I dearly wish I had such a file, but I've reached a brick wall on my mother's lines on both sides, and the York line is a total mystery. I was told her name, birth date, and that she married my grandfather in England. She was my mother's maternal grandmother, Hester York, b. 14 Aug 1826, who married a Norwegian farmer, William Johnson, b. 1827. Their daughter Hester married my maternal grandfather, Julius Otto, on Dec 5, 1881 in Pittsville, Wood County, Wisconsin. In 1902, when my mother was eight, these grandparents moved with their nine girls from Wisconsin to Washington state. By 1920 when I was born all of the grand- & great-grand-parents had died, so I never knew any of them. My mother said they had never had any family records, memorabilia, or photos other than their parents wedding picture and those of the girls themselves. My mom's older sisters gave us the meagre information they had written down or could remember, but some of that has proven to be inaccurate. I did intensive research on these surnames in Nekoosa WI and the surrounding area, but found almost nothing. One librarian nearly rolled on the floor when I told him I was looking for information about my Grandfather William Johnson. (As the old comic song goes, "My name is Yon Yonson, I come from Visconsin, I vork in a lumber mill there") . . . Well, my grandpa was William, not John, and (if my mother's sisters were right on this) he was Norwegian instead of Swedish, but you get the idea. Genealogy sites have yielded little, though I did learn from a census record that William was born in New York, not Norway as we had been told, and a cousin I contacted through a Rootsweb surname list told me correctly that he died May 10, 1864 in the Civil War Battle of Laurel Hill near, and just prior to the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia. I sent for his service file, which confirmed his NY birth & revealed that he and Hester were really married in Wisconsin, and gave the place and date. I also learned that it took Hester nearly 3 years get approval for the widow's pension due to her and their five children. Their marriage record was lost in a courthouse fire, so she had to get sworn affidavits from friends and relatives to prove that: a) she was William's wife and b) the children were his. Then, in a supreme ironic twist, two years later her record was somehow linked with a different William Johnson who had served in the same company as her husband but survived. Her hard-won pension was suspended until she could prove that THAT William was not her husband! It took letters from a number of her husband's and the other William's superior officers plus another two years to straighten that one out. All these affidavits are in the file. Losing her husband must have been a terrible blow, then the added struggle to get a pension and the mixup that followed must have made the whole thing seem like a never-ending nightmare. I have no idea how she provided for her children during those bleak years. Well, I've told you all there is to know about my York, but absolutely nothing about yours. So sorry I couldn't be of help. Virginia -----Original ,Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sarah Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 4:49 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA Wow Virginia, You have quite a history..... One name interest me as my husbands mother was YORK.........have not found where in England they came from.....Were with other families in the Eastern USA. Do you have the linege in a file that you can look up names??? let me hear if you do. TThanks, Sarah

Well Virginia you can't say you haven't tried. But...maybe I can help you out..maybe? I have been on the YORK e-list a long time and through it met a Bruce Edward YORK....who has a published history of the YORKS and is very well done.... I have a copy. Maybe that would be of help to you. Sarah ----- Original Message ----- From: "Virginia Beck" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2010 12:29 AM Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA >I dearly wish I had such a file, but I've reached a brick wall on my > mother's lines on both sides, and the York line is a total mystery. I was > told her name, birth date, and that she married my grandfather in England. > She was my mother's maternal grandmother, Hester York, b. 14 Aug 1826, who > married a Norwegian farmer, William Johnson, b. 1827. Their daughter > Hester > married my maternal grandfather, Julius Otto, on Dec 5, 1881 in > Pittsville, > Wood County, Wisconsin. In 1902, when my mother was eight, these > grandparents moved with their nine girls from Wisconsin to Washington > state. > By 1920 when I was born all of the grand- & great-grand-parents had died, > so > I never knew any of them. My mother said they had never had any family > records, memorabilia, or photos other than their parents wedding picture > and > those of the girls themselves. My mom's older sisters gave us the meagre > information they had written down or could remember, but some of that has > proven to be inaccurate. > > I did intensive research on these surnames in Nekoosa WI and the > surrounding > area, but found almost nothing. One librarian nearly rolled on the floor > when I told him I was looking for information about my Grandfather William > Johnson. (As the old comic song goes, "My name is Yon Yonson, I come from > Visconsin, I vork in a lumber mill there") . . . Well, my grandpa was > William, not John, and (if my mother's sisters were right on this) he was > Norwegian instead of Swedish, but you get the idea. Genealogy sites have > yielded little, though I did learn from a census record that William was > born in New York, not Norway as we had been told, and a cousin I contacted > through a Rootsweb surname list told me correctly that he died May 10, > 1864 > in the Civil War Battle of Laurel Hill near, and just prior to the Battle > of > Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia. I sent for his service file, which > confirmed his NY birth & revealed that he and Hester were really married > in > Wisconsin, and gave the place and date. I also learned that it took Hester > nearly 3 years get approval for the widow's pension due to her and their > five children. Their marriage record was lost in a courthouse fire, so she > had to get sworn affidavits from friends and relatives to prove that: a) > she > was William's wife and b) the children were his. Then, in a supreme ironic > twist, two years later her record was somehow linked with a different > William Johnson who had served in the same company as her husband but > survived. Her hard-won pension was suspended until she could prove that > THAT > William was not her husband! It took letters from a number of her > husband's > and the other William's superior officers plus another two years to > straighten that one out. All these affidavits are in the file. Losing her > husband must have been a terrible blow, then the added struggle to get a > pension and the mixup that followed must have made the whole thing seem > like > a never-ending nightmare. I have no idea how she provided for her children > during those bleak years. > > Well, I've told you all there is to know about my York, but absolutely > nothing about yours. > > So sorry I couldn't be of help. > Virginia > > > -----Original ,Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sarah > Sent: Wednesday, May 26, 2010 4:49 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [S-I] DNA > > Wow Virginia, You have quite a history..... > One name interest me as my husbands mother was YORK.........have not found > where in England they came from.....Were with other families in the > Eastern > USA. Do you have the linege in a file that you can look up names??? > let me hear if you do. TThanks, > Sarah > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >