Davey Book Finished At Last

Finally, I have published the book about my mother-in-law and her ancestors, Alice Mildred Davey Higgins 1914-2008; Her Danish, Swedish, and Cornish Ancestry. I know it took me much longer than it should have but I stumbled many times while writing Alice's story. I had so much information it was difficult to know what to include and what to leave out.

I used Lulu.com for the printing and am quite happy with the results. I fear I ordered too many for distribution to family and donations to the various archives, libraries, historical societies,and such, so I have plenty of excess. However, in addition to what I have, anyone can order an on-demand copy at anytime. I priced it basically at cost because I'm not looking to profit in anyway. This was a labor of love!.

Now, I'm back to researching for my next publication. As I haven't decided which direction to take, I'm simply going over previous research and working on finding all the documentation I can until inspiration strikes. In addition, I'll be writing short bios and family stories as I go so when inspiration does strike I"ll have a head start.

~Becky~

Where are Thomas and Elizabeth Stephens in 1870?

This is my writing for today for the February writing challenge. Frustration set in yesterday as I wrote about my husband’s 3^rd great-grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Letcher Nankivel) Stephens. My focus has been Elizabeth’s journey in America – her life as the wife of a lead miner.  Thomas came to the U.S. with his father and brother in 1840 and they brought the rest of the family over in 1842. Even though Elizabeth wasn’t accepted by Thomas’s family with open arms because she was a widow with three boys, she followed along with the large family group.

My frustration has set in because I can’t find the Thomas or Elizabeth in the 1870 US census. They are in Grant County, Wisconsin in 1850, Iowa County, Wisconsin in 1860 and Thomas is in Grant County again in 1880. Elizabeth died abt. 1874. Thomas was a lead miner and I know he went off to other regions to mine through the years – in 1865 he is in Michigan’s UP working the Lake Superior mines. There are a couple of extant letters from Elizabeth to him and from him to Elizabeth during that year. Elizabeth was living in Platteville, Grant, Wisconsin at that time.

I’ve tried every variation of the spelling of Stephens I can think of to no avail. I’ve now begun a page by page search of the 1870 census for both Iowa and Grant counties in hopes at least finding Elizabeth. It appears at least three of their children should still be with her – Jane, Agnes, and Thomas. Not luck with them either. She isn’t living with her daughter Elizabeth Ann Rose, Mary Louise Davey, Irene Persons, or her sons Timothy or Henry Nankivel.

I know missing this census shouldn’t inhibit my writing their story but, for some reason, it just ticked me off yesterday and today. I’ll keep looking for them but will also move ahead tomorrow.

Searching for Sarah Stephens

I’ve been doing a little research in preparation for this year’s February Writing Challenge. My focus will be on the Stephens family which immigrated to Platteville, Grant, Wisconsin. The forerunners arrived in 1840 and most of the rest of the “colony”, as they became known, following in 1842.

Working my way through the children of James and Mary (Murrish) Stephens and trying to fill out their lives, I’ve run into a snag – really one of many but this is today’s topic – with daughter, Sarah aka Sally. Sarah went to Platteville from Perranzabuloe, Cornwall, England with her mother in 1842. She married Warner C. Moore in 1847 and they lived together in Muscoda, Grant, Wisconsin through 1880. Warner died before January 9, 1873 when Sarah filed for a military pension as a widow since Warner had served in the Civil War in the Wisconsin Infantry.

I last find Sarah in the 1880 US Federal Census in Muscoda as the head of the household with her sons, James, Frank and Alfred. To date I’ve not uncovered death records or cemetery markers for either Warner or Sarah. Logically, Warner would be buried in Grant County since he and Sarah are in Muscoda before his death and Sarah and sons are there after his death. Sarah, on the other hand, may have moved from there after 1880.

In an effort to find her on the 1900 census, I’ve been tracing the paths of her children, thinking she may be living with one of them. She and Warner had seven children, two girls and five boys. I’ve been able to track down the girl’s married names but so far no luck finding Sarah. Maybe she died before 1900 but I haven’t found a death record either.

Well, at least she’s not a direct ancestor to me husband which means she’s not a deal breaker!

Family History Writing Challenge February 2015

So here I go again. 

I passed on the writers’ challenge last year which was probably a big mistake. Though I did get some work done on my project, I probably would be much closer to the end had I taken advantage of the support and accountability from the group. In fact, I’m still trying to finish a project I started two years ago. Granted it is a large undertaking but really?

I’ve managed to complete the write-ups for Alice’s maternal side and am currently working on her paternal side. What brought me to a halt until recently was my attempt to write Alice’s story. My late mother-in-law left me with plenty with which to work. I have her diary which she kept from about 1929 until near her death – not a “this is how I feel” account, more of a “this is what I did calendar”. In addition, she saved nearly everything from receipts for her wedding to enough memorabilia to overflow her cedar chest. Add to that the fact of our personal relationship. It’s just overwhelming! How do I write her story within inserting my viewpoint?

For now, I’ve put that down and turned to her paternal Cornish (both sides) ancestors for relief. On the one hand, I need lots of historical background for filler; on the other hand, I’ve been wasting valuable time researching distant cousins rather than writing the direct ancestors’ stories. My hope is this February challenge will help me focus on the writing. Writing will come first and only after my daily goal is fulfilled will I allow myself to check on those collateral lines.

A Gap in Time

My husband's grandmother, Alice Augusta Christiansen Larson Davey, is giving me writer's block! I'm trying to write her story but am at a loss for filling in a few short but very important years. In the 1900 census, she is living in her "home" town of Ishpeming, Michigan, age 20, working as a live-in servant. In 1906 she married Fred Davey in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; however, Fred was living in Chicago at the time and the couple resided there after the marriage.

So, did Alice move from Ishpeming to Chicago? If so, why? How and where did a nice Swedish girl from Michigan meet a rakish Cornish boy from Dodgeville, Wisconsin? Fred was working as a barber so perhaps he had gone to Chicago to learn the trade.

Why did they marry in Milwaukee? Was it a Gretna Green thing? They were both of age to marry so that wasn't a problem?

I really hate lightly tripping over those years in the story but all I have at the moment is facts, no details. There is no one left in the family who would know the answer to the questions. What a shame! I'm sure there is a good story in those five years which may be lost forever.

~ Becky

Amelia Ellstrom and Some Reporting Problems

Even though it’s been awhile since my last post, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy working on my project. Since my last post I’ve created the outline for the book and a draft copy. A draft copy meaning I’ve set up the various levels of headers and inserted the stories I’ve already completed. My biggest problem in that part of the project is figuring out how to put reports created in Family Tree Maker (saved as .rft) into my reports section. I did manage to insert an ahnentafel with only minor items to be fixed (mostly under Sources) but have yet to master the Family Group Sheet which will be greatly needed.

However, that is not the purpose of this post. I’ve just finished a first draft of the story of Amelia Ellstrom, my husband’s great-grandmother. I wanted to create something that showed her strong character and family values. In some cases, I think I did; in others, I seemed to fall into the old stating of vital records syndrome.  

Actually her “story” is split, the early years are included in “Ellstrom family” portion and her adult years are in the “Amelia Ellstrom Chrisiansen Larson” part. The Ellstrom family story begins like this:

It must have seemed as though Amelia’s father had been gone a very long time. The rest of the family -Amelia, her mother, Christina, her older sister Augusta, and her younger brothers, Alexander and Albert – had been waiting for word from her father, Frederick Ellstrom. He had gone to America from their home in Bäckefors, Sweden in search of work and a new beginning. Ten year old Amelia didn’t quite understand why they had to leave their home but she did know the past year or so money had been tight and food sparse. It was 1869 and crops didn’t look any better this year than last. Mother and father said there was no choice but to start over where work and food were plentiful and from what they had heard America was the place to go.

At last, Frederick called for them to join him in Marquette, Michigan. He sent the money for their trip and plans were made for the long journey.  Amelia probably shed a few tears as she said her goodbyes to her friends and neighbors. She knew in her heart she would most likely never see any of them again and had no way of knowing what lay ahead for her.

It continues on in a similar fashion until the family reaches Marquette and the viewpoint moves from Amelia to the family in general.

Amelia’s adult years begin like this:

Amelia, the second child of Frederick and Christina Ellstrom, arrived in America at the age of 10 in 1869. She had traveled with her mother and three siblings from Bäckefors, Sweden. It had been an amazing adventure for a young girl. She and her family settled into the ways of their new Country and enjoyed a comfortable home life. In the meantime, her future husband was doing much the same.

This part of the story is where I really wanted to get into Amelia’s head and see things from her perspective. She and her 1^st husband, Hans Christiansen, had 2 children before he died in 1883 just four years after their marriage. I think it took great strength for her to continue on in the house they shared in Ishpeming and not return to live with her parents in Marquette. Exactly how she provided for the girls I don’t know. There seems to have been a benevolent fund among the miners but that help probably wasn’t enough to sustain for any length of time. My guess is she probably took in laundry, turned to dress making, whatever it took to provide. She was also very involved with the Swedish Baptist Church and would have received moral support, if nothing else, from the congregation.

She remarried, to Carl Larson another miner, four years after the death of Hans. Four years was a long time for a “single” mother to be on her own during the 1880s. Carl had arrived in Ishpeming in 1885 and so didn’t know Hans. He was, however, drawn to Amelia even though she had two young girls in tow. Carl and Amelia had five children of their own.

Besides the loss of her husband, Hans, I imagine the other two greatest tragedies in her life were the death of her youngest son, Clifford in 1923 and the discord between her husband Carl and her oldest child, Alice. I don’t know what caused this break, but before she was twenty years old Alice was already out of the household and working as a live-in servant. She was the only child in the family to leave like that. Also, after the death of Carl it is made clear that she was to be omitted from inheriting. I’m sure Amelia suffered over such a disruption in the family.

However, Amelia’s relationship with Carl appears to have been a good one; so much so that after her death in 1930, he took his own life just six months later. They had been together for over forty years.

Anyway, I’m going to revisit what I’ve written to see if I can show her feelings, rather than tell about them.

I’m also going to continue to try to figure out my reports problem.

~ Becky

One Hundred Years and Counting

Yesterday was a great and fun day. Thanks to some friends Happy’s (my father-in-law) 100^th birthday party came off without a hitch. Don, Sharon, and Dean did an absolutely wonderful of decorating, providing the delicious food, and serving in a gracious manner. Their expertise and generous gift of time and talent removed great stress from the family and allowed all of us to enjoy the day greeting and meeting with friends and relatives. We, especially Millie (my sister-in-law), were able to stay near Happy, giving him the emotional support he needed. What a blessing!

Here’s a four-generation photo:

Seated Francis Joseph "Happy" Higgins

Front row: Granddaughters Tammy & Samantha

Next row: Great-Grandsons Stewart & Kristian and Son Jim (my husband)

Back row: Great-Grandson Derek

Great-Granddaughter Randi was unable to attend because she is in school in Texas.

I can't close without showing the wonderful spread provided by our friends: