Tag: Thompson

CategoriesFamily TreeTechnologyTips & Tricks

Digital French

Posted on 22 January 2017by Brian Zalewski

For no specific reason this week, I decided to do some more research of my paternal French lines. I decided to start with my gateway French ancestor, Claude-Françoise QUINET, or as she is mostly known, Frances (Quinet) THOMPSON. She is my 4th-great-grandmother and probably the most distant ancestor that I have a photo.

I started at the FamilySearch wiki, which is always a good place to start when researching a new location. It has great articles on the best resources and where to find them. Much to my surprise, France has digitized and made available all of the civil and church records, at least from the Department I needed, Haute-Saône. The website was very easy to use once I was able to determine the locations I needed, even if it was in French.

I had a lot of the information for Frances and many generations back, but just the information, no sources or proof. This was probably entered back when I just found info and entered it like a rabid accountant. Fortunately, finding the actual records was made a bit easier as I had dates to work from. Most of them lined up perfectly and I was able to confirm and source dozens of baptisms, marriages, and deaths. I was even able to add one new generation back. I started my search in the early 1800s, but I was able to find records back to the late 1600s available on the site. Those were more hit-and-miss as I wasn’t able to find any of my ancestors in them.

Entry for the marriage of my 8th-great-grandparents, Claude Barbut (Claudius Barbu) & Jeanne Laurence Mignard (Joanna Laurentia Mignard) on 15 Jun 1716 in Contréglise.

Early on in my research, the records were in French, so just memorizing important genealogical words (i.e., baptism, marriage) and numbers was very helpful. At some point in the 1700s, everything switch over to Latin, which is a bit different to read (see the record above.)

I’m not completely finished digging through for the missing records and I have yet to see if any of my other possible French ancestors can be found in these digitized records. If you have French ancestors, make sure to look at the FamilySearch wiki.

Categories2017 Project

Polly Thompson: 52 Ancestors, 2017

Posted on 7 January 2017by Brian Zalewski

I decided to start up the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project again. I last did it in 2014, even though I didn’t make it all the way through. Even if I don’t again this year, it still allows me to dig deeper into specific ancestors. As always, you can view all of the 52 ancestors here, updated as I post.

The first ancestor of 2017 is my paternal 3rd-great-grandmother, Pauline Henrietta (THOMPSON) FIRMENICH, also known as Polly. I’m related to her via my father → his mother (Mary Jane CORRIGAN) → her father (Maurice CORRIGAN) → his mother (Emma Jane FIRMENICH) → her mother (Polly THOMPSON).

Granville

Polly Thompson was born on 5 May 1849 in the town of Granville, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. She first shows up in the 1850 Census for Granville at one year old with her parents William and Frances THOMPSON and siblings. Granville is still mentioned today, though more of as an area of Milwaukee than an incorporated location. It is on the north side of Milwaukee County near today’s Brown Deer and Menomonee Falls.

By the time the 1860 Census rolls around, Polly and her family have moved north on to the town of Morrison, Brown County, Wisconsin presumably with the Firmenich family who also lived in Granville. On February 11th, 1867, Polly marries one of the Firmenich men by the name of Mathias FIRMENICH. According to the Wisconsin Marriage Certificate, the marriage took place in the nearby town of Holland and the witnesses were Chas F Cross and Polly’s sister, Emilia Thompson.

Their first child, Albert, is born in nearby Wrightstown in March 1868. Two more followed before the birth of my great-great-grandmother, Emma Jane, in June 1873. When all was said and done, they had a total of 13 children. According to the obituary of Emma Jane in 1941, the Firmenich family moved from Wrightstown in 1882, finally settling way in the north of Wisconsin into the forests of Ashland County.

Outbreak

Tragedy struck in early September 1885 when an outbreak of Diphtheria plagued the family. Within only a few days, the disease took the lives of at least three of their children, though probably four, including Hattie (6), Edmond (4), Sarah (2), and possibly Anna (8). Adding to the chaos was the fact that Polly was pregnant during this time as their daughter Rose was born there on September 20th, 1885.

Polly shows up again in the 1900 Census and 1905 Wisconsin State Census in Ashland. In 1910, Polly passes away. I have no exact date, just the date from her headstone at Saint Agnes Cemetery in Ashland where she is buried near the children she lost in 1885. She is not listed in the 1910 Census, Mathias being listed a “Widowed.” The Census for their home was taken on April 30th, 1910, so we can assume she passed away sometime before then.

I have only one photo of Polly, which is the from the family photo on this post. I estimate the photo was taken sometime around 1895 based on the ages of the children and (not joking) Mathias’ beard length.

Something new I’d like to add to these posts this year is determining if and how DNA may play a role in my relationship. I have yet to find any proven DNA that I share directly with Polly. I do have matches from that side of the tree that share Polly as an ancestor with me, but we don’t yet know where those chromosomes or positions may be.

CategoriesUncategorized

The William Thompson

Posted on 13 April 2014by Brian Zalewski

The ninth ancestor in my 52 week challenge is my 4th-great-grandfather, William Henry THOMPSON.  With a name like William Thompson, how hard can it be to pinpoint him?

This has been my trouble with William. I have records of him starting in 1850 once his family settled in Wisconsin, but before that is a mystery. If I do a search based on his information, I get thousands of results.

William ThompsonAccording to the sources I do have, William was born sometime between 1810 and 1816 in either England, Ireland, or Scotland. His headstone says he was 77 years of age when he died in 1890, so I usually use 1813 as his birth year. There is a Wisconsin death record over at FamilySearch that I’m pretty sure is this William Thompson that lists his parents as William THOMPSON and Fasmie RUINNET. Though, a lot of other user’s information lists his parents as Edward & Isabella THOMPSON, but no solid sources so far.

According to my records, in 1839, he married Claude-Françoise “Francis” QUINET in Syracuse, New York. I have yet to find solid evidence of this marriage, but the Quinet family was recorded to have been in that area during that time. They must have left not long after the marriage, as their first child was born in Wisconsin in 1841. They settled in in Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin, which is now no longer around, but part of multiple towns in the area. Sometime between 1854 and 1857, they relocated north to the Morrison and Wrightstown area in Brown County, Wisconsin.

On 4 February 1890, William passed away and is buried next to his wife at St. Paul’s Cemetery in Wrightstown. I wrote a post about our trip to that area and the finding of William’s resting place.

This post is 9 of 52 in the “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” Challenge” begun by Amy Johnson Crow.

CategoriesFamily Tree

December 8th

Posted on 15 December 2012by Brian Zalewski

Xander LeeAs I did with our daughter when she was born, I like to see which other ancestors or related individuals our newly born son, Xander, shares his birthday with on December 8th.

According to the “Dates and Anniversaries” page on my family tree site, these things happened on December 8th.

Born

  • Johanna THOMPSON – 1852 – She is his paternal 5th great aunt, the daughter of William & Francis (QUINET) THOMPSON.
  • Leocadia SZULTA – 1886 – His paternal 4th great aunt, daughter of Ignatz & Nepomuncena (SYLDAKT) SZULTA.
  • Charles M LAST – 1894 – His paternal 3rd great uncle, son of Carl & Augusta (LUEDTKE) LAST.

Died

  • Elisabeth FLECK – 1769 – His maternal 7th great aunt, daughter of Johann & Elisabetha (UHL) FLECK.
  • Mehitable NEWBURY – 1787 – His maternal 8th great grandmother, married to James ROGERS, III.

Married

CategoriesWay Back Wednesday

Way Back Wednesday: Frances Thompson

Posted on 11 April 2012by Brian Zalewski

I had the luck of finding a photo of my 4th-great-grandmother while doing some research on her descendant lines on Ancestry.com. I happened to see a photo of her daughter, Mary, with some other people. I clicked on it and saw that it said the name of the older woman was “Frances Thompson.” I did a double-take to make sure that was the name I thought it was.

Frances was born Claude-Françoise QUINET in 1817 in Menoux, Département de Haute-Saône (Franche-Comté), France. She came to America with her family in about 1832 and I think settled in New York state for a bit. She married William THOMPSON in that area in about 1839. I find them next in the 1850 Census in Granville, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Granville is now mostly part of the Brown Deer area. After that they traveled up to Wrightstown, Brown, Wisconsin where they lived out the rest of their lives.

This photo includes Frances, her daughter Mary, Mary’s son Charles, and Charles’ son Edwin. I don’t know the exact year, but Frances died in 1899 and Edwin was born about 1889. If I had to guess I’d say it’s from about 1894-95 or so since Edwin looks to be about 5 or 6.

Click for larger version
CategoriesSaturday Genealogy Fun

SNGF: GeneaMeme

Posted on 18 October 2011by Brian Zalewski

Sometimes I’m late to these, but her is Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun for this week. He had completed  The Ancestors’ GeneaMeme from Geniaus.

According to the instructions, the list should be annotated in the following manner:

  • Things you have already done or found: bold face type
  • Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
  • Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
  • You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item
  1. Can name my 16 great-great-grandparents
  2. Can name over 50 direct ancestors [with a little help from my genealogy program]
  3. Have photographs or portraits of my 8 great-grandparents
  4. Have an ancestor who was married more than three times [Don’t think more than 3, but I have a few 3-timers]
  5. Have an ancestor who was a bigamist [Not that I found, yet]
  6. Met all four of my grandparents [Yes, and fortunately, two are still with us]
  7. Met one or more of my great-grandparents [I, fortunately, remember meeting 3 of them, but 5 were alive when I was a baby]
  8. Named a child after an ancestor [If you count middle names. Our daughter Aerissa’s middle name is Jean after my mother’s and my grandmother’s middle name]
  9. Bear an ancestor’s given name/s
  10. Have an ancestor from Great Britain or Ireland [CORRIGAN, McCANN, THOMPSON]
  11. Have an ancestor from Asia
  12. Have an ancestor from Continental Europe
  13. Have an ancestor from Africa
  14. Have an ancestor who was an agricultural laborer [Probably a good 75%+]
  15. Have an ancestor who had large land holdings [I’m told one of my ancestors had a good sum of money, which I also assume land was involved]
  16. Have an ancestor who was a holy man – minister, priest, rabbi
  17. Have an ancestor who was a midwife
  18. Have an ancestor who was an author
  19. Have an ancestor with the surname Smith, Murphy or Jones
  20. Have an ancestor with the surname Wong, Kim, Suzuki or Ng
  21. Have an ancestor with a surname beginning with X
  22. Have an ancestor with a forename beginning with Z
  23. Have an ancestor born on 25th December
  24. Have an ancestor born on New Year’s Day
  25. Have blue blood in your family lines [Nobility, no, but my great-grandfather, Joseph ZALEWSKI, was a police officer. They’re sometimes called Blue Bloods. My wife’s line has the noblility]
  26. Have a parent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
  27. Have a grandparent who was born in a country different from my country of birth
  28. Can trace a direct family line back to the eighteenth century
  29. Can trace a direct family line back to the seventeenth century or earlier
  30. Have seen copies of the signatures of some of my great-grandparents
  31. Have ancestors who signed their marriage certificate with an X [More than likely, I just haven’t seen it]
  32. Have a grandparent or earlier ancestor who went to university
  33. Have an ancestor who was convicted of a criminal offence
  34. Have an ancestor who was a victim of crime
  35. Have shared an ancestor’s story online or in a magazine (Tell us where) [on here, more than likely, many times]
  36. Have published a family history online or in print (Details please) [Would like to someday]
  37. Have visited an ancestor’s home from the 19th or earlier centuries
  38. Still have an ancestor’s home from the 19th or earlier centuries in the family
  39. Have a family bible from the 19th Century
  40. Have a pre-19th century family bible
CategoriesFamily TreeIrishSingle View

Single View: William Henry Thompson

Posted on 17 March 2011by Brian Zalewski

I thought I’d take an Irish theme on the latest entry into my “Single View” post series since today is St. Patrick’s Day. Though, there is some confusion to where this ancestor originally came from.

William Henry THOMPSON was born sometime between 1810 and 1816 in either Ireland, England, or Scotland, depending on which record you look at. In the 1870 Census of Morrison, Brown Co., Wisconsin, he is listed as being born in 1810 in England. On his headstone, the listing of his daughter in the 1905 Wisconsin State Census, and the Wisconsin Deaths and Burials, 1835-1968 entry, he was born in 1813 in Ireland. In the 1880 and 1860 Morrison, Brown Co., Wisconsin census records, he was born in 1816 in Ireland. Finally, in the 1850 Census of Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin and listed as his birthplace in entries for his daughter, Pauline (THOMPSON) FIRMENICH, he was born in 1816 in Scotland. Adding to the fact that the name William THOMPSON covered about 15 billion people back then, he has been a tough one to find.

Continue reading “Single View: William Henry Thompson”

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: May 30th – June 5th

Posted on 31 May 2010by Brian Zalewski

The important dates in my family history for this week (a day late.) As always, you can find this info on the Dates & Anniversaries page.

June 2nd

Firmenich Family 1895
Pauline FIRMENICH and her family - 1895

1789 – Married – Johannes VENNINGER & Elisabeth FLECK – Johannes and Elisabeth are my wife’s 5th-great-grandparents on her father’s side. They were both born in Baden, Germany. They had 8 children, including her ancestor Elisabetha VENNINGER. Johannes passed away in 1834 and Elisabeth in 1837.

June 3rd

1640 – Born – Major William VAUGHAN – William is my wife’s 9th-great-grandfather on her mother’s side. He was born in Glamorganshire, South Wales. In 1668, he married Margaret CUTTS. In the book “The Genealogical Registry of the Butters Family” it says William “came to New England from London about 1664. He was elected Constable in 1665, Lieutenant of Cavalry in 1672, Captain 1680, Major Commanding, 1681, one of the Council of New Hampshire 1682-1690, Treasurer of Province 1696-1698. He married Dec. 8, 1668, Margaret, daughter of Hon. Richard Cutt, son of Richard Cutt, Esq., of Grondale Abbey, Arkesden, Essex county, England.” He passed away in about 1690.

1910 – Died – Pauline (THOMPSON) FIRMENICH (right) – Paulina is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born 5 May 1849 in Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin (now Brown Deer, Wisconsin.) She married Mathias FIRMENICH in 1867 in Brown County, Wisconsin and they had 13 children. Paulina outlived four of her children who died of Diphtheria in 1885. She passed away in Morrison, Brown Co., Wisconsin and is buried at St. Agnes Cemetery in Ashland, Ashland Co., Wisconsin.

June 4th

This is my father’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!

1891 – Married – Frank F BRAATZ, Sr & Margaret STEARNS – Frank and Margaret are my great-great-grandparents on my father’s side. They were married at Bear Creek, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin. Together they had 5 children, including my great-grandmother Agnes (BRAATZ) CORRIGAN. Margaret died in 1943 and Frank in 1948. They are buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Ashland, Wisconsin.

June 5th

1926 – Died – Carl F H LAST – Carl is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born on 26 Sep 1851 in Doeringshagen, Pommerania (which is now located just northwest of Å»abowo, Goleniów County, Western Pomerania, Poland.) He married Augusta LUEDTKE in 1883 in Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin and together they had 16 children. Carl passed away in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at Union Cemetery.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: February 21 – 27

Posted on 21 February 2010by Brian Zalewski

February 22

1890 – Died – William Henry THOMPSON – William is my 4th-great-grandfather on my father’s side. Unfortunately, I’m not exactly sure where and when he was born. The census and other records span from 1810 to 1816 and mention England, Ireland, and Scotland. He married Francis QUINET in 1839 and had 10 children. He passed away in Wrightstown, Brown Co., Wisconsin and is buried there at St. Paul’s Cemetery.

February 23

1831 – Born – Herman RATHKE – Herman is my 3rd-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. He was born in Germany and married Fredericke C HENKE. They had 3 children in Germany before immigrating to Wisconsin. Herman passed away on 9 Feb 1898 and is buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin.

February 25

1632 – Married – Herman van CREIJBECK & Joanna PANSARS – Herman and Joanna are my 10th-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were both born in 1610 in Belgium. In 1646, they had a baby boy, Nicolaes van CRAYBECK, my ancestor. Herman passed away in 1649 and Joanna in 1653, which makes me wonder where Nicolaes grew up.

1883 – Married – Carl F H LAST & Augusta Johanna Wilkelumire LUEDTKE – Carl and Augusta are my great-great-grandparents on my mother’s side. They were married in Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin after immigrating with their families from Prussia. Together, Carl and Augusta had a whopping 16 children. Carl passed away in 1926, but Augusta lived to be 100-years-old and passed away in 1963.

February 27

1945 – Died – Marianna ZALEWSKI – Marianna is my great-grandaunt on my father’s side. Her birth location and dates differ depending on the record, though tracking this information could help me track the ZALEWSKI family. The dates I have are: March 1890 in Poland/Germany; 22 Mar 1891 in Baltimore; Maryland, 22 Mar 1891 in Ohio; and 1891 in Wisconsin. Since I do have a record of the ZALEWSKI family arriving in Baltimore in 1889 with no mention of Marianna, I can cancel out the Poland/Germany option. They were first found in Milwaukee in the 1892 city directory, so all of the other options still work. Marianna married Frank GIERSZEWSKI (before changing it to GIERSCH) in 1913 and passed away in 1945 in Milwaukee. She is buried with her husband at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

CategoriesWeekly History

Weekly History: May 31st – June 6th

Posted on 31 May 2009by Brian Zalewski

June 1

1996 – Died – Irene (ZALEWSKI) LUTZENBERGER – Irene is my great-aunt, sister of my Grandpa Zalewski. She was born 17 Jul 1920 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I know I met her sometime in my life, but I really don’t remember ever meeting her. She is buried with her husband Ervin at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

June 3

1704 – Died – Marie Anne (DELEUGRE) ST. LOUIS – Marie is my 8th-great-grandmother on my mother’s side. She was born 14 Jun 1665 in Chateau Richer, Montmorency, Quebec, Canada. She married Gilles Gadious ST. LOUIS. She passed away in Montreal, Ile de Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

1910 – Died – Paulina Henrietta (THOMPSON) FIRMENICH – Paulina is my 3rd-great-grandmother on my father’s side. She was born 5 May 1849 in Granville, Milwaukee Co., Wisconsin (which is now the Brown Deer area.) On 11 Apr 1867 she married Mathias FIRMENICH and together they had 13 children. She passed away at Morrison, Brown Co., Wisconsin and is buried with her husband at St. Agnes Cemetery in Ashland, Ashland Co., Wisconsin.

June 4

1891 – Married – Frank F BRAATZ & Margaret K STEARNS – Frank and Margaret are my great-great-grandparents on my father’s side. Frank was born 17 Apr 1867 in Germany and Margaret was born 30 Aug 1866, also in Germany. They married in Bear Creek, Outagamie Co., Wisconsin. Margaret passed away in 1943 at Ashland, Wisconsin and Frank followed 5 years later, also at Ashland. They are buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Ashland.

This is also my father’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad.

June 5

1926 – Died – Carl F H Last – Carl (also known as Charles in some records)  is my great-great-grandfather on my mother’s side. Carl was born 26 Sep 1851 in Doeringshagen, Pommerania. He married Augusta LUEDTKE on 25 Feb 1883 in Milwaukee and (amazingly) had 16 children. He passed away at his home in Port Washington, Ozaukee Co., Wisconsin and is buried at Union Cemetery in Port Washington.

June 6

1974 – Died – Roman J TROKA – Roman is my great-great-uncle on my father’s side. He was born 1 Feb 1897 in Milwaukee, Wisconson to Joseph & Clara (SZULTA) TROKA. He is buried around the rest of the Troka family at Holy Cross Cemetery in Milwaukee.

—

Wow, doesn’t seem like a happy beginning on the month. A lot of deaths at the beginning of June. It’s a big change from May where we saw a lot of births.