Have you begun your new year doing anything at all with your genealogy? I have – I’ve signed up for a writing challenge with the PAAncestors.com website where we chronicle about our ancestors each day for 10 days. It’s nice because they are short and sweet and to the point, approximately 150 words. So far so good.
We post our chronicle to social media. The main 2 that are friendly to hashtags are Twitter/X or Instagram. Not having a whole lot on Instagram I’ve opted to use it this time, but I also have the little option to have it shared on Facebook which allows my family to view it as well – and they tend to comment. It’s working out nicely too as I’m focusing this round of questions on my mom’s side of the family, specifically my Warner family.
Here are cropped photos of what I’ve shared on social media. I know it will be happening again next month on the chance you find that you are interested.
Day 1 I wrote about my great-grandmother, Mildred Laura Dunbar
Day 2 we had to use a map – so I showed the migration of my Warner’s from Bernardston, MA to Potter County, PA to Akron, OH
Day 3 was a marriage story – so I discussed Joel Warner and his “extra” marriage to Gratia Chapin (that never happened)
Day 4 was discussing how a historical event impacted your family so I discussed the boom of the rubber industry and why 2nd-great-grandmother, Mazie Warner, moved to Akron, OH
Day 5 discussed a specific occupation of our ancestor so I discussed how Oliver Chapin Warner, my 4th-great-grandfather was a lumberjack!
Halfway through the challenge – 5 days down, 5 days to go. Hoping you are working on your genealogy in some way to kick off the new year!
For September’s prompt in Amy Johnson Crow’s 12 Ancestors in 12 Months, I’m opting to go back and explore more documents in an effort to figure out who is the mother of Oliver Charles Warner.
For those who aren’t familiar with Oliver Charles Warner, he is my 4th great grandfather who was born in Massachusetts in approximately 1809, which should make him a child of Joel Warner and his wife, Thankful Chapin. Thankful died on 3 April 1812 and Joel remarried Rebecca Phelps Ackerly 2 months later on 10 June 1812.
I just need to find definitive proof of when Oliver Charles Warner was born so I can establish who was his mother, Thankful or Rebecca.
But an interesting occurrence happened when I went to FamilySearch to double check the sources that were on file for Joel Warner – and listed as a child was suddenly “Oliver Chapin Warner”.
My first thought was “I like that”. Thankful’s maiden name as Oliver’s middle name. Not to mention Thankful had a brother named Oliver which was one of the reason’s I rationalized in my head that Oliver was Thankful’s son. So I went and contacted the person who made the middle name change to Oliver and contacted them to see how they came across Chapin as a middle name. And when she got back in touch with me late Wednesday evening, she had attached a document she found on Ancestry, probate records from the minor children of Thankful and their choice of a guardian and it lists all her minor children: Climena, and Charlotte (above the ages of 14) and Oliver Chapin and Horace (below the age of 14).
Part of the “Massachusetts, U.S., Wills, & Probate Records, 1635-1991” found at Ancestry.com
You can only imagine the happy dance I have done since finding this most wonderful document. And my 10th cousin on FamilySearch who responded to me and linked the information on Thankful’s page is now my new best friend! Well, at least my genealogical hero as she is most deserving.
So now Oliver Chapin Warner has his rightful name and his parents. It’s wins such as this, from a relative I don’t even know where they live, that makes this hobby so wonderful.
I didn’t get to do as much “exploration” but I’m glad I opted to begin this again where I have now gotten a chance to end my constant wondering – now my brick wall can go back to being exclusively Andrew and Susanna.
Helping History Come Alive 