It all started with a Prince

Sometimes life gives you a chance to make amends. My great-uncle Samuel Dillingham was handed such a possibility.  Sam was the second oldest son of Nathaniel G and Ellen (Berry) Dillingham. He was one of 14 children. He had a couple of siblings who were notorious for fighting and scrapping and getting into trouble with the law. So was Sam. Family stories (from the wife of Sam's grandson and also from his younger brother Bill/Willard Dillingham) state that Sam had a falling out with his family and ran away from home at the young age of 12. He is listed with his parents and siblings in the 1880 census (age 11) and in the 1885 state census (age 16). So maybe he came back home?  Sam was born 8 Dec 1869 in Cerro Gordo, Iowa. In 1894 in Manning, Iowa when he was age 24 he and another man named O. W. 'Hock' Hunter got into a fight and Sam was underneath when he pulled a knife and attempted to kill Hunter. A Grand Jury sentenced him to two years at the state penitentiary for assaul...

Just when you think you have followed all the protocols for researching your family, research experts think of another one. And it's probably what you have done all along, just with a different name for the procedure. When I started researching there was no internet. Only the US mail and strategic vacation planning. Soon there were books, remote one-name study magazines and using a lot of visual aids. One such magazine was the Genealogical Helper. And help it did! That's how I found the Dillingham Group and the Mayo Irish group and many more.  With the advent of the internet suddenly researching took me on new heights. The joy of being able to actually see a document (birth, marriage, death, wills) with just a click. No waiting for weeks for something to come in the mail. And then realize that it wasn't your relative after all.  And I do have a few of those documents tucked away that I haven't been able to find a family member to pass it on to. So, you had to continue t...

Sometimes it takes multiple years and even decades to finally resolve a question that has been rolling around in your head. My great-uncle Herbert H Sheridan is such a question. Herb was born 11 Jan 1880 in Fulton, Gratiot County, Michigan and was the oldest of nine children born to Michael and Elizabeth (Holland) Sheridan.  Any pictures of him that have survived show a young man who never looked happy. Maybe it was being the oldest, or maybe it was just in his genetics to not be a good person.        Herbert H Sheridan ca1900    I grew up with the 'story' that he had gotten into an argument with a railroad official, had hit said official, and then because he thought he had killed him, Herb 'ran from the law' as a 'bum riding the rails' and no one knew what happened to him. That is what my mom (his niece) had told me. I searched for newspaper reports of such a thing happening but never found any.  Mom had also told me that 'a man came to the door ...

 John Conner and Rebecca Qweck were married in the Hudson Valley area of New York ca1755. They were the parents of seven children: William , Thomas, Eli, Hannah, Joseph, Rebecca and Francesca. They have been identified by records of the Dutch Reformed Church.  Rebecca married Johannes Terwilliger and stayed in New York. Joseph died in 1813, age 24 while in New York leaving a widow Catherine (Lemon). His will states that 1/4 of his estate is left to his wife (sic) Cateran Conner and 1/4 to his brother William Conner and 1/4 to his nephew Charles Conner (son of Thomas Conner) and 1/4 to his nephew Joseph Lemon (son of Michael Lemon and his sister Hannah) Francesca married Roeloff Ettenge and stayed in New York. Eli married unknown and had died by 1813 and had a son Joseph Conner. Thomas, I haven't found enough on him to comment other than he had a son Charles Conner. Hannah married Michael Lemon and had a son Joseph Lemon. William, who is Dan's 4th great Grandfather was born in...

Over the past several years, I have researched census and related records in an effort to present an accurate account of my second great-grandmother Clarissa (Hoard) Van Riper / Berry. She led a fairly complicated life. Clarissa was the oldest daughter of James Hoard and Hannah Moon. She was born 10 Jan 1813 in New York. Clarissa (Hoard) Van Riper / Berry Her first husband John Van Riper was living in Middlesex, Yates County, New York in the 1830 census. There were two persons in the family. A Male aged 20-30 years and a Female aged 15-20 years. John was born 25 Dec 1809 in New York. He would have been aged 21 in 1830. He was married to Clarissa Hoard 11 May 1830 in New York, and she was born 10 Jan 1813 in Yates County, New York. She would have been aged 17 in 1830. In the 1840 census John and Clarissa still lived in Yates County, New York and had five children. They had a total of eight children: Sarah Jane, Garrett, James, Mary Ann, Betsey Maria, John Jr, Jeremiah and Nelson. The la...

I have in my possession a picture that speaks volumes to me. It is a two-generational photo. It shows a family that was hard-working and proud of what they had accomplished over the years. Michael Sheridan born 2 Oct 1850 in New York, came with his parents to Michigan and grew up on the Sheridan farm that was located a couple miles south of the town of Perrinton, Michigan.  He was the son of Irish immigrants Patrick and Margaret (Hughes) Sheridan. The farm had been started about 1854 and was a thriving enterprise. There were cows, hogs, chickens, land under oats, wheat, hay and fruit orchards.  After Michael married Elizabeth Holland 5 Nov 1877, they decided there should be a way to sell all of the excess from the farm. And so, the Sheridan Poultry Hall was born. The buildings were acquired in downtown Perrinton and were located on Robison Street. Over the years Michael was known to be fair, and he would also buy from locals to supplement their supply. They even traveled as fa...