
MaryAnn Blakeman
Honor Code SignatorySigned 8 Feb 2022 | 20,437 contributions | 1,002 thank-yous | 5,097 connections
I was born in Morgan City, Louisiana, on the banks of the Atchafalaya River [1], grew up with 31 first cousins playing on Bayou Black, lived on Bayou Teche, fell in love on the Mississippi River, and spent most of my adult life walking distance from White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas. In 2020, we moved near the Brazos River. We cruise on our trawler in Galveston Bay. Water is the tie that binds our family tree together!
Life has brought me full circle - Galveson is where my 2nd great-father, Elijah Phineas Blakeman and his brother Curtis Blakeman, arrived, becoming first citizens of Texas in 1839. They were pioneer children, traveling by wagon train with their uncle Curtiss Blakeman who founded Marine, Illinois. Our common ancestor Adam Blakeman immigrated from England, part of the great Puritan Migration, and became a founding settler of Stratford, Connecticut in 1638.
I'm a direct descendant of 52 of the first families to settle Acadie, New France in the early 1600s. Many of those ancestors were exiled in Le Grande Derangement, 1755 when the British removed the French from Nova Scotia. Those exiles became first families to settle Louisiana.
My Islenos ancestors, recruited by Governor Bernardo de Galvez from the Canary Islands to settle Louisiana and to fight in the militia against the British, form the Spanish branch of my ancestry, were also first families to settle Louisiana.
My Italian 5GGrandfather Joseph Vincent Carline served in Galvez’s militia in the American Revolution, and is one of many of my ancestors recognized by the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution as an American Patriot [2]
My husband of 53 years[3] and I are avid boaters - we cruised our trawler from Fort Walton to Seabrook, Texas in 2021[4]. I learned through Mom's genealogy work, that my 2nd great-uncle Curtis Blakeman, was Galveston Harbormaster in 1874[5]
When Mom Persilver-1 died in 2016, I inherited 20 plus years of her genealogy work – 30 – 3-4” notebooks, plus boxes of documents, pictures, correspondence. My desire is to preserve her work in a format that makes it readily available to our descendants, and more importantly, to tell stories that capture their imagination and generate interest in their own family stories. A YouTube video by Connie Knox, genealogist, recommended the collaborative work on WIKITREE,[6] and that began my WikiTree work.
My dad Blakeman-450, was a brilliant historian and I’m learning things that even he had not discovered!
When I started this path, I considered myself a “reluctant” genealogist. It is now my passion. My primary goal is to extract and highlight individual stories that I believe will captivate our grandchildren. Becoming a genealogist allows me to accomplish that goal.
MaryAnn
To aid WikiTree in the administration of my account should I be incapacitated, or in the event of my death, I hereby give permission for all profiles that I am managing to be transferred to my daughter, Lorri Crossno Nevil, first, or to any interested member of WikiTree who agrees to preserve and manage them, (including private ones) especially profiles of living people.
Blakeman-448 7:52, 26 June, 2023.
Connections to Super Bowl halftime show performers: MaryAnn is 24 degrees from Prince Nelson, 18 degrees from Dan Aykroyd, 16 degrees from Garth Brooks, 27 degrees from Chubby Checker, 23 degrees from Ella Fitzgerald, 19 degrees from Dusty Hill, 31 degrees from Whitney Houston, 19 degrees from Mick Jagger, 21 degrees from Paul McCartney, 19 degrees from Tom Petty, 19 degrees from Chris Stapleton and 19 degrees from Shania Twain on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
B > Blakeman > MaryAnn Blakeman
Categories: Morgan City, Louisiana | Bayou Vista, Louisiana | Texas Woman's University | Mayflower Descendants on WikiTree | Texas First Families
Here is the list of Texans which is in blue https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Texas_Project_Progress_Page
If you study the Texas project page there is a detailed "how to" for the stickers for yourself and one to add to your profiles you create- add the sticker below the Biography Line.
There are all of the counties on the project page, and a list of space pages which members have created.
If you have questions, just contact me.
Thanks for joining.
Mary Richardson- Project Coordinator- Texas Project
edited by Mary Richardson
We recently left a message on your profile to check in with the Profile Improvement Project (PIP). If you would like to continue with the Project, please let us know.
We would like to hear from you with any ideas or suggestions. If you do not wish to participate in the Project, please let us know. If we don’t hear from you within 14 days we will remove you from the Project, but we will welcome you back at any time.
Sincerely,
Debi Hoag and Kay Knight, Co-Leaders, Profile Improvement Project
Robin Shaules, Project Coordinator, Profile Improvement Project
I got your message, and replied.
Kay
The Profile Improvement Project (PIP) is performing a check-in with project members. Please review the following and respond to let us know that you are content with your current team or if you would like to be more involved.
The Project operates in a team structure. There are currently three participant PIP Teams -- The Maintenance Category Team, the Unknowns Team, and the Biography Team. There is also the Voyage Team which guides new Voyagers. See the Profile Improvement Project Teams for a brief outline of each team.
There are currently three different Biography Teams - The Biography Team, the Abandoned Team, and the Popular Team.
You're currently identified as a member of the Biography Team. The Biography Team works on profiles from their watchlist and other profiles that interest them.
Are you happy with the Team you are on? If you are interested in working with a different Team, please let us know.
If you have not already done so, we invite you to join the email GoogleGroup. We use the WikiTree Discord server #profile-improvement channel for our project. Neither is required; we also use the Profile_Improvement tag in G2G for Project announcements.
We thank you for all you do to help the Profile Improvement Project meet its goals. We would like to hear about the successes you’ve had and would also appreciate any feedback you have to help improve the Project. Please share your thoughts in a reply to this comment or via private message to one of us.
Sincerely,
Debi Hoag and Kay Knight, Co-Leaders, Profile Improvement Project
Robin Shaules, Project Coordinator, Profile Improvement Project
Thanks for mentioning that Senetiere profile that doesn't qualify for Louisiana Project management. I looked at our bloated watchlist (double the recommended size!) and decided to go ahead and remove project management. BTW, when I came here to let you know, I noticed a sticker with red text that you should click on and fix: Descendant of PGM migrant PGM Rev. Adam Blakeman. Thanks for all you do for Louisiana profiles!
https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Space:Acadian_Standard_Names&public=1
If you need any help connecting to your Acadian ancestors, we'd be glad to help. Feel free to send me a note with any questions you have. Cindy Bourque Cooper, co-leader Acadians Project
Since no names came up, I thought I was in the clear. I’m guessing that I need to choose “connect” for every profile, before I choose create, in order to see existing profiles.
Do you know if these merges will be approved?
MaryAnn
Yes the merges will be approved - I checked them and locked the ones with the correct spelling so the merge goes the right way. Cindy
Don Trahan [email address removed]
Thanks for having a Big Heart and adopting Orphan Profiles. You will want to read this After adopting orphans FAQ to understand what to do next and it explains the special attention those profiles need.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
David
Congratulations on certifying to work on pre-1700 profiles! It’s very important to read and understand the Help:Pre-1700 Profiles page.
Primary sources should always be added to pre-1700 profiles at the time they are created. If you don't have a source for a pre-1700 profile, it would be best to ask for help in the G2G forum before creating the profile.
These profiles for deep ancestors are shared by many, and collaborating on them works best if we all follow the guidelines in the certification quiz.
Pippin Sheppard ~ WikiTree Pre-1700 Greeter
Happy Tree Climbing, Pam ~ Your WikiGreeter.