Category: Research

Family research

My Genetic Pedigree

Kris Hocker on 7 Mar 2019

I’ve been remarkably absent from this blog for much 2019 so far. That’s because I’ve been obsessed… uh, busy researching my DNA matches, looking for common ancestors—particularly those who match my known Snyder cousins. Since that’s the case, I thought it might be helpful to determine just how much of my genetic pedigree I’ve established.

We all have two pedigrees: our genealogical pedigree and our genetic pedigree. The genealogical pedigree contains every ancestor from whom we descend who we’ve been able to identify. The genetic pedigree includes every ancestor from whom we’ve received DNA.

Below you can see my genetic pedigree chart through my 5th great grandparents (click to enlarge).

Genetic pedigree chart
My genetic pedigree chart

The green indicates ancestors who have been identified as a common ancestor between an AncestryDNA match and I or a DNA connection—meaning one of their ancestors (and most likely their spouse) is the common ancestor. I’ve overlaid the surnames I’ve found in my genealogical research. Those cells without names are people I need to find.

As you can see I’ve managed to confirm a considerable about of my genealogical tree. What’s interesting to me is that they are in my lines that have been in America since the 1700s. The two largest gray areas—Greulich and Smith—are the two most recent immigrant ancestors. William and Eliza (Bonnington) Smith came to the U.S. in the 1890s and Carl Greulich arrived in New York on 28 January 1856.

Confirming those ancestors with DNA will require me to investigate more of my non-U.S. based matches. So, I should spend some of my research time on MyHeritage and those non-Ancestry test takers in GEDMatch.

The rest of the gray areas may be filled in by analyzing some of the matches for whom I’ve yet to determine which of my great grandparents’ lines they belong to. Perhaps one of the clusters I’ve noticed but not yet identified.

If you’ve been researching your DNA matches, have you tried to figure out how much of your genetic pedigree you’ve found?

DNA By the Numbers

Kris Hocker on 4 Jan 2019

We all saw the holiday sales on DNA tests from the major testing companies. Ancestry especially seemed to be advertising everywhere. So, before all the newly taken tests start delivering results, I thought I’d take a snapshot of where I stand results-wise.

I started tracking results last March. It’s a bit difficult to compare the companies to each other, except by total number of matches. And even then it’s not exactly a fair comparison. So, let’s look at each company across the tracking period.

Ancestry

At the beginning of March 2018, I had a total of 21,120 matches at Ancestry. 644 of those were 4th cousin or closer. By the end of the year, those numbers had grown to 30,037 and 921.

2018 Total Ancestry Matches chart
AncestryDNA Matches (Mar to Dec 2018)
AncestryDNA Shared Ancestry Hints (Mar to Dec 2018)
AncestryDNA Cousin Matches – 4th or Closer (Mar to Dec 2018)

As you can see, there was fairly steady growth after an initial quick uptick.

MyHeritage

I uploaded my AncestryDNA results to MyHeritage early last year. While the numbers are not as great as at Ancestry, the growth has been steady all year and I have a number of relative matches at the company that I don’t have at Ancestry. I started out in March with 1,508 matches and had 2,608 at the end of December. The number of close relatives (close & extended family) grew from one (only my Mom) to three (Mom, a 1st cousin, and a 3rd cousin).

Total MyHeritageDNA matches (Mar to Dec 2018)

MyHeritage also has their equivalent of Shared Ancestry Hints—Smart Matches. I only have three of those as well.

Family Tree DNA

I also uploaded my results to Family Tree DNA. At the beginning of the year, they were the 2nd most well-known company. But I have to say the growth in the number of matches has not been impressive. Take a look.

Over the course of nine months the number of matches grew from 296 to 358. Granted I would have more matches at FTDNA if I’d tested through the company, but I don’t know if the growth would have been any greater.

The Others

I’ve also uploaded to GEDmatch, 23 and Me, and LivingDNA. GEDmatch only lists your closest 2,000 matches. 23 and Me doesn’t provide your matches unless you buy a kit, but I apparently have a respectable 1,010 matches at the company. Based on the information provided I’m not sure if that’s the total total or the total of 4th cousins or closer.

LivingDNA hasn’t apparently found any relatives for me, but I only got access to the Family Networks in November, so that’s not a great surprise. With any luck that will change in the coming months.

Conclusions

Based solely on the total number of matches, if you’re looking to identify relatives or to build your family tree, Ancestry is the place to test. If you’re looking for international matches, I’ve found more of them on MyHeritage—though if I spent the money to test at 23 and Me or LivingDNA, I think I might find them there, too.

It will be interesting to see how the numbers change once all the holiday purchase results are added online. If I recall correctly, I had a lot of new matches to work with in early 2018. With the significant drop in DNA kit pricing during the holiday sales, I wonder if there are going to be even more to work with in the next few weeks or months.

Is It Nichl or Michl Bender? Using Other Records to Solve a Census Dilemma

Kris Hocker on 15 Dec 2018

I used the 1820 United States Census for Osnaburg Township, Stark County, Ohio as a source for pinpointing Michael Bender’s likely location that year in my follow-up post on Michael Bender (1766-?). However, that census entry is indexed on FamilySearch and Ancestry as “Nichl Bender.”

So which is it? Is it Nicholas Bender or Michael Bender?

Nichl or Michl Bender

Is it Nichl or Michl?

Although I think it’s quite clear that it’s Michael, it must not have been to the indexer—or others who’ve attached the record to Nicholas Bender. Looking at it solely from this record, you can’t make a firm determination. However, if you look at it in conjunction with other records from this location, you most definitely can.

In my follow-up post, I also referred to an 1818 deed in which Michael Bender purchased land in section 12, township 18, range 7.1 If we look at the deed, you can see it clearly says Michael Bender and gives the location.

Daniel Clark to Michael Bender Deed C-541

Stark County Deed Book C:541, Daniel Clark to Michael Bender

A Google search for “map stark county ohio range 7 township 18” turns up a map for the “Ranges and Townships based on the Pennsylvania Line and Ohio River.” Since I know I’m looking for Stark County, I can tell from the map that township 18 is just south and east of Canton—Osnaburg Township.

So, Michael Bender purchased land in Osnaburg Township in 1818. Was he living there in 1820? How can we find out? Any property owner knows the answer. Taxes.

If we look for Benders in the tax record for Stark County2, we find only two: Michael Bender and Job Bender.3 Based on the column headings the 1820 tax record, it clearly shows that Michael was living in Stark County—township 18, section 12. Subsequent records show that Michael was in Osnaburg Township and “Job Burdon” in Lexington Township.4 No other Bender appears in the township until 1829 when Susanna Bender and Jonas Bender are listed after Michael.5

1829 Osnaburg Bender taxes

1829 Osnaburg taxes: Michael, Susanna and Jonas Bender

Additionally, if we look at the names of those enumerated before and after the Bender entry in Osnaburg Township in 1820, we can see some of the very names mentioned in the 1818 deed between Daniel Clark and Michael Bender: Adam Sholl and John Groul. In between Bender and Groul are two McInterfers. Michael’s son Daniel apparently married Susanna Mackendorfer, likely a relation of one of these two “McInterfer” families.

1820 Osnaburg Census

1820 US Census: Osnaburg, Stark, Ohio (page 184)

Looking at the 1830 census for Osnaburg, we can see Susan Bender is enumerated.6 John Groul and the Mackenterfers are also listed around her entry. Peter Anthony’s name can also be seen lower in the list. He’s the man who purchased four shares (4/8’s interest) of Michael Bender’s property from Jonas Bender,7 Susanna Weaver, and Benjamin and Rachel (Bender) Smith8  in 1836 and 1837. Even Henry Sholl, Henry A. Shull’s father, can be seen enumerated at the bottom of the page.

1830 Census Osnaburg Stark Ohio

1830 United States Census: Osnaburg, Stark, Ohio (page 225)

Based on the totality of these records, who do you think the 1820 census entry refers to: Michael Bender or Nicholas Bender?

Michael Bender (1766-?): A Follow-Up

Kris Hocker on 11 Dec 2018

If Eva Catharina (Schneider) Bender’s son Michael didn’t die in Adams County, Pennsylvania in 1835 or 1850 as I suggest in my previous post, what happened to him? There are several possibilities.

  1. He died in Adams County, but Ancestry, FamilySearch and Find a Grave don’t have a record of it
  2. He died in Adams County, but record of his death is not online
  3. He died somewhere other than Adams County

If there’s no record of his death online—and it’s likely there isn’t as most existing records are not online—then I’ll have to find another way to find out what happened to him.

Stark County, Ohio

Fortunately, a family researcher posted a couple deed extracts to their entry in an Ancestry Family Tree for Michael’s alleged son Daniel that point the way. According to the deed extracts, Daniel Bender of Plain Township, Stark County, Ohio sold his eighth interest in a tract of land formerly owned by Michael Bender, deceased, to Jonas Bender on 13 January 1832.1

How can we tell whether or not this is the same person?

Based on the baptismal records from Benders Church, I know Michael and Susanna had a son Daniel born 4 June 1798 and baptized 19 August 1798.2 Daniel Bender of Plain Township died 23 March 1868 and was buried in Harry Warstler Cemetery, in Plain Township.3 According to his gravestone, he was 69 years 9 months and 19 days old. If I use his date of death and age from the tombstone to calculate his birth date, the result is 4 June 1798.4 A perfect match.

The second abstract indicates that Michael Bender purchased the land on 31 March 1818 from Daniel Clark.5 The land was originally patented by Rudolph Bair Jr., assignee of Rudolph Bair Sr.6 It passed through several hands before Michael Bender purchased it, including: Rudolph Bair, Adam Shull, and Daniel Clark, who sold it to Michael. According to the deed, it adjoined land of John Groul and Rudolph Bair.7

This tract was in the northwest corner of section 12, township 18, range 7, placing it in eastern Osnaburg Township in Stark County. As one would expect, Michael Bender is listed in the 1820 census enumeration for Osnaburg.8 He was taxed on the 42 acres from 1820 through 1831 when the listing reads “Michael Bender heirs.”9 Based on these records, Michael most likely died in Osnaburg Township sometime prior to 1831.

However, he is not included as a head of household in the 1830 census. Instead, Susan Bender appears in the list among Michael’s neighbors from the 1820 census.10 This leads me to believe that Michael likely died sometime prior to 1830, most likely in 1829. The tax list for that year includes a listing for Michael, showing tax on 42 acres, and right below it Susanna Bender and Jonas Bender, who were both taxed on personal property—2 horses (Jonas) & 2  cattle (Susanna).11 Michael Bender was taxed on 2 horses and 2 cattle in 1828, in addition to his real estate.12

Jonas Bender—“one of the legal heirs & representatives of Michael Bender”—and wife Polly sold his eighth part claim and that eighth part of Michael’s property he purchased from Daniel Bender to Peter Anthony on 10 July 1837.13 Based on this, it appears Jonas was likely one of the children—and eight heirs—of Michael Bender.

Susanna Bender most likely died sometime after 1842. She was once again the head of household on the 1840 census.14 On 28 April 1842, she completed articles of agreement with Henry A. Shull, giving him all her property at her death in exchange for agreeing to “keep the said Susan Bender widow during her life in health and sickness comfort her in clothing and in all other necessaries of life as she requires it and at her death burying her a deasant [sic] cristian like manner.”15 Henry A. Shull was apparently married to Anna Eliza Weaver, daughter of Henry and Susanna (Bender) Weaver.16 They married on 4 February 1841 in Stark County. He purchased land in Richland Township, DeKalb County in 1844, so it’s possible Susanna died sometime between 1842 and 1844.

Other Family Members?

What other evidence can we find in Stark County that indicates that this family is the family of Michael Bender and Susanna Schmoyer? There were several other Benders in the area.

A Samuel Bender, born 1776-1794, was enumerated in Plain Township in the 1820 census17 and Marlboro Township in the 1830 census.18 Michael and Susanna’s son Samuel was born on 21 June 1791, so he’s a potential match.19

Rachel (Bender) Smith, wife of Benjamin Smith, like Daniel Bender, was buried in Henry Warstler Cemetery. According to her gravestone, she was born 4 November 1802 and died 20 June 1884, aged 81 years 7 months and 16 days.20 Her birthdate matches that of Michael and Susanna’s daughter Rachel from Bender’s Church records.21

Susanna Weaver and Benjamin and Rachel (Bender) Smith all sold their shares of Michael Bender’s 42 acres to Peter Anthony on 12 November 1836.22 This indicates that Michael had another child, Susanna who married a Weaver. A Susanna Bender, most likely this one, married Henry Weaver on 23 January 1821 in Stark County.23 It was their son-in-law, Henry A. Shull, who completed articles of agreement in 1842 with Susanna (Schmoyer) Bender to care for her until she died.

Conclusions

Daniel Bender and Rachel (Bender) Smith, who both have birthdates matching those of children of Michael and Susanna (Schmoyer) Bender, were living in Stark County and as “legal heirs & representatives of Michael Bender” sold their shares of his property in Osnaburg Township after 1830.

Susanna Bender, a widow, appears in tax and census records in Osnaburg around the time of Michael’s presumed death and is connected to the son-in-law of one of Michael’s heirs through articles of agreement formed in 1842. These records are consistent with Susanna being Michael’s widow.

I don’t have explicit, direct evidence that Michael, son of Eva Catharina (Schneider) Bender, was the man who died in Osnaburg Township, Stark County, Ohio circa 1829. But there is consistent, circumstantial evidence suggesting that this is the case.

Hopefully, continued research will determine what happened to the rest of his children.

Researching Michael Bender (1766-?) of Menallan Township

Kris Hocker on 1 Dec 2018

In order to connect my DNA matches to the Conrad Schneider family of Upper Salford Township, I have been using reverse genealogy to build the family tree. I’ve had several descendants of Conrad’s daughter Eva Catharina (Schneider) Bender turn up in my Schneider cluster, so I’ve been tracing her family to see if I can find more.

Just recently, I’ve been working on her son Michael Bender’s family. Michael was born 15 October 1766 in Philadelphia County and baptized at Old Goshenhoppen Church in Upper Salford Township on 12 April 1773.1 His uncle Michael Schneider was his sponsor. Michael moved with his family to Menallen Township, York (now Adams) County in the 1770s.

Based on baptisms in Bender’s Church, I know Michael married a woman named Susanna Schmoyer. I found online extractions for baptisms of Elias (1790), Samuel (1791), Jacob (1795), Magdalena (1796), Daniel (1798), and Rachel (1804).2 Tax and census records place Michael in Menallen Township through at least 1800.

Ancestry’s hints provided information on two Michael Benders who died in Adams County in the early-to-mid 1800s: 1) Michael Bender of Hamilton Township who died in 1835, and 2) Michael who died in 1850 and was buried at Franklin Church Cemetery in Clear Springs.

Michael Bender of Hamilton Township left a will which names his wife Sophia and children: Daniel, Jacob, Susanna wife of George Myers, Sophia wife of Jacob Shunk, and Sarah, deceased.3 Michael died in 1835, aged about 70 years, and was buried in the East Berlin Cemetery.4 This family only partially fits the Michael I’m researching.

The gravestone of Michael Bender who died in 1850 states that he was 83 years 8 months and 22 days old when he died.5 He died 10 April 1850. Calculating a birthdate from that age tells us he was born 17 July 1766. This doesn’t match my Michael’s birthdate, though it’s only months off. So, again, close but not exact.

Now I have two Michael Benders born around the same time, living in Adams County, neither of which truly matches what I’ve found for Catharina’s son Michael. Poking around in online family trees wasn’t terribly helpful either. There is no consistency; most of them seem to be mash-ups of multiple families.

Wish I Had a Clue

But I did find a clue pointing to another Bender family from Lancaster County. Pulling out my handy-dandy Lancaster County resources, I did, in fact, find Benders in Lancaster County.

These Benders were members of the Moravian Church in Lancaster Borough. Going through the records, I found Michael Bender of Lampeter Township, son of Leonhard and Susanna (Farni) Bender, who married Sophia Kurtz of Manheim Township on 29 October 17936 and the births of his children Sarah, Daniel and Jacob.7 I also located the birth record of Michael Bender born 17 July 1766, son of Michael and Maria Margaretha (Taubenberger) Bender.8

Based on this information, Michael Bender, son of Catharina (Schneider) Bender is neither the Michael of Hamilton Township, nor the Michael who died in 1850. Those men are from another Bender family which can be traced back to Johann Leonhard Bender of Kirchardt, Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.9

Lessons?

  1. Sometimes the available choices don’t actually apply to the person you’re researching.
  2. It pays to dig in and research the hints.
  3. Most importantly, remember that there are options other than what Ancestry’s hints provide you.

Unfortunately, this new research complicated my work on building out the Bender family tree by adding another, unrelated family to the mix. But at least now I know these families and the potential for mixing ’em up exists and can watch out for it.

Three Michael Benders:

Michael Bender, son of Jacob Nicolas Bender and Catharina Schneider, was born 15 October 1766, Philadelphia County, and married Susanna Schmoyer.

  1. Elias Bender, born 27 September 1789, baptized 17 January 1790 at Benders Church
  2. Samuel Bender, born 21 June 1791, baptized sometime between 27/29 August and 25 September at Benders Church (no baptism date recorded)
  3. Jacob Bender, born 10 October 1794, baptized 26 April 1795 at Benders Church
  4. Magdalena Bender, born 3 September 1796, baptized 23 October 1796 at Benders Church
  5. Daniel Bender, born 4 June 1798, baptized 19 August 1798 at Benders Church
  6. Rachel Bender, born 4 November 1802, baptized 19 February 1804 at Benders Church

There may be other children for this family.

Michael Bender, son of Johann Leonhard Bender and Susanna Farni, was born 14 September 1765, baptized 15 September 1765 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster, and married Sophia Kurtz, 29 October 1793.

  1. Sarah Bender, born 18 August 1794, baptized 14 September 1794 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster, died before 8 November 1835
  2. Daniel Bender, born 9 November 1795, baptized 4 December 1794 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster, married Mary Spangler
  3. Jacob Bender, born 9 August 1797, baptized 20 March 1798 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster
  4. Susanna Bender married George Myers
  5. Sophia Bender married Jacob Shunk

The children of this family were born in Lampeter Township, Lancaster County.

Michael Bender, son of Michael Bender and Maria Margaretha Taubenberger, was born 17 July 1766, baptized 20 July 1766 at Lititz Moravian Church, and married Elizabeth Ziegler.

  1. George Bender, born 22 December 1791, baptized 25 Dec 1791 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster
  2. Anna Maria Bender, born 7 May 1794, baptized 30 May 1794 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster
  3. Catharina Bender, born 23 January 1796, baptized 11 Feb 1796 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster
  4. Michael Bender, born 3 January 1798, baptized 20 January 1798 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster
  5. Ludwig (aka Lewis) Bender, born 29 October 1799, baptized 16 November 1799 at the Moravian Church in Lancaster

Michael and Elizabeth resided in Manor Township as of 1799. There may have been other children born in this family after 1800.

Wordless Wednesday: Aunt Jessie’s House

Kris Hocker on 14 Nov 2018

In honor of the newspaper article I posted on Halloween about the “Mock Wedding Features Scotch Hallowe’en Party,” I’m posting a photo of Aunt Jessie and Uncle Lou’s house in Harrisburg where the party most likely was held for this month’s Wordless Wednesday.

Aunt Jessie Orr's House

Home of Lou G. and Jessie Orr in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

According to the article, Jessie and Lou lived at 2017 Foster [Forster?] Street in 1915. The 1910 census and 1920 census both show them living in the attached 2019 Forster Street with their daughters Alice, Agnes, and Jessie L.

Given the approximate ages of the children in the photo, if it’s of the Orrs, it should be from this period. I can’t say the house there looks anything like this, though.

Jessie’s parents, Robert and Allison (Whitelaw) Trotter, were from Scotland. Jessie was born in 1870, making her a contemporary of Eliza Craig (Bonnington) Smith, who like Jessie’s mother married and started a family in Scotland, then immigrated to the United States where she settled and raised her children.

I’d always perceived Jessie as great grandma Isabella (Smith) Hocker’s friend from the way Aunt Jean spoke about her. But I guess I was off by a generation.

Will: Conrad Schneider of Upper Salford, Translation

Kris Hocker on 10 Nov 2018

I’ve been researching the ancestry of Jacob Schneider for some time now. Just about every advance I’ve made has been through genetic genealogy research. That doesn’t mean I haven’t been working to find genealogical evidence—the so-called paper trail, too.

Conrad Schneider of Upper Salford Township is a possible grandfather for Jacob Schneider. He owned property near the Upper Salford and Marlborough township line, I believe, just south of present-day Sumneytown.1 On 12 July 1759, Conrad wrote his last will and testament in German. It was translated and proven about a month later on 10 August.

It reads:

“In the Name of God the Father, the Son and the Holly Gost Amen.

I Conrad Schneider of Old Coshenhoppen Upper Salford Township in the County of Philadelphia being blessed be God, of sound mind memory and understanding but knowing that it is appointed for all Men once to dye which cant be avoided, Have made my Last Will and Testament which is to be put in Execution according to my Desire having myself subscribed the same, that is to say, Firstly my son Leonard Schneider shall have as following at first he shall have the forty acres of Land whereon he dwells and on which the House stands and these forty acres he is to have with a free Deed. These forty acres are bounded by Killian Gaughlers land and with them he is to have seventy acres more without a Deed it lies at the side of Daniel Hiesters land and it runs and is bounded by Francis Hardmans land For which the said Leonard Schneider is to pay at the Rate of one Pound for ever acres and which will amount to the sum of one hundred and ten Pounds in the Whole and he is to pay in ready Cash next Fall Fair that is to say on the twenty seventh Day of November 1759 the sum of forty Pounds and as for the remaining sumt that is to say as for Forty Pounds more thereof he is to give a Bond without any Interest payable in three years hence And the remaining fifty Pounds it shall go towards his Heritage. This is to give notice that the sum of money which was paid for the said Forty acres being twenty pounds is included in the above sum. Secondly, All my remaining Children are to share equally the Daughter as well as the sons and neither of them shall have any Advantage let it come as high as it will And if anyone of my sons will undertake the management of my Plantation then he is to pay his Sister and Brothers such sums of money as they amongst themselves shall or may agree upon and all my Children shall fair alike and

[next page]

one shall have no more than the others, that is to say, The first is named Leonard, the second Catherine the third Elias the fourth Michael the fifth Balthasar and the sixth Henry.

Thirdly my dear wife shall have for her maintenance as follows The one who gets the Plantation let him be any of my Children or a stranger, is to pay her every year during her natural live as follows, that is to say eight Bushells of Wheat eight Bushells of Rye on Quarter of Flax, which he who gets the Plantation must sow, pull, thrash and brake and she is to have one fourth art of the garden And in Place of Meat he who gets the said Plantation shall pay her yearly twenty shillings in Money, He shall also give her one half Bushel of fin Salt and every Week as longs as she lives one Pound of Butter if she desires it and if it serves her And the one who gets the said Plantation shall also pay her yearly the sum of five Pounds lawful Money of Pennsylvania and shes shall have a Place of abode in my House during her life clear of all cost as well in the Parlour, Kitchen and Cellar as at any other Part of the said House, But is she wishes to live some where else then she shall have Liberty to live wherever she likes best and in that case she shall also have all what is above mentioned yearly for her maintenance notwithstanding And if she shall happen to get sick and to keep her Bed so that she will not be able to help herself then the Person whoever keeps her shall not be troubled with her for nothing but the Person shall have such Reward as the said Sister & Brothers amongst themselves shall judge reasonable and this is my sincer Wil land the same shall be put in execution so as it is writ down And she shall more over have the sum of twelve Pounds out of my personal Estate.

Fourthly, I chuse to this my Estate or Riches my Good neighbour and Freinds John Kantz and Killian Gaugler Guardians/or * Executors/ And I do hope they will take Care of my dear Children and wife and act so as the my safely answer before god almighty and that they will not occasion the widows and orphans to cry to Heavens nor draw Vengenan[?] on themselves. The above instrument I do subscribe with my

* The German word vormunder, is properly Guardian, but by the construction of the will it seems to me that the Testator meant Executors. P Miller

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my own Hand before Evidence as and for my Last Will and Testament and as such it shall remain Done at Upper Salford July 12th 1759•1•

Conrad Schneider

George his W mark Wyand

I the subscriber so certify the foregoing Writing to be a true and genuine Translation of a German [?] Writing said to be the Last Will and Testament ^ of Conrad Schneider. The same sa[y] me having been translated from the said original by me this 10 Augt 1759

P Miller”2

Conrad, unlike some of my ancestors, was kind enough to name his children in his will. He also listed them in order: “The first is named Leonard, the second Catherine the third Elias the fourth Michael the fifth Balthasar and the sixth Henry.”3

So far, my genetic research has found descendants of Catherine and Balthasar with whom my Mom shares DNA. There are other members of the cluster I found on AncestryDNA, as well as others on GEDmatch and MyHeritage who triangulate with known descendants, who I have not yet been able to trace. All told, I think I’ve found about 14 individuals who share descent from Conrad Schneider.

I’m still trying to figure out how Jacob descends from Conrad. Based on the list in Conrad’s will and his desire that all “my remaining Children are to share equally,” it’s hard to argue that Jacob could have been his youngest son. My working hypothesis is that Elias and his wife Anna Maria Nuss were Jacob’s parents. However, I still have no evidence—and I mean zip, zilch, nada—other than proximity and the genetic link to prove this theory.

I can only hope to find descendants of Conrad’s sons Leonard, Elias, Michael, and Henry who are matches to Mom. Maybe there’ll be enough of a difference in the shared amount of DNA to point the way to one of them. But, since Conrad would be her 6 times great grandfather, it’s a bit of a long shot.

If you’re a descendant, please test. If you already have, please drop me a line. Maybe we could work together to solve this puzzle.

Conrad Schneider Last Will at krishocker.com

All Politics are Local

Kris Hocker on 6 Nov 2018

1839 Democratic Ticket for Dauphin County

It’s election day here in the United States. I hope you’re voting or have already voted. I’ll be heading out to do so soon.

Have you ever wondered whether your ancestors were regular voters? If they ever ran for office or held a political position?

Martin Hocker (1768-1862) was a well-to-do property owner of Derry Township, Dauphin County. He was one of three men called upon to make survey for the county line between Dauphin and Lebanon before the latter was created in 1813. He also served in various local government offices.

In 1839 he ran on the Democratic ticket for Dauphin County for the office of Director of the Poor. The full ticket can be found below.

1839 Dauphin County Democratic Ticket

Martin Hocker of Derry Township as part of the 1839 Dauphin County Democratic Ticket

If I remember correctly, it was not a successful run. However, one year later in 1830, Martin served as County Commissioner.

Dauphin County Democratic Ticket, 1839

  • Assembly
    • Valentine Hummel, Harrisburg
    • Solomon Shindle, Lykens Township
  • Commissioner
    • George Hain, Lower Paxton Township
  • Director of the Poor
    • Martin Hocker, Derry Township
  • Auditor
    • David Mumma Jr., Swatara Township
  • Coronor
    • George Fetterhoff, Jackson Township
  • Prothonotary
    • Henry Beader, Harrisburg
  • Register
    • John Hoffman, Susquehanna Township
  • Recorder and Clerk
    • Hiram H. Hetzel, Middle Paxton Township

 

Image source: The Keystone, Volume IV, no. 204, page 2

AncestryDNA Rolls Out New Features

Kris Hocker on 3 Nov 2018

Over the last couple of weeks new features have been appearing in my AncestryDNA account. A couple can be considered “keeping up with the Jones'” additions, but some are unique. Let’s take a look at them.

The Sound of You

AncestryDNA Sound of you

The first to appear was the “What’s the sound of you?” banner, highlighting a partnership between AncestryDNA and Spotify. The tool allows you to create a playlist based on the regions associated with your DNA. You select the regions and the tool creates a playlist with artists from those locations. You can add the playlist to your Spotify account and share it on social media.

AncestryDNA Spotify Playlist

It’s a creative and playful way to highlight music from your ancestral regions. I haven’t seen anything like it on any of the competitors’ sites. But it doesn’t teach me anything about my family history or heritage. Nor does it help me connect with my genetic cousins or solve my genealogical brick walls. Nice, but there are tools I would have liked to see much more.

Matches Map

AncestryDNA Map Matches Beta

The Matches Map is still in beta. When you click the “Matches Map” link in the header, it will show the locations of your AncestryDNA matches on a map. This is separate from and different to the Map and Locations you can find on each match’s page.

Ancestry Matches Map

Knowing your match’s physical location is helpful when you need to identify their possible ancestors. It helps you identify just which John D. Ancestorson is the correct one in your search.

However, it requires that your match has entered a location in their Ancestry profile. In my experience, not many do. Furthermore, while the map make a nice visual, it’s no more useful than simply displaying the match’s location with their username—which Ancestry had already been doing.

Shared DNA

I wrote about using the MED Better DNA extension for Chrome to display my notes for an individual match on the main match list. My notes included the amount of shared DNA and any information I’d come up with regarding how I connected with that DNA match.

Ancestry Shared DNA display

Apparently, Ancestry has been paying attention to how people are using their site, because they added the Shared DNA amount to the information they display with each match on the list. Yay!

Compare Ethnicities

AncestryDNA compare ethnicity button

Clicking the “Compare” button allows you to compare ethnicities with a match. There are buttons on both the DNA Matches page and the individual DNA Match page for an individual.

AncestryDNA Compare Ethnicitiy

I’ve seen this elsewhere, but Ancestry’s visual display is on a separate screen and includes not only the shared ethnicity percentages and map, but also a list of shared matches (below Ethnicity Estimates, not included in screenshot). Furthermore, clicking “view all” in the shared matches, bring you to a list of all the matches you share with that person.

For me, ethnicity is interesting, but, given our current knowledge and ability to tie DNA to ethnicities, not particularly helpful in solving my genealogical mysteries.1 A match and I share a Northwestern Europe ethnicity? Great! Can that tell me which European ancestor we descend from? Can it tell me which village they came from? Or even, can it tell me which country they came from? Not so much.

AncestryDNA Traits

AncestryDNA Traits

The most recent addition to the toolset is AncestryDNA Traits.2 It allows you to examine what your DNA can tell you about 18 traits, including: taste (sweet, savory, bitter, cilantro aversion), hair curl and thickness, eye color, male hair loss, chin dimple, skin pigmentation, finger length, freckling, ear lobe type, etc.

Ancestry will identify where those traits come from around the world (“Where does your curly hair come from?”) and permit you compare your traits against your DNA matches (“Does your cousin also have the DNA for blue eyes?).

And you can get all this information without further testing—for $19.99 per kit.

Conclusions

Ancestry sure has been busy. They’re rolling out a lot of new… stuff. But to be honest, I’m not sure what value most of it has to me—the user, the customer.

I use Ancestry—and now AncestryDNA—for one thing: to build my family tree. At first, I accomplished this by searching Ancestry’s databases and accessing primary records. I built my tree based on the conclusions I drew from that research. It was great because I had the convenience of accessing the information from my home.

When AncestryDNA came along I used my genetic matches and their knowledge of their family trees (or ones that I built) to add to my tree or to identify specific families to research so that I can break down brick walls. It’s great because DNA gives me another form of evidence that can be used, even where I lack information from the genealogical record (ie. paper trail).

Do these additions help me to match my genealogical tree to my genetic tree? Do they help me see patterns or make connections? Do they help me prove relationships? Do they help me build my family tree?

If I measuring these new tools and products against my goals for using the site, most of these additions are fun or interesting diversions. I might try them out, but I likely won’t be using them with any regularity. They do not assist me in reaching my goals and therefore, ultimately, do not add value. My 2¢.

Mock Wedding Features Scotch Hallowe’en Party

Kris Hocker on 31 Oct 2018

Aunt Jean used to make reference to her “Aunt Jessie” and “Uncle Lou” Orr. They weren’t really her aunt and uncle; they were close friends of her parents. In honor of Halloween today, I thought I’d share an article about a Halloween party they held 103 years ago.

1915 Telegraph Mock Wedding Features Scotch Hallowe'en Party

Telegraph article from 30 October 1915

In 1915, Will, Isabel and their infant daughter Bonnie attended the party at the Orr’s house with a host of other people. They included:

Mrs. Sandy Wallace, Mrs. Arthur Reid, Mrs. A. P. Kitchen, Edith Mayhew, L.G. Orr, Johanna Dwyer, Martha Ross, Ruth Youtzy, Mary Ditmer, Janet Wallace, Ruth Kline, Marion Black, Belle Sanderson, Agness Orr, Janet Sanderson, Mary Sanderson, Catherine Sanderson, Louise Orr, Alice Orr, Arthur Reid, Foster Kitchen, Bessie Black, Mr. and Mrs. George Charters, Mr. and Mrs. James Sanderson, Mrs. E. Cochran [Isabel (Smith) Hocker’s mother], Mrs. Allison Trotter, Sandy Wallace, Robert Smith [Isabel’s brother], Archie Black, A.P. Kitchen, and Mrs. L.G. Orr.