Internet Genealogy is a Wonderful Thing

Awhile back I wrote about the family trees I have posted on Ancestry.com. When I did this I had hoped to share some information and of course, to gain some information. I have several trees online--my mother's lines, my father's lines, both my hubby's adoptive and natural lines, and a couple of lines of friends of mine. In the past couple of weeks I have gotten several emails which have been really neat.

One was a guy looking for a line which I had listed but wasn't a direct line of mine. It was actually a cousin's mother's line. I was able to prove that his line and her line connected and I put him in contact with her.

Another email came from a young lady looking for another line of which I'm not connected to. She was connected to a line of one of my first cousin's husband--the Bowies. (Not sure if Jim Bowie is on this line or not.) I didn't have much for her but I could give her some birth, death and marriage dates which she didn't have.

The third email was from a guy who was related to my friend Bob. When Bob's wife, Marilyn, passed away last year, I kind of took over her research. She had done a wonderful job and was so organized. So with Bob's permission, I posted it on Ancestry.com. This man wrote to me and when I explained that I wasn't related but was taking over the search, he praised me for it. Then he proceeded to send lots of information and pictures of Bob's g.g. grandfather and g.g. grandmother which Marilyn or I had never found. Obviously, this all got sent on to Bob and his kids.

And lastly--I said that my husband was adopted. Thanks to a very informative adoption record, a lot of research, and some pure dumb luck, we found information on his natural family. I was able to contact several. We found that he had a half sister (still living) and a half brother who had died some years previously. The other day, I got an email from his brother's son. He didn't really know who I was but when he found out who we were, he opened up his Ancestry.com tree to me so that I could see the living members of the family. (Ancestry does not post names of living people--they are only listed as Living.) Because of this I found lots of cousins we didn't know we had. I also was able to give him lots of information on his ancestors which he didn't have.

As I said, Internet genealogy is a wonderful thing. I have found so many records, people, etc that I would never in a million years found or knew existed. It sure beats traveling all over the country digging through dusty court records, tramping through muddy cemeteries, sitting for hours in front of a microfilm machine, etc. But, I still do the courthouse thing, the cemetery thing and the library thing too. I just can't give that part up totally.

My Dad's Mom-Amanda Jane Sayers

Boy, I didn't realize how hard it would be to keep up with two blogs. It's been awhile since I posted (except for Wordless Wednesday) about some genealogy stuff. So, back to my family.

My dad's mom was Amanda Jane Sayers. She was born December 16, 1856 in Marshall County, West Virginia (actually Virginia at the time.) She married my grandfather, Edwin Amos Brooks on April 12, 1877 in Ritchie County, West Virginia. She died November 21, 1919 in Clarksburg, Harrison County, West Virginia. Her death certificate states that she died from TB. I had heard that she was in and out of mental institutions much of her married life and did in fact find her listed as a patient at the W.Va. Hospital for the Insane in Lewis County, W.Va. in the 1910 census. It was my understanding that she would come home long enough to get pregnant and have a child then would head back to the institution. Now, I'm not sure if this is right or not but she did have 10 children in 22 years.

Amanda Jane was the daughter of William Sayers, Sr. and Elizabeth D. Pearce. William was born about 1814 in Pennsylvania and died between 1880 and 1890 probably in Wirt County, West Virginia. He supposedly was killed by a falling tree. I have never been able to find a death certificate or tombstone for him. According to the 1880 census, both of his parents were born in Ireland. This is where I hit a brick wall as far as tracing this family. I have found various spellings of the name-Sires, Syers, Sayer, etc. I would LOVE to be able to find any of his siblings or his parents.

William married Elizabeth D. Pearce about 1854 in West Virginia. I have found no marriage certificate for them. Elizabeth D. was the daughter of Isaac and Mary (unknown last name) Pearce. Elizabeth was born December 1831 probably in Monroe County, Ohio and died April 1903 in Ritchie County, West Virginia. Elizabeth had 3 siblings-Rachel J. born about 1823 married and divorced Presley J. Martin, John F. Pearce born about 1825 married Louisa Moffitt, and Isaac born about 1825 married Nancy (last name unknown). They all lived in Monroe County, Ohio.

Isaac Pearce, Sr. was born about 1790 in Delaware and died April 29, 1861 in Monroe County, Ohio. His wife, Mary, was born about 1796 in Pennsylvania and died January 15, 1846 in Monroe County. Isaac married #2 Lydia Agin in Monroe County.

Back to Amanda Jane and her sibs.
#1. She had a sister, Mary, born April 14, 1855 and died December 28, 1855 in Marshall County, West Virginia.
#2. Amanda Jane
#3. William Winfield born August 14, 1859 in Marshall County and died January 20, 1928 in Ritchie County, W.Va. He married Ursula Haney and had 6 children, Cora D., Mary Elizabeth, Rosa, William Arthur, Bessie and James F.
#4. Isaac Newton (Pearce?) Sayers born January 1861 in W.Va and died January 3, 1930 in Wood County, W.Va. He was unmarried.
#5. Charles H. Sayers born July 1864 in West Virginia and died after 1930. Probably unmarried.
#6. Child. In 1900 Elizabeth stated that 4 of 6 children were living. This means that there was a 6th child somewhere along the line.

This is all I have on the Sayers and Pearces. No pictures, not much information. It is making me crazy!! I sure would appreciate ANY help on this family.

The Starts of My Very Long Line of Ancestors-Brooks Genealogy

Yup, that's me.

I guess when you start down a road, you need to start at the beginning. And I guess when you start on a path to find your ancestors, you start with yourself. So here we go!

My mom and dad met, fell in love, and married in Allendale, Wabash County, Illinois. My dad was George Edwin Brooks born July 10, 1900 in Finch, Ritchie County, West Virginia. My mom was Opal Clark. (No middle name so she later chose Imogene as her middle name. I think I could have thought of a better name but oh well.) She was born August 30, 1907 in Allendale, Wabash County, Illinois. They were married May 27th 1926. She actually was married one day and graduated from high school the next day.

George and Opal on their wedding day.

My brother, Bill, was born in Allendale in 1928 and I followed 10 years later. I was born in the huge metropolis of Omer in Arenac County, Michigan. You've never heard of this huge metropolis? Could be because if you blink you will miss it as you drive through. Of course, Allendale isn't a whole lot bigger.

My brother and me in 1938.

I grew up in Standish, Arenac County, Michigan. My dad worked in the oil fields and my mom held several jobs including working in the Post Office, in a Heinz Pickle Plant, and at the local newspaper.

My parents, my brother, and me in 1946. Why are my parents looking one direction and my brother and I another? Weird.

My mom died June 7, 1953. We were coming home from visiting a friend and a drunk driver hit us head on. My dad was severely injured and took many months to heal physically and mentally. In 1955 he and I took a trip to visit his family in West Virginia and my mom's family in Illinois. While there, he met (or should I say re-met) my mother's girlhood friend, Olive Biehl. My dad had been very lonely after the death of my mom and Olive after a divorce. So they were married in Allendale September 30, 1955.

George Brooks and Olive Biehl Brooks.

I returned to Standish to finish my senior year of high school and Dad and Olive remained in Allendale, living in her home where she had grown up. A side note here--the house they lived in was actually built by my mom's uncle in the early 1900's.

My dad died in 1967 and my stepmother continued to live in Allendale until her death in 1987. On January 7, 1989, an F4 tornado wiped out much of the town of Allendale including my stepmother's house. It is indeed sad to go back to Allendale now and see very little of the town I remember from my childhood.

I was married March 31, 1962 in Trenton, Wayne County, Michigan to Charles Alvin Runta.

On our wedding day.

We have two children, Dave and Karen and 5 beautiful grandchildren.

David and Karen in 1997

So, there you have it. This was about me and my beginnings. My next post will be about my dad's family, the Brooks clan.

A Beginning

My Mom and Dad on their wedding day. May 27, 1926 in Allendale, Wabash County, Illinois

I have been blogging about my life on Sanibel and my life at rescuing and rehabbing wildlife for several months now. My other love is genealogy. Sooo, I decided to start a blog about my ancestors, hoping that I might be able to pick up some readers who are interested in my heritage or who just might be on a branch connected to my roots. I will be posting from time to time about each of my lines. My mom was born and raised in Wabash County, Illinois. Her ancestors mostly came from Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky and settled in Southeastern Illinois in Wabash, Edwards, Lawrence, Richland, and Clay Counties. My dad was born and raised in Ritchie County, West Virginia. His ancestors came mostly from Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. They met and married in Allendale, Illinois.

I also LOVE to do online research and have lots of books about Richland County, Illinois where my Clark, Richards and McCoy lines resided. Let me hear from you if you are interested in some research help.

I have done research for several of my friends so I might be posting some of their lines on here from time to time. Who knows?

Anyway, this is the birth of yet another blog. I hope that my readers enjoy it.