Tag: Burgess

52W Mark III – Week 43: Lost Contact

This week’s prompt for the 52 Ancestors Challenge is “Lost Contact”. Losing contact is one way of losing a connection. Sometimes losing the connection might be necessary.

There are countless ways as to why a tree is such an excellent metaphor for genealogy. One comparison that might not be considered so often is that, like a tree, sometimes one’s family history might need some pruning.

As our research progresses over time and we add to our trees, we might discover that there are branches that no longer belong, which should never have been there in the first place. They might have been grafted to our trees early on, when we were new to genealogy, and did not realize that the connection was not supported by the evidence. There might be branches that seemed to be supported by the evidence that was available at the time, but new evidence comes to light that disproves the connection. When this happens, we have to cut that branch and end contact with the false connection.

I know that sometimes many genealogists have had a hard time making the cut. After all, until the connection was disproved, the individuals on the branch were considered family.

Over the years, I’ve made cuts now and again. Some small, some big. A few years ago I found a significant cut I had to make for my 6xG Grandfather, James Turner (1715-1773). James is on a branch of my tree for which I’ve had less interest than others over the years. He was the great grandfather of my 3xG Grandfather, Preston Thomas (1814-1877). While I’ve done quite a lot of research on Preston – and written about him here many times – I have not done much research on his lineage. Most of what I have is names and dates I gathered in the mid-90s during my earliest visits to the Family History Centre in Burnaby, and never really looked at again very seriously. It comes as no surprise to me when I have to prune some of the branches on Thomas’s line, including the parents of James Turner (which I wrote about on Week 8 of the 2023 52 Ancestors Challenge).

The other branches of my tree that I know need some more serious research and that might result in some pruning, or at least some revision, are the paternal lines of my maternal grandmother, Helen Burgess (1921-1984). I have great confidence in the information I have for Helen’s grandparents and her attachment to them. However, I have doubts about the lineage of her great grandfather Franciscus “Franz” Lerner (b. bet. 1835-1840 – d. 1876 or 1877) and her great grandfather Georg Jacob Anton (1843-1908).

My grandmother’s is a descendant of Germans from Russia, which I have written about here quite often. Those ancestors are my most difficult branches to research, for many reasons.

For Franz, I am confident in the identity of his paternal grandfather [Franz Ignaz Lerner (1759-abt 1816 or later)]. The main problem is identifying his father. Franz’s father is one of either two individuals:

  • Michael Lerner born 11 Jul 1793 in Malsch, Karlsruhe, Baden, wife Maria Eva Eberle born 1793 in Pleisweiler, Bergzabern, Pfalz (although possibly Eva Eberle), or
  • Bernard Lerner born 27 Feb 1798 in Malsch, Karlsruhe, Baden, wife Barbara Heil born abt 1799 in Niederlustadt, Germersheim, Pfalz.

As for Georg Jacob, he might not actually be Georg Jacob. It is possible he is actually simply just Jacob. As for Georg Jacob’s father, the name I have is Johannes Anton; however, he might actually have been Peter Johannes Anton. Not only are the names I have slightly off from some other indicators, the birthdates I have for both is in question. Interestingly, the identity of their spouses does not seem to be as dubious. This leads me to believe that there is no mistaken branch here; rather, it is simply a matter of properly identifying Georg Jacob and Johannes.

I will add that even when I prune a branch, I keep a record of it. If large enough, I create a separate database for it; if not, I keep notes in my research logs or in the notes for the child whose parents I ended up cutting. That way I don’t retrace my steps or fall into old traps. Moreover, should it turn out the information actually was correct, I have it handy and can graft the branch back onto my main tree.

52W Mark III – Week 42: Full House

Growing up in a household with two parents and five children, it may have felt like we had a pretty full house. However, given the gaps in our ages, it wasn’t until I was 15 that there were seven of us sharing one home. Moreover, for the most part, despite all the moving around, by the time there were three of us children, the houses we lived in usually had three bedrooms. Until I was 15, that meant that there were never more than two in a room. I think my youngest brother was still in a crib by the time I moved away from home.

I compare that to my mother, who lived in the same house from age one to the time she married my father. She grew up in a tiny house in Lethbridge, which was built as part of the housing stock developed for veterans after World War II. My grandparents, Leo Burgess (1920-1995) and Helen Lerner (1921-1984), moved into the house in 1949, along with my mother and her older brother, Leo Jr. (1945-2014). Two more siblings followed, my Aunt Diana (1951-1999) and Uncle Curtis (1957-2024). In addition to her three siblings and her parents, my mother’s youngest uncle, Herb Lerner (1937-2004), also lived with them for a period of time.

May 1995, shortly after my grandfather Leo Burgess passed away. My mother and Aunt Diana are on the stairs at the front entrance. We were there to go through some things as part of cleaning out the house and settling the estate. The window on the top floor is for the bedroom that my mother and aunt shared as kids.

While it was a three bedroom house, in reality there was a tiny master bedroom on the main floor and two little shoeboxes in the attic that served as bedrooms. Because they were in the attic, the ceiling in both bedrooms was slanted to the floor. Not much fun for my mom’s brothers, who were both well over 6’5″.What was fun were the hardwood stairs that went up the middle of the house from the main floor to the attic. We treated it as a slide. Bumpy, yes, but loads of fun when we were little.

My uncles and their uncle Herb shared one room; my mother and her sister shared the other. By the time I was born, my Diana and Curtis had their rooms to themselves. By the time I was six, my Uncle Curtis had the whole floor to himself.

My grandmother, my mother, and her siblings, around 1959. I don’t know who the kid lurking in the background is.
My mother, her siblings, and my grandmother, about 1965.
My mother in the living room, ready for Grade 12 Prom

My grandmother, Aunt Diana, my mother, Uncle Leo, and grandfather, probably around 1955.

My grandfather renovated the interior a few times. The one I remember most was when he knocked out some of the walls between the dining room and living room. It made the place look palatial. Later they added a bay window to the living room at the front of the house. The least-best thing he did was when he installed shag carpet in the living room, covering up the gorgeous hardwood floor. It was the trendy thing to do at the time, something that definitely fell out of fashion a couple decades later. My grandfather also occasionally renovated the exterior, particularly the front and back entry ways.

My grandparents hosted a small reception at their home for my parents after their wedding ceremony. Here, everyone is gathered in the living room. My maternal grandparents are at the left of the photo; my paternal grandparents are on the right. My parents are flanked by the Maid of Honour and the Best Man.

We moved away from Lethbridge about a year after I was born. Nearly every summer vacation afterwards involved a road trip to Lethbridge, no matter where we were living at the time. Sometimes we visited for Easter or Christmas, as well as special occasions like weddings. Almost every time we visited, we spent half our time at this house. The other half we spent at my paternal grandparents’ house, although it seems like more often than not we spent more time at my maternal grandparents’. By then my aunts and uncles had all moved away, so my folks and siblings and I would use the upstairs rooms during those visits.

My first Christmas, with my grandparents in their living room.

My grandmother passed away in 1984; my grandfather passed away in 1995. My mother and siblings sold the house shortly after they settled my grandfather’s estate. The new owners were quick to renovate. The house has passed through several owners since then, each one renovated to some degree. I wish I had taken screen shots of the listing the last time it was listed for sale, which showed all the work they had done. The sellers had completely renovated the interior, plus they had finished the basement, something my grandfather never really worked on beyond installing some rough framing. Plus someone had gotten rid of that awful shag carpet.

One of the great features of Google Street View is that it allows you to view the various images of a location taken over time, particularly if it is a place that Google frequently revisits. Using that function, I can see the evolution of my grandparents’ home from 2009 to 2024.

Click “See More Dates”…
…and you’ll get a set of options for past views.

52W Mark III – Week 41: Most

Five or six years ago I presented on the topic of “Law and Genealogy” at a continuing professional development conference. In my PowerPoint presentation, I used several examples from my own research to illustrate several of my points. For example, to illustrate one of five parts of the Genealogical Proof Standard, I used an image of the citations I used in support of the date of the birth of my great grandfather, Johannis Albertus van der Fluit (1894-1932).

What struck me at the time was how many sources I had for that one fact – 17 at the time. If memory serves, I think that was one of the reasons I chose this fact to demonstrate the point. Heck, I could have used this image to illustrate the principle of conducting reasonably exhaustive research!

That slide has stuck with me, so with “Most” being the prompt for this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge, I got to wondering which ancestor in my family tree has the most sources. Not necessarily the best, or most reliable, or bear the most evidentiary weight – just most. Unfortunately, my software won’t provide the kind of statistics I’m looking for, so I manually went through the entries for all my direct ancestors up to and including my great grandparents.

The most heavily sourced of any fact for this set of ancestors is the April 13, 1919 marriage of my mother’s maternal grandparents, Milton Leo Burgess and Hazel Nelson, with 22 unique sources cited.

Not far behind is the list of sources demonstrating the marriage of my father’s maternal grandparents, Adrianus Komen and Elizabeth Bakker. I have cited 19 separate sources for their marriage that occurred on April 7, 1921.

Returning to Hazel Nelson, I also have 20 separate individual sources for her birth, which occurred on December 15, 1899.

However, where I can find the most sources is in the two folders of electronic documents I’ve gathered that are all vying for my attention. There is also a banker’s box of documents that also need to be written up. Unfortunately, I hate preparing source citations as much as I love genealogy!

These sources aren’t going to write themselves up…Where are the genealogy elves when you need them?

52W Mark III – Week 38: Symbol

I have many farmers in my family tree. Most grew crops, although a few practiced animal husbandry on a small scale as a small part of their farming activities. Several had cows, although not to such a degree that I would describe them as having cattle, which to me connotates something more like ranching.

Two of my direct maternal ancestors had their brands recorded in a register published by the Utah state legislature, published in the Book of Recorded Marks and Brands in 1874. It records all brands used in the Utah Territory from its establishment to 1874.

My Gx4 grandfather, William Burgess (1794-1880) used a brand that looked like a number “2” with a flourished serif and an arch above. William’s eldest son with his first wife, Harrison, also had a brand recorded in the book. Harrison’s brand, recorded on June 5, 1867, was a sideways capital “H”, placed on the right shoulder. Harrison also used a cropped ear mark, consisting of two “v” notches out of the upper side of the left ear.

William Burgess’s brand

On another branch of my maternal line, my Gx3 grandfather Henry Lyman Cook (1803-1869) has a brand recorded in the book, dated December 2, 1868. The brand was a capital “H” which was placed at the right jaw.

Henry Lyman Cook’s brand

I have also found a subsequent publication of this book, compiled in 1901. However, I have not found any family in that edition. William, Harrison, and Henry had all passed away by then. My more recent direct ancestors were not farming at that time, while others had left the state by then. Sometime I may have to look into what records there might be for brands used in Alberta, where many of these people had settled.