Highlights from the WikiTree Challenge for the Society of One-Place Studies (OPS)

Question

Hello WikiTreers!

WikiTree Challenge #3 is now complete. We spent a fun and collaborative week working together to build up a massive list of ancestors based on the seven starting notables nominated by the Society of One Place Studies. We were challenged with finding the families of note-worthy ancestors that originated in Canada, England, Scotland, and the United States. Once again, our group of researchers did a fantastic job of tracking down ancestors and documenting them on WikiTree. See the map for the full list of countries we researched in.

Challenge participants added more than 1,313 relatives for the seven starting people! The highest amount of people were added to the lines for Samuel H. Vick, which gained 1,078 profiles in one week! Six of the seven lines were connected in unique ways to the global tree, with some being connected through multiple branches.

Altogether more than 74 WikiTreers made 14,262 edits to connected profiles. Groups were quickly formed to tackle the more difficult lines, while some looked up articles, added categories, transcribed documents, and contributed in other ways. 

MVP: Stu Ward

Top Bounty Hunters: Rosalie Neve & Karen Lowe

Team Captain: Kathy Nava

All contributors ● Scoring explanation ● Research resources ● Connections to all contributors

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Here were our seven starting profiles: 

1. Rose Ann Holton started with 118 profiles. We added 505 profiles to her, bringing her CC7 to 623!  
2. Charles Bullock started with six relatives. We added 1,053 profiles bringing his CC7 to 1,059! 
3. William Edward Manley started with 839 relatives. We added 540 people bringing his CC7 to 1,379!! 
4. Sarah Monksfield started with four relatives. We added 554 people, bringing her CC7 to 558!! 
5. Elspet Smith started with five relatives. We added 691 people bringing her CC7 to 696!! 
6. Samuel H. Vick started out with four relatives. We added 1,078 people to bring his CC7 to 1,082!! 
7. George Wallace started with thirty-four relatives. We added 2,256 people to his branches, bringing his CC7 to 2,290!! 

Comments

Interesting Connections:

This year, 2023, is our "Year of Community Connections." So, we're looking for interesting connections between our starting people, and utilizing MyConnections, between starting people and others in their community. (Any time you are on a category page, you'll see a green MyConnections button in the corner. Click it to see how you are related to everyone in the category.)

Here are some of the connections we found this week:

• Rose Ann Holton's brother-in-law Thomas Cassin worked on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway for about fifteen years. Rose is 18 degrees from James Alexander Lougheed QC (1854-1925) who also moved following the growing Canadian Pacific Railway. He was a successful lawyer who invested heavily in real estate there and owned many buildings including the Grand Theatre. Both men had six children.
• Charles Bullock was born and died in Bletchingdon, Oxfordshire, England. He was a clerk there in 1881. Brigadier General Alfred Douglas Miller  CBE DSO (1864-1933) is 25 Degrees from Charles Bullock. Alfred was the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire while Charles was living. 
• Five degrees from William Edward Manley is Thomas Lewis Le Cras who was an organist for the 60th Tonic Sol Fa Association in 1922. The Notable Norman Brooks is 25 Degrees from William Manley. Norman was an athlete, an artist, and an entertainer. He was part of the entertainment staff at Holiday Camp in 1935.
• Sarah Monksfield's sister, Rebecca Monksfield, was convicted of theft and transported to Van Diemen's land. On the voyage, she became hysterical and was restrained in a straight jacket. Incidentally, Sarah is 15 degrees from Dora May (Tiedemann) Wicks (1901-1974) of a prior challenge, and 20 degrees from Jessie May Hill (1915-1995) from that same challenge, who researched convicted women in Australia, collecting a massive volume of data now held in the Society of Australian Genealogists Archive Collection.
• Four Degrees from Elspet Smith, through her oldest (illegitimate) son, is Alexander Moir (1890-1917). He died from wounds sustained in action while serving with the Gordon Highlanders during WWI. Elspet is 33 degrees from Alexander William Menzies (1889-1916). He was a Lance Corporal of the Gordon Highlanders Regiment and also died in service in 1916.
• Three degrees from Samuel H. Vick is Macon Moore Berryman, a social worker and a Boy Scout award winner. Samuel is 19 degrees from James Scott Brady. James was a U. S. Presidential Assistant & White House Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan and a former Boy Scout. 
• John Powles Cheyne, who is 7 degrees from George Wallace, was a Royal Navy person and notable for being part of the expeditions to find Franklin's ship. He also devised a plan to reach the north Pole by balloon. George Wallace is 19 Degrees from Clay Rex Cottrell, a member of the 39th Balloon Company in 1918. A balloon company consisted of 1 captain, 3 first lieutenants, 4 second lieutenants, 174 enlisted men, and 1 balloon.

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More Interesting Discoveries: 

• Thomas Bullock, his wife Sarah Nix, and their daughter Elizabeth Bullock all died within the same month of some type of disease, Nervous Fever (Typhoid Fever).
• In 1889, they took their dog licensing seriously. Miles Cornelius Tully (abt.1849-1937) was fined 10 shillings, court costs, and 7 days hard labor for not getting a license for his doggy-dog-dog. (Four degrees from Charles Bullock)
• John de Vere KB (abt.1516-1562), also from Essex, is 22 Degrees from William Manley. In 1544 he served with the expedition to Boulogne, holding the rank of captain in the rearguard of the army of Henry VIII. In Essex, where his estates lay, he held a number of posts of honour.
• Elspet (Smith) Duncan is 20 degrees from Lance Corporal Percy Kenneth Hunt, of the Gordon Highlanders, who died in service in 1915 and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
• Samuel Vick is 22 degrees from John Fitzgerald Kennedy, who was the 35th President of the United States, and the first president who was a Boy Scout.
• William Manley's uncle, John Gregory, was credited with saving several lives at sea as a watchman on the fish docks. Just a few minutes before he died, one of the men he had saved years before, came to him, and was present when he passed away.

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Watch the reveal on YouTube! 

Answer 1

It was an interesting week and I learned a lot about OPS. Thank you to all who helped with my learning :)

Comments

Thanks for joining us Rosalie! It was a fun week.

Answer 2

I love working on these challenges. While I was away (no internet) for most of that week, I was happy to have been able to contribute a few profiles once I was back.

Comments

Thanks for helping Liza! It is incredible how much we can get done in a week.