Heather (Foster) Foster-McCullough

Ancestors

Daughter of Wylie Foster and [private mother (1940s - unknown)]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Heather Foster-McCullough [send private message]

Biography

Heather (Foster) Foster-McCullough is a member of the Kentucky Project.

I was born in Alabama and relocated to Germany at a young age. This left a big impact on me as German became my primary language. At one time, I was unable to speak with my parents on their return from holiday as I had spoken nothing but German while they were gone. When we returned to the States, I refused to speak English because I wanted to go home--that being Germany for me.

Being a military child, travelling often, and having been exposed to different cultures and languages, I relate to third culture identity^[1] as so many military kids do. It's helped me foster interpersonal relationships and feel comfortable in the whatever settings I find myself--wherever I find myself. Even as an introvert!

After working at a music store for what felt like forever (since high school), I worked a short stint in a county courthouse. I loved it! I worked downtown--we have a tiny downtown, but I liked parking wherever I could find a space and walking to the building, and walking to lunch. My aunt worked at the same building and occasionally she'd lend me her parking pass, but I liked the walking part. After only three months I started a new job where I actually used my degee, my English degree if you can believe it (dattebayo!). It was there that I met--and knew at first glance--the sunshine of my life, David McCullough. We worked together, closely, and slowly, very slowly, built a relationship. I miss him every day.

Work & Hobbies

My hobbies are manga (and anime), languages: Latin and French rn, watercolour, and genealogy. I like reading though it has not been the refuge it once was after David's death. Regardless, I prefer sci-fi and fantasy, and in non-fiction, world history, especially the Bronze Age^[2] or Egypt. I am slowly learning more about genetics. I enjoy writing but most often get carried away with worldbuiding^[3] and forget to write.

As for my career, I create RTFM documentation that helps non-techs run their tech. 'Press this button to do this thing. Don't change this and don't pull that.' I like what I do and I like my coworkers. And occasionally, I get to argue about grammar and Oxford commas^[4].

And of course, my favourite hobby of all: Genealogy. I started genealogy studies when I was very young--everyone always asked if I was with my grandparents!--and it was mostly microfiche and paper. It was far more difficult than it is now, but it felt a little more like schoolwork then, so it's a lot more fun now too. The collaborative working space of wikitree and online resources alongside DNA and genetic informatics thrills me! Once family members started getting DNA tests and making family trees I had to start pulling my files out. No one had ever seemed that interested even after I dredged up cousins for a family reunion after meeting my first online relative. Unfortunately he was too sick to travel and I never did get to meet him as he was in his 90s, but I can only hope I'm online in my 90s guiding little ones to their history. "Your 5X grandpa is ..." I feel like the family historian and don't mind the role at all, but definitely need to organise, prioritise, and learn to focus. Squirrel! I study a person, place, or surname nearly every day. I am currently working to extend the family tree of both myself and my late husband, David McCullough.

My genealogy goals for the new year are to:

• get organised
• create a system (refine organisation into a system?)
• complete bio/memorial for my husband David
• complete bio/memorial for Rusty, Wylie W Foster, my dad who died in 2019 and who I miss talking to so much.

Research Notes

My brickwalls are due to a few different things. Some are research and time and some are the type of research. That is, I need to get into libraries and/or archives for some of these ancestors. I inherited a large family tree filled with 'ancestry.com' style errors, assumptions, and hopes. For years my goal has been correcting a lot of those mistakes. I've removed limbs, lines, and read through at least a years' worth of newspapers for one death. If only time was all it took.

These are my most pressing lines at the moment:

• Maternal paterfamilas, Casper Seaver (abt.1710-1752). Or Seevers. Or maybe Severs, Sever, Siever, Sievert, or Sieber, et cet. We are of a Central Asian Haplogroup and don't connect genetically to the 'big' Seaver groups that predominate. We're not related to New England Seavers or the 'Don Juan Xavier' Seavers of Tennessee, though, apparently, they all lived in the exact same place and they all liked the exact same names, thanks guys! We do share rare and very rare matches at FTDNA to 'ancient' DNA: everywhere from France and Italy to Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Russia. Two of the ancient connections have only 45 matches on FTDNA!
• Direct maternal line: Aaron/Margaret Winiford (Powell) Aaron (1858-1900)/Hare For a long time it went back so far and then I began examining all my records and found... oh so many errors. Nope, we don't trace our maternal line to Frances (Tough) Stebbins (abt.1596-bef.1673), but gosh do I know a lot about her now!
• Maternal grandfather's maternal line: Coleman/Raena Isobel Baker (1867-1931)/Hoover and, I think, maybe some family secrets?
• Paternal direct maternal line: [Fleming/Cocke/Lavinia Bryant (1834-aft.1900)/?] This mtDNA is rare and spread all over. Matches range from Ireland to Morocco.
• My father's maternal great grandmother's father, Green Berry McGuire (abt.1820-abt.1862). Despite finding numerous Greenberries, I can't find The One.
• My father's paternal great grandfather's grandfather: the infamous Henry Berrong (abt.1785-1873). One day, Henry. One day. France, Holland, Spain, South Carolina: I don't know where you were born. I don't know who your parents are. I don't have all your census records. But what I do have is tenacity, patience, and an addiction to research. I will find you and I will catalogue you.

Sources

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_culture_kid
2. ↑ https://www.worldhistory.org/Bronze_Age_Collapse/
3. ↑ https://www.papertrue.com/blog/worldbuilding/
4. ↑ I am Team Oxford Comma, of course.

• First-hand information. Entered by Heather Foster at registration and updated regularly.
• Paternal relationship confirmed by Family Tree DNA Family Finder match between Heather (Foster) Foster-McCullough and father Wylie W Foster. Predicted relationship: Parent/Child = FATHER
• Maternal relationship confirmed by Family Tree DNA Family Finder match between Heather (Foster) Foster-McCullough and mother. Predicted relationship: Parent/Child = MOTHER
• Maternal relationship confirmed by Family Tree DNA Family Finder match between Heather (Foster) Foster-McCullough and uncle L Seaver. Predicted relationship: Half Sibling, Uncle/Aunt/Niece/Nephew = UNCLE