Genealogy, My Family Tree, 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Maternal Side

Week 1: An Ancestor I Admire

Becky

This week’s topic for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is to write about an ancestor I admire. It’s so easy to think of my Grandma Blair (Anna Maria Morgart) or even my great-great-grandmother, Mazie Lorenia Warner, but alas, I’ve written about both of them and there isn’t much else to tell (well, I’m sure I have a lot I could still say about Grandma Blair).

So the more I thought about this topic, I realized that writing about someone I know is the easiest way of accomplishing this task so obviously it shrinks the circle down a bit and that’s when it hit me… my great-grandmother, Mildred Laura Dunbar. I’ve written about her often but I’ve only written snippets about her life, so here goes.

Mildred Laura Dunbar

Mildred Laura Dunbar was born on 15 March 1908 to Mazie Lorenia Warner and Arthur James Dunbar in Hebron Township, Potter County, Pennsylvania. She was their 4th and youngest child. Arthur was a farmer and Mazie was a housekeeper, according to her birth certificate.

Mildred was only 5 years old when her father died of adult onset polio on 18 December 1912. Two years later, she gained a step-father in Samuel Joseph Randol. Sometime between March and August 1916, the Randol-Dunbar household moved to Akron, Ohio, settling in the North Hill area.

Mazie and Samuel moved to 75 Rosalind Court, which is where Mildred lived out her childhood. At this time she was 8 years old.

Paul Harrison Geer

The big question mark with my great-grandmother is when did she meet Paul Harrison Geer, her first husband and the man I believe is the father of my grandmother, Alberta Lou Fleming. The Geer’s, you see, lived on the corner of Glenwood and Howard Street, which was not that far from Rosalind Court. Paul’s father Clyde worked at Swinehart Rubber with Mildred’s step-dad, Samuel Randol. Around 1924, Samuel owned a store on Howard Street, one block from the Geer home on Glenwood. So many instances where their lives could have crossed paths. But there is always that chance that they didn’t meet until 1925 when Clyde moved his family in next door to the Randol’s at 71 Rosalind Court.

The romantic in me wants Mildred and Paul to be high school sweethearts, or at least teenage sweethearts. This I will never know. I do know they married on 17 September 1927 in Akron, Ohio by Reverend O.W. Haulman, who was the minister at the Grace Reformed Church (not sure if that is where they got married, however). Their marriage did not last long, with Mildred filing for divorce on 15 January 1929 – stating that Paul was “grossly neglectful of his marital duties” and since 1 March 1928, refusing to provide her food and clothing, making her rely on her parents. He also barely worked, and not only gambled his earnings but visited houses of ill repute (this was what was stated in her divorce papers). The paperwork also stated there were no children born of this marriage but I think something happened between Paul and Mildred between her filing for divorce in January and the finalization of the divorce on 5 September 1929, because I truly feel from DNA results that Alberta Lou Fleming is the daughter of Paul Harrison Geer, despite her birth certificate stating that Albert Nank was her father.

I still give my great-grandmother credit for being the plaintiff in 1929 and filing for divorce from her husband when she wasn’t happy in her marriage. I know in an previous 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks that I discussed her being a “Strong Woman” and I stand by that. Women didn’t have the power to do such things back then, and that she stood up for herself is simply amazing.

Albert William Nank

I have no idea how my great-grandmother met Albert William Nank, her second husband, but she married him on 30 September 1929 by Reverend George M. Smith (I was unable to pinpoint where his congregation may have been). Their honeymoon quickly ended when my grandmother was born on 2 October 1929. I’ve heard countless stories how she was born premature and Mildred was sent home with her newborn and a hot water bottle and told that if the baby survived until morning, that she would need to feed her. I believe my grandmother was just a couple pounds when she was born, and since I’m typing this, you know she survived until the next morning.

But her marriage to Albert wasn’t successful either. On 15 March 1933 (her birthday), Mildred filed for divorce from Albert Nank. She states “gross neglect of duty”, his being unemployed for most of their marriage that she described as an “aversion to hard work”, he provided no money for her or their minor child, and is often “cross and disagreeable”. Their divorce was finalized on 1 June 1933 with Albert being instructed to pay what would essentially be “child support” of $5 per week and he was allowed to spend 1 day each week with his daughter, which I don’t believe he ever did.

My guess is as my grandmother got older I think Albert realized my grandmother was not his child. In all his paperwork pertaining to his joining the Army he always checked the box “no children”. I heard that at one point after Alberta married Harold Fairhurst, Harold made Alberta go and meet with Albert. He ignored her the entire time she visited. I often wonder why he never told her the truth, he had nothing to lose at that point in time, but I’m guessing he must have been willing to keep Mildred’s secret.

I’ll confess before taking the DNA test and not finding any Nank or Jennings DNA matches (I suppose there is a chance no one has taken a test, but unlikely as they seem to be a decent size family in Utica, Macomb County, Michigan). I still feel my grandmother was a very strong woman to file for divorce not once, but twice. I’ll admit my thoughts have skewed a bit over the years because I sometimes feel bad that Paul never had a chance to be a dad to my grandmother.

Howard Fleming

My great-grandmother’s third and final husband was Howard Fleming. As with Albert, I’m not sure how she met Howard, but he was the marriage that stuck. They married 5 August 1933 by Reverend Wayne McQueen, who when I researched him he was the minister of the North Hill United Methodist Church, and their marriage only ended when Howard passed away on 20 March 1972.

Mildred Laura Dunbar, left, Alberta Lou Fleming, center, and Howard Fleming, right. If I had to guess this would be about 1932-1933

My mother was always fond of her Grandpa Fleming though I don’t know too many details about him. My dad said he was a really nice guy, but also said because he seemed to be drunk a majority of the time. At least he was a happy one, I suppose. Howard was a carpenter who worked for a variety of rubber companies throughout Akron.

Mildred and Howard also had two sons, Howard Herschel born in 1936, he went by Herk but I won’t go into too much detail as he may still be alive (I have never found proof yet that he has passed away), and James Rodney, who was born 25 May 1943 and passed away 4 March 2009.

I never knew Howard Herschel, only ever meeting him maybe once when he came to town for his mother’s funeral.

I have lots of memories of my Uncle Jim. He was a nice man who just had a lot of problems, one of them being drinking (maybe he got it honestly?). We would often go to my great-grandma’s house on Sundays when Uncle Jim had his kids as well and it was always so much fun playing with them. Because Uncle Jim was only a few years older than my mom, there are lots of photos of him growing up alongside her.

A Working Woman

Mildred worked as a secretary pretty much her entire life. I know she was a stenographer in the 1930 Akron City Directory and according to my mom’s youngest brother, she dabbled in real estate when he was growing up, which was interesting as I saw real estate ad’s in the newspaper where you could call Mildred Fleming but I didn’t think it was referencing my great-grandmother.

To see the full page of this advertisement in the Akron Beacon Journal click here to read it on Newspapers.com

However, if I’d have clicked on enough links when I did my Newspapers.com search I’d found this gem of an article with her picture. Click here to see the article on the website.

My Memories

Mildred often babysat me when I was little and my mom had to go to the doctor as she did not live that far from us. One of my favorite things to do was play with her jewelry. I have so many pieces of her jewelry that became mine to play with in my playroom growing up. Shoes, skirts, tops, so many things. And to be honest, if it was convenient to get into the one toy box in my parents basement, I would take photos to put in this post.

My Great-Grandma was the first person to pass away that I really knew and her death hit me very hard. I was 8-years-old. I remember my mom asked me if there was anything I wanted and not really knowing what to say, I asked for the fry pan that she would scramble me eggs in when she babysat me. And though I didn’t think this was the pan then, it’s the only little pan they could find so they figured it must be it. Regardless it’s a pan that belonged to her.

Over time my mom gave me my great-grandma’s mirror, brush, and comb set. I’m sure my mother thought it would sit in a drawer forever, and the brush and comb do as I’m afraid I’d break it. But that mirror… I use it every day when I’m getting ready for work, life, whatever. When I got my vanity (from my Grandma Blair) I was entering eighth grade, so sitting at the bench with a mirror in hand is just about how I’ve always put my make-up on. The original mirror I used broke some time ago (handle, not the actual mirror itself) and one day I made the mistake of picking up my great-grandmother’s beautiful golden mirror, this was probably a good 10-15 years ago, possibly longer, and life has never been the same.

When I would see my great-grandma she was always put together which is probably due to her work in a professional environment. I believe she still worked part time up until her death, which she was 73.

When I was 6 she went on vacation with us to Florida to visit her daughter, Alberta. We drove down in the car stopping to visit with my aunt and her children on our way down. I remember we went to the Ringling Museum and other fun places while there (no Disney, but that was okay). Below is a photo of my mom and great-grandma sitting in the sun.

Cynthia Anne Fairhurst, left, and Mildred Laura Dunbar, right, basking in the Florida sun in March 1979

I found it appropriate that I finish this post when I did, on 8 January, as it was 44 years ago today in 1982 that my great-grandmother died of cardiac failure, renal failure due to a colon obstruction. My cousin Jaclyn, whose birthday was also today, was only 4 when she sat on my mom’s lap and said “I bet Grandma already has her wings”.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, Genealogy, My Family Tree

Genealogy Goals for 2026

Becky

2026 will be here before we know it and I am getting my thoughts together on what I hope to accomplish as far as my family tree is concerned in this upcoming year. I find that doing this really seems to help. I don’t recall making this list last year, so here goes.

1. 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

I’ve already signed up for Amy Johnson Crow’s weekly series of prompts to help me write about my ancestors. I’m heeding her words of wisdom, which are you don’t have to write about every prompt, just the ones that speak to you. So that is just what I am going to attempt to do this year. I figure this is something I can work on during my lunch hours each day at work instead of always just reading. I’ll be productive (when I’m not sleepy and going out to take a snooze in my car – or going to a local park and getting my exercise in).

If you are interested in signing up for 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks, click here: https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/52-ancestors-in-52-weeks-new/

2. Utilizing My Local Library

Presently when I go to my local library for the meetings of our county chapter of OGS, I always see a group of people there diligently going between books and the computers working on their tree. I want to be one of these people. My local library is an amazing resource that I don’t use enough so I am going to begin going every Saturday to utilize the various programs that can be used while in the library. The websites include Ancestry Library Edition, FindMyPast, they are a FamilySearch affiliate, American Ancestors, Fold3, and MyHeritage.

I look forward to being able to utilize these different programs along with the many books they have in their stacks of shelves to assist me in finding out more about my ancestors. Especially since this year I forgot to renew my membership around Thanksgiving when Ancestry has good deals on gift memberships (or in my case, a gift from me, to me). I think my only subscription presently is Newspapers.com and even it expires in mid-February.

Check out your library, they may have Library Edition subscriptions for your favorite database as well!

3. Growing My Local Genealogy Chapter

When I first began going to my local chapter of the OGS, there were about 20-30 members coming to our monthly meetings. When Covid hit in 2020 our numbers decreased exponentially. Like it’s basically our few board members coming to the monthly meetings along with my mother-in-law (she is the only non-board member in attendance). I’ve already begun searching for speakers and have a theme for the meeting set-up for this years programming.

My hope is that with advance notice of a speaker or the topic that maybe we will be lucky enough to get a larger attendance. As the programming chair I’d been fearful of spending money on speakers when it was just about 7 people attending the meetings. But this year I’m throwing caution to the wind. I’m hopeful between filling in the schedule for the entire year along with more social media content I will be able to grow our chapter once again. If you belong to a genealogical society, feel free to share any tips you used to help grow your group.

A Successful 2026

I’m hoping all of the above will allow me to have a good year of expanding my tree and hopefully breaking down some brick walls. If you have any goals for this year, feel free to share in the comments below.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Genealogy, My Family Tree

The Holidays

Becky

The holidays are a wonderful time of the year where you can’t help but think of family traditions. I often wonder if any of the things I do were the same things that my family did. I can only assume that they were. But what traditions were unknowingly handed down? I wasn’t smart enough to ask such questions when the women in the know were still around. Maybe I’ll ask my dad if he knows of anything. He often surprises me with the stuff he knows. I think he surprises himself as well.

I’ve recently finished up doing most of the decorating of my house. I have a table to move up into my room as the Christmas tree stands where this end table does the rest of the year. It becomes a night stand on the other side of my bed in the month of December (it blocks the heater and I have it in my head it doesn’t spread the air around as nice when it’s not there). I also need to put my battery operated Thomas the Tank Engine out. This often takes turns between being underneath the tree and on my coffee table – it just depends on where I feel like placing it. It went under the tree for years but then we got a new tree and the base is much wider than the previous tree.

My tree

But all the thoughts of family have gotten me back into a groove of wanting to work on my family tree. This is improvement as it seems like I haven’t been in that mood for a while. I began setting up a research plan on my great-grandfather today, one I know I’ve written about here and there in the past but haven’t really focused a lot of research on him. Today that will change.

Anyhow, I hope you all get through the holidays and maybe find out a little bit about past holidays in the process. If you have lost someone special, my thoughts go out to you. This is my first Christmas without my sister and I’ve really had a much harder time processing her death than I ever would have thought. You see we never really got along much, but I never realized how much I sought her out for advice until she was gone.

Happy Holidays and hugs to you all!

Genealogy, My Family Tree, Paternal Side

George Ritchey – My 3rd-Great-Grandfather

Becky

Over a year ago I began a bit of focused research on my 3rd-great-grandfather, George Ritchey. I still have a few bits of information to figure out, one being to finalize that his parents are Heinrich Ritchey and Catherine Strickler, and who are all his siblings, but for most everything else, I think I’ve been able to gather a lot of information about him.

One thing that surprised me was a photo that is listed on FamilySearch.org of him. I shall post it here – I have no idea if this is truly him, but it’s exciting to think this is what he looked like. I love photos so much!

This photo was uploaded onto FamilySearch.org

His Birth

George Ritchey was born 15 July 1810 in Providence, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. This date was eluded to in his obituary with the statement of “88 years, 4 months, and 4 days” (taken from the Everett Press). I believe this to be accurate because the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses all seem to back up his year of birth as well.

Who Are His Parents?

As previously mentioned, confirming that Heinrich “Henry” Ritchey and Catherine Strickler are his parents is something I have not yet proven. I believe I must have noted that they were his parents from the big tree on FamilySearch.org. Just about every tree on Ancestry.com notes the same parents, but I really don’t see them having any proof either. George’s obituary does not mention anything about his parents. It only mentioned his wife, children, and brothers.

I did try to do a search through Newspapers.com to see if there were any articles in reference to Henry Ritchey but did not get any hits. I have searched both FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com to see if I could find a will for Heinrich “Henry” Ritchey that could note his children, but came up short so far. I reached out to Bedford County for a Will from 1856 for a Henry Ritchey, hoping that maybe it was for mine, that it just took 7 years to get through everything, but it did not seem to be my Henry Ritchey.

My next plan is to begin with the (4) children of Heinrich and Catherine that I am aware of and work from there. FamilySearch.org has 9 children listed for them so I have a lot of work to do on this couple.

I, George, Take Thee, Anna

George Ritchey married the former Anna Cypher on 30 August 1838 in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The reference of his marriage is one of my favorite parts of George’s lengthy obituary, I’ve placed a snippet from the Everett Press write-up below, but I’ll only transcribe a portion here. “On the 30 of August, 1838, at Cypher, Pennsylvania, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna Cypher, who as a most devoted and cheerful companion, filled his life with sunshine…”. Isn’t that just one of the most wonderful things anyone could have written about her? What a remarkable way to be remembered.

This snippet was taken from George Ritchey’s obituary from the Everett Press on Newspapers.com

Eleven Kids?

As the Everett Press snippet above states, George and Anna had 11 kids who all lived into adulthood.

  • Catherine Ritchey Bessor
  • Elizabeth Ritchey Grove
  • Rachel Ritchey Eshelman
  • Sarah Ritchey Smith
  • William Cypher Ritchey
  • Mary Ann Ritchey Morgart Hughes*
  • Daniel Edward Ritchey
  • Amanda Jane Ritchey McGraw
  • Alice Emma Ritchey Barton
  • George Grant Ritchey
  • David Theodore Ritchey

They were a blessed couple to have such a large family. Anna was aged 19-47 (only having been 47 for a week with David) when she had her children. Most were clockwork every 2-years except the last few which were closer to 3-4 years apart. I placed an asterisk next to Mary Ann Ritchey as she is who I descend from.

They raised this family in East Providence, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. The 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 Censuses all list them as dwelling in East Providence. I believe that both George and Anna lived in Bedford County their entire lives.

His Work & Interests

According to all (4) censuses, George was a farmer. When I did a quick search of the types of crops grown in Bedford County between 1850-1895, it appeared they could have grown a variety of staple crops including grains, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. Livestock was also bred in this area of the country which would provide both dairy and meat for this large family. I still need to look up tax records and maybe this will detail this information.

George belonged to the Knights of the Golden Eagle, which was a fraternal organization that began in 1873 whose rituals were based on those of the Crusaders. George was a member of the Everett Castle and had been installed as an officer the year he passed away. He was the W.C. or Worthy Chief, which was the presiding officer of the local chapter.

This article was taken from the Everett Press from 7 January 1898

He was known to host huge picnics on his property where people could fish in the nearby stream.

In another article from the newspaper, he lost his wallet, or in this case his “pocket book” which makes so much sense. I found it interesting the reward.

This article was found on Newspaper.com in the Bedford Inquirer on 12 April 1861

His Death

George passed away on 19 November 1898. His family provided an outstanding obituary that detailed his life (everything but his parents) and helped me quite a bit as I have attempted to research him.

This is the entire obituary found on Newspapers.com from the Everett Press
Genealogy

It’s Family History Month!

Becky

Family History Month takes place every October. I got a kick-start last month when an area FamilySearch Center had a Family History Day in late September to get my mojo going. The keynote speaker was one of my favorites, Sunny Jane Morton, who gave her presentation on PERSI 2.0 (and despite having learned about PERSI so many times over the 9 years of being serious about my genealogy, this time I finally got it).

In the coming weeks, I will be attending the Early Morning Genealogy my local library is hosting. We get to hang out in the Special Collections division where the library opens up to us an hour early to begin researching. I’ve said it a zillion times, I am so very lucky to have such a wonderful resource. With a wide array of genealogy databases available for free (many are viewable at the local branches but a few are Main Library specific), I should be able to find some information about whoever I choose to explore that day.

At the end of the month my own county’s FamilySearch Center is hosting their Family History Day where they will have programming introducing researchers of all levels to the various online databases – Ancestry, AI, Find My Past, Find a Grave, etc. Though I know a lot of things about a lot of the different programs, I always learn something I didn’t know, or could simply be reminded about something I have forgotten.

Check your local libraries and FamilySearch Centers to see if there are free programs near you to attend. It’s always fun just to get together with other researchers and learn about their discoveries because it may give you an idea on how to chip away at a problem you’re having.

Here is to a successful Family History Month!

Genealogy

Ready to Dive Back In

Becky

For the first time in months I sat down this morning and worked on my genealogy. For the last 2.5 years I worked with an investigative company completing military repatriation cases. And as much as I enjoyed finding the relatives for those MIA/KIA World War II soldiers, it made me feel more and more guilty whenever I took a moment to work on my own family history.

So I called it quits.

Genealogy was a hobby that I so enjoyed. It wasn’t just finding out the stories of my ancestors, but it was meeting cousins along the way, because often they were like me, searching for their own roots, so it was a win-win, I found people like me!

Sadly, today had me begin adding the death certificate information into my program for my sister, Kellie, who passed away on June 25. I’m sure I’ll delve into that whole thing in the coming months. It could be therapeutic for me. I know she is at peace, but she brought a lot of her issues onto herself, and that’s the challenging part for me as the surviving sibling. It’s where the anger comes in.

Looking forward to getting back to work on my favorite hobby and sharing my relatives and their stories with you. Thank you for your patience during my downtime.

Maternal Side, My Family Tree

Catching Up on Some Chronicles

Becky

I should be posting Chronicles on social media using prompts about my family. But sometimes you get stuck and then you fall behind, which is where I am at presently. So I have decided to post them here from now on and should I stay on schedule, I’ll post them on Instagram as well.

Here is a prompt from March – it’s the day in the life of an ancestor, I’ve opted to write about my 2nd-great-grandfather, Arthur Dunbar.

Arthur Dunbar

Today I’m discussing the day in the life of an ancestor. According to the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census, Arthur J. Dunbar, my 2nd-great-grandfather on my mom’s maternal side, was a farmer. In the 1910 Census, it specified his farm as a “general farm”.  Until I can find a copy of the Agricultural Schedule to determine exactly what his farm had, I’m going to assume a general farm is your basic farm – with vegetables and animals. 

As I decided to dig deeper into the best crops for Potter County, PA I learned that most farms were best suited for dairy and poultry farms and potatoes! (No one loves potatoes more than me). Farming back in the early 1900’s was hard work (it’s hard today) but you didn’t have tractors or mechanical tools at this time to make life a little easier.  You got up early in the morning and would plow the land using your own strength or that of animals (most likely a horse or a mule). You worked hard all day, from sun up to sun down, ending the day by eating dinner with your family and going to bed early so you could get up and do it all again the next day.  Arthur was the father of 3 girls, so it’s not likely that they were able to help out as much as he may have liked. 

This is a photo of the 40 acres that my dad now owns in Woodsfield, Ohio (it was originally owned by my grandfather, Leroy Blair)

Arthur died at the age of 43 of polio.

Genealogy, My Family Tree

A New Research Trip

Becky

I’m preparing for another research trip to the Pennsylvania State Archives this week. I’m so excited as it’s a pretty new building that has only been open for a month or two (I think) and I’m going with my PA Ancestors group that I’ve been either listening to via a podcast since 2019 I believe – and a group I’ve been interacting with via Zoom for a bit so needless to say I’m excited that I get to venture to the Pennsylvania state capital to hang out with some genealogy junkies for a day.

Finding Focus

My biggest obstacle so far has been trying to come up with what I’m going to research. I was so excited about just going and meeting my favorite podcast person in person (she knows I am a fan girl) that now that it’s the Monday before the trip I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to focus my research on.

I guess I feel that my people aren’t important enough to make it into the State Archives (probably because I don’t see them being fancy enough to make it into the Bedford County Archives). Not that my people need to be fancy or important, I just wish they’d be found.

Coal Mining

But the Pennsylvania State Archives seems to have a lot of information about coal mining and so a part of me has found myself making a list of names in my family (at least on my dad’s side) of those who were coal miners (so far I’ve listed a dozen men – on just my dad’s paternal side – 2 are my direct line ancestors) in a hope of trying to figure out the mines they may have worked in and a hope of finding out more information about the men themselves (possibly) and the companies they worked for. My next step is to begin researching the men on my dad’s maternal side.

Religious Records

Another topic listed under the Research Guide is that of Religion. As a person who hasn’t really taken as much time as she should to find the religious records of my ancestors, knowing the WPA surveys on church records could come in handy for me – and they are apparently at the Pennsylvania State Archives. I remember these being mentioned a great deal at PaGE last year (this was the Pennsylvania Genealogy Event that was put on by the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania). So it’s one more thing I can look into should time permit.

Birth Certificates

I do have a birth certificate I want to get for my great-uncle, Donald Blair. When looking him up in the Birth Indices on the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission’s website, he has no name but found his record due to it also listing his mom’s maiden name (Bertha Childers). I found when I received my grandfather’s birth certificate it noted that he was the fifth birth of my great-grandmother, when he should have been the 4th – so was there another child that I am unaware of? Did they make a boo-boo? I’m hoping that Donald’s says fifth too and that would resolve that. I’ve tried to find my grandfather’s older sister, Genevieve’s birth certificate to see what hers would say, but I have been unsuccessful in finding it. I’ve never found a birth certificate for the oldest child, Darrell Blair either, but do have his death certificate from when he passed away at 4 months old. On Vada’s birth certificate, the second oldest, it does state on her birth certificate that she was born 2nd.

You can see in the center underneath where it has “Vada Blair” written in red where it lists the number order of birth and it states “2nd”. This was found on Ancestry.com
Under the carrot showing Charley Wilmer Blair you can see that he is listed as the Number in Order of Birth is 5th. He should be fourth (Darrell, Vada, Genevieve, Charley Wilmer aka Leroy). This birth certificate I ordered up from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Social History

Lastly, if nothing else I would think there would be Pennsylvania history books there that will enlighten me on the social history of Pennsylvania. Not having been taught in Pennsylvania and learning the specifics of Pennsylvania history I am sure there is something to be learned on the shelves, or even possibly in a museum-like atmosphere that I can gain knowledge on a day in the life of my ancestors. This could be from both parts of my family as I have to remind myself my mom’s family was from northern PA and sometimes it feels like it’s a night and day difference from “Mother Bedford”.

Overcoming My Feeling Overwhelmed

I am sure part of my frustration at this point is that I just feel a bit overwhelmed. I don’t want my trip there to be wasted – as it’s a 5-hour drive for me. But it will give me experience in an archive in what I hope to be a friendly environment.

I shall report more next week when I return from Harrisburg.

My Family Tree, Paternal Side

How Do You Find Records That Aren’t Where They Should Be?

Becky

I’m having issues. I’m trying to find the will of my fourth-great-grandfather, Heinrich “Henry” Ritchey who died in Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 1849. The only trouble is I can’t seem to find his will. I’ve looked through the probate records and the only Henry Ritchey was a different Henry Ritchey who died in 1856 (I was hopeful when I requested his will that it was MY Henry Ritchey who just took a long time for his estate to be settled, but alas, it was a different Henry).

So I then began trying to find records in the Orphan’s Court – but I’ve been unsuccessful there as well, looking at the index of the records on FamilySearch and also being led from the FamilySearch Wiki to the Bedford County Historical Society’s index and they don’t have a Henry Ritchey listed either.

So where is Henry?

I’m sure you wonder why is it so important that I find the will of Henry Ritchey? Easy, I have no documentation that states who the parents of my third-great-grandfather, George Ritchey are. I’m rather hopeful that I will find a will and it will state who his children are. I could only be so lucky for him to name everyone (which I’ll admit if he died intestate I had better chances of finding everyone).

So I’m at a loss. My guess is to look in surrounding counties, despite his living in Hopewell, Bedford, Pennsylvania – I suppose he may not have died there after all. Getting down to the nitty-gritty of researching can be hard and frustrating – but sadly, in the end, I know it will be worth it.

A screenshot of my profile of Henry Ritchey and his wife, Catherine Strickler. The children listed are who I have pieced together so far – other sites have more listed – but for some reason I am more limited but still realize I have no true blue documentation of those I have.

I’ve searched Newspapers.com and NewspaperArchive.com (PA edition through my Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania subscription) with no luck. If I didn’t have a date of death I’d swear Henry is hanging with Andrew and Suzanna. (Insert laughing emoji here).

If you have any suggestions for me as I try to gather more pre-1850 information on my 3rd-great-grandfather, George Ritchey to tie him together with who I think is my 4th-great-grandfather, Henry Ritchey – by all means I am open to suggestions. I will continue to do the FAN Club and look up information on others who I believe are Henry’s children (the youngest child that I have for Henry and his wife Catherine was John Ritchey and he died in 1913 so there is a death certificate for him, and though it’s secondary information, Henry and Catherine are noted as his parents… so that’s something). Deep breaths and baby steps. I’ll get there.

Thank you in advance!

Book

You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

Becky

We knew it was only a matter of time before I wrote a review on a book about my favorite president. You Never Forget Your First is a clever titled book (or at least I think so) about our first President, George Washington.

One of the interesting quirks of this book is when you begin perusing the pages, it initially reminded me of reading someone’s resume… and to read George’s was interesting. Surveyor, Gentleman Farmer, Land Developer, if it weren’t for the “Virginia Militia Colonel (British Army)” and the “Member of the Virginia House of Burgesses” or even the “Commander in Chief of the Continental Army”, he would seem like an average man living in Colonial times. But George isn’t your average man.

I felt the author, Alexis Coe, did her due diligence as there were interesting facts about George I was not aware of, for example he apparently “took 2-impoverished girls to court for stealing from his clothes while he swam” and “named a dog Cornwallis”. The latter one made me laugh.

The book also includes a recipe for hoecakes, which was a regular breakfast in the Washington household. I found this fascinating, I could actually eat like George and this had me really happy.

She didn’t give a squeaky-clean version of George either. Ms. Coe brought to light how he switched out enslaved people in order to keep them enslaved. He was far from a perfect man, and you are aware he knew better which makes it that much more disappointing.

Overall, I liked the book, the one recurring theme of how shocking it was that a woman was writing about George Washington got old for me. I understand that not many women write about the founding fathers, and I may not have minded that she made the statement once, but it seemed she brought this to light several times, and I just felt like it took away from the actual topic of the book… which was George, not how she was a female writer.

If you are looking for a different, slightly more refreshing take on Washington’s life, then I highly recommend “You Never Forget Your First” as you learn a lot about our first president in a non-conventional way.