Genealogy Chart by State

I happen to be Facebook friends with many geneabloggers so when Judy G. Russell (the Legal Genealogist) posted her chart last night, I knew that there would be many others who would do the same. Judy was inspired by J. Paul Hawthorne (with whom I’m not familiar). By morning, I’ve counted no less than five from those I do know.

I had already decided last night that I would do one for myself – boring though it may be – and use it as a blog post. So this is what I created (see above). Pretty repetitive!

The top half signifies my paternal branch and the lower my mom’s. William Amore – my paternal 2nd great-grandfather was born in New York. My dad’s maternal great-grandfather, Florus Allen House, hailed from Connecticut. See the two Virginia blocks on the far right top half? Those are for Evan Ogan and Susanna Fritter Ogan – the couple who raised my great-grandmother, Frances V. Ogan House. I don’t have a biological component to add there but I didn’t want to leave those two spots blank because then the chart would look lopsided.

I have a 2nd great-grandmother who was born in North Carolina – Amanda Evaline Mullis (wife of James Wilson Johnson); a 2nd great-grandfather born in Virginia – Israel Isaac Wilt who married Elsy Nash from Pennsylvania. Other than that – we are all predominantly Ohio or Indiana born!

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Tied Back to Germany

Yesterday, Jessica, at Jessica’s Genejournal posted this about looking for her German Ancestors since it was German-American day. Unfortunately, I was not able to post about my Germany ancestors so will be a day late with this one.

Most of my ancestors originated from somewhere in Germany (or what is now Germany).  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to pinpoint exact locations.  My great-grandmother, Mary Angelina (Annie) Werts, was descended from Wilhelm Wurtz born in the early 1700’s in Tauberbischofsheim, Germany.  It is located in the Baden-Württemberg area.  Wilhelm traveled via the ship Neptune to Philadelphia.  (Footnote 1)

My great-grandmother, Martha Jane Stern, is descended from Hans Peter Raudenbusch and Maria Bremm.  They were both born in the early to mid 1600s in Reihen, Heidelberg, Germany.  It has been reported that the flour mill that Hans Peter operated through the Thirty Years War is still in operation. It was their grandson, Hans Henrich, who emigrated to Pennsylvania upon the Dragon in 1732. He was a founding member of the Abbottsville, Pennsylvania Upper Conowago Church of the Brethren (Mummert’s Church). After Hans Heinrich’s sons were married, the name went through a variety of changes. My direct ancestor’s name was Roudebush. She was the granddaughter of Hans Heinrich and my 4th great-grandmother. Other name variants include Ruebush, Roudebush.  (Footnote 2 & 3)

My 2nd great-grandmother, Malissa Goul, is the granddaughter of Adam Goul.  As a child, he traveled with his parents and sister, aboard the Rawley, from Frankfurt, Germany to Philadelphia.  It has been reported that he was the only one of his family to live to see America.  The rest perished on board ship.  Frankfurt am Main is the largest city in the German state of Hesse.

Footnote 1: Virts Vertz Virts Virtz Werts Wertz Wirts Genealogy; Gary E. Virts

Footnote 2: Wikipedia; 2008

Footnote 3: Hans Heinrich Raudenbusch, THE RAUDENBUSCH FAMILY; John Robert Frank; 2003

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Little Women

An article in one of my husband’s magazines explained how Family Tree DNA began. It spelled out the differences between mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) and paternal DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is passed from a woman to her children (both sons and daughters) but only to her daughter’s children through the female line. The paternal DNA is passed from father to son to son and so on.

Reading this, I decided to follow the female line to see where it would take me – both in personal terms (how they are related) and geographical (where were they born and lived) to get a clearer picture on where my female ancestors originated.

Me – born in SW Ohio

Mary – born in Eastern Indiana (mother)

Vesta Christena Wilt – born 1898 in Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana;
died Jan. 1984 Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio (gr-mother)

Martha Jane Stern – born 1872 in Clarksville, Hamilton County, Indiana;
died Nov. 1956 Lane County, Oregon (gr-grandmother)

Nancy Caylor – born 1840 in Wayne County, Indiana;
died Dec. 1900 in Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana (2nd gr-grandmother)

Susannah Miller – born bet. 1800-1804 in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio;
died Nov. 1859 in Noblesville, Hamilton County, Indiana (3rd gr-grandmother)

Catherine (or Katherine) Botafield – born 1780 in Pennsylvania;
died Oct. 1855 Washington Twp, Tippecanoe County, Indiana (4th gr-grandmother)

Now it’s time to start researching the Botafield family and especially Katherine in order to find her mother.  I also need to do some documentation in order to verify that Katherine was indeed Susannah’s mother.

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