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cousins and anyone else with an interest in genealogy.
Here is my family tree.
Ancestors 
with
cousins and anyone else with an interest in genealogy.
Here is my family tree.
Ancestors
tested
Stephanie Ward aka Mandarino
Born 1950s.
Ancestors
and Mother of
[private child (1990s - unknown)] and
[private child (1990s - unknown)]
Profile last modified
| Created 18 Jul 2014 | Last significant change: 1 May 2022
00:06: Admin WikiTree added the April 2022 Club 100 badge for Stephanie Ward. [Thank Admin for this]
This page has been accessed 9,057 times.
Contents |
Biography
|
| Native Texan |
Stephanie Ward lived in Louisiana.
Stephanie Ward was a Georgian.
Stephanie "Steff" Ward Mandarino, daughter of Johnny Ward and Willa "Pete" Hanks, grew up in New Orleans, but was born in Texas to a Louisiana Cajun mother and a dad who was a Georgia peach.[1][2] Speaking of Johnny Ward, long story, but only recently, thanks to DNA and WikiTree, it came to light that HIS father was NOT the mysterious and elusive brick wall named "Frank Ward" found only on Johnny's birth certificate.
Stephanie Ward is a descendant of an Acadian
As for Willa "Pete" Hanks, another long story, but her Alsatian ancestors first arrived in Louisiana in 1721, and her Acadian ones in 1765. A hundred years before that, the patriarch of one Acadian line had left Lyon, France, to settle Port-Royal, Acadie (now-Nova Scotia), only to be dérangé by the English in 1755. Others arrived from France in 1785 via the Amitie, which sailed from France to the New World then-Spanish colony of Louisiana.
Stephanie Ward has German Roots.
Stephanie Ward has French origins.
Stephanie Ward has Spanish ancestors.
Stephanie Ward has Irish ancestors.
Stephanie Ward has English ancestors.
They married into other Acadian, and already-established German and French families, as well as newly-arriving Spanish, Irish and American settlers in southwest Louisiana. My mother's first language was French, but in school she was required to speak only English. She grew up in the time before Cajun cooking was considered cuisine and her Acadian heritage was embraced and celebrated by American Louisiana. By the time her children came along, she had assimilated so well (thanks to her WW2 service in Washington D.C. with the Marine Corps) that she had no trace of an accent and claimed she couldn't speak it when asked for help with her child's high school French (to be fair, Cajun French is quite a leap from the modern standard now taught). Met Joe Mandarino at Loyola Law School in New Orleans; married in 1991. Two children. Nothing before that matters.
Most Interesting Relatives
Stephanie Ward is related to US President Abraham Lincoln. Here is the trail.
- Abraham Lincoln - 1st cousin, 6x removed
- Joseph Broussard, dit Beausoleil - 1st cousin, 10x removed
- Edward Isaac Petty - secret grandfather and man behind the "Frank Ward" myth/brick wall
- Emily Carmelite Sarver - 3rd great-grandmother, said by gossips in the old neighborhood to this day! to have been a madame during the Civil War
- the Lafayette Eleven, 11 men ambushed and murdered by Confederate soldiers for their possible involvement in the Underground Railroad, including Theodule Simon -2nd great-grand-uncle, and ten other Abshire, Hanks and other relatives. Space page to be constructed.
WT Teamwork
Stephanie is a Voyager Guide for the Profile Improvement Project
PIP Guide, 11 March 2021
Stephanie has participated in the USBH Connecting Challenge.
Participated in the USBH Connecting Challenge, adding 15 profiles, Feb 2021
Stephanie has completed the Profile Improvement Project's Voyage
Completed the Profile Improvements Project's Profile Improvement Voyage 18 Feb 2021
Stephanie Ward participated with Tree Nuts during the 2020 Clean-a-Thon.
Challenge participant, winning team
Stephanie Ward participated with Gulf Coast Hurricanes during the 2019 Source-a-Thon, adding some sources to profiles.
Co-captain, Gulf Coast Hurricanes, 4th annual Source-a-Thon, Oct 4-7, 2019
Stephanie Ward participated in the June 2021 Categorization Project DBE 8071 Challenge.
Active Member, Categorization Project liason w/Acadian and Louisiana Projects, August, 2019, current
Stephanie Ward is participating with Gulf Coast Hurricanes during the 2019 Connect-a-Thon.
Co-captain, Gulf Coast Hurricanes, 1st annual Connect-a-Thon, Jul 12-14, 2019
Active Member, Rangers Project, May, 2019, current
Stephanie Ward is participating with Gulf Coast Hurricanes during the 2019 Clean-a-Thon.
Co-captain, new team Gulf Coast Hurricanes, 2nd Spring Clean-a-Thon, Mar 2019
Stephanie Ward participated with Team Acadia during the 2019 Scan-a-Thon, scanning and uploading 46 items to profiles.
Captain, Team Acadia, 1st annual Scan-a-Thon, 11-14 Jan 2019
Louisiana Families Project Coordinator, Oct 2018. Most of my time spent improving Louisiana profiles: adding sources; cleaning gedcoms; formatting and outlining biographies; merging duplicates; monitoring the project watch list; working with new members; clearing Louisiana errors; handling some communication. current
Stephanie Ward participated with Équipe Acadie - Team Acadia during the 2018 Source-a-Thon, adding 286 sources to profiles.
Co-leader, Team Acadia, 3rd annual Source-a-Thon, 2-4 Sep 2018
Active member, Profile Improvement Project, 20 Aug 2018
Stephanie Ward participated with Southern Super Sweepers during the 2018 Clean-a-Thon, correcting 513 suggestions.
Participant, 1st annual Spring Clean-a-Thon, 5 Apr 2018
Stephanie Ward participated with Équipe Acadie - Team Acadia during the 2017 Source-a-Thon, adding 53 sources to profiles.
Participant, 2nd annual Source-a-Thon, 15 Sep 2017
Active member of the Data Doctors Project, 28 Aug 2017
Stephanie Ward participated with Southern Super Sweepers during the 2016 Source-a-Thon, adding some sources to profiles.
Participant, 1st annual Source-a-Thon, 30 Aug 2016
Active member of the United States History Project, 23 May 2016
Active member of the Acadians Project, 13 May 2016
Active member of the Louisiana Families Project, 5 May 2016
DNA
Paternal and maternal relationships confirmed by a 23andMe test match between Stephanie Ward and John-Christopher Ward, siblings. Their most-recent common ancestors are Johnny Ward and Willa Hanks, their parents. Predicted relationship from 23andMe: Sibling, based on sharing 48.17 cM across 44 segments.
Sources
- ↑ Both paternal and maternal DNA matches are confirmed by 23 and Me DNA test comparison with brother Chris Ward. Test concluded 48% matching DNA, accurately predicting a full sibling relationship.
- ↑ "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V63V-S7K : 1 January 2015), Willa Mae Hanks in entry for Stephanie Ward, 23 Sep 1955; from "Texas Birth Index, 1903-1997," database and images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2005); citing Texas Department of State Health Services.
Only the Trusted List can access the following:
- Stephanie's formal name
- nicknames
- e-mail address
- exact birthdate
- birth location
- images (4)
- private siblings' names
- private children's names (2)
- spouse's name and marriage information
Sponsored Search
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships by comparing test results with Stephanie or other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Stephanie:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships by comparing test results with Stephanie or other carriers of her ancestors' mitochondrial DNA. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Stephanie:
-
100.00%
100.00%
Stephanie Ward:
23andMe, GEDmatch M435238 [compare]
-
50.00%
50.00%
John-Christopher Ward
:
23andMe
-
~6.25%
Cindy Wells :
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member wellscindyp
-
~1.56%
Amanda Petty :
23andMe
+
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member IamPettyGirl13
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum posts about Stephanie:
- Stephanie Ward is a Wonderful WikiTreer Jun 29, 2021.
- Stephanie Ward is a Wonderful WikiTreer May 3, 2021.
- Stephanie Ward is a Wonderful WikiTreer Apr 8, 2021.
- Stephanie Ward is a Wonderful WikiTreer Sep 15, 2020.
- Stephanie Ward is a Wonderful WikiTreer Jul 8, 2020.
- Stephanie Ward is a Wonderful WikiTreer Jun 30, 2020.
Stephanie is 17 degrees from June Cash, 18 degrees from Patsy Cline, 26 degrees from Mickey Guyton, 18 degrees from Naomi Judd, 18 degrees from Loretta Lynn, 37 degrees from Rita MacNeil, 18 degrees from Reba McEntire, 26 degrees from Joy Kirkpatrick, 19 degrees from Dolly Parton, 16 degrees from Minnie Pearl, 20 degrees from Kitty Wells and 29 degrees from Andrew Turvey on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Thank you for all the thank yous! It's always encouraging when someone notices my efforts here. Hope you have a wonderful day!
Kindly, LK
That was me on my ranger shift, watching the merge activity feed. Thanks for all your good work! Steff
The Profile Improvement Project (PIP) is performing its first annual check-in with our project members. 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 who guide new Voyagers. See the Profile Improvement Project Teams for a brief outline of each team. Please let us know which team(s) you would like to participate in.
We would also like to invite you to join the email GoogleGroup and text chat Discord channel for our project. (When you request to join our GoogleGroup, please be sure to include your Wiki ID). You will find more information on the GoogleGroup.
We thank you for all you do to help the Profile Improvement Project and WikiTree. The Project’s mission is to:
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
Love the new team structure! I'd like to switch from Voyage guide to Biography Team, preferably on level 3, but level 2 would also be fine, if you need more help there.
mary
Thanks for recognising my small contributions, nice to meet you.
David
Welcome to WikiTree! I'm glad you were pleased by what you found. I'm actually not a member of the family, although your name gave me a double take and reason to check via the connection finder app on both your profile page and that of your ancestors! I just happened to be correcting data errors when I came upon your 3x great grandparents. I think what I added was just the tip of the iceberg, but I do try to at least organize what I find into a readable narrative. Your message yesterday drew me back to the profile, so I'm going to see what else I can add. Some of the family have no profile managers, so as their direct descendant you should definitely adopt them. You can use the edit pages of the ones I work on to help you understand how to use WT markup to achieve your visual style. Good luck on your WT journey and let me know if I can help!
Congratulations to you. I look forward to working with you, and learning together with you, Todd and Barry, what being a Leader here is all about. Have a great rest of your day. Sharon
Congrats S. on that shiny new blue badge!
best regards,
SJ
Bobbie
Thank you for joining our first ever Connecting Challenge and helping us create 2729 profiles!
You can add the participation sticker to your profile if you’d like. Connecting Challenge Stickers
We’ve started the March challenge here: March Connecting Challenge
Emma
Marie Louise Rosette Rochon ... Ultimately, free persons of color from both the Barbeau dit Boisdore and Rochon families connected the families by placée and marriage during the Nouvelle France, France, Santa Domingo, La Louisiane, Nouvelle-France, Luisiana, Nueva España and United States transitions. C'est Bon Magnifique !
edited by Gerald Baraboo
Thanks so very much for your participation in the spring Clean-a-thon! Every suggestion you cleared (over 100!) made our Tree that much better. The WikiTree community appreciates YOU!
Pip Sheppard WikiTree’s Appreciation Team
https://s3.glo.texas.gov/glo/history/archives/land-grants/index.cfm
Mary
Congrats on the Super Star Badge!
Can I make you profile manager of Suzanne Plante?
Thank you for your time and energy in creating over 1000 (actually, over 1800!) contributions to WikiTree for the month of July 2019. Your efforts are appreciated!
Pip Sheppard
WikiTree Appreciation Team
Cheers, Liz
However, I appreciate the edit so I could add the explanation as to why on the profile.
I had found John's daughter Phoebe Abshire's death certificate record listing him as the father of the deceased and Martha B. Blancherd as her mother. This information was furnished to the county clerk by Calvin Aker, Phoebe's second child, so I thought that he was more likely to know his grandmother's proper name than some census taker as they regularly misspelled the common names of the time, some could hardly write legibly and I assumed this to be so, but I just ran down that marriage record listing her and John Abshiean (?) , 27 Dec 1812, citing Patrick, Va., Ref#562-82; FHL microfilm 33,351. So now I'm not sure either way or both after all. Sorry bout that ! The Abshire's ran Liberty Land and Abstract
Thank you for your feedback. Much appreciated. I am just getting started and plan to post some old family photos as well.