Ancestor Approved Award!

I was very surprised and honored to be chosen by TJLGenes for the Ancestor Approved Award! Thanks very much!


The rules of this award are that if you receive it, you must list 10 things you have learned about your ancestors that have surprised, humbled or enlightened you,  and then pass the award on to 10 other genealogy bloggers who you believe would make their ancestors proud.


So here are my ten items:


1) I am constantly surprised at how many people in the United States actually share  "my" ancestors.  Case in point is Barbara Poole from the genealogy blog Life from the Roots. We share at least thirteen ancestors in MA and CT, and probably more! 


2) I was very surprised to find out that my great great grandfather JOHN F MARTINE lived on Bay street in downtown Bellingham, Whatcom Co  WA in the early 1900s.  When I moved to Bellingham WA in the 1970s to go to WWU, I lived in an upstairs apartment in a building on Bay street--right across the street from where gg grandfather JOHN F. MARTINE once lived. Of course, I didn't know it at the time, and the building he lived in was long gone, but still this is one incredible coincidence. The sad part is that no one in my immediate family seemed to know that  JOHN F. MARTINE was even our ancestor or that he ever lived in WA state!


3) I was humbled to learn that my gg grandmother NANCY VAN ARSDALE (b 1828 Harrison Co IN) lost nearly her entire family during the Cholera epidemic of 1832. Her mother and six of her siblings perished from the disease in Harrison Co IN.  Only NANCY and her sisters HARRIET VAN ARSDALE and MARGARET VAN ARSDALE survived.  The orphaned girls were raised by relatives in Boone & Montgomery Co IN until they were old enough to be "bound out" for service. This basically meant forced child labor in other families within the community, probably only for room & board. The three girls must have had very difficult lives before they married.  NANCY married ELI BRANSON FRAZIER, a Quaker, in 1847, Thorntown, Boone Co IN.


4) I was surprised, humbled and enlightened to find that I have at least 31 ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War (and counting).


5) Likewise I was surprised, humbled & enlightened to find out that I have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower--John Howland & Elizabeth Tilley


6) I was surprised, humbled & enlightened to find out that many of my Quaker ancestors were involved in the Underground Railroad in Indiana and Iowa.  Some of monthly meetings they attended that were involved in the UR were:  Westfield MM, Hamilton Co IN;  Salem MM, Henry Co Iowa and Bangor MM, Marshall Co Iowa. 


7) I was  surprised and enlightened to learn that my background is about 90% English.  This goes slightly against what I was told as a child.  The remaining 10% of my heritage is  Dutch, French, German/Swiss, Scots, and Welsh. I have a couple of ancestors from the Isle of Man, some from Belgium, a few that were possibly Irish, and as I noted in a previous blog, one branch that was possibly Native American (Cherokee). And only one Norwegian.


8) I was surprised to learn that some of my Dutch ancestors in PA owned slaves. I believed  the Dutch Reformed church was against slavery. Maybe it was--but that didn't stop my Dutch ancestors from owning slaves in the colonial period.


9) I was humbled to learn that one of my gg grandmothers, LAVINA SCOTT BRUTON, hung herself in 1880, when she was in her 70s.   When I obtained the court inquest documents, it was apparent to me from the description of her behavior  that she was likely suffering from dementia (having had the experience of caring for my mother, who had dementia, I recognized the symptoms. ). Of course, back then, there was no such diagnosis. 


10) I am completely & totally surprised & enlightened at how very much I have been able to learn about my family tree, and humbled by how much more there is to learn.  I love doing the research, and hope to continue for many years to come!!


And here, in no particular order, are the ten bloggers that I nominate for the next Ancestor Approved Award:


Barbara Poole  Life from the Roots
Renate Sanders Into the Light
Teri Pennsylvania History & Genealogy Blog
Katie The Gene Gleaner
Amy They That Go Down to the Sea
Cheryl Twice Upon a Time
Becky  Grace and Glory
Sarah Geneapprentice
Wendy New England Genealogy
Lisa Are You My Cousin?


I have tried to select bloggers who have not received this award before. I apologize for any duplication!


Have a great day! 


Betty