Task Mastering

I was printing off my forms for death records for Rosa Blades and Henry Williamson (see task list) when it struck me that there was more I could do at the Anderson public library. In the past I ordered obituaries for Rosa Thompson and for Thompsons I thought might be related to Levi. This time around I focused on his children, I ordered obituaries for a James that could be mine..so hard to tell, Mary, Rena, Mattie and Albert. To see if they would shed some light on things. I ordered Ray Bishop Thompsons obit out of curiosity. I also ordered Ida Williamson, Henry Williamson, and Owen Williamson (Henry's brother) hoping they would shed some light on their families as well. Really it's moms I'm trying to track down with those.

So I still have to send in my death record requests for Rosa Blades Thompson and Henry Williamson, but I'm excited to see what I can find from these obituaries in the meantime. Finding moms for Rosa, Henry and Ida will help me determine where some of my genetic relatives fall.

I checked in with the genealogist at the public library in Butler PA to see if she had any Thompson resources that might identify Levi and she also could not find anything in her records. She did come across the Levi Campbell record (born 1844) who is living with James Thompson in Cherry, Butler PA in 1850, but no Levi Thompson.

I asked about orphanages in the area and I asked if it was likely that people would come to Butler to give birth (maybe the Thompsons had a son there but really lived in another county?). I also asked about possible Elmer families in the area.

On the DNA front, making note of that odd marker for my Y DNA cluster of DYS463 = 23. I asked my Elmer match at FTDNA if they would be willing to test, and they were. This will help them better match with the SMGF Elmer and the Knowltons there and it helps strengthen the case that the Elmers, Knowltons and I are in some related group within our cluster. Not a full 67 upgrade but a cheap way to get more data.

This next bit wasn't on the task list, but it's an interesting DNA/History tangent:

I was looking up Knowltons (it's a town name in England and there are a couple). The standard is that the Knowltons are from Kent, but there is another Knowlton..although it's not in Southeast England, it's in Dorset in Southwest England. In an odd coincidence, reading the wikipedia article on Knowlton Dorset I was surprised to see a familiar name in this text: "The Domesday Book also records two hides of the land of the Count of Mortain in Knowlton, named as Chenoltune in the book, held by Ansgar, which was held by Æthelmær in the time of King Edward. " Æthelmær is the name Aylmer is supposed to be linked to and Aylmer becomes Elmer. It's probably just a coincidence, but interesting all the same. Knowlton is a name you would call someone who had moved from Knowlton to your town. Bill from Knowlton would shorten up to Bill Knowlton in no time. According to a few sources the village in Dorset was struck by the black death and abandoned.