Irish Ancestors

Since tomorrow is St Patrick's Day, I thought it was a good time to take a look at my Irish ancestors.  Ancestry.com says 20% of my DNA comes from Ireland/Scotland.  MyHeritage says 8%.  Family Tree DNA doesn't break out Ireland from the rest of the British Isles, but it says 18% of my DNA is from the British Isles.  

Based on what I know of my family tree, my Irish ancestors are primarily on my mom's side.  My 2nd great grandfather, William Armstrong was born in Cork, Ireland and his wife Emily Cavanagh (or Kavanagh) was born in Dublin, Ireland.  Another 2nd great grandfather, Thomas Emmett Ryan, was born in Tipperary, Ireland.

The Armstrong surname reportedly originated in the Scottish borderlands, but there is also an Irish origin of Armstrong that was an Anglicization of two Gaelic names from Ulster: Mac Thréinfhir (meaning "son of the strong man") and ó Labhraidh Tréan (meaning "strong O'Lavery").  I haven't been able to trace William's ancestry any further back than his parents (Thomas Armstrong and Ellen Olive/Oliffe), so I can't be sure whether my Armstrongs are originally Irish or Scottish.

The Cavanagh surname is definitely Irish, according to Wikipedia: "Cavanagh or Cavanaugh is a surname of Irish origin, a variation of the Irish Gaelic family surname Caomhánach."  Wikipedia also lists all of the ways it's been spelled:  "Kavanagh, Kavanaugh, Kavanah, Kavenah, Kabana, Kavaner, Kavenaugh, Kavanacht, Kaveny, Cavanaugh, Cavanah, Cavenah, Cavana, Cavana, Cavner, Cavenaugh, Cavender, Cavenogh, Cavnar, Cavignac, Cavanaogh, Cavanogh, Cabanah, Chaomhana, Cowand and more."



I've been able to trace Emily Cavanagh back to her parents - John Cavanagh/Kavanagh/Cavanna and Anne Killegrew, who were married at St Catherine's Church in Dublin, Ireland on 12 Jun 1820.  After Emily's birth and before their sons were born, the family moved to Lancashire, England.  In Lancashire, they had children Michael and John for whom I have found records.  In the 1841 census of England, Anne was listed as a dressmaker, Emily as a cotton weaver, and 12 year old Michael as a rope maker.  I have even been able to connect with a distant cousin descended from Michael who found me because we have a DNA match on Ancestry.  He shared a needlepoint that descended through the family that his mother copied to preserve:

Emily married William Armstrong in 1843 and they emigrated to the United States in 1845. They settled first in Pennsylvania, and later in Minnesota. Their origins are on their gravestones:

Emily's mother, Anne Killegrew/Kilacrue/Kilecrera/Killigrue was born in Dublin around 1796.  She was baptized in St Luke's Church in Dublin.  Her parents were Edward Killegrew and Mary Williams, who were both from Dublin.  In addition to Anne, Edward and Mary had sons Edward and William and a daughter Bridget.  Church records from the time showed that the family lived on Coombe and Cork Streets in Dublin, which were areas where weavers lived and worked.

The Ryans are most definitely Irish.  A surname database says: "This fine Irish surname, chiefly recorded in the Munster counties of Tipperary and Limerick, is an Anglicized form of the Old Gaelic "O'Maoilriain"... "

My 2nd great grandfather, Thomas Emmett Ryan, was reportedly born in Tipperary, Ireland in 1828.  Family legend has his parents as Edward Ryan and Ellen Cahill, but as of  now I don't have any records that support that.  He emigrated from Ireland to Canada in 1843, at age 15.  It is unknown if any of his family came with him.  He married Mary Catherine Craig in Ontario, Canada in 1846.  They moved to Minnesota in 1856 and raised their large family (they had 16 children, 13 of whom survived to adulthood).  He was a Civil War veteran.  I am hoping that more research may give me some insight into his childhood and family in Ireland.

Thomas and Mary Ryan

DNA Dilemmas

Trying to find ancestors using DNA matching

One of my brick walls on my husband's side of the family is starting to crumble, and it's giving me lots of experience using Ancestry's DNA matching.  My husband's 2nd great grandfather, Isaac Ketchum first shows up in records in about 1837, living in Marshall and Maury counties in Tennessee.  Online family trees that have him in them generally give his parents as Joel Anderson Ketchum and Eleanor Tinsley.  And this had a certain appeal, because he is living very near some of their other children in the 1840-1850 time frame before he moved to Missouri and Illinois, and even owned land adjacent to the land of their son, Thomas Tinsley Ketchum.

In fact, my theory was that Isaac was their son, and I was hoping to prove it by matching his DNA with DNA of some of their numerous descendants.  I built out their family tree in the hopes that I could find a DNA match.  I was frustrated that nothing showed up, but two other names kept showing up in the shared matches:  Edward Ketchum and his wife Mary Reasor.  They were already in my tree as in-laws of some other ancestors, so I just added their DNA match children to the tree as I went along looking at my husband's matches.  This week, I finally had the time to look at the Ketchum/Reasor family in more detail.  Now that I have done this, it appears that (other than Isaac's descendants) the descendants of Edward Ketchum and Mary Reasor are the closest Ketchum surname matches to my husband.  No other Ketchum ancestors show up in the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th-6th cousin matches, and only one or two in the highest distant cousin matches.

Edward Ketchum was the father of at least 8 children, born between 1786 and 1809.  Of those 8 known children, my husband matches more than 20 descendants of 6 of the 8 children.  In addition, he matches at least three descendants of Mary Reasor's brother, Daniel.  This makes me confident that he is related to this family, not just on the Ketchum side, but on the Reasor side as well.  However, the Reasor matches to my husband do not share any of his known descendants of Isaac Ketchum matches so there is a possibility that he is related to the Reasors via another line.

I then built a "theoretical" tree with Isaac as one of Edward and Mary's children.  With that assumption I came up with the following information: (#IKSM is the number of known descendants of Isaac Ketchum that this person matches, other than my husband)

Children of Edward/Mary whose descendants share DNA with my husband:

Martha** - five descendants 

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM                                                                                   Relationship

D.R./1        4th cousin                          33 cM/2 segments       4th-6th cousin             High

J.B./0         4th cousin, 2x removed      32 cM/1 segment        4th-6th cousin             High

J.R./0         4th cousin, 2x removed      20.2cM/1 segment      4th-6th cousin             Good

J.M/0         4th cousin, 2x removed      15.6 cM/1 segment      5th-8th cousin            Good

F.M/0        4th cousin, 2x removed       15 cM/1 segment        5th-8th cousin           Moderate

Joseph** - three descendants

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM                                                                                    Relationship

J.P./1          4th cousin 1x removed      50cM/2 segments       4th-6th cousin             Very High
B.K./0        4th cousin 1x removed      20.9cM/1 segment      4th-6th cousin                Good
K.W./2       4th cousin 1x removed      19.8cM/1segment       5th-8th cousin                Good

Peter Reasor - one descendant

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM                                                                                    Relationship

D.U./3             4th cousin                    18.1cM/1 segment     5th-8th cousin                Good

Christopher - two descendants

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM  

P.W./2      4th cousin                           26.5cM/2 segments     4th-6th cousin              Good

D.D./0      4th cousin 2x removed        19.9 cM/1 segment     5th-8th cousin              Good

Elizabeth - three descendants

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM

M.H*/3     4th cousin, 2x removed       47cM/2 segments       4th-6th cousin             Very High
B.M./0      4th cousin, 1x removed       16.9cM/2 segments     5th-8th cousin                Good
C.D./0       4th cousin                            16.1 cM/1 segment     5th-8th cousin                Good
Z.R./0        4th cousin, 3x removed        13.8 cM/2 segments   5th-8th cousin             Moderate

Luther Henderson -seven descendants

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM                                                                                   Relationship

E.T./2       4th cousin                         61cM/ 4 segments           4th-6th cousin        Extremely High

S.U./4      4th cousin, 1x removed     56 cM/4 segments           4th-6th cousin           Very High

A.T./2      4th cousin                          54 cM/4 segments          4th-6th cousin           Very High
J.S./3        4th cousin, 2x removed     38 cM/2 segments          4th-6th cousin               High
J.B/4         4th cousin                         29.4 cM/2 segments        4th-6th cousin              Good
Z.B./7       3rd cousin, 1x removed    14.6 cM/1 segment         5th-8th cousin           Moderate
P.P./1        4th cousin                         14.1 cM/2 segments       5th-8th cousin           Moderate

Shared matches with Daniel Reasor, brother of Mary

Match/    Theoretical Relationship      Shared DNA        Predicted DNA          Confidence

 #IKSM                                                                                      Relationship

S.B.*/0    4th cousin, 1x removed      41 cM/2 segments          4th-6th cousin           High

R.L./0      5th cousin 1x removed      16.6 cM/2 segments        5th-8th cousin           Good

R.W./0     5th cousin                          14.4 cM/1 segment         5th-8th cousin            Moderate

* Also has known shared ancestors on another branch of the tree

**some theorize Martha and Joseph may not be the children of Mary Reasor, but of a 1st wife of Edward Ketchum

My problem at this point is that the family of Edward Ketchum is poorly documented.  Most trees online just reference other trees.  I have not been able to find a lot of documents from the areas where he reportedly lived in the mid to late 1700's.  

I am 90% convinced that Isaac is the son of Edward Ketchum.  Then the questions begin to arise:

1)  If he is the son of Edward, why doesn't he show up in any of the Edward Ketchum family trees?

2)  If he is the son of Edward, why isn't he listed with the "known children" in the probate documents for his brother Jacob - where all of the other children were listed?

3)  If he is the son of Edward, why is he hanging out with Joel Ketchum's family?

4)  Could he have been the son of Edward and someone NOT his wife?

5)  If he is the son of Edward, why was he born in Virginia when Edward's children his same age were born in Tennessee, supposedly?

Onward with the research!

All in the Family ... Providence, Rhode Island's First Citizens

My husband and I visited Providence, Rhode Island this week, and stopped in at the Roger Williams National Historic Site.  On the wall was a map of the first settlers of Providence.  Going down the list, I found a number of my ancestors:

John Greene, Jr.  - most likely my 3rd cousin 12x removed, who served as Deputy Governor of Rhode Island from 1790 until 1800.

John Greene, Sr. - the father of John Greene, Jr., my 2nd cousin 13x removed.

Roger Williams, who is more of an ancestor-in-law.  His granddaughter, Mary Sayles,  married my 11th great uncle, John Holmes.

John Throckmorton was likely the father of Patience Throckmorton (b. 1640 in Providence), who married my 9th great uncle, John Coggeshall.

Alice Daniels who married my 2nd cousin 13x removed, John Greene, Sr. after the death of his wife, Joanna.

John Sweet is likely related to the John Sweet who married my 3rd cousin 12x removed, Mary Greene.

Thomas Olney, whose grandson, Thomas Sayles, married my 1st cousin 10x removed, Esther Scott.


Also, two of my 11th great grandfathers were part of the beginning of Providence:


Chad Brown and Richard Scott.

Eva Ursula Johnson 1896-1971

Chuck's grandmother, Eva Ursula Johnson, was born November 23, 1896 in Grafton, Illinois.  She was the tenth of 13 children born to Edward K. Johnson (1855-1915) and Ermina Rebekah McCauley (1856-1926).

On September 26, 1917, Eva Johnson and Albert Auston were married in Alton, Illinois by Judge Lessner.

Eva and her children

Eva and Albert had five children:
Bernadine Beatrice (1914-2011), married Franklin Fosha;
Benjamin Clarence (1918-1982), married Mildred Vinson;
June Marie (1920-2006), married Walter Ketchum;
Louis Antone (1925-1997), married Alma Forbes;
Sue Ann (1930-1999), married Valgene Harmon.

Alton Evening Telegraph, Oct 25, 1950

Alton Evening Telegraph, Oct 27, 1947

Eva was active in various organizations in Grafton, including the Busy Bee Club, the Bean Bag Club, the Order of the Eastern Star, American Legion Auxiliary, Royal Neighbors of America, and the VFW Auxiliary.  She was frequently mentioned in the Alton newspaper for her activities.  She often hosted  gatherings at her home, including birthday celebrations.  

Alton Evening Telegraph, Oct 10 1956

Auston family picnic

Alton Evening Telegraph, November 5, 1953

After her husband died in 1953, she remodeled her home into apartments and rented them out to workers at Pere Marquette Lodge, where she also worked in the kitchen.

In 1965, she sold her home to her daughter, Sue and her husband, Gene Harmon.  According to the newspaper article, Eva planned to move into a trailer.

Alton Evening Telegraph, Sep 4,1965

Eva died on December 24, 1971 at the age of 75.  She was buried at Scenic Hill Cemetery in Grafton.

Albert Clarence Auston 1886-1953

I'm doing a change up and switching to Chuck's family history in today's blog.  We are camped at Pere Marquette State Park, only a few miles from where his grandparents lived, and we have been chatting with Chuck's brother about the family.  So it seems fitting that today I write about Chuck's grandfather.

Albert Clarence Auston was born on May 4, 1886 in Grafton, Illinois.  He was the eldest of four children of Benjamin Callaway Austin (and Laura Stockton.  His parents died in about 1891, when he was about 6 years old.  He and his siblings were "farmed out" to the sisters of their father and relatives of their mother.  Albert was raised by his aunt Mahala Austin DeWees and her husband, Louis DeWees in Alton, Illinois.

In the 1900 census, Albert was living with the DeWees family at 312 Belle Street in Alton.  At that time, the family included Louis and Mahala, five of their children and Albert.  Although he was actually only 14 years old at the time, he is listed as age 21 and was working as a "glass laborer."





Albert was featured in the Alton newspapers for various reasons during his life:

In 1905, as Albert DeWees, he sued the Queen City Quarry Company for $1500 for injuries he received on the job.

In February 1906, Albert was a participant in a 1 mile ice skating race, finishing 3 seconds behind Ed Miller of Upper Alton.

In 1907, there was a notice in the paper that he had left to make Denver his new home.  It wasn't specified if it was Denver, Colorado or Denver, Illinois.

He was back in Alton in 1908 when he was featured in an article about a reunion with his long-lost sister.  The article stated that his parents had both died 17 years before, leaving 4 children.  Two of the children had died in that time.  His sister, Belle, had been only 3 months old when their parents died.  Their uncle, Otis Stockton, helped them reunite.  He found out the family to whom Belle had been given.  She was apparently "handed about" to several families as the result of deaths of the heads of the families, and had married a Mr. Jackson when she was 16 years old.  Albert is reported to be age 20 at this time (he was actually 22).

At some point before 1910, he served in the Illinois Naval Militia for 7 years (according to his WWI draft registration).

In 1910, Albert was arrested after getting into a fight at the Jerseyville train station.  He reportedly had his hand slashed by a knife, then fled and caught the train back to Alton, where he was arrested.

In October 1916, Albert was working in the Illinois Powder Company factory near Grafton when about 50 tons of dynamite exploded, destroying the plant.  He was listed in the newspaper as having had a nail blown into his side near his heart.

When he registered for the draft in June 1917, Albert listed his occupation as a laborer at the Illinois Powder Manufacturing Company.  He also reported that he had lost one eye.

On September 25, 1917 Albert married Eva Johnson in Alton at the Justice of the Peace.  The article stated that the couple would make Grafton their home.

In January 1918, Albert had another work accident at the Powder Company.  He was burned in the face by ammonia.

In 1923, he was reported to have "moved to Roxana" after working at the Powder Plant in Grafton for nine years.

In April 1924, Albert purchased a shoe repair shop in Grafton.

In 1925, he was elected constable in Grafton.

In 1929, the Austins were involved in an interesting real estate exchange.  They moved into the Legate property in Upper Grafton, which they purchased.  The Legates moved into the house they purchased from the Cresswells, who moved into the house vacated by the Austins.

By 1935, Albert was a dealer of both ice and coal in Grafton at Klinke Ice & Fuel Company.  He was also working as a "truckman."  He had a radio stolen out of his truck while it was in his garage.  It is about this time that the spelling of his last name changed from Austin to Auston.  His daughter, Bernadine, told me that he changed the name because he had a fight with a cousin, A.J. Austin.  As far as I can tell, the only cousins he would have had would have been from his father's sisters, whose last names were Fox, DeWees and LaMarsh.  His father did not have any brothers that survived to adulthood.  A.J. may have been a 2nd cousin or otherwise related, but I have not found any Austin relatives other than his father and grandfather.

In May 1937, Albert was driving his truck near Grafton at 1 am, when a man stepped out into the road to hitch a ride.  Albert struck the pedestrian and killed him.  A coroner's inquest found the death an accident.

Albert and Eva had three daughters and two sons:

Bernadine Auston (1914-2011), married Frank Fosha, had children Jon, Jane, and Ann.
Benjamin Clarence (1918-1982), married Mildred Vinson, had children Clarence and James.
June Marie (1920-2006), married Walter W Ketchum, had children Walter, Charles and Kenneth.
Louis A (1925-1997), married Alma Forbes, had children Jeffrey and Jan.
Sue Ann (1931-1995), married Valgene Harmon, had children Janet, Paula, James and Jeannie.

Albert and Eva Auston (front)
Gene and Susie Harmon, Mildred and Benjamin Clarence Auston (back)

Albert Auston died on May 3, 1953, at 11:55 pm, 5 minutes before his 67th birthday.  His obituary stated that he was a member of the Masonic Lodge at Grafton.  His funeral was at the Grafton Methodist Church.  He was buried at Scenic Hill Cemetery in Grafton.

Susan Estella Brown Huber (1876-1905)

Susan Estella Brown, my great grandmother, was born on November 11, 1876 in Faribault County, Minnesota to William Brown and Ann Bottomley Brown.  She was the fifth of their seven children.  She was raised in Winnebago, Minnesota and attended the State Normal School in Mankato.  After graduating in 1896, she taught school for three years.

On  July 12, 1899, she married Milton Milo Huber.  Susan and Milton had two children while living in Winnebago:  Philip (born 1901) and Charlotte (born 1903).  The family moved to Beltrami County, Minnesota in the fall of 1904, in the hope that  a different climate would improve Susan's health.  She died on March 1, 1905 at the age of 28,  in Liberty, Minnesota of consumption (tuberculosis).

Her remains were returned to Winnebago by train, and she was buried in Basey Cemetery.

Milton Milo Huber 1873-1965

Milton Milo Huber, my great grandfather, was born 9 Dec 1873 in Westford, Martin County, Minnesota.  His parents were Philip Huber and Elizabeth Styer, who had moved from Pennsylvania to Minnesota in the mid 1850's.  Milton was the youngest of their seven children.  The Huber family moved from Martin County to the Winnebago, Faribault County area in the late 1880's.

On July 12, 1899, Milton Huber married Susan Estella Brown.  Milton and Susan had two children:  Philip, born in 1901 and Charlotte, born in 1903.

Charlotte was my grandmother and has a post all to herself.

Philip led a short and fairly interesting life.  He also has a dedicated post.  http://mnkgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/01/philip-huber-1901-1940.html

 Susan died of consumption (tuberculosis) in 1905.

On June 12, 1907, Milton remarried to Jessie Wilcox.  Milton and Jessie had three children.  A baby girl, that was born and died on 30 August 1909; Leonard, born in 1910 and Walter, born in 1916.

Leonard married Anna Pehrson about 1936.  They had no children.  He worked for the fire department in Minneapolis and died in 2003.

Walter married Virginia Hubbard in 1950.  They had three children.  Walter was a farmer and remained in Faribault County until his death in 2007.  Virginia died in 2012.

Milton died on August 11, 1965 in Winnebago, Minnesota at the age of 91 as the result of a stroke.  His wife, Jessie, died in 1970.  He is buried in Basey Cemetery.

According to his obituary, Milton was a farmer in Faribault County, Minnesota all of his adult life.  He farmed in Winnebago Township and in Verona Township.  He also served as a county commissioner for Faribault County.