Favorite Name - Rebekah

        I have always liked the name Rebekah.  Mainly because it seems old fashioned but was also a name in the Bible (wife of Isaac, mother of Jacob and Esau).  Both my husband and I thought that if we had a daughter, we would give her that name.

       Do I have any ancestors with that name?  Yes, I do! 

·      Rebecca Gale McKinney, my 3^rd great grandmother

·      Rebecca who was married to Peter Lowe (6^th Great grandparents)

·      Rebecca Chapel, 5^th great grandmother

 

What do I know about these women?  Not much.  As you can see, I don’t have a surname for one of them.

Rebecca Gale McKinney is on my paternal line.  She was born 30 November 1822 in Kentucky.  She married Joel Washington Davis on 20 March 1838 in Berrien, Michigan.  She died 16 April 1897.  Various websites reflect that her parents were Micajah McKinney and Lockey Overstreet.  Here’s a basic timeline for Joel & Rebecca:

·      1840, living in Schuyler, IL with a daughter

·      1850, living in Cass Co, IL with 2 girls & 2 boys

·      1852 (Sept 1^st) purchased 40 acres in Illinois (Cert #22592 from the Springfield Land Office).

·      1855, Twp 19, Cass Co, IL 2 boys & 3 girls

·      1860, living in Chandlerville, Cass Co, IL 3 boys & 2 girls.

·      1870, living in Chandlerville, Cass Co, IL.  It appears that 2 of Joel’s brothers and his mother is living with them as well as 2 boys and 2 girls.

·      1880, living in Louisburg, Montgomery Co, KS with 1 son and 1 daughter.

·      1895, living in Kansas with 1 son.

 

Rebecca Chapel is on my maternal line.  Parents are unknown.  She was born circa 1794 in Virginia and died 1870 in Kentucky.  She married James Maynard in 1806 in Virginia.  Their first child was the first white child born in Brushy Creek, Floyd Co (now Pike), in Kentucky on 29 Jun 1814.

Rebecca Lowe born, married, and died in Virginia.  She married Peter sometime before 1747.  At least two children were born of this marriage – Samuel Lowe & Margaret Lowe.  Her maiden name is not known.

 

2024 Week 18 - Love & Marriage

             I’ve been using DNA to help remove some brick walls in my ancestry.  But did you know that siblings cause issues in DNA research?  Yep, and I get it on both sides.

       Paternal ancestry, I have siblings marrying siblings.  I’ve talked about my Great Grandfather William Edward Kludt several times.  He was the oldest living child of John (Heinrich Johann Ludwig) Kludt and was born 2 October 1862 in West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin.  In the late 1870’s the family moved to West Union, Fayette County, Iowa.  This is where he met his wife, Susan Katherine Reisner. They were married on 14 February 1889 in West Union.  Susan was born 3 Sept 1863 in Clermont, Fayette County, Iowa to Henry Reisner and Maria Margaret Haueisen as the fifth child.

       William’s sister, Augusta Maria Kludt, born 11 January 1865 in West Bend, Washington County, Wisconsin, also married a Reisner – one of Susan’s older brothers, George August Reisner, born 15 May 1859 in Stoughton, Dane County, Wisconsin.  They were married 24 May 1883 in West Union.  So, for DNA research, the cousins are considered double-cousins and can have twice as much DNA.  And I was trying to determine who were William & Augusta’s maternal grandparents.

       Luckily, William’s brother, Henry Carl, did NOT marry a Reisner.  He married Alma Nelson in 1907 in Fayette County, Iowa.

       Susan had eight other siblings that married into various families living in Fayette County, Iowa.  These families include Reichel, Neumann, Weidermann, Winkleman, Steuer, and Lehmer.

       Now, for my maternal side it’s not siblings marrying siblings, but descending from two siblings.  Aaron Lowe (born c1772 in Virginia) and Sarah Frazier (born c1774 in Virginia) were married 3 October 1801 in Patrick County, Virginia.  They had ten children.  I descend from two of their daughters, Ellen & Mary.

·      Ellen Lowe was born 4 May 1803 in Patrick County, Virginia.  She married Moses Stanley on 29 October 1822 in Patrick County, Virginia.  He was born 2 May 1800.  They had 12 children. 

o  Their son, William F Stanley, born in 1826 married Sarah Ann Scott on 1 Dec 1853 in Pike County, Kentucky.  They had lots of children.

§  Their daughter, Ruth E Stanley, born 12 Apr 1865 in Pike County, Kentucky, married Elbert Bevins on 22 Apr 1886 in Pike County, Kentucky.  They had 10 children.

·      Their daughter, Rosa Zettie Bevins, born 31 March 1887 in Meta, Pike County, Kentucky, married George Wilby Keesee on 15 Jun 1907 in Meta.

·      Mary Lowe, born 15 September 1818 in Patrick County, Virginia, married Booker T Keesee (Sr) on 4 October 1840 in Pike County, Kentucky. Booker was born 2 March 1819 in Logan County, Virginia to Richard Keesee & Judith Morris.  Mary & Booker had 12 children.

o  Their youngest, Booker T Keesee (Jr) was born 9 August 1864 at Road Fork, Pond Creek, in Pike County, Kentucky.  Booker married Caroline Evie Maynard, daughter of George Washington Maynard & Sarah Caines, on 19 Jun 1884 in Pike County, Kentucky.  They had six children.

§  Their oldest son (second born child) was George Wilby Keesee, born 9 June 1887 in Piso, Pike County Kentucky.  As mentioned above, he married Zettie Bevins.

I have an unproven line of ancestry where I supposedly descend from Elisabeth & Joan Plantagenet  (daughters of King Edward & Eleanor of Castile).

·      Elisabeth is the ancestor of Anne Boleyn (not the one married to King Henry!) who married John Shelton.  The Shelton family married into the Hurt family who married into the Bevins family (the parents of the above mentioned Elbert Bevins).

·      Joan also ties into the same family.  However, she ties in on Anne’s maternal grandmother.  Whereas, Elisabeth was through the maternal grandfather.

It will be interesting to validate the above information.    

2024 Week 9 Changing Names

 Ok . . . let’s see if there were any name changes in my family history.  Not all have been totally researched or proven.

·      Keesee – maybe.  People do have a hard time spelling (as well as pronouncing).  Not proven but it was possible it was originally spelled Keesey.  Prior to that La Cozee.

·      Swinehart – sometimes it is spelled as Swineheart.  Appears to not be changed from the Old Country.

·      Reisner – also spelled as Reissner

·      Ahrendt – various spellings like Ahrent, Ahrendts, Ahrends, Ahrend

·      Secore – Secor

·      Maynard – Mainor

·      Sparr – Spawr

·      Lowe – It could be Low.  However, there is a story that one of the ancestors (not my direct line) changed it to Noe.

·      Caines – Cains, Cain

Of course, there’s always my maiden name (Kludt).  People can’t spell it (or pronounce).  However, the actual spelling never changed from the Old Country (Mecklenburg-Schwerin).

And there’s my husband’s surname – Belles.  Somewhere between 1744 and 1777 it got shortened from Bellesfeld.  Also spelled Bellesfelt, Bellowsfelt, Bellows,  and Bellasfeldt.

Surnames A-Z: L Names

This idea of listing surnames over the coming weeks comes from The Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.  I think this will be fun.

Some of my surnames I have already posted information on . . . others I'm still working on.

Continuing the blog list of surnames for both mine and my husband's family that I'm doing genealogical research.  Maybe we connect, maybe not.

So . . . here are the L's:

Landes - Pennsylvania
Landis - 
Landsdale - England
Lange - Germany
Laportes - France
LaClerce - France
Lachiere - probably France
Long - Virginia
Lowe - Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland, England
Lucaszen - Netherlands
Lusley/Lasley - New Jersey