Jill's Genealogy Journey

Stories, Discoveries & Tips

Jill Holman

Vipond and Taylor: A Timeline

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2026 Update

Hooray! I have just found James Taylor’s obit! (Evening Times Republican 9 Apr 1925 Marshall IA)

As you might remember, we were worried that we might have confused information for more than one James Taylor. This obit helps us feel more confident. The James Taylor who died in 1925 in Rhodes IA was the father of Emma, Belle and William. He did marry Bertha and later Julia. He served in Co A 155th OH national guard.

It says his birth date was 1844, which matches his tombstone.

While we don’t have a birth record, it seems likely his parents were Henry Taylor and Rachel Secor. We need to verify sources for all this, but it looks like the next generation back was John Taylor and Mehitable Smith and then the next generation back was Jonas Taylor and Ariaantje Eckerson.

We still have questions about his wife. I would love to know more about Bertha Bird’s parents. And these pictures appear all over the web for James and Bertie, but no one seems to know where they came from. Let me know if you have any clues!

P.S. It is fun to note that two Taylor sisters married two Vipond brothers:

  • Isaac Vipond and Louise Belle Taylor
  • Thomas Vipond and Emma Taylor

Original Post from 2023

While I would like a bit more documentation to be sure we can trace our Viponds back to this Nicholas Vipond, this is a cool document from 1742 showing Nicholas Vipond became an indentured apprentice to John Hill.

Vipond Document from 1742

This part of the family is pretty confusing! They like to use the same names over and over again – lots of Isaacs and lots of Harrisons. Here are the facts and sources I have sorted out so far:

  • 23 Aug 1833 – Isaac born to Harrison & Ann Vipond (index)
  • 1841 – Harrison and Ann and 3 kids are in Penrith, he was a lead miner (census)
  • 1851 – Harrison (born 1805) and Ann (born 1808) and 5 kids are in Penrith, he was a lead miner (census)
  • 1861 – Isaac and Catherine and 2 kids are in Penrith, he was a lead miner (census)
  • 1863 – James in Darby, Pickaway, OH (draft record)
  • 10 Oct 1864 – Isaac was born (death cert) (birth index says Dec 1865)
  • 22 Nov 1866 – James and Birtie marry Pickaway, Ohio, USA (county marriage record)
  • 1870 – James and Bertie and 2 kids are in Wayne, Pickaway, OH (census)
  • 1871 – Isaac and Catherine and 5 kids are in Penrith, Cumberland, England, he was a laborer born 1834 (census)
  • 28 Oct 1878 – possibly Isaac was naturalized in Rock Island IL, came to the US in 1871 (it says Isaac in the index and Harrison on the card)
  • 1880 – Isaac and Katherine and 5 kids in Watertown, Rock Island IL, he’s a coal miner from England (census)
  • 1880 – James and Roberty and 3 kids are in Pleasant, Fulton IL. They are from OH. He’s a day laborer with parents from NY and her parents are from VA. (census)
  • 29 Jun 1887 – Isaac and Belle married in Rock Island IL (state index)
  • 1895 – Isaac and Belle and 4 kids in Bellair, Appanoose, IA (census)
  • 1900 – Isaac, Belle and 7 kids in Greene, Mercer IL. He was born 1865 England, she was born 1870 OH. He was a coal miner. Isaac immigrated 1895. (census)
  • 1900 – Brother Frank, Bertha and Rosie Vipond are next door (census)
  • 1900 – Catherine and son Harrison are nearby. She was born 1855 & came to the US in 1871 (census)
  • 1910 – Isaac, Belle and 5 kids are in Otrey, Big Stone MN (census)
  • 29 Oct 1918 – Frank died in Greene, Mercer IL (state index)
  • 1920 – Isaac, Belle and James are in Big Stone MN. They came in 1871. Belle was born in OH (census)
  • 29 Sep 1924 – Harrison died in Greene, Mercer IL (state index) – which Harrison!?
  • 29 Jan 1920 – Catherine died in Greene, Mercer IL (state index)
  • 24 Feb 1928 – Louise Belle died Big Stone, MN (index)
  • 1930 – Isaac is in Davenport, IA (census)
  • 1940 – Isaac with daughter Mabel’s family in Ortonville, Big Stone, MN (census)
  • 12 Mar 1944 – Isaac died Minneapolis, Hennepin MN. He was a farmer, not a vet (death cert)

Mabel Vipond’s Ancestors

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How to get started with genealogy?

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Where to begin with your family history?

There is a lot of advice out there and it can be overwhelming!

First, why do you want to do this? It matters. It can help you prioritize what you want to do and get through frustration when the going gets tough. For me, I heard that we had a Native American ancestor and I wanted to know more about that. It doesn’t seem it was exactly true, but I have continued researching because I like solving puzzles and feeling connected to my ancestors.

Know that there is not one right way to do this. You can choose your own adventure! Here are your first three decisions:

1 – Are you interested in a DNA test or traditional research first? (Hint: Doing both together gives you the best results!)

If you choose a DNA test as a first step, know that there are 3 different tests and 3-5 different major companies depending on who you ask. If your family has been in the US awhile, AncestryDNA is a good place to start. If your family is global, MyHeritage or FamilyTreeDNA might be a better choice.

Be ready for surprises! Know that you might learn something unexpected – here are some resources on that.

You can also start at AncestryDNA and transfer your data to other companies and this is a good strategy to find the most cousins. How to Transfer Your DNA to Other Companies.

If you choose traditional research as a first step, fill out this form starting with yourself.

And talk to your old people as soon as possible! We all wish we had asked more questions of our parents and grandparents before they passed on. In addition, you might discover cool things like scrapbooks, photographs, family bibles, diaries and letters.

2 – Want to save money or make fast/easy progress?

If you want to save money, FamilySearch offers a lot for free. And there are DNA Test Sales several times a year.

If you want to make fast/easy progress, sign up for a subscription at ancestry.com. (They do have sales sometimes too.)

Learn more here – Genealogy Websites Comparison: Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage.

3 – Are you OK working online only or do you want software on your computer to store your research? (Highly recommended)

If you are OK working online only, do you want to focus on collaborating with others or focus on your own tree? For example, FamilySearch has a collaborative shared tree and with Ancestry, you have your own tree.

Know that there is a lot of bad info out there on the various trees. You want sources to verify your family history. That’s why I like WikiTree and I am slowly moving my research over there. They encourage people to verify facts by providing sources, including DNA tests. As Roberta Estes says:

People often ask, “How can I preserve my research for future generations?” and WikiTree is certainly an excellent answer.

If you want software to store your research on your computer, you have several choices. However, if you want to sync with ancestry.com, you have 2 choices: Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic. Plus RootsMagic syncs with FamilySearch as well!

The number one thing I wish someone had told me earlier is to take a lot of pictures and notes. You cannot remember everything. We have all messed up here and have something we got early in our research and we cannot figure out where it came from.

Start now and keep going a little at a time. Baby steps really add up. And you will learn more as you go!

Start Now!

Family History Photo Project

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I have some time this winter break to scan in those old photos. I don’t want them to degrade any further. If I have photos you want, I will be ready to share them soon.

Do you have old photos? Even if your immediate family is not really interested in family history, someone might find them invaluable, like maybe your second or third cousin.

I will circle back later and report on the process and tools I used. Here are some articles to get you started:

For now, here is my wish list. These are ancestors where I do not have pictures and they might be out there somewhere:

  • Charles Holman
  • Isaac and Louis Belle Vipond
  • Isaac and Catherine Vipond
  • Lars Fjerstad
  • Buel and Almira Atchison
  • Johan and Anna Laitala
  • Teunis and Elizabeth Middensorp
  • Ubbe Reemts Iwwerks
  • Adeline Caza

If you have any of these photographs, please share them with me!

Box of old family photos

mtDNA – Part 2

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I finally ran the mtDNA test on my dad. This test looks at the maternal line and can be run on everyone, not just women. You might recall that I was able to hook into others’ research when I ran this test on my mom: https://jillholman.com/genealogy/marie-marguerie-and-mtdna/

No such luck this time – we don’t have any close matches yet (genetic distance = 0). And among the matches we do have, there is no agreement on earliest known ancestor, nor anything in common in trees that I can find. And of course there are a lot of missing trees. Hopefully more cousins will test and provide tree information back several generations so we can make progress here soon. (You might also recall that this family is tricky for traditional document research and we have had a bit of a brick wall for years: https://jillholman.com/genealogy/john-margaret-williams/)

So our maternal line back from Margaret Emma Jones is still a mystery for now.

Maternal line back from my dad

We can also learn a bit about our ancient ancestors from mtDNA. The T haplogroup is in the book The Seven Daughters of Eve by Bryan Sykes. See the chapter on Tara.

For our ancestors, scientists currently believe the mitochondrial haplogroups evolved something like this:

  • L – Africa 192,400 years ago (Mitochondrial Eve)
  • L1-6 – 170,000 years ago
  • L3 – 71,600 years ago
  • N – 70,000 years ago
  • R – South Asia – 60,000 years ago
  • R2’JT – 55,000 years ago
  • JT – Near East/Europe – 50,000 years ago
  • T – 33,300 years ago
  • T2 – 23,800 years ago
  • T2b – 10,600 years ago
  • T2b24 – 7,500 years ago

For the earlier date estimations, check out figure 6 here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2694979/pdf/main.pdf

For the T date estimations, check out S2_fig here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0118625

Resources

And remember, get your old people tested as soon as possible!

Generations

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I really liked this book published in 2023. How interesting to better understand generational differences and how culture has changed in the last 100 years. I bet you will find something that surprises you! For example, Millennials are not broke. The data show they have actually done quite well financially.

The author focuses on the six generations living now and how technology has impacted each generation, as well as these two trends that have been developing over the years:

  • Individualism
  • Slower life

Be warned, this book is very long and detailed. The author used 24 data sets that included 39 million people. There are 282 charts in the book and it is 560 pages. Remember, you don’t have to read the whole thing to get something out of it!

I encourage you to check out the book. It is a great resource to help us understand each other better.

Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, and Silents—and What They Mean for America’s Future by Jean M. Twenge

“Fascinating… an informative and insightful study of the dynamics at play in U.S. society today.” —Publishers Weekly

2023 Holiday Collection

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I made a couple more ancestor ornaments this year – what a nice way to honor our ancestors! See them up close here.

If you want more context on these families:

I also thought it would be fun to customize a notebook and sticky notes.

Picture of ancestor ornaments, sticky notes, notebook

P.S. You can even use these to get started and customize them yourself!