Winnie Doyle and James Farley

My father's side, the Nunns and Doyles, have been difficult to research, and my grandmother's sister, Winifred Doyle has been lost to me. My recent 23 and Me DNA test put me in touch with one of Winifred's descendants. Yay!!! Winnie Doyle married James Farley, and with this information I still had trouble placing them until their descendant told me they went back to Ireland for a time. I've sent my second cousin photos of Patrick and Maggie Doyle and a photo I hope has her great-grandparents, Winnie and James. It is a great photo (showned above) as it also shows my grandparents, Mary Agnes (Doyle) Nunn, Harry Nunn and Maggie Doyle. I'm waiting for confirmation that the couple on the right is Winnie and James. I have messages out to some other "cousins," though none are a very close match. And I also have more names to work on. Genealogy is never-ending, and that's what we love about it.

Joseph Nunn and St. Michael’s Cemetery

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday when I received a reply to the email I sent over the weekend to the staff at St. Michael’s Cemetery in East Elmhurst, NY.

My Joseph, aka Casper Joseph, is buried there under the name of Casper J. “Munn.” The grave location was provided. Joseph died of endocarditis.  Simply, endocarditis is an infection of the inner lining of the heart. There are many types, so no way of knowing from which one Joseph suffered.

Also buried there, according to the records, is ten year old, “Jason Munn.”  Jason was buried 8 November 1894.

My previous research found ten children of Joseph and Catherine Nunn. But in documents I have, Catherine consistently states she had eleven children. When I learned of Jason, I thought I might have found the missing child. But the name didn’t seem right for this family’s naming patterns. I pulled out my family descendant chart and immediately saw that “Jason” was actually Joe Nunn, born in 1884 and died 6 November 1894.  The eleventh child is still a mystery.

I was informed there are no headstones since the burial site was not privately owned. Meaning they were interred in the areas of this cemetery assigned to other free churches, “to provide a final dignified resting place for the poor.”

I immediately thanked the Office Manager who attended to my request with such speed. I sent her the descendant chart for her records, hoping she might make note of the correct spelling of the names, and mailed off a check to cover the research fee. The information provided was worth every penny!!

Look Again

My recent monograph on the Nunn family begins at the time Joseph Nunn and Catherina Kurtz arrive in New York Harbor and pass through Castle Garden. I located who I believe to be Joseph and Catherina on passenger lists and have the ships’ names listed in the manuscript. Their fascinating story unfolds from there.

I now want to search Joseph’s roots in Germany, a process I have been too timid to tackle before.  Attendance at our German SIG has provided the incentive needed to start that process. I have begun to locate and sort out the many German resources.

Although I checked FamilySearch.org many times during the development of the monograph, the site did not have anything new on this family line. As I begin another chapter in the story, I looked again.

Look again. New to the site is Joseph’s death certificate information!!!!  Up to this point I did not have a death date for him, though I suspected it was sometime in May 1900.  Actually, Joseph Nunn, harness maker, died 28 May 1900, was buried 30 May 1900 in St. Michael’s Cemetery, East Elmhurst, New York.

A Google search for St. Michael’s Cemetery told me the cemetery is in the borough of Queens and is one of the oldest religious cemeteries in New York. It is owned and operated by the Episcopal Church. I thought, there must be another St. Michael’s cemetery, as surely Joseph would have been buried in a Catholic cemetery.

Look again. After searching for other St. Michael’s Cemeteries in the Metropolitan New York area, I went back to St. Michaels and read further.  I learned the cemetery was purchased in 1852 by the Rev. Thomas McClure Peters, and it was his intention to provide “a final dignified resting place for the poor.” Parcels of the cemetery were assigned to area churches and institutions for these burials.

It now made sense why Joseph was buried there. I sent off an email request for information on Joseph’s burial and asked if there was anyone else – his children – buried in the section for the poor.

My family continues true to form, however, and although FamilySearch.org has Joseph’s death information and the birth of his many children, no images are available!

But, I will . . . Look again.

Census Search Techniques

As seasoned genealogists we are adept at using the census in our research. In fact, we know to start with the census. We know to follow our family lines back through the census, and we know about cluster genealogy, that families oftentimes traveled together.

At NGS last week we had the opportunity to hear a presentation by Jason B. Harrison, CG^sm of Family Search explain additional strategies in census searches.

Jason reminded his audience that they might be searching the wrong name or wrong location. Their ancestor’s name could be misspelled, or information was given by a neighbor who was unsure of the spelling. There could be a transcription error, and/or the name could be illegible. Some techniques for dealing with these situations are:

• In Ancestry’s search box, provide minimal information. Start with just the basics;
• Try checking the “Exact Match” box;
• Use surname and location only;
• Do a Soundex search;
• Use Wildcards.  A question mark (?) replaces one character, an asterisk (*) replaces zero or more characters;
• Know your ancestors’ nicknames – for a listing go to Family Search Wiki
• Search for middle names or initials – quite often first and middle names became interchangeable as the decades passed;
• Leave out the name entirely and search on location, date/place of birth;
• Search for other family members;
• Search for a street address.  Utilize city directories for addresses; SteveMorse.org for Enumeration Districts;
• Search neighbors.  If your family is missing in a census year, try searching their neighbors from the decade before. You family might still be there, just not indexed appropriately.

Although Jason had some great examples, my family provides a great one as well. I could not find my Nunn family in the 1900 census. I wonder why?

Joseph Nunn family indexed with surname "Joseph"

I don't blame the indexer for this one. The father, Joseph Nunn, had just died. He left his wife, Catherine, who had mental health issues and eight children, ranging in age from 13 years to one month. When the census enumerator arrived at their door, I am sure Catherine did not understand what was asked. When asked her last name she responded, "Nunn." They probably thought she said, "none."  When pressed, she gave her husband's name, Joseph. That is how the family is recorded. To find them I had to search on the neighbor's name of Lewis, which I only found when Elizabeth sued them in 1905. 

A New Year; A Fresh Start

This was a year of transition for us, moving from Newtown, CT to Fredericksburg, VA, and getting settled into our new environment.  Luckily our genealogy files arrived intact, and are housed on shelves in our lower level Hobby Room.  Between unpacking and finding my way around town, I was able to finish the Hardenbrook monograph, and immediately began a monograph of the Tucker family. I made great progress transcribing my great-grandmother’s (Jessie Tucker Agard) diaries, not verbatim, but just jotting down the important vital record information, and other details of importance.  From those diaries I learned about her sister, Addie Tucker’s illness and death that provided an important emotional element to the monograph. 

As the year ended I was successful in getting volunteers from the Field Library in Peekskill to assist in filling genealogy requests from the archives of St. Joseph’s Home.  I am so thankful to Rev. John Higgins for his willingness to keep these archives open.

And speaking of St. Joseph’s Home, I have not given up on my Nunn family line. I just know that someone from the Eberhard family will answer my call.

And there is much to be done in 2013.  I have old photos, lots of them, different sizes, shapes, and conditions.  Sometimes a particular photo will come to mind when I am writing a blog. But where is it? I paw through many archive envelopes, each time telling myself I have to take the time to get all these photos better organized.  Many years after my father died I found his box of slides. Lying on top were yellow lined pages with the number of the slide slot and a description of the slide.  Thanks, Dad, for a great way to organize those photos.

I still have a box of material on the Shepard family that I should delve into again and continue that research.  That box hasn’t been open in almost two years.

And, I need to continue verifying citations of previous work and putting them into the correct format.

I think that's enough for a start in this new year.  I wish everyone much success in their genealogy journeys. 

Thoughts of Thanksgivings Past

My family's Thanksgiving table, 1953

The house is quiet now.  Our children have returned to their respective homes after a busy and enjoyable Thanksgiving week in Fredericksburg.  

I now sit back with a cup of tea and think about Thanksgivings past. I think about why this holiday is so important that family travel so far in order to be with their loved ones.

Thanksgiving 1953
Taughannock Boulevard Home of Ed and Carol Nunn
From lf: Maude & Merritt Agard, Dick & Beverly Agard, Laura Hardenbrook, Carol & Ed Nunn, Mr. Wheeler
Seated: Mary Nunn, Nancy Agard

My family always gathered the Sunday after. We operated a restaurant so Thanksgiving and Easter were our busiest days. Since Thanksgiving was the last day of the serving season, that Friday and Saturday were dedicated to closing up the large building for the winter.  Consequently it was on Sunday that we finally had time to gather for the traditional Thanksgiving meal in our Taughannock Boulevard home near Ithaca, New York.

Thanksgiving at the Maki's 1993

Raising my own family, we opened our home on Thanksgiving to as many relatives and others who could make it. Cousins, aunts, and uncles came to Newfield, NY from New Mexico, Ohio, and Buffalo.  Our winding driveway brought them over the river and through the woods to our sprawling ranch house that could easily accommodate 30-35 people for Thanksgiving dinner; a new tradition was born.  For many years the Maki clan gathered around our many tables to enjoy delicious food, card games, football, and conversing with each other. 

The Thanksgiving buffet line 1993

Each family brought a dish to share and our long kitchen counter groaned under the number of delicious dishes it held. When the youngsters in the family turned into teenagers, they stayed until all hours playing Axis and Allies, and then returned the next day to continue the game.

Cousins catching up, 1993 

It goes without saying that food is a main ingredient to a successful Thanksgiving. This year we had way too much food, and I realized the reason was that everyone had to prepare the dish that meant the most to them at Thanksgiving.  Since this is important, next year I will suggest we make half the recipe.  

The common thread through these thoughts of Thanksgivings past is sense of community, whether that is immediate family, friends, or gathering at a communal dinner somewhere.  As humans we need a safe haven; we need human interaction. We need “family,” however it is described.  Thanksgiving provides that opportunity.

I pray our growing family will gather here every year and that we can continue to provide them with a safe haven, a Thanksgiving retreat. 

Oral Histories

I have had the honor of working on oral histories for the Newtown, CT, Ulysses (Trumansburg), NY and Newfield, NY historical societies.  The stories are always fascinating and capture that person’s memory of time and place.  My husband and I have captured our mother’s voices and their oral histories. This excerpt from my mother’s, Carol Agard Nunn (b: 1924) oral history opens a window for me into what it was like to grow up on a farm in rural Willow Creek near Jacksonville, NY:

“Baths – showers were unheard of – baths were water heated in a big pan, usually an enameled pan – we called it a tub – on the stove, and on Saturday nights - it was one bath a week, we would put that in front of the stove and take our baths. During the week you would have what we called the sponge bath where you took a damp washcloth and went over your body. That was about it. You washed your hair once a week also.”

                                                    Agard Homestead early 1900s

Nunn Family - The Thrill of the Search

Nine years I searched for information on my grandfather, Harry Nunn. His marriage certificate states his father was Joseph Nunn; mother Catherine “Stiebert.”  Searching the 1910 Census, I found Nunn children living with their sister, Elizabeth “Siebert.” Since their mother had been placed in Manhattan Psychiatric Hospital, I realized my grandfather had used his sister’s married name – misspelled – on his marriage certificate. My grandfather was born in 1890; why couldn’t I find this family in the 1900 Census?  It wasn’t until I found an article in the Historic New York Times (April 19, 1905) about how Elizabeth Siebert sued her neighbor for the $300 she had placed in trust with her, and the neighbor, Mrs. Helene Louis, no longer had. The article was written because although the jury found that Mrs. Louis needed to repay the amount, Mrs. Louis’ circumstances were so distraught, the jury wanted to raise the $300 to keep her out of jail.

Using HeritageQuest and the Louis (Lewis) name, we searched for German men, age 50s, in Manhattan.  Within a few clicks, we found this family and next door to them was a family labeled “Joseph [scribble] Catherine” with both documented on the same line. Below them was a list of their children.  The reason I couldn’t find this family was I hadn’t looked under “Joseph” as the last name.  In this census Catherine states she has had eleven children; eight living. And there was my grandfather, then called Henry. 


Desperately seeking information on this family, especially from relatives of Evelyn "Eva" b: 1908 and Regina Siebert b: 1907, as their mother holds the key to this family. Happy to share.