Evidence – iSeeAncestors

Eureka!

Jun 122023

The childhood of my great-grandfather, Joseph Voisin (1855-1916), remained a stubborn mystery after many years of genealogy research. In other essays I described the known facts and many hypotheses. I explored genetic genealogy and used DNA testing to identify numerous distant cousins. However the lack of traditional genealogical evidence like birth, marriage, and census records did not shed light on Joseph’s birth or who his parents were.

Until now. While analyzing my DNA test results, I noticed several distant matches who did not fit my known family tree. I had to determine their lineages based on scant information. Next I found matches we shared in common and I determined their lineages too. I began to identify more and more distant cousins who descend from one man, Theobald Koebel.¹

Continue reading »Footnotes

Archives Départementles du Bas-Rhin (https://archives.bas-rhin.fr/) Oberseebach – Etat civil – Registre de naissances 1830 – 4 E 351/3, Catherine Koebel, # 1663, Image 18 of 23, (https://archives.bas-rhin.fr/detail-document/ETAT-CIVIL-C595-P1-R208956#visio/page:ETAT-CIVIL-C595-P1-R208956-2284439 : downloaded 25 May 2023). Signature of Theobald Koebel from his daughter Catherine’s birth record.

Exploring the Odds

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Mar 172022

The parents of my great-grandfather Joseph Voisin (1858-1916) remain a mystery. Evidence indicates he was born in Ontario, Canada. He was related to Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892) of Saint Clements, Ontario. That was proven by a Y-chromosome DNA test with a known descendant. And by traditional genealogy, Joseph is related to Peter Joseph’s brother Henry Joseph Voisin (1801-1884) of Niagara Falls, Ontario. Both of the Ontario brothers went by their middle names, Joseph.

No birth, census or land records have yet uncovered Joseph Voisin’s birth or his parents, except for entries in his personal journal that show he was near both Saint Clements and Niagara Falls when he was young.

Making Sense of my Ethnicity

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Jan 232018

My autosomal DNA test results indicate I’m 98% European, which is further broken down to 49% British Isles, 36% East Europe, 9% Iberia and 4% Scandinavia. The remaining trace 2% is either Southeast Europe or simply “noise,” which is unexplained variations in the data.

Ethnicity predictions depend on many factors and are only approximate. They represent similarities of my DNA, my past really, with representative samples from modern populations. The ethnicity map does agree strikingly with my mother’s lineage. Her father’s side was likely from Scotland and her mother’s side is proven to be from Hungary and Slovakia. However, I inherited roughly 50% of my autosomal DNA from my father. That means my father’s side is also some combination of this very same ethnic mix, with a little Spanish (9%) and Scandinavian (4%) thrown in somewhere.

Voisins at New York

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Dec 262017

I am related to Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), the patriarch of the Voisin families of Waterloo County, Ontario, near Kitchener. This was proven by a Y-chromosome DNA match between me and a known descendant of the Kitchener Voisins, Clifton Voisin. I also determined Peter Joseph’s sister Maria Anne Voisin (1798-1879) immigrated to Waterloo county. The next piece of the puzzle was a family connection to Buffalo, New York. That’s where I found a third sibling, Henry Joseph Voisin (1801-?) and his family, in Welland County, Ontario, just across the Niagara River from Buffalo.

Thank You Magdalena Voisin

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Dec 172017

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize Magdalena Voisin. She helped me find Joseph and Anne Voisin, who were my ancestors, and quite possibly my great great-grandparents. She provided such a big clue for a little girl only eleven years old. You see, she was born about 1841.

The Buffalo Connection

Magdalena was listed in the 1851 Canadian census¹ for Waterloo County in the household of Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), the patriarch of all the Voisin families near Kitchener, Ontario. (The family is listed as “Wisong” in that census.) She was probably not his daughter however. Instead her usual residence was “Buffalo.” She was probably visiting the family and was from Buffalo, New York. This fits with another clue from the obituary of one of Peter Joseph’s sons, Anthony. It indicates his parents walked to Buffalo annually to visit relatives.²

Continue reading »Footnotes

1851 Census, Canada West, Wellesley Township, Waterloo County, Ontario, Canada, district 1 Wellesley, Waterloo County, Page 33 or 17, lines 38 – 46, Joseph Wisong ; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, Censuses (http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx : downloaded 24 November 2017).
“Descendants of Pierre (Peter) Joseph Voisin,” Obituary of Anthony Voisin, E-Mail 9-28-2017, Harvey Kuntz, Wingham, Ontario, Canada.

Maria Voisin with Her Son August Voisin

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Dec 052017

Madame Voisin

To find the ancestors of my great-grandfather Joseph Voisin (1858-1916) in connection with the Ontario patriarch, Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), it helps to research other families in the area that may be related. They can help me “triangulate” in on my direct-line ancestors. With a little detective work, one such family proved to be a surprising discovery.

An early settler in Waterloo County, Ontario was Maria Voisin, and her son August Voisin, who was a tailor. A reference to her and her son is found in a history of the Catholic Church in Waterloo County.¹ The reference indicates she was present in or before 1850 and it includes a picture of Madame Voisin herself. I suspected she was related by marriage to Peter Joseph Voisin (1807-1892), and was perhaps his sister-in-law.

Continue reading »Footnotes

Theobald Spetz, The Catholic Church in Waterloo County. Book I : with a summary history of the Diocese of Hamilton. Book II : and a list of the clergy who labored in its district from the beginning to the present. Book III. Catholic Register and Extension, [Toronto?], 1916, page 176.

A Case for Genetic Genealogy

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Aug 012017

Joseph Voisin (1858-1916)

My paternal great-grandfather, Joseph Voisin was probably born January 10, 1858. For twenty-five years I’ve tried unsuccessfully to discover where he was born and who his parents were. I turn now to genetic genealogy, to both autosomal DNA and Y-DNA testing. Hopefully it will provide the additional clues needed to solve this mystery once and for all.

I have written about my “brick wall” (Brick by Brick Part 1, Brick by Brick Part 2). Here is a quick summary.

The names of Joseph Voisin’s parents are unknown, but his father’s name could also be Joseph Voisin.¹ He perhaps lived for a time near St. Clements, which is near Kitchener, Ontario. There are several Voisin families in this area today. They are descendants of the patriarch Joseph Voisin (1805/7-1892). However there is no evidence yet that links our Joseph to these families.

Continue reading »Footnotes

A. Wayne Edwards, II, Death Certificate of Joseph Voisin.

Violets are Blue

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Jul 232016

There once was a precious little girl named Violet who died at age 2. More than one hundred years later, it is she who helped me unravel a compelling mystery.

A Brush with Aviation History

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Mar 132015

John E. Yuncker
circa 1923

One of my great-granduncles, John Ernest Yuncker (1881-1962), was my paternal great-grandmother’s younger brother. He is mentioned in his mother’s 1921 obituary as living in Los Angeles, California. I had found him listed in the California death index years ago, but I never traced him further. I recently did so and I found that he made quite a name for himself and even had a brush with history.

WPA Property Inventories

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Apr 242013

In the late 1930’s the Works Progress Administration (WPA) conducted property inventories of rural Michigan. This project was in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Treasury. I was able to locate the homestead of my great-grandparents, Joseph and Mary Voisin, near Beal City, Michigan. It is interesting to learn about their home and farm.

Pinpointing the Stewart Homestead

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Apr 022013

My fourth great-grandparents, John and Margaret Stewart, were two of the first settlers in what would eventually become Buffington Township, Indiana County, Pennsylvania. John Stewart married Margaret McFarland in 1788 and by 1796 they had a son, my third great-grandfather, James Stewart.

I describe here how I used records available at the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC)¹ and Google Earth to pinpoint the location of the original Stewart homestead.

Footnotes

Pennsylvania, “Copied Surveys, 1681-1912,” database and digital images, Pennsylvania State Archives, Land Records (http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/state_archives/2887 : downloaded 9 December 2009), RG-17, Series #17.114, Copied Survey Book C-206, Page 221 and reverse, John Stewart, http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/bah/dam/rg/di/r17-114CopiedSurveyBooks/Books%20C1-C234/Book%20C206/Book%20C-206%20pg%20441.pdf; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau of Archives and History.

Nesting in Genealogy

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Apr 232011

Another of my hobbies is shopping at garage sales and estate sales. It’s fun to find little gizmos to fix up, clean up, and reuse. I especially like technology and mechanical items. Most people have no idea what many of these items are. That means no one else buys them. They are also very cheap, on the order of 25 cents for items that can retail for $10 to $50.

Sometimes I come across items of genealogical interest. I once bought a stack of hard-cover genealogy books for 50 cents each. Perhaps saddest are the old portraits of unnamed and unknown ancestors that probably graced many a farm house.

Today at an estate sale I noticed a banker’s box on the top shelf marked “Genealogy.” I thought boy oh boy, what treasures can I save from destruction and loss to hopefully find a better home. I anxiously brought the box down, set it carefully on another box, and lifted the cover. Oh no! Shreds upon shreds of paper, as if the contents had been through a paper shredder. A family of mice had at one time made their home in this box.

All of it ruined. Hand-written notes, Xeroxed copies of records and certificates. Nothing but strips and fragments. Nothing salvageable. It was obviously someone’s careful work from the time before computers, when everything was done by hand.

The lesson: Store your genealogical paperwork in rodent-proof containers. Avoid attics and garages.

Joseph Voisin: Brick by Brick, 11 through 14

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Apr 032011

Brick by Brick

This is another post in a series about finding the ancestors of my paternal great-grandfather Joseph Voisin¹ (1858-1916). This is a brick wall I haven’t been able to get beyond for several years. Here I chip away a few more bricks from the wall in hopes of discovering a clue.

Perhaps you can help. If you found this post while searching the Internet, chances are there’s something here that piqued your interest. That means you might know something I don’t know. If so, please post a comment. No matter how small, most any information can provide a clue.

In this installment I’ll remove four bricks from the wall. See also Bricks 1 through 10.

Continue reading »Footnotes

For source citations and images of the evidence discussed here, please see the Family Group Sheet for Joseph Voisin.

Joseph Voisin: Brick by Brick, 1 through 10

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Apr 012011

Brick by Brick

I’ve reached an impasse trying to find the ancestors of my paternal great-grandfather Joseph Voisin¹ (1858-1916). It’s a brick wall I haven’t been able to get beyond for several years. If I remove one brick from the wall at a time, I may discover a clue.

In this installment I’ll remove ten bricks from the wall. See also Bricks 11 through 14.

Continue reading »Footnotes

For source citations and images of the evidence discussed here, please see the Family Group Sheet for Joseph Voisin.

Genealogy at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Mar 032011

Albert and Mary Pohl, about 1909

Who would have thought the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) could answer questions about family history? I used NOAA to help solve a mystery about the immigration of my great-grandparents, Albert G. and Maria “Mary” (Pittner) Pohl.

Should I use Source Templates?

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Mar 012011

Source Templates is a feature that some genealogy software programs now offer. When you create a citation to reference a source in your genealogy research, the source templates tool prompts you for the necessary information. You simply fill in the blanks, and it constructs the actual source citation. Citations are then complete, and in standard format.

But should you use Source Templates? I say No! The reason? Most if not all genealogy programs have yet to get their source templates feature working properly. Besides minor problems with formatting and punctuation, the most serious issue is: You will not be able to use your source citations outside of your genealogy program.

What’s your oldest record?

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Feb 262011

Part of the fun of genealogy is discovering your ancestors. And part of that process is uncovering old records like baptism and marriage records. One record leads to an older record, and so on back in time. What is the oldest record you have ever discovered related to an ancestor?

Digital Evidence: Reference System

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Jan 262011

The most important aspect of organizing a collection of digitized photographs and documents is the naming convention used to reference each item.

Digital Evidence: Introduction

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Nov 012010

It is increasingly easy to obtain digital images of evidence used in genealogical research. More online databases now provide images of actual records. It is also easy to scan photographs and documents, or even record them using a digital camera.

I have already begun the process of digitizing the genealogical evidence I accumulated over the years. In the forthcoming series of blog posts entitled “Digital Evidence,” I will describe the system I use to generate, manage and display my collection.

As always, comments and feedback are welcome, especially if you have a better idea!

Conclusions as Sources

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Apr 192007

Often you discover conflicting facts for an event, like a birth date. A particular source may give only partial information, like the place of birth but not the date, or the month and year but not the day or place. Soon you have a list of multiple alternate facts, each cited by a different source.

A “preferred” fact is a best estimate. It may include information from a combination of alternate facts. A single preferred fact is often used in genealogical reports and charts, where listing several alternate facts is infeasible.

For some facts, it is not a matter of having several conflicting facts from alternate sources. Sometimes you must draw inferences from several sources to form a conclusion. Suppose you have a hunch that a particular person is your ancestor. If you evaluate several sources, you may find proof to a reasonable degree of certainty that your hunch is correct. In other words you may be able draw a conclusion even though there are no explicit facts that prove it.

As an example, marriage records often list witnesses, their ages, and their relationship to the bride or groom. Evaluating the marriage records of two sisters may lead you to conclude that one of the witnesses who appears on both records is actually their brother. The age and hometown of this witness may lead you to conclude he is indeed your ancestor.

Therefore, besides citing individual sources for a given fact, you can also cite a conclusion. Simply document the steps that led to your conclusion, and name that as your source. Future researchers can then see your logic and verify it against your sources, and any new sources that may be discovered.

A Preponderance of the Evidence can be still be Wrong

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Apr 062007

With genealogical evidence, you should not trust any one source to be accurate. I contend that even a preponderance of the evidence is not necessarily accurate. Researchers often look for corroborating evidence from other sources before accepting a fact as true. Various sources have different weights as to their trustworthiness and accuracy. But it can still be a mistake to draw a conclusion based on a given set of sources.

For instance someone’s date of birth taken from their death certificate has a greater chance of being incorrect since their birth happened so many years beforehand. The person filling out the death certificate may only be guessing the deceased’s birth date. The birth date is seldom verified with other official records when the death certificate is filed.

Birth certificates are considered more accurate because they are recorded soon after birth, when everyone involved is sure when it happened. However a clerk generally recorded births in a ledger book. Sometimes these ledgers were themselves re-copied several years later. So even a “birth certificate” is subject to transcription errors and recording mistakes.

Even if a birth record and a death record each point to the same birth date, that date is not necessarily accurate. Two or more inaccurate records do not make an accurate record.

That is why citing a source in genealogical research is so important. You, or a subsequent researcher may happen upon another source in the future that corroborates or refutes a given fact. All sources will again need to be weighed for accuracy before another conclusion can be drawn. Any genealogical fact has an inherent degree of accuracy that is never 100%.