Family Connections Experiment - Day One

 

With all that the world is dealing with during this pandemic, the opportunity to hold the RootsTech conference virtually has opened up this amazing experience to over a million participants during the actual event and countless more as the presentations and resources continue to be available for the next 11 months. 

I binge watched most of the keynotes and visited many of the exhibit hall virtual booths during the three days of the conference.  I made sure to watch both the leadership presentation for Temple and Family History consultants and the Discovery Day presentation with Elder Holland and his family. I also joined in with the viral trend of posting the animated images of ancestors that I created using the My Heritage Deep Nostalgia tool. Here is an example with a picture of Mary Ann Wateridge (1825 - 1886) 1st wife of Joseph Henry Puzey. 

I was also able to catch a few sessions, knowing I will have time to continue to view these videos over the next few weeks and months. 

The Family Connections Experiment is something I have been following on social media for some time but I have never properly joined the 21 day challenge.  After learning more about them at the conference, I joined this month's challenge - the Genealogy Bootcamp.  I like that you can customize the daily plans if something isn't a fit for you. So I might do a mix of the Tech plans as well.  

Today is Day One and the task is to identify a family story to investigate. 

“Every family has a story that it tells itself, that it passes on to the children and grandchildren. The story grows over the years, mutates, some parts dropped, and there is often debate about what really happened.” – A. M. Homes

The easiest time period for finding records or evidence to confirm family stories would be within the range of 1880s to 1940s.  I have already done some digging on our early family stories. I have found records that correct the birthdate recorded on the gravestone for my Great Great Grandfather Herbert Rhodes.  I have investigated timelines for when the different lines of the family ended up in Alberta. I've even gone back earlier to identify the different ancestors on my maternal line who made the trek across the United States to settle in Utah during the time of migration in the mid 19th century.  So choosing a family story to research isn't an easy choice. 

Joseph Henry Puzey (1828-1896)

I have been working on the Puzey line -  filling in the story of Joseph Henry Puzey and learning about his time in England, his parents and his siblings, how he left his childhood home and then his married home to make that journey out to the Utah Valley. I have some of the pieces but I have never put them together in one place to see what is missing and then shared it with the rest of the family.  I've been fascinated to share more after coming across a newspaper article that outlined his death which I wrote about in an earlier blog post.  

So for 21 days, this will be part of what I take on with the goal of having a fuller story to tell at the end. Many of the pieces are already known and just need to be gathered and the goal is  to confirm these with original sources. 

If you know of a family story on the Rhodes, Roots, Puzey or Toone line that might be worth researching and confirming, please let me know! 

Joseph Pollard: 200 Years

Joseph Pollard (1819 - 1890)

So this is a call to all the descendants of Joseph Pollard. Do you know if you are a descendant of Joseph Pollard? Do you even know who he is?

Here is how I am related to Joseph. My grandfather is Joseph Pollard's great grandson. That makes Joseph my 3 times great grandfather. If you are on my blog because we share our Puzey line, then this information is relevant for you. This year, it is 200 years since Joseph Pollard's birth. If you want to know a bit more about this amazing man, you can look at two of my longer posts about his life. 

Joseph Pollard: A Life Sketch

and part two

Joseph Pollard: His Conversion and Journey West

Or you can dive deep and learn more about his descendants at the blog

The Daughters of Bishop Joseph Pollard

And all of this is just to share the following information. In honour of this anniversary of his birth, the suggestion is being shared to gather as many descendants as can come, to meet at his graveside in the Salt Lake City cemetery on May 27, 2019. 

This is the message shared on the blog linked above.

We have Joseph Pollard as a common ancestor. His 200th birthday is in 2019. We suggest a gathering at his grave site on Memorial Day, May 27, 2019 at noon. His grave is on the South end of the Salt Lake cemetery, close (Northeast) to the Church located on 4th Avenue and P Street. You will see our group there.We are contacting descendants we can locate from Joseph's seven daughters. Please spread the word with other descendants stemming from your particular Daughter.

Lydia Pollard

Joseph and Mary Ann had 9 children, and 7 of these were girls. Neither of their two baby boys lived to see their first birthdays but all 7 of their girls lived to grow up and get married. The daughter we are descended from is Lydia Pollard.  Her husband, Henry William Puzey, passed away when she was only 34 years old. She also outlived my great grandfather Frederick Puzey by 2 years. 

If you are a descendant of Lydia Pollard, please get in touch with me. I would like to make sure all of us are linked in the family records - how many descendants do you think we have on this daughter's line?

Although the plans are yet vague, I am hoping to connect with extended family and join in the gathering on May 27. As an added bonus, I hope to also be in Spring City where Lydia and Henry William moved to after their marriage. May 25 is Heritage Day in Spring City and a number of activities and historical home tours will make my family research come to life.

If you are a descendant of Lydia Pollard, please get in touch with me. I would like to make sure all of us are linked in the family records - how many descendants do you think we have on this daughter's line?

And if you are in the area at the end of May or might think about making your own way down, please let me know and I hope we can connect!

Richard Sperry in Puzzilla

Puzzilla Ancestral Chart

January 8, 2019 - I'm back at the Family History Centre for my Tuesday evening shift - our first shift after the Christmas break and everything is breaking down on us. Makes for some excitement. My computer lost the network connection and none of my shortcuts or Chrome work. The lightbulbs in the computer room were burnt out and now the printer is offline.

But I'm busy with my latest discovery. I haven't looked at Puzzilla for some time and thought I would see how things were looking these days. I typically use this site to link to my FamilySearch tree and then explore the descendancy lines to fill in more of the collateral lines - cousins, aunts and uncles along my direct line.

This time I went directly to my Dad's line and looked at the ancestral chart.  Just a quick glance and it is obvious where I may need to do some clean up of duplicate relationships/names. (circled in green above)  This represents the families of the Richard Sperry (1606 - 1698) and his son Richard Sperry (1652-1734). I did some searching on this name as it was familiar and spent the next hour reading multiple websites recounting the history of the family in early America and the connection to two of  the 59 judges who signed the execution order for King Charles 1 and escaped to America to avoid a rather nasty execution - at some point taking shelter in what is now called "Judges Cave" near their home and being sustained by Richard Sperry or his son.

If you want to learn a little more, check out these two genealogical pages.

Richard Sperry in WikiTree
Richard Sperry in the Evans Family WebPage
Richard Sperry in CommonHeroes3

So instead of successfully cleaning up this issue with my tree, I enjoyed my time learning more about my ninth great grandparent.

That is okay because I am looking forward to learning more about how to clean up issues (merging records, restoring records and cleaning up the attached sources) in my FamilyTree on FamilySearch at the January 24th community class put on by the Family History Centre. Cleaning up records that have been duplicated, merged and have multiple links and problems is one of the most time consuming and often frustrating parts of dealing with a common family tree. A little extra help and information can help me avoid adding to the confusion. The class begins at 7:00 pm if you are interested in coming along. You can register ahead of time at http://genwebworks.net/cfhc.htm or just show up - you will be welcome!

If you are interested in learning how to use Puzzilla and setting up your own FamilyTree with a free FamilySearch account, drop by the Family History Centre - there are friendly volunteers here to help you.

Discover your Family

Left to Right: Ellen, Adam,mother Elizabeth, Jean and father Adam Hunter
Taken about 1869

I saw a video a while ago promoting the use of the Family Search galleries to comment and share with others about the photos and memories found there. I have shared the video at the end of this post.  Because of it, I have been intending to spend some time in looking at what others have added in Family Search. But just this week,  I was notified that a comment had been added to a photo posted a while ago that added some wonderful context to the picture.

Hunter Family in front of their home - 6 April 1893 on the occasion of the dedication of the Salt Lake Temple.

The following comment with the information that references this photo was posted yesterday.

The Hunter Home Hunter Home at 703 East 1st South, Salt Lake City, the day the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated. Adam built the adobe part in 1852. New part was built during the 1860s also a lean-to on back of part I, and the front porch. This home was sold in 1901. All the children after the twins were born here. All 12 children were married from here. Baby George and Adam died here. On the Porch, Uncle Dave and Aunt Jean Mulholland, Uncle Will and Aunt “Dell” Ellen Cameron, Margie Hunter, Grandma Hunter, Uncle Will Hunter, (Will C. and Will H. helped put Moroni on the Temple). By the fence, David Mulholland, Bell & Jim Brown, Bessie Mulholland, the 3 little Cook girls (Aunt Betsey’s), Bessie Brown (Ramsey) & Uncle Jim Brown, back of fence Aunt Teina & Tot Brown.

I imagine it was an exciting day to see their beloved temple finally dedicated to its sacred purpose. The temple had been under construction for 40 years and this family had seen members participating closely with the building process.  They had participated in the quarry, with father Adam as the foreman there, preparing the stones for the walls and hauling these back to the temple site. They had been there cementing Moroni onto the capstone one year earlier after the capstone had been set. The Deseret Weekly wrote few words about the day that began "It is done.  In the history of the people of God, as in the experience of individuals, there are periods of supreme joy and exultation; there are times when the mind is more than usually filled with the contemplation of things divine, and the spirit within feels the relationship with the Father above and the affiliation with the home beyond."  The day had come and Father Adam had not lived to witness it alongside his family but I'm sure that they had no doubt that he was there in spirit. I'm sure the emotions on this day were such as described in the Deseret Weekly. It is wonderful to understand more behind a picture of a family gathered on the steps of their family home. 

I look forward to finding many other treasures shared in the Memories section of Family Search. It is a free tool for anyone to use to research ancestors, share photos and documents and make connections with relatives known and discovered.

A tale from the trek west

In honour of Pioneer Day today, I thought I would share a snippet from an account along the trail west.

This account is from the Diary of Elijah Larkin - summer of 1863. Hannah Webb was only 17 years of age and traveled with the Larkins.  Her aunt Sarah and maternal grandparents had all previously tried to make the journey and had died enroute. Her other aunt Martha had also followed but had lost her husband before setting out with the ill-fated journey of the Willie handcart company. Hannah's journey was a successful crossing and Elijah includes many accounts of the beauty of the scene.  

I find his writing so descriptive - including painting a picture of the scene, sharing details of clothing, food, landscape and the animals and plant life along the way. He is also careful to document when there are events such as illness or death in the company along with the weather reports and hunting parties. His trade was originally as a baker but in later years he became a policeman in England and I imagine he wrote up careful reports in his profession. 

Ruth, Hannah[,] my Son Geo. W & self climbed the highest Bluff & had a Splendid view of Laramie & the country around presenting the most beautifull Picture we ever beheld. the Bluffs were covered with the most beautfull & varied colleurd [colored] Stones some of which I broke & preserved small portion of them[.] after we had crossed a half dozen Bluffs we came to a beautifull table land dotted all over with choice plants & flowers. the beautifull scenery on the East, the River North & the camp passing between—The trees on the sides of the Bluffs[.] up one we saw an Eagle perched. the Beautifull Mountainous Scenery, & the Varied tints of the Horizon as the Sun declined caused reflections to pass through my mind long to be remembered[.] just after Sun set we came down from the bluffs which were rather a dificult task as the sides were verry Steep & Craggy, as we were passing down in the deep ravines the Trees had been torn up by the roots & large stones & Rocks lay accross our path as though at some period of the past there had been a mighty convulsion of the Earth in the past....

 Just at the Mouth of the Kanyen, on the right side the Rock[y] Mountains were verry high & of Red Sand Stone, with two large masses of gothic shape Sand stone at the top, & all around Ceeders [cedars] were growing between the two masses of Stone above named[.] the Moon was going down & oposite the Sun had risen above the Mountains reflecting its bright Rays on the High Rocks oposite presenting the most beautifull Picture imaginable.