Coming to America-Andrew Warner

My quest is to find out as much as I can about my ancestors who first braved the ocean to come to this new land called America.

On my paternal side Andrew Warner (my 8x great-grandfather) and his wife Mary/Maria Humprey Warner were the first ones on my Warner line to come to America.  They came from Great Britain about 1630 and landed in Massachusetts.  From there Andrew’s grandson Nathaniel Warner  made his way to Long Island.

When I was young I remember seeing a memorial stone at the local cemetery where many of my Warner Ancestors are buried.  On the stone for the Warner Family there was a lineage describing who the first person was to come to America from England.  There was some talk that the line that was listed on the stone did not have the correct information.  For some reason at the age of about 12-13 I decided I would be the one to find out the truth.  I went to the local library and began to do some research without any knowledge or training in genealogical research.  I somehow found the following book:

I think I looked for and found a Nathaniel Warner, who came to Long Island, who I knew was correct, and traced backwards in this book to Andrew Warner and not William Warner as reported on the Monument at the Cemetery. 

I presented it to older family members saying that our first ancestor was not William Warner as claimed on the stone but Andrew Warner.  I remember my comments were pushed aside because how could I, a mere child, with no training, disprove what was believed by so many as correct.  I didn’t do any research for years.  In the 1980’s, long before the internet and the ease of finding records on-line, I once again began working on this family line.  Now I was an adult and people would listen to me, right?

I did a lot of research by visiting the places Andrew lived (Hartford CT, Hadley and Hatfield MASS) and searching for records.  I put together this pamphlet for a Warner Family Reunion back in 1986.   It’s been many years since I have done any research on Andrew so I thought I would take a look at what I had already found out about Andrew before I began some research again on him. 

Andrew was born in 1594/5 in Cambridge, Essex, Cambridge England

Andrew (29 years old) married Mary/Maria Humphrey (23 years old) on 15 Oct 1624 in Thaxted, Essex, England.

Andrew and Mary had 9 children: Andrew, Robert, Jacob, Daniel, Isaac, Ruth, Hannah, Mary and John.

Mary died (71 years old) 19 Sep 1672 in Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts.

Andrew married Ester/Hester Wakeman Seldon on 8 February 1679 (84 years old) in Hadley, Hampshire, Massachusetts.

Andrew (89 years old) died 18 Dec 1684 in Hadley,  Hampshire, Massachusetts.

If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

It’s Official! I Proved it!

Last September I submitted my maternal family synopsis form to the Alden Kindred of America in order to certify my Alden lineage and become a member of the Alden Kindred of America.   (See post Which Historical Societies Will You Join? ).  Since then I have worked to obtain the documentation necessary to prove that I am truly a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden.  I worked with the Alden Historian to determine the generations I needed to provide documentation on. 

As you go back farther and farther you wind up in a time period when towns were not yet required to maintain birth, death and marriage records.  Some records are difficult to find and alternative sources are needed.  Portis’ and Nettie’s death records were hard to find as I had conflicting information on where they had died.  Another interesting outcome was that I realized I didn’t have copies of my immediate family’s, including my own, important vital records.  As we search for the records on our illusive ancestors we often forget about our own records.

And here’s the proof that I succeeded:

My lineage:

John and Priscilla Alden

John

Rev. Noah

Israel

Timothy

Louisa

Marvin M.

Portis M.

Nettie

Edna

Marcella

Me

I am so very honored to be descended from John and Priscilla and all they fought for and accomplished in this amazing new world. 

I’m also looking forward to meeting many of my newly found cousins.   YEA!!!!

Next on my Genealogy ‘To Do’ List…..  join the Mayflower Society, the DAR…..

If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them.
Enjoy the journey,
Debby

Southern California Genealogy Jamboree 2017

The 48th annual Genealogy Jamboree began yesterday with a DNA day entitled Diving Into DNA-a full day of sessions all about DNA and genealogy.  Today marked the first of 3 days of this year’s Jamboree entitled Hunting Your Heritage.  The Southern California Genealogical Society, who put on this amazing event, expect over 1500 people, a combination of volunteers, attendees, speakers, and exhibitors.  Yesterday, I was able to attend 4 sessions on topics such as the Y-DNA of the British Monarchy to Genetic Genealogy Year in Review 2017.  It is amazing to see how far the field of Genetic Genealogy has come in just the last year as reported by Blaine Bettinger. Today, I was able to attend a 2 1/2 hour special workshop and 3 additional sessions. My first session was a workshop entitled Third Party Tools for Autosomal DNA by Blaine Bettinger.  What a great workshop and well worth the extra workshop fee.  Blaine is a great speaker and instructor who taught us about many of the features and tools in the programs GEDmatch and DNAgedcom.  It’s absolutely amazing how the ‘Tools’ in these programs can help you make sense of and interpret all those results from the DNA testing you have done. (Thanks to all my family members who have helped with this research by donating their DNA ).  Blaine helped us in this ‘hands on’ workshop use these ‘Tools’ with our personal DNA results to begin interpreting how our ‘matches’ can direct our genealogy research.  I like these ‘Workshops’ when we are not just learning but also ‘doing’ and using the knowledge we have just learned.  Another session where I learned some new techniques were in a session entitled Facebook: A Tool for Genealogy Research by Thomas MacEntee.  Thomas is an engaging speaker, who I enjoyed at a full day seminar for the San Diego Genealogical Society in January, and I was pleased to hear again today.  We tend to think of Facebook as a connection for keeping in touch with our friends but there are so many ways it can help us with our research whether it’s searching for Family groups with our Surnames or Genealogy Groups in the areas or states we are researching as a way to help us find answers or to find cousins and make those new connections. The last session I attended was entitled Types of Township Records by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen.  Peggy is a speaker I think I could listen to for hours and totally lose track of time.  Peggy spoke about the first ‘township’ records which began in England and were records kept in a parish chest or strongbox.  She spoke of records we generally don’t think of looking for in a township such as tax records, school records, cemetery records, land records, etc. that can help tell our ancestor’s story.  She showed us how you can use locations on a land record in www.earthpoint.us and google earth to find the present day location of land owned by your ancestors. I look forward to the next workshop of hers I can go to…perhaps for the San Diego Genealogical Society? Other Jamboree highlights:  Yesterday, I was able to see and thank Drew Smith and George Morgan (of Genealogy Guys and Genealogy Connection podcasts).  If you haven’t had a chance to listen to their podcasts I highly recommend you do. There is an Exhibit Hall full of vendors and Society representatives.  I stopped by the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) booth to learn how to start my applications for the 5 Revolutionary War Veterans I have identified recently in my family tree.  Another one of those items on my Genealogy ‘To Do List’. While learning some new ways to look at my DNA results I was able to figure out how a DNA match I had on Ancestry connected into my family tree and a cousin I didn’t know I had …is found.  YEA!! A great dinner with my son who lives nearby! If you have any corrections or additions or stories to share I look forward to hearing them. Enjoy the journey, Debby