Secret Santa Week 1 (12th December - 18th December) [closed]

Question

Hello Santas!

We have several participants signed up for this Secret Santa already (if you want to register please leave a reply on THIS post).

Below you will find a list of the participants with their nominated profiles; it is these profiles (and the profiles connected and yet to be connected to them) we will all be contributing to in week 1. How you contribute and much you contribute is up to you.

I will list the profiles in the answers as well so you can leave any updates as comments under the relevant answer.

Have fun!

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Week 1

• John F Peters Sr (1869 - 1966)
• Charles H Harris (1875 - 1958)
• Jonathan Eames (abt. 1743)
• Emma Louisa (Plummer) Beck (1892)
• Raymond Henry Cooley (1916 - 1947)
• Flora (Jones) Barnett (1903 - 1989)
• Mildred Hester (Jones) Barnett (1909 - 1966)
• Gershom Hobart III (1717-abt 1795)
• William M Ackelson (1831-1907)

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Week 2

• Moses Mathews (1803 - 1874)
• Michael Jarosiewicz (1865-1923)
• Sabina Rose Borowski (abt. 1871)
• Francis Stewart (1792-1871)
• Rosalea Atmik (b 1910's)
• John Griffith (abt. 1670 - abt. 1745)
• Henry A Crawford (abt. 1822 - 1875)
• Mary Thornton (1822 - 1870)
• Alexander Howie Sutherland (1816 - 1903)
• Jochemus Johannes Prinsloo (bef. 1844 - bef. 1930)

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If you want to add a Santa Sticker to the profiles you work on (I put mine in the Acknowledgements section last year) use this:

{{Secret Santa Profile|2019}}

For your own profile, after gifting some holiday love, use this:

{{Secret Santa|2019}}

Comments

The final week is now posted HERE.

Answer 1

Steve Harris nominated his second great-grandfather Charles H. Harris, born 1875 in Mississippi. According to his 94-year-old grandfather, Charles' father was Charles L. Harris. Please comment on this post if you add to Charles or his relatives.

Comments

Thank you Victoria English for contributing to this profile!

Answer 2

Steve Harris nominated another profile for some holiday love: John F. Peters (Petters) Sr. He was born in 1869 during the Austro-Hungarian Empire and he immigrated at an early age according to Census records. No parental information has been found and Steve doesn't think he migrated by himself at the age of 3.  Please comment on this post if you add to John or his relatives.

Comments

Is this John's family? Father Joseph, mother Johanna, siblings, living in Texas in 1880, all born in "Bohemia".

Joseph Pater, 1880 Census, Lavaca, Texas

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That looks like it could be right, Steven. Nice find Christine! I'm looking at the Texas Immigration index and not having as much luck. There was a Wilhelm Peters (Germany to Texas) in 1869; a Franz, Wilhelmine and Caroline (Prussia to TX) in 1883; No Petters (except in 1908); OH! I think I just found your family: (John is accidentally written as JAN (male)

Record #: 13328 Arrival Date: Jun 15 1871 Family Name: PETER Name Age Sex Occupation JOSEPH 40 M BINDER JOHANNA 41 F na HANA 11 F na JOSEPH 7 M na VERONIKA 6 F na JAN 3 M na Destination: U.S.A. Departure: BREMEN   Departure Date: 4/15/1871 Origin: AUSTRIA   Ship: WESER Comments: APPROXIMATE SAILING DATE Citation: GCGS Rec: NA Source: GALVESTON CTY.GEN.SOC.;SHIP PASS.LISTS;EASLEY,SC;S'RN HIST.PRESS 1984 People: 6 Destination Area: U.S.A. Origin Area: AUSTRIA

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Great finds! Let me see if I can link that information to the family!

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I've found his naturalization record.  I've uploaded it to his profile.  He was born in 1867 in Ticha, Austria and immigrated in 1869.

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Here's another record of his father's arrival:

Name:	Joseph Peter
Date:	15 Jun 1871
Age:	40
Sex:	M (Male)
Port of Arrival:	Galveston, Texas
Country of Origin:	Austria
Occupation:	Butcher
Ship:	Bark Weser
Port of Embarkation:	Bremen, Germany
Destination:	United States
Master:	John Poppe

 

Source Information

Sparks, Lyla, comp. Atlantic Ports, Gulf Coasts, and Great Lakes Passenger Lists, Roll 3: Galveston Texas 1846-1871 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001.

Original data: Copies of Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts and at Ports on the Great Lakes, 1820-1873 (National Archives Microfilm Publication M575, roll 3); Records of the U.S. Customs Service, Record Group 036; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. 

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Located them in the 1880 census - Year: 1880; Census Place: Precinct 1, Lavaca, Texas; Roll: 1316; Page: 365D; Enumeration District: 077

Name:	Joseph Pater [Joseph Pitr]  [Joseph Peter]
Age:	51
Birth Date:	Abt 1829
Birthplace:	Bohemia
Home in 1880:	Precinct 1, Lavaca, Texas, USA
Dwelling Number:	350
Race:	White
Gender:	Male
Relation to Head of House:	Self (Head)
Marital status:	Married
Spouse's name:	Johanna Pater
Father's Birthplace:	Bohemia
Mother's Birthplace:	Bohemia
Occupation:	Farmer
Neighbors:	View others on page
Household Members:	Name Age Joseph Pater 51 Johanna Pater 52 Joseph Pater 18 Varonaca Pater 15 John Pater 10 Agenes Pater 8

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Could one of these be his father's birth record?  Year of birth is right. (Hungary, Select Catholic Church Records, 1636-1895 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.) 

Name:	Josephus Peter
Gender:	Male
Baptism Date:	24 nov. 1831
Baptism Place:	Vásárosdombó, Baranya, Hungary
Father:	Stephanus Peter
Mother:	Eva Csonka
FHL Film Number:	601033
Reference ID:	267 Or this: Name: Josephus Péter Event Type: Taufe (Baptism) Birth Date: 19 Aug 1831 Baptism Date: 20 Aug 1831 Baptism Place: Cluj (Cluj-Napoca), Salaj, Austro-Ungaria [Klausenburg (Cluj-Napoca), Zillenmarkt, Austro-Ungaria]  [Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), Szilágy, Austro-Ungaria]  Father: Martinus Péter Mother: Maria Péter Affiliation: romano-catolici (römisch-katholisch)

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This gives the maiden name for the second record above:

Name:	Josephus
Gender:	Male
Baptism Date:	20 aug. 1831
Baptism Place:	Kolozsvár, Kolozs, Hungary
Father:	Martinus Péter
Mother:	Maria Kováts
FHL Film Number:	2185002
Reference ID:	91

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This is likely his sister's marriage record, since the family was in Lavaca, Texas.  Perhaps by tracing her, you can find out more on the parents...

Name:	Veronika Peter
Gender:	Female
Marriage Date:	2 May 1893
Marriage Place:	Lavaca, Texas, United States
Spouse:	Auton Vania
FHL Film Number:	980083

 They're on the 1900 census - Year: 1900; Census Place: Justice Precinct 5, De Witt, Texas; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0032; FHL microfilm: 1241628.

Veronica Vanier, age 27, born Bohemia (as were parents); Anton Vanier, age 40, born Bohemia (as were parents); Alvine Vanier, age 6 (female).

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Nice work Darlene :)  I'm wondering if John was originally Johanne, so not a typo in the immigration record but an abbreviation.

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Mindy, I'm not familiar with Austria/Hungary, but I know my German male ancestors were many times Johan or Johannes (usually with a middle name -- Johan Peter, Johan Georg -- unless they were only called what ended up being John) before they immigrated.

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I looked upTicha

  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tich%C3%A1  in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic.  The population of the village is approximately 1,117 people  https://en.mapy.cz/zakladni?x=18.2208330&y=49.5705560&z=12&q=49.570556N%2018.220833E  map based on GPS coordinates of the town It looks close to Poland and Slovenia  here is another map that might help https://wlww.cgsi.org/research/archives/list  look at Moravia

https://www.worldgenweb.net/czech-republic/

https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.texas.counties.fayette/140.1/mb.ashx  It seems that Peters is a fairly common surname for this region.  

http://digi.archives.cz/da/VysledekBean.action?show=&_sourcePage=TEv3o2wsuk2jGZOPa2kJRtAVUKcuWQBTLiX7tdD4mcI1qPS3JTBXRrGGp0Mni2ptsclufzmhwfQZ3QE7as-aXAB-UXE6fvnoAWuxp3JnGko%3D&pagerCompStateId=PAGER_RESULT&xid=be85f19e-f13c-102f-8255-0050568c0263&entityType=10041&paginatorCompStateId=PAGINATOR_RESULT&rowPg=18  Census for Ticha 1842-1884

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I think this is the parish records for the letter P for Ticha

http://digi.archives.cz/da/PaginatorMedia.action?rowTxt=121&_sourcePage=4vFaerv57zqOb0tlbc08zRRZBx_EtKYOjSE60qM1ESC_M1X9kCd8dIEmdVvZ9IOW-Yz44wa6yTwm-r6nsMjigYoEgL6pGkPJ9AgpzS9xsmc%3D&__fp=UGFV2-EPqKFMnHkkfEu97tFWzTj3z9FDhojy30GSHpcsh0OkIqKqqvCzRbcfbVML

Probably need to get help from someone who can read this language.

By the way, Ticha is close to Oprava so in Northern Moravia as some archives are in the North and some in the south.  

Answer 3

Lucy Selvaggio-Diaz has nominated Jonathan Eames, born about 1743 in Massachusetts.  He, his mother, and his sister were accused of poisoning his wife. They were represented by John Adams (the future president) and acquitted. She has never found anything on them and wonders what happened to the baby, and if he married again and had more children. Please comment on this answer if you add to Jonathan or his relatives.

Comments

It looks like Sharon Payne did quite a bit on this profile. Thank you Sharon!

Answer 4

Emily Holmberg is nominating a profile for the first time this year. She chose MSGT Raymond H. Cooley, which she created for a Bio-Builders Challenge.  He was a Medal of Honor recipient in WWII and was born in the same town she was - Dunlap, Tennessee. She was able to get him connected to the global tree and found some good information on him but his family needs some care. He's got eight brothers and sisters that could use some additional sources, better bios, and family added.  Please comment on this answer if you add to Raymond's relatives.

Comments

I will work on Raymond H. Cooley since Emily Holmberg is from where I live now which is Jonesborough, Tennessee and when I lived while I was a child in Athens, Tennessee and I think Dunlap, Tennessee is near Athens, Tennessee. Also since she is working on my aunt and so called step grandmother Flora (Jones) Barnett.

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I am working on adding information to his siblings (sources and spouses).

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Darlene I am also doing this maybe you can do someone else.

Answer 5

Michelle Enke has nominated Emma Louise (Plummer) Beck for some holiday love. Emma was born in 1892 in Missouri. Michelle has traced her until 1948, but then she and her husband, Harry Beck, disappear. She would like to know when and where she died and was buried. She doesn't believe there were any children born to the couple, but she would also like that verified, if possible. Emma was Michelle's great-grand-aunt. Please comment on this answer if you add to Emma or her relatives.

Comments

My aunt remembers hearing stories about Emma, who was her great-aunt and she wants to know what happened to her. She and her husband Harry just seem to disappear.  I have found all I can, and could use some help!

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Nothing found so far.  I don't see records for her after that. And I'm sure you already know it certainly is hard to find anything in the newspapers as they are full of that Dave Beck. I also tried looking for her marriage (which should have been around 1914). Nothing so far in the New Haven, Missouri records (which include some from Port Hudson and Owensville).

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I added Harry's obits. She was still living in 1969 when he died. They were living with his sister Callie at that time. Callie died in 1975. No mention of Emma being with her and Otto.

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Mindy, thank you so very much for finding Harry's obit!! You are awesome!! At least Emma's timeline now extends to 1969, and it may be narrowed down to 1969-1975 as a possible time of death.

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You are very welcome! Yep, narrowed it down at least  I was really hoping I would find hers, but no luck. Just Harry, his sister, and his brother-in-law.

Answer 6

Linda Barnett has nominated Flora (Jones) Barnett, her dad's step-mother. Flora was born in 1903 (location unknown) and died in 1989 in Tennessee. She doesn't know much about siblings and their families and would love to learn more about her. Please comment on this answer if you add to Flora or her relatives.

Comments

I've found Flora in the 1920 Census - I'll work on her profile and family.

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Flora was married to a Downs before she married Roosevelt Jason Barnett.

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Thank you for participating Emily!

Answer 7

Linda Barnett has also asked for some love to be given to her paternal grandmother Mildred Hester (Jones) Barnett. Mildred was born in 1909 in Tennessee and died in 1966 in that same state. Linda would love to get more information about siblings and their families, as well as some special attention to Mildred's profile.   Please comment on this answer if you add to Mildred or her relatives.

Comments

I'm going to try to work on this.

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I found Hester's obituary which named her parents, yay! I traced the Jones line to Wyatt Jones in North Carolina. He is already on Wikitree, but not with all of his children.

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I'm going to research her siblings to be sure I am not conflating two families with similar names.

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Thanks Lucy!  Congrats on finding that obituary. I need to try that for my person.

Answer 8

I am nominating Gershom Hobart III, born in 1717 in Massachusetts. Gershom, my 6th great-grandfather, came from a very patriotic family and I would love to know if he performed patriotic duties during the American Revolution. There are several Gershom's in a row, so records are hard to sort out at times. Gershom had at least nine children, but I only have two on WikiTree.  Please comment on this answer if you add to Gershom or his relatives.

* Edit to add Gershom's link. Oops!

Comments

Thank you, Amy (Golder) Golder-Cooper, for your work on this profile! I hope your holiday has been wonderful.

Answer 9

I nominate William Ackelson born in 1831 for a secret Santa. I do not know this fellow.  I found him unconnected as the lone person in a cemetery category in Kirk, Colorado while I was trying to connect some other profiles. See Ackelson-4. I suspect he is part of the Walter Settlement which was a German Colony in Volga, Russia and then emigrated to the USA around the time when communism started. Kirk, Colorado has a large number of these people but few have been connected to the big tree.

Comments

Thanks Gurney!

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I think I'll do some work on William.  It looks like he might have been born in Kentucky. I'll have to check out the Walter Settlement. I have a few Russian profiles I've been trying to connect and just can't get them there.

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Thanks. This is a great task and I can’t think of a better leader for it.

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How nice of you to say so Gurney, thanks! They had eleven children so I'm still chipping away at records before adding them. What fun! 

Answer 10

Can you work on the same one from week 1 thru the whole Secret Santa.

Comments

Yes you can Linda. Any bit of holiday attention is appreciated!

Answer 11

How does this work? Do I nominate a profile I need help with? 

If so, then I choose my 3X great grandfather who came to Canada from New York. I know almost nothing about him, and with the surname Stewart, researching his family has been daunting. There’s too many Stewart’s out there! Lol

Francis Stewart 1792 - 1871

I saw on an old genealogy page that he may have been married to an Ava Grauberger 1811-1865, but I can’t prove it. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

Comments

Hi Alex, yes you get to pick one. Francis is now on the list, I hope you find answers!

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I found additional sources indicating Francis' wife was named Eve or Eliza. I updated his profile and created several associated profiles.  Merry Christmas!

BTW, have you seen my seamlessly tileable, Royal Stewart Tartan wallpaper? The Royal Stewart #2 Tartan

Answer 12

Laura Jarus has nominated Michael Jarosiewicz and Sabina Rose Borowski. She said: 

They were both born in Poland/Russia and immigrated to the US in 1903. Michael was born around 1865 and Sabina around 1876. Jarosiewicz is the accepted spelling, but it is spelled differently on every early document I have found (censuses and immigration records) On the ship manifest it is spelled Michal and Sabyna Jaruszewicz. According to Sabina’s death certificate, her parents were Hipolit Borowski and Rose Truszkowski. She had a brother (Felix/Feliks) that immigrated to the U.S. but spelled his last name, Borawski. According to his ship manifest (1922), he was from Swidny/Swidry, Poland. I’ve been able to trace the rest of my family tree back for generations, but this one stops at Michael and Sabina.

Comments

There was a Hipolit Borowitz, born 1876, that went from Hamburg to NY the same year as Sabina. I wonder if it is a brother? 

Name:	Hipolit Borowski
Gender:	männlich (Male)
Ethnicity/Nationality:	Russland (Russian)
Marital status:	verheiratet (Married)
Departure Age:	28
Birth Date:	abt 1876

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Name:	Hipolit Borowski
Birth Date:	7 Jan 1878
Birth Place:	Poland
Death Date:	22 Mar 1947

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The Hipolit born 1876 wound up in Pennsylvania

Home in 1940:	Harrison, Allegheny, Pennsylvania

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Those are hard! I've added sources to some of the profiles. You may want to list them individually in the G2G to get help with Polish/Russian records.

Answer 13

Sarah Walker has nominated her maternal great-grandmother Roselea Atmik (born 1910's).  

Roselea was listed in the 1930 census as being married, head of household, age 20, with an 11-year-old son, Paul Raymer Atmik. Paul later took the name of Walker when she married Walter Walker. Roselea and Walter had four children: Bobbie, Don, Luther, and Lola. 

Sarah descends from Luther and his wife Cynthia Ann Walker. She wants to know where she's from, what native Alaskan tribe she belongs to. She may be eligible for tribe enrollment and help her children with this answer. 

Comments

Chantal Desharnais gave the following information:

Hi Sarah,

Just looked quickly and found a tree on Ancestry site that list some names from different census records, no birth records...Atmik is spelled many many different ways like Atmeak Admeak, Admik Adamik, Atamik Atomik etc...

Her father is apparently Pannik Atmeak born around 1874 in Kogaluk AL, (found on 1920, 1900 census) Mother Kokuk Kakuk born around 1885 in Shaktolik AL (1920, 1910, 1900 census)

In the 1910 census Rosalea's mother is listed as widowed but in the 1920 census is listed as married. Don't know if it's the same person

Their children were (Chukajak (1897 Shaktolik), Chuteagak (same year AL "same person probably"), Howard Atmeak (1900 AL), Mary Atmik (1903-1987 - died July in Nome AL), Charlie Atmik (1908 AL), Rosalea Atmik (about 1910), Henry Atmik (22 oct 1910 Koyuk AL), Alice Atmeak (1914), Ya Yuk Atmeak (1917).

Her son paul Raymer Atmik Walker was born in San Francisco CA 4 Jul 1928 - died 13 Nov 1992 Nome AL
I'm not too sure how precise this is as its coming from someone's ancestry tree and the only records are from census, but its somewhere to look

I pray your situation turns out well for you and your family.
If someone more knowledgeable could look further that would be great

This page might be helpful for you 

https://archives.alaska.gov/genealogy/genealogy.html

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I also looked this family up, but on FamilySearch. I think Paul was born in Alaska and emigrated to San Francisco, California. His name was Paul Raymer Atmik and then Walker. He was a US Merchant Seaman and he was recorded as "white."

In the 1920 US Census, if Pannik is indeed Rosalea's father, he was just listed as Atmeak. His wife was Kakook and the only children listed were Howard, Mary, Charley, Henry, Alice, and Ya Yak. Kakook was Unalit and everyone else was Malemute.

I did a little cleaning up of your family on FamilySearch by adding sources and merging duplicates. Here is the link for Rosalea. The profiles are not open, so you'll have to add all the sources yourself. I hope this helps.

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GM44-61Q

Answer 14

Sharon Payne has nominated John Griffith, her 7th great-grandfather. She has worked on him for months and can't get any further back than his assumed birth date in Ireland, and possible marriage to an Esther Musgrave. Both T. Stanton and her have shook the tree hard and nothing has fallen out. 

Any help is soooo greatly appreciated!

Comments

I've added this to Week 3.

Answer 15

Traci Thiessen is looking for a Christmas miracle: the parents of her grandfather Henry A. Crawford (born about 1822), her most frustrating brick wall ancestor. She has no information about his origin, or that of his wife, Sarah Coon. She looked for years and found nothing. Henry was born in either Pennsylvania or New York, lived in Tioga and Lycoming counties in Pennsylvania, and removed to Linn County, Iowa by 1870. 

Comments

I've added this to Week 3.

Answer 16

Suzy Campbell has nominated Mary Thornton. Mary Thornton married Adam Allison in Arkansas and was the mother of her great-grandmother, Sarah Allison. She has tried to find Mary's parents for forty years. The only clue she found was that her mother's name was Elizabeth. She is thankful for any help.

Comments

I have spent a couple hours researching this profile, but I am sad to report that I am still not able to verify Mary's lineage.

While I was at it, I cleaned the profile of redundant GEDCOM data, and compiled a research notes section to help in future research.

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I have also found some data surrounding Mary's husband Adam Allison and his previous marriages, so I may try to build out those lines as time allows.

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Thanks for working on that Steve!

Answer 17

Janice Sutherland has nominated Alexander Sutherland. She says this:

I do not know who his parents are. He married Ann Howie according to relatives but have no proof besides their recollection. Looks like he picked up middle name Howie during the citizenship process?? Not sure.. My grandfather said he was living/born around the grounds of Edinburgh Castle. Possibly a footman or porter. I found an Alexander Sutherland as a manservant at Acketgill is a castle in 1841. ( definitely not Edinburgh).

He was in California possibly by 1851 and definitely in 1858 when first child Sarah Margaret was born.

Comments

I've added this to Week 3.

Answer 18

Petrus needs help with his mystery. Jochemus Johannes Prinsloo (bef. 1844 - bef. 1930) is his great-grandfather.  Jochemus Johannes Prinsloo (1843) appears to be the same person, taking family lore into account. He is looking for anything that can prove to him that the two profiles are the same person. He is looking for sources that will confirm it. This is the only link he needs to complete his mother's paternal line up to the progenitor of the Prinsloo/Prinslo family tree.

Comments

I've added this to Week 3.