Notables November 2020

Question

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

If you are interested in people who are famous, notable, noted, significant, important, historic, heroic, or otherwise fascinating, then the Notables Project might be for you! 

The idea behind this post is for anyone who needs help with connecting Notables to the tree to post to this thread and ask for help, or if you want to tell us whom you have successfully connected up, or if you want to join the Notables Project and get a badge.

Besides checking out the Notables Project page, don't forget to take a look at the Notables List page, where you can find lists of Notables who have profiles which aren't yet connected to the main tree. (For ideas on way to connect unconnected people and branches, see the Hints and Tips on the Connectors Chat page.)

Please remember to concentrate on those Notables who have already passed (died), so that we can see their profiles. If you create a profile for a living Notable, that profile WILL GO UNLISTED and no one can see it except for the PM and anyone on the trusted list!

And remember - Notables should have a Wikipedia page at the very least to qualify. But an entry in the country's NATIONAL Whose Who or a NATIONAL Biography  is acceptable as well. And they should be DEAD!

Deaths in October 2020

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaths_in_2020#October

Comments

They would normally get a Notables Sticker, not Notables project box, correct?

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Yes, indeed that would correct

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Is there a way I can search for notables based on country, ie, New Zealand Notable?  I've tried that on Wiki Tree + but no luck.

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this webpage show those with that category ...

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:New_Zealand%2C_Notables

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Categories are usually the county or 'state', followed by a comma and space, then the other information.

Go into edit on a profile, use the Category builder in the icons above the biography to enter key words.  It will return the formatting for a category.

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Thank you very much!

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Ruh Roh, Raggy -- I cannot see where anyone mentioned Ken Spears.  Apologies if they did.

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I cannot see where anyone mentioned Hal Ketchum, who died 3 days ago.

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To find notables for a given location, take this link, and edit the URL in the address box: https://wikitree.sdms.si/function/WTWebProfileSearch/Profiles.htm?Query=notables+new+zealand (so to change the country, replace "+new+zealand" with "+australia" or "+argentina" or "+montenegro" or whatever).

Answer 1

Nikki McKibbin has died - aged 42

She died from an Anuerysm.

She was a contestant on Season 1 of American Idol - way back in the days..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikki_McKibbin

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nikki-mckibbin-american-idol-season-152847967.html

Answer 2

Opened the profile for Lady Elizabeth Shakerley given her death

Answer 3

British comedian actor Geoffrey Palmer has died. He was 93. Already mentioned here in G2G

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1134116/geoffrey-palmer-obe-actor-dies-at-93

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Palmer_(actor)

Answer 4

Jeopardy Host Alex Trebek has sadly DIED!!

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/alex-trebek-dead-after-pancreatic-cancer-battle-173556813.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Trebek

Also announced in the G2G

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1135112/jeopardy-host-alex-trebek-has-died

Comments

I don't know that he was a big surprise, as it had been announced that he had been seeking treatments for some time. Sad, though. I wonder if the show will continue and if it does, who will be the new host?

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I'm hearing Levar Burton might be selected for his replacement. I like Levar and I'd give him a shot if it were up to me, but I don't really know who else might be up for consideration.

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Turns out Levar was more of a fan-favorite write-in approach and not one of the leading candidates. Guess we'll have to wait...

Answer 5

Former Hockey Player Howie Meeker of the Maple Leafs also died on 8 Nov 2020 in BC

Reported here - new profile opened

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1135259/notable-has-died-can-someone-continue-working-on-the-profile

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howie_Meeker

Answer 6

English rock musician Ken Hensley of Uriah Heep died on November 4th.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/nov/08/ken-hensley-obituary

Comments

Wow - another rocker from my era gone. I still remember hunting everywhere for an LP that had Stealin' on it. Found it eventually and now it gathers dust in my garage.

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I love Uriah Heep. Listened to them with my dad. I was saddened to hear about this.

Answer 7

I connected some random notables this month:

Sharpshooter Billy Dixon https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dixon-4250

Actor Brian Dennehy  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Dennehy-110

Gin Distiller Charles Tanqueray  https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Tanqueray-19

And that's how I Tanqueray!

Wait, there's more:  Intellectual Clifton Fadiman, his wife Annalee Whitmore, his cousin, child prodigy William James Sidis and his father, psychologist Boris Sidis:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fadiman-1

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sidis-3

Comments

Woo - Brian Dennehy passed a bit ago, so nice to have him connected! Thanks, Mark!

Answer 8

I have been working on a CHESSER family from Scotland and England and would like some help to connect them up to the big tree.

There are 3 notables in this family - all with wikipedia pages. Most of the census records will be from Glasgow and Edinburgh which are not available on Family Search.

John Chesser is the first - His son John William Chesser is 2nd and his Daughter in law - Elizabeth Sloan Chesser is 3rd

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chesser-460

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chesser-461

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Sloan-3991

Comments

With a quick check of FindMyPast, I have found several census records in Edinburgh for John Chesser, architect, and his family.  What would you like me to do with them?

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Transcribe them and add them to his profile, please?

Then we can add the other children....

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Done.

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Thank you so much, Janet!!!

Answer 9

Peter Sutcliffe (the Yorkshire Ripper) died today (November 13). I found a possible profile already on here.

Comments

Could you post that possible profile link - so that it can be checked out and opened if necessary?  Thanks.

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Sutcliffe-848 

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Thanks Aaron.

I'll ask Scott to check it out and contact the PM if necessary. .

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I'll reach out to the PM - Notables does not have access currently.

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I have confirmed that the profile above is not the man from the Wikipedia article. I would recommend creating a new profile for him.

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I found a profile that was created for him at Sutcliffe-947 and adopted it.

Answer 10

I am currently working on 2 of my favourite Rare Book Collectors and Sellers from NYC. Both ladies were Notables and each has their own Wikipedia Page.

Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern

Both were of German Jewish ancestry.

I am very surprised that neither of these 2 women already have profiles!!

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rostenberg-4

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stern-1627

Comments

I agree with you Robynne! I've gone looking for authors in the past and it's a bit hit and miss, so it's nice when you come across a few that are already out there!

I started a little mini-effort on Science Fiction authors awhile back and was able to get a few more added to the Tree, so maybe I'll make a mental note for 2021 to get back to that and see if I can make a little progress.

Answer 11

I recently created Beriah Brown, noted newspaper publisher, 10th Mayor of Seattle, and a regent at two universities. I have scoured the hundreds of newspaper clippings with his name for clues to his parents. I have a research section at the bottom with the clues I have located. I would love help connecting him to the Tree!

Answer 12

I've been working a bit off and on on this whole family, including Thomas J. Bowers.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bowers-7362

I stumbled across his Wikipedia entry when I was watching an episode of Bonanza, where they portrayed him as coming to Virginia City, Nevada to perform and being treated unfairly because of his color. It was an interesting episode, and when I realized he was a real person (not made up for television), I started looking into what it would take to get a profile started. The family has been set up now with a few finishing touches remaining, and I need to start hunting for a way to get them connected.

Comments

I too find interesting profiles from tv shows.

Here is a lead for you ... I added a source link to his sister, Henrietta (Bowers) Duterte, who was the first female undertaker in USA. She had no children, but her nephew, Joseph T. Seth (d: 1927), took over her funeral business. 

There is probably a family tree out there, because she was written about by Felicia Blue (d: 2009), an expert in African American genealogy in Philadelphia.

- https://www.genealogyblog.com/?p=1091

- https://www.inquirer.com/philly/obituaries/20090130_Felicia_Blue__94__genealogist.html

A starting place might be Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University.

Good luck :)

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Hmm... so the Temple link is broken, but I dug into it a bit and wasn't able to come up with much. I saw the name Joseph T. Seth in several places on the Bowers' Census entries and noted he was a Nephew.

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MZ58-P99 : 19 March 2020), Joseph F Seth in entry for John C Bowers, 1870.

Going backwards, I think this is also him in 1850:

"United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4C6-WRG : 4 April 2020), Joseph Seth in household of William Seth, Moyamensing, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States; citing family 119, NARA microfilm publication M432 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

This would make his parents William Seth and Ellen (unknown maiden name). Ellen could be a Bowers, but Ellen was born circa 1827 and there's no Ellen Bowers born 1827 that has been identified to date. So that might mean that she's Ellen Duterte, but Harriet's husband Francis was born 1820 in Haiti. Now it's conceivable that the Duterte family moved to Philadelphia after 1820 but before 1827, where his sister Ellen was born, but finding records is a bit challenging.

I'll keep hunting as I won't be able to pin down the relationship there until I can determine a bit more about Ellen or prove that there's another Joseph Seth.

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Well - maybe one other possibility...

I looked into William Seth (his proposed father). Looks like the family may have moved to California, where his mother likely died.

"California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1835-1979," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JNT2-CP5 : 5 August 2017), Ellen J Seth, 09 Nov 1858; citing funeral home N. Gray & Co., San Francisco, San Francisco, California, record book p. 1-335, 1854-1861, San Francisco Public Library, San Francisco History and Archive Center.

His father appears to have remarried and had several other children:

"United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MN65-HM5 : 19 March 2020), William Seth, 1870.

"United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6PH-XQL : 12 November 2020), William H. Seth, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States; citing enumeration district ED 59, sheet 752A, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), FHL microfilm 1,254,074.

If this is his family, it would be interesting to find out why they left little Joseph behind when they traveled to San Francisco, and put him in the hands of his Aunts/Uncles of the Bowers family. So far all I've got is speculation but it would be nice to find something concrete to lean against.

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here is a working Blockson link at Temple ...

https://library.temple.edu/blockson

There is a digitzed section where you can search for things.

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I added her wikipedia page to the profile and her fag link which has numerous relatives listed ...

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/120714801/henrietta-smith-duterte

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https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34919885/felicia-seth-blue

Joseph Turpin Seth is the grandfather of Felicia Seth Blue who shared her genealogy in the 1991 book by Roger Lane titled "William Dorsey's Philadelphia and Ours: On the Past and Future of the Black City in America".

update: It looks like her line goes ...

:.1 Joseph Turpin Seth
:..2 (daughter) Seth m: (Mr) Blue
:...3 (Miss) [[Blue-1494|Felicia Seth Blue]]

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I see on Family Search that they have Joseph Turpin Seth marrying Felicia A. Duterte, who they claim is the daughter of Francis A. Duterte and Henrietta Smith Bowers. As you mention above, she had no children who lived past infancy, so I think someone made a broad assumption somewhere, likely both about her parents as well as about her LNAB.

But the lineage from Joseph Seth to Alice B. Seth who married Charles Reynolds Blue - who had a daughter Felicia Seth Blue appears to be documented there. I suppose I might create an independent profile for Joseph Seth and we can connect him to the group once we prove out his lineage.

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It looks like we might not have all of John Bowers children on wikitree. John Bowers was in the Quaker Meeting Records and the Bowers family was involved with the Underground Railroad.

It was his daughter Eleanor "Ellen" Bowers (1827-1858) who married on 11 Nov 1847 at St.Stephen's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, PA to William H. Seth.

sourced ancestry.com family tree ...

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/103422265/person/210061498360/facts

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That could easily be the missing piece - nice find!

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So it appears that the daughter of Jeremiah Wilson Bowers (Thomas J. Bowers and Henrietta Bowers Duterte's brother), Catherine Townsend Bowers Braxton - well, her husband was already on WikiTree and already connected. In fact, Catherine's profile ends up being a duplicate, so a merge has been proposed. But by connecting her to her husband, a link should be created. The links will update tonight.

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Even better - the PM is a descendant of Catherine! How cool is that?

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So I ended up with a cluster of 3-4 Notables, was able to fill in a good number of profiles around the Bowers family, and linked up 3 islands that were out there as well as made a connection to an existing connected profile. All in all a fairly good outing. :)

Answer 13

One I missed somehow -- singer/songwriter Benny Mardones died back in June. He is best known for his hit, "Into The Night".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Mardones

Btw, the comment section for the very creepy music video for "Into the Night" on Youtube is one of the most hysterically funny things ever.

Comments

Wow - I do remember that song. The video was very early-1980's for certain. I had to go out and find what this potentially creepy song was about, and it appears it had more to do with a next door neighbor who was part of a dysfunctional family than some sort of 30-ish guy stalking a 16-year old. Either way, when you mentioned the name, I had no clue it was him and his band that did that song. Brings back memories, as I'm sure I danced at one or more school dances to that song.

Answer 14

The patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Irinej, died today of Covid19. I met him once, we were on the same flight to Belgrade. 

Comments

So sad - all these deaths due to COVID-19. I'm guessing Yugoslavian genealogy might be a bit challenging, but I could be wrong. From his Wikipedia article, it doesn't appear that he was married or had children, and they don't mention parents (although I just gave it a quick read - I could have missed something), so his tree might be difficult to assemble.

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The Serbian and German Wikipedia-entries also only mention Irinej's worldly name (Miroslav Gavrilović). That name itself is so usual that you may only be able to find the parents in connection with the village he was born in.

In general, Serbian genealogy is a horror. There is nothing online (because of law restrictions), so you can only do on site research. As a foreigner I am not allowed to do research in Serbian archives, no matter if I would look for - let's say - the military records of my uncles. I can only hope that some day the laws will be changed and the possibility given to put documents online.

Answer 15

Just saw a report that Patrick Quinn, co-creator of the Ice Bucket challenge died.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pat-quinn-als-ice-bucket-challenge-co-founder-dies-at-37/ar-BB1bgmIY

Answer 16

Former NYC mayor David Dinkins has died.

https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1143656/former-nyc-mayor-david-dinkins-passed-away-last-night

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dinkins

The wikipedia page says his wife died a month ago...

Answer 17

All Notables profiles are not open for editing or adding information. Like https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Garcia-1491. 

   Needs more bio and a picture, 

Comments

Certain profiles (like this one) had a habit in the past of receiving edits that - we'll say, were less than professional, and as a result, it had to be restricted. I'm certainly willing to consider adding a mature individual to the trusted list with an interest in building his profile, but I don't know that we can open it up to the world.

Answer 18

Former Soccer Player from Argentina Diego Maradona has died.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/world-cup-legend-diego-maradona-is-dead-at-60-165302831.html?.tsrc=bell-brknews

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Maradona

I think I remember watching him during the Soccer World Cup sometime in the 1980s. The article says 1986.

There are currently 3 UNLISTED Maradona Profiles.

Comments

I know a few soccer fans who will be quite upset at this news.

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https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Maradona-1

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He was a great player to watch, I could watch him in European Club events and World Cups. Unfortunately he had huge problems with his life off the pitch.

Answer 19

French international rugby player Christophe Dominici has died. He does not appear to have a WT profile.

https://www.rugby.com.au/news/2020/11/24/rugby-world-mourning-death-of-france-great-christophe-dominici

Comments

Gosh!! He was younger than me!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christophe_Dominici

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He was too young to have a profile created... Or put it another way: if he were to have a profile right now, it would probably remain a "floater" without attached family for years. His parents are likely still alive, their names have not been released as far as I can find, and even his grandparents may be too recent for open records.

Answer 20

Hey I was having a look online at well my totally random searches haha and I came across some people that might need profiles...

Colin Newell (1972/73 - 2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Newell

Ahmed Patel (1949-2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Patel

Markus Paul (1966-2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markus_Paul

James Wolfensohn (1933-2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Wolfensohn

Montserrat Carulla (1930-2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montserrat_Carulla

Alan Ramsay (1938-2020)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ramsey

William (Billy) Best Evans (1932-2020) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Evans_(basketball,_born_1932)

Note sure if I am supposed to create profiles for them or if someone from the Project does it.

Comments

You are welcome to join the project and start making those profiles yourself, if you wish.  But please ensure that they don't already have profiles. For some of the unlisted profiles, it is hard to determine which belongs to whom.

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Well that was the bit I was unsure of I did do a preliminary search and from what I can see there is no "obvious" profile already created for any of them however the ones that are unlisted i.e. for Living Profiles I cant see any of the information to know if they are the correct profiles or not.

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No but you can send a PM or an email to the Profile Manager and ask...