GRIP 2015 Classes

What a surprise in my email box last night.  GRIP (Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh) announced that it will have TWO sessions next summer (2015), with two weeks in between.  How exciting!!!  Check here for all of the information.  GRIP 2015 classes  Also, as you can see, there are a few seats open in some of the 2014 classes. 

If you have questions about GRIP, you can contact the coordinators, Elissa or Debbie OR I'll be glad to tell you about my wonderful experiences the past two years and how much I'm looking forward to July in Pittsburgh, AGAIN.   

52 Ancestors: #16 - Ann Parker Bryan (1830-1917)

Ann Parker was born in 1830 in White County, Illinois.  I believe her parents were Joseph Parker and Elizabeth Leach Parker.  Ann married Albert Bryan on 12 November 1850 in Jefferson County, Iowa.  She spent the rest of her life living in Iowa, mostly in Poweshiek County.

Albert and Ann Parker Bryan had five children:

Oliver Bryan (1851-1944) Iowa to California [married Mary Emma Doyle]

William Morrison Bryan (1853-1938) Iowa to California [married Belinda N. Alexander]

Sarah Emily Bryan (1855-   ) Iowa

Alice Edna Bryan (1859-1925) Iowa to South Dakota [married Edward Alonzo Stone]

Joseph Theodore Bryan (1865-1950) Iowa to California [married Mary Jane Good]

I believe that Ann died in Montezuma, Poweshiek County, Iowa.  I don’t know which cemetery she may be buried in, and I have been unable to acquire a death certificate.  If you have any knowledge of Ann or this family, I would like to collaborate with you.  Please contact me.

52 Ancestors: #15 Albert Parker (1815-1902) Ohio to Iowa

Albert Bryan, son of Morrison Bryan and Rhoda Johnson, was born on 29 July 1815 in Greene County, Ohio.  He married Ann Parker on 12 November 1850 in Jefferson County, Iowa.  In 1847 Albert was granted a land patent in Fairfield, Mahaska County, Iowa.  Albert worked as a farmer and a master carpenter.  He spent the rest of his live in Poweshiek County, Iowa.

Albert and Ann had five children.  I was able to follow four of the five children, I have been unable to determine what happened to Sarah Emily Bryan who was born in 1855 and was listed in the 1860 census. So, the children of Albert and Ann were

Oliver Bryan (1851-1944) Iowa to California [married Mary Emma Doyle]

William Morrison Bryan (1853-1938) Iowa to California [married Belinda N. Alexander]

Sarah Emily Bryan (1855-   ) Iowa

Alice Edna Bryan (1859-1925) Iowa to South Dakota [married Edward Alonzo Stone]

Joseph Theodore Bryan (1865-1950) Iowa to California [married Mary Jane Good]

I believe that Albert is buried in the I.O.O. F. Cemetery in Montezuma, Poweshiek County, Iowa.  I have been able to acquire a death certificate.  Also, I am looking for information about a grave marker in order to get a photo of it.
 

If you are interested in any of these family members and would like to collaborate, please contact me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday's Tip: FamilySearch Deserves Another Look

Have you looked at FamilySearch.org during the past year?  Or even more recently?  If not, you will definitely be surprised at what is now available.

Because I am still indexing, some, I am aware of some of the new collections that are being added.   But I haven't thought about making sure others are also aware of this.  So what happened?

I was teaching a beginning genealogy class.  I mentioned using familysearch.org for copies of original records.  One of the younger ladies, who had worked on her family history about 15 years ago and then had life experiences interfering with her research, was in the class to see what was new.  She said she NEVER used familysearch because it only had family trees that were mostly wrong.  And she only used ancestry.com.  Well, I felt the need to quickly inform her that things had changed a lot in the last 15 years.  The next week she came back and said she was really sorry she hadn't been using it during the past year once she picked up her research again.

So, I want to encourage you to look again at some of the collections.  From the first page, choose search.  Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on United States.  On the next screen choose a state.  Then make a choice.  Yes, there are still many collections that are only indexes, but there are also more and more actual images online and indexed. 

Please understand that I am retired; I don't get compensation of any type for mentioning web sites.  I just don't want any of you to miss out on some of these great documents.

52 Ancestors: #14 - Bertha Jane Bryan Blackmore (1890-1943)

Bertha Jane Bryan was born in 1890 in Montezuma, Iowa. Her parents were Oliver Bryan and Mary Emma Doyle.   Before Bertha Jane was ten, her family moved to Rawlins County, Kansas.  She had two sisters that were living at the time of her birth, but another sister had died as an infant in 1884.  Bertha also had two brothers, but the one who was the youngest died in 1910 at age 17 in Colorado.

Bertha married Clifford Franklin Blackmore in 1914 in Riverside, California.  She was twenty-four at the time.  So, she had lived in three states before ending up in California. 

Bertha and Clifford had four children.

               Carl Russell Blackmore (1914-1998) born in California

               Glenn Chester Blackmore (1917-2013) born in California

               Estella Marie Blackmore Gee (1919-2007) born in Arizona

               Eugene Clifford Blackmore (1930-  ) born in California.

Bertha Jane Bryan Blackmore and Clifford Franklin Blackmore are both buried in Loma Vista Memorial Park, in Fullerton, California.  I hope to get photographs of their grave markers sometime during 2014.

If you are interested in collaborating with this family, please contact me. 

52 Ancestors: #13 Hilma Albertina Engdahl Kellison (1891-1984)

Hilma was born in Sweden in October 1891.  She and her sister Olga immigrated about 1904. 

Hilma married Walter Bailey Kellison in 1916 in Montana.  By 1920 they had moved to Washoe County, Nevada.  She and Walter had five children that I know of: Anna, Richard, Milton Bailey, Donald and Marlene.  Olga married Thurman Allen Poe about 1919.

While in Sparks, the Kellison family and the Poe family were mentioned in the local papers on a regular basis, for parties for the children as well as other activities. 

I am looking for information about the Poe family as well as the Engdahl family.  If you are willing to collaborate with this research, please contact me.

52 Ancestors: #12 Mary Emma Doyle Bryan (1853-1933)

Mary Emma Doyle was the daughter of John William Doyle and probably Rebecca Elizabeth Johnson Doyle.  Mary Emma was born in December 1853 in Ohio County, Virginia.  This area is in the state of West Virginia. 

After Mary’s mother died in 1858, her father moved the family to Kansas where the Doyle family and the Bryan family were neighbors. Mary Emma Doyle and Olive Bryan married in Rawlins County, Kansas in 1880.  Oliver and Mary Emma had six children.  Myrtle died as an infant and Oliver Herman died when he was about 17.  These children were born in Kansas.

               John Albert Bryan (1882-1975)

               Myrtle Bryan (1884-1884)

               Sylvia Augusta Bryan (1885-1973)

               Alma Viola Bryan (1888-1974)

These two children were born in Iowa, so obviously the family moved.

               Bertha Jane Bryan (1890-1943)

               Oliver Herman Bryan (1893-1910)

The family were members of the Methodist church according to the 1895 Iowa State Census.  By 1900 the family is back in Kansas, again in Rawlins County.  By 1910 they were living in Delta County, Colorado.  Another move, before 1920, was to Southern California.  Mary Emma died in 1933 in Pomona.  I do not know where she was buried.