Update: Jean Kenney Interview

I'm taking a break in updating the different children entries to give some information regarding a meeting I had with Jean Kenney mentioned in the last entry.  It was unsure how Jean was related and that was clarified.  As mentioned earlier, Jeanette Ferguson was married at least 3 times and I have speculated that she was married a fourth time because of an entry I found in the marriage index of a Janet Ferguson, but I have to investigate this further another time.


To review Janette was married first to Martin Murray and had no children, then to Herbert Le Pla.  It was also Herbert's second marriage.  They had Isabelle, Herbert Jr. and Florence.  Later, Jeanette suppossedly married Sanford McNabb.  However, no marriage license was found and Jean herself said she wasn't sure they were ever married.  Jean said she was the daughter of Sanford McNabb and a woman in Ottawa she never met or had anything to do with.  Jeanette and Florence essentially raised her.  The children of Jeanette and Sanford were: Harry, Edwin, Hazel, Glen and Dorothy.  When mentioning these people she would often say: I would consider them a brother/sister, but I have no idea who their parents are.  She stated her brother Edwin was still alive in Morris, yet he was a year younger than her and Jeanette would have been in her late 50's at the time.

On to the pictures that Jean had at her house!

This was a very large picture (didn't get all of it because it was very long).  But it is believed to be Sanford McNabb.  He was a stock dealer and traveled a lot, not sure who the woman in the picture is.

This is a picture of Jeanette McNabb.  At the end of her life she had no one to care for her.  When Jean and John got married they took Jeanette in to their home until the end of her life in 1946.

Hazel McNabb: Jeannette and Sanford's daughter

Herbert Le Pla (I assume Jr.)

Glenn McNabb.  Remarkably, we have this photo in an old album with pictures that we had no idea who the people in the photos were!  Sadly, this was the only photo she could identify.

Hazel McNabb holding Jean.

Florence worked in glass cutting factory in Morris.  Jean inherited her collection, shown here!

These are photos of a carving set that Herbert Le Pla sent to his mother (Jeanette McNabb) during WWI from Paris, France!  You can see they are engraved McNabb above.

Funny point in the interview.  Jean asked if I wanted to know something really bad about Aunt Lizzie.  I said Okay....and she said she remembers going there as a little girl and there were cockroaches in her house!

Jennette Ferguson Murray LePla McNabb

Jennette Ferguson was born Dec 27, 1865 in Morris, Illinois.  Much has been discovered of Jennette recently and she seemed to stick out a bit from the rest of the children in this way.  She first appears in the 1870 census listed as "Jennet" at the age of 4 years old.  In 1880, she is listed as Jennie, 14 years old and "at school" at the time. She married Martin Murray January 8th, 1884 who lived in Morris but was born in London, England. He was an Engineer.   He was 21 years old at the time.  Jennette was listed as Jennie Ferguson and was just 18 years old.  It is unknown what happened to the marriage whether or not it ended in divorce or Martin had passed away.  However, Jennette married again on November 20, 1888 to Herbert Le Pla of La Salle, Illinois, born in England.  Herbert was 27 and Jennette was 22. Herbert was a tailor and has been married before.  However, his first wife Elizabeth Clare had died likely from childbirth and he had Elizabeth and J. Harry were living with relatives in Will County in 1900.  The marriage certificate claims that this was Jennette's first marriage, but it has been confirmed it was indeed the 2nd marriage.  Witnesses to the marriage were Jennette's sister Mary Jane and James Bell, perhaps a friend of the groom?

The 1900 Census is a very strange document.  It shows three heads of the household: Martin Murray, Mary McMollimet, and Jeanette LePla.  The Martin Murray is not the same as her first husband because his age is listed as 70 years old and birthplace was in Ireland.  Jennette's first husband was much younger and born in England, however, it is a strange occurrence regardless.  Beyond the 3 heads of the household there were 3 children listed: Isabelle 10, Herbert 8 and Florence 5 all children of Herbert and Jennette's.  Jennette is listed as widowed, but it has not been confirmed that Herbert died at this point.  He does not appear in the 1916-1950 Illinois death index and the online Pre-1916 death index is not complete and further research is warranted.  Also living in the household was Sanford McNabb listed as a boarder.  Sanford was quite a bit younger than Jennette (by 8 years) and his profession is listed as Teamster. The location was in the Morris 4th ward.  November 15, 1909 an article was posted in the Morris Herald about Jeanette and cousin Joe Steel going to Scotland to claim an estate.  The article says that a fortune worth 15 million pounds that is located in Scotland.  The estate was said to be in litigation for 50 years.  Apparently Jennette had a cousin in London (possibly a Steel) who looked up the fortune and claimed that Steel and Ferguson families were some of the rightful heirs from an uncle or great uncle.  Later it was reported when they returned that the relative had no died yet and she would rarely ever speak of it.   It was never discovered what happened to the fortune or its true whereabouts.  There were many family tales about a lawyer trying to hoodwink the family or the lawyer being murdered.  Stories of a family bible with a page missing were also tossed around, but no documentation besides the Morris paper could confirm the fortune actually existed.  By the 1910 Census, 1203 Kiersted St. was there home and Sanford and Jennette were listed as married!  A marriage certificate was never found for Jeanette and Sanford, but it has been searched for. Children listed were Hazel, Harry, Dorothy, all McNabbs and Herbert and Florence Le Pla.  It is listed that Jenette and Sanford were married 10 years and the oldest child Hazel was 8 years old.  It also states that Jennette had 6 children with only 5 living.  Sanford was listed as a stock dealer and Herbert Jr. was a milk dealer.

The 1920 census indicates the family was living at 1203 Kiersted still and Hazel, Harry, Dorothy (McNabb) and Herbert and Florence (Le Pla) were all living there. The 1930 census shows them living in the same home with Hazel still at age 29 who was single and now Glen McNabb and wife Marie and listed as granddaughter, Jean.  However, Jean Kenney is still alive and when contacting her she said that Jeanette had raised her as her own daughter.  Jean is 86 and it is difficult to get her to answer questions, so it hasn't been determined how she is related to Jeanette. Jennette died Dec 4, 1946 in Morris, Illinois. It lists her as divorced, but no documentation has proven that.  She was 80 years old at the time of her death.  Cause of death was listed as cancer on the right side of her head and Pneumonia for the past 2 days.  Her obituary states that she was in the home of her daughter Mrs. John Kenney when she died.  She has been in failing health for two years and bedfast for the past six months.  UC Davis and Sons was the funeral home and burial was in Evergreen cemetery.  She was the last member of her family and her husband had died before her in 1942.  Nine children were listed Isabelle LePla Brook, Herbert Le Pla, Mrs. Leonard Fosen, Mrs. William Ott, Harry, Glen adn Edwin McNabb, Mrs. Melvin Olson and Mrs. John Kenney.  Two stepchildren also were surviving including J. Harry Le Pla and Elizabeth Salfishburg.

We believe this to be a picture of Jeanette, but aren't positive.  We will get a confirmed picture, hopefully thiis weekend!

We are fairly sure Jennette is on the left.

John Ferguson and Elizabeth Agnes Ferguson Kay

Pictures Added
The next children in order would be John and Elizabeth.  I combined two children into one entry because John died very young.  John Ferguson was born April 11, 1860 and died April 19, 1864.  The cause of death was Measles in Morris.  Death certificates were not filed until 1877 in Grundy County, so no further information can be found about John.

Elizabeth Agnes Ferguson was born April 5, 1863 in Morris.  She first appears in the 1870 Census listed as Age 7.  She is also listed in the 1880 Census as "Lizzie" at age 17 and he occupation was "at home", apparently she did not attend school like her sister Jeanette who was 14 at the time.  She married Harry Kay on February 14th, 1884.  They both appear in the 1900 Census.  Harry listed as 44 years old and married for 16 years. Harry was born in England, as was his parents and came to this country in 1879.  His current occupation was listed as Saloon Keeper.  At the time, they had rented their home listed as 747 Liberty St.  Elizabeth was listed as 37 years old with no profession.  In their home also lived their two children, William F. Kay born Dec 28, 1884 in Morris and Robert LeRoy Kay born October 2, 1887 in Morris.  Both were attending school at the time.  Also living with them was Harry's brother John born in England August of 1876 and only 24 at the time.  He was single and came over in 1882.  He worked as a Day Laborer.  I am unable to locate Elizabeth and Harry in the 1910 Census.  It is well known that Harry and Elizabeth helped run the Kay House.   It appears that they were probably at the Kay House at this time and that is not in the census.  Harry died February 14, 1916.  In his probate it listed several pieces of property on prominent corners down liberty street.  All property and money went to Elizabeth.  Elizabeth also can't be located in the 1920 census.  She is not at the Kay House, however, because her son Robert had taken it over at this point with his wife, Florence and family.  Additionally, Isabel her sister, her brother and my great grandfather Thomas Ferguson and my grandfather Chester Ferguson ended up living there with them in 1920 (along with his siblings, Isabel and Thomas).  I suspect that she likely did live there, but was no listed in the census.   Again, she is missing from the 1930 census as well. Her son William died young in 1941 in Minneapolis.  Her son Robert died in 1930 at the age of only 43. Her son William also died young in 1941 in Minneapolis. Several postcards from Lizzie to Chester were recently found around that time indicating he had been ill for sometime and she had gone out to see him. 

She was a member of the WBA (Women's Business Assocation?)  She died July 20, 1944 in Morris, Illinois. Her address at her time of death was 404 E. Benton St.  She lived there here for years with Chester, but it is unknown for how long.  She was 81 years old when she died.  The cause of death was Hypostatic Pneumonia with an additional diagnosis of light paralysis for the past two years.   At the time of her death, only Jeanette was still living as well as three grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.  The services were held at Davis Funeral home and she was buried in Evergreen cemetery.  The pallbearers were Thomas, Chester Russell and Erwin Ferguson as well as Glen McNabb and Lincoln Kay.

Upon looking up the probate of Elizabeth, several interesting things were noted.  The probate itself was in the amount of $6455, a few thousand of which was cash.  Additionally, there were postal savings certificates, stocks and bonds. Because both of her sons and husband and died previously the money went to her grand children  Robert Kay Peterson, Dortothy Sparks, and June Kay.  The furnishings and personal items went to Chester.  However, Florence Kay (Robert's wife and helped run the Kay House) was given just $1.

Stone in Evergreen Cemetery

Elizabeth Kay in the middle of her two sisters.

Elizabeth Kay with presumably one of her three granddaughters.

Isabelle Ferguson Allan

It's been awhile since a blog post, but that's because I've been doing quite a bit of research.  Almost too much research to post in one entry.  Since some of the items of information are unrelated, I will likely do two different posts.  I started this out as all the children in one post, but with all the information decided to tackle one child at a time.

In order to understand some of the research, it's important to explain the histories of the children of William and Mary (Steel) Ferguson. To review here is how I am related to William Ferguson.

William Ferguson----->Thomas A. Ferguson----->Chester Ferguson---->Thomas C. Ferguson---->Sarah Ferguson Potter

Here are William's children in birth order.

1. Isabelle Ferguson 1858-1923.  She first appears in the 1860 census living with her parents and brother, John.  It states she was 2 years old and born in Illinois.  She is again found in the 1870 census living at home.  I have yet to find her in the 1880 census because she wasn't living with the family.  Of course the 1890 census is missing so she doesn't reappear until 1900.  Isabelle did not marry until later in life.  Before she married she worked as a housekeeper for a wealthy man in town named Frank Hall.  She worked there for nine years before she met her husband.  She was 39 years old when she married David T. Allan in 1896.  The wedding was held at his home and for a honeymoon they traveled to Racine Wisconsin, where afterword they would move to La Salle, Illinois.  David Allan was well known in La Salle County of Illinois.  He ran his own coal mine while they lived in La Salle.  William Ferguson was staying with Isabelle since the 4th of July, when he suddenly died on July 23, 1898. On the day he died, Isabelle went to the train station to pick up her sister Jeanette.  Both of them traveled back to her home in La Salle and found William dead.  He was alone in the house at the time, except for some of her step children who were in the home.  In the 1900 census, David and "Isabella" are listed living with 8 of the children at 1025 5th St. in La Salle.   In 1903, he sold his business and bought the Alta Hotel in Denver Colorado.  Recently, two pictures were found of Isabelle.  One in a book about the Allan Genealogy and another in my Aunt Debbie's basement.  We knew it was Isabelle and her sisters because you can very faintly see in the corner and background of the picture the word "Alta".  It was a very strange coicidence to learn about the David and Isabelle purchasing the hotel and then find a picture of them in front of the hotel the very same day!

Isabelle is the one on the right, her sisters Elizabeth is next to her, while her other sister Jeanette is on the end.  This picture would have been taken sometime after 1903.

This is a picture of David T. Allan and his second wife Isabelle taken in Denver around 1910.  David was married previously to Jesse Barr who later died.  The couple had 11 children and Isabelle helped raise many of them as she is listed with them on the census during various years.  In the 1910 census, the couple appear again in Denver Colorado.  They are listed with one daughter and 3 boarders, assuming at the Alta Hotel.  David Allan died of "heart trouble" in 1915 and shortly after Isabelle returned home to live with her sister Elizabeth at the Kay House in downtown Morris.  In the 1920 census she is listed living there with  head of the household,  nephew Robert Kay (Elizabeth's son) along with several roomers including Harry McNabb (a nephew), Thomas Ferguson (her brother and my great grandfather), Chester (my grandfather), Isabelle, and Thomas Jr. both children of Thomas Ferguson.  She died in 1923 of carcinoma of the face, the first sibling to be born and to die (besides a childhood death) in the family.  Her death certificate also listed her first name as Belle.  She was buried in Evergreen Cemetery.

Because Isabelle had no children she had no descendants to contact for further information.  However, there were step children who may have had descendants to help with finding out further information.

Next entry: John Ferguson and Elizabeth Agnes Ferguson

The History of Searching for the History of William Ferguson

Most of the reason I have gotten so involved in genealogy the last year or so, is  a promise made to me by my dad on y 28th birthday.  We were out in a restaurant in Chicago and talking about traveling, past trips and the idea of Scotland got brought up.  Ever since we went to Norway in 2000 (was that REALLY ten years ago?) and discovered a genealogical gold mine (not to mention an amazing trip), it had been on our minds to visit Scotland.  However, we never really knew much of anything about the Ferguson side of the family.  My grandfather was Chester Raymond Ferguson or Bacca as the grandchildren called him.  He was born June 1, 1910 in Morris, Illinois.  He didn't speak much about his family.  His mother, Martha Luckwich Ferguson died when he was just six years old.  She had a stroke and died while working at the Carson House, a local hotel in downtown Morris, Illinois.  His father Thomas Alfred Ferguson was a coal miner and a farmer.  Thomas was born March 5, 1876.  Together Thomas and Martha had five children Isabelle, Mary, Raymond, Hazel and Chester.  He remarried in 1921 to Mary Frew Arthur, who had children of her own.  Thomas' father was William Ferguson who married a Mary Steele January 1, 1857 in Morris, Illinois.  William had 7 children.  Thomas Alfred, Mary Jane, Isabelle, John, William Jr., Janette, and Elizabeth Agnes.  Stories about his families past were often vague, except in one instance where it was rather spectacular.  There was talk of a lost Ferguson fortune.  Many doubted whether the story was ever true, but there is documentation of this tale.

An article appears in the Morris Daily Herald in Nov 15, 1909 
Go to Scotland to Claim an Estate
     Mrs. Harry McNabb (formerly Janette Ferguson) and Joe Steel, Cousins, Leave Morris in Quest of Fortune of 15 million pounds. 

Mrs. Harry McNabb and Joe Steel, cousins, left Morris this morning having secured passage to Liverpool, England.  They are going in quest of a fortune estimated by some as high as 15 million pounds, located in Scotland.  The estate is said to have been in litigation for fifty years and has increased vastly since that time.  Mrs. McNabb has a cousin in London who had looked up the fortune and claims that the Morris people are some of the rightful heirs.  Mrs. McNabb was a Ferguson and the fortune is said to be coming to the Ferguson and Steel families from an uncle or great uncle.

A follow up article appeared sometime later (don't have a date for it)
Mrs. Harry McNabb and her cousin Joe steel have returned from their trip to England where they went to look after some property which is to be inheritied by them on the death of a very aged relative.

Additionally, my great Aunt Hazel wrote a letter regarding some details she remembers about it.  Here some exceperts with details
"I talked with one of Harry McNabb's exwives a few days ago, I asked her what she knew about the lost fortune, she said the crown government would not allow the money to the leave the country, so whoever claimed it would have to keep it in England.  I had always heard of a story that John Steele fled the country with another man's wife.

"I have heard two versions of the source of the money.  One was shipping, the other coal mining which make more sense to me than gardening"

"Since my father and Irwin's father were both coal miners, the ancestors may have also been coal miners, coming from a coal mining district in Scotland.  It was the Steele's in England who had all the wealth, somewhere along the line a Steel married a Scotch Ferguson"
***Again we were always told that it was the Steel side of the family but that might not be factual

"Although I was only 5 or 6 I remember vividly when Aunt Jeanette and Tom Steele went to England.  The reason being that Aunt Jeanette brought back a few dime store trinkets for us kids.  We were supposed to value them highly because they came from England.  One time when my Aunt Lizzie was talking about the fortune she told me that this man Steele ran off with another man's wife.  When it was time to settle the estate they advertised for him both in South and North America.  They knew he had sailed to the Americas.  Many years later he did go back to visit.  He looked up some old friends who would not believe it was him.  So he said he would prove it to them, he took them to a place where they used to play ball and marbles."

"did you ever heard of the story about the page that was cut out of the Bible? I don't know who was in posession of the Bible.  I think he was entrusted to the lawyer that was sent over the establish as a claim on the fortune.  Records such a births marriages were always kept in the family Bible. My father and I presumed Joe Steele was not very educated.  They were naive and trusting and it would be very easy for a lawyer to hook wink them".

"You say the lawyer posed as a relative and he went through all the money.  You mean of course the money he got from the relatives in Morris.  He surely couldn't have collected the money from the estate or did he?  I often heard he was bought off that he went into the business for himself and never came back to America.  "

As you can see there is a bit of varying facts from the stories, but this is pretty much the extent of the information we have now!

Additionally we always heard something about missing pages in the family bible and then the lawyer in the case being murdered occurred. The person who went over there came back and it appeared that the aged relative hadn't died yet according to the paper.  It was said that Jeanette Ferguson McNabb would never talk about it.

In our search for more information about William Ferguson, we've come across many dead ends.  The census records have never given a definitive birth date, although his headstone says 1831.  His death certificate never listed his birthdate, his parents, or where he was born.  His naturalization papers never state where in Scotland he was from or when he may have emigrated from Scotland.  His marriage certificate is missing which may have given valuable information about his parents and origins.  The records at the funeral home are missing.  The church he attended did not contain any records about him.  There is no probate to be found.  Additionally, there are so many William Fergusons born in 1831 in Scotland, it would be very difficult to trace which one was in fact related to us........hence the DNA testing we are waiting for in August.

Recently, I went to the Grundy County Courthouse to see if any new records were available.  I came across some land records that did not give anything substantial, but were none the less interesting. The most interesting being the land William Ferguson purchased from John Steel Jr and Jannette Sharp (Mary Steel Ferguson's brother and sister-in-law) for $800 dollars.  It was purchased August 19th, 1869. I think I can confirm it was 20 acres which was about half of his land he already owned.  The same land was sold off at auction immediately following Mary Steel Ferguson's death in 1892. 

I was about to give up because I was getting past the era of William Ferguson when I came across something that said Mary Ferguson deceased Estate of with George Winsor as Administrator.  It also said Deed to Jacob Glasse who was the purchaser of the land when William sold it after Mary died.  The document says that the Court of Grundy County had a trial where the defendants were Belle Ferguson, now Allan, Elizabeth Kaye (Elizabeth Agnes Ferguson), Jeanette Le Pla (Jeanette Ferguson), William Ferguson Jr., Thomas Ferguson and Thomas Espley (married Mary Jane Ferguson) and Lincoln Kaye (a son of Elizabeth Ferguson Kaye).  I decided to go upstairs to probate just to investigate to see if there was some kind of documentation of the case.  Looks like when William died he was no longer administrator to Mary's estate.  Apparently the children were owed money from this and there are receipts for all the money paid to them (about 400 dollars each).  There were also some names of people that were paid minimal amounts (5-10 dollars) that I didn't recognize.  What was most interesting was a death certificate for Mary Ellen Epsley.  She died at the age of 3 in Lankashire England.  She was the daughter of Thomas and Mary Jane Ferguson Epsley, who I never knew existed!  She died at age 3 of tuberculosis and whooping cough.  She was one of the heirs because Mary Jane had already died, and since then her daughter had died too , so Thomas Espley became an heir.   The court case was summarized as  Lincoln Kaye had claimed William Ferguson had given him a deed to the land and was living currently living there, but that was proven false by the other documents of the land sale at the auction.  Lincoln was ordered to vacate the premises within 15 days.

All the documentation in the probate office is original.  It's amazing to touch the paper and see the signatures of these relatives we are trying to learn more about.  My next blog entry will be about............Records and Lost Stories.

A quick update before another blog post

It's been far too long since I've made a blog post, and I wanted to make one just so I don't let it lapse too long!

First, I've been enjoying being a part of the Ferguson DNA mailing list.  Nobody has recognized our story or line yet, but I feel as though maybe something strange happened with the Ferguson ties.  Our grandfather knew nothing about his grandfather (William M. Ferguson) and he died 12 years prior to him even being born.  He did know some of his aunts, but seemed to share very little information about them or it was just never really talked about.  It's a shame some questions he may have been able to answer, never will!  It looks like our results will come between mid and late August.  I will be disappointed if there are no matches to any known family.  But that would rule out several lines maybe even indicating our original name is not Ferguson!  Or it could indicate we stem from a variant of the name Ferguson, such as Farris.  Hopefully it will tell us more than we know so we can finally go to Scotland to see that castle! 

Ferguson DNA project

In effort to finally track down those Ferguson roots, we are doing an additional (less comprehensive) test through Family Tree DNA to join the Ferguson DNA project.  The test is a 37 marker DNA test that is a male specific test. Results identify the ethnic and geographic origin of the paternal line. It includes a balanced panel of thirty-seven Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat, STR, markers. This is the recommended test to trace the paternal ancestry of males for genealogy purposes. The additional markers refine the predicted time period in which two individuals are related and eliminate unrelated matches. A perfect match at thirty-seven markers indicates the two individuals share common ancestry in recent times. A haplogroup is determined and backed by our SNP Assurance Program. When another person shows identical results within our database, if both parties have signed the Family Tree DNA Release Form, then we will inform them of the match. The customer will also receive a certificate and report describing the testing process and the meaning of thirty-seven marker matches.

The Ferguson DNA project  sounds like it will be a good resource.  I have joined their mailing list to share our Ferguson "legends" and the details of our search.  There are 215 members of the projects who have DNA results, I would think that at least a few of them would potentially have a common direct ancestor.  If not, we would at least eliminate those lines apart of the project.  Based on some preliminary information and guesswork, we may have found a line whose ancestry we do share!  Next entry I will share the history of our search with Ferguson and the potential matches we may have found.

Part two of the History of DNA

Last post I revealed the results of the maternal DNA haplogroup and it's history.  This week the results of the paternal DNA.

Haplogroup: I2b1 a subgroup of I2

Haplogroup: I2, a subgroup of I
Age: 28,000 years
Region: Eastern and Southern Europe
Populations: Balkans, Sardinians
Highlight: I2 is more common in southern Europe than I1.

Haplogroup I2 is most abundant in eastern Europe and on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where it is found in 40% of the male population. Like its brother haplogroup, I1, I2 expanded northward at the end of the Ice Age about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. But unlike I1, which expanded from the Iberian peninsula into northwestern Europe, I2 radiated outward from the Balkans into the eastern half of the continent.

IntroductionI is found almost exclusively in Europe, where about 20% of men have Y-chromosomes belonging to the haplogroup. It began spreading about 30,000 to 45,000 years among some of the first Homo sapiens to inhabit Europe.
The haplogroup's two main branches, I1 and I2, divided about 28,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence indicates it was a time of rapid change in Europe, as a new culture known as the Gravettian moved westward across the continent. The Grevettian people introduced new stone tool technology, as well as novel art forms typified by the distinctive fertility symbols known as "Venus" figurines.
Not long after haplogroup I arrived in Europe, the advancing Ice Age limited most of the continent's inhabitants to its southern fringes. Only Iberia, the Italian peninsula and the Balkans were mild enough to support substantial numbers of humans. As a result, the distribution of the haplogroup's branches today reflects the migrations that took place as the glaciers began retreating about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.
Doggerland: A Real-Life AtlantisOne of the places that was repopulated as the Ice Age waned no longer exists. During the Ice Age and for some time afterward, lower sea levels exposed much of the area that is now covered by the North Sea. Known as "Doggerland," it must have been occupied by men bearing haplogroup I, because today that haplogroup is abundant in all of the countries surrounding the North Sea.
As the meltwaters of the retreating Ice Age glaciers caused sea levels to rise, the low-lying forests and wetlands of Doggerland gradually became inundated. Doggerland's inhabitants retreated to the higher ground that is now the North Sea coast.
Today the I2b1 branch of I2 is common in the Netherlands and Germany. Like I1, which is most common in Denmark and Sweden, it was probably found among the men who inhabited Doggerland. The presence of I2b1 in Sweden, particularly the northern province of Vasterbotten, is likely due to the more recent arrival of German and Dutch immigrants during the 17th century.
The Balkan BranchHaplogroup I2a is concentrated in eastern Europe and western Russia, reaching levels of 40% in Bosnia and 30% in Croatia. It arose about 11,000 years ago in the Balkans, prior to the arrival of agriculture. Soon after I2a arose, farmers from the Near East and Anatolia brought their techniques to the Balkans, where the local men - who often bore haplogroup I2a - took up the practice.
A branch of I2a, I2a2, is also commonly found in the Balkans. It is a much younger haplogroup, having arisen about 7,800 years ago at a time when the climate was relatively warm compared to the millennia before and after. Like I2a, hunter-gatherers bearing I2a2 began adopting the farming practices of men arriving from the east.
In the Spittoon...
The Balkan branch of haplogroup I2 is linked to the spread of agriculture in southeastern Europe. Learn more at the Spittoon.
Hidden in the PyreneesThe origins of the I2a1 branch of haplogroup I have been unclear for some time. Scientists now believe it originated high in the Pyrenees, the string of mountains that separates Spain from France. It may have arisen during the peak of the Ice Age about 21,000 years ago, when small groups of people retreated deep into the mountains to survive the harsh climate. About 12,000 years ago, as temperatures warmed and glaciers retreated, men bearing I2a1 expanded into Spain, France, and nearby Mediterranean Islands. Today I2a1 exists at moderate levels in its ancestral homeland, reaching about 8% among the people of the Pyrenees. It reaches extremely high levels on the island of Sardinia, where 40% of men bear the haplogroup.

Again these results make sense because the Paternal side contains German, English and Scottish roots. 

Next entry: What do these results really mean?  And........other features of 23 and me.

History in your DNA?

Recently after hitting a road block in our Ferguson research, we decided to explore the genealogy of DNA.  I searched out several companies and decided on 23 and me.  You can visit it here.

There were a few things I liked about it over the other company Family Tree DNA.  And now there are things I dislike about it once are results are here!. 

One thing that I liked about 23 and me was their website.  I know this is not an indication on how accurate our results will be, but I did appreciate the flash cartoons explaining how the DNA can tell a story of our ancient ancestry.  (Part of the reason why I named my blog Modern Ancestry was because this is such a new technology telling such an old story).  There are also several "movies" about pre-history and human evolution that really help understand what your results mean.
We had my Dad tested because testing is limited for females.  Males will give the entire picture of the history of your DNA because males have an X and a Y chromosomes.  23 and me also tests mitochondrial DNA to determine more information from the maternal side.  I liked the amount of DNA that was tested as well, which was far superior to most DNA companies who only look at a small sample to make generalizations.  Another feature is their Relative Finder which tells you the likelihood of being related to other people who have been tested.  It also gives a percentage break down of your ancestry in the following categories: European, African, and Asian.

Now for the results!
 First our ancestry break down was no surprise: 100% European.

The Maternal line results which we've always been told is 100% Norwegian was assigned a Haploggroup.  The Haplogroup is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor with a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutation.  That probably doesn't make sense to most, so here is an explaination.

https://www.23andme.com/gen101/snps/#
Maternal Line Haplogroup: H3c
Basic info about this group

Haplogroup: H3, a subgroup of H
Age: greater than 15,000 years
Region: Europe
Populations: Spanish (Galician), Basques
Highlight: H3 was involved in the resettlement of northern Europe after the Ice Age.

Haplogroup H, the parent of H3, originated in the Near East and then expanded throughout Europe toward the end of the Ice Age. H3 likely branched off the rest of H in Iberia and expanded across most of western Europe after the glaciers receded. Today, H3 is distributed across much of Europe and is rare elsewhere.

IntroductionHaplogroup H dominates in western Europe, where about half the population carries one of its many forms. Although its origins are unclear, the haplogroup rose to prominence during the Ice Age, when much of Europe was blanketed by glaciers and its population squeezed into a handful of ice-free refuges in Iberia, Italy, the Balkans and the Caucasus.
Several branches of haplogroup H arose during that time, and after the glaciers receded most of them played a prominent role in the repopulation of the continent. With the subsequent spread of agriculture and the rise of organized military campaigns, the haplogroup achieved an even wider distribution. It is now found throughout Europe and at lower levels in Asia, reaching as far south as Arabia and eastward to the western fringes of Siberia.
The Origin of H3The H3 haplogroup arose during the Ice Age in northern Iberia, one of the only hospitable regions of Europe at a time when most of the continent was covered either by barren tundra or a mile-thick layer of ice. After Europe's climate started to warm about 11,000 years ago, people rapidly migrated northward into the formerly frozen landscape.
Haplogroup H3 followed two paths, one up the Atlantic seaboard to present-day France and the British Isles and another along the Mediterranean into Italy and Sardinia, then across the Alps into what is now Hungary.
Archaeologists have been able to track those migrations through the expansion of the Magdalenian culture, which left behind weapons specialized for the hunting of reindeer, bison and other big game and created magnificent cave paintings like the famous ones in Altamira, Spain and Lascaux, France.
H3 TodayHaplogroup H3 is now found throughout western Europe thanks to the dramatic northward migrations at the end of the Ice Age and more gradual diffusion since then. It is most common in and around northern Spain, reaching levels of 14% among the Basques and 8% among the Galicians of extreme northwestern Iberia. Outside Iberia, H3 is present in many parts of western Europe, though at much lower levels. For example, H3 is present in Sweden in more than 4% of the general population.
Outside of Europe, however, H3 is extremely rare. It reaches levels of about 2% among the Berbers of Morocco, due to the migration of Spanish women across the Gibraltar Strait since the Ice Age. A few individuals with H3 mitochondrial DNA have also been found in the Caucasus region of southwest Asia.

So as you can see this matches up well to what we do know about our ancestry.  It's likely most of our ancestors were from the Scandanavian area.  And what we have found is that most lines can be traced backed to the 1500's in Norway.

Stay tuned for Paternal Ancestory results next entry!

My Lineage Part II

My maternal side is a little more complicated to draw a nice little pie chart for, but I will make an attempt.  It was always thought that I was mostly Polish on this side of the family on further examination, different names not of Polish ancestry were discovered!  Here are the names I have for now with further reasearch needed!

Listing my great great grandparents from this side of the family names include:

Kowalczyk: Polish
Unknown name: ? Assumingly Polish
Smola: Polish
Unknown Name Assuming Polish
Norman: Swedish
Johnson: Norwegian
Conlan: This name gets stuck in Indiana in the mid 1800's, but based on the maiden names of the family I was tracing back, we know that its part German and English, Conlan is likely English or Irish
Matteson: her father was born in North Dakota, her mother from Germany.......

Now I've also always been told that one part of the family was part Blackfoot Indian and Irish.  The story was that a Blackfoot Indian women married an Irish trapper. 

Here is what we know "for sure"

I am.......
25% Polish
6.25% Swedish
6.25% Norwegian
12.5% some undefined mixture of English, German, possibly Irish and possibly Blackfoot Indian

Graph!

My lineage

Usually when listing names for ancestors I'm researching I go no further back than Great Great Grandparents since that would make anyone who shares a grandparent about a 3rd cousin to me.  But I'm discovering that is typically not enough because I have accounted for most of those people already!  I'll start with these names first though.

Surnames: Ferguson, Steele, Luckwich, Kitzman, Enger, Olson, Johnson and Thorson.

The country of origin for these names is:
Ferguson: Scotland
Steele: England
Luckwich: Poland/Germany
Kitzman: Germany
Enger: Norway
Olson: Norway
Johnson: Norway
Thorson: Norway

Subsequently it can be estimated that I am:
(Paternal side only)
6.25% Scottish
6.25% English
12.5% German (dependant on whether or not an ancestor was from Poland, there are conflicting records regarding this)
25% Norwegian 

A graph!

Why Genealogy?

I started this blog to chronicle my many adventures in genealogy.  I call it an adventure because it has taken me many places.  I have been to several libraries, cemeteries, farms, old houses and even to Norway to uncover how I ended up being born in Joliet, Illinois in 1981.  And in my research it's taken me many places and times that I knew very little about.  I've caught a glimpse of what it was like for a farming family in Grundy County  in the late 1800's, a boarding house run by a mother and daughter in downtown Morris and to countless places I knew very little about including Norway, Germany, England, Poland and Scotland.  These are just a few of things I've been exposed to researching my own family and have seen ever more since I began researching my husband Scott's family heritage.

Typically, when I speak to family members or go into research centers, it's always a surprise to those I'm working with how young I am.  I'm 28 years old now and I still get this reaction, but I have been doing this since I was 13 years old.  It all started in Mr. Clark's 8th grade Social Studies class.  We were assigned to do a family tree project, a typical assignment during the course of one's education.  I know that my grandmother had spoken of stories of her family and her mother's family, but I hadn't paid attention to most of it and just accepted it as one of the many stories that were shared at nearly every family function.  We had always been told her father had been part of a 9 brother baseball team, claiming to be the only one in the country at that time.  We had heard of a long lost fortune of the Fergusons and Steeles, estimated at 60 million dollars and included a castle that had been in litigation for years in the early 1900's.  The family had tried to claim the fortune and there was a torrid affair, a murder and a missing family bible with various inconsistent details that were all apart of the story. 

When I started to organize all the information and things began to unfold, it was like discovering a treasure you never knew existed and hadn't been seen or appreciated for years.  Those who I had interviewed to gain this information were all to eager to share this information and those who had were interested were eager to listen about what I had found.   It felt like a very important job to share this information unknown to someone that had a hand in shaping who they were.  Not only do the previous generations lives account for who we are, it has determined where we are and what kind of legacy we will  leave for our future generations.  It is even more important to me, to remember these people who are no longer here and for many family members didn't even know they existed. 

Through the years, I have spent thousands of hours in the library, on the internet and talking to family members.  Our trip to Norway took our search abroad and to the end of our line back to 1500s. We had a family reunion to share information.   I took a few years off as a break to complete graduate school and lost a little interest in research for awhile.  After getting married, I began to get interested in my husband's genealogy and traced his back very quickly and efficiently with the developments of internet research.  This renewed my interest in our own family.  After a promised trip to Scotland with my family, I began to get the bug again.  The Enger history had been so abundant and so easy to find, that it was almost a shock to get stuck very early on with other branches of the family.  But a part of the fun of genealogy is the challenge and digging through countless historical records and interviews with family members to find that one little piece of information that will lead you to an explosion of other information.  I have taken a few side roads off the Ferguson branch when I hit a wall and when I have an idea to further my search I'd explore it.  Usually I came up empty handed.  Unfortunately, I'm still at the same wall, which brings me to the most recent genealogical developments in the last few days.

We decided to try our luck with a DNA test.  After watching Who Do You Think You Are on NBC, it sounded like a viable option to possibly get some more information.  Dad was tested and we've gotten our results and in turn found some 4th cousins that could be matches and the link to some more information to further our search.  We're still waiting on contact, but it looks hopeful!

I wanted to start this blog to keep track of my search, share genealogy information in case there are other researchers can help and to help others start a family history search themselves.

The next few entries I will devote to what has been going on with the DNA results and post our own family information on the blog for family members and researchers to have access to.
-Sarah