8, 1923). She was born in Michigan, but died in New Mexico. She was the last (and youngest) of Garth and Edna (Childs) Beckington's eight children. That generation for us, including spouses, is now gone. As one cousin said in an email "Makes us feel alone." That is true. In our generation - the grandchildren of Garth and Edna - there were 23 - six boys and the rest girls. We have lost six of these grandchildren, including two of Aunt Jim's children.  The oldest grandchild was born in 1930 and the youngest two were born in 1954. I have counted 52 in the next generation and we are going strong in the generation after that. I have a feeling I have lost count. Unfortunately, everyone is not as connected as we used to be. Facebook does help though.

     Another comment concerning Aunt Jim and New Mexico. She has two cousins from her generation (children of her father's siblings) still alive. One will be 90 next May and the other, a male, will be 94 at the end of January. These two (one born in DC and the other in Illinois) are both in New Mexico (what are the odds?) and all three have some form of macular degeneration. Beckington cousins beware!

    And I just know some of you are asking: How did she get her nickname 'Jim'? The story is that even though Garth had five sons none was named Jim and he always liked that name. Since Alice was going to be their last child (her mother, Edna, was 44 when Jim was born), he decided she was going to be the 'Jim'. And it stuck, all her life, to her family anyway. I think those outside the family called her Louise. What made it even more confusing was that she was married to Terry. So when you said Aunt Jim and Uncle Terry, people would say - you have that backwards. No, we didn't!

 

 Alice Louise (Beckington) Templeton

December 8, 1923 - November 23, 2014