52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Frank Popp (1889-1966)

Frank Popp was another of my grandfather's cousins who emigrated to the United States. He was a storied cousin to my father and his siblings, living a glamorous life in Los Angeles and sending photographs to them of beaches and Rose Bowl parades.

Several years ago I was fortunate to be able to talk to Frank's daughter and get some information about his life beyond the pictures. After our conversation she sent me this photo of her parents and brother taken sometime after his birth in 1913.

His daughter knew very little about his life or family in Europe. He was born Ferencj Pap, in a Carpathian mountain village, either Drahova or Berezovo (now in Ukraine). She thought he was about 20 years old when he came to America. She thought he came through Ellis Island and then went to the mines in Pennsylvania. He may have gone to stay with another cousin, Joe Popp. Her mother, Mary Burjosky, came with her family as a child. They settled in Wyoming. 

Frank left the mines as soon as he could and went to Chicago where his cousin and my great-aunt, Mary Popp Hricak was living. He learned to barber there, then left to work near, but not in the mines. He went to Wyoming where he met and married his wife, and then to Washington State where his son was born in 1913. By 1917 they had moved to Miami, Arizona (another mining community) where their two daughters were born. By 1920 they had moved to Hollywood, where Frank bought a barber shop on Hollywood Boulevard and even cut a few movie stars' hair. 

Frank lived the rest of his life in California. He died there in 1966. I don't believe he ever came to New York, but he did visit the Hricaks in Chicago. My aunt and uncle met him as adults when they were in California. 

I don't actually know how Frank and my grandfather are related. They were clearly close, but whether they were first cousins is open for discussion and further research. The documentation I have found supports the information his daughter shared (with the exception of the 1930 census which lists his son's birthplace as the District of Columbia, rather than Washington State). I have yet to find immigration documents that I can absolutely assign to Frank. He was not the only Ferencj Pap leaving those mountains at the turn of the century. 

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.


Photo Source
Frank Popp family portrait, c. 1914; digital image, privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] St. Louis, MO. 2006. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: John Popp (1886-1959)

My grandfather, Stephen Popp (Stefan Papp) was part of the tide of Austro-Hungarian immigrants that came to United States in the early 20th century. Like many others, he followed his family and neighbors. In addition to his siblings, three of his Popp cousins came to America from two small villages at the eastern edges of the Empire.

I grew up in Connecticut near the family of one of the cousins, John Popp. John died when I was a toddler, but I knew his widow and son's family. John had a certain stature in the family stories. He was dearly loved, a successful business man in Bridgeport, owned a car (this was a big deal), and was active in the immigrant church and cultural societies in the United States. He and his wife even hosted my aunt and uncle on their honeymoon in 1947, providing a sleeper sofa in the living room for the newlyweds. My aunt made it clear that they stayed a few days, then headed off to someplace more private for a traditional honeymoon. The notices that appeared in The Bridgeport Post following John's death don't mention the car or honeymoon hosting, but they more than illustrate his stature in the community.

JOHN POPP, 72, DIES; EX-HEAD OF SOKOLS
EASTON, Sept. 14 -- Services will take place Thursday for John Popp, 72, of 10 Palmer place, former operator of a liquor store on Arctic street, Bridgeport, who died yesterday in his home.
The will be conducted at 8:30 a.m. in the Adzima funeral home, 591 Arctic stret [sic], Bridgeport, and at 9 o'clock in St. John the Baptist church, Mill Hill avenue. Burial will be in St. John's cemetery, Stratford. Panahedeon services will be conducted at the funeral home tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 o'clock.
Mr. Popp was past president of St. John the Baptist Carpatho Russian Greek Catholic church on Mill Hill avenue and supreme past president of the American Russian Sokols of the Greek Catholic Brotherhood, and a member of the Fathers' club, St. Basil's society and St. Nicholas' society.
A native of Czechoslovakia, Mr. Popp resided in Bridgeport many years before moving to Easton three years ago.
He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Wargo Popp; a son, George Popp, operator of the Appliance Center on Main street, four grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

EASTON, Sept. 18 -- Services for John Popp, 72, of 10 Palmer place, were conducted yesterday in St. John the Baptist Carpatho-Russian Greek Cathoic church, Mill Hill avenue, Bridgeport. Burial was in St. John's cemetery, Stratford.
His Grace, Archbishop Benjamin, of Pittsburgh, officiated.
Celebrant of the Mass was the Rt. Rev. Andrew Slepecky, administrator of St. Clair, Pa.; co-celebrants, the Very Revs. John Kivko and Joseph G. Simko.
The Very Rev. Hrista Vasilescu, the Rev. John Shunda, the Rev. Victor F. George, the Rev. Alexander Kovachi, and the Very Rev. Stephen Antonuk were seated in the Sanctuary.
Father Simko assisted by Fathers Slepecky and Kivko, read the committal services.
Delegations from St. Basil's society, A.R.S. 3; St. Nicholas' society, and the Fathers club attended.
Bearers, all church officers, were Michael Tarasovich, Michael Hritz, Michael Soltis, Jr., Richard Kopchyak, Peter Liscinsky and George Komtos. 

John was born on 22 Dec 1886 in Drahovo, Maramoros, Austria-Hungary to Ivan Papp and his wife, Ilka Papp. Today Drahovo is in Ukraine. He came to the United States in 1903 with his mother. His father was working in Johnstown, PA, and paid for their passage. He had two surviving siblings who remained in Europe, Anna Papp and Stefan Papp. John's parents ultimately returned to Drahovo. While I cannot document the relationship between John and my grandfather, their children believed them to be first cousins through John's mother. If so, then Ilka Papp was a sister of my great-grandfather, Ivan Papp, and a daughter of Stefan Papp and Anna Stajko.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

"John Popp, 72, Dies; Ex-Head of Sokols," The Bridgeport Post, 14 Sep 1959, p. 34, col. 8; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 22 Apr 2014), Newspapers & Publications. Cit. Date: 22 Apr 2014.  

"Obituary John Popp," The Bridgeport Post, 17 Sep 1059, p. 2, col. 9; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 22 Apr 2014), Newspapers & Publications. Cit. Date: 22 Apr 2014.  

"Ellis Island Ship Manifests," online images, EllisIsland.org (www.ellisisland.org : accessed 22 Apr 2014), manifest, S.S. Finland, 6 Oct 1903, Ilka Papp and Ivan Papp, lines 7 & 8. Cit. Date: 22 Apr 2014.  

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: A Mystery Aunt

Well, well, well. A mystery has unfolded.

I was roaming through Ancestry's shaky green leaves a few weeks ago and found a copy of this photograph on someone's tree. A photograph of my 2nd great-aunt Barbary Sawyer Proffit  I posted on the blog back in 2010. I assumed it had been taken from the blog, but when I checked, the woman who posted it had labeled it as being Liney Huffman Howlett Evans, Barbary's older half-sister. She had gotten the photo from a cousin. When I asked her about the identity she was unsure, having based the identification on her cousin's information.



As am I.

My photo is labeled on the back in my aunt's handwriting. She never knew either woman, but labeled the photograph based on interviews with her aunts. The problem is her aunts never knew Liney and only barely knew Barbary. I never have been able to figure out who the F.L. Evans is sitting next to Barbary. BUT, if the picture is Liney, then it is probably her husband James A. Evans. It would be lovely if the photograph included a studio name or location. Barbary lived in Cocke and Greene counties in Tennessee. Liney moved to Arkansas and then to Oklahoma. No studio. That the women might look enough alike to be mistaken for one another makes sense. They are sisters.

Last week I found the photo on another Ancestry tree belonging to one of Liney's descendants. This time I know the owner of the tree. He is a thorough and generous researcher who has shared his work with me about Liney and her life after leaving Tennessee. I am inclined to trust his information, even if the source of the photograph is not given. Unfortunately the email address I have for him is no longer valid and he has not responded to messages through Ancestry.

So, who is this? Another one of my Sawyer mysteries. A photograph of one of my great-grandfather Gee Sawyer's older sisters. With a man named Evans. My bet is Liney, but then again, my aunts were no slouches when it came to research either.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Wormhole Genealogy

Last night I had one of those out of body, out of time genealogy adventures. In the end it was more fiction than science, but what a ride! 

I began by revisiting my great-aunt Mary Kathryn's mysterious husband, Heiskell (now Hascal) McKenzie. I knew he was a devastatingly handsome man "from" Lenoir City (Loudon County, TN), that they married when my mother was a teenager (1940s) and that he died soon after from alcoholism. I have never found a marriage record for them and decided to see how Ancestry's search feature would work with the elusive Mr. McKenzie. 

Sometime later (on FamilySearch) I found him in the 1900 census living with his grandparents in Cocke County, TN. This was a revelation to me, for I had no idea he had local roots. I was even more surprised that his mother's parents were Abe and Jane Dawson, part of a large Dawson clan that contributed many in-laws to my Sawyers and Conways. 

I wandered a bit further and discovered that Jane Dawson, Hascal McKenzie's grandmother, was born Jane Precilla Ren in January, 1837 which is when Mary Kathryn's grandfather, Archie Sawyer was being hauled into court to support an illegitmate child born to Scintha Ren. This was when my brain took off and the ride become more carnival roller coaster/side show than actual research. I leapt, wondering if she was the child (probably not). I found a Priscilla Ren living with Jane in 1850 and suspected she was the errant Scintha, neglecting to notice she was in her sixties in 1836. I discovered that Jane's purported father Joel Ren was married to an Elizabeth Killion, prompting visions of Archie's sister-in-law marrying into the other woman's family and raising his spawn. 

At which point I decided I'd best go to bed.

Today, after sleep and copious amounts of caffeine I realize that I don't know if Archie and Scintha Ren's child was a boy or a girl. I don't know if the child survived. I don't know what happened to Scintha Ren. I have yet to find a record that I can confidently tie to Scintha. I even wonder now if Archie and Sallie's son Andy could have been Scintha Ren's son, for I have no marriage record for Archie and Sallie. 

What I do know is that Archie and Sallie's FAN club has grown, giving me lots more to work with. Joel Ren was born in North Carolina. Did he migrate with the Killions? Did he know the Sawyers before landing in Cocke County? Who is the Priscilla Ren I was so eager to label as the other woman in Archie's life (wouldn't that have been an accomplishment)? Is Elizabeth Killion Ren one of the tickmark daughters of David and Barbary Killion? 

I also know that falling into those wormholes is tremendous fun. I started looking for a 20th c. in-law and landed back in the 19th c. hills circling near my favorite mystery grandfather. 

Photo Credit
 Some rights reserved by uncleboatshoes

My DNA MIA Ancestors

Pedigree Chart recording DNA matches and possible matches

I was playing with some new to me tools and decided to put together a pedigree chart to see if I could mark off my mother's ancestors where we have been able to make DNA connections. You can click on it to enlarge. I have some mysteries to work through and thought this might help focus my efforts. 

Of her thirty-two 3rd great-grandparents we have likely matches with nine. I am loathe to consider these iron-clad since so many seem to include multiple relationships, but I do feel the checked kin have DNA matches that reflect the paper trails. The question marks are works in progress. Much of this information comes from DNA graciously donated by mother's sister (mother and her other siblings died before DNA testing took off) with smaller bits coming from members of my generation. It seems she inherited more of her grandfather RJ Williams' and great-grandmothers' Eleanor Holt and Sallie Killion DNA than others, for we have many Williams, James, Holt, Killion/Killian and Fulbright matches. 

The lack of Conway, Mulkey and Duncan matches surprised me. Clearly my aunt didn't inherit equal portions from all her ancestors and equally clearly the matches depend on who else is testing. But I believe I will pay more attention to these lines, as well as the ever mysterious Sawyer line, when investigating the hundreds of matches that don't seem to make any sense. I begin to wonder if all my paper trails are genetically accurate. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Archie's boy, Crofford Sawyer (1847-1916)

Last week I wrote about my great-great grandfather Archie Sawyer's son Andy. This week I am focusing on Crofford, the third of the five known sons of Archie and his wife, Sallie Killion. Archie and his boys are on my radar because of my focus on DNA research this year. I am on the hunt for male Sawyers descended from Archie to beg, borrow or bribe my way to a cheek swab for a yDNA test. Bounties will be paid to those who deliver a willing, living candidate. Cake, cookies, booze. Whatever works.

Joel Crawford or Crofford Sawyer (1847-1916) also lived his life in Cocke County, Tennessee. He married Melvina (Vina) Green. Together they had 8 children, including 3 sons who survived to adulthood. He spent his life farming, and perhaps logging with his brother Andrew. Crofford was old enough to have been affected by the Civil War, especially since he was living in East Tennessee. It is hard to imagine he was not involved in some way - even if it was simply trying to stay away from the roving bands of bushwackers.

1. William Jehu Sawyer (1873-1943) married Sarah Jane Solomon. They had a large family that included at least six sons who survived to adulthood. 
1. Crawford L. Sawyer (1900-1972) married Agnes Miller. They are not believed to have had surviving sons.
2. Joe Andy Sawyer (1905-1961) married Ann Ward. They are not believed to have had surviving children.
3. Reaford P. Sawyer (1903-1969) married Pearl Reed. They lived most of their adult lives in Hamblen County, Tennessee and had a large family. 
4. Edward Edgar Sawyer (1907-1973) married Lennie Bell Smith. They lived most of their adult lives in Hamblen County, Tennessee and had a large family. He also appears in some records as William E. or Edgar Sawyer. 
5. Thomas U. Sawyer (1912-2000) married Edna Walker. They lived most of their adult lives in Anderson County, Tennessee and had a large family.
6. J. B. Sawyer (1914-1996) married Mayme Kate Moyers. They lived most of their adult life in Hamblen County, Tennessee and had a large family.
2. Joel Lawson Sawyer (1877-1950) married Maude Conway, the sister of my great-grandmother Catherine Conway Sawyer, making their children double cousins to my grandfather and his siblings. They lived most of their lives in Cocke County, Tennessee and had a large family including 4 sons who survived to adulthood.
1. Clyde Sawyer (1913-1985) married Creola Babe Baker. They are not believed to have had surviving sons.
2. Kenneth Sawyer (1921-1981) was married and lived much of his life in Hamblen County, Tennessee. He is not believed to have had sons surviving to adulthood.
3. Harley Guymond Sawyer (1925-1985) was married and lived in Cocke and Hamblen Counties, Tennessee. He is not believed to have had sons surviving to adulthood.
4. Living Sawyer. The youngest son of Lawson and Maud Conway Sawyer is believed to still be living. 
3. Joe A. Sawyer (1882-1972) married Fannie Robinson. They lived most of their lives in Cocke County, Tennessee and had a large family including 4 sons who survived to adulthood.
1. Gerome or Jerome Sawyer (1917-1961) married and had children. He lived most of his life in Cocke County, Tennessee.
2. Walter L. Sawyer (1921-2007) married Ida Flores and had children. He lived most of his life in Cocke County, Tennessee.
3. Living Sawyer. The third son of Joe and Fannie Sawyer is believed to still be living.
4. Herbert Sawyer (1931-2000) was married and had children. He lived most of his life in Cocke County, Tennessee. 

I don't mean to give short shrift to the women of the family, or to those children who died young. They are cherished and recorded in my data. But they do not pass on the yDNA I am seeking.

I would dearly love just one or two minutes of time with any direct male descendant of Archie and Crofford. It won't hurt a bit. Just a little swab. Promise.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.


Photo Credit  Some rights reserved by Phil Romans

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Archie's boy, Andy Sawyer (1836-1926)

Last week I wrote my great-great grandfather Archie Sawyer's son James. This week I am focusing on Andrew, the eldest son of Archie and his wife, Sallie Killion. Archie and his boys are on my radar because of my focus on DNA research this year. I am on the hunt for male Sawyers descended from Archie to beg, borrow or bribe my way to a cheek swab for a yDNA test. Bounties will be paid to those who deliver a willing, living candidate. Cake, cookies, booze. Whatever works.

Archie and Sallie's eldest son, Andrew Sawyer (b. 15 Dec 1836 d. 6 Nov 1926) lived most of life in Cocke County, Tennessee. He married Sallie Etherton. Together they had 11 children, including 6 sons that survived to adulthood.

1. George Wesley Washington Sawyer (1858-1960) had no surviving sons, but as our longest lived relative must be included. 
2. James Sawyer (1863-1944) does not appear to have had any sons. He and his wife Clara Jones had daughters Mary, Ruth and Grace. 
3. William A. Sawyer (1865-1904) married Nannie Cavender in 1895. They appear to have had one surviving daughter, Susan, before William died.
4. Jacob Charles Sawyer (1867-1914) was an invalid for most of his adult life. He never married and is not believed to have had children.
5. John Sawyer (1872-1940) and his wife Cora Quinn do not appear to have had any sons. They had daughters Tressie and Charlsie. 
6. Joseph Henry Luther Sawyer (1883-1944). FINALLY!! Joe and his wife Eunice Holt had surviving twin sons, Clarence and Claude (b. 24 May 1921). They also had a daughter Alta, who compiled a family history that has been a cornerstone of my research with the Sawyers. 

I don't mean to give short shrift to the women of the family, or to those children who died young. They are cherished and recorded in my data. But they do not pass on the yDNA I am seeking.

While there are many family stories about Andy, especially about his Civil War experiences, documenting them has proved difficult. It is clear the war was a monumental experience in the life of his family. They lived in Sevier County then, reportedly moving further up into the mountains to avoid the violence. Andy was gone for much of the war, though where he was or which side he fought on is not clear. It seems he didn't go far, since several children were born those years. His wife and children reportedly lived with his parents.

According to family stories (and photographs) Andy worked as a teamster hauling cut trees across the mountains to mills in North Carolina when the lumber companies moved into the Smoky Mountains in the early 20th century. His occupation in census records is listed as a farmer. He appears in most records living with or next to his brothers, sisters and children as part of a tight knit clan.

I would dearly love just one or two minutes of time with any direct male descendant of Andy and Joe. It won't hurt a bit. Just a little swab. Promise.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.


Photo Credit  Some rights reserved by Shawi 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Archie's boy, James Sawyer (b. 1820)

I wrote two years ago about what I was told about my great-great grandfather Archie Sawyer when I started researching our family. I followed it up with a What I Know post a couple weeks ago.  Bless Amy Crow and her 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge for getting me back on track!

Archie is on my radar because of my focus on DNA research this year. (The idea that this project will last a year is laughable.) He is at the top of my most wanted list. I am on the hunt for male Sawyers descended from Archie to beg, borrow or bribe my way to a cheek swab for a yDNA test. Bounties will be paid to those who deliver a willing, living candidate. Cake, cookies, booze. Whatever works.

What I had been told was not entirely accurate. Two of the children my great-aunts ascribed to Archie and his wife, Sallie Killian, were children from earlier marriages. Each came with one. Archie may have had more. What is clear is these were the children who considered each other siblings. Together, Archie and Sallie had 7 children who survived to adulthood. I am descended from their youngest son, Jehu or Gee Sawyer. Gee, his brothers William and Jake have no known direct male descendants still living. But his brothers James (half-brother), Andrew and Crofford may well have direct male descendants.

Thirty plus years of research and I still cannot figure these guys out. I believe Archie was related to the other Sawyers appearing in the 1830 and 1840 US Federal Census in Cocke County. But at this point DNA is one of the last tools I have available.

So. I am on the hunt for ~

James Sawyer, Archie's eldest known son, does not appear in census records that I can identify before 1860, when he was enumerated in the household of John Bregman, across the mountains from Cocke County in Buncombe County, North Carolina. The next year he married John's widowed daughter Nancy. He and Nancy lived out their lives in Buncombe County. Theyare buried in Chambers Cemetery, near Weaverville. They had 5 children, including two sons.

1. James Robert Sawyer (1862-1924) married Barbara Virginia Thrash in 1884 and had at least two sons, Horace (born about 1886) and Thomas (born about 1890). He spent his life in Buncombe County.
2. Leroy/Lee Roy Sawyer (1868-1919) married Nina Jones and had at least 5 sons, Earl (born about 1901), Clifford (born about 1902), John B. (born about 1906), Leroy, Jr. (born about 1909), and Paul (born about 1914). He spent his life in Buncombe County.

I would dearly love just one or two minutes of time with any male descendant of James. It won't hurt a bit. Just a little swab. Promise.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.


Photo Credit  Some rights reserved by nevil zaveri

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Clyde Newton McAdams (1913-1925)

Clyde Newton (Nuton) McAdams was my first cousin, twice removed. I wondered when visiting Oak Hill Cemetery in Johnson City, TN what caused his death at a young 12 years old. He died when his cousin, my grandmother, was preparing to marry. She never mentioned him to me. This death certificate reveals that he died in Nashville, Tennessee at the Tennessee Home for the Feeble Minded of epilepsy. According to the certificate he had been institutionalized for just over four months.

He was the son of Elmer Ellis McAdams and Margaret Ollie Davidson. His father had died in January at only 55 years, shortly before Clyde was admitted to the institution. Perhaps it is the bleak name for the institution, but it seems a Dickensian end to his short life.



Sources
Davidson, Tennessee, death certificate no. 415 (1925), Clyde Newton McAdams; digital image, "Tennessee, Death Records, 1914-1955," FamilySearch (accessed 24 Feb 2014).  

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Archibald Sawyer (1795-1880)

Archie Sawyer, my great great-grandfather, is a man of mystery. He shows up as Archibald Sayard in the 1830 Federal Census living in Cocke County, Tennessee census. A grown man, age 30-39, with a house full of women and children. Another Archibald Sawyers, aged 70-79, is enumerated on the same page. According to later census data Archie was born about 1795 in South Carolina. Just to make this more interesting there are two similar James Sawyers families enumerated a couple of pages later.

1830 Census listing showing two Archibald Sawyer/Sayers/Sayard listings

Ten years later, I believe Archie is living with my great-great grandmother, Sallie Killian, their eldest two children, his son, her daughter and three other children. Sallie is the only adult woman in the household. The second household, no longer listed on the same page, appears to now be headed by Rebecca or Bricka Sawyer. The elder Archibald appears to have died.

An aside. The presumed death of old Archibald corresponds very nicely with the death in 1839 of a Revolutionary War pensioner, Lewis Sawyer, in Cocke County. A man who does not appear in any Cocke County census. Except his name is NOT Archibald. James Sawyer also loses an elderly man, aged 80-89 in the 1830 census. And names a son Lewis. Of course, I don't know what Archie named those children living with him in 1830.

1840 Cocke County, TN census

By 1850, Archie and Sallie's household reflects the family I know, family my great-grandfather Gee Sawyer, his brothers and sisters considered their own. They claimed Sallie's daughter, Linnie, and Archie's son, James, as their own, never distinguishing them from the full brothers and sisters. Which led to more than a little confusion when I began researching.

The confusion lingers. Just who are those people living with Archie in 1830? I assume brother James, born about 1820, is one of the boys. I have no idea who the others are. None. In 1840 the women, oldest girl, and one male child are no longer in the household. That leaves one boy and two girls, all aged 10 to 14 years old, living with Archie and Sallie. Three people of whom no mention has ever been made in my family.

So who are these folks, Archie? These people you sheltered in 1830 and 1840. Where are they hiding? I am hoping DNA testing may lead to some clues.


Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

• Alta Sawyer Palmer, The Sawyer Family, Third Edition (Morristown, Tennessee: Privately published, 1986).
• 1830 U.S. census, Tennessee, Cocke, p. 245, line 4, Archibald Sayard; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 24 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M19, roll 180. 
• 1840 U.S. census, Tennessee, Cocke,, p. 262, Archabald Sawyers; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M704, roll 518.  
• 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Cocke, District 11, p. 423A, dwelling 1142, family 1142, Arch Sangers or Sawyer; digital images, Ancestry.com ( accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 874.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Isabella Bryson McAdams Hale (1776-1855)

One of the first ancestors to capture my imagination was my 4th great-grandmother Isabella or Ibby Bryson. I first learned about her when I was 12 years old. According to information handed down in the family she was born 14 September 1776 to John Bryson and Margaret Carson. Her father died shortly after her birth in July 1778. Her poetic name, 1776 birth date and a father who died during, though not necessarily in the Revolutionary War sparked adolescent speculation about her life. When I grew up and began seriously researching my family she was one of my first projects.

I learned then, and continue to learn, that what I know is far surpassed by what I do not. What I know (or at least believe I can support) is that Ibby married Hugh McAdams in June of 1800 in Greene County, TN. The family record lists the date as 12 June 1800. A register of marriage licenses and bonds now available online gives a date of 9 June 1800. They had five children - Margaret (b. 1802), Mary (b. 1804), Thomas Cunnningham (b. 1806), Samuel Bryson (b. 1809) and Jane (b. 1811) - before Hugh's death on 13 December 1814 in Washington County, TN. Hugh's estate documents suggested he had been a cabinet maker. I have since learned that he may have been an influential cabinet maker. A PhD candidate at Middle Tennessee State University is examining his work for her thesis. I look forward to her analysis.

One year after Hugh's death Ibby married a widower, Joseph Hale. Their daughter Louisa was born about 1817. Learning of Louisa's birth was startling to me. She is not mentioned in the seemingly comprehensive family record passed on by her half-brother Thomas.

In 1816 Ibby's only known sibling, Samuel Bryson, died without having married. She was the executor for his estate. Ibby is mentioned in her husband Joseph Hale's will. According to the family record she died on 1 June 1855 and was buried in Fairview Cemetery with the children of her sons Thomas and Samuel. Standing at her grave was one of the most emotional moments of any of my research trips.

I do not know where she was born or when she came to Tennessee. Son Thomas stated she was born in Pennsylvania in the 1880 census. Son Samuel said Virginia. I do not know if Carson was her mother's maiden name. I suspect not since the only mention of her in the family record is of her death in a listing where the other women are listed by their married names. I have no information on her father beyond his presumed existence and death. I have never found any documentation that names a John Bryson or Margaret Carson that I could tie to Ibby's parents. I am not even certain of her date of death, for she is nowhere to be found in the 1850 census.

I cannot connect her with any of the established Bryson or Carson families found in the area. I have not made any DNA connections that point clearly to Ibby, though she is high on my most wanted list. I assume she was Scots-Irish, assume she was associated with the Presbyterian church, though her second marriage was performed by a Baptist minister. I hope to learn more about her parents, but their lives on the 18th c. frontier make that problematic.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

• 1880 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Washington, District 16, enumeration district (ED) 035, p. 549A, dwelling 6, family 6, McAdams, Samuel; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1284. 
• 1880 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Washington, District 17, enumeration district (ED) 035, p. 663B, dwelling 263, family 272, McAdams, Thomas C.; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Feb 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1284. 
• FamilySearch, "Tennessee Marriages, 1796-1950," database, FamilySearch (http://new.familysearch.org : accessed 14 Feb 2014), entry for Izabel Brisson. 
• FamilySearch, "Tennessee, Marriages, 1796-1950," index(www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 Feb 2014), Joseph Hale and Ibby Mc Adams. 
• Washington, Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927 Vol. 00: 328, Hugh McAdams Estate, 6 Nov 1815; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 Feb 2014). 
• Washington, Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927 Vol. 00: 342, Samuel Brisons Estate, 22 Oct 1816; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 14 Feb 2014). 
• Washington, Tennessee, Probate Court Books, 1795-1927 Inventories, 1844-1857, Vol. 02: 530, Joseph Hale Estate, 24 Jan 1856; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 29 Jan 2014).

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Stefan Papp, Csendőrs

My grandfather, Stephen Popp or Stefan Papp, was a state policeman, a csendőrs in Hungary before he emigrated to the United States shortly after World War I. He served in the rural area near his home in the Chust district of Máramaros, patrolling on horseback. Today the region is part of the Transcarpathian district of Ukraine.

This photograph is of him in his csendőrs uniform. He is a sergeant, wearing a badge for Patrol Leader and two medals, the Long Service Cross for non-commissioned officers and the commemorative cross for the 60th anniversary of Franz Josef's reign issued in 1908. The bars or strafes on his sleeve indicate eight years of service.

Dating the photograph was a bit of a challenge. Since he had been awarded the commemorative cross it was clearly after 1908. The uniform collar design suggests it was taken before World War I. His soldiers book says he entered military service in 1904. The Gendarmerie were drawn from the military. I am estimating the photograph was taken about 1912 when he would have been about 30 years old.

I believe this is the earliest photograph we have of my grandfather. It corroborates what I have been told by his children about his life in Europe before coming to America. I am curious about the ring he appears to be wearing. He was not married then. I have a ring he left when he died, but don't know if it was the one he was wearing in this photograph. 

I used the wonderful website Austro-Hungarian Land Forces 1848-1918 created by Glenn Jewison and Jörg C. Steiner to find out more about the medals, decorations and uniforms of the Hungarian military and gendarmerie.


Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: George Sedor (1882-1963)

I am expanding my definition of ancestors this week to include cousins. My research efforts the last few weeks have been driven by my renewed interest in DNA matches. I have been scouring, with success, Old Fulton NY Postcards, Ancestry.com, and FamilySearch for easily accessible records that will provide a paper trail linking my father to some new matches.

I was told that my grandmother Anna Pereksta had two maternal first cousins in Binghamton, NY where she lived after emigrating to the United States.

This photograph from one of her photo albums is labeled "Mom and Mr. Sedor (first cousin) at Saranac". My aunt had later told me that this was George Sedor. However, given the abundant numbers of George Sedors or Szidors or Citars or Sidors or Scidors appearing in Broome County, NY census records, I still wasn't sure which George to claim. 

So I was particularly pleased when one of my father's matches listed Sedor and Binghamton in his profile. He turned out to be descended from George Sedor and Mary Zubal. Having a name for one of the George's wives was all I needed to zoom on in a specific George. I corresponded excitedly with one of my match's cousins for several days comparing notes and histories.

And then we exchanged photographs. I sent her the photograph of our grandparents in taken at Saranac Lake after the Spanish Flu epidemic. She sent me a photograph of her grandparents and their children in 1949. As wonderful as the census data and newspaper articles are there is something altogether different about having photographs. Especially when there is shared DNA.

There he is. George Sedor, my first cousin, twice removed. Another one of the pivotal people in our history. Yes, as my new-found cousin pointed out, like my grandparents, he started life as a peasant and spent his working life making shoes in a factory. But his children's lives were far different than if he had remained in the Carpathian village of his birth.

His obituary tells the story.

Father of 4 Firemen, Sedor Rites Thursday

Survivors Include Chief 

Funeral service will be held Thursday for George Sedor, Sr. of 5 Jones Street, father of Binghamton Fire Chief John A. Sedor and three other Triple Cities firemen.
Mr. Sedor died yesterday morning at Wilson Memorial Hospital after a long illness. He was 81 years old.
Born in Czechoslovakia (then Austria-Hungary) in 1883, Mr. Sedor came to America at the turn of the century. He was a retired Endicott-Johnson employe.
MR. SEDOR was married to the late Mary Zubal and was a member of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church.
He is survived by three daughters, Mrs. Gregory (Anna) Cytch, Linden, N. J. and Mrs. John (Mary) Hlopko and Mrs. Robert (Helen) Tobey, both of Binghamton; five sons, John, George, Jr., and Steven, all of Binghamton; William, Jersey City, N. J., and Andrew, Endicott.
Also a sister, Mrs. Anna Gabok, Auburn; 17 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
George Sedor, Jr. and Steven are members of the Binghamton Fire Department. Andrew is a member of the Endicott Fire Department.
FUNERAL SERVICES  will be held at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at the Greskovic Funeral Home, 161 Clinton Avenue, and at 9 a.m. at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Burial will be in Holy Spirit Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home tomorrow and Wednesday from 2 to 4 and  to 9 p.m. The Reverend Alexander P. Maczkov, pastor of Holy Spirit Church, will hold prayer services at the funeral home at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

Anna Pereksta and George Sedor photograph, c. 1919, Popp Family photographs and papers, 1930-1990; privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] St. Louis, MO. 2005.  

Sedor, George. Photograph. 1949. Digital image. Privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] St. Louis, MO. 2014. Published with permission of the owner of the original photograph.

 "Father of 4 Firemen, Sedor Rites Thursday," Binghamton Press, 16 Dec 1963, Evening Edition, p. 21, col. 7; digital images, Old Fulton NY Postcards (http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html : accessed 23 Jan 2014), Historical New York Newspapers.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Summertime, c. 1919

Anna Pereksta, seated in center with a bite missing from her watermelon.

We are deep into a record setting winter in the United States. Time for a taste of summer.

My grandmother, Anna Pereksta, spent several months in Saranac Lake (NY) recovering from influenza. Her care there was paid for by Endicott Johnson, her employer. Most of the patients were being treated for tuberculosis, but she always said she had had the flu. 

Whatever the disease, those months recovering were a cherished time in a life that was far more work than play. 

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Janos or Ivan Sedor (b. 1818)

I knew nothing about my baba's grandparents when I started researching my father's family. Not even their names. Baba, my grandmother, was born in Prislop a small mountain village in what is now Slovakia. Her mother, Olena Sedor, was born a few miles away in Starina. Both were then part of Hungary. Not easy to research. I hit pay dirt in 2010 when FamilySearch put old Hungarian Empire church records online. 

I found my great-grandmother's 1860 baptism recorded. Naming her parents. My great-great grandparents. Szidor Joan and Komiszar Maria. Or Romisszar. Her name is negotiable. In fact, much about these names is negotiable. Baba's family were ethnic Rusyns. They did not speak Hungarian. So while the records are in Hungarian or Latin or Church Slavonic, the names they used amongst themselves were different. Her mother was Olena, rather than Helena. Her father was Ivan, not Janos or Joannes. I suspect her grandfathers were also Ivan. And, of course, their descendants changed names all over the place when they settled in America.

I digress. Ultimately I found my great-great grandparents marriage record and baptismal registries for six children.

From FamilySearch.org

Janos or Ivan Sedor  was born in 1818 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary. At this point I have no idea who his parents were. Sedor is a common name. There is one clue. His granddaughter referred to her mother as Olena Sedor Hocko. Hocko is probably an alias name used to help distinguish one Sedor line from another. Further research is needed here.

On 1 February 1848 Ivan married Maria Komisar, who was born in 1825, also in Sztarina. According to the marriage record he was a widower. They had at least six children, though one son died as a child.

Their son, Mihaly Sedor was baptized on 20 Aug 1849 in Sztarina.

Basilus or Wasyl Sedor was born and baptized in 1853 in Sztarina. His record is in Cyrillic script. I could not make out the month.

Joannes or Ivan Sedor was born on 26 Jan 1859 in Sztarina and died before 1866 when a second son with the same name was born.

Helena or Olena Sedor was born on 27 Sep 1860 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary and was baptized on 6 Oct 1860. She died on 3 Jan 1936 in Príslop, Czechoslovakia at age 75. She is buried in Príslop, which now in Slovakia. Olena is my great-grandmother.

Anna Sedor was born on 2 Jan 1863 and was baptized on 18 Jan 1963 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary.

A second Joannes or Ivan Sedor was born on 28 Aug 1866 in Sztarina and baptized on 4 Sep 1866.

His name appears frequently as a sponsor or witness in the church records, but with such a common name I don't know which, if any, of these men were my great great-grandfather. At least not without much more work examining the records. Komissar is a much less common name and worth investigation.

That is all I know about Ivan Sedor. He was most likely an illiterate peasant farmer. The land he lived and died on is now beneath the Starina Resevoir. 




Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

• Stefan Popp, "Popp-Pereksta Family Record" (Private, recorded in diary c. 1940).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Szidor-Komiszar marriage, record 3, image 163 of 192; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, "Image 14/189," Mihaly Szidor record; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, "Image 24/189, Record 13," Basilus Szidor Baptismal Record; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 17 Mar 2010); Record is in Cyrillac alphabet.
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Joannes Szidor Birth 1859, image 33 of 189; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Olena Szidor birth record, image 59 of 189; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010); Names her parents as Joannes Szidor and Maria Komiszar of Sztarina.
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, "Image 36/189, Record 24," Janos Perekszta Baptismal record; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 18 Mar 2010); The record is in Cyrillac letters. It lists his parents and their residence, Prisxlop Household #2.
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Anna Szidor Birth, 1863. Image 68 of 189; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 15 Mar 2010).
• Greek Catholic Church of Sztarina (Starina, Hummene, Slovakia), Baptisms, marriages, deaths (krsty, manzelstva, umrtia) Inv. c 1156 1845-1868, Joannes Szidor birth 1866, record 30, image 153 of 192; digital images, Family Search (www.familysearch.org : accessed 26 Jan 2014).

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Sally Killian Sawyer (1812-1881)

Sally Killian Sawyer is one of my favorite ancestors. Perhaps it's because I knew so little about her when I started researching 30 years ago. For someone who was known as a story teller, my great-grandfather Gee Sawyer said very little about his parents, Archie and Sally Sawyer. I started with their names and birthplaces. Nothing more.

Over the years I have learned more about them both. I have learned that spelling really doesn't count. Even my own hasn't been consistent. She has shown up as Sallie or Sally or Sarah. As Killian or Killion. As Sawyer or Sawyers or Sanger or Sayers. And as a tick mark in the 1820, 1830, and 1840 censuses.

Sally was born in Lincoln County, NC in September of 1812 to David and Barbary Fulbright Killian. A marriage bond for Sarah Killian and David Huffman was recorded on 18 October 1832 in Lincoln County. Sally's daughter Linnie Huffman Howlett Evans named her father as William Huffman in her Civil War Widow's pension application, so the name of Sally's first husband is open for discussion. Whatever his name, their daughter Linnie was born 13 May 1833 in Lincoln County, NC. Mr. Huffman disappears from the scene soon after.

By 1836 the Killians, Sally and Linnie Huffman have moved to Cocke County, TN. Sally has married Archie Sawyer, at least 10 years her senior with a child or children of his own. Their eldest son Andrew was born 15 December 1836, just before Sally's father was putting up part of the bond for Archie after Scintha Ren had named him has the father of her illegitimate child. Magnanimous soul.

State of Tennessee, Cocke County.

We Archibald Sawyers, David Killian and Lewis Williams acknowledge our selfs (sic) indebted to the state of Tennessee as follows;  Archibald Sawyers as principal in the sum of two hundred dollars and fifty;  David Killian and Lewis Williams as his securities in the sum of seventy five dollars each to be bound of sums goods and chattles lands and tenements respectively for the use of the state to be void on condition that the above bound Archibald Sawyers do make his personal appearance at the circuit court at the court house in Newport on the second Monday in January to answer the state on a charge of bastardy by Scintha Ren and not depart the court without leave.     

Archibald Sawyers (his mark);  David Killian (his mark)  Lewis Williams (his mark)

Acknowledged before me Jos. Williams and acting Justice of the Peace for Cocke County this 6 day of January 1837;
Jos. Williams Esq. CC                            Fd’d Jany 9 1837 in circuit court clerk office

Sally and Archie had six more surviving children - Barbary, (1838), William (1840), Elizabeth (1843), Crofford (1847), Jake (1849), and my great-grandfather Jehu Stokely "Gee" (1855). Archie appears in census data as a farmer, though there is no indication of any wealth. They moved frequently in the years surrounding the Civil War, living in Sevier County in 1860, in Jefferson County in 1865 and back in Cocke County in 1870. By 1880 Sally was an invalid widow living with her son William in Greene County. According to her gravemarker she died 2 January 1881. Her grave lies in Joseph's Chapel, just down the road from Sawyer Hollow.

Census information indicated she was illiterate. Her daughter Linnie's pension application has provided me with the greatest bit of information. Sally was midwife for her daughter, delivering all but one of her children. She apparently acted as midwife in the area. Her 1869 deposition stated

"she ... acted as chief Physician and that she was the Osetrician in the section, at the time, and where these children were born and is yet..." 

I have wandered the roads in Cocke, Greene and Sevier counties where Sally lived but it wasn't until I read this deposition that I had a sense of who she may have been.


Written for Amy Johnson Crow's blogger challenge 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks.

Sources

• Alta Sawyer Palmer, The Sawyer Family, Third Edition (Morristown, Tennessee: Privately published, 1986).
• Cocke, Tennessee, Supreme Court Cases, East Division, State vs. Archibald Sawyer, 1837; Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville.
• Jefferson County Court Clerk.Nicholson, James M. Voter Registration Receipt for Archibald Sawyers. 19 Jul 1865. Privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] St. Louis, MO. 1996.  
• North Carolina Division of Archives and History, "North Carolina Marriage Bonds, 1741-1868," database, Ancestry.com (accessed 18 Jan 2014), entry for for Sarah Killian and David Huffman; citing marriage bond 000073458.  
• Sawyers, Sarah Depostion, Howlett, William M. Civil War Widows Pension Application 141.238, 1867; privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] St. Louis, MO. 2005. Digital image of pension application file.  
• 1820 U.S. census population schedule, North Carolina, Lincoln, East of the South Fork of the Catawba River, p. 406, David Killion; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M33, roll 83.  
• 1840 U.S. census, Tennessee, Cocke,, p. 262, Archabald Sawyers and David Killion; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M704, roll 518.  
• 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Cocke, District 11, p. 423A, dwelling 1142, family 1142, Sarah Sangers or Sawyer; digital images, Ancestry.com ( accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll 874.  
• 1860 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Sevier, District 3, p. 399, dwelling 272, family 272, Sarah Sayers; digital images, Ancestry.com (accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll 1270.  
• 1870 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Cocke, District 11, p. 468B, dwelling 12, family 12, Sarah Sawyers; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M593, roll 1519.  
• 1880 U.S. census, population schedule, Tennessee, Greene, District 4, enumeration district (ED) 046., p. 65C, dwelling 162, family 162, Sarah Sawyers; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Jan 2014); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T9, roll 1258.