52 Ancestors Week 22 - So Far Away

Question

AJC - We're changing things up a bit for Week 22 with the theme "So Far Away." It's a pretty vague theme, to be sure. You could write about an ancestor who is from someplace far away from where you live. You could explore an ancestor who migrated far during his or her lifetime. You could tell about a research experience in a distant library or archive. I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with!

Comments

Ok this one is impossible or nearly so. Mom called us Heinz 57 mix and she was right on for only having oral and written history to go on. Im going to just be random. Montgomery , ONeal, Harper, Williams, Collins , Connelly/Condleyfrom Ireland Scotland and Wales. Williams ;of another ancestor, Moseley, White, Long and Bandy of England. Lange, Reithweil/Redwine, Black, Weinmuller/Winemiller, Long Priebe, Germany,  one lady direct line from france.
I have found no Italian Scandinavian or Pacific Islander. No Canadians or portugese. No proof of Black although we suspect at least one way back, probably female, from her picture she looks mixed race African. So yes, being American I am definitely  part of the melting pot and quite proud of it!

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22. We cant do BC on WikiTree so I have created my own page which leads right back to Adam and Eve!! You can see it at stephensgenealogy.webnode.com/far-back/   As to accuracy - well, were YOU there?? LOL!!

Answer 1

I'll start off again.

As most of you know, I have moved "So far away" from my home country of New Zealand to Canada. But this is not about me.

For some reason Canada seems to have an affinity with my family as I can count no less than 5 people who moved from New Zealand to Canada. SO WHY did they move so far away!!

These 5 people are - the two men who moved to Canada before or during World War 1. They may have joined the Canadian military in order to avoid seeing any action.

There is Myself of course. No need to add anything to that.

There is my cousins son, Timothy (Still living so no profile yet),  who fell in love with a French Canadian girl who was backpacking around NZ. They now live in Quebec.

And lastly there is my third cousin Margaret Stewart.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Stewart-22600

Margaret grew up on a farm in Southland, New Zealand, and in 1980 she came to Canada in an agricultural exchange. She fell in love with a Canadian, married him in 1981 and never went home. She now lives in British Columbia.

Darn it - I forgot that I can no longer use living people!!

LOL And then I forgot that Margaret is a Member of Wikitree!!  LOL

But we can still the WW1 fellows!!

So lets use those men who skipped out on the Kiwi Military.

One was named Thomas Fairbairn, and the other man was his brother Colin. Both men would have been Great Uncles to Margaret on her mothers side.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fairbairn-954

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fairbairn-950

What is it about Canada that attacts the Kiwis?

I think it's because Canada is very much like New Zealand. The culture, the infrastructure, the geography, There is just ONE major difference. Canada is ever so much BIGGER!!!!

As a country, NZ can easily fit into the following provinces and territories at least once over!! Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, NWT, Yukon and Nunavut.

Comments

Great country, New Zealand. The people have to be the friendliest on the planet (at least the parts of I've visited).

Not sure that Canadians saw less combat in WWI given the number of killed or wounded in actions I've come across. I'm slowly adding them to WIkiTree.

For people from the USA who don't relate to Canadian provinces, New Zealand is almost the same land area of Colorado except stretched out long over two main islands.

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It's an easy immigration,  I think, because we are all part of the Commonwealth. There are so many Kiwis and Aussies in Whistler, you wouldn't believe it! I think there are a lot of similarities just personality-wise too.

Weird, because I'm going to write about a  New Zealand cousin who lives in San Francisco now. He has a 10,000 plus tree which is private. He finally got back to me and we're connected now. So happy about it. He's hilarious.

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Funny you should mention Whistler when my neice (from NZ) has just spent 6 months working in Whistler for the winter at one of the ski resorts!! Now she is at Banff for the summer on a second work visa!! LOL

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That's fantastic! She must have felt right at home then. How fun.  I've never been to Alberta, but it looks beautiful! I heard that Prince Harry and Meghan might be honeymooning in Jasper, about 4 hours north.

Answer 2

Half of my family tree is from Italy.  That's pretty far away and I really want to visit. I have a few options, too. I could go to San Pietro a Maida where my grandfather came from and visit cousins there. OR I could go to Gesualdo. They have this cool castle right in the middle of town. That's something that definitely needs to be checked out!

My Italian side crossed the Atlantic in the early 20th century and it's amazing how far they came. We even have pictures of the boats they came in on and pictures of la famiglia. I've heard many stories about the trip and how the families stayed close for many years.

I haven't had the chance to research IN Italy per se but I do know an Italian genealogist and I do know someone who works in the commune offices there. I've heard that visiting an ancestral town like that changes a person. It's something everyone can and should experience.

Answer 3

Mine crossed the Atlantic leaving England, Scotland, Ireland and France. That was pretty far in the 17th and early 18th Centuries. My 4 greats grandmother Charlotte Taylor (Taylor-13772) left home and lost her "husband" in the Caribbean somewhere before her baby was born and then ended up in New Brunswick (then Nova Scotia) just before the American Revolution. Those that arrived in Massachusetts in the early 1600s would also have had a tough time.

Answer 4

One of the surprises I had in doing genealogical research was finding out my paternal grandmother's line was German. I knew we had ancestors from England, the Bahamas, and possibly Scotland and Wales, but had no idea that we had German ancestry. I was working with another researcher, Faye Poss, at the time who authored several books, on some of the our recent ancestors.  When we discovered our Wilhite connection, she was able to send me her research that followed the line back to Germany in the 1600's.

The first ancestor to set foot in America was Johann Michael Willheit who was in the second Germanna Colony group who came over from Germany in 1717.  He was born in 1671 in Schwaigern, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.  The second group were supposed to settle in Pennsylvania, but were taken to Virginia where they were indentured for 8 years (aledgedly to pay for their passage to America), all their belongings taken, and were forced to work in Governor Spotswood's iron mines near Germanna until 1725. 

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

 

Answer 5

My great grandmother Emma traveled a long way and left me a nice brick wall.

Emma was born about 1832 in Germany. She had her eldest son in Illinois in 1854, and her other children in northeastern Iowa. That was a pretty far way to travel in the early 1850s.

She died from an umbilical hernia in January of 1879, according to the newspaper article which identified her only as "a German woman, wife of Robert Taplet". She is buried in an unmarked grave in Waukon, Iowa.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Unknown-386716

Answer 6

I'm going to go with so far away in time. I have not successfully traced anyone back that far myself, but the advantage of wikitree is connecting my tree up with others who have. I, of course, cannot guarantee that anything traced way far back is authentic, so this post is far fetched as well as far away.

I'm still following lines back. I've found four that trace back through Charlemaine, and was going to go with that, but have found 2 that are much more ancient. Caradog ap Bran (0035 to 0054 AD) (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ap_Bran-6 ) also know as King Caradoc or possibly Pendragon Gweirydd. He supposedly had 5 children in his 19 years of life. I suspect the dates to be wrong. There is some evidence that he may be the same person as Caratacus Catuvellauni (0010 to 0050 AD). There is a link on Caradog ap Bran's profile. His life is of a length to have actually had 5 kids. Either way, he was the last king of that part of Briton before the invasion by Rome. He or possibly his father brought Christianity to Briton, according to legend.

The other person I've found so far from way far back, probably equally far fetched, is King Prasutagus of the Iceni (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Iceni-3 ), 0010 to 0061 AD. He, also, was a king in Briton at the time of the Roman invasion. He tried to keep his kingdom while conceding rights to Rome, but because of Roman pillaging and rape, he and his wife led an uprising against Rome.

These two are direct line from me, if no errors were made, but they are far enough back that the Relationship Finder cannot find them, so I'll have to do some counting to figure out how many greats back they are.

Comments

Because of these being pre-1500's profiles, I was not able to add the 52 ancestor catagory to their profiles. I messaged one of the profile managers of each profile, and asked if they would consider adding it.

Answer 7

It's timely that this prompt came up when it did. I never knew I had so many ties to New Zealand, and there are connections coming from many sources to ancestors there. I finally heard back from a DNA match that had a 10,000 + family tree. It turns out he was super busy traveling, working, etc. and not ignoring me. ;)  Our 2nd great grandparents are siblings. Out of four children in this family, 3 moved down under. Mine is the only one who moved to Canada. This 4th cousin has met a few of the New Zealand clan, they all get together some times. He has recently moved to San Francisco, and I hope to meet up one day. I have a 1st cousin there, so it's possible. Other NZ connections are here too. Here's my blog post for the week: http://www.libbyonthelabel.ca/2018/06/52-ancestors-week-22-so-far-away.html

Comments

Your blog post was excellent. So many references to NZ!! I did a little digging for you.

I have found a reference for a death certificate for a John Park who died in NZ in 1861 at age 70 - therefore born around 1791.

The reference number is - 1861/3397 (Death Index) and the website is - https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search

You should be able to apply for a death certificate.
Use the contact us link.

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I enjoy reading your posts, Libby. I too have connections with a family who arrived on "Queen of the Mersey". I was going to use this connection for my own post when I get to it. It's a long weekend in NZ so I'm hopeful it will happen.

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Thanks Robin! I'll check this out when I get to my laptop later. Fantastic. It's like US Memorial Day in NZ this weekend, right? Fiona, wouldn't it be funny if they were all on the same ship? I don't have the manifest, just the citation or I'd send it to you. Look forward to reading your post later. Have a good long weekend!

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Nope, it's Queens Birthday this weekend!!

Even though her real birthday is in April - they celebrate it in June!!

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They were on the same ship. I'll try and find a passenger list this afternoon but many are locked up by the Rootsweb/Ancestry thing.

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Oh, so it's more like Canada's Victoria Day then! Gave Save the Queen!!

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I wonder if they'll ever get the Rootsweb thing fixed. It's been a long time already. What a small world that they were all on the same ship. Fab!

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Hi Robin, I checked that death record. I don't think that it's my John Park. Too old, mine couldn't have been born then. Great resource though, thanks for letting me know about it!

Answer 8

All of my ancestors came from the other side of the world to New Zealand, but only one of them fled Britain. The enigmatic Charles Woolcock (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Woolcock-106) who has appeared previously (and is sure to come up again) deserted his wife, Betsy, and daughter, Lydia. She learnt his whereabouts from a letter sent by her brother who just happened to bump into him in Christchurch in 1865. The pdf transcript of the protection order is under Images on the profile if you click the View All button. Here is the link to the blog that gives my take on what might have happened.

https://feetuptimetothink.blogspot.com/2018/06/52-ancestors-week-22-so-far-away.html

Answer 9

You can't get much more "Far Away" than the Antipodes.

In the mid 19th century, two sets of cousins from Kent, England, were early settlers in Australia and New Zealand.

In 1838 Mary Brisley (Dray) Barling (  Dray-76 ), my first cousin 4 times removed, with her husband Richard Barling, and three children, sailed to Australia on the Westminster as "Assisted Immigrants".  This was one of the first set of immigrants that were neither convicts, nor employees of the penal system.  In Australia they had 7 more children (in addition to one born on the ship), and 61 grandchildren. ETA that Barlings Beach, Tomakin, NSW is named after them https://brouleebayfolklore.weebly.com/barling.html

In 1839, Anne (Stone) (Whitehead) Prebble ( Stone-7824 ), my second cousin 5 times removed, with her new husband James Prebble, two of her children. and six of his, sailed  to New Zealand on the Aurora.  They also had a child born on the voyage, and one more in New Zealand. This was one of the earliest sets of settlers in New Zealand.  The and their descendants founded their namesake town of Prebbleton.

In both cases, families who had been agricultural workers, or semiskilled tradesmen, became property owners and "people of substance"  in their new home.

Comments

Prebbleton in Canterbury, not far from Christchurch.

Now that is a great way to impriove your status when noone knows what you used to be!!

Answer 10

This isn't so far compared to a number of other posts on this topic.  But I thought it interesting anyway.  I discovered Lewett Clinton Hart  began life in Michigan, traveled to Colorado as a young man about 1900 where his uncle was living,  then to Marshall, Texas by 1904 when he married.

From Texas he was employed in the Panama Canal Zone from 1909 to 1922.   Then on to Winslow, Arizona by 1930 where he died in 1934 at the relatively young age of 58.

Lewett's occupation appears to be carpentry work associated with railroads.  Marshall, the Canal Zone and Winslow were all important rail centers.  His employment record in Panama gives his occupation as carpenter - car.  At that time rail cars were constructed of wood. 

Answer 11

Seriously, getting the results of your DNA test are interesting, but finding matches are out of this world.

Other than ancestors, I didn't think I had any relatives outside the United States.

And then . . .

the results came in.

I have living relatives in Scotland.

I am still thrilled to death. We contacted each other, and are still talking.

Answer 12

Mine is Hans Jerg Rominger and his profile https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Rominger-60

He was born about 1680 in Winterlingen, German and later moved from there to Singen, near Durlach. He married Elisabeth Odelin in 1708 in Winterlingen. In 1742 he applied for permission to emigrate to New England with his sons David and Philip. His son Michael did not emigrate until 1752 but then joined his family in Broad Bay, Maine. This settlement was a colony recruited in Germany by an American entrepreneur, Samuel Waldo, who promised more than he delivered in terms of land and amenities. George Soelle, a Moravian missionary who came to the settlement, noted that the settlers were "poor as church mice" and suffering greatly from the cold, inclement winter weather. Soelle estabilished a Moravian church in Broad Bay in 1762, In 1770 a group of families left Broad Bay and traveled by ship to Wilmington, NC, then overland to the Wachovia area. forming a new community at Friedland.

MIGRATION

Captain: James Abercombie
From:Rotterdam
By Way of: Deal
Arrival: Broad Bay, October 1742

A list of men in the colony in May 1744 made by Captain John Ulmer in Preparation for the Indian wars.  Also a letter by Zouberbuhler in May 1744 identifies names of two others who came that weren't on Ulmer's list.
A list of people living in Broad Bay about the spring of  1745 made by John North.  The "North List" was made up for Broad Bay and for the surrounding towns of ST. George, Cushiing and Meduncook and was probably a "Muster Roll" for the Louisbourg Expedition

Answer 13

I thought I was so far away from ever finding anything about my ancestors. Everywhere I turned, I hit a brick wall.

Oh, my husband's ancestor's were so easy to find. Like picking apples of a tree in your backyard. Everyone in my hometown is related to us.

Not so with me. Although I, too, was born and raised in our little town, and my grandparents were raised six miles away in the next farm town, I couldn't get anyway. Help me! 

But being patient finally paid off. One little extra "l" in the name was all it took and I was off and running. Just this past week-end I found my 2nd great-grandfather, his will (which was printed in the town paper), and pictures.

Researching, digging, getting your hands dirty, really pays off.

Sometimes, though, your goal seems so far away.

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Comments

I see you did find this thread. Good. I found your other question first. LOL

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Thanks - just can't get that picture thing down.

Answer 14

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Feisthauer-3  Christian Feisthauer.

He is one of my 8th Great Grandfathers.  He was a wood cutter for the glassmakers.  He traveled over 350 miles to cut the beech trees for the glass works in Rosteig. Why? We are not sure. Perhaps a glass worker there knew of him and knew he could cut the trees so they burned evenly which was an issue. One can only guess it was due to his craftsmanship.

350 miles may not sound like a lot but in the 1600s he was most likely traveling by oxcart.  An ox walks right about two miles per hour - and in areas that used them, they covered about ten miles per day, because the oxen had to be rested, fed and watered periodically or they would either pull up lame or just flat-out stop. 

In the Middle Ages, most people were born, lived their entire lives and died within TEN miles, and never traveled outside of the area in which they were born.  So 350 miles would take over a month and was quite a move in that time frame.

The same oxcart would be used to then transport the felled trees to the glass factories.  

Answer 15

So I went to the "far away" (in time) profiles that I had adopted because WikiTree said I was related. I was prompted by a proposed merge between one I had adopted, Klosterneuburg-1, and Babenberg-10.

Turns out I'm not related to her. I developed the profile for Klosterneuburg-1 & after the merge developed the one for her "daughter" - whom the source I found for Jhutte Klosterneuburg (now Judith of Babenberg) said may never have existed. So I developed the profiles of two "ancestors" for this challenge:

1. Klosterneuburg-1, now Babenberg-10, who probably isn't an ancestor because
2. Beatrix (Montferrat) d'Albon, her daughter, may never have existed (which would make it hard for her to be my ancestor either, but someone needs to be the "end of the line"!)

But still, two profiles (three, if you count the merged-away Klosterneuburg-1) are WAY better off than they were before the challenge!

Answer 16

For the past few days I've been working on ancestors from the Isle of Man. Not only is that almost the diametrically opposite part of the planet (actually, the Azores take that honour) but it's far away in time. I'm always amazed at the lives these people led: the challenges they faced, the hardships they endured and the courage they displayed.

We are indeed an amazing race.

Answer 17

I had spent almost 30 years researching, with a few extended absences, my USA ancestors. When I started out, I just planned to research in this country. After 30 years, I was back 7+ generations and still wasn't to most of the incoming ancestors. I didn't think I would ever get to them, they seemed so far away. Then came WikiTree. I have only been here almost two months and have not only found the connections from so far away in the past of USA. With the WikiTree community, I am now even farther away ... in England, Germany, Spain, … aristocracy and noble.