Happy 30th Birthday in Heaven

James Anthony Fiume

August 25, 1987 - December 14, 1987

Grandma Pickard Update!

Circa 1948 Bridget Reilly Pickard and Nancy Donnelly Turner

For years,  Bridget Reilly Pickard, AKA Grandma Pickard was a brick wall.  A GIGANTIC brick wall.   All I knew about her was on her death certificate.  She was born in March 1863 in Ireland and her father's name was Thomas Reilly.

Thanks to the power of my mother's DNA and a kind, kind cousin, Craig.  I know more about her.  He was able to compare strands of DNA and determine that it was the Reilly surname.  His Reilly's are from Lurgan Parish, Co. Cavan, Ireland.  He suggested that I check baptismal records for Lurgan Parish.

Within a few minutes, I struck gold.  Bridget Reilly was baptized on 27 April 1863 to a Thomas Reilly and Rose Brady.  This matched the year of birth and name of father.  Here is the record:  http://registers.nli.ie/pages/vtls000634887_100

I shared my find with Craig and he took the ball and ran with it.  Finding siblings and a marriage record for Thomas Reilly and Rose Brady.  He also very eloquently pieced together both Thomas and Rose's parents. Thomas' parents were Thomas Reilly and Bridget Curran.  This Thomas is brother to Craig's direct ancestor Ann.  Thomas and Ann's parents were Phillip Reilly and Judith, our common ancestors making us 7th Cousins. 

This branch was bare before his correspondence.  Now we know so much more than just her father's name.  This branch has now blossomed!

I can't wait to find out more about her siblings and research further on her mother's side.

Thank you Craig for connecting the limbs of our family tree and thank you mom for making the DNA investment!

Hugh Turner and June Weller met on the S.S. Colombia in July 1934

I always loved this photo of my grandparents.  Hugh in his Merchant Marine uniform and June in her playful sailing outfit.  I have no idea when this photo was taken, but they look so happy. I never knew how they met.

Recently, my brother called me from California after spending time with Uncle Bob.  He told me that our grandparents met on a ship!  He worked on the ship and she was a passenger. They met by chance returning to the ship at a port of call.  June was alone and Hugh was told to escort her back to the ship.  Not sure which port of call, but nonetheless, here is the ship manifests for the S.S. Colombia, where they clearly met. He is on the first line of the crew list dated June 18, 1934.

June is the last person listed on this passenger list dated July 18, 1934.

Two lines above her is Aunt Francis, her traveling companion.  The rest is family history :)

An Ellingham Adventure - She's a Good Sport

So this week, Mom and I went on a mini cemetery adventure.  We hit 4 cemeteries in one day.  We started out in Linden, NJ at Rosedale Cemetery visiting the grave of Jane (nee Allingham) Ellingham Stevenson.  Jane was born in 1844 in Drumhome, County Donegal, Ireland.  She is the daughter of Francis (Frank) Allingham and Elizabeth Montgomery.  She married first William Ellingham on October 2, 1865 in Poughkeepsie, Duchess County, New York.  They later relocated to Brooklyn. In the 1910 census Jane is listed as being the mother of 8, but only 4 are living.  William died on April 3, 1888.  Jane is Mom’s 2x great grandmother (my 3x).  Jane's Findagrave.com memorial.  On September 22, 1898, she married William Stevenson in Brooklyn, NY,  He died on July 2, 1915 in Brooklyn. Jane died November 25, 1915 in Elizabeth, NJ at age 71.

Jane is buried with her son William Ellingham, daughter Martha Miller, son-in-law Alexander Miller and members of his immediate family.  The other side with more names can be seen on Martha's findagrave.com memorial.

We made a few stops in Queens researching another line on my father's side of the family. More on that in a future post. Mom came along for the ride.  She was a great sport.  She walked around and helped look for markers.  She's really good at finding them!

1st Calvary Cemetery, Long Island City, NY

Our last stop in New York was The Evergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn.  We went to visit the grave of Jane's husband William Ellingham. 

She found his!

William Ellingham was born in 1846 in County Donegal, Ireland.  He is the son of William Ellingham and Ann Lenax.  William enlisted in Poughkeepsie, NY on September 6, 1864 and was honorably discharged at the end of the Civil War on July 12, 1865. He served as a Private.  He died on April 3, 1888 in Brooklyn at the age of 43.

Nancy Turner visiting the grave of her 2x great grandfather.

 We started and ended the day visiting Cenie's paternal grandparents.

I hoped to get to the Green-Wood Cemetery before leaving Brooklyn, but we ran out of time.  Thanks for being a great sport Mom!

John Lewis Monument

In the town of Staunton, Virginia, in the beautiful Gypsy Hill Park stands a monument to the first pioneer to settle the area, my 7x great grandfather John Lewis.

Patrick Donnelly & Julia Crowley's Children's Birth Certificates

John Henry Turner (1861-1893): A First Cousin, Four Times Removed

Zephaniah Turner and Sallie M. Conner are  my 4x great grandparents.  They had 10 children that I know of.  Their ninth child was Richard Henry Turner.  He went by Henry.  He was born March 28, 1825.  As per Aunt Helen’s notes, he studied art in Dusseldorf, Germany. He remained in Germany until the Civil War was over.

 

When he did finally return to Culpeper County, Virginia, he was accompanied by his wife and two children.  He married Fraulein Henrika Gilchrest. Their two children were John Henry Turner and Marie Carlotta Turner.  Neither child married.  All four are buried in St. Paul’s Episcopal Churchyard in Woodville, Rappahanock County, Virginia.  This bloodline came to an end, but his son John Henry’s gravestone left me with a handful of questions (he also went by Henry)  It reads:    

 “He was the first white man who explored the hitherto unknown region between Porcupine River in Alaska and the Arctic Ocean.”

Photo taken by Findagrave.com volunteer EG&JG (#46855711).

Thanks to a findagrave.com volunteer EG&JG (#46855711), his memorial can been seen here: http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54820374

A few searches later and I came across: http://www.explorenorth.com/library/history/geodic-ak-1902-T.html  that had the following to say about him:  

Turner, 1889-1891

    Mr. John Henry Turner, Assistant in the Coast and Geodetic Survey, was engaged on the Alaskan boundary survey from June, 1889, to July, 1891. In the summer of 1889, with Mr. McGrath, he ascended the Yukon River to Fort Yukon, where the party divided. On August 12 Turner began his journey up the Porcupine River to the boundary. On the 19th he landed at the site of an abandoned camp near the one hundred and forty-first meridian, and there began the building of quarters for officers and men and the erection of an observatory. This camp was named Camp Colonna. Longitude was determined by moon-culmination observations in March and April, 1890.
    On March 27, 1890, he set out upon a sledge journey from Camp Colonna northward to the Arctic Ocean, where he arrived on April 8. The next day he started back, and reached Camp Colonna on April 17. Later he left Camp Colonna, descended the Porcupine and Yukon rivers, and proceeded to St. Michael, Norton Sound, where he was compelled to remain until July, 1891, when he departed for Washington. He returned to Alaska in 1892 on boundary work, but owing to ill health was obliged to give it up. During his stay in Alaska he made a valuable collection of bird and animal skins, which he presented to the University of California. The expenses of this collection he bore personally. He died in Washington on June 13, 1893. An account of his work was published in the National Geographic Magazine in 1893, Vol. IV, pp. 189-197; see also Coast and Geodetic Survey Report 1890-1891, Part I, pp. 86-88. 

National Geographic Magazine article can be found here: https://archive.org/stream/nationalgeograph41892nati#page/189/mode/1up

For the great grandchildren of Hugh Turner and Willetta Montague, this is our 1^st cousin 4 times removed.