Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 7)

    Well after three test (two failed and one that finally worked out), my brothers DNA results are in. My brother and I share the same parents. The site matches my brother & father.  I attach a look at the 3 of us. You will notice that my brother actually has more of a match to our father then I do. The Irish is stronger in them than in I. My brother is interested in the facts and genetic history. He isn't interested in a relationship after all these years.   I called my father and gave him the news. I could tell it hit him hard. He realized all that he has lost, all the years, the son and the grand children he's missing. Will anything come of their mutual knowledge. Will they talk? Will they get together at all? That will be up to them. Only time will tell. Now we just wait for our mother to get her sample together and sent in.

 
   On another note. The last blog I talked about a visit to my mother's cousin in Warren, Ontario. She lives on the same property my Great Grand parents owned and lived on.  She sent me some pics and I did some repair work to a few of them.  I attach the one that means the most to me. It is of those Great Grand Parents with my mother and some of her siblings at that home in Warren.

Left - Israel Noel Ouellette, Center Rear - Israel's wife Aldea Gervais holding Wilfrid Lafleur, Center Left (tallest girl) - Fernande Lafleur, Right side middle - Noella Aldea Lafleur,  Front right - Florence Lafleur. Siblings with their grand parents. My mother Noella named for these grand parents. 

     As always look to the memories of old and always Remember When......

Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 6)

   Well the continueing saga of DNA testing. My brother's third test is being processed. His wife sent hers in with his second test and it is processed and results are in. Next day I recieve word that his failed again; and the third test was on it's way. I also got our mother a test and activated it about the same time as my brothers third test. She has as of yet not done her part. Waiting on her to spit (maybe she hasn't because it's not lady like...LOL). I also found out that my cousin (my mother's brother's daughter) has done the test and it will be interesting to have that extra data to compare.
    So we wait some more to get the other mysteries solved about my father, brother and I. We will have the info for my brother's children since both he and his wife have been tested.
     On a further note, I went up north this summer to visit my father and a cousin of my mother's.  This cousin (Gisele) lives on the property that my great grand parents owned. I remember visiting it a number of times when I was a child. Her husband took me out 4 wheeling to view the property and see the evidence of an old homestead. It was amazing and I had never gotten to go back there when I was younger. I also grabbed a piece of bedrock to take home with me.  They told me how my great grand father first started dating great grand ma. It was the classic tale of church picnic. The girls would bring a picnic lunch and the boys would bid to buy the lunch as a fund raiser. The winning bid would get to eat the lunch with the girl who's lunch they bought. Great grand pa Noel told his best friend that he was going to buy great grand ma Aldea's picnic and marry her. His freind said that that wasn't going to happen, as he was going to buy it. As you can guess that didn't work out for him. Great grand pa won the bid and they did go on to marry and have a large family and many more decendents.  I can't wait to visit them again and 'Remember When...' together.

WIn a Christmas In July Genealogy prize package

Check it out to win...https://www.genealogybargains.com/giveaways/christmas-july-contest-win-2000-genealogy-bundle/?lucky=4306
 As always Remember When ....

Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 5)

    My Father's DNA test has finally come in. After reviewing it, I feel it is pretty clear that he and my Aunt Orleen had different father's. Now Siblings can have a fairly wide variance in their DNA; however their differences are so different you would have to question it just on that. He is mostly Irish and she is Western European with Irish & Iberian. He has the Irish Munster as a genetic Community and she has the French Settlers of Montreal and Detroit. Again since siblings DNA can be different the bigger clue was the DNA matches at Ancestry. They don't have the same family name matches or cousin matches. He has Goodwin matches and she hasn't any.  Just everything about this looks like the long suspected seems to have been confirmed.

    The bigger surprise was the Goodwin matches on my dad's DNA. The DNA matches of the Goodwin's are from the Hamilton, Ontario area and then back to England. Where as according to my Father's Long Form Birth Certificate his father was from Illinois (living in Hamilton when he met my grand mother) and his family originally came from the New York area and then back to England. So did his father lie about his origins? I now have a new mystery and have to research this further. I may have the wrong Goodwin line on my tree.

    The more I learn, the more I don't know. I just learned that my cousin on my mothers side has done the Ancestry DNA test. I just found her on there tonight. My brother still has to send in his new test and I ordered a test for his wife and for our Mother (the Lafleur side will be coming in clearer soon too). I leave in three days to go to Northern Ontario (specifically Sturgeon Falls/Verner/Warren area of Nipissing County). My Father is retired and living up that way and my mothers family is from there. I will be visiting her sister (my aunt) and a cousin of hers that I have been in touch with on Facebook. I am also doing research in the local Genealogical sections of the Libraries up there. I plan on interviewing my dad and hopefully my aunt at least on video; to add to my family record. It will be interesting to sit around and Remember When...with them. Until the next update.

Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 4)

   Well now the high's and the low's of the DNA journey.  My oldest daughter (and her husband) ordered DNA test from '23 and Me' and her results were the next ones to come available. I set up a free account and she included me to share her information.  So I looked at it and I was pretty sure that my father and his siter (my aunt) had different father's.  If they had the same father then they would have a similar genetic make-up and I would have gotten that and passed it down. My Daughter had less then 1% African genetics like my Aunt; however hers was from the Western Sub-Saharan area and my aunts was from South Africa. So that was number one and I know it is from a very small part; so looking at the rest we find the Iberian Peninsula (Spain & Portugal) that my aunt had a 21% genetic make-up and my daughter only a 1.4%. Again if my father had a similar make-up and passed down half to me and me half to my daughter then I would expect her to have more. My Daughter's mother's side is basically the same as our side in that they are 99% European. Just a different mix. But even there you would think there would be a chance of getting a higher mix from that side. So just these two and the rest said I was pretty sure about the results for when My father's test finaly gets processed.  
    Then my test came in and am more sure. I have the same less then 1% genetics from the Western area of Africa as my daughter and no South African such as my aunt does. My make up is only 1% Western Europe and my aunts is 35%; I would expect mine to be higher based on hers (if they share the same father). We of course will know better when my father's test is processed. 
     Now the final part of the saga so far is that I got an e-mail from Ancestry and they had a problem with my brother's test. They could not process a viable sample for testing. So they sent out a new test. I just recieved it today, activated it and dropped it off at his place for him to try again. I have to say I am not completely happy with this. I mean I understand things happen; however when I activated it, it said it would take the usual 6-8 weeks to process and maybe more with the back log. I have already waited more then 8 weeks for the results, then waited 2 weeks for the new test to get here. Now when it gets there it doesn't even get some kind of priority processing (moved to the front with the next batch going in)? A little customer friendly service would be nice. I was hoping to have the answers before I see my father in July. So we could discuss everything in person. Well we'll see. Maybe the standard e-mail goes out; but they do move it up. We'll find out soon enough. 
     So below is a chart I made to compare the results so far. Continue 'Remebering When' and I'll continue the story as it develops.

Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 3)

    Alright now. My test is being processed and I just await the results now. Both my father's & my brother's test have arrived now at the lab and are in line awaiting to be processed.  My Aunt's test is done; and she set me up as an administrator so I can view and research her results; and also so I can add to her tree. Which will make it easier to compare her results to mine and others we find.

    So here is what you need to know first off. My father and his siblings (my aunt & uncle) are believed to have different father's. My Grand-mother lived her life for herself and the fun she could have. It has been known and spoken of since I can remember that they have different fathers. My father is most likely the son of John F Goodwin and my uncle may have also been. However it is believed his father is a truck driver my Grandmother is known to have been with around the time he was concieved. My aunt is believed to be the child of an Italian corner store/butcher shop down the street from their home at the time.  My uncle was dying of cancer in the summer of 1992 and wanted to go to his grave with them all finally getting the truth from their mother and laying it all out and then putting it behind them; so he could die having this resolved. We were all to get together for my birthday and talk to her. She always insisted they had the same father and wouldn't talk about anything beyond that.  Early that day she got all worked up that my aunt was in town a day early and we had gotten together the night before with out her (we did to go over how to handle the talk with her, so it was agreeed it would be straight forward without harshness or judgement...we just want to get to the truth). So she got worked up, as I said and sent to the hospital complaining of pain in her chest. Later at work I got a call from a friend of her's saying she went to the hospital but no one their would tell her how she was. I called and they said they were trying to get a hold of my dad, I identified myself and told them I could get a hold of him; but how was she? They informed me she had died. Yes she died that day, hours before we could meet and get the answers. She took the secrets to the grave with her. That is until now. DNA testing is now affordable and can be done by anyone. We will finally get to the bottom of this family mystery.

      Now for my aunts test, we expect to find that she has some Irish/Scottish heritage; so England, Wales and the like along with some french from her mother's side. Her father as I said we expect to see a large portion of Italian and or a mix of that region of Europe.

       Her Breakdown was as follows.... top to bottom -
                Africa <1% from Southeastern Bantu (primarily South Africa, Kenya, Nambia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda). This is a low confidence area.
                Europe  99% from - Europe West 35%  (Primarily Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein).
                                               - Ireland 25% (Primarily Ireland, Wales, Scotland).
                                               - Iberian Peninsula 21% (Primarily Spain, Portugal).
                                               - Great Britain 11% (Primarily England, Scotland, Wales).
                                      These following European ones are Low Confidence
                                               - Finland/Northwest Russia 3% (Primarily Finland, Russia (Northwest)).
                                               - Italy/Greece 3% (Primarily Italy, Greece)
                                               - European Jewish <1% (Primarily Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary, Israel)
                                               - Scandinavia 0% (Primarily Sweden, Norway, Denmark)

 Then there is a section of Genetic Communities and her heritage is showing, French Settlers of Montreal & Metro Detroit (which includes surrounding areas including Windsor, Ontario, Cananda), which is where our family is.

    So biggest surprise is that she shows only 3% Italian in the low confidence area. So the Italian shop owner wasn't her father or people assumed he was italian and he was maybe Western European (German) or Iberian (Spanish) maybe. The English and French make sense from what we know although 35% Western Europe???  I would also have expected that if she had the same father that maybe a genentic community in Illinois or New York leading back to England as that is were Goodwin came from. So we really need mine and then my fathers to compare to her and see if and how much of a difference.

     The other thing is the matches to cousins (First, second, third, fourth and beyond). When we look at the possible cousin matches and the names on the trees of the ones that have trees; we find names that I have not found in my research of our family as of yet. So again I would asume 'Yes" they have different fathers. I see names like Renaud x5, Leclair, Meloche x5, Pettitclair, Moisan, Brooker x3, Dufour x3....there are many more that show up multiple times, however this gives you an idea.

   So we will have to check into these for her. These may very well be one of the names of her father. More will come of all of this.

    Now I want to note here. As I have been looking at this I have noted that a lot of people have been getting this test done. Presumably to find out where they come from. However most don't have a full membership on Ancestry and have not filled in a tree of anysort or they do but only like 3-15 people. Finding your matches with others is going to be hard if you have no one to match to. The other part of this is that they do have a large tree on line; but have locked it as private. This goes further into the whole genealogical community in which you find people that have their tree locked private and or won't share info with other potential distant family members. I don't personnaly understand FAMILY research which we lock and don't share. We are all trying to find out about our history and make connections. Why the secrets? Just my thought on this. I am open to sharing and meeting new family.

     Until the next test comes available to compare, let's all Remember When...and share together.

                                         

Image of Ancestry DNA kit.

April 9, 1917 - VIMY RIDGE - Canadian's Show Their Grit

    ONE HUNDRED YEARS ago today, Canadian soldiers jumped into the battle for Vimy Ridge. Other's had tried and failed; but the Canadian's won the day. It cost them dearly; but from that point on they were counted on for getting the job done. I had a number of relatives / ancestors that were in the Canadian Expeditionary Force's of WWI. I haven't found any proof yet that any fought at Vimy. Never the less they served their country and our allies at a time of great need. Follow the events of today with the ceremonies and Remeberances of the day. I know two students that are over in France for the festivities today. Pray it makes an impression on them and others so we don't continue these kinds of acts into the future. The 100th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Follow the battle: http://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/live-blog/vimy-ridge - So today let's Remember When and never forget.

Doing research at the Windsor, Ontario, Public Library

     Well we all know that not everything is available on line; despite what some may believe. When doing research on the family you often need to go to the cities, towns, counties or even countries they came from. Once there you have to visit the local records office, genealogy society/group or in our case Library.  My local main library is the monthly meeting place for the local chapter of the Ontario Genealogical Society (The Essex County Branch). While I am interested in joining this group there are some personal issues that have kept me from doing so. I won't go into those here. However the library has a large collection of local Geneologies donated by people over the years. They have the local newspapers on Micro Film, local grave yard info., maps, a large collection of yearbooks from most of the schools (including ones that no langer exist), the city Directories and local history books. One of the coolest things is that most of this is located on the second floor inside a Local Research room. It is a seperate glassed in room with tables & chairs for the researcher, a Micro Film viewer, and there is a desk with a Librarian on staff at all times. They are there to assist you if you are looking for anything and or to direct you to the best source available. They also can also go and get you books or documents that they have in their holdings that may not be readily available on the shelves. Some of these are in ill repair and so more delicate and they don't leave them on the shelf there fore. However if you inquire and they have it they can bring it in and you can use it. Then they will take it back to the hoding area. You also cannot put things back on teh shelves for yourself. They insist that you leave it on the table when you are finished with it. They will re-shelf it after they record the use of that specific book or document. To show that the room and resources are being used.  The room was built about 2-3 years ago. Up until then everything was just up on teh second floor more or less together and a lot of the things where in the holdings area and hard to get your hands on. Now a lot of it is available on the shelves and only a little is still locked away. I go in about once every 3-4 months and have ment to blog about this a few times. However I kept forgetting to take photos to go with the blog. Yesterday, I finally remembered to do so. If you are interested in researching your family and are in the Windsor area; I would encourage you to use this resource. If you aren't; but can make the trip it is worth while. The other thing is that if you have a quick question about someone from the area; lets say you know that your grandfather lived here in 1956 or so and have his full name you can call and speak with that librarian that is on duty and they will look in the local city directories for that year and or the ones around it to see if he his listed and where he lived. The directory will also tell if he is living with a wife and where he worked. All just a phone call away.  So if you need help to Remember When, then check out the Library.

The view at the door to the second floor research section of the Windsor, Ontario, Public Library, Main Branch.

Local School Year Books.

Local donated Family Histories.

The CIty Directories (this is where I am focused at the moment, copying the info. on my family).

This is the stack of City Directories I left on the table after my 4 hour visit.

The Local History section. 

Micro Film of the Newspapers (The Windsor Star & it's predecessor (Locally)) & the Toronto Globe & Mail.

Census, Death, Cemetary, Land Grant Micro Films.

Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 2)

   Just a small update. I have contacted my father and let him know that I have an Ancestry DNA kit coming to me for him; and as of today I sent it to him in the mail this afternoon. He will have it by Tues. or Wed. at the latest. He is interested in finding out the answers related to his relationship to his sister (whom I have also sent a kit to - she already recieved it and sent it back for processing weeks ago). I also told him I have one for my brother and he said that was good. He didn't have much more to say about it yet. We will have to await the results; before we get the real reaction. I gave my brother his last week end. I don't know if he sent in yet; I assume he did. He was interested in the information that this will open up for me and the family and how to make links from it. I explained it a liitle to him and told him to check out the You Tube videos on it. Something else of interest to add to the whole story is that while talking to my oldest daughter about this; she revealed that she and her husband had ordered and sent in their own kits with another of the Genealogy web sites. So we will be able to compare the info from both sites and make links possibly with others who are only on one or the other web site. Very interested to get to the next step in this process. Until then; Remember When.

Ancestry DNA helping fill in the missing pieces (Part 1)

   Well my kids got me the Ancestry DNA kit this past Christmas. Being the family genealogist and having an Ancestry membership they thought it would be a good gift. They were of course, right. Now don't ask me why it took so long; however I just filled my saliva test tube and sent it in about a week or so ago. Yesterday I received an e-mail that they had received it at there testing center and that it had been placed in the line-up to be tested. It will be between 8 and 9 weeks to see the results. As long as it took me to send in my sample; it took almost no time at all to decide to test other family members. My brother and I had already talked about both doing this test; and just haven't gotten around to it. Price being a small factor. We were waiting to see a sale on the kit. My father has always insisted that my brother can't be his biological son. My mother insist he is. So we figure we can lay all questions aside and let the DNA speak for itself. Also if you read my previous blog about my father's mother (my Grand-mother); then you know there is a similar question about my father and his siblings. So I ordered this past week a kit for my brother and one for my father and his sister. Unfortunately my Uncle died back in 1992 (as you would also know from that previous blog) and so I can't test him; Also his daughter was killed a few years later, so I can't test her either. I called my Aunt in Minnesota and she was exited by the idea and of finding out the answers after all these years. My brother is waiting for it. I'm not sure how excited or nervous he is. It has been a question hanging over him for years. I talked to my father a year or two ago about doing this and what it would mean if we find out that he is his son. I know it would hurt him inside to realize what he has missed out on. Family is very important to him. He is I think a little apprehensive about the test from that point of view. However I think he is very interested to learn about his sister and their actual parentage.
    So I have the Ancestry membership and I own all these test. they were purchased by me and I get to administer them through my account for the family. I am excited to see the matches that we may be able to make as well as the answers to the questions we have. Now we just wait for them to arrive, activate them, send them in and get the results. Check out the video if you want to know more about this test  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4kLUoam8ik  I will keep you updated as we complete more steps. As always Remember When and share those memories with others.

International Women's Day 2017 ...Remember When Grandma Dennie..

    SO since it is International Women's Day, I thought I would talk about my Grand-mother. Elva Irene Dennie was her name and she was born in Dundas, Ontario, Canada on August 27, 1923. The Daughter of William George Dennie (who I have spoken of many times in previous blogs) and Gladys Irene Forwell. She was the oldest of their children. Now my Grand-mother lived a life that was dedicated to her own enjoyment. She was married many times and it is assumed that my father and his siblings have different father's. Or at least my father and his brother have a different father then their sister. We never got to hear the truth of this from her however; because the day we as a family were going to sit down with her and finally have it out; that is get to the truth of it. She died. My birthday 1992. My uncle Vince was dying of cancer and had only a month or two left. My aunt had come in from the states to see him and for us to get together and have this conversation with her before Vince died. He wanted to go to his grave having all the past issues and questions taken care of. So even in the end she took the secrets with her. However all this being said, I know that she loved me and her children. She may not have been able to be the best mother in life; but she did love us and I know she held a special place in her heart for me. In her earlier years she was a part of history, such as it were. She joined the Military during WWII as a Leading Aircraft Woman and served for about one year. I recently ordered and received a DVD from The National Film Board of Canada entitled Wings on Her Shoulders which is a short documentary about this group of woman that served. They did jobs to free men up for the combat roles and played a vital part in the war effort.  You can view the video here  https://www.nfb.ca/film/wings_on_her_shoulder/  I also have a document she kept that was with her important papers when she died. It is her statement of service.  It shows her time of service and states she received the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and War Medal 1939-45. She was honorably discharged Nov. 23, 1943 in Toronto, she served in Hamilton, Ontario.  I also have photo copies of a section of the book A History of Women in the Canadian Military about the Aircraft Women of WWII.  All in all I Remember When I sat with my Grand-mother and I will always be proud to know that she served our country.

Statement of Service for Elva Irene Dennie (from the collection of John Goodwin)

Above cover and section of the book 'A History of Women in the Canadian Military' featuring the Aircraft Women of WWII.

Picture of the Volunteer Service Medal 1939-1945. While she never had these in her possession when she died, I found this on line.

    I almost forgot; she told me how she and her friends from the service use to hang out at this cafe in Hamilton called the 'Air Way' and how after someone was discharged they would all go their to say good-bye and good-luck. So I have a picture of her in front of that cafe ( I think it was scheduled to close and so she wanted a picture in front of it; if I remember correctly). Anyway I post that picture and I have a copy of the menu from when she was discharged. I guess part of the ritual of saying good-bye was that all your fellow service people would sign a copy of the menu and send you off with it. She kept hers and I found it in with her box of pictures and things after she died. I don't have it copied; but will dig it out and try to update that into this blog later.

My Grand-mother outside the 'Air Way' Cafe in Hamilton May of 1955. (Part of the collection of John Goodwin)