Genealogical Gems

Several people in my family were born in October. My cousin Janet Webster  Sammons will celebrate her 84 th birthday this year and God love her she is still going strong! Another cousin, Lorraine Welsh Webb, will celebrate her birthday too. There are many a few others but, in my humble and of course unbiased opinion, none that stand out as much as my babies!   My twins – Anna and Zorina – will be 17 on Wednesday, the 7 th .   They were a month early, which is not unusual for twins. They were born on a Wednesday.    That week I went into work – drove myself – for our advertising staff meeting. At the time I was selling ads and writing for the (now defunct) Ledger Newspapers in Quarryville. I announced I would be working from home thereafter and made arrangements with the one of the other salespersons (her name was Dee, a real sweetheart but for the life of me, I cannot recall her last name) for her to stop by and pick up my ad copy. Tuesday morning, ...

Memorial Day is a day we – in the United States (other countries have similar holidays) – set aside to remember our dead. We remember and honor those soldiers who have laid down their lives in service to America . While I have many family members who have served - some willing and some not so much -   in every branch of the Armed Services, there is only one who died in service … my Uncle Paul Kurenda.   Paulie – as my grandmother/his sister always referred to him – died in service during World War II. He was just 22 years old.  He is pictured here with my grandmother, Anna Kurenda Ruczhak. He did not die taking out one of Hitler’s goons. He did not die rescuing cousins he probably never even knew from the horrific concentration camps. He did not on the field in an actual battle. No, he died of tuberculosis.        His death certificate lists his immediate cause of death as being, “Tuberculosis, pulmonary, acute, military, bilateral....

This week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge prompt is:  Live Long. Time to feature a long-lived ancestor. Any centenarians in the family? My Aunt Jennie may be the longest living ancestor. She lived 94 years. I can not think of any centenarians.   Aunt Jennie is Jennette Sarah Still. She was born 24 January 1888 to Franklin Pierson Still and Sarah Jennie VanHorn in East Fallowfield Township , Chester County . Her older brother, Pierson George Still, is my great grandfather.   She never married. Instead, she graduated from the Women's Hospital in Philadelphia. She was a nurse at Wilkes Barre City Hospital. She was also a head nurse at the Women's Medical, Surgical and Obstetrics Hospital. She also worked in the children's ear, nose throat ward at the Allegheny Hospital in Pittsburgh. After some time nursing here, she went out to Detroit , Wayne County, Michigan where she was a registered nurse. The 1900 and the 1910 Census show Jennie Still living ...

I am a little bit late on this but how could I miss this one! Seriously, did you notice my name: Ruczhak! It was Americanized when my grandfather went to school and the teacher couldn’t pronounce or spell it (could you just imagine the backlash if teachers actually did that now?). My grandfather was born Joseph Hruszczak and his father kept the spelling throughout his life here.   This week’s prompt for the 52 Ancestor Challenge is “How do you spell that?” Sure, there have been some interesting misspellings along the way. All in all though, my Hruszczak line has actually been one of my easier lines to trace (here in America ), unlike my Walsh line, to name just one of my more difficult lines.      52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small .    © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

I have so many “favorite” family photos. This week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge prompt is:  Favorite Photo: Who is in a favorite photo of yours? Or tell the story of the photo itself — where was it taken, what was the event?   This particular photo is my grandmother – my Baba (Anna Kurenda Ruczhak) – holding my twins shortly after they came home. The photo was taken in October 1998. Baba would have been 81 in this photo.     52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is a weekly genealogical challenge issued by Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small .    © Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015

I hold many things in common with my ancestors, the least of which is DNA, so this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge was tough for me. Each week Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow GeneaBloggers with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  What ancestor is a lot like you? What ancestor do you have a lot in common? Same name? Same home town?   Hometown: I am originally from Coatesville, though like many family members, I was born at Chester County Hospital in West Chester . Many of my family – on both parents’ sides – lived at one time or another in Coatesville. Family members who have lived in Coatesville at some point in their life are simply too numerous to name (that and many are still living).    Religion: I was raised Roman Catholic. Many family members on my maternal grandmother’s side were Catholic, or at least raised Catholic. Like many, I left the Catholic faith. Like many of my dad’s side, I now practice Ort...

My maternal grandmother always boasted that she was 100% Irish since all four of her grandparents were born in Ireland . My DNA shows I am only 17% Irish. I am also 29% Great Britain and 14 % Scandinavian. In addition I am 35% Eastern Europe (Daddy’s grandparents came from Poland/Ukraine).   Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow GeneaBloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  Do you have an ancestor who seemed particularly lucky? Do you have a favorite Irish ancestor? This is their week   Today however, being the month – not just the week or the day – of the Irish, I’d like to talk about my maternal grandmother’s Irish lines. The prompt asks if I have a favorite Irish ancestor. Favorite is a relative (no pun intended) term. I love them all! I would also like to use this post to (try to) answer a cousin’s recent question about immigration.   Approximately four million people left their homes in I...

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) first published Genealogy and the Law: A Guide to Legal Sources for the Family Historian by Kay Haviland Freilich, CG SM , CGL SM , FNGS , and William B. Freilich, Esq., in September last year. It is now available as a Kindle eBook. The book is a great reference for any land ownership issues and records. The NGS also announced live streaming for 10   lectures from its 2015 Family History Conference. The conference will be held 13‒16 May, in St. Charles , Missouri . For those (sadly, like myself) who are unable to physically attend the conference, we can sign up for these live streaming lectures. Details can be found at http://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/attend/live-streaming/ . An email from Amy Johnson Crow reminded me about 52 Ancestors Week 10 Recap. The theme for week 10 was Stormy Weather . My 2x great grandfather was a rural schoolteacher and his school diary included notations on the weather! Blog posts worth reading: ...

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow GeneaBloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  This is the time of year that the northern hemisphere starts to see severe storms. (As if the blizzards in New England this winter haven’t been bad enough!) What ancestor endured a particularly severe storm? It could be something like a tornado or blizzard or it could be a “storm” of bad things.   I have a diary from my 2x great grandfather, Frank Still, from 1873. He would have been about 20 then. His first entry is dated the first of January and begins “Good sleighing.” He mentions eight males and two females that day so I believe this was his notebook from when he was the local teacher in Chester County.   He speaks of good sleighing for the next two days as well. On Sunday, 5 January 1873 there was “heavy rain.” He speaks of going to “S.H.”   to make a fire and get a “Storm Stand.”      He...

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow GeneaBloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  Which ancestor is the closest to where you live? Who has a story that hits “close to home”?   The closest physically to me – there are many in Lancaster alone, let alone the County – would be Charles Eckman, his wife Rosa Kirchner and her family. Charles grew up in New Providence but moved to Lancaster City and then married Rosa in 1881. Her parents and siblings lived in Lancaster City . Her parents were both born in Germany . Charles’ family had been here for many generations when they met.   Charles was – for the longest time – very elusive. Once he moved to Lancaster , there was little to be found of him. He shows up in the 1880 census as working for the Telegraph Co. but still living with his folks in Strasburg Township . City Directories place him and Rosa on Manor Street in the City thereafter.    ...

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow geneabloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is:  Does this mean a generous ancestor or one you found through land records? You decide. Land records indicate that my 4x great grandmother Margaret Still just showed up one day. Instead of answering questions, her land records simply create more questions. With her though, I am not surprised. Since today’s topic is simply land records, a little background on Margaret is necessary. Margaret was no saint and she is certainly not the ideal mother figure.   Margaret Still, according to my Aunt Helen (Margaret’s great granddaughter), “got herself knocked up and her father put her up on a farm in Goosetown away from the family.” She was right, my Aunt Helen.   Margaret Still was born in 1788 to Charles Still and Margaret Rhoades, his wife. She had several brothers and the family lived in nearby Uwchlan Township in Chester County ,...

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow geneabloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s prompt is: Which ancestor do you love to research? The answer is simple: I love to research all of them! There are some I do spend more time on and some lines I have progressed more than others. There are some I knew and therefore felt a special bond with. Almost each one has taught me something.   Margaret Still, my 4x great grandmother, has told me perseverance and patience. I have been searching for her sons’ father(s) for years. She had the two boys out of wedlock and when she did get pregnant, story is, her family bought her a farm in a different township and put her out on it.   My great grandfather Panko Hruszczak has taught be to be flexible. My maiden name is Ruczhak. I have a cousin who spells it Ruzchak. I have found several other ways it has been spelled over the years. It is through Panko that I also learned the value of na...

Amy Johnson Crow, of No Story Too Small , challenges fellow geneabloggers each week with her 52 Ancestors Challenge. This week’s p rompt is “ Which ancestor is the farthest from you, either in distance or in time/generations? Which ancestor have you had to go the farthest away to research?” My Still line is the furthest back I’ve got so far and it is also the one that seems the furthest away.   The Still line is one of the first lines I worked on. You would think, after 30 years, I would be further back than 1760. You would think that I would at least know my immigrant ancestor or where the Still family actually came from. Charles Still is my “far away” ancestor.   My mother & her father … My search began with my mother, a Still by birth. Her parents – Lloyd and Mary Welsh Still – lived full lives and I was fortunate to have known them well. My grandfather was born 24 March 1914 in Unionville, Chester County . He was 79 when he passed on 4 May 1993. My grand...