Jo Gill

Thank you for participating in the December 2023 USBH Connecting Challenge and helping us create 6214 profiles. We created a total of 46,036 profiles for the year. We met our 2023 goal of 250k profiles and finished out the year with 168,195!

You can see your personal 2023 total and your all time 2021-2023 total on the 2023 tab here: our tracking spreadsheet.

Check out our new 1880 Census Project. We’d love everyone’s help in 2024.

Dear Jo,

The Profile Improvement Project (PIP) is performing a check-in with project members. Please review the following and let us know if you are content where we have placed you or 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.

You’re currently identified as a member of the Unknowns Team. Are you working on a particular group of unknowns? 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

Hi Jo, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a marvelous New Year.

The Annual US Civil War January Challenge is to connect US Civil War Soldiers for the January Connect-a-Thon. This year will be a twist of what I usually do. Instead of you choosing a "Surname Letter", you will be choosing from a block of soldiers whom I've already screened that show they have family to connect. Each soldier has a connection to one or more of his immediate family--parents, siblings, spouses, children, on their profile. Whether you work on one soldier or your whole block of soldiers, it's one step closer in our goal to connect each of our US Civil War Soldiers. The goal is to make sure all these soldiers are connected at least by one or two degrees. You can sign up now by clicking this link: US Civil War Sign-up Chart

Honor To Meet You Jo,

Thank you for all of the Pitts and Bridges Family updates. -- Rick

Hi Jo,

I'm project coordinator for WikiTree's Native Americans project. I'm checking in with folks with the project badge to see if they're still interested in being involved in the project. Could you please let me know, and if so, what area of interest you have? Many thanks. -- Jillaine

Jo, thanks for your work on the Resch tree. Ella Resch was my great grandmother!

Greetings Poland Project member! We have new information and updates:

• For the last several months, the Poland Project has been undergoing new organization with new volunteers. We are excited about how the project can enhance Wikitree!

• We have several different task teams that need volunteers. Please take a look at this page to see which one interests you: Volunteer Tasks. Once you have decided which task team you would like to work on, please reply to this comment.

• The only requirements for ongoing membership in the Poland Project are that you join a team and respond to the periodic check-ins from the Project Leaders/Coordinators. We recognize that people lead busy lives and are grateful for any and all contributions you can make.

• Once you have joined a team, please join the Poland Project Google Group to receive project updates and participate in project and team discussions. You can also follow Project news via the tags 'Poland_Europe' or 'Polish_Roots' or 'Polska' on G2G.

• If we don’t hear from you in the next 45 days, your membership badge will be removed. In this case please don't be offended as you're welcome to rejoin at any time. Please also note, that in order to receive help researching your Polish ancestors, membership is not mandatory. Just ask your questions in the G2G forum and tag them with 'Poland_Europe' or 'Polska' in order for our knowledgeable researchers to see them.

The Poland Project Coordinators: Skye, Tina & Maggie

Hi Jo-

I saw where you completed a merge of Hugh Barr after both profile managers noted the indiscrepancues and commented on and off profile that we were trying to locate an additional source. I'm hoping you could add what you found for determining the Chester, SC birth was correct over the TN as well as the lost parents from the other profile. I believe most of the data I entered was transfered but out of respect for the other p.m. I don't want him thinking I attempted to override anything. Thank You! I apologize for not being able to initiate a private message but I only have my phone and that feature isn't supported anymore / or currently. Thanks for all you do! Cheers! Becky Elizabeth

Hi Jo,

Thanks for working on some pre-1700 profiles. When you use thepeerage.com, make sure you check their sources and then use that as the source. Many times they use Emails or Burke's Irish Family Records which are not good sources. If you have any questions about a source or person, feel free to give me a shout.

Rich D,

Hi Jo, I was looking at some of my family and when I got to my moms profile Linda Ruth (Whitsitt) Galloway it says that she died in 2020. Is there any way to correct this? She is still very much alive but I didn't know how to change this information. Thank you.

Laura Galloway Goins

Thank you for participating in the March 2023 USBH Connecting Challenge and helping us create 3452 profiles. Our new total is 191,151.

All first-time participants in 2023 can add the 2023 participant sticker to their profile. Connecting Challenge Stickers

We’ve started the April challenge here: April Connecting Challenge.

Emma

Hi Jo, if you want the category https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Gill-3793 deleted, could you remove it from your profile please?

Thanks, regards, Margaret, Categorization project.

Thank you so much Jo for your work on William Brock (1834-1917) and his family. I will have to learn how to make those nifty tables out of census data!

Ruth

We have our category https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Cypress_Grove_Cemetery_No._2%2C_New_Orleans%2C_Louisiana

Jo, here's the space page link: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Cypress_Grove_Cemetery_No._2

Hi Jo, we can start on that space page I've finally freed up some time ;) Since you know so much more about the cemetery I'm going to follow your direction. I've misplaced my notes, probably somewhere with my Connect-a-Thon notes :) So what Title should we give for the Space Page:

I know you've been getting the soldiers ready, so what do you need me to do on the page?

OK I did find my notes: Title: Cypress Grove Cemetery No. 2

I also found a picture we can include on the page :)

Thank you Jo for participating in the US Civil War Challenge. There were 27 of us who signed up for the Challenge, completing 6,480 profiles.

The US Civil War February Challenge will be to create profiles for those soldiers who died during the Battle of Shiloh on the 7th and 8th of April 1862. If you're interested in joining another challenge, check out the US Civil War Challenge Page on February 1st.

Thank you again. Pam

Hi Jo,

I'm just finding my way around here. Realised I can see your tree. Not obvious if we are related, though have Gill coming from the same area. I presume you have looked at my tree.

Not sure how you do the biographies, but impressive.

And certainly want to be part of the Gill one name.

Kind regards

Judith

Congratulations Jo on accomplishing something that I had attempted for years and it took you one day. My hats off to you.

Congratulations on earning a 50+ sticker in the November 2022 Sourcerers Challenge and thanks for all the improvements you've made to WikiTree!

Thanks for all your work, Jo!

Hi Jo,

Could I please direct your attention to a profile you created back in 2019, Morrow-4427. You marked it as a duplicate of Morrow-4418. Both profiles are unsourced, but maybe you can resolve the issue by either clarifying that they are indeed duplicates and merging them, or removing the "Unmerged Match".

TIA

Le gach dea-ghuí, Feargal.

Hi Jo. Thanks for your efforts to improve our shared tree.

Hi Jo,

I noticed that you used the Challenge Tracker to track a change during a recent Saturday Sourcing Sprint. Please consider officially joining us for the Saturday Sourcing Sprints. You can find information, including how to join, on the Sprints Help page.

No pressure, every profile with a source makes our WikiTree better. Your work will continue to be included in Tracking Sheet's Unregistered total at the bottom of the help page if you do not register.

Your work is appreciated. Thanks for sourcing!

Mel ~ Sprints facilitator

I worked on the Drinkwater-149 profile a little more today and it is starting to shape up but still needs work on the references in particular. I noticed you are a PIP member as I am. I am still working on my family profiles but occasionally get distracted by other profiles.

Jill Foster Lonski-12

Dear Jo,

The Profile Improvement Project (PIP) is performing its first annual check-in with our project members. Please review the following and let us know if you are content where we have placed you or would like to be more involved.

We are in the process of transitioning to a team structure. There will be three participant PIP Teams to start -- 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.

You're currently identified as a member of the Biography Team Level 1, working on profiles from your own watchlist, from projects in which you are involved, and whatever else you find. Biography Teams Levels 2 and 3 will work on designated profiles for notables (Level 3) and everyday people (Level 2). Please let us know if you would like to help with a higher-level Bio Team or one of the other Teams.

We would also like to invite you to join the email GoogleGroup and text chat Discord channel for our project. If you request to join our GoogleGroup, please be sure to include your Wiki ID. 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 and WikiTree. The Project’s mission is to:

Make profiles beautiful! We clean up messy biography sections and sources, and try to set standards for attractive, useful, and well-written biographies, starting with those we manage.

We know you’re working on profiles *smile* We would like to hear about successes you’ve had toward the Project’s goals. We would also appreciate any feedback you might have to help us improve the Project. Please share your thoughts in a reply to this comment or privately via private message to either of us.

Sincerely,

Debi Hoag and Robin Shaules Co-Leaders, Profile Improvement Project

Hi ,

I noticed that you used the Challenge Tracker to track a change during a recent Saturday Sourcing Sprint. Please consider officially joining us for the Saturday Sourcing Sprints. You can find information, including how to join, on the Sprints Help page.

No pressure, every profile with a source makes our WikiTree better. Your work will continue to be included in Tracking Sheet's Unregistered total at the bottom of the help page if you do not register.

Your work is appreciated. Thanks for sourcing!

Mel Earwood - Sprint Facilitator

Jo,

Thank you for contributing to the March 2022 Sourcerers Challenge! As you know, every source added to an unsourced profile improves our One Tree. Thank you for taking time from your own family history to help others.

WT Appreciation Team

Hi Jo! The default text for the Nevada Sticker has changed, and the ability to change the default text added. See https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Template:Nevada_Sticker for examples.

Cheers, Liz

Hi Jo,

You added a note to this profile. About Paul Loller Marriage. I have family in newspaper this Ruth Cecile Bright father obit. It has her last name as Loller. Not sure what to do with note you have???

https://www.newspapers.com/image/293928413/?article=17b55175-7d81-450b-9019-cca83699322a&focus=0.26331708,0.3162398,0.6056247,0.53058636&xid=3355&_ga=2.122154059.1326231700.1637624227-1086642607.1637624227

Billie

Jo, Good morning and thank you for all you do on Wiki. I hate to send corrections to you but I do so because I fear messing up the Wiki systems or creating duplicates if I attemtped to make the changes. I am writing today in regard to my great grandmother Elizabeth Burton Drinkwater Mathis to let you know the correct order of who the 12 chidlren belong to. Also a change for her husband John Drinkwater and an addition of a wife for John.

John Drinkwater was married 2 times. 1) Martha ? born we think abt 1786 in Randolph Georgia and according to the Mortality Schedule of 1850 Martha died Sept 1849 in Baker, Georgia and they had the following children. a - Eliza (Elizabeth) Drinkwater born about 1826 North Carolina and died aft 1860 census. She was married twice - once to a Barrentine and some others say to a Fulgrum (I have not proved Fulgrum yet). She is listed as Barrentine on the 1860 census under John and does not appear with the family on the 1850 census. I have never been able to determine who her Barrentine husband was. I suspected Stephen Barrantine but that fell apart. b - Everett D Drinkwater born about 1828 Randolph Georgia and died Mar 5 1881 Albany, Dougherty Georgia. Failry well documented life. He started out rough (ended up in Milledgeville Pen. for larceny in about 1850). Married twice and by all other accounts turned out to be an upstanding citizen. Served in the CSA. c - Samuel Drinkwater born about 1832 Randolph Georgia.. I don't know anything else about him. d - John W Drinkwater born abt 1838 Randolph Georgia and died Jan 6 1894 Dougherty Georgia. I found a deed for a sale of 250 acres in Calhoun Georgia that was adjacent to land owned by Isaac Mathis (husband of Elizabeth Burton Drinkwater Mathis). I suspect that this 250 acres once belonged to his father John Drinwkater. Served in the CSA. Married at least one time but I found no children. e - Texas Drinkwater born about 1846 Baker County Georgia. Do not have anything else about him. f - Priscilla L Drinkwater born 1849 Baker. I believe she was born when Martha died in 1849. She is the "unkown" child in the 1850 census Baker County Georgia . All of the above children need to be removed from being children of Elizabeth Burton Drinkwater Mathis and instead added to being children of John and Martha.

John marries a second time to Elizabeth Burton in Feb 15 1852 - remember Elijah Drinkwater was born jul 11 1850 to a Bowen (as proved by DNA testing) before she marries John Drinkwater. So Elijah needs to be removed from being a son of John or Isaac Mathis and instead list as his father being an unkown Bowen, I believe that Elijahs father is Lewis Bowen born about 1815 Sampson North Carolina and died between his last land sale in 1885 in Calhoun to dying just before the 1900 census of Early COunty where his wife Isabelle is listed as a widow. I am working to prove Lewis is Elijahs father - at least beyond the vast amount of strong circumstantial evidence I have that he is Elijahs father. It is intersting -one point of evidence in particular - somewhat "proves" circumstatially that Elijah is the son of Lewis Bowen and Elizabeth Burton because Elijah seems to follow Lewis. Elijah is in the 1880 Miller census but then he moves by at least 1898 (tax census) to Early County to be near Lewis and his family. Elijah then moves back to Calhoun County by the 1910 cenus - after Lewis dies. There are other points of evidence but I will leave those off for now for space.

Ok back to Elizabeth Burton and John Drinkwater's children - they have 5 chidren - a -William Henry Drinkwater born Oct 1852 Georgia and died Dec 22 1924 Morgan Georgia. A descendant of this William Henry Drinwkater is how DNA proved that Elijah was not born to John but was born to Elizabeth. It also proved that Elijahs father was a Bowen. b - Ellen L V Drinkwater born about 1853 and died after 1877 but this is all I know on her. c - Jasper Newton (Coot) Drinkwater born Mar 1857 Ashland Clay Alabama (I think) and died May 22 1932 Houston Alabama d - Mary R Drinkwater born abt 1858 Georgia and died aft 1880 census. That is all I know on her. e - Margaret Amanda (Mandy) Drinwkater born Dec 1859 Georgia and died bef 1910 (I think in Alabama). In the 1870 census Calhoun she is listed in the household of Isaac Mathis and Elizabeth. She ends up marrying one of Isaacs Mathis sons Charles (Charlie) M Mathis (seen a couple of lines above Amanda in the same census). All of the Mathis children that are shown on the 1870 and 1880 census are children of Isaac Mathis born abt 1822 North Caroina and another Elizabeth ? that was born in about 1826 North Carolina. She is not the same Elizabeth that is in the 1870 and 1880 cenus with Isaac. That second Elizabeth is Elizabeth Burton Drinkwater Mathis born about 1826 in GEORGIA and died aft 1880 census.

So to wrap this up. Isaac Mathis married the first Elizabeth about 1841 in North Carolina and they had 5 children (that I know of). NOTE - NONE OF THE MATHIS CHIDREN THAT YOU SHOW AS CHIDLREN OF ISAAC AND ELIZABETH BURTON DRINKWATER MATHIS (born about 1826 in GEORGIA) WERE BORN TO ELIZABETH BURTON DRINKWATER MATHIS - BUT INSTEAD TO ISAACS FIRST WIFE ELIZABETH ? born about 1826 NC.

The children of Isaac Mathis born about 1822 NC to aft Oct 25 1881 and his first wife Elizabeth born about 1826 NC and died between 1860 and 1870 in Calhoun Georgia are: a - Rebecca Mathis born about 1842 North Carolina. That is all I have on her. b - Charles (Charlie) M Mathis born Sept 1847 Georgia and died after 1920. Charlie marrried Elizabeth and Johns daughter - Margaret Amanda Mandy Drinkwater, They owned and sold land that was next to Lewis Bowen - (that I think was the father of Margaret Amanda Mandy Drinkwater's half brother Elijah Drinkwater - my great grandfather.) Isaac deeded 250 acres to Charlie, Amanda and Tony in 1881 in Calhoun. They sold that land in pieces over the next few years. c - Hannah A Mathis born about 1851 Georgia. No other inforamion on her. d - Tony Mathis born Aug 1854 Georgia and died aft 1920 Pigrims Rest Jackson Florida. Tony was part of the deed from Isaac Mathis for the 250 acres of land that included Charlie and Amanda. e - Safronia Mathis born 1856 Georgia . That is all I have on her.

Jo - I hope this is enough inforamtion to correct who all the children belong to and to add a first wife (Martha) for John Drinkwater and a first wife for Isaac Mathis (Elizabeth 1826 NC to bet 1860-1870 Georgia). Sorry to drop this on you but as I said I do not want to mess anything up on Wiki.

Steve Drinkwater (Bowen)

Hello,

I am checking in on behalf of the 1776 Project to announce the new project membership requirements and to verify that you are still interested in being a member of the project. All project members are being asked to join one of the project teams and also to make at least one project contribution every 6 months. We are also asking all project members to join the project's Google Group for project communications.

If you are interested in remaining with the Project, please reply to this comment or send me a message, request to join the Google Group, and let us know what team you would like to participate on.

We really appreciate your contributions on WikiTree, and thank you for all your hard work. If you have any questions, please ask. We would also love to hear any feedback you may have for the project.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!

SJ - 1776 Project Leader

Hi Jo

The United Kingdom Project has not been active since 2018 and we are now completely closing it down. We are removing all UK project badges. If you still have an interest in the UK and have not already joined another project, then you will need to join the England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales Project by answering one or more of their G2G posts. If your interest is in the British Isles and British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories, then please contact me directly.

Regards Joan

Hi

My name is Sarah and I’m the new Project Leader for The Native Americans Project. This is your project check-in letter. I would love to hear back from you about your current Native American research interests and project related activity.

Thank you,

Sarah Mason, NA Project Leader

Hi, Jo!

Thank you for your participation in October’s 2020 Source-a-thon. Your contributions helped us to clear over 57,000 profiles that needed sourcing. This makes our Shared Tree all that much better.

Keep up the great work!

Pippin Sheppard WikiTree’s Appreciation Team

Hello, Jo!

Thanks for all the work you accomplished during our Connect-A-Thon 2020. It is amazing how many more profiles were created and added to our Shared Tree. You have every right to be pleased with your efforts!

Kind regards,

Pippin Sheppard ~ WikiTree’s Appreciation Team

PS: Love your bio!

Hello! Yes! A sub-project for those who came from Europe is definitely needed. It's been on my to-do list for awhile now to get that set up. I'm a bad elf! But I do agree it definitely needs to be done.

Image:SherylMoore DD Sandbox.jpg

Hi Jo

Thank you for participating in the Data Doctor weekly Challenge - for Orphan profiles. Every suggestion you cleared made our Tree that much better. The Data Doctor Team and the WikiTree community appreciates the work you are doing. Look forward to seeing join us for the next challenge.

Janet Wild

A Data Doctor Project Coordinator - Member of the WikiTree Appreciation Team

Hi there, Jo!

Thanks so very much for your participation in the spring Clean-a-thon! Every suggestion you cleared made our Tree that much better. The WikiTree community appreciates YOU!

Pip Sheppard WikiTree’s Appreciation Team

PS: You said "Some days I check the time and realize that I have not changed out of my PJs..." Oh, how I can related!

Hi,

The Global Cemeteries Project is currently undergoing our member check-in and wanted to verify that you are still active and interested in being a member of the project. Are you currently assigned to or working with one of our Cemetery Teams? If not, is there a particular Team or area you are interested in participating with? I would be delighted to help you get setup in one or more of our collaborative teams!

We use Google Groups for internal project collaboration, so if you are not yet setup for access feel free to submit a join request and we will get that approved as quick as possible. We also ask that members check their follwed tags to make sure you are following the correct project tag (CEMETERIES) so you don't miss any disucssions in G2G.

Last, but not least, we would like to thank you for all of your contributions to WikiTree and let you konw that any ideas or suggestions for improvement you may have for the Global Cemeteries Project would greatly appreciated!

I look forward to hearing form you soon!

Steve ~Global Cemeteries Project Leader

Thomas Drinkwater-1392

Hi Jo Unfortunately the only thing I did was remove ‘United Kingdom’ from the profile as he was born before 1801. The good news is that I’ve located the 1841 census record for him which I added to his profile and also Sarah’s. If you want to check it out, you will see that there is a few children to add as well. Best wishes Sue

Hi Jo.

Thank you for you contributions to the Disasters Project. We are sorry you are leaving us, but we understand the interests move on to other things. If you choose to join us again in the future you will be very welcome.

Regards Joan

Joan, thanks for nudging me again! I'm done with the only piece of the Disasters Project that I know about. and .... I'm on to another big project. I could add a photo of the memorial created for the Kennecott accident, but I have to wait for spring - much snow!

Hi Jo,

It has been a few weeks since we contacted you about your participation in the Disasters Project and as we haven't heard from you, we are following up to make sure you wish to remain a member.

We understand that interests shift as we grow our shared tree and that some members may have moved on to projects more pertinent to the branches they are currently building. If this is the case for you, please let us know.

If we do not hear back from you within the week, we will assume you have moved on to other things for the moment and remove you from the project. Please know that you will always be welcome to rejoin should your interests shift back in this direction.

Thank you so much for your participation; we genuinely appreciate it.

Regards Joan

Hi Jo,

On behalf of the Disasters Project Leaders we are carrying out a check-in to see how all the members are doing and taking the opportunity to thank you for all your hard work in the past.

We have recently made a lot of changes. We are changing the focus of the project to include more about people involved in disasters and the effect it had on them and their families. We have divided the project into teams. Please have a look https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:Disasters

Please let me know, by comment on my profile or a private message, whether you are still active in the project, and which team(s) you would like to work with. What are you enjoying most about being in the project? What would you like to see improved or changed.

We're looking forward to hearing back from you,

Joan and Lizzie