Week 37 of The WikiTree Challenge for Dana Leeds of the "Leeds Method" for genetic genealogy was an amazing week of creative resourcefulness. Team members battled against a lack of documents and therefore difficult brick walls! As always, team members impressed us with their incredibly varied skill sets and dedication to the task.
Challenge participants added 523 profiles to her branches. There were 134 direct ancestors and 389 nuclear relatives of ancestors! Eighteen of the direct ancestors were brick walls and completely new to Dana! Additional ancestors added beyond the brick walls filled her branches out nicely, with one line stretching out into the early 17th century!
Altogether, more than 36 members made 3,084 edits to her ancestor profiles. Many did research, while others worked on profile narratives, looked up articles, added categories, and contributed in other ways.
Here are some highlights from our discoveries:
- Frenia (Kline) Quigley’s German lines exploded, thanks to the careful research done by team members. Frenia was Dana’s 5th great-grandmother and she now has nine new direct ancestors behind her!
- In an amazing feat, a team member (Melanie McComb) worked outward on the Stewart line, adding sources that proved each link on the way. The end result was that Dana’s 9th great-grandfather had his father proven: Adriaen Vincent, Dana’s 10th great-grandfather! Read his profile for more about the lawsuits for slander. He was quite protective!
- Several Peters brick walls came down. Jacob Eckhard Peters’ father was proven to be Johann Peters. His wife Hedwig gained a paternal grandfather as well! It turns out her mother Anna Margaretha Ahrends married two men with the surname Borgwardt. It was Eckhard’s father, however, that was the direct ancestor for Dana. This added six new direct ancestors on that line!
- Francis Adam’s line had tremendous Westhphalen and Prussian growth! Ten direct ancestors were added on his paternal side, and eleven on his maternal side!
- Interesting tidbit for the superstitious: Dana knows that James Bedford Dickson died in 1968. His obituary was published on Sunday the 15th in Jackson, Tennessee. The interesting part is that he had died on the Friday before - Friday the 13th. His FindAGrave memorial says December 15th to match the obituary, and his tombstone says Dec 1968, with a blank spot for the day. The US Federal Death Index states December 15th. So, were they superstitious? Or was there in error in when his death was reported?
Team Captain: Karen Lowe
MVP: Dieter Lewerenz
Top Bounty Hunter: Dieter Lewerenz
A special thanks to Jelena Eckstädt, who was right behind Dieter with bounty points!
For more information see the challenge scoring explanation and check out the week 37 statistics to see a summary of all contributors.
If you missed the wrap-up LiveCast and want to see Dana's reaction to our endeavors, you can view it at any time on YouTube.
