Jill's Genealogy Journey

Stories, Discoveries & Tips

Mary Williams

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!

Mercer Raceabout Type 35

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Mary & her mother & ?
Mary & her mother in a Mercer Raceabout

More about this picture I published last time – this is a special car!

Thanks to cousin Gordon, self-professed car nut, I have learned that this is a Mercer Raceabout Type 35 and it was made from 1911 to 1915 with a total production of under 1,000.

They say it was “one of the most advanced cars of its time” & I am ever so curious how these two women ended up in this special car!

Did they have racing in Staples? Cousin Gordon suggested it could have been an older car used for dirt track racing by the time the picture was taken.

I had guessed this picture was in 1910 in Staples, but it must have been later. Margaret died in 1923, so it has to be before then. Mary moved to Canada in 1913, but she did come back to visit several times, so perhaps this picture was taken on one of her trips back to Staples.

Lovely 1912 Mercer 35R Raceabout
Lovely 1912 Mercer 35R Raceabout


This picture & more information available here at Wikipedia.

There are also some great pictures of a 1913 Mercer Raceabout here at Jay Leno’s Garage where they describe the car “as little more than a hood, two bucket seats and a 25-gallon gas tank.”

Thanks to Cousin Gordon!

P.S. Added February 9, 2014:
A bit more from my clever & persistent mother in response to this post . . . Note: the number 5 on the car, how old the car looks, no leaves on the trees BUT the men are in their shirtsleeves, and the style of clothes they’re wearing. My guess is this is around 1920 or 21, in the spring. I have no record of Mary’s visit in 1920, BUT in 1921 she came in the spring. All the other visits were in late fall or early winter. And in 1920, son Charles was living with Margaret. He would have been 39. My guess is he’s one of the men in the picture.

Thanks Mom!

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Histories, Mysteries and Little Old Ladies

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Guest post from my mother! . . .

Some people go to the beach, I like to spend my summers investigating a family history “mystery.” This summer it was Efner Atchison [see the last post for more on him] and Mary Ellen Williams, from the Fjerstad/Atchison branch of our tree.

We had very little information on Efner. He was my “Mystery Man.” Or so I thought.
Mary Ellen Williams, or Mae Atchison as she was known in later years, was my husband’s great-grandmother. I had met her, at family gatherings and her annual two week visits with my mother-in-law. She was a feisty, little old lady. This was someone I actually knew, no mystery there. Or so I thought, again.

To investigate a family history “mystery,” I gather all the information I have (fact or not). See what’s missing and begin a list of questions I don’t have answers for. Then I go in search of those answers. Find the facts and put the pieces together. Simple, right? Maybe for Sherlock Holmes.

Mary Williams Fact Sheet
Mary Williams Fact Sheet


Efner and Mary Ellen were married in 1897 in Staples, MN. Efner seemed to have died in 1909. That left Mary Ellen a young widow with 3 children to raise. And apparently she stayed a widow right up to her death, 1971 in Staples, MN. That intrigued me. How in the world did she support herself and raise 3 children? Did she live in Staples all those years? 60 years of missing pieces?!?! Now I had a “Mystery Woman,” too.

She lived in Staples, she had family and friends there. Yet she seemed to have moved to Canada somewhere around 1913. I had trouble believing that. Why would she have packed up her children and moved to another country? Putting myself in her place, I guessed that either she was traveling with someone or that she knew someone where she was going.

Canadian records for that time and area are sparse. She seems to have visited someone in Canada according to a 1912 Border Crossings from the U.S. to Canada record. Further searches showed me that she had a brother living in Saskatchewan at the time. The 1916 Census of Canada shows that she did indeed live in Saskatchewan, beginning in 1913. Border crossing records show that between 1917 and 1921 she returned to Staples several times. Maybe to visit her parents? Fact: she lived in Canada from 1913 to 1921.

Only 50 missing years to go. Since the Canadian resources had dried up, what other facts did I have? The end of her life! She died in Staples in 1971, how long had she been there? By searching through newspaper archives, I found “resident tidbits” about her all the way back to 1942. Bingo, the last 30 years of her life were spent in Staples. Some of those years were spent in a local retirement home.

Still 20 missing years. And this time I had the 1930 and 1940 U.S. censuses to help me. 1930 turned up nothing, that was disappointing. But in 1940 she shows up in Duluth, MN working as a housekeeper for the Spencer family. And the Duluth City Directories show her living with them back to 1935.

1921 to 1935 – 14 years still missing. Totally frustrating for me. Where was she? In Canada? Duluth? Staples? Or someplace else? Why didn’t I ask her about her life when I had the chance? Maybe there wouldn’t have been a mystery, or missing years. But then what would I do with my summers?

P.S. Note from Jill . . .
I just want to underscore how surprising this all was. From the stories I had heard, I thought this little old lady had lived in Staples her whole life. But no, she got around! I was so surprised she lived in Saskatchewan! It also seems good to mention that she lived for 95 years – so she had a lot of time to move around & have an interesting life.

Extra bonus – I thought I would share a couple more pictures I have of Atchie, as we called her. I wish I knew more about these images. It is easy to pick out May/Mary in the black dress & her mother Margaret in the white dress. I don’t know who the other people are in this one:

Mary & her mother & ?
Mary & her mother & ?


Mary & her mother & ?
Mary & her mother in a Mercer Raceabout

And here they are again in this car. I am guessing around 1910 in Staples? Perhaps the man on the left is Margaret’s husband John, but it is hard to tell for sure.


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Three Generations of Atchisons

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May & Efner Atchison
May & Efner Atchison in Staples MN (maybe their 1897 wedding?)

This has been a long time coming! These Atchisons were rather messy and some of the information was from way back at the beginning when I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t keep track very well. Here is what I have pieced together so far . . .


There were several more spouses, but for now, let’s focus on these 3 families!:


John & Lydia had these children:
Buel Goodsell ATCHISON
Orett ATCHISON
Zebedee ATCHISON
George ATCHISON
Milton ATCHISON


Buel & Almira had these children:
Ephner (Efner M) ATCHISON
Nellie P ATCHISON


Efner & May had these children:
Claire (Clara) ATCHISON
Glen ATCHISON
Milton ATCHISON

May Atchison & Children
May Atchison & Children (maybe 1910?)

    Nellie & Ruben Kilts
    Nellie & Ruben Kilts probably Staples MN

    Notes & Questions

    1) I have heard that Ruben & Nellie Kilts helped care for the kids (Claire, Glen & Milton) when they lived near each other.
    2) Who was Alsam in 1860?
    3) Who was Susan in 1895?
    4) There is a brief mention that Philena married Buel Atchinson, had one child, Mary, and moved to Wisconsin. (They had another but he died young.) And also that John Atchinson took the Freemen Oath in 1808. That is in the History of Jericho VT from 1916. It is available online (just a text file version or pdf version that stops after page 319)
    5) Thanks to cousin Linda for her enthusiasm & generosity!


    P.S. A note about the spelling – Atchison v. Atchinson . . .


    I did a quick survey of the official records I have and we seem to have lost the ‘n’ during Buel’s watch. He waffled during this time period:

    • 1860 – did not have the n
    • 1865 – did not have the n
    • 1870 – had the n
    • 1880 – did not have the n
    • 1891 – had the n

    Before this, we consistently had the n and after this we consistently did not have the n.

    Milton Atchison
    A Four Generation Picture with Uncles! Sam Williams on the right with his nephew Milton Atchison with his nephew Dean with his niece Carol (maybe 1944?)

    The Basic Facts:
    John ATCHISON (also married Lucy Story & Rosina Wells)
    b. 1787, North Adams, Berkshire, MA
    d. 31 Jan 1855, Underhill, Chittendon, VT
    & Lydia PACKARD
    b. 1 May 1786, VT
    d. 5 Aug 1840
    m. 22 Jan 1807, Jericho, Windsor or Chittendon, VT


    Buel Goodsell ATCHISON (also married Philena Whitten)
    b. 14 Jun 1817, Underhill, Chittendon, VT
    d. 6 May 1896, Staples, Todd, MN
    & Almira S McNALL (also married Benjamin Hotchkip)
    b. 12 Sep 1832, Franklinville, Cattaraugus, NY
    d. 13 Jun 1886, Little Falls, Monroe, WI
    m. 31 Jan 1865, Cataract or Little Falls, Monroe, WI


    Ephner (Efner M) ATCHISON
    b. 4 May 1868, Little Falls, Polk, WI
    d. 28 Oct 1909, Wadena, Wadena, MN
    & May (Atchie) (Mary E) WILLIAMS
    b. 25 Dec 1875, Beaver Dam, Dodge, WI
    d. 15 Dec 1971, Staples, Todd, MN (Mary Rondorf home)
    m. 27 Oct 1897, Staples, Todd, MN

     
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    Appreciation for an Old Photograph

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    Four Generations Photo
    Claire, Pete holding Fran, Atchie & Margaret seated
    circa 1921


    Okay a little description . . . this photograph has been through the wringer! It is bent and torn in several places. There are numerous spills, discolorations and even some thumbprints. There are two thumbtack holes. There are stains and specks and smudges. One corner is very mangled and three corners are missing and it looks like another part of it is going to break off at any moment!


    So there it is in all it’s pathetic glory! I’m so grateful that it has made it to me! It is pretty old, from about 1921 or 1922. (Margaret died the end of 1923, so it could not have been taken after that. ) It is a four-generations picture, so that is valuable and it has clearly been through a lot in the past 90 years.


    Okay here’s the full old-photograph analysis . . .

    • The coloring is quite yellow and the surface shiny.
    • The size of the original is 3.75 inches x 6 inches.
    • Written on the back: Mom & Dad Fjerstad, Fran, Atchie & Atchie’s mom.
    • Fran looks to be about one or two years old, her mom was about 23, her dad was about 26, Atchie (May Williams was Claire’s mom) was about 46 and Margaret (Claire’s grandmother) was about 83 years old.
    • I’m not sure where it was taken. Fran was born in 1920 in Toronto, South Dakota and I know they moved around a lot between the towns on the border between South Dakota and Minnesota. So I’m not quite sure where they were at this exact moment. I’m guessing this picture was taken in front of the house where they lived because their clothes look pretty casual.

    Does anyone else have any more information about this photo?

    The Basic Facts:
    Margaret (Emma) JONES WILLIAMS
    b. 9 Jul 1838, Chester, England
    d. 4 Dec 1923, Staples, Todd, MN
    m. 31 Aug 1867, England
    May (Atchie) (Mary E) WILLIAMS ATCHISON
    b. 25 Dec 1875, Beaver Dam, Dodge, WI
    d. 15 Dec 1971, Staples, Todd, MN (Mary Rondorf home)
    m. 27 Oct 1897, Staples, Todd, MN
    Claire (Clara) ATCHISON
    b. 2 Sep 1898, Staples, Todd, MN
    d. 30 Aug 1951, St. Paul, Ramsey, MN
    & Peter Ole FJERSTAD
    b. 2 Oct 1895, Amhurst, Fillmore, MN
    d. 2 Aug 1974, Robbinsdale, Hennepin, MN
    m. 1919, Hendricks, Lincoln, MN
    Evelyn Frances FJERSTAD HOLMAN
    b. 23 Jan 1920, Toronto, Deuel, SD
    d. 17 May 2002, Brooklyn Center, Hennepin, MN
    m. 16 Feb 1937, Milbank, Grant, SD

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