• honeysucklefarm.ok@gmail.com

Category: Lisa’s Family

Their Bodies to Perpetual Prison

Merrie Ole Englande series: #6

This week’s theme is ‘females’. I woke up cranky today, much like my maternal 14th great-grandmother, Agnes TILNEY HOWARD about whom I’ll be writing today. Agnes is my ancestor through my BATES line and her second husband, Thomas HOWARD, is my 14th great-grandfather. I descend through their son, William HOWARD, 1st Baron of Effingham and his wife Margaret GAMAGE (my 13th great-grandparents).

If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know that I write these stories for my daughter and grandchildren so that when I’m gone, they won’t lose their history. I’m banking on the fact that the internet really is “forever”. In regard to this story, if there’s a lesson here for my grandsons I think it would be that what you do when you’re young really does matter. The decisions you make tell others who you really are and whether you’re trustworthy. The actions you take (and the decisions you make) can have life altering consequences. As my grandpa said, do what’s right – always. That way you have nothing to worry about.

Agnes Tilney

I want to set the stage by listing various descriptions of Agnes that I’ve found online. She was described as ‘old and testy’, ‘stiff-necked’, ‘old-fashioned’, had an ‘acid tongue’ and a ‘fiery temper’, a stubborn streak regarding certain issues, disregard for the refinements of high society, total disdain for courtly etiquette, rigidly religious, ‘old and unwell’, near death (she was very ill when she was arrested and she did die just two years after she was released and pardoned). Under this façade though, lay a shrewdness and knowledge of the ways of the world – street smarts, if you will. Not to mention, all of her testiness and her ‘acid tongue’ kept her from going to trial until the king’s anger had subsided – which saved her life. The king & the Council felt Agnes “may die out of perversity to defraud the King’s Highness of the confiscation of her goods” so they didn’t want to put her on trial. Instead, they chose not to deal with her. They indicted her and confiscated her property for the Crown without a trial. (Wikipedia)

Agnes TILNEY’s family was a powerful and wealthy family in England in her day. She also married into money and power. She was one of the wealthiest and highest ranking women in the country outside of the Royal family. Agnes was first appointed a position at Court when she was 15 years old.

Her name, her husband’s name, and her son’s name (all my direct ancestors) are mentioned in the book, A Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government Unto the Death of King James. (JSTOR) See image below.

Mention of Thomas HOWARD, Agnes TILNEY HOWARD, and William HOWARD in A Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government Unto the Death of King James.

The paragraph reads in part:

…William Lord HOWARD of Effingham, son of that warlike Thomas HOWARD Duke of Norfolk by his second wife Agnes TILNEY. This William was made a Baron by Queen Mary and Lord High Admiral of England, and by Queen Elizabeth Lord Chamberlain, till such time that being take with age, he yielded up that place to the Earl of Sussex, and was then made keeper of the Privy Seal, which is the fourth degree of honour in England.

JSTOR, A Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans Government Unto the Death of King James.

When not serving in Court or at devotions, she ran a lax home with ineffectual discipline for the many single women and children who lived with her. She often neglected her familial duties to attend court or devotions. This decision would come back to haunt her in the end.

Agnes TILNEY HOWARD, Duchess of Norfolk. Image found at The History Jar blog.

Agnes’ second marriage was to Thomas HOWARD. In marrying him, she became the step-grandmother to two queens – Anne BOLEYN and Katherine HOWARD- and a step-great-grandmother to Princess Elizabeth TUDOR. Agnes’ great fortune happened when her husband Thomas gained victory over the Scots at Flodden Field (thus the description of ‘warlike’ in the Chronicles of the Kings of England). Thomas was rewarded with the title of Duke of Norfolk the following year which made Agnes, Duchess of Norfolk. There are conflicting reports as to whether Agnes enjoyed being the high society “hostess with the mostest”. The same year she was given the title of Duchess, she was chosen to accompany Princess Mary Rose TUDOR to France for Mary’s wedding to King Louis XII. She was chosen as godmother to King Henry VIII’s oldest daughter Mary. She was explicitly trusted by King Henry’s top advisors and was something of an apothecary. She was also one of Queen Catalina de Aragon’s top ladies-in-waiting, second only to the King’s sister, Mary. King Henry’s next wife, Anne BOLEYN, was a relative of Agnes TILNEY HOWARD. Agnes bore the train of Anne’s wedding dress at Anne’s coronation in 1533 so it seems as if Agnes weathered the transition between queens and was able to keep her position in the Court. Later, Agnes held King Henry’s and Queen Anne’s daughter, Princess Elizabeth, at her baptism. Apparently, due to the customs of the day, Anne BOLEYN’s failure to produce a male heir was a large stain on the family’s reputation.

As a widow, Agnes presided over the manors at Horsham and Chesworth.

Chesworth Manor still exists and it is gorgeous inside and out! I encourage you to go look at a few interior photos at CountryLife where I found this exterior photo. You can find additional interior photos at DailyMail and a few more exterior shots at The Gentleman’s Journal. The Tudor Travel Guide gives a lot of history about the building.

At Chesworth Manor, Agnes had a school to instruct the the young relatives and single women of nobility in her home. She had been given guardianship of some of her step-grandchildren (including the future queen, Katherine). She also had many single women of noble birth living in her home and acting as her ladies-in-waiting while they attended school; she also employed and housed some relatives who were in need.

Agnes was said to be “rigidly religious” yet had no time (or took no time?) to watch over the children and ensure they learned (and maintained) moral standards. To be fair, she was trying to manage 24+ properties, attend Queens as a lady-in-waiting, fulfill the social duties of a woman in her social class, give back to the community, do her religious duties, and raise many children who weren’t her own. Some say that despite her outward expression of religion, inwardly she tolerated and was amused by the antics of youth. That included the antics of the Duchess’ step-granddaughter (and future Queen), 13-year-old Katherine HOWARD, along with some of Katherine’s siblings who had been in Agnes’ care from a very young age due to their mother’s death. Agnes likely knew what was going on behind closed doors and kept her mouth shut about it.

When Katherine came to the Duchess’ home, Mary LASCELLES came with her and was made the chamberer to the Duchess. Mary LASCELLES was in an even better position to observe what the youth of the home were doing and she became alarmed when the music teacher, Henry MANOX, began paying a lot of extra attention to 13-year-old Katherine. Mary warned MANOX that Katherine’s family would ruin him if they found out and he basically told Mary to mind her own business. Katherine grew tired of Henry MANOX and soon moved on to Francis DEREHAM. Agnes was not prone to meddle in others’ lives and ladies as young as 14 years old were often married off in her society so it’s possible that Agnes viewed Katherine as an adult who could make her own decisions. Agnes only required that her household guests outwardly display the appearance of conforming to moral standards. What went on behind closed doors was not her concern. She kept herself busy maintaining multiple large (and disorganized) properties, fending off the continual requests from poorer relatives for money, not to mention her son Williams’ constant demands for more money and advances on his inheritance. Don’t think that she was not giving of her money and time. As one of the richest women in the realm, she did much to support people in the surrounding countryside who needed help. She cared for sick neighbors using her honed apothecary skills as well.

Henry MANOX soon became tired of being neglected and rebuffed by Katherine. He wrote an anonymous letter to Agnes advising her that there were things going on in her home of which she would not approve and suggesting she look into the situation. However, he named no names and doesn’t seem to have been very specific because Agnes didn’t associate the letter with Katherine and instead castigated her servants for their negligence in maintaining an appropriate outward appearance. However, Katherine saw the letter and knew exactly to whom and to what it referred. Katherine stole the letter from Agnes and showed it to Francis who flew into a rage at Henry. Henry found another woman soon afterward, married her, and disappeared. Lord William and his wife were not so blind, though. They knew what was going on – possibly because it’s said William was having an affair with one of Katherine’s roommates. Both William and his wife Margaret warned Katherine to stop.

Meanwhile King Henry VIII took a fourth wife and Katherine was appointed as one of the new Queen’s ladies-in-waiting. King Henry immediately took a liking to Katherine and not long after, he sought an annulment from Anne of Cleves. Queen Anne’s lawyers made that difficult for King Henry and the King finally gave her some of the things she was asking for (including property) in order to get the annulment. King Henry soon married Katherine. In the background, Agnes and her stepson Thomas were encouraging and advising the King to marry Katherine. In fact, Thomas was the one who had made arrangements for Katherine to become a lady-in-waiting in the hopes of improving his chances of political ascendancy. He was soon backpedaling on his knowledge of Queen Katherine and her private life, though.

Around this time Agnes’ nephew, Philip TILNEY, died. He was in debt when he died. He left behind a wife, Malyn CHAMBRE TILNEY, and a son, Edmund TILNEY. Agnes promised to help Malyn and Edmund. (For reference, Philip was my 1st cousin 15 times removed and Edmund was my 2nd cousin 14 times removed.) Malyn became a chambermaid to Queen Katherine so I’m assuming this was one avenue of assistance that Agnes (and Thomas) provided for her. Sadly, it would not work out well for Malyn. She was convicted of Misprision of Treason, and imprisoned. Initially I believed the part she played in all this was to help set up the trysts between Thomas CULPEPER and Queen Katherine. However, it is certain that Lady Joan BOLEYN of Rochford was in that role and she was beheaded whereas Malyn was released from prison and pardoned. So perhaps Malyn’s crime was that she knew it was happening and didn’t tell. Once she was convicted, everything she had left was confiscated for the Crown. After Queen Katherine was executed, Malyn was released from prison and pardoned by the King.

Not long after their marriage, the King was advised of Katherine’s previous trysts. He began investigating. Agnes, in an effort to protect herself and her family, destroyed many of the letters kept in the house by Francis DEREHAM. She actually went to his quarters and stole the letters so she could destroy them! Mary LASCELLES (now married and going by Mary HALL) advised the King’s high-ranking enemies of Katherine’s previous affairs. Mary’s and her brother John’s testimony was taken. Katherine didn’t help herself at all because, having grown tired of her old husband, she was in the middle of an affair with Thomas CULPEPER, one of the King’s most trusted servants. Trouble was coming.

When her current affair came to light and she confessed, it was the end for Katherine. But it wasn’t just the end for Katherine, she took many of her inner circle with her, although not intentionally. The King began arresting her family members and close friends. More than 10 members of the HOWARD family ended up in prison over this. They were arrested on charges of Misprision of Treason – that is, treason (very loosely interpreted on many occasions under King Henry VIII) by concealing the affairs from the King and hurting his reputation in the kingdom. The people taken into custody included Agnes, Agnes’ son (and my 13th great-grandfather) William and his wife Margaret, Agnes’ daughter Catherine (one of Queen Katherine’s chambermaids), and many more. The Tower was so full of prisoners, it’s said that the remainder of the prisoners had to be housed on other Crown property. This was not the first time the HOWARD family had been treated like this under King Henry VIII. Agnes was so certain she would be executed that she had her will updated quickly before going to prison. (JSTOR, The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Winter, 1982), pp. 3-16 (14 pages))

A modern photo of the Tower of London. Photo is found at the Historic Royal Palaces website. I highly recommend going to the website and checking it out.

The major order of business for Parliament in 1542 was Katherine and her affairs as well as the treason said to have been committed by her family. The majority of HOWARD and TILNEY family members were sentenced as such: “their bodies to perpetual prison” (i.e., life in prison) and “loss of goods” (forfeiture of all property to the Crown). Bills of Attainder were filed and the family’s lands were confiscated by the Crown. Agnes TILNEY HOWARD and her daughter Catherine were among the last to be tried. By then, some of the turmoil had died down. Agnes and her daughter Catherine were indicted for Misprision of Treason. There are conflicting accounts as to whether they were convicted or not. Their property was seized by the Crown but they weren’t executed. Advisors to the king presented Agnes as a an old lady who was very afraid and had a heavy conscience due to her guilt of hiding Katherine’s indiscretions from the King and encouraging him to marry her. They pleaded with the king to release Agnes and let her live out her life. They told him she was near death anyway and he should allow her to live out her remaining time in her home. They were persuasive.

Eventually, Agnes’ daughter Catherine was released from prison and pardoned. Agnes’ daughter-in-law Margaret (one of Queen Catherine’s ladies-in-waiting and also the wife of William HOWARD & my 13th great-grandmother), was released from prison within two months and pardoned. William (my 13th great-grandfather and husband of Margaret) was released and pardoned in August of the same year. Queen Katherine and two other women were convicted and then executed by guillotine. The following year, Agnes was finally released from prison and pardoned. Her stepson Thomas, who had immediately distanced himself from the family was never returned to his position in Court. Two years later Agnes died. She was buried at Thetford Priory. In November of that year (1545) in accordance with her wishes, her remains were re-interred at Lambeth. When Agnes went into prison she had at least 24 manors plus other properties. When she died, these properties returned to the dukedom. I’m not sure what happened with the seizure of property by the Crown. However the following year her stepson Thomas, who had previously distanced himself from the entire family, was in possession of the properties and the title of Duke. Given how he treated Agnes, I doubt he allowed Agnes to return to any of the properties after she was released from the Tower.

Further Reading

I wanted to post a few interesting links for you. The blogger Janet Wertman states that Agnes begged for mercy. You can read Janet’s blog post about it here (it includes the text of what Agnes said). She also wrote a post with the text of the letter that Thomas HOWARD wrote to the King throwing Queen Katherine, some of his half-siblings, and his stepmother Agnes under the bus (right before he got out of town to avoid being arrested). In the letter he calls his family ‘ungracious’, ‘unhappy’, ‘lewd’, and ‘traitorous’ and shoves all the blame for the marriage of Henry and Katherine onto his stepmother Agnes. To be fair, Thomas had had a previous run-in with the King and I’m sure he feared for his life when he threw his step-mother under the bus in his letter. Still, it feels somewhat restorative to know he never regained his cushy position in the Court after doing that to his family in an effort to save himself. I can think of a few terms for Thomas but I’ll let you read the letter and come to your own conclusions about him. You can find more of the letters and papers of King Henry VIII at the British History Online website. The final two links are especially for my daughter. Blogger Arnie Perlstein wrote two blog posts connecting Agnes TILNEY HOWARD’s story to the novelist Jane Austen. You can find part one here and part two here.

Thomas CULPEPER (distantly related to the HOWARD family – beheaded) and Francis DEREHAM (of TILNEY family descent – hung, drawn & quartered) were put to death. Their heads were hung on London Bridge. Queen Katherine (a HOWARD family member) and Lady Jane BOLEYN of Rochford (a HOWARD family member) were beheaded as well. You can access all the resources I studied by clicking the links in the ‘Resources Used’ section below.

Thanks for sticking with me through the Merry Old England series. I’ve enjoyed it but I’m looking forward to bringing the blog back to U.S. subjects. Since the majority of the people I’ve written about in this series were Catholic, I’ll leave you with a portion of a Catholic blessing:

To us who are alive may He grant forgiveness, and to all who have died a place of light and peace. Amen.

Liturgical Blessing for the Commemoration for the Dead

Until next week,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Resources Used

Photo Friday: Two Mysteries

Photo Friday is a bonus post. I’ve been doing some research outside of what I’m writing about on the blog. I’ve made some potential discoveries that I’d like your input on. Let me know what you think in the comments.

Mystery #1: Emily Hennig Photo + A Mystery Photo

I’ve written about Emily HENNIG before here and here. She is potentially a great-grandma on my dad’s side. According to my grandma Emily was possibly a great-grandmother somewhere along the line but I have no information as to which line or how far back. I’ve posted Emily’s photo before but I’ll post it here for you again.

Emily HENNIG. A photo given to me by my grandmother.

I’ve been doing some research in preparation for a new project. In the process I came across an unidentified photo in Scott HANEY’s HENNIG family history and the woman in his photo resembles my Emily HENNIG. I don’t think they’re the same woman but I think my HENNIG and his (who’s family name morphed into HANEY) match closely enough that it warrants a closer look. While I’m digging into our HENNIG connection, I wanted you to see the resemblance. Scott has referred me to another researcher so I’m continuing to follow up on this photo.

Unidentified photo from Missouri Haney's collection.
Unidentified woman; HENNIG/HANEY line.

I don’t believe this is the same woman nor do I believe they’re sisters but I think they could easily be cousins. Let me know what you think in the comments. Just for ease, below is a side-by-side comparison so you don’t have to keep scrolling.

Side-by-side comparison. I’m not the best at facial recognition so I may be off.

Mystery #2: Nicholas Reiter + Augustus Nicholas Reuter

The next photo comparison is my mom’s line. My 2x great grandfather Nicholas REITER has been a long-time mystery for me. I’ve written about Nicholas quite a bit:

REITER is another line that frustrates me to no end and has for decades. This week I was comparing photos and found an intriguing photo. The first photo below is a photo of my 2nd great grandfather, Nicholas REITER.

Nicholas REITER – a photo I got from my mom and she got from her mom.

The next image is a photo of Augustus Nicholas REUTER (REUTER is a variation of REITER). Joe HEWELL originally shared this photo on Ancestry. This does NOT look like my Nicholas to me but you’ll see why I’m sharing it in a moment.

Augustus Nicholas REUTER, photo uploaded to Ancestry by Joe HEWELL.

This next photo is also tagged as Augustus Nicholas REUTER and was originally uploaded to Ancestry by Nancy WIBLE. This photo does look like my Nicholas so my hope is perhaps I’ve finally found the right family.

August Nicholas REUTER photo uploaded to Ancestry by Nancy WIBLE.

As I did above, I’ll put the 3 photos side by side so you can easily compare. Let me know what you think in the comments.

The two photos on the outer edges are the photos of Augustus Nicholas REUTER. The center photo is my Nicholas REITER.

I don’t believe that either of the first two men look like the third man even though the first and third man are labeled as the same man. Maybe it’s just me, though – I’m terrible at facial recognition.

In any case, the search continues. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Until next week,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Shakespeare Is My Cousin – Can I Get My Book Published Now?

Merrie Ole Englande series: #4

Today’s theme is ‘landed’. There were many directions to take with this theme but I chose to stick with Merry Old England and talk about my ‘landed gentry’. The research for this post did not start out with William SHAKESPEARE nor will it dwell on him but it was a pleasant discovery while working on my landed gentry line of ARDEN. While researching the ARDEN family, I discovered that my 15th great-grandmother had a sister named Mary. Mary married John SHAKESPEARE and their son was William SHAKESPEARE…the William SHAKESPEARE. I was not expecting to encounter him at all when I began the research for this post. In fact, I already had a short list of candidates for this blog post but his discovery pretty much solidified this family’s place in my blog for today. For background: this is my dad’s line. My 15th great-grandmother Margaret ARDEN married Alexander WEBB. They lived in England for the entirety of their lives. As so often occurs with my dad’s more famous kin, we connect to the ARDENs and SHAKESPEAREs through my great-grandma Edith HUBBARD DRAKE’s line.

Landed gentry is defined as land owners who owned a sufficient amount of property that they could live off the rents they collected on the properties. The landed gentry were one step down from the ‘Titled Nobility’ class. They had property and money and enjoyed lavish lifestyles but they weren’t nobility. Still, they didn’t have to do manual labor to make money and they enjoyed posh lifestyles. You can read a more in-depth explanation at Nobility Titles website if you’re interested.

The Warwickshire Ardens

The ARDEN family of England is one of only two English families able to trace their male lineage back to pre-Norman, Anglo-Saxon times. (Just for reference, Wikipedia says there are 3 English families that are able to do this.) The other family is the BERKELEY family to whom we are also related. (https://selectsurnames.com/arden/) (Wikipedia adds the SWINTON family to whom we are also related.) The ARDENs were among the first families of England to take surnames. They called themselves ARDEN “after the royal forest of that name in which their property lay” (Landed Families blog) – the Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, England (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arden_family). Side note: SHAKESPEARE features the Forest of Arden in his work, As You Like It. You can read more about this and about various locations in the original Forest of Arden at the National Trust website. In case you don’t recall it, the Forest of Arden, William SHAKESPEARE, and Warwickshire, England (as well as the National Trust) played a part in a previous blog post. You can find that post here and it contains bits of information on all 4 of mine and Bart’s grandparents’ lines.

To make a long story somewhat shorter, The ARDEN family maintained landed gentry status until 1890. There were times when their properties were seized by the Crown but the family was always able to buy back some portion of the land and therefore was also able to retain their landed gentry social class. The properties were maintained, built upon, demolished, etc. throughout the generations

Margaret Arden and Alexander Webb

The first ARDEN in my line is my paternal 15th great-grandmother, Margaret ARDEN. Margaret was born about 1538 in Warwickshire. She married Alexander WEBB. Margaret’s sister, Mary, was the mother of William SHAKESPEARE. Margaret died in 1608. Because Margaret’s line is so confused on the internet, I tried to sort it out as best I could. What follows is the correct family tree as far as I can tell.

Margaret ARDEN’s parents were Robert de ARDEN of Wilmcote (abt. 1492-1556) and his wife Mary Agnes WEBB (1512-1550). (Remember Mary Agnes. She’ll return in just a minute.) Each of them connect to the ARDEN family so I’ll start with the paternal line:

  • Robert de ARDEN’s parents were Sir Thomas de ARDEN of Wilmcote and his wife Jane (maiden name unknown)
  • Sir Thomas de ARDEN of Wilmcote’s parents were Walter de ARDEN (abt. 1437-1502) and Eleanor HAMPDEN (remember this couple)

Now Margaret’s maternal line:

  • Margaret’s mother was Mary Agnes WEBB (1512-1550) and Mary Agnes’ parents were Sir John Alexander WEBB (1484-1516) and his wife Margaret de ARDEN (abt. 1500-?) (this Margaret is the 1st cousin of my Margaret the daughter of Robert)
  • Margaret de ARDEN’s (the 1st cousin of my Margaret) parents were John de ARDEN (1469-1563) and Alice BRACEBRIDGE
  • John de ARDEN’s parents were Walter de ARDEN (abt. 1437-1502) and Eleanor HAMPDEN (the same couple above who were also the parents of Sir Thomas de ARDEN.)
Lady Margaret de ARDEN WEBB, 1st cousin of my Margaret ARDEN WEBB. Image found at FamilySearch.

So Sir Thomas de ARDEN of Wilmcote and John de ARDEN of Park Hall were brothers. My original Margaret ARDEN’s father (Robert) married his 1st cousin once removed – Mary Agnes WEBB (the child of his 1st cousin). I hope that makes sense!! Relationships such as this were not uncommon and children were often married off as very young children (even as toddlers) and then held by the family until they were teens, at which point they were ‘given’ to their spouse. The social status of the families was the most important issues. It was critical that ‘good’ matches were made. And by ‘good’, I mean ‘good for the social standing of the family’. Such were the times.

John de Arden of Park Hall

John de ARDEN of Park Hall (abt. 1460-1526) was our 18th great-grandfather through Margaret ARDEN WEBB’s maternal line. He married Alice BRACEBRIDGE. He was the Esquire of the Body to King Henry VII. In other words, he was the personal attendant to King Henry VII. He was a valet. He waited on the King, looked after the King’s clothes and personal effects, dressed and undressed the King, and could function as a personal secretary. He was someone the King trusted and the only person allowed to touch the King. It was a position of great honor and also afforded the person great influence over the King due to the close relationship they shared. This position was a common first step to higher-level political offices.

I wish I could tell you more about John’s brother (and our 17th great grandfather) Thomas de ARDEN but there has been little documentation found for him and there are many who argue that it can’t be proven that he’s a son of Walter. Because of this, I’ll be sticking to Margaret’s maternal line since it is very well established thanks to SHAKESPEARE researchers.

Walter de Arden of Park Hall

Next in the line is John’s father, Walter. Walter married Eleanor HAMPDEN. Walter was still young when his father, Robert, was executed – young enough that he required a guardian. I don’t know who was appointed to care for him but about 1457 he married Eleanor HAMPDEN. When Walter’s dad was executed, the Crown confiscated his dad’s land. Walter was able to recover his father’s property from the King.

Robert de Arden of Park Hall

The next generation back is Walter’s father, Robert de ARDEN (abt. 1412-abt. 1452). Robert’s father died when Robert was about 8 years old. Afterward, Robert was given to Lady Joan BERGAVENNY to raise. I believe this Lady Joan BERGAVENNY is my maternal 4th cousin 20 times removed.

Robert married Elizabeth CLODSHALL . Robert was Sheriff of Leicestershire and Warwickshire in 1437. During the War of the Roses, Robert sided with the Yorkists. He was captured by the Lancastrians and executed, at which point his land was forfeited to the Crown. Properties that he owned included the Park Hall estate which he had inherited from his father at his father’s death. He also inherited the manors of Wappenham and Sulgrave when his uncles died but he sold those in 1439. He bought the manors of Saltley and Water Orton (Warwickshire) and Pedmore in Worcestershire, not to be confused with Peddimore Hall near Birmingham which the de ARDEN’s also owned. Robert was executed at Ludlow in 1452.

Sir Ralph de Arden of Park Hall, Knight

Robert’s parents were Ralph (d. 1420) and Sybil de ARDEN. Ralph was an esquire of the Earl of Warwick. Wikipedia describes the title of Esquire as a “courtesy title” and says, “In the United Kingdom, Esquire historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman and below the rank of knight. Some sources cite that the title was bestowed on ‘candidates for knighthood in England,’ and even used with respect to other dignitaries, such as justices of the peace, sheriffs, and sergeants.” (Wikipedia) I’m not sure if this applies to Ralph in this case. Other sites describe an Esquire as much like the position of “Esquire of the Body” like John de ARDEN was to King Henry VII. Esquire is a rank below ‘Knight’ but eventually Ralph was able to attain the rank of Knight. The title of Knight basically indicated a professional soldier. Ralph inherited the Park Hall estate and other lands from his father upon his father’s death. He allowed his mother and brothers to live in the manors of Wappenham and Sulgrave for the duration of their lives. These two manors were passed to his son Robert when he died.

Last: Sir Henry de Arden of Park Hall, Knight

The last ancestral couple we’ll talk about in this post is Sir Henry de ARDEN, Knight (d. abt. 1400) and his wife, Ellen. Henry was the youngest son of Ralph de ARDEN of Curdworth and his wife, Isabel de BROMWICH. Henry was a member of Parliament from 1381-1382. Henry married Ellen (maiden name unknown). They had three sons. Two died with no heirs. Henry purchased the manor of Sulgrave in 1371 and Park Hall in 1373. He purchased Park Hall from Sir John de BOTETOURT of Weoley Castle. He purchased it “free of all service save the presentation of a red rose once a year” on the Feast of John the Baptist on 24 June. (Birmingham History site; Landed Families blog) That seems to be an odd stipulation for the sale but in researching it, I think the stipulation may have something to do with a tradition called The Knollys Rose Ceremony. You can read more about it at the link.

In 1380 Henry acquired his father’s estate in Curdworth and Minworth from his niece. He died about 1400. He left behind his widow and three sons and his property passed to the eldest son, and our 22nd great grandfather (or 21st if you’re counting from Margaret’s paternal line), Sir Ralph de ARDEN of Park Hall.

I’m going to leave the de ARDENs right here at Park Hall – a place they felt at home. I’ve enjoyed learning about them and telling you all about them as well.

Until next week,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Resources Used

1603 Warwickshire, England Map

Merrie Ole Englande series: #3

This week’s theme is ‘maps’. I love maps! I found this wonderful 1603 Warwickshire, England map in a blog and had to share it with you. This map is relevant to the previous posts on the Gunpowder Treason Plot (Notice Coughton Court is marked and this is where Thomas BATE went after he dropped off Robert CATESBY at Holbeche House.) It’s also relevant to posts that will be made throughout the month of February. I’ve marked a few spots that will be relevant in future posts this month. Read up on them. It will make my posts more meaningful.

1603 map of Warwickshire, England found at Revolutionary Players website. Locations marked include Park Hall, Minworth, Curdworth, Castle Bromwich, Coughton Court, Wilmcote, Stratford-upon-Avon (which I spelled incorrectly on the map – sorry).

Mary ARDEN SHAKESPEARE’s property in Wilmcote, Warwickshire, United Kingdom. OurWarwickshire.org has at least 3 nice photos of Mary ARDEN SHAKESPEARE’s home. Wilmcote is where our initial de ARDEN’s lived – Margeret, her dad Robert, and his dad Thomas. Wilmcote is near Stratford-Upon-Avon where SHAKESPEARE grew up.

No need to read extensively at the next link because I will be summarizing much of it in a post later month. However, it has excellent photographs of the Park Hall property that will come up in a post in February. It also has a few maps you can look at that will be relevant. Landed Families blog. Fun fact: According to Wikipedia, the Park Hall manor house was said to be haunted and was demolished in the 1970’s to make way for the M6 motorway…but “[r]emnants of the hall, farm house and adjacent buildings, orchard and pond are still visible at the ‘Park Hall Wildlife Reserve managed by the Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust.’ The name lives on in ‘Park Hall School’, which is on the other side of the road…”. 

De Arden family’s ~ Park Hall Estate, 1895.

Learn about Peddimore Hall that once belonged to the de ARDEN family. Then take a look at it’s current state at Daily Mail. One more worthwhile Peddimore Hall site that doesn’t take much time to look at: Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group website. This is a different property than Pedmore Hall which the de ARDEN’s also owned. You can learn about Pedmore Hall here.

The next website has information about The Chestnuts, Water Orton, Warwickshire, England – a possible medieval manor. The de ARDEN family once owned a manor at Water-Orton. OurWarwickshire.org

Castle Bromwich is also a location you can learn more about. Look at Wikipedia first. Two interesting Castle Bromwich sites: Castle Bromwich Hall Gardens site, Visit Birmingham site, and Solihull site.

Enjoy learning about old England as it relates to our family. I know I’m enjoying it. If you aren’t, no worries. We’ll be back in America in March.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Branching Out, Dachshund-Style

Note to reader: If you aren’t interested in the puppies you can skip down to the final section called ‘Other Dachshunds I’ve Loved, & Some Humans Too’ for the bit of genealogy in this post.

This week’s theme is ‘branching out’. I’ve done all kinds of stories about my family, husband’s family, grandkids’ families not related to me, friend’s families, famous people’s families – almost anyone is fair game to end up in my Ancestry account or on my blog. In fact, I even helped out on a criminal investigation by utilizing genealogy. You can hear my ‘thank you’ from the podcaster on this episode of Truth & Justice with Bob Ruff. Today though, I want to talk about a different kind of pedigree chart – the kind that belongs to animals.

Sparky, Bogey, & Ginger

Our first three purebred dogs came from Minnesota (Sparky – our golden lab), Oklahoma (Bogey – our red Dachshund), and Texas (Ginger – our cream Dachshund). None of them came with papers/registration and that was okay with us because we just wanted pets. I really never gave much thought to how much information comes with a pedigree chart. Sparky was an excellent hunting dog – a good dog with a sweet disposition. Derek brought Bogey home because a friend of ours needed to re-home him. He was a good dog but he went wandering down to our county road one day and someone picked him up and took him from my driveway. I never did find out who took him. We got Ginger when Sparky was an old dog and living on borrowed time.

Sparky and Bogey.
Sparky and Bogey.

Now Ginger is old and recently went blind due to SARDS. I wanted her to have a companion so we talked to an old friend of ours recently and got Major Wheeler Scores – a black and tan piebald Dachshund. He was the last puppy left of the last litter my friend will have bred. She’s getting out of the business now.

Major Wheeler Scores

Unlike Sparky, Bogey, and Ginger, we were able to register Major Wheeler and when I registered him I got a pedigree chart. Once I received the chart I got really excited looking at all of his ancestors’ names and descriptions. I got online and found a couple of sites where people post pedigree charts of their dogs. I started searching for the names of Major Wheeler’s ancestors and started finding generations that were further back than what was on the pedigree chart and I also found photos. I started putting together a photo-pedigree chart for Major Wheeler that included all the photos I could find online or acquire from my friend. So today, you get to learn a little about Major Wheeler’s ancestry.

Major Wheeler’s Mom & Dad & Grands

Major Wheeler Scores’ dad, mom, and grandparents. His parents are the two pics on top – Lawson’s Boonedox Boy on the left and Blondie Girl III on the right. They answer to ‘Boone’ and ‘Blondie’. The grandparents along the bottom to the left side are (paternal) Garrett’s Avenger Thor ML and Madison’s Lulu Lemon MS; along the bottom and to the right side are maternal grandparents Linzy Yosemite Sam MW and Fairest Finley of Heavens Half Acre.

Ancestral Highlights:

Drakesleat Komma MW, 9th Great-Grandfather

I won’t go through Major Wheeler’s entire genealogy but I did have a few pleasant surprises in his pedigree so I’ll talk about four of his ancestors. I was able to trace several of his lines quite a ways back – around 15 generations. At 9 generations back he has an American/Canadian/English Champion grandma named Drakesleat Komma MW. A little nod to my DRAKE ancestral line. Drakesleat Komma was born 13 November 1979. Major has quite a few Drakesleat dogs in his ancestry. Drakesleat Dachshunds are Miniature Wirehaired Dachshunds. In looking at their website, I learned that Drake’s Leat is a location in England near Plymouth. On the website the historical significance of the location begins at about the year 1559-1560 – right about the time that Thomas PERCY from my previous post was born. Not to mention, the Drakesleat line leads to Major’s ancestor, Monteagle Warpaint. Funny how last week I was writing about Thomas PERCY and the Monteagle Letter and this week we’re right back in that time period with a familiar name but a completely different context. I’m of the opinion there are no coincidences. Everything connects. Everything has meaning – even if we choose not to see the meaning or to call it a ‘coincidence’ or ‘accident’. No matter what you call it, I still have a picture for you though. Here’s Drakesleat Komma.

This is Drakesleat Komma’s photo from her pedigree chart. She was an English Miniature Wirehaired Dachshund. Her breeder was Zena Andrews and her owner was Canadian, C. Cole. Photo and pedigree found at ShowDach website.

HuNu Bad T’ Th’ Bone, Great-Grandfather

If I recall correctly, my senior class chose Bad to the Bone as our class song. So Major’s Grand Champion/Champion great-grandfather’s name caught my eye as well. Bad T’ Th’ Bone is a direct descendant of Drakesleat Komma and he answers to ‘George’. Here’s his photo:

HuNu Bad T’ Th’ Bone. Photo comes from the Facebook account of his breeder’s business: HuNu Dachshunds. The photo was taken in 2014 right before he went to his new home with breeder Anne Lindh of Linzy Dachshunds.

Hammeister Hobbit MW, 10th Great-Grandfather

My husband’s favorite book series in high school was The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In Major Wheeler’s 10th generation he has an American Champion great-grandpa named Hammeister Hobbit. Here is Hammeister Hobbit in a photo I found on a Google search from a now-defunct page called The Dachshund History Online Project.

Hammeister Hobbit courtesy of a Google-saved photo from The Dachshund History Online Project.

EJ’s Big Wheel at Prelude MW, 8th Great-Grandfather

One last AKC Champion doggie. We managed to accidentally incorporate a piece of one of Major Wheeler’s ancestors’ names into his name. Eight generations back, Major Wheeler had a great-grandfather named EJ’s Big Wheel at Prelude MW. EJ’s Big Wheel at Prelude answered to ‘Willie’. Willie was born on 20 October 1993. He was the result of a joint effort of a well-established breeder – Emma Jean Stephenson of EJ’s Dachshunds – and a breeder that EJ mentored – Prelude Farm and Kennel. I found Willie’s photo on the Prelude website.

EJ’s Big Wheel at Prelude, aka Willie.

The Story Behind the Name

Every dog has a story behind his or her name. My husband’s idea was to name him something that related to my business name – Honeysuckle Farm. I liked the idea but Major was no ‘Honeysuckle’! We struggled for a while with what to name him and finally decided on ‘Major Wheeler’ which is a variety of Honeysuckle. It just so happens that my husband and I also each have a ‘WHEELER’ ancestral line. So it seemed to fit and he answered to it. We hope to let him sire a couple of litters in a few years before we have him neutered. I’m looking forward to seeing what his puppies look like. One note about Major. He has this one ear that’s so funny. We love that ear. I jokingly say that every ancestor he ever had came out on that one ear. What do you think:

Major Wheeler’s ancestor ear.

Other Dachshunds I’ve Loved & Some Humans Too

At the point that we got Bogey, I hadn’t had a Dachshund since I was a kid and still in school. The Dachshund we had when I was in school was Cinnamon and Cinnamon was the first Dachshund I remember. However, she wasn’t the first I ever had. Mom and Dad like to tell stories about Sweetie, a Dachshund we had when I was very little. Sweetie and I seemed to be arch enemies until she had a litter of puppies and then something shifted and Sweetie and I got along. My mom has always said that a Dachshund is much calmer after a litter of pups. I wish I had pictures of Cinnamon and Sweetie but I haven’t come across any.

An interesting side note. My WHEELER ancestor on my dad’s side was Major John WHEELER (I kid you not. MAJOR WHEELER! I didn’t remember this when we were naming Major Wheeler but it sure worked out well!) Major John WHEELER was my 15th great- grandfather and he was also the immigrant ancestor. He came to America from England. As far as I can tell, John’s grandfather (my 17th great-grandfather) was not involved in the Gunpowder Treason Plot.

Do you remember Thomas BATE in part 1 of the Gunpowder Treason Plot story from last week? His brother was Sir James BATES the Elder (my 11th great-grandfather). James had a descendant named Judith (my 4th great-grandaunt) who was born in 1807 in Georgia. Judith married Reverend Thomas B. WHEELER and this is my mom’s WHEELER connection. This same Reverend Thomas B. WHEELER’s 6th great-grandfather was Thomas WHEELER, brother to my dad’s Major John WHEELER.

Bart’s 11th great-grandfather, Sir Thomas WHEELER the Elder, was the father of Major John and Thomas WHEELER and thus, also my 17th great-grandfather. Who knew a little puppy (and a little blog theme) would lead to all these connections?!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this “branching out” session. I’m looking forward to more discoveries and the next fun blog post. I hope you have a cozy and safe week. Stock up on food and stay safe in the storm that’s coming this week.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Resource List

7 Degrees of Separation

The blog post theme this week is “favorite find”. To be honest, my favorite find is whatever I’ve just discovered. Any find is exciting for me. Let me tell you about my most recent find – which happens to be my favorite today!

I’ve been researching my dad’s HUTCHISON family. For background, the line goes from my paternal great-grandfather, Mark DRAKE to his father Ervin Alonzo (also known as Poppy), Poppy’s mother Hester MITCHELL DRAKE, Hester’s sister Mary Louise MITCHELL, and finally to Mary’s daughter Amanda Jane THOMAS who married Idaho’s 7th Governor, Francis Robert “Frank” GOODING. When I discovered that my 1st cousin 4 times removed had married the former Governor of Idaho I had to laugh. My husband and I lived for 10 years in Idaho and not one day of that 10 years did I know of this family connection to Idaho. I was well aware of my husband’s family connections and I was aware that I had some distant family who had lived there at some point but I was completely unaware of any connection to a former governor of Idaho.

Mary Louise Mitchell Potter Thomas

I was researching Mary MITCHELL only because I’ve had such a difficult time finding her parents (and my 4th great grandparents), Mordica Elias MITCHELL and Lucretia HUTCHISON MITCHELL HARTMAN. So much of a hard time that I had resorted to researching the children in an attempt to figure out where the family was and who really belonged in this family (as well as who didn’t). I had already looked into the two oldest children of Mordica and Lucretia – two sons named James Harrison MITCHELL and John West MITCHELL. I had already looked into the oldest known daughter as well – a daughter named Susan M. MITCHELL. By this time I was getting desperate but I continued. Next in line was Mary Louise. I was about to give up on Mary when I made the completely unexpected discovery that her daughter was married to Francis R. “Frank” GOODING ~ former Idaho Governor, former Idaho state Senator, and former US Senator from Idaho. Perseverance pays off!

Amanda Jane Thomas and Frank Gooding

In attempting to figure out how Frank GOODING would have met Amanda Jane THOMAS, I began looking at Frank’s life. Frank was born in England. He immigrated to the US with his family when he was about 7 or 8 years old. His family settled in Michigan and then moved to Mount Shasta, California in1877. BINGO! Amanda’s family had moved to Shasta County, California in the late 1850’s or early 1860’s. The information I’m working with says that Lucretia (Amanda’s maternal grandmother and my 4th great grandmother) died in California but I have no proof of this. However I do know that by 1860, Amanda’s mother (Mary Louise MITCHELL POTTER THOMAS, my 3rd great grand-aunt) was living in Shasta County, California with her brother – James Harrison MITCHELL. In 1860, Amanda’s mom was going by Louisa rather than Mary. I can only presume Louisa was pregnant with her first child, Adeline, at that time since a 10-year-old Adeline POTTER shows up on the next census and a later court case names Adeline as a daughter of Benjamin F. and Mary Louise MITCHELL POTTER.

Divorce of Mary Louise MITCHELL POTTER and Benjamin F. POTTER. Image from Newspapers.com, The Red Bluff Beacon; 15 May 1862; Red Bluff, California.

As for the 1860 census, Louisa’s last name was listed as POTTER because she was married to Benjamin F. POTTER in Saint Louis, Missouri, just a few years prior to showing up in California. Mr. POTTER was not living with the MITCHELL family in 1860. All the researchers on Ancestry claim Benjamin POTTER died around 1861. I have found no proof of his death but I did discover that Mary Louise filed for a divorce from Benjamin F. POTTER in 1862 in Tehama County, California. The divorce must have been granted because on 21 October 1862, Louisa married Samuel M. THOMAS.

In 1870, Louisa and Samuel THOMAS were living in Shasta County, California with their family including the future Senator’s wife, Amanda Jane. Frank GOODING and his family were still in Michigan in 1870. In 1877, Amanda’s father Samuel passed away in January and later that year, Frank and his older brother moved to Shasta County, California.

In 1880, 18-year-old Amanda was living with her mother and siblings in Shasta County, California. A 21-year-old Frank GOODING was living in nearby Gasspoint, Shasta County, California, raising turkeys for a living. On 1 June 1880, Frank and Amanda married and they moved to Idaho in May of 1881. Frank would go on to be elected Sheriff in Ketchum, Blaine County, Idaho.

The family also lived in Shoshone, Lincoln County, Idaho for a while. They built a home there and limited rooms are available for rent in the home. If you’re interested, you can request more information from Lincoln County Historical Society in Shoshone, Idaho where I found this photograph of the home:

The home the GOODING family built in Shoshone, Idaho. Photo found at https://www.lincolncountyhistorical.org/themansion.html.

In 1898 Frank was elected to the Idaho legislature (Senate). Two years later he was reelected to the Senate. While serving in the state legislature he had the honor of serving as President Pro-Tempore. In 1904 he was elected Governor of Idaho and served two terms. In 1918 a special election was held to elect someone to finish the term of the US Senator James Brady who had died in office the previous year. Frank lost to the opposing candidate, however that candidate resigned from office early and Frank finished his term. Frank went on to win his own 6-year term representing Idaho in 1920 and was re-elected for a second term in 1926. Frank succumbed to cancer while serving his second term as US Senator. One final accolade for Frank is that in 1958 he was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma County, Oklahoma.

1921 photo of Frank GOODING from Library of Congress website.

Because of his efforts to pursue and hold accountable the murderers of his predecessor–Governor Frank STEUNENBERG– Frank GOODING had to move out of his home and be under constant guard because of bombings and other threats to his life. In his lifetime, Frank also founded the town of Gooding, Idaho, and the county of Gooding was named after him. Frank was instrumental in bringing the State School for the Deaf and Blind and Gooding College into Gooding, Idaho. Frank’s endeavors were financially beneficial to the area of Gooding, Idaho. He brought in tourists with the hotel he built. History of Idaho has some great pictures of GOODING’s Lincoln Inn.

Original Gooding College building. Photo found at Only In Your State website. In the 1940’s it was converted into a Tuberculosis Hospital and is said to be haunted.

Frank was successful in getting the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind moved from Boise to Gooding. Here is a 1906 photo of the school found at APH Museum:

Amanda lived for another 18 years. She died in 1946 and was buried next to Frank in Elmwood Cemetery in Gooding, Gooding, Idaho.

Obituary of Amanda Thomas Gooding. Obituary of Amanda Thomas Gooding. Image from Newspapers.com; The Idaho Statesman; 8 Apr 1946; Boise, Idaho.

Side Notes

When I lived in Idaho I was a junior paralegal at a large law firm and my job entailed working on Superfund mining cases, so the story of the mining dispute that led to the assassination of Governor Frank STEUNENBERG (and then Governor Frank GOODING’s later involvement in bringing people to justice) was very interesting to me. If you’d like to read about the dispute, what led to it and how it ended, I recommend going to this website: http://www.3rd1000.com/history3/events/cdamines/1892-1899.htm. I found it interesting that John HAWLEY, the founder of the law firm I worked for in Boise, once represented the miners in their litigation and later he would lead lawsuits against the miners. Clarence Darrow once referred to John HAWLEY as the “god-father of the Western Federation [of Miners]”. James HAWLEY’s family founded the law firm where I worked on Superfund mining cases.

If you can’t get enough information about Pinkerton detectives, you might plan a trip to the Idaho State Archives in Boise, Idaho, and have a look at their James H. HAWLEY collection which includes the “Pinkerton Papers” regarding the investigation of the assassination of former Idaho Governor Frank Steunenberg. Interesting side note: to earn extra money during my college days at Boise State University, I did contract work for Pinkertons researching court records and doing background checks on people. It was during my college days at BSU that I was fortunate enough to take a class under Hawley, Troxell, Ennis & Hawley paralegals who saw potential in me and got me hired on at the firm. So, to go back to all this old Boise and Idaho history is, in a small way, to relive some old memories for me.

The one thing I found most odd during this research session was that I was unable to locate any photographs of Amanda THOMAS GOODING. There are photos of Frank GOODING, but none of Amanda. I emailed the archivists at the Idaho State Archives to ask if they have any photographs of Amanda THOMAS GOODING. I heard back from archivist Erin Bostwick right before publishing this blog post and she attached two watermarked photos of Amanda. I’m posting the photos with the watermarks and will be ordering un-watermarked copies of the photos from the Archives later this week.

Photo of a young Amanda THOMAS GOODING courtesy of archivist Erin Bostwick at Idaho State Archives.
Photo of an elderly Amanda THOMAS GOODING courtesy of archivist Erin Bostwick at Idaho State Archives.

If you would like un-watermarked, high-resolution copies of these photos, fill out this form and attach $10 per photo. The details of the quality of the photos is on the form. Just an FYI, these photos are low-res in addition to being watermarked. Photos you order from the Archives will be high-res and look much nicer.

If you’d like to learn more about Lincoln Inn (built by Frank) go to; the original Lincoln burned but it’s been rebuilt and you can stay there when you’re in that area. You can find the new Lincoln Inn at https://historiclincolninn.com/.

Photo found at https://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/digital/collection/alaskawcanada/id/1512/.

You can also stay in The Senator’s Suite at the Historic Gooding Hotel Bed & Breakfast.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about our connection to the 7th Idaho Governor, Frank GOODING. If you ever get a chance to visit Boise, Idaho, I highly recommend doing it. While you’re there, take side trips to the Archives and to Gooding if you can. Boise is a beautiful place and that area of Idaho is one of my favorite places in the world.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Resources Utilized for This Post

Foundations

Once again this year I’m doing Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This year she is offering a once monthly option as well so when I get too busy to post once a week, I’ll revert to once a month and hopefully that will at least keep me writing. This week’s theme is ‘foundations’. When I was thinking about types of foundations I already had in mind that I wanted to do another DNA blog post and so what better ‘foundation’ to write about than the very foundation of human life? Today’s DNA post will relate to my SEELY family since they are my annual focus this year.

My SEELY family member nearest in relation to me is my 2nd great grandmother, Mary SEELY who was married to George Columbus BATES. I’ve written about them in a number of posts on this blog if you’d like to go back and get some background information. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you know that for a few years I’ve been trying to figure out a way to utilize my DNA to create a more complete genealogy. I wasn’t willing to pay for classes or videos so everything I’ve learned has been trial-and-error or free information so it’s taken me a while to get it figured out. Today I want to talk about what I’ve discovered that works.

Modified Triangulation

What seems to be working for me right now is a modified triangulation of sorts.

SEELY family tree – screenshot from Ancestry.com.

So for instance, in order to see if my SEELY DNA lined up with my family tree as it looks right now, I took the surnames SEELY, BRINKER, SHELLY, and RIDGWAY and searched my DNA matches for people with those surnames in their family trees. I chose those 4 surnames because on the SEELY line I’m certain of my family tree up through Charles George SEELY. I felt my best next move would be to take the surnames of Charles’ 4 grandparents and see if those names were prevalent in my DNA matches’ trees as well (a modified triangulation technique).

Seely

I am confident I’m on the right track on the SEELY line. My family tree lines up really well with information in my DNA matches’ family trees. Understand though – the fact that my tree matches up with other trees does NOT mean any of us have it right. It’s just a clue that I probably am fairly accurate on that line but I’ll need records to back that up and prove it. DNA is just one more clue pointing me in a certain direction. Out of 5 DNA trees with the name spelled ‘SEELY’, I matched 3. One matched to Mary SEELY’s parents; one matched to Mary SEELY’s great-grandparents (John SEELY and Katherine BRINKER), and one matched at 3 generations past John and Katherine – my 8th great-grandparents named Jonas SEELY and Mary WICKS or WEEKES. In regard to common alternate spellings, I had 3 hits (out of 15 DNA matches) with the spelling of ‘SEELEY’. One matched to Jonas and Mary (see couple above) and two matched to my 9th great-grandparents, Jonas SEELY and Mary ANGELL. Of the DNA matches where I couldn’t make a SEELY connection, some didn’t have family trees, some trees didn’t go very far back in time so I wasn’t able to find a connection, and then I’m sure there were others where SEELY wasn’t the line we matched on so I wasn’t able to find a connection on that line. Overall, I am more confident now that my SEELY line is pretty accurate. I just need to make sure my documentation is accurate and organized.

Charles SEELY minister credentials.

Brinker

The second surname I listed was BRINKER. I feel confident I have the correct BRINKER line right now. The DNA seems to back that up. Utilizing both the spelling of the surname my nearest BRINKER relative used (Katherine, my 5th great grandmother) as well as the older alternate spelling of BRUNGGER, I found a total of 12 matches with these surnames in their tree. Of those, I could find the BRINKER/BRUNGGER connection in two of those trees but I found clues in most of the others that leads me to believe that once I know more about the family I’ll be able to connect the remaining 10 matches (or most of them). One DNA match connects to me at my 5th great grandparents, John SEELY and Katherine BRINKER. The other is a double connection matching to my dad’s HUTCHISON family (starting with his 3rd great-grandmother, Lucretia) and to my mom’s family on her BRINKER line.

John and Katherine (BRINKER) SEELY’s home in Ralls County, Missouri. This home was restored by John BARAGIOLA (a descendant) and you can find videos on YouTube. I’ll post one below so you can find them.

Here is the first of many videos of John BARAGIOLA’s restoration of the SEELY-BRINKER log cabin. You can find more on his YouTube channel. John’s a great guy. When you watch his videos please like the videos and subscribe to his channel as this helps his status on YouTube.

John BARAGIOLA’s SEELY-BRINKER log cabin restoration video.

Shelly

The third surname I listed was SHELLY. My SHELLY line is one that I wasn’t as confident about when I started this project. I am still not completely comfortable about the line as it is right now. I found a total of 14 matches on the various surname spellings. Out of 14, I could verify only one and he matched to my 7th great grandparents, Johan “Hans” Michael SHEELY and his wife Elizabeth. Johan and Elizabeth were the great-grandparents of Elizabeth SHELLY, my closest SHELLY relative (and my 4th great grandmother).

George SEELY and Betsy SHELLY marriage certificate, Ancestry.com. Marriage took place 17 February 1814 at St. Charles County, Missouri.

Ridgeway

The final surname I researched was RIDGEWAY – a family line I was not well-versed on and didn’t have worked out past my nearest RIDGEWAY relative (my 5th great-grandmother Mary Ann “Nancy” RIDGEWAY). Seven DNA matches were also researching this surname and I was not able to connect to any of them because their RIDGEWAYs were so far back in time compared to mine (and also, some didn’t have family trees at all). So, I didn’t make much headway on this line and information on Ancestry.com is conflicting. Figuring out this line will take considerably more research and documentation and I may find out I’m on the wrong trail altogether. I also have to consider that, due to the way DNA recombines in each individual, it’s possible I just didn’t receive any RIDGEWAY DNA and that’s why it doesn’t show up.

To Sum It Up

Just to clarify, I’ve used this technique on my ‘brick wall’ lines with much greater success in the past so keep that in mind when reading this blog post. I do plan to continue using this modified triangulation technique in the future, especially on brick wall lines where I feel I’ve made all the progress I can with conventional research methods. Please keep in mind that DNA is just a CLUE that points you in a certain direction. You still have to do the traditional research to ensure you have correct information. Having said that, I felt I had less success on these particular lines using the modified triangulation. I was able to come to a point where I feel confident about my SEELY and BRINKER lines. I am less confident that my SHELLY line is correct and am moving my RIDGEWAY line over to ‘brick wall’ status as there is conflicting information on Ancestry and it isn’t matching up to my DNA either. That doesn’t mean it’s definitely wrong, it just isn’t looking good right now. This is definitely a line I need paper documentation and research time on.

I hope you have a chance to try out this modified triangulation technique for yourself. Possibly someone else has already done this and I’m just late to the game because I’m unwilling to pay to learn what to do. That’s fine. This is what I’ve come up with that works for me and I’m sharing it freely with you. I hope you have time to use it and you have great success with it. If you do use it and make some discoveries, I’d love to hear about it in comments!

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

P.S.- I’ve changed the website again to try and make it more user friendly. Hopefully I’ve accomplished that. In the process, you may have been accidentally unsubscribed from my blog. I’m sorry about that. If you enjoy the blog, please re-subscribe and keep reading! I hope your weekend is fabulous and you make many wonderful genealogical discoveries – or at least make a great memory or two!

Henry Schell and Elizabeth Yoachum

Do you remember when I wrote about the YOACHUM Silver Dollar legend? You can find that story here if you need to refresh your memory. You can also find a SCHELL/YOACHUM family photo in this post. This weekend I’ve been thinking about and researching that family again and I came across a website I’d really like to share with you. I found a photo of Henry SCHELL’s trading post and water mill on the website. It gives a lot of history about the SCHELL/YOACHUM and related families as well as the surrounding community of Shell Knob, Missouri. You can find the website at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mobarry/shell/schell.henry.htm. Here’s their business that founded Shell Knob, MO:

Henry SCHELL’s trading post and water mill at Shell Knob, Missouri. Photo comes from https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mobarry/shell/schell.henry.htm.

There are many other family photos at the website. The individuals are not named but are part of the SCHELL family. I hope that some day people can identify the individuals. In addition to the brief story and all the photos on the page above, there is an additional link to a newspaper article about the family that can be found at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mobarry/data/news/schell-BigSugarCreek.htm. That page also contains this photo:

Photo to be Henry and Elizabeth (YOACHUM) SCHELL’s home and Henry’s burial spot.

I encourage you to go read the websites to learn more about the SCHELL-YOACHUM family and take a look at those photos. Do they resemble any of our BAKER or DRAKE ancestors? I was excited to find all of this information freely available on the internet. Take advantage of it before it’s gone.

Here’s one additional link to the actual newspaper image: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~mobarry/data/news/schell-PRnewsp-1967.jpg

Enjoy this beautiful Sunday morning. This is the day that the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it.

Until next time,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives genealogy blog

Happy Birthday, Jeannie

Today my cousins are remembering their mom on her birthday, so I will join them. Their mom was Jeannie STROUT. She was born in 1949 to Bobby and Virginia (KUYKENDALL) STROUT (at least, I think Virginia was her mom). I haven’t been able to do enough research to confirm who Jeannie’s mom was yet. Jeannie had four children – 2 boys and 2 girls. One of her daughters, Kim, passed away in 2001 – a loss that devastated my cousins and, I’m sure, devastated Jeannie as well.

Jeannie and Poynor Baptist Church

As with most of the spouses of my paternal aunt and uncles, the spouses attended Poynor Baptist Church at some point. Jeannie was no exception. Her entry in the Membership Roll book shows she was saved on 20 September 1970. She was baptized 19 September 1972. Her entry is under her married name of DRAKE.

Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll entry for Jeannie STROUT DRAKE.

At the time of this entry, her address was Rogers, Benton County, Arkansas.

Jeannie’s dad, Bobby, was a preacher so church and religion were not a new thing for Jeannie or her sister, Linda. Her dad pastored Guiding Light Tabernacle, an evangelical church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for years. Jeannie’s mom has been a bit of an enigma for me so I won’t go into her until I have solid information.

For now, I’m going to leave you with this simple sketch of Jeannie. I was too young to have any memories of her myself and haven’t had time to ask around for stories about her so sometime in the future I’ll get back to writing about Jeannie. In the meantime, hugs to my cousins as they remember their mom on her birthday.

Peace & Love,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy blog

Long, Hot Summer

It’s been a long summer trying to get my business off the ground. I’ve missed writing these blog posts. Aside from starting a business, there have been so many other changes in the last few months. From mid-August to present we’ve laid to rest two cousins – Robert EVANS and David WETZEL – and an uncle, Alvin BENNETT, Jr.. They will all be missed.

Alvin Bennett Jr., Vietnam veteran.

Family Is Everything

When I was a child, I saw almost all of my cousins almost every weekend of my childhood. These days, it seems we only see each other at funerals and weddings. Today was one of those days. Before leaving the graveside services for my uncle Junior, my cousin Chris told me he had a box for me. He gifted me a box of records from the church we grew up in. It’s been quite a trip down memory lane looking through old business meeting notes, membership rolls, etc. Over the coming weeks I hope to share some of those records with you. For tonight, I want to share the baptismal records for my parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and even a great-great grandparent.

Poynor Baptist Church

The Poynor Baptist Church Membership Roll book as it looks today.

This Poynor Baptist Membership Roll book was in the box Chris gave me. This book is as good as gold to me. It’s like a mini-family history for me. In this book, I found my own record of salvation and baptism (the dates aren’t there but I can tell you it was Autumn of 1976 for salvation and Summer of 1978 for baptism):

My salvation/baptism entry in the Poynor Baptisit Church Membership Roll book.

I also found both of my parents in the book:

My dad’s entry – he was baptized on June 13, 1954.
My mom’s entry – she was baptized on 16 February 1964.

I also found many of my ancestors in the book:

My paternal grandparents, great-grandparents, and even my great-great-grandfather!
Plus one more great-grandmother.

I love the story my dad tells about my great-great-grandfather, Poppy Lonzo. He remembers Poppy standing at the back of the Poynor Baptist Church with tears streaming down his face professing his belief in Christ and his regret that he waited so long to accept Christ as his savior. What a beautiful story! It brings tears to my eyes.

Losses, But Also Gains

In this summer of losses for my family, it was refreshing to see the eternal gains we’ve made. Refreshing to know that I will see my people again one day in a better place. Comforting to know that my people are already in that better place waiting for my arrival.

As we move into fall and winter, I’m wishing you more days of rejoicing than grief and I’m wishing you comfort in your days of loss.

Peace,

Lisa @ Days of Our Lives Genealogy

Have no product in the cart!