
Ellen Smith
Honor Code SignatorySigned 30 Apr 2014 | 147,608 contributions | 15,187 thank-yous | 1,686 connections
In WikiTree I currently serve as volunteer Project Leader for the New Netherland Project and United States Project, Project Leader supporting the Massachusetts Project, and a Reserve Leader for the Palatine Migration Project.
Contents |
![]() |
Born, grew up, and still living (last time I looked!) in the United States of America.
Not updated recently. I now have more identified ancestors than appear here.
The table (table format at Space:Table of Known Ancestors) below summarizes the extent of the information on my ancestry that is included in Wikitree. For the ten generations previous to mine, it shows the number of possible ancestors, the number of these ancestors who are currently identified/documented included in WikiTree, and the percentage of the possible ancestors who are identified here. Cumulative (overall) totals are also provided. Generations 9 and 10 are not up to date.
"Identified" ancestors include some with unknown last names at birth. It also includes some questionable identifications and people that I have not researched.
ANCESTORS BY GENERATION | OVERALL ANCESTORS (CUMULATIVE) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Gen. # | Direct Relation to Self | Dates of Birth | Matches | # | # Identified in WikiTree | % Identified in WikiTree | Total # | Total # Identified | Total % Identified |
1 | Parent | 1920s | siblings | 2 | 2 | 100.0% | 2 | 2 | 100.0% |
2 | grandparent | 1890s | 1st Cousins | 4 | 4 | 100.0% | 6 | 6 | 100.0% |
3 | great grandparent | 1850s to 1870s | 2nd Cousins | 8 | 8 | 100.0% | 14 | 14 | 100.0% |
4 | 2nd great grandparent | 1810s to 1850s | 3rd Cousins | 16 | 16 | 100.0% | 30 | 30 | 100.0% |
5 | 3rd great grandparent | 1770s to 1820s | 4th Cousins | 32 | 32 | 100.0% | 62 | 62 | 100.0% |
6 | 4th great grandparent | 1740s to 1790s | 5th Cousins | 64 | 52 | 81.2% | 126 | 114 | 90.5% |
7 | 5th great grandparent | 1700s to 1760s | 6th Cousins | 128 | 89 | 69.5% | 254 | 203 | 79.9% |
8 | 6th great grandparent | 1670s to 1740s | 7th Cousins | 256 | 141* | 55.1% | 510 | 344 | 67.5% |
9 | 7th great grandparent | 1650s to 1700s | 8th Cousins | 512 | 250* | 48.8% | 1022 | 594 | 58.1% |
10 | 8th great grandparent | 1590s to 1670s | 9th Cousins | 1024 | 401* | 39.2% | 2046 | 981 | 47.9% |
*There are several duplicates (people who appear on multiple branches of the tree) in these generations (see "Endogamy" section below for a list). These people are counted more than once in the numbers for both possible ancestors and identified ancestors. Cumulative numbers of distinct individuals in my WikiTree-documented ancestry are: 343 at generation 8, 570 at generation 9, and 934 at generation 10.
See this page.
See this page for my list of ancestors who appear more than once in my somewhat recent ancestry.
See my Notes on DNA Matches page for information on DNA confirmation of maternal and paternal relationships.
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Ellen is 15 degrees from Daniel Boone, 13 degrees from John Adams, 17 degrees from James Beckwourth, 17 degrees from Jemmy Bird, 16 degrees from Kit Carson, 16 degrees from William Clark, 15 degrees from James Clyman, 16 degrees from David Crockett, 17 degrees from Louis Jolliet, 19 degrees from Esther Pariseau, 18 degrees from Pierre Esprit Radisson and 18 degrees from Zachary Jon Smith on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
edited by Jane Embleton
Please take a look at G2G https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1627224/please-add-vandyck-65-as-the-father-of-margaret-vandyck-270 Van_Dyck-65 is an PPP profile and Hunter Blevins wants to add him as the father of Margrietje (Van Dyck) Williams (1724-abt.1805)
edited by Pierre Goolaerts
I'm reaching out to you for some help regarding the connection of Bartholf-45 as daughter to Bertholf-40 who ayk has PPP. I began posting comments on Giliaem's profile page about two months ago, have provided church baptism records to validate the source, but haven't received any response (pro or con) from anyone. I sincerely hope that the project is not holding any ill will or has any reservations regarding my capability to perform these simple tasks. Looking forward to hearing from you. Respectfully.
Unconnected Massachusetts https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:DBE_Unconnected_US#Massachusetts
Team standings and totals https://wikitree.sdms.si/Challenges/ConnectAThon/TeamAndUser.htm
Welcome back to Team Massachusetts. We’ve been doing this for some time now. Let’s have some fun this weekend making lots of connections. Bob
Thank you for the Family Star badge, much appreciated!
I would like to know if you have specific projects for US Presidents, Signers of the US Constitution & Signers of the Declaration of Independence? Hal
At times in the past, there have been focused efforts to document "Founding Fathers" (category at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:American_Founding_Fathers), including (but not limited to) signers of the Declaration and the Constitution. There are categories for both of these two groups of signers: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Signers_of_the_United_States_Declaration_of_Independence and https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Signers_of_the_United_States_Constitution
Peter Demorest (Demorest-12) and Privacy Level 60 Peter Demarest (DeMaree-73) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Demorest-12 Mariete Meet (Meet-9) and Privacy Level 60 Maritie Demarest (Meet-1) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Meet-9 Jacomina Demarest (Ruine-1) and Privacy Level 50 Jacomina De Ruine (De Ruine-15) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/De_Ruine-15 Jean Des marets (Des marets-208) and Privacy Level 60 Jean de Maree (Des Marest-42) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Des_marets-208
I thought the one was PPP, it merged to an unusual lnab (Ruine-1) but that seems ok to nns.
Did you get an error message when you tried to complete these merges after they had gone to default approval? Why did you think that you needed to be on the trusted list, or that the profile manager needed to be removed, first?
When I saw your request for help with these merges, I thought you were asking me to expedite merges that had not gotten to 30-day default approval yet, and I did not see impatience on your part as creating an urgent need for me to respond.
I am very sorry that I didn't pay more attention, but as it happens there was nothing I could have done to fix your problem.
I've never seen the code "Privacy Level 60." What does it mean?
edited by Ellen Smith
2,348,606 new records - https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62483/
I did look at the original Latin record—it is a death record. “Resquiecant in pace” means rest in peace. But I must admit I couldn’t make out a lot of what it said as I couldn’t figure out the letters from the writing. Maybe Eva Geigerin was Lutheran? (Not too sure.)
I am pretty sure that the word "obyt" at the end of the record also indicates death. The death record is unlikely to tell you her birth name (the question you asked), but it would be interesting to have it deciphered. It looks like it contains more information than merely a report of death. Also, I note that the record page is full of people named Geiger. The record three up from this one is for Joannes Valentian(?) Christopher Geiger, and the one two up from this one looks like may refer to a woman as "nee Geigerin" (just a guess on the "nee"!). The names Geiger and Geigerin also appear earlier on the page. By compiling bits of information about various Geigers in Leimersheim, you may be able to discover some more information about your own ancestors.
A genealogist with experience reading Latin church records from 18th century German churches probably would be able to explicate it for you, as the handwriting is reasonable legible. I suggest that you post a request in G2G requesting assistance with translating a German church record in Latin -- and include the URL https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJY-1ZVY in the text section of the G2G section to make it easy for others to find it quickly. :-)
I noticed that you deleted "British Colonial America" from Eby-492. I am pretty sure that The Province of Pennsylvania was located in British Colonial America. Is there a reason for this change?
edited by Ellen Smith
The existence of a Wikipedia article about British America does not prove otherwise.
Ellen, Farnam on page 38 has John's father (and Dorothy's husband) as John born 22 June 1668, the son of John, and not John born 1658 the son of Thomas. What do you think? https://archive.org/details/historyofdescend00farn/page/38/mode/2up?q=%22Abigail+Hollis%22
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Whitman-4908
The Whitmans are in my connection path to Julius Miller this week, so I thought I'd take a look.
edited by Karen Lowe
As with many 19th century genealogies, I found Farnam less reliable for early ancestors than for the people who were his contemporaries or their recent ancestors.
I was mostly using Farnam to help connect the modern family of Julius Miller's wife to colonial ancestors. After I found birth records for children of John and Abigail, plus a marriage record for John and Abigail, I identified John Whitman born 1709 as the John Whitman Jr. who married Abigail Hollis, so I created his profile. When I saw the existing profile for Whitman-338 connected as the husband of Dorothy Pratt Whitman, I connected John born 1709 to that couple as his parents and did not investigate the Whitman line any further.
Thanks for looking into this. You are correcting a long-existing error in the Whitman line. :-)
PS - My own connection to Julius Miller via the Whitman line was to Dorothy Pratt via my Pratt ancestry.
edited by Ellen Smith
edited by Albertus Robert Casimir (Fuller) Jung
Regardless, I did a little bit of looking at your Mary Wood problem. Wood seems to have been a somewhat common name among early New England settlers, which makes it more difficult to pin down a specific Mary Wood. (I have some Woods in my ancestry, too.) I did not even find a record of any Mary Wood being born 31 Oct 1653. Dean Crawford Smith, who is a respected professional genealogist with much experience in this time and place, does quote that date -- see <https://archive.org/details/ancestryofsamuel00smit/page/90/mode/2up>. According to the NEHGR article about Isaiah Wood, there are no deed records for Isaiah, but Dean Crawford Smith cites several land records related to Edward and Mary (Wood) Ordway that show associations with other children of Isaiah Wood. I think his work is a good basis for accepting Mary Wood as probably the wife of Edward Ordway.
Furthermore, I saw that the marriage record for Joseph Fuller is a torn page that identifies the wife only as "M." And the book at https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=78tMAAAAMAAJ&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA177 shows Joseph Fuller and [presumably] Mary having ten children from 1690 to 1712, when a woman born in 1653 would have been age 37 to age 59 -- that is not consistent with female fertility in that age range. Thus, I think the case for connecting him to Mary Wood is weak.
thank you for looking into the Mary Wood question. I appreciate your work and insights very much, and i especially appreciate the new sources that you have brought forward: Dean Crawford, and the torn marriage record for Joseph Fuller, of which i had no knowledge. I shall work these insights and sources into both Mary Wood Ordway's and Mary Wood Fuller's profiles. Again, thank you! Albertus. Postscriptum - 21 June 2021. See here the fruit of your help, Ellen: Mary Wood Ordway, Mary Hayward Fuller, formerly Mary Wood Fuller.
edited by Albertus Robert Casimir (Fuller) Jung
I could only conclude that the profile of Lysette Aktok was created to represent the wife whom oral history said was the daughter of a Mohawk sachem or chief, and that the name Lysette was a mistaken copy of the name Lysbet (the woman who needed the shroud). It is clear that Pieter van Woggelum existed and had a wife, but I do think that the profiles created to represent his Native wife are essentially fiction.
I do not know what to make of the idea that this woman was a Montauk or Montaukett (from eastern Long Island), since eastern Long Island was English territory (not Dutch) and Pieter van Woggelum lived in the Albany-Schenectady area (Mohawk territory).
My recent edits were in response to the forum discussion at https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1222512/merger-help-from-native-americans-project-pre-1600-profiles . I just happen to be the New Netherland project leader who handled some of the merge proposals that came out of that discussion. The forum (in general) and that discussion (in particular) would be a more appropriate place to present your opinions about oral tradition related to the Van Woggelum family.
The WikiTree Native Americans Project has found that many, many, Americans have family traditions of a Native American ancestor -- particularly Pocahontas -- that are unsupported by all known evidence, and in many cases can be proven wrong. Similarly, there are many family traditions of descent from European royalty that are demonstrably wrong, and there are many other traditions about ancestors of European origin that cannot be proven or disproven because the records have been lost (or perhaps have not been found yet). WikiTree profiles can discuss oral history traditions in the text, but we should not make connections between people unless they are supported by documented genealogy. The members of the Native Americans Project research various Native lineages, including those that are supported by documented evidence, those that are contrary to the evidence, and those whose validity cannot be determined from the known evidence.
I sent you an email about Maine Project. Just posting this here in case it didn’t make it to you. Thx. S Willson
Sharman PS. Tried out the "Connections to me" for the first time after seeing someone below mention they are related to you and having recognized a few names listed in your generational lists above. Marinus van Aken and Pieternelle De Pre are both of our 8th great grandparents. Hello cousin! :)
Sometimes it seems like everybody who has significant New Netherland ancestry is related. That is not actually true, but since you and I both seem to have roots in Kingston and its environs, I guess I expected that we would be distant cousins. Glad to meet you, cousin!
Thanks for looking!
I'm curious to know why Arent Danielse (abt.1681-1756) is identified by his middle name rather than by his surname, Van Antwerpen? His father is identified by the surname, as are his children (my direct ancestors) but he is not. It seems to me that some consistency is in order here, and would curb some unnecessary confusion. BTW, how long does it take to find out if I've been accepted to the NNS group? Respectfully, Jim Sellers
I am way behind on awarding badges. Please consider yourself a member, even if you do not have a badge yet.
I agree that Danielse is a patronymic name, but it certainly is not a last name, as you infer. Van Antwerpen is the surname or family name, if that's a better descriptor. Leaving it completely off of his name is foolishness, when we know it really should be there. In "A history of the Schenectady patent in the Dutch and English times : being contributions toward a history of the lower Mohawk Valley", our subject is quite clearly referred to as; Arent Danielse Van Antwerpen in it's narrative regarding the patent. Your last sentence regarding his father is the tell-all for me. He had surname... we should use it! I'm not a neophite nor am I simple.I would just like this group to use a little reason. Thank you kindly, I'm waiting anxiously for my badge! Respectfully, Jim
You and I have a lot of ancestors in common. We map out as 5th cousins via a Townsend connection, but we are also 7th cousins, 8th cousins, etc., via other shared ancestors. I see that you tested on FTDNA, and I've posted my data there, so I looked for you on my report there. You aren't listed as a DNA match (that's not surprising, as there's a low chance of an autosomal match at 5 generations on a line where we would not have received X chromosome DNA).
I expect that I'll continue to see you around, cousin!