Jill's Genealogy Journey

Stories, Discoveries & Tips

Stories

William & Katri Laitala – A Finnish Family in Northern Minnesota

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William & Katri Laitala with grandson circa 1944 Chisholm MN

Hooray! The second edition of A Finnish Family in Northern Minnesota is available with lots of new information. Read about William and Katri here!

Please note: a PDF is available for printing on the book home page, but the links don’t come through that way. Use this version to link to the resources that are cited in the book.

The Basic Facts:
William LAITALA
b. 1 Jan 1878, Hapavesi, Finland
d. 21 Apr 1952, Virginia, St. Louis, MN

Katri Elizabeth (Kaisa Liisa) KEMPPAINEN
b. 17 Feb 1879, Paltamo, Finland
d. 29 Jun 1963, Virginia, St. Louis, MN
m. 6 May 1906, Chisholm, St. Louis, MN

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McNalls

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Ah, the McNalls. I thought I didn’t know much about them and then sources just kept crawling out of the woodwork! OMG, it felt like I would never finish with this part of the family.

Here is where we are with William McNall and his ancestors (his wife Sibbell Seaward and her ancestors are over here) . . .

William McNall (1806-1870)
William McNall (1806-1870)


 
Almira was my great-great-great-grandmother. William and Sibbel were her parents. William was handy and according to the profile of William McNall from the Cattaraugus County Historical Advisory Committee, he “became a farmer, carpenter, joiner, mason, wheelwright, millwright, and blacksmith depending on what was needed.”  They also said he was “public-spirited, charitable and benevolent as a husband and father.”

John and Meleson were William’s parents. We only know a little bit about them. Then this part of the family gets a bit messy. There was an early settler of Union, CT, a William McNall with a son Arthur, that perhaps are our ancestors, but there is not enough evidence yet to know for sure. There is also a good deal of speculation and debate here about the early McNalls, but no one seems to have enough sources to say for sure. And if that wasn’t enough confusion, there is also a bit of a muddle that perhaps some McNalls were confused with some McNitts. Does Arthur McNitt = Arthur McNall or were they separate people?

Here is what we can be pretty confident about since we have some sources . . .

Timeline
1780 – John born (grave)
23 Feb 1806 – William born Stafford Springs CT (Adams, Ellis)
1817 – John settled at Cadiz NY, kept a hotel, had the first sawmill there (Adams, Ellis)
17 Mar 1829 – William & Sibbel married (Ellis)
19 Jan 1846 – John died in NY (grave)
1850 – William & Sibbel & 8 kids farming in Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY, Mellison with them (census)
1855 – William & Sibbel & 7 kids in Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY (census)
1860 – William & Sibbel & 4 kids in Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY, Almira & 2 kids with them (census)
1870 – William & Sibbel still in Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY, he’s a carpenter (census)
20 Dec 1870 – William died (Adams, Ellis)
 

The Basic Facts:
John McNALL
b. 1780
d.19 Jan 1846, Cattaraugus NY
& Meleson WASHBURN
William McNALL
b. 23 Feb 1806, Stafford Springs CT
d. 20 Dec 1870,Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY
& Sibbel SEAWARD
b. 15 Apr 1811, Decatur NY
d. 2 Apr 1891, Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY
m. 17 Mar 1829, Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY

 
Sources

Wild Aunt Rose

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My grandmother wrote this:

Rosie LaClair was my mothers aunt. She was an old maid and she lived for many years in an old shack in Turtle Lake, WI with pigs & chickens. They had the run of the house, except her living room. We used to go see her on Sunday after church. It was quite an experience with the pigs and chickens in her kitchen. She would shoo them out when we were there. She had an old coal stove and her hands and arms were black up to her elbows with coal dust and soot. She lived there for quite a few years, her house finally burnt down and she lost everything. My mother and dad took her in, but she got to be too much for my mother and dad to handle. They had to put her in a nursing home. She refused to bathe and change clothes. It took four people to give her a bath in the nursing home. She really had a mind of her own and wasn’t too fond of water. What she lived on, I’ll never know, as there was no Social Security in those days.

Rose LeClair
Rose LeClair (around 1910?)
1868-1960

Also, my mother remembers when she was little, they visited Aunt Rose in the nursing home and Rose lunged at her as if to attack her! I wonder, was Aunt Rose kind of crazy? Or just different & didn’t fit in society very well?

I like to think of her as Wild Aunt Rose, a strong, independent woman. She owned her own home around 1910-1920 without ever having married. She was a laundress in the 1920 census.

It was thought that she lived to be 101, but the birth date of 1859 on her death certificate doesn’t seem to be true. We have found her baptism in the church register in 1868 and her age as reported in the censuses from 1870-1905 support the 1868 date. (Relatedly, you might recall from The Mystery of Peter LeClair – The Birth Breakthrough that we found that her father didn’t live as long as we previously thought either. Funny family!)

Rose Leclair's Grave
Rose LeClair’s Grave (bottom right)
at Saint Ann Cemetery, Turtle Lake WI

The Basic Facts:
Rose LeClair Houle
b. 15 Nov 1868, St. Michel, Sherbrooke, Quebec
d. 15 Jun 1960, Rice Lake, WI

The Efner Atchison Breakthrough

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As you may remember from my earlier post, we had a mystery on our hands. The family story was that Efner worked for the railroad & died in a hotel fire, perhaps in Wadena or Staples MN. The death date for him in the family Bible was 28 Oct 1909, but I hadn’t found a death certificate.

So my clever & persistent mother has been at it again. She decided to tackle this problem. First she got all organized & made her fact sheet. She found a census record for him that I had missed – he was listed as Efner Efnerson in 1895!

Efner Atchison Fact Sheet


Then when she ran out of leads, she contacted the Wadena County Historical Society & they provided several helpful tidbits:


1) Cemetery information – Efner M. Atchison, May Atchison, Clair Atchison Fjerstad, Nettie Kilts and Ruben Kilts are buried at Evergreen Hill Cemetery, Section 4 old east Lot/row L62/W/1/2 in Staples, MN. (Hooray we have more information about where he is buried!)

2) Wadena Pioneer Journal 11/4/1909 “Last Thursday the relatives in Thomastown of Dick Atchison of Staples were advised that his death had occurred in Minneapolis where he had been for a couple of weeks for treatment. The funeral services were held from the Methodist Church, Rev. L. Dodds officiating. The remains were interred in the Evergreen Cemetery north of Staples. The deceased leaves a wife and three children and numerous other relatives to mourn his loss.” (Dick!? When did Efner go by Dick!?)

3) Wadena Pioneer Journal, Neighborhood News 11/4/1909 “Owing to the recent fire, the Hotel Ransford at Brainerd, has been closed. Thomas H. Beace, who has been managing the hotel, will not renew his lease, as he has arranged to manage a new hotel at Virginia.” and “Brainerd had a bad fire Thursday of last week. The damage amounted to between $150,000 and $200,000. The fire started in the Schwartz drug store. The Columbia block and contents were a total loss. The Odd Fellows block and post office burned, and the Ransford hotel was practically ruined. The Masons, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows and Red Men lost heavily.”
(There was a fire, but no link that Efner was involved & it looks like he was already in Minneapolis having his treatment at the time.)

Then my clever & persistent mother decided to search for the death certificate by the date. (Luckily the last name starts with A!) She found one for Richard Achison & enough information matches up that we think it is him.

So, it looks like we have another family story that doesn’t appear to be true. We can’t find any evidence he worked for the railroad (& others do say they worked for the RR in the census). And on his death certificate it says he died from: chronic nephritis with valvular disease of the heart, which doesn’t seem fire related.

I was surprised that he wasn’t listed at a hospital on the death certificate, since he was supposedly in Minneapolis for treatment according to the newspaper article. I was very curious who or what was at “304 Aldrich Ave S” in 1909 and found that the address listed was not a valid address. (I spent some time with the 1909 City Directory & some old maps.) And my clever & persistent mother also looked up the doctor that signed the death certificate and he was located on Nicollet Ave., pretty far away.

Still another mystery for someone to solve! And there is so little information for Efner’s son Glenn – who wants to work on that puzzle?

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Ingalls & Seaward – Sibbel Seaward’s Ancestors

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Found another gem of a book!: A Genealogical History of the French and Allied Families by Mary Elizabeth Queal Beyer. It is from 1912 and yippee! You can read it online. I learned a lot about Sibbel Seaward’s ancestors. There is even a picture of her, which is now the oldest portrait of an ancestor that I have.

Sibbel Seaward's Pedigree
Sibbel Seaward’s Ancestors

Here are a few of my favorite stories & discoveries . . .

Ingalls

How fun is this!? Scandinavian pirates! Here is a quote from page 219:

“The name is supposed to be Scandinavian, and derived from Ingialld. During the ninth century the Scandinavian pirates often descended upon the east coast of Great Britain, and in after many years of this nationality made settlements in Lincolnshire. These people were a hardy seafaring race, owing to the nature of their country, but under changed conditions of environment settled down to tilling the soil. The name of Ingalls is still common in England, its etymology being ‘By the power of Thor.’ “

Edmund came to Salem in 1628, only 8 years after the Pilgrims at Plymouth.
Sibbel’s grandfather, Henry, was in the Revolutionary War and later was town clerk for Richmond, NH. President Garfield was a descendent!

Seaward

The story on the name according to Mary on page 239:

“The Seawards are of Scotch-English descent, a tradition in the family giving the name originally as Ward. Some of the family living near the sea were designated as Sea Wards, and thus they finally came to be known as Seaward or Seward.”

William was born in England & came to Taunton MA by 1643. He took the oath of fidelity to Guilford 4 May 1654. As the author states on page 240:

“He was a tanner, a man of considerable property and eminence in the town, and was for a long time commander of the train band. He frequently represented the town in the General Assembly.”

Caleb was also a tanner who was the first settler when he moved to Durham CT 4 May 1699.
Ebenezer was a doctor who moved to New Bedford MA 1737.
Stephen had a wool mill until 1812 & then he was a tavern keeper on the road to Albany. He moved in 1828 to the far west, which was Cattaraugus NY. He lived with Sibbel at the time of his death.

Fun story from page 247:

“The following incident has been handed down by the descendants of Stephen Seaward, who was at one time the owner of a valuable iron gray horse of which he was very proud. One night it was stolen from his stable, and while he made diligent search throughout that part of the country, no trace of the missing animal could be found. A year or so afterward, a neighbor who had been to Albany, told him of having seen in a stable in that city a horse which he believed to be the one he had lost. Stephen immediately went to that city, where he explained the situation to the man who had the horse in his possession, to which explanation the man replied: “If you can prove your statement, the horse is yours.” “I will prove it by the horse himself,” returned Stephen Seaward. He stepped into the barn and the horse neighed, as had been his habit upon the approach of his master. He then went up to the horse and patting him, said: “Prince, address yourself!” and he immediately stretched himself upon his hind legs, and then on his fore legs. Then his owner said: “Take my hat,” which the horse immediately did; then he requested him to make a bow, which the animal proceeded to do. “The horse is yours,” said the man, and Stephen returned home, happy to again be the possessor of this much prized animal.”

Poor Lucy died from childbirth with her ninth child.

There is a picture of Sibbels’ gravestone here, though it is a bit hard to read.

Big question: it says Almira (Sibbel’s daughter) was married three times! I only know about two: Benjamin & William. Who knows the answer to this mystery?

The Basic Facts:
Sibbel SEAWARD
b. 15 Apr 1811, Decatur NY
d. 2 Apr 1891, Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY
m. 17 Mar 1829 William McNALL, Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY

Early Atchinsons in America

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Buel Atchinson's Pedigree
Buel Atchinson’s Pedigree Chart


Wow. I never thought I would be able to trace my ancestors to colonial Massachusetts!
I have just been reading The Atchinson Book compiled & written by Court Atchinson. If you are an Atchinson descendant, you should really check it out. There is a lot of detail! So much he did it in three volumes! And it is available online:

Of course, I have not verified this all myself, but here are a few things I wanted to highlight . . .
The origin of the name is not known for sure, but one theory is that we are descendants of King Arthur! How fun is that!?

John & Deliverance Atchinson
Not much is known about them, but he was killed by Indians 19 Sep 1677 Hatfield MA. It is likely that she was a Puritan because of her name & those of her children. It is likely he had Scottish heritage because several descendants from different branches of the family heard that story and it was not a desirable thing to claim then. The majority of the Scots that were shipped here were criminals & political prisoners. It is likely that John was an indentured servant with a 6-8 year term. If so, it is surprising he was allowed to marry & if he was done with his term, why didn’t he request land? A mystery we may never get solved.

The Burts
Henry Burt was a prosperous clothier from Harberton Devonshire who died in 1617. His son Henry became prominent in Springfield MA. His wife, Ulalia, was nearly buried, but showed signs of life at her funeral. Then she went on to have 19 children! As Court puts it, “Two daughters had close encounters with witchcraft.” And there were some famous descendants as well: President Grover Cleveland, Ethan Allan & Oliver Wendell Holmes.

John & Dorcas Burt Atchinson
John was born 23 Mar 1675 or 1676 Hatfield MA. In 1702, he requested land in Longmeadow MA. Dorcas was born 10 Feb 1680. John & Dorcas married 25 Feb 1703 Springfield MA. John was active with community service for 18 years in Springfield MA. Then went to Brimfield, which was later called Monson. He died 26 May 1731 or 1732 and she returned to Longmeadow MA. She died 21 Oct 1770. (From what we guess about his father, it looks like the Atchinsons went from “criminal” to prominence in one generation!)

Deliverance & Mercy Warriner Atchinson
Yes, a boy named Deliverance was born 6 Feb 1722 or 1723 Longmeadow MA. Deliverance & Mercy married 20 Jul 1758. Her parents were Benjamin Warriner & Mercy Bartlett of Wilbraham MA.

John & Phebe Kibbe Atchinson
He was born 28 Jun 1762. He probably served in the Revolutionary War, but there are 2 of them and not enough information to be sure. John & Phebe married 5 Oct 1783. She had been born 6 Nov 1765 in Somers CT to Joseph & Phebe Wright Kibbe. He died in 1790 & she remarried.

John & Lydia Packard Atchinson
He was born 1787. John & Lydia married 22 Jan 1807 in Jericho VT. Lydia was born 1 May 1786 to George & Margaret Prouty Packard. John enlisted in the War of 1812 25 Sep 1813. He served 1 month 23 days. Lydia died 5 Aug 1840 Underhill VT.
If you want to see more on the younger generations, see this post.

 
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