Uncategorized

Collaboration in Genealogy – An Example Of Doing It Right

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

While I was travelling through Scotland and Ireland, I received an email from Ancestry.com notifying me that another Ancestry member with the user name kforsman72 had sent me a message.

I will often receive these types of emails that are typically from people asking for more information about someone in my online public Ancestry tree. This message was different.

The message I received stated “I just wanted to let you know that I came across the graves of the Kletzings in Section 5 of Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago. The graves include Josiah, Kate, Arba, Clarence, Florence Amy, and Kathryn Gall. I’ve created memorials and uploaded photos of the graves to Find-A-Grave, in case you are interested in viewing them.”

Once I was home from my trip, I went to the Find-A-Grave site where I searched for and found the Kletzing memorials reference in the Ancestry message.

KLETZING Josiah gravestone from findagrave

Grave site of Josiah and Kate Kletzing, Rosehill Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois (Photo by Kate Forsman, 2015. Used with permission)

The memorial pages provide the information found provide information from and a photo of the grave of my wife Ellen’s first cousin, three times removed Catherine ‘Kate’ (Nusbickel) Kletzing, her husband Josiah Kletzing and some of their children.

Kate Kletzing was the daughter of Frederick Nusbickel and Elizabeth Wagner, an older sister of my wife’s 2X great grandfather Rev. Jacob Wagner. Kate was born 1 March 1855 in Rose, Wayne County, New York and according to U.S. census records she married Josiah Kletzing around 1880. Josiah and Kate had five known children, three of whom are documented on the gravestone. Kathryn Gall, who is listed on the gravestone, was Josiah Kletzing’s second wife whom he married in 1915.

I now know kforsman72 to be Kate Forsman and from what I can determine Kate does not have the Kletzing family in her family tree. No, Kate took a photo of the Kletzing grave and set-up the Find-A-Grave memorial pages to help out other genealogists and researchers. That’s a good thing.

But Kate took it a step further, checking on Ancestry to see who might have this Kletzing family in their tree. She found me and through that initial message, she helped me add some valuable evidence to my research database.

Well done, Kate. I believe the genealogy community is made of great folks who love to help others and Kate has demonstrated why I hold that belief.

Visiting My Ancestral Homelands (Part 2) – It’s About Family When I Visit Aberdeen

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

One of the great benefits of visiting my Scottish ancestral homeland was knowing that I had family there I had never met.

When I began researching my family’s history, it struck me that when my ancestors left Scotland, a country they clearly had  a strong love for, they left not just their homes but they family behind. Family they would likely never see again.

Eventually as technology developed over the past fifty years, the ability to communicate at long distances became more accessible and contact began to be restored with the family members who had remained in Scotland. This contact first began with my paternal grandmother’s family, the Little’s and Galbraith’s of Greenock, Scotland.

Eventually through genealogy research and the use of social media, I was able to virtually connect with my paternal grandfather’s family in Aberdeen, Scotland. Although we had never met face-to-face, I was able to reach out to these family members who freely and willingly provided assistance to my daughter when she was moving to Aberdeen to study.

The sense of family transcended the mere records that told us we shared a common ancestor. They helped look for accommodation and opened their home to my daughter to share a family Christmas dinner.

Our common ancestors were John Gaull (1860-1942) and his wife Harriet McKenzie (1858-1925), my 2X great-grandparents, who lived in Monymusk, Scotland, to the west of Aberdeen City.

IMG_1331

Gaull Family Reunion (from left to right – Renee Thomson, Ian Hadden, Rudy Thomson, Jenna Hadden, John Gaull Thomson and his wife Elizabeth (Anderson) Thomson, Fiona Thomson, Roy Thomson and his wife Romy (Bennink) Thomson) Photo by Ellen Hadden

Roy Thomson and his sister Fiona are my third cousins. Their father John Gaull Thomson is my second cousin, once removed. We enjoyed a fabulous meal together at Roy and Romy’s home near Maryculter, Scotland and a visit that was cut far too short by my concerns about driving back to Aberdeen from a country home in the dark while navigating on what I considered to be the ‘wrong’ side of the road!

My wife and I also had a chance to meet up with my second cousin, once removed Pamela Gaull and share family stories and personal updates over coffee at a downtown Aberdeen hotel. Pamela and I had initially connected online and then met when she visited Toronto, Ontario, Canada. As always, Pamela was welcoming, gracious and engaging.

HADDEN Ian with Pamela Gaull May 2015

With cousin Pamela Gaull in Aberdeen, Scotland (Photo by Ellen Hadden)

Fortunately for me, the effort in researching my own family history has provided me with a rich bounty of those I am pleased to call my family!

Sentimental Saturday – Camping

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

I’m posting photos from my collection of family photographs on Saturdays with a brief explanation of what I know about each picture.

Growing up, we were not a family of campers. I don’t know if my parents simply enjoyed cottage life, or maybe even better a hotel room, over the ‘roughing it’ style of camping.

In the late 1960’s, we decided to give camping a try. We didn’t venture too far from our home, choosing a provincial park close to home for a few days of communing with nature. Toasting marshmallows over an open campfire appears to be something we quickly developed skills with.

Below, my mother Anne (O’Neill) Hadden, yours truly, and my sister Lou-Anne enjoy a camping treat, circa 1968.

HADDEN Ian with Mom and Lou-Anne camping abt 1968

Visiting My Ancestral Homelands (Part 1)

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

I have just returned from two weeks away in Scotland and Ireland, my ancestral homelands.

But first, I should point out that this was not a ‘genealogy trip.’ I did not go to Scotland and Ireland with the intent of conducting any research. Rather, the purpose of the trip was to visit family and friends.

The trip to Scotland was primarily a chance to visit with my youngest daughter, Jenna, who is completing her Masters degree at the University of Aberdeen. It just so happens that Aberdeen is that part of Scotland that my Hadden ancestors lived in for many generations before my great-grandfather, Alexander Shand Hadden, moved his family that included my grandfather John Gaull Hadden to Canada.

014f8b9eb61a0223f3ac83d20337a7a5836b1887c4

My wife Ellen is greeted by Jenna Hadden at the Aberdeen International Airport on April 27, 2015

The trip to Ireland, Dublin specifically, was to visit friends, former neighbours, who had moved back to Ireland after many years living in Canada.

Those purposes were met and the expectations of them exceeded. And admittedly, I did sneak in a little bit of genealogy. In fact, I was encouraged to do more genealogy related research activities but resisted.

Genealogy for me is more than records and documents. It includes experience and the senses. It was enough for me to walk where my ancestors walked, to see the views that they saw, to touch what they touched and smell what they smelled. I can feel somewhat more connected to them having that shared experience.

Our trip did not get off to good start with flight delays on top of flight delays, rescheduled connecting flights that were rescheduled once again from unplanned destinations. Eventually, through the layers of security checks and passport checks and customs questions, we did arrive in Aberdeen, Scotland. And the look of joy and excitement on my daughter’s face at the airport made the journey worth while.

Over the next few posts, I will share some of the sights and highlights of journeying back to my ancestral homelands.

Sentimental Saturday (A Day Late) – Gertrude Ellen (Foley) O’Neill

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

I’m posting photos from my collection of family photographs on Saturdays with a brief explanation of what I know about each picture. Today’s ‘edition’ is a day late because yesterday I was travelling back home from Ireland.

Gertrude Ellen (Foley) O’Neill was my maternal grandmother and I admit that as her first grandchild, who also lived just two houses away from her, she worked hard to try to spoil me rotten! In this photo, likely taken around June 1955 by my father, ‘Nana” as I called her is holding a very young ‘yours truly.’  The photo was taken in front of my maternal O’Neill grandparents’ home at 185 Pickering Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My grandmother was 57 years old at the time and seemed happy to be a grandmother!

Gertrude Ellen Foley O'Neill with Ian June 1955

Sentimental Saturday – Wilma and Tess

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

I’m posting photos from my collection of family photographs on Saturdays with a brief explanation of what I know about each picture.

Wilma Trimbee (on the left) and Olive Teresa Evelyn ‘Tess’ (Latimer) Wagner (my wife’s mother) were the best of life-long friends. They were next door neighbours in the 1950’s and although Tess and husband Carl would move across Canada, literally from coast to coast, Wilma and Tess remained inseparable. This photo was taken when Wilma was visiting Tess at her home in Nanaimo, British Columbia.

Tess passed away in 1997 but we will be celebrating Wilma’s 97th birthday later this year.

Wilma and Tess Sept 1989

Sentimental Saturday – Andy and Louise Get Married

ianhadden1955 2 Comments

I’m posting photos from my collection of family photographs on Saturdays with a brief explanation of what I know about each picture.

This is wedding photo of Andrew Gammie (Andy) Hadden and his bride Louise Schmidt. The wedding took place in Saskatchewan, Canada. The precise date and location is still unknown to me. When the rest of his family was preparing to move to Toronto, Ontario around 1927, Andy (my grand uncle) got married and remained in Saskatchewan where he and Louise established a farm on his homestead.

HADDEN Andy and Louise wedding

Fun With Birthdays

ianhadden1955 1 Comment

On April 14th, my wife celebrated her birthday. I celebrated mine on March 3rd.

My wife and I like our birthdays because the person who is celebrating their birthday gets to choose the restaurant to visit for their birthday dinner.

This year I got to thinking about the historic events that occurred on my wife’s birthday.

April 14th is the date upon which Abraham Lincoln was shot in 1865. Lincoln died the following day.

April 14th is also the date on which the Titanic hit that infamous iceberg. The ship sank the next day resulting in the loss of more than 1500 passengers.

I couldn’t really find any historic event having taken place on March 3rd.

I did find however that I share my birthday with a few celebrities: Joshua Duggar from the TLC reality show 19 Kids And Counting and Jessica Biel, actress, new mom and wife of Justin Timberlake. I also found two birthday shares that I really especially like. Being a Canadian with Scottish roots, the first birthday share I enjoy is the late James Doohan, a fellow Canadian who played a Scotsman, named appropriately enough ‘Scotty’ on the original Star Trek television series and follow-up movies. The second and arguably most important birthday share is with Alexander Graham Bell who was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 3, 1847 and immigrated to Canada in 1870, leading to the invention of the telephone in 1876.

What about you? Is your birthday marked with historic events? Do you share your birthday with celebrities or historic figures? Share the story of your birthday in the comment section below.

Sentimental Saturday – Hockey

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

I’m posting photos from my collection of family photographs on Saturdays with a brief explanation of what I know about each picture.

With the National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs kicking off as a conclusion to the 2014-2015 season, here is a photo from my youth. Yours truly was a goalie and like many young Canadian boys, there were dreams of playing at the professional level. The photo was taken around 1969 at a practice facility my Toronto Hockey League team used, located north of Toronto.

If you look closely, you can see my goalie mask tucked neatly over my left knee. Masks were mandatory but did not include helmets for goalies, which may explain the number of concussions I received. The concussions may explain a lot of other things!

HADDEN Ian goalie abt 1969

Sentimental Saturday – Ellen Helps With The Baking

ianhadden1955 Leave a comment

I’m posting photos from my collection of family photographs on Saturdays with a brief explanation of what I know about each picture.

Perhaps many of you can relate to this photo of my wife Ellen Wagner as a five year-old girl offering a helping hand with the baking. As best we can surmise, the photo was taken by one of Ellen’s parents in the kitchen of her family home. The dog looks less than impressed.

Ellen making frosting Oct 1955 - Copy