WikiTree Challenge 9: Katherine Willson [closed]

Question

Hi WikiTreers! 

The ninth week of the WikiTree Challenge has begun. It features Katherine Willson; a speaker and author. Our challenge is to make her ancestry on WikiTree more accurate and complete than it is anywhere else. 

It's too late to formally register for a March challenge team, but we need every WikiTreer's help to make this a success, so please join in. You can also register now for an April team.

This week will officially end at 8pm (EST) on Wednesday, March 10th.

How to Participate

If you are registered, your name appears on this Google Docs spreadsheet. Please add the profile you are working on next to your name. When done, or taking a break, remove it and add Research Notes to the profile if you have any notes for the next person.

You can add also notes or comments below the answer for the appropriate great-grandparent below.

For live chat we are using Discord. Contact your captain if you need access.

Points and Scoring

Here are the current scores.

If you have bounty points to claim, post a comment below the answer for the appropriate great-grandparent below.

Comments

Here's the link to the March 3rd live cast on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/0aH5M5T8FKg?t=1785

Katherine's interview starts at the 29 minute and 45 second mark.

---

The WikiTree Challenge Week 9 Highlights

Answer 1

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandfather Wilhelm Friedrick Lange, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Wilhelm is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image)

Comments

Added the following children for Friedrich Jahnke and Gottliebe Wölke (siblings of Johanna):

August Wilhelm, Herrmann, Wilhelmine Emilie, Luise

---

Hi Dieter,

Is Johanna Jahnke's father a Gottlieb Friedrich? Or, was Gottlieb wrong? He was originally Gottlieb on the tree.

---

Gottlieb was wrong. All I could find was Friedrich in all birth and marriage records. I just found his birth record 1825 with father Friedrich Jahnke and Mother Anna Maria Rienas. I will find marriage of parents as well soon.

---

Profiles for Friedrich Jahnke (the father of Friedrich Jahnke) and Anna Maria Rienas (mother of Friedrich Jahnke) added.

---

Thanks Dieter, that is straightened out now. The bounty points are for the correction of Gottlieb to Friedrich. Single points for his parents. Keep rocking this!!!

---

Have spoken on phone with Krysten Lange 1C1R to Katherine Wilson.  She has updated me, so will be reviewing information provided and updating  as well as making corrections due to name changes within Wayne County, etc.  Also same time clean up on any incorrect information from ancestry Several documents have been found incorrect by Krysten and myself.

---

Thanks Alice! Just make sure you put a note in the Research Notes section on what you changed, and why 

---

Was able to improve profile of Wilhelm Friederick Lang:  Documented his marriage to Emma, added census records documenting his children; documentation on his death. Several photos including headstone added.  Wrote biblio in profile of his life and times.

He and his family are also considered Pioneers to the Taylor Michigan area.  Due to the Lange family several cemeteries where named after them as well as a city park. For the most part those cemeteries and park have unfortunately been renamed.  The Lange family is still trying to get a plaque up in honor to the pioneer family.

---

Mindy I will do so as I find them for sure. Thank you for the reminder.

---

Continuing to work on grandchildren to Friedrick and Emma

Answer 2

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandmother Emma (Brosch) Lange, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Emma is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image)

Comments

Will work on this line, If i have time and interest. If you want to take over have fun.

---

Added a ton of Emma's brothers and sisters who were born in Michigan. =D

---

I worked on Gottliebe Johanne (Wölke) Janke and her father Willhelm. I hope someone can find the records for his wife!

---

 I am continuing to work Lange family on.  His family was considered a pioneer family to the Taylor Township of Wayne County, Michigan. I have reached out to the Michigan Project Manager to work with them to add to their paged information. I will be reviewing Wilhelm Frederick Lange and Emma Brosh Lange and their information carry over to the five children today

---

Was able to break the brick wall on Emma with the assistance and information gained while working on her husband and family Wilhelm Friederick Lange.  She was considered the wife of a pioneer to the Taylor, Wayne, Michigan area. Photos, census records, marriage certificate, obituary, headstone.

---

Thank you for working so hard on that family, Alice! Was there a new ancestor found?

---

It is a pleasure. I am hoping to work on Emma and Friedrick more, by working on their grandchildren (unfortunately a couple are deceased).

---

Added mother of Gottliebe Janke, nee Woelke (her name is Gottliebe Woelke, nee Janke!!)

---

Found birth record of Gottliebe Jahnke, marriage record of her parents, 4 siblings of her and in the marriage record is mentioned the father of her father Wilhelm Woelke and the father of her mother Ludwig Janke.

---

Added all profiles for the mentioned persons Woelke/Jahnke above. Brickwall broken!

---

Thanks Dieter! I've updated your scores 

---

Not sure if I broke a brick wall - added Carolina Ehrich Lange's father.

Answer 3

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandfather Gustave Rudolph Wehrmeister, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Gustave is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image)

Comments

I corrected first name concerning the birth record (birth record added as ancestry link) to Gustav Rudolf and added parents Gustav Wehrmeister and Justine Tuchel.

Now I added sibblings off Gustav Rudolf (Carl Rudolp and Marie Emilie).

---

Since on the comparison tree on ancestry Gustav Wehrmeister is indicated as Karl Gustav Wehrmeister and also FamilySearch as Gustav Wilhelm Wehrmeister, here still a careful examination is necessary, in particular since he should have been born according to comparison tree in Groß Nebrau (date of birth does not agree with that on the death certificate) and there also at the same time another Gustav Wehrmeister lives, who is married likewise with a Justine (however nee Buhse).

---

Added Gottfried (Friedrich) Tuchel and Christine nee Schmiedke as parents of Justine Tuchel to the tree.

---

Added profiles for Carl, Dorothea, Juliane and Gottliebe Tuchel as sibblings of Justine Tuchel.

---

Added profil for father of Gottfried/Friedrich Tuchel, Tuchol = Christian Tuchol

---

Added profil fo father of Christine Schmiedke = Andreas Schmiedke

---

Nice work breaking those brick walls, Dieter!! Let me know if you find the mother's names.

---

Both families are problems, they were moving around a lot and the names are often in that area. And at least not all records are online avaible or destroyed due to WW II.

But I will try to find them.

---

After a long research I could confirm birth of Gustav Wehrmeister. I added his parents Michael Wehrmeister and Elisabeth , nee Wehrmeister and mother's second marriage and 4 siblings of Gustav.

Then I found Michael Wehrmeister's parents, Peter Wehrmeister and Christine Stutzken; I added their profiles.

---

Added Christoph Wehrmeister as father of Peter Wehrmeister, because he was mentioned in Peter's mariage record

---

I didn't find any evidence that Peter is called Johann Peter like in Katherine's ancestry chart. All what I found is the single name Peter

---

Found birth record of Peter Wehrmeister. Parents are Christoph Wehrmeister and Eva nee Rehberg.

This brickwall is also broken. Only the second Wehrmeister Brickwall left.

---

Second Wehrmeister brickwall down:

Added parents of Elisabeth Wehrmeister, nee Wehrmeister:

Gottfried Wehrmeister and Dorothea nee Behrend and their both fathers Michael Wehrmeister and Benjamin Behrend.

Answer 4

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandmother Evalena Ludvine (York) Wehrmeister, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Evalena is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image)

Comments

I will work on OD Maudlin, starting with his parents and see where that takes me.

---

Julie Ricketts did a lot of work on these lines - thank you!

---

Found marriage of Gottfried Görke and Helene Wendt in 1839 Marienwerder.

---

Added Johann Wendt as father of Helene Wendt. He was mentioned in her marriage record

---

Added children for Gottfried Görke and Helene Wendt:

Louise, Unnamed Infant, Carl Gottfried, Wilhelmine

---

Thanks Dieter - nice work!!

---

Found birth record of Helene Wendt.

Added her twin brother Johann and her mother Caroline Ebbing

---

found marriage record of Johann Wendt and Caroline Ebing.

Johanns father Jacob was mentioned in that record: I added him.

Caroline was widow of a citizen named Flamm.

---

Added children from Johann Wendt and Caroline Ebing:

Carl Ludwig, Wilhelmine, Wilhelmine, Michael

---

Thank you Dieter! I've added your points for that.

Answer 5

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandfather O. D. Maudlin, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for O. D. is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image)(Image 2)

Comments

I will be working on O.D. Maudlin and his wife Amina Myrtile Ehl Maudlin.

---

Great, Cheryl! Some Maudlin siblings married into the Sample siblings. Hard to keep them straight!

---

I am working on OD Maudlin and his maternal line. OD had a brother that died on his day of birth that was not recorded in Katherine's ancestry tree.

[[Maudlin-291|Perry  Maudlin (1886-1886)]]

---

I’m going to work on Charles Henry Maudlin and his wife and try and trace their ancestors back to England

---

I am moving on from the Maudlin family if someone wants to break a brickwall here.

---

Added profile for Charles Maudlin

---

Added profile for John Maudlin

---

Added profile for Thomas Maudlin,

---

Thanks for those, Cheryl!!

---

Brick Walls: Added parents for Thomas  Maudlin https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Maudlin-308 and https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hill-43122

Thomas’ brother Samuel also married a (different but related) Sarah Woods, enabling me and Joan to break another brick wall. Edward Woods is Sarah’s brother and their parents are:

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Woods-15882 and https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Davy-1569

---

Way to go Maddy!!

---

LNAB for this profile and her father appears to be Mason, rather than Manson. Baptism source has been added. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Manson-807

---

Brick Walls 

Added https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bridges-4794 and https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Waller-4784 

Parents of Sarah (Bridges) Waldock. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bridges-2669

---

Thank you Elizabeth and Joan!! You guys never cease to amaze me. 

---

Thank you, Cheryl, for all of your hard work on these lines. It is appreciated!!!

Answer 6

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandmother Amina Myrtle (Ehl) Maudlin, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Amina is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image 1), (Image 2), (Image 3)

Comments

Some advice please. I've raised merges for William Vian and his father John Vian. Should I now connect this John Vian as the son of the existing William Vian, which would automatically happen once the merge goes through. I have a feeling that these merges won't get completed during the week that this challenge is running, and I'd like to work on building other family members.

---

I went ahead and linked John Vian as the son of William. Have written a bio for John and his wife Catherine, and added her second husband Jacob Swailes. They are also now linked to their son Abraham Swails, who also now has a full bio. Abraham and his branch of 9 profiles was previously unconnected to our global tree, so will show as connected tomorrow. 

I've created Hannah Pudner as the wife of William Vian, and added her parents Thomas Pudner and Alice Sweet.

Thomas and Alice do not appear on Katherine's tree on Ancestry, so am claiming bounty points for them both.

(These are all shown in Ancestry image number 1)

---

Nice work Carol!!

---

Amina died on 21 December 1934, immediately after a stillbirth on her 45th birthday and on the day after her 15th wedding anniversary. In addition to his wife Amina and child, her husband O. D. Maudlin lost his mother Sarah in March 1934 and first cousins Harry Maudlin in February 1934 and Lawrence Maudlin in September 1934.

Answer 7

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandfather Lester Clarence Havens, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Lester is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image 1), (Image 2), (Image 3), (Image 4), (Image 5)

Comments

Will work on this line - Related through John Havens 1630 - 1687 the son of william Havens John Is my 8th great uncle and william 9th great grandfather.

---

I'll work on this line with Jennifer. Jen, do you want to do Maternal or paternal?

---

I will do paternal as that is the line of how we are related.

---

Alrighty. I'll do the maternal. That's Helen Wildley's. When you get her husband in, we should put the marriage in. If we can find it.

---

The 1900 Census had them down as married in 1867

---

William Havens was born in Cardiganshire Wales in 1600

---

I connected Derrick Schermerhorn to the existing profiles for his parents (these are long-existing profiles that I manage). This connects him to some earlier ancestors who were in Katherine's Ancestry Tree, and I think it might add a couple of ancestors who were in WikiTree but not in Katherine's tree.

(When I saw Katherine's tree on Ancestry, I noticed this relationship and realized that I could make this connection, so I had been waiting for the Challenge to start before making the edit.)

Here are the people who were in WikiTree but not in Katherine's Ancestry tree:

• Katherine's Ancestry tree had no ancestors for Huyck-15 . WikiTree goes back a couple of generations earlier, but I am not convinced that all of the ancestors are supported by evidence.
• Also, her Ancestry tree stopped at Catryn van Valkenburg, but WikiTree goes back several generations before that.
• WikiTree had parents for Cornelis van Vechten (the parents are not in her Ancestry tree), a father and a somewhat hypothetical grandfather for Jacob Jacobsen Schermerhorn (father and grandfather are not in her Ancestry tree), and parents for Cornelis Segersen von Egmont (those parents are also not in her Ancestry tree).

---

And Ellen is raking up the bounty points. This is the way.

And I created a profile for Eva Van Valkenburg. She has a decent tree on Familysearch. I dunno how well sourced she is on Katherine's tree. But, she is the wife of Derrick Schermerhorn. I think I spelled it right.

No profile for her. Tomorrow I build up that tree and see what I can find here. 

Jennifer, feel free to make Helen's husband's profile.

---

Katherine's Ancestry.com Tree has Carrie May (Havens) Foster death date as Tuesday, Dec 4, 1951. (link)

Obituary says she died on Friday, Dec 7, 1951. (clipping)

---

Katherines's Ancestry.com Tree has Maurice Franklin Foster death date as Monday, April 7, 1980. (link) Also, it was wrong on Find a Grave. I have since corrected it on Find a Grave.

Obituary says he died on Sunday, April 6, 1980. (clipping) Also, the Florida, U.S., Death Index, 1877-1998 has his death date as Sunday, April 6, 1980.

---

Thanks for working on this, Jennifer, Chris, Ellen & Tommy!!

---

His neice Mable Lawrence served as a missionary at Isabella Thoburn Girls School and Lal Bagh School for Girls in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, from bet. march 1915-1940.

---

We have connected Katherine to a bunch of New Netherland ancestors who she was not previously connected to in WikiTree and who are not in her Ancestry Tree.

Through her ancestor Catherine Schermerhorn she now has two separate lines of descent (no longer just one) from Andries Hanse Huyck and his wife Catryn Lammertsen.

---

I was working on a different line when I found an ancestor of mine living near an ancestor of Katherine's in Michigan. Got me thinking about our relationship. We are cousins, through the Haver line, although it does diverge in the 1600s in New Jersey. We share the common ancestor, [[Havens-21|John  Havens (1640-1687)]].

---

Thank you Ellen! Are any of those besides the parents of Van_der_Poel-262 a new brick wall on that line? It looks like most of the profiles were already on WT.

---

@Mindy: There are some profiles that were on WikiTree but were not in Katherine's Ancestry Tree (the comparison tree).

Also, in WikiTree there were some missing links between the people who were in her tree and the earlier generations of the same families.  Chris Ferraiolo created profiles for three missing-link individuals who did not have profiles yet, and I found/identified (and connected) the existing profiles for the parents of Derrick Schermerhorn and also the parents of the missing links that Chris created profiles for.

I am having trouble keeping track of who is and isn't in Katherine's tree and how they match to WikiTree, partly because several of the display names are very different in the two sets of trees. (These New Netherlanders are like the characters in Russian novels -- an individual person might have been known by several different names. A display that shows only one first name and one last name is missing a lot of important information needed to identify the person.)

---

No problem! I also checked and saw that she has a connection to president Martin Van Buren through this line. I put that on her interesting facts page.

---

i have an issue with  John Havens from the 1600s. Wikitree has him with one wife. Ann Stannard, and 7 children, but the biography mentions another wife with the name of Ann Brown. No sources. i want to disconnect the children from the  second wife that is not their mother, but then do i add mother #1 as Ann Brown and estimate her birthdate? Katherine has the mother as Ann Brown.

[[Havens-21|John  Havens (1640-1687)]]

---

@Ellen I only have the fan chart marked out to Catharine Schemerhorn's grandparents. When I looked at some of the connected profiles vs. the Ancestry trees, I only saw that one brick wall (Van_der_Poel-262). Bounty points are only given for the first brick wall on each line. Then, the system gives one point each for ancestors added beyond that. Does that make sense?

---

These are the Ancestry branches beyond Catharine

---

@Nancy, yes - please add the other Ann and estimate dates. We don't want those children motherless if we can help it.

---

Ok, Mindy, I did it I added Ann Brown as John Havens wife, Katherine's 10th great grandmother.

[[Brown-121359|Ann  Brown (1640-1677)]]

---

I am working on Mary Wood Havens starting 3/5/2021

---

Thanks Nancy!

---

It turns out that I have a connections to the Havens through the wife of two great granduncles on my maternal grandfather's line.  I was able to connect her to her father and proposed a merge with a duplicate profile.

It does look like the Havens family info in early Rhode Island is a bit of a mess.  There are not a lot of sources and vitals dates are uncertain.

---

@Mindy, my reading of the New Netherland branch on Katherine Willson tree on Ancestry suggests that she had reached a wall on her ancestral ine not only for van der Poel-262 but also for Ouderkerk-41, Turck-7, and Jans-1559, and those walls were breached thanks to connections made in WikiTree between her lines and earlier profiles. (There are also a couple of other places where WikiTree shows parents for a person that she did not connect to parents, but those are instances where the parent connections are marked uncertain in WikiTree.)

---

Thanks Ellen! I've sent an email on those lines.

---

Katherine's Ancestry tree stops at Phoebe Birdsall [Birdsall-173].  Wikitree already had her parents Stephen and Mary Birdsall, and additional ancestors on Stephen.  No bounty points since this already existed in Wikitree, but possibly new for Katherine.

Mary Birdsall's ancestry is presently speculative.  Some suggest she was Mary Prior, who has some existing ancestry on Wikitree, but that idea has some issues related to her birth year and children of Stephen.

---

@Paul - if you can find parents for one of these you can earn bounty points: 

Answer 8

Comment here if you break a brick wall, find mistakes in the tree of Katherine Willson's great-grandmother Cleo May (Sample) Havens, or have questions or research notes on this line.

Katherine's current tree for Cleo is this one on Ancestry. (Ancestry Image 1), (Image 2)

Comments

@Kay and @M Cole, I appreciate all the diggin' you guys are doing! I sort of stopped on George Voorheis because of the murky sources so thank you!

---

Thanks for finding Mercy Whipple. I will add the rest of her family in Kansas and Michigan. That wasn't her widow's pension (thank you for checking out, M Cole)

---

Maps for 1829 Cayuga County, New York showing the towns of Ira and Cato and 1853 map detailing lot 33 in Cato have been added to profiles for Jonathan Shores and Peter Teaple Voorhees.

Edit: added links

---

Thanks Kay!! Can you link those profiles in your comment?

---

Added Charley Lange as a child to Maria (Lange) Janofski

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lange-2775

Cancel that. lol

---

Brick wall, possibly if it holds parents for Julia Kimball https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kimball-4485

---

Ooh, thank you for linking those maps, Kay! Love it!

---

Thanks for working on those Janofski's Dallace! I followed the Discord conversation on them.

---

I just wish I could have done more. I still have some children to work on I will be doing those that I can the next couple of days.

---

John Sample (1821-1896) profile says he passed in May 1896, which is taken from a transcription of a ledger.  His obituary was published in March 1896, so he did not pass in May.  If someone could find a better source for a date of death?