Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – How Many Ancestors In the 1900 Census?

I decided to accept this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun assignment, from Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings:

How many of your ancestors are in the 1900 United States Census?  List them all, their location, their age, and their occupation.  Were any ancestors missed by the census enumerator? [Note: For folks who have census entries in other countries, substitute your country for the U.S. and the closest available census to 1900.]

Working backward through the generations, I have:

• Grandfather Chester F. Kirk, resided in Andover, Oxford County, Maine; age 42, "veternerry surgeon"
• Grandmother Mary Milliken Hodsdon, resided in Andover, Oxford County, Maine; age 18, chamber maid

(Yes, that age difference is correct and not a typo. While they were not yet married at the time of the census, they would be later that year. She would be his fifth wife. Interestingly, with the exception of wife #2, who was of an age with Chester at 28, all of his wives were between 17-19 when married, while he aged from 23 to 43.)

• Grandfather George W. Murphy, resided in Township 8, Prince County, Prince Edward Island; age 14, "farmer's son" [!901 Canada census]
• Grandmother Glenna M. Rabideau, resided in Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire; age 1

• Great-grandfather Silas Kirk, resided in Freeport, Cumberland County, Maine; age 73, carpenter
• Great-grandmother Sarah C. (Sukeforth) Kirk, resided in Freeport, Cumberland County, Maine; age 64, no occupation

• Great-grandfather Marchant Hodsdon, resided in Andover, Oxford County, Maine; age 58, farmer
• Great-grandmother Kate Maria (Rand) Hodsdon, resided in Andover, Oxford County, Maine; age 45, no occupation

• Great-grandfather Dominic Murphy, resided in Township 8, Prince County, Prince Edward Island; age 48, farmer [!901 Canada census]
• Great-grandmother Roseanne (McIntyre) Murphy, resided in Township 8, Prince County, Prince Edward Island; age 37, no occupation [!901 Canada census]

• Great-grandfather Peter Louis Rabideau, resided in Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire; age 30, day laborer
• Great-grandmother Eva (Woodward) Rabideau, resided in Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire; age 29, no occupation

• Great-great-grandmother Dolly (Brister) Rand, resided in Andover, Oxford County, Maine; age 82, no occupation

• Great-great-grandfather William Murphy, resided in Township 51, Kings County, Prince Edward Island; age 70, farmer
• Great-great-grandmother Flora (McDonald) Murphy, resided in Township 51, Kings County, Prince Edward Island; age 68, no occupation

• Great-great-grandfather Louis Rabideau, resided in Milan, Coos County, New Hampshire; age 51, farmer

• Great-great-grandmother Mary (Washburn) Woodward, resided in Dummer, Coos County, New Hampshire; age 69, no occupation

• Great-great-great-grandfather Louis Rabideau, resided in Stoke, Quebec; age 69, occupation unreadable [!901 Canada census]

In summary:

• Three grandparents in the 1900 US census, one in the 1901 Canada census
• Six great-grandparents in the 1900 US census, two in the 1901 Canada census
• Three great-great-grandparents in the 1900 US census, two in the 1901 Canada census, eleven deceased
• One great-great-great-grandparent in the 1901 Canada census, the rest deceased

A total of 18 of my ancestors were alive in 1900-1901 and were enumerated in the 1900 US and 1901 Canada censuses. None were missed.

Thanks for the assignment, Randy!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Male Ancestors' Age at Death

Once again I'm accepting Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun mission, this time "Male Ancestors Age at Death", as follows:

1. Review your Pedigree Chart (either on paper or in your genealogy management software program) and determine the age at death of your Male ancestors back at least five generations (and more if you want to).
2. Tell us the lifespan years for each of these ancestors.  Which of your male ancestors in this group lived the longest?  Which lived the shortest? 

Like Randy, I used Ahnentafel numbers to identify my male ancestors:

Father:
2. Roger Marchant Kirk (1919-1979) – 60 years

Grandfathers:
4. Chester Frank Kirk (1857-1939) – 81 years
6. William George Murphy (1886-1946) – 60 years

Great-Grandfathers:
8. Silas Kirk (1827-1909) – 82 years (exactly – he died on his birthday)
10. Silas Marchant Hillman Hodsdon (1847-1911) – 64 years
12. Dominic Murphy (1854-1914) – 59 years
14. Peter Louis Rabideau (1870-1946) – 76 years

2nd Great-Grandfathers:
16. Jabez Bradbury Kirkpatrick (1800-1884) – 83 years
18. Simon Sukeforth (ca 1813-1874) – abt 61 years
20. Isaac Hodsdon (1812-1890) – 77 years
22. Nahum Alonzo Rand (1813-1884) – 70 years
24. William Murphy (1830-1909) – 78 years
26. Neil McIntyre (1814-bet 1881 and 1891) – >67 years
28. Louis Rabideau (1850-aft 1913) – >63 years
30. Uriah Sawyer Woodward (1847-1881) – 33 years

3rd Great-Grandfathers:
32. John Kirkpatrick 2d (1773-1825) – 52 years
34. Edward Faulkner – unknown
36. Robert Sukeforth (ca 1780-88 - bet 1860 and 1870) – >72 years
38. William Miller (est 1794-aft 1837) – >43 years
40. Jacob Hodsdon (1787-1879) – 91 years
42. Guy Green (1778-1850) – 72 years
44. Joshua Rand (1779-1852) – 73 years
46. Enoch Brister (ca 1770-1853) – abt 83 years
48. Michael Murphy (ca 1800-bet 1861-81) – >61 years
50. William McDonald – unknown
52. Angus McIntyre (est 1785-bet 1840 and 1851) – >55 years
54. Alexander McLellan (ca 1786-1867) – abt 81 years
56. Louis Robidas (ca 1832-1921) – abt 89 years
58. Unknown
60. Royal Woodward (ca 1802-08 - 1879) – >71 years
62. Samuel Orcutt Washburn (1798-1850) – 51 years

My third great-grandfathers list is a little more complete than the one for their wives: there's only one I don't have a name for, and two more for whom I have a name but no dates.

For those I have at least reasonably good dates for, the longest-lived appears to be 3rd great-grandfather Jacob Hodsdon, at 91 years. The shortest-lived was 2nd great-grandfather Uriah Sawyer Woodward, who died at 33, leaving his wife, Mary (Washburn) (Yates) Woodward, a widow for the second time.

The average age at death for the 28 male ancestors for whom I have data is about 68, with a range of 33-91. Leaving out Uriah Woodward's atypical early death brings the average for the remaining 27 men to over 69; also leaving out William Miller's possible death by 43 raises the average to over 70. Averages and ranges by generation:

1. Father: 60 years.
2. Grandfathers: average 70.5 years (60-81).
3. Great-grandfathers: average about 70 years (59-82).
4. Second great-grandfathers: average 66.5 years (33-83). Omitting Uriah, the average for the other seven is about 71 years.
5. Third great-grandfathers (13 out of 16): average about 69 years (43-91). Again, omitting William Miller, the average for the remaining 12 is nearly 71.

Clearly my female ancestors were a much more robust bunch than their mates, with every generation of women averaging 3-6 years more than the men!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Female Ancestors' Age at Death

I'm accepting Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun mission, "Female Ancestors Age at Death", as follows:

1. Review your Pedigree Chart (either on paper or in your genealogy management software program) and determine the age at death of your female ancestors back at least five generations (and more if you want to).
2. Tell us the lifespan years for each of these ancestors.  Which of your female ancestors in this group lived the longest?  Which lived the shortest?   

Like Randy, I used Ahnentafel numbers to identify my female ancestors:

Mother:
3. Kathleen Marie (Murphy) Kirk (1921-1993) – 71 years

Grandmothers:
5. Mary Milliken (Hodsdon) Kirk (1882-1965) – 83 years
7. Glenna Marie (Rabideau) Murphy (1899- 1968) – 68 years

Great-Grandmothers:
9. Sarah C. (Sukeforth) Kirk (1838-1905) – 67 years
11. Kate Maria (Rand) Hodsdon (1855-1940) – 85 years
13. Rose Ann (McIntyre) Murphy (1862-1937) – 74 years
15. Eva May (Woodward) Rabdieau (1871-1953) – 82 years

2nd Great-Grandmothers:
17. Abigail (Faulkner) Kirkpatrick (1808-1891) – 82 years
19. Jane (Miller) Sukeforth (1810-1879) – 68 years
21. Abigail (Greene) Hodsdon (1814-1878) – 64 years
23. Dolly C. (Brister) Rand (1818-1904) – 86 years
25. Flora Ann (McDonald) Murphy (1832-1911) – 78 years
27. Mary Ann (McLellan) McIntyre (1817-1896) – 78 years
29. Marie Celina (Cloutier) Rabideau (ca 1849-1881) – abt 32 years
31. Mary A. (Washburn) Woodward (1831-1917) – 86 years

3rd Great-Grandmothers:
33. Nancy (Starrett) Kirkpatrick (1777-1834) – 57 years
35. Margaret (Morrison) Faulkner – unknown
37. Polly (Miller) Sukeforth (1775-bet 1850-60) – >75 years
39. Unknown
41. Sally (Huston) Hodsdon (1785-bet 1860-70) – >75 years
43. Hannah R. (Gould) Green (ca 1787-aft 1879) – >92 years
45. Elizabeth (Rand) Rand (1773-1857) – 84 years
47. Sarah (Chamberlain) Brister (ca 1790 - 1881) – abt 91 years
49. Magdelen (Morison) Murphy (ca 1800-bet 1861-81) – >61 years
51. Flora (Wilson) McDonald – unknown
53. Ann (Gillis) McIntyre (est 1789-aft 1851) – >62 years
55. Sally (McCormick) McLellan (est 1785-????) – unknown
57. Marie (Deshaies-St. Cyr) Robidas (1829-1895) – 65 years
59. Unknown
61. Mary Hawley (Sawyer) Woodward (1816-1880) – 64 years
63. Mary (Palmateer) Washburn (1812-1879) – 67 years

Unfortunately, my third great-grandmothers list is incomplete; for two I don't even have names, and for three more the name is about all I do have. So I didn't bother to go back another generation, because I'd have had too many "unknowns."

For those I have at least reasonably good dates for, the longest-lived is probably 3rd great-grandmother Hannah (Gould) Green, at least 92, though her contemporary Sarah (Chamberlain) Brister is a close contender at about 91. Since I don't have an exact birth year for either of them, I'd consider them effectively tied. The youngest was 2nd great-grandmother Marie Celina (Cloutier) Rabideau, who was at most only 32 when she died. (She may have been as young as 29.)

The average age at death for the 26 female ancestors for whom I have data is about 73, with a range of 32-92. Leaving out Celina (Cloutier) Rabideau, whose early death is obviously atypical, the average for the remaining 25 women is almost 75. Averages and ranges by generation:

1. Mother: 71 years.
2. Grandmothers: average 75.5 years (68-83).
3. Great-grandmothers: average 77 years (67-85).
4. Second great-grandmothers: average about 72 years (32-86). Again, leaving out Celina, the average for the other seven is 77 years.
5. Third great-grandmothers (11 out of 16): average about 72 years (57-92); Given that in several cases the actual year of death is known only to within a range of 10 or 20 years (died between censuses), the actual average may well be as high as 75 or 76.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Where Were Your Ancestors 150 Years Ago?

I'm accepting Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun mission, "Where Were Your Ancestors 150 Years Ago?", as follows:

1. Determine where your ancestral families were on 25 June 1866 - 150 years ago.
   
2. List your ancestors, their family members, their birth and death years, and their residence location (as close as possible).  Do you have a photograph of their residence from about that time, and does the residence still exist?

My direct ancestors who were living in 1866 stretch from a single 4th great-grandmother (in my mother's line) all the way down to my paternal grandfather, including all 16 great-great-grandparents.

For the most part, I've based the residence locations on the 1860 and 1870 censuses (or 1861 and 1871 in Quebec), occasionally tempered with knowledge of birthplaces of children around 1866. I don't have photos of any of the houses, and don't know if any of them still exist.

1. Silas Kirk (1827-1909) and Sarah Sukeforth (1838-1905), my great-grandparents, were probably residing in Auburn, Androscoggin County, Maine, by 1866, with their first two children Chester F. Kirk (1857-1939, my grandfather) and Abbie (who died in Auburn the following January). I'm not sure exactly where they were living, because Silas didn't buy his land in Auburn until 1868.
2. Jabez Bradbury Kirk(patrick) (1800-1884) and Abigail Faulkner (1808-1891), my great-great-grandparents, were living in Warren, Knox County, Maine, probably with their adopted daughter Georgianna Oliver, who would have been 16. 
3. Simon Sukeforth (1813-1874) and Jane Miller (1810-1879), my great-great-grandparents, were living in Washington, Knox County, Maine, probably with their four youngest children Addie, William, Frank, and Lawrenton.
4. Isaac Hodsdon (1812-1890) and Abigail Greene (1814-1878), my great-great-grandparents, were living in Byron, Oxford County, Maine, probably with younger children Silas Marchant Hillman Hodsdon (1847-1911, my great-grandfather), Isaac Winfield, Francis Ireland, Matilda Ann, and Charles.
5. Nahum Alonzo Rand Sr. (1813-1884) and Dolly Brister (1818-1904), my great-great-grandparents, were living in Andover, Oxford County, Maine, probably with children Kate Maria Rand (1855-1940, my great-grandmother), Nahum Alonzo Jr., Ezra Davis, Asenath Matilda, Samuel P., and Annie Grace.
6. William Murphy (1830-1909) and Flora McDonald (1832-1911), my great-great-grandparents, resided in Prince Edward Island; judging from baptismal records, in 1866 they were probably in or near Vernon River. At the time they had seven children: Dominic Murphy (1854-1914, my great-grandfather), Lot, Flora Ann, Mary, James, Martha, and Daniel.
7. Neil McIntyre (1814-aft 1881) and Mary Ann McLellan (1817-1896), my great-great-grandparents, also resided in Prince Edward Island, probably in Indian River, though they may have moved to Lot 8 by 1866. All ten of their children would have still been living with them: Hannah, Angus, Alexander, Leo, Sarah Ann, Kate, Mary, Mary Ann, John Alfred, and Rose Ann McIntyre (1862-1937, my great-grandmother).
8. Celina Cloutier (ca 1850-1881), my great-great-grandmother, who would marry Louis Rabideau in 1869, almost certainly was living in Quebec in 1866. I have not yet discovered her parents or birthplace, so I have no idea where in Quebec.
9. Mary (Washburn) Yates (1831-1917), my great-great-grandmother, who would marry Uriah Woodward in 1867, was widowed in 1864 and was almost certainly living in Holland, Orleans County, Vermont, with her nine children from her marriage to Stephen Yates.
10. Jacob Hodsdon (1787-1879), my 3rd great-grandfather, was living in Byron, Oxford County, Maine, either with his wife Sally Huston (my 3rd great-grandmother, who died between 1860 and 1870), or, if Sally had died by 1866, probably with his son John and family.
11. Sarah (Chamberlain) Brister (ca 1790-1881), my 3rd great-grandmother and widow of my 3rd great-grandfather Enoch Brister, was living in Rumford, Oxford County, Maine, with her daughter and son-in-law, Obed and Jerusha (Brister) Taylor.
12. Alexander McLellan (ca 1786-1867), my 3rd great-grandfather, was living in Prince Edward Island, probably Indian River.
13. Louis Robidas (ca 1832-1921) and Marie Deshaies-St. Cyr (1829-1895), my 3rd great-grandparents, were living in Quebec, probably either in Saint-Paul-de-Chester or Sherbrooke, with their children Louis Robidas/Rabideau (1850-aft 1913, my great-great-grandfather), Alfred, Louise, Marcelin Sinaie "Samuel", and James.
14. Royal Woodward (ca 1803 to 1879) and Mary Hawley Sawyer (1815-1880), my 3rd great-grandparents, were living in Walden, Caledonia County, Vermont, with their youngest children Frank P., Uriah Sawyer Woodward (1847-1881, my great-great-grandfather), and Mary A.
15. Mary (Palmatier) Washburn (1812-1879), my 3rd great-grandmother and widow of my 3rd great-grandfather Samuel Orcutt Washburn, was probably living either in Holland, Orleans County, Vermont, or in Dummer, Coos County, New Hampshire, most likely with one of her children and their family.
16. Divine Louise Girardeau (1790-ca 1875), my 4th great-grandmother and widow of my 4th great-grandfather Jean-Baptiste Robidas, was living in Quebec, possibly in Stoke, Richmond County, where she resided with her son Damase "Thomas" Robidas in 1871.

So I had 32 direct ancestors definitely living 150 years ago:

• 1 grandparent
• 6 great-grandparents
• 16 great-great-grandparents
• 8 great-great-great-grandparents
• 1 great-great-great-great-grandparent

Additionally, I had 4 great-great-great-grandparents who were possibly alive at that time, i.e., they were living in 1860 or 1861 but I have no record of them after that. They are Robert Sukeforth, Sally (Huston) Hodsdon, Michael Murphy, and Magdelen (Morison) Murphy.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Addendum - Ancestral Death Place Chart

Following up on Randy's suggestion to create a death place chart to match the birthplace chart yielded this:

The Down East Genealogist's Six-Generation Ancestral Death Place Chart

As expected, the geographical diversity has dropped compared to the birthplaces. My father's line is now overwhelmingly rooted in Maine; the atypical Pennsylvania death place was due to my gg-grandfather dying while visiting a son who had relocated to Philadelphia, and while he apparently was buried there, he has a cenotaph in Andover, Maine.

On my mother's side, Ireland and Scotland (and the one unknown, who was probably born in Scotland or possibly P.E.I.) have disappeared as all are known to have died in P.E.I. Several Quebec-born 2x greats migrated to New Hampshire, while several New Hampshire-, Vermont-, and P.E.I.-born ancestors died in Maine or Massachusetts. The real anomaly is the 3x greats, born in Vermont, who ended up in Kansas (at least, he did – not so sure about her; she may have died in Vermont before he moved west).

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestral Birthplace Chart

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge this week is "to create a five or six generation ancestor chart that shows your ancestor's birthplaces." Having seen a number of these charts posted by various geneabloggers over the past couple of days, I had already prepared one earlier today – so I have a ready response to his challenge (click on the image for a full-size view):

The Down East Genealogist's Six-Generation Ancestral Birthplace Chart

Although I have several blanks, and a number of "tentative" birthplaces, in the sixth generation, I included it anyway because of its added diversity – my father's stolidly Maine line is, after all, pretty boring in terms of birthplace diversity right through my great great grandparents, and even my mother's line only gets across the pond with the 3x greats. The birthplaces with a ? appended are almost certainly correct, though I don't have any documentation yet, and the unknown birthplaces of four 3x great-grandmothers are very likely the same as that of their respective spouses.

A fun exercise indeed!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – My Ancestor Score for 2015

Last year, for the premiere of this blog, I took Randy Seaver's Genea-Musings Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge, What's Your Ancestor Score?, resulting in the post My Ancestor Score. This year he has repeated the challenge in Your Ancestor Score for 2015, so I dusted off last year's spreadsheet and checked my pedigree chart to see how my score has improved.

The "score" is found by counting up the number of direct ancestors you have identified, as a percentage of the total possible number of direct ancestors through at least 10 generations (more for "extra credit"), starting with yourself as generation 1. 

Here are my updated results:

I came up with the numbers by generating a 10-generation pedigree chart in Reunion, and counting up the number of boxes in each generation that had at least a first name in them. The chart shows the number of possible people and the number identified, in each generation and as running totals for all generations, and I calculated the percentage identified by generation and overall.

The research I did throughout the year for the "52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks" challenge paid off. No change in my great-great-great-grandparents – three of them still stubbornly refuse to show themselves – but each of the next six generations improved! The 4x great-grands are up 7 (from last year's 31); 5x up 8 (from 37); 6x almost doubled, up 20 (from 21); 7x up 16 (from 20); 8x up 13 (from 21); and 9x up 10 (from 16).

For the 10-generation benchmark I end up at 220 identified out of 1,023 total, or 21.5%, compared to last year's 169 (16.5%).  That's 51 newly identified ancestors! Going back two more generations for extra credit, I identified an additional 23 new ancestors, yielding a score of 280 out of 4,095, or 6.8% (last year it was 206 or 5.0%).

Let's hope I can do at least as well in the coming year!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Ancestor Score

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings issues a weekly "challenge" to have some Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. For the premiere of Pine Trees and Pedigrees, I decided to take tonight's What's Your Ancestor Score? challenge and find out how "complete" my genealogy is. Check out Randy's post at the link for some background; in a nutshell, you count up the number of direct ancestors you have identified, as a percentage of the total possible number of direct ancestors through at least 10 generations (more for "extra credit") starting with yourself as generation 1. Here are my results:

I came up with the numbers by generating a 10-generation pedigree chart in Reunion, and counting up the number of boxes in each generation that actually had names in them. Well, some of the women have only first names... The chart shows the number of possible people and the number identified, in each generation and as running totals for all generations, and I calculated the percentage identified by generation and overall.

Perfect score through my great-great-grandparents, pretty close for the great-great-great-grands, and still quite respectable for g-g-g-g-grands – but it drops off pretty rapidly after that. For the 10-generation benchmark I end up at 169 identified out of 1,023 total, or 16.5%. Going back two more generations for extra credit, my score sinks to 5.0% (206 out of 4,095). Clearly I have my work cut out for me!