Big Mistake

 Have I found an ancestor who made a big mistake?  No.  Have I made a big mistake in my research?  Yes, if you call skipping a generation.  I briefly hinted about this in Week 1 blog posting labeled “In the Beginning”. 

How did that happen?  It’s because the family loves using the same name!  In this case, it is Caroline Maynard.

Christopher “Kit” Maynard and Eva Shockey had 12 children.  The oldest was born in 1836 with the youngest being born in 1860.  The youngest was named Caroline Maynard. 

My ancestor was Caroline Evie Maynard and she was born in 1865.  At the time, I didn’t know who her parents were.  So, I used census records to make that determination.  I used the 1870 census records and searched for “Caroline Maynard”.  I found one but the birth date was off by a few years.  I was told that quite often census records had the wrong ages, so I wasn’t too concerned about the discrepancy.  So, I thought her parents were Christopher & Eva.  WRONG!  I later discovered that her parents were George Washington Maynard and Sarah Caines.

George & Sarah had a total of 9 children, with the oldest being born in 1857 and the youngest circa 1877.

Caroline had married Booker Keesee and the marriage documents did not indicate who her parents were.  Although, I should have realized that the G W Maynard listed on the document for where the marriage was to take place would be the father. 

When I pulled the 1870 census for George and Sarah, I discovered that Caroline was listed by her middle name “Eva”.  No wonder I made that mistake!

Language

 Have I researched an ancestor who spoke a different language than me or dealt with records in another language?  Of course, GERMAN!  I wrote a brief blog entry on this same topic last year.

However, I feel better about doing research and I can actually read the documents based on things I have learned from various German Special Interest Groups and speakers who specialize in German.

Now, it’s to find those records so I can extend the family in their homelands.  Maybe I need to do a research trip to Germany.

Home Sweet Home

 How about a pictorial post of the homes we lived in?

These are the homes that my Dad’s family had – a farmhouse in Galvin, WA (1940’s-1954) and a rambler in Grand Mound, WA (1957-1975).  When I was growing up, we visited the Grand Mound home.

      These are the homes that my husband & I own.  A-frame is the home we purchased in 1986 and is currently in the process of selling. Our son grew up in the Littlerock house.  The rambler we purchased in 2023 as we needed to go to a single story and have less yard to maintain.

Historical Events

            So many events have happened in our lives.  I personally have lived to see and experience Mt St Helen’s eruption of May 18, 1980, Nisqually Earthquake on February 28, 2001, the 9/11 terrorist attacks also in 2001, and the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020.

My parents went through the 1949 earthquake and the 1962 Columbus Day storm (we lost a barn and several orchard trees).  One of the schools, the Old Washington School (now no longer in existence) was damaged.  I believe my mom attended that school.

I’m sure there were earlier events but those are the only ones I can remember.

Here are links to other entries:

• Hard Times
• War
• Witness to History