Surname Saturday: Winters

The surname Winters has multiple origins. According to the Internet Surname Database, it was originally a nickname for "someone of a frosty or gloomy temperament." Wintr was the word for "winter" in Old English, Middle High German, and Norse. It is also an ornamental surname that was given to Ashkenazi Jews in Germany. It can also be an Irish surname that comes from the Gaelic Mac Giolla Gheimhridh. Gheimhridh means "winter." Irish Ancestors contains information from the surname dictionary Sloinnte na hÉireann, which states that the surname Winters is numerous in Counties Armagh, Down, Monaghan, and Tyrone. In The Surnames of Ireland, 6th ed. (Dublin: Irish Academic Press, 1985), Edward MacLysaght states that in County Tyrone, Winters is used as a synonym of MacAlivery (Mac Giolla Gheimhridh).

My known Winters ancestors are:

2nd-great-grandmother: Catherine Elizabeth Winters
born 12 November 1861, Tonawanda, Erie County, New York
married James Graham (my 2nd-great-grandfather)
married James Mapplebeck 20 November 1885, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
died 4 March 1942, St. Louis, Missouri

3rd-great-grandfather: John Bennet Winters
born 19 December 1831, Leith, Midlothian, Scotland
married Anna Walker (my 3rd-great-grandmother) 10 October 1859, Tonawanda, Erie County, New York
married Elizabeth Buise 18 May 1878, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
died 25 December 1879, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

4th-great-grandfather: Hugh Winters
born about 1810, Carrickmacross, County Monaghan, Ireland
married Mary Bennet (my 4th-great-grandmother) 24 January 1831, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
married Eliza
died 7 February 1887, Flatbush, Kings County, New York

Friend of Friends Friday: Joe, Slave of Abner Neale

North Carolina Gazette or Impartial Intelligencer, 29 July 1784, page 2

TWENNTY POUNDS
REWARD.

RAN-AWAY, from the subscriber, in Newbern, on the night of the 6th inst a Negro Fellow by the name of Joe, about 5 feet 10 inches high, has lost some of his fore teeth, is very talkative, has been bred a house servant in the West-Indies; and is remarkably complaisant, had on when he went away an oznaburghs shirt and trowsers, a blue sailor's jacket with white lining, tho' carried away other surts of cloaths.
   The REWARD of TWENTY POUNDS, will be given for the above Negro, if secured in any goal so that the owner may get him. He is supposed to be gone to South Carolina, in company with a Negro fellow, of Mr SILAS STEVENSON, who ran away likewise, and has been seen about thirty miles from this place, on the upper road to Wilmington.
   All Masters of vessels, are hereby de[ ]red not to carry any such fellow out of the Country.
                                           ABNER NEALE
                     Newbern, July 15, 1784.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Cat and Pyramid

My mother recently gave me this cat and pyramid. They belonged to my maternal grandmother Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe. She got them in Egypt.

Wednesday's Child: Mary Nevins Gatlin

Mary Nevins Gatlin was born on 30 May 1895 in Nashville, Tennessee. She was the daughter of my 2nd-great-grandfather's brother Clarence Bateman Gatlin and Ella Lee. She was named after her paternal grandmother, my 3rd-great-grandmother Mary Nevins.

Nashville, Tennessee city birth records, May 30-31, 1895. Ancestry.com. Tennessee, City Birth Records, 1881-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012. Original data: City Birth Records. Nashville, Tennessee: Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Mary died on 13 April 1900, a month and a half before her fifth birthday.

Nashville American, 14 April 1900, page 2

Nashville American, 17 April 1900, page 3

Clarence's brother-in-law John Bailey came from Bowling Green, Kentucky for the funeral. His wife, Clarence's sister Lillie May (Gatlin) Bailey, and their daughter Mary Elizabeth Bailey probably came with him.

Nashville American, 19 April 1900, page 3

Tombstone Tuesday: Carl Anderson Dahlquist

Photo by Mary Dutcher - Find A Grave contributor

Carl Anderson Dahlquist was born on 29 May 1920 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Carl Frederick Dahlquist and Minnie Anderson. He married Marjorie Buell, and they had two sons. He was a veterinarian in LaGrange, Cook County, Illinois. He died on 19 September 2005 and was buried in Plainville Cemetery in Plainville, Adams County, Wisconsin.

Carl was my first cousin twice removed. His paternal grandparents were my 2nd-great-grandparents Carl Johan/Charles John Dahlquist and Mary/Marie Louise Borg.

Mappy Monday: Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA Migration Maps

Since today is National DNA Day, it is a good time to share these maps of Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA haplogroups and possible migration routes.

World Map of Y_DNA Haplogroups: Dominant Haplogroups in Native Populations with Possible Migration Routes. By Chakazul [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Hypothesized map of human migration based on mitochondrial DNA. By Maulucioni [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Sunday's Obituary: Adeline Sophronia (Tarkington) Yarbrough

Nashville Tennessean, 18 January 1937, page 2

   YARBOROUGH––Sunday morning , January 17, at 4:30 o'clock at the home of her niece, Mrs. R. H. Pybas, Gale Lane, Mrs. Sophronia Yarborough. Survived by her sisters, Mrs. S. J. Ballow and Mrs. Julia Johnson, and her brother, Sandy Tarkington, all of Nashville. Funeral at the apartments of Martin, Bracey, Welsh Co., Monday afternoon at 3:30 o'clock. Services conducted by the Rev. J. F. McCloud. Interment, Mt. Olivet Cemetery. The following are the pallbearers: Dr. W. W. Whitman, W. S. Bruce, L. J. Bolster. Jr., R. H. Pybas, Jr., Robert Tarkington, and R. H. Pybas. Martin, Bracey, Welsh, 2408 West End, 7-2166.

Adeline Sophronia Tarkington was born in Tennessee on 7 July 1870. She was the daughter of my 3rd-great-grandparents Joseph Tarkington and Amanda Russell. She worked as a telephone operator. She married Thomas Jefferson Yarbrough on 11 December 1906 in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Her husband died on 28 July 1931. Sophronia died in Nashville on 17 January 1937.

Sympathy Saturday: Martin Luther Dahlquist

Martin Luther Dahlquist was the son of my 2nd-great-grandparents Carl Johan/Charles John Dahlquist and Mary/Marie Louise Borg. He was born on 22 February 1891 in Chicago, Illinois. He worked as a shoe salesman in his father's store. He married Grace Victoria Anderson on 16 May 1917 in Chicago.

Martin died far too young. When he was only 28 years old, his appendix ruptured. He had surgery at Englewood Hospital, but he did not survive. He died at the hospital on 30 July 1919. He was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery on 2 August 1919.

Martin never knew his only child. His wife Grace was pregnant at the time of his death. Their daughter Harriet was born almost two weeks after he died.

Englewood Times, 1 August 1919, page 8

Chicago Tribune, 1 August 1919, page 15

Illinois. Department of Public Health, Division of Vital Statistics. Certificate of death no. 21260, Martin L. Dahlquist, 1919.

Friend of Friends Friday: Runaway Hatch Slaves, Jones County, North Carolina

Newbern Gazette, 25 August 1798, page 3

RUN away from the subscriber, on the first day of this instant, two negro men ; they both speak French and broken English––one is called GRUDGE, has a remarkable wide foot across his toes––is about fifty years of age ; the other is called PRINCE, about twenty-five or thirty years of age, branded on his cheek, E. H. It is expected they will endeavour to return to the West Indies : all masters of vessels are forwarned from carrying away the said negroes, at their peril.
    A reward of TWENTY DOLLARS, if taken in Jones county, or if taken in any other county, THIRTY DOLLARS for the two, to be delivered to the subscribers, or secured in any gaol, so that they get them, or the one half for either of them, to be delivered to them in Jones county.
                                                                      JOSEPH HATCH.
                                                                      EDMUND HATCH.
    Jones county, August 4, 1798.

Thriller Thursday: Edward Scruggs Shoots William Tillett

Republican Banner, 12 October 1869, page 3

The Tennessee Agricultural and Mechanical Association held a fair in Nashville on 18-23 October 1869. On the last day, there was a shooting in the amphitheater.

Republican Banner, 24 October 1869, page 1

Although the Republican Banner reported that Tillett shot Scruggs, Edward Scruggs actually shot William Tillett. The wound was apparently serious enough to get Scruggs charged with attempted murder. Scruggs' trial began on 3 December 1869.

Nashville Union and American, 4 December 1869, page 1

My 3rd-great-grandfather Joseph Tarkington testified at the trial. He was listed in the newspaper as Joseph Sarkinton, but I cannot find any other evidence of the existence of a Joseph Sarkinton. William Tillett knew Joseph Tarkington for almost his entire life, and I think they were related (William Tillett was the great-grandson of William Tarkington). Even if Joseph Tarkington's testimony was similar to that of William Tillett and Sawyers (presumably Willis), I still wish more details about it had been published in the newspaper.

Edward Scruggs was convicted and sentenced to three years in the penitentiary, but a motion to continue was made.

Republican Banner, 20 February 1870, page 4

On 30 March 1870, the motion for a new trial was argued.

 Nashville Union and American, 30 March 1870, page 4

On 6 May 1870, as Edward Scruggs was riding home, someone shot at him. Although he was wounded near his knee, it was just a flesh wound.

Republican Banner, 8 May 1870, page 4

I wonder if this shooting was related to William Tillett's shooting. Perhaps someone wanted revenge.

In September 1870, the prosecutor dismissed the charges against Edward Scruggs.

Republican Banner, 8 September 1870, page 4

Wednesday's Child: Martha Sarah Elsie Rauch

New Jersey. Bureau of Vital Statistics. Death certificate, Martha Sarah Elsie Rauch, 1906. New Jersey State Archives.

Martha Sarah Elsie Rauch was born on 30 August 1905. She was the daughter of George Rauch and Sarah Nagel (the daughter of my 2nd-great-grandmother's brother Mathias Joseph Nagel). Her mother died a month after she was born. Martha died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 10 December 1906 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey at the age of one year, three months, and ten days. She had been sick for three months.

New Jersey State Archives

Today I visited the New Jersey State Archives, located at 225 West State Street in Trenton, New Jersey. Genealogical records in the collection include birth records, death records, marriage records (including colonial marriage bonds), divorce records, federal and state census records, wills and estate inventories, tax ratables, land records (West Jersey and East Jersey Proprietors records, deeds, and mortgage records),  court records, military records (colonial wars, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Civil War, Punitive Expedition to Mexico, and World War I, name change judgments, newspapers, and a name index to inquisitions on the dead. More details about their genealogical records can be found in the document Genealogical Records at the New Jersey State Archives.

Searchable databases are available on the New Jersey State Archives Web site: Colonial Marriage Bonds, 1665-1799; Marriage Records, May 1848 - May 1878; Death Records, June 1878 - June 1894; Early Land Records, 1650-1801; Supreme Court Case Files, 1704-1844; Legal Name Changes, 1847- 1947; 1885 State Census, Passaic County and Atlantic City; Revolutionary War Damage Claims, 1776-1782; Civil War Service Records, 1861-1865; Civil War Payment Vouchers, 1861-1865; World War I Deaths: Descriptive Cards, Photographs, and Correspondence; New Jersey National Guard Photograph Collection and Warren G. Holmes's Scrapbook; Department of Agriculture Photographs; and New Jersey Writers' Project Photograph Collection, ca. 1935 - 1942.

The New Jersey State Archives also has imaged collections in the following categories: Military and Wartime Activities; Cultural Resources and Historical Geography; Governors' Documents and Institutional Records; County and Municipal Records; and Family Papers and Non-Governmental Organizations.

Mappy Monday: Norwegian Regions

Norwegian regions. By Antonio Ciccolella (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

This map shows the administrative divisions of Norway. Counties (fylker) are color-coded.

Sunday's Obituary: Sarah Jane (Tarkington) Ballow

Nashville Tennessean, 11 December 1937, page 22

BALLOW––Friday, Dec. 10, 1937 at her home 1025 Villa Place at 3:10 p.m. o'clock, Mrs. Sara Tarkington Ballow. Survived by daughter, Miss Elizabeth Ballow and Mrs. E. T. Gambill of Nashville, Tenn. Remains are at the residence above. Complete funeral arrangements announced later. Moore's Funeral Hime, 1819 Broad Street. Phone 5-3560.

Nashville Tennessean, 12 December 1937, page 21

MRS. SARAH BALLOW 

    Funeral services for Mrs. Sarah Tarkington Ballow, Nashville resident, will be at 2 p.m. Monday at the residence, 1025 Villa Place. The Rev. Howard I. Kerr, the Rev. James Clarke and Dr. Roger Nooe will officiate. Burial will be in Mt. Olivet Cemetery.
    Mrs. Ballow died Friday afternoon at her residence here.
    The widow of Thomas Burwell Ballow, she had lived in Nashville nearly 70 years. Prior to living here, she lived in Franklin, Williamson County.
    Mrs. Ballow was a member of the Hillsboro Presbyterian Church.
    Surviving are her daughters, Miss Elizabeth Ballow and Mrs. Eugenia Gambill; her sister, Mrs. Julia Johnson, and her brother, Sandy Tarkington.

Sarah Jane "Sallie" Tarkington was born on 13 August 1857 in Williamson County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of my 3rd-great-grandparents Joseph Tarkington and Amanda Russell. Sarah married Thomas Burwell Ballow on 13 October 1885 in Davidson County, Tennessee. They had a son, Thomas Burwell Ballow (born 23 March 1895), and a daughter, Elizabeth Fort Ballow (born 2 October 1899). Eugenia Gambill was Sarah's stepdaughter. Her husband Thomas died on 1 November 1904. Her son Thomas died on 20 September 1935. Sarah died on 10 December 1937 and was buried on 13 December 1937.

World Voice Day

April 16 is World Voice Day. The mission statement of World Voice Day is "To share the excitement of the voice phenomenon with the public, scientists, and funding bodies." The voice is essential for communication, and it conveys emotions.

I sang in choruses while I was in school (elementary school through college) and afterward for some time. I took voice lessons in college. I love to sing, and also appreciate the vocals of my favorite singers. I have traveled throughout North America and Europe to see my favorite bands.

Other family members were also singers. My great-grandmother's sister Juliet Dahlquist was a member of the Swedish Choral Club and traveled to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark to perform concerts with the club. My first cousin three times removed Delmar Borg was also a singer; he sang in pageants and at weddings and banquets, and performed with a singing troupe. Music also has played an important part in my maternal grandmother's side of the family.

Follow Friday: Tax Lists for Tax Day

Since today is Tax Day, it seemed an appropriate time to share some tax lists that are freely available.

New River Notes provides information about the Upper New River Valley of Virginia and North Carolina. It includes a 1787 Wilkes County, North Carolina tax list. My 6th-great-grandfather Francis Hardgrave is listed in Captain A. Trible's District, along with his Greer brothers-in-law. There is also a 1797 tax list for Wilkes County, North Carolina. By then, Francis Hardgrave had left Wilkes County. Other tax lists on the site are the 1774 list of tithables for Surry County, North Carolina; 1790 Surry County, North Carolina tax list; 1782 Montgomery County, Virginia land and personal property tax lists; 1802 Tazewell County, Virginia personal property tax list; 1806 Giles County, Virginia personal property tax list; 1810 Patrick County, Virginia personal property tax list; 1815 Ashe County, North Carolina tax list; 1831 Floyd County, Virginia personal property tax list; 1838 Smyth County, Virginia personal property tax lists (there is a separate list for free persons of color); and 1842 Carroll County, Virginia personal property tax list. There are numerous tax lists for Grayson County, Virginia and Washington County, Virginia.

Cape Fear Clans has the following tax lists: 1763 Bladen County, North Carolina tax list; 1755 Cumberland County, North Carolina tax list; 1801 list of taxable property for Captain Watson's district, Robeson County, North Carolina; and the 1825 tax list for Rockfish district, Cumberland County, North Carolina.

The Russell County, Virginia GenWeb has tax lists for Russell, County Virginia.

Images and partial transcriptions of the 1837 and 1838 Smith County, Tennessee tax lists and images of early Upcountry South Carolina tax lists are available at kenshelton.com.

The Sumner County, Tennessee Archives has Sumner County tax lists, 1795-1801. John Mills, the future husband of Francis Hardgrave's daughter Nancy (they married in 1820), was taxed in 1799 and 1800.

These are just a few examples. It's worthwhile to search and see if there are any free tax lists for your areas of interest. Although no one likes paying taxes, the taxpayers left us something useful: records of their residence in a particular place at a particular time, and possibly additional information.

Those Places Thursday: Bø Old Church

Bø Old Church. Photo: Roar Johansen. [CC BY-SA 2.5 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

The Old Church in  Bø, Telemark, Norway was built about 1180 in the Romanesque style. It is made of stone and has 200 seats. The church was dedicated to St. Olaf and was originally a Catholic church, but it became Lutheran after the Protestant Reformation. An iron chandelier, a carved wooden altar, and a cross in the chancel date back to the Middle Ages. After the Reformation, windows were widened to let in more light, and a door was partially walled up to create a window. Paintings in the chancel date back to the 1650s. The altar table was painted in 1685-1687; the images depict Christ on the cross, the Eye of Providence, and the tetragrammaton YHWH ("Yahweh"). Bible verses are inscribed on the pulpit and the portal.

Many of my Norwegian ancestors on the Boe side of the family attended the Bø Old Church. Family baptisms, marriages, and burials took place there.

References
Bø Old Church
The Divine Name in Norway: Bø (district of Telemark)
Norske kirkebygg: Bø gamle og nye kirke

Wordless Wednesday: Grandma Boe and My Parents

Margaret Ann (Schneider) Boe and her daughter and son-in-law

Tuesday's Tip: They May Have Moved

Many families were enumerated in the same location in two or more consecutive U.S. federal censuses. However, they may not have lived in that location for the entire time between census enumerations. People sometimes moved away, and then moved back. Even if you check city directories, if you skip some years, you could miss a move.

At the time of the 1910 U.S. census enumeration, my 2nd-great-grandfather's brother Clarence Bateman Gatlin and his family lived at 4801 Alabama Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee.

1910 United States census, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, Ward 25, population schedule, enumeration district 82, sheet no. 7A. Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.

By November 1910, the family had moved to New Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama. Clarence's son Clarence J. Gatlin died there on 14 November 1910.

Clarence J. Gatlin death record. Center for Health Statistics, Alabama Department of Public Health, Montgomery, Alabama. 

The 1911 Nashville City Directory mentions Clarence's move.

Nashville City Directory 1911. New York: Marshall-Bruce-Polk, 1911. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

By 1912, Clarence and his family had returned to Nashville. They lived at the same address as they had before the move, 4801 Alabama Avenue. Perhaps they rented the house while they were away, or perhaps Clarence's father William Dow Gatlin, who lived with the family in 1910, had remained there. (He died in Nashville on 4 March 1911.)

Nashville City Directory 1912. New York: Marshall-Bruce-Polk, 1912. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

My great-grandfather John Boe and his family went back and forth between St. Louis, Missouri and Williston, Williams County, North Dakota. On 28 April 1908, my grandfather John Boe was born in St. Louis. The 1908 St. Louis City Directory lists the Boe family.

Gould's St. Louis City Directory 1908, page 220. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

The next child, Florence Kathleen Boe, was born on 22 November 1909 in Williston. The Boe family was in St. Louis at the time of the 1910 U.S. census enumeration.

1910 United States census, St. Louis, Missouri, Ward 22, population schedule, enumeration district 340, sheet no. 2A.

John Boe was also listed in the 1910 St. Louis city directory.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1910, page 304. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. 

John was listed in the Williston City Directory in 1911.

Williston City Directory, 1911-1912. Williston, ND: North Dakota Directory Co., page 31. Ancestry.com. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.

In 1913, he was listed in the St. Louis directory.

Gould's St. Louis Directory for 1910, page 356. U.S. City Directories, 1822-1989 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
 
On 9 February 1914, John's daughter Theodora Catherine was born in Williston. The Boe family had returned to St. Louis by 29 July 1916, when John's daughter Geraldine Edith was born. This was the last of the moves back and forth.

Mappy Monday: Swedish Empire (1560-1815)

Swedish Empire in Early Modern Europe (1560-1815). Derivative work by M.K, based on Swedish Empire (1560-1815) blank.svg by Justass, based on Ortus-imperii-suecorum.png by Memnon335bc [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

This map shows the Swedish Empire from 1560 to 1815. The years of acquisitions and losses are included. Finland was part of the Swedish Empire for most of this period.

Siblings Day

In honor of Siblings Day, I am posting these school pictures of my brother and me from 1976.

Day of the Finnish Language

Abckiria, the first Finnish ABC book by Mikael Agricola, 1543. Front page. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

April 9 is Day of the Finnish Language and Day of Mikael Agricola, the creator of written Finnish. Agricola was rector of the Turku Cathedral School. He published the first Finnish-language book, Abckiria, in 1543. The book was a primer which contained the alphabet, spelling exercises, and catechism. In 1548, Agricola published a Finnish-language translation of the New Testament, Se Wsi Testamentti. He also translated portions of the Old Testament and wrote church manuscripts.

Agricola had to invent some words which had not previously existed in the Finnish language, such as esikuva (example), hallitus (government), and käsikirjoitus (manuscript).

References
Abckiria
Agricola, Mikael (1510 - 1557)
Day of Mikael Agricola – Finnish Language Day

Follow Friday: Norwegian Genealogy and then some

Martin Roe Eidhammer, a Norwegian, has a genealogy blog called Norwegian Genealogy and then some (http://martinroe.com/blog/).

Some blog posts focus on Norwegian records. A recent post is about the Norwegian 1664-1666 census. It explains the layout of this census, shows an example, and includes a link to the census itself. This post has encouraged me to explore this census, and will help me to understand the information that it contains. Other posts focus on Norwegian names, reading Gothic handwriting, and places in Norway.

The site also includes a Norwegian genealogy dictionary, a list and definitions of causes of death, and downloads, including forms and "cheat sheets" for the Norwegian church books, pre- and post-1812 revision.

If you have Norwegian ancestors, this blog should be very helpful to you!

Those Places Thursday: Bø in Tørdal

Bø in Tørdal. Photo by GunnarAa (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

Bø is the village center of Tørdal, which is part of Drangedal, Telemark, Norway. There are three farms at Bø. My 8th-great-grandfather Jorgen Jorgensen Bø and his children, my 7th-great-grandfather Klas Jorgensen Bø and my 7th-great-grandmother Asberg Jorgensdatter Bø lived on one of the farms at Bø in Tørdal. Klas' daughter married Asberg's son.

References 
Bø (Drangedal)

Wednesday's Child: Sara Amalia (or Sarah Emilie) Eriksen

My 2nd-great-grandmother's brother Elias Eriksen (also spelled Erickson) and his wife Ingeborg became the parents of a daughter on 30 December 1874. Sara Amalia was baptized on 16 May 1875 at Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Chicago, Illinois.

Baptismal record for Sara Amalia, daughter of Elias Eriksen, 16 May 1875. Side 1. Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois. Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.

Baptismal record for Sara Amalia, daughter of Elias Eriksen, 16 May 1875. Side 2. Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois. Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.

Sara died the following year. She was buried on 25 February 1876.  She was listed as Sarah Emilie Eriksen on her burial record.

Burial record for Sarah Emilie Eriksen, 25 February 1876. Our Saviour's Lutheran Church, Chicago, Illinois. Ancestry.com. U.S., Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Records, 1875-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA, Birth, Marriage, Deaths. Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Chicago, Illinois.

Travel Tuesday: The Wilderness Road and the Cumberland Gap

Wilderness Road. Library of Congress. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

For more than fifty years, people traveled to Kentucky via the Wilderness Road. The road began in Virginia, looped south into Tennessee, and then veered north into Kentucky. The route was 200 miles long.

In 1775, Daniel Boone was hired by the Transylvania Company to widen the path through the Cumberland Gap. In less than a month, he and his company of men cut a trail from Long Island, Tennessee (now Kingsport) to Kentucky.

Travel on the road was dangerous, and most people were armed so that they could protect themselves. Native Americans sometimes attacked travelers. In 1784, more than 100 people were killed on the Kentucky side of the Cumberland Gap.

More than 200,000 settlers passed through the Cumberland Gap. For the first twenty years, the gap was too narrow for wagons to cross. Travelers had to cross by foot or on horses. In 1796, the road was widened by James Knox and Joseph Crockett. Conestoga wagons were then able to cross the Cumberland Gap. The route became officially known as the Wilderness Road. Around that time, my 6th-great-grandparents Francis Hardgrave and Sarah (Greer) Hardgrave and their family (including my 5th-great-grandmother Hannah Hardgrave) traveled from Wilkes County, North Carolina to Lincoln County, Kentucky.

Course of the Wilderness Road. Nikater. Background map by Demis. Public domain. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

References
Cumberland Gap
Daniel Boone, 30 Woodsmen Blazed Famed 200-Mile Wilderness Road in Spring, 1775
Longfellow, Rickie.  Back in Time: The Cumberland Gap
Whitaker, Beverly (2006). The Wilderness Road
Wilderness Road

Mappy Monday: Drangedal and Tørdal, Telemark, Norway

Map of the municipality Drangedal in the county of Telemark, Norway. Hallvard Straume [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)]. Available from Wikimedia Commons.

I recently discovered that some of my Norwegian ancestors were from Tørdal. Tørdal is part of the municipality of Drangedal, which is located in Telemark. This map shows the location of Tørdal within Drangedal.

Sunday's Obituary: Malinda (Borg) Lawrence

Vidette-Messenger, 12 October 1948, page 1

North County

Native Dies

Mrs. Malinda Lawrence 

Succumbs At Methodist 

Hospital In Gary

   CHESTERTON, Oct. 12–Mrs. Malinda Lawrence, who resided in the Chesterton vicinity for almost three-quarters of a century, died Monday morning in the Methodist hospital, Gary. She was 73 years old.
   The decedent was born March 16, 1875 in Baileytown, and spent all her life in the community. Her husband, Charles, died 12 years ago.
    Surviving are two sons, Rudolph and Randolph, and one daughter, Mrs. Dorothy Harbrecht, all of Chesterton; two sisters, Mrs. Mary Dahlquist and Mrs. Minnie Olson, both of Chicago; and two brothers, Gust Borg of Chicago, and Daniel Borg of San Francisco.
   Services will be held Thursday afternoon at 2 o'clock at the Bethlehem Lutheran church with the Rev. Carl Lorimer officiating. Burial will be in Chesterton cemetery.
   Friends may call at the Flynn funeral home after 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Malinda was the daughter of my 3rd-great-granparents John Borg and Johanna Carolina Samuelson. She married Charles August Lawrence on 28 November 1900 in Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana. They had three children: Elmer Rudolph (born  8 February 1903), Dorothy F. (born 31 March 1905), and Edward Randolph (born 3 November 1908). Her husband Charles died on 21 December 1936. Malinda died on 11 October 1948 in Gary, Lake County, Indiana.