Tuesday, December 9, 2008

My Norwegian Settler Family Movie

Greetings!

Yesterday, I posted a video on YouTube which contains a short look at the Soine family, and my journey to research my family history. Hope you enjoy it.



Gregory

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Cousins

Greetings!

One evening on our recent trip to the Mid-West, Pat asked for an explanation of how the numbering of cousins worked. Understanding that the children of my father's brothers and sisters are my first cousins, and that the grandchildren of my grandfather's brothers and sisters are my second cousins, what are the grandchildren of my father's brothers and sisters to me?

The answer is that we are first cousins, once removed. Cousinship exists if we have a common ancestor, and do not share a common parent. The number of generations apart we are from each other determines the number of times we are removed - up or down.

Thus my first cousins are:

Austin Chick and Jonathan Chick, sons of Kathleen Lary Chick, my mother's sister.
Theodore, Roger, Carol, and Terry Skare, children of Eloise Skare, my father's sister.
Patricia Shaw, daughter of Laverna Savedes, my father's sister.
Children of any of them are my first cousins, once removed.

Similarly, the children of my grandmother's (Edna Leen Fearon Maxwell) brothers and sisters are also my first cousins, once removed: Arvid, Dawn, Leslie, Norman, Derald, and Larry Leen. Their grandchildren are my second cousins.

The children of my great grandmother's (Anne Marie Jonsdatter Soine) brothers and sisters (Jon, Juliane, Anne Marie, Ove, Eva, Emma, Geneva, Julia, Syver, Alfred, Sever, and Clare Soine) are my first cousins, twice removed. Their grandchildren are my second cousins, once removed. Their great grandchildren are my third cousins (Aaron Soine and his brothers).

The children of my great great grandfather's (Jon Johnson Lajord Soine) brothers and sisters (Lars, Anne, Marit, Syver, and Ole Soine) are my first cousins, thrice removed. Their grandchildren are my second cousins, twice removed. Their great grandchildren are my third cousins, once removed (Shirley Manning). Their great great grandchildren are my fourth cousins (Bob Skogman).

On our trip, we also met up with eighth cousin Trudy Wasson.

Gregory

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Adventurers - My Family's 400 years of French, English, Norwegian, and Irish Settlers

Greetings!

The single clearest characteristic defining who I am is my family's history of picking up and traveling somewhere else to make their lives. In future posts on this blog, I will write about their stories.

Gregory

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Gravesite

Greetings!

After many years of telling myself that I travel to Minnesota, meet my cousins, and find my grandfather and grandmother's graves, I have almost succeeded. Over the past week, I have met with three cousins, one of them a first cousin. I have found my grandfather's grave (pictured below), and will look for my grandmother's in Prior Lake in a couple of days. I've spent time with my Aunt Eloise, who at 93 is still active and enthusiastic about her life.


In the next week, my wife and I will be traveling to Ray, North Dakota to try to learn more about the lives of my grandparents and their siblings. As usual, I'll be posting journals and photos to our travel blog (http://gfpktravels.blogspot.com).

Monday, February 25, 2008

William Walker Fearon

Greetings!

As he sat in the office on that windy June day in 1917, the 26 year-old, North Dakota Police Chief probably had a lot to consider as he filled out the paperwork to register himself for service in World War I. A married father of three young daughters, he also had the responsibility for the town's security.

But his life had provided ample experience to bring to miliary service in Europe. Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1890, his family history was based in Cumberland, England.  Coming to America in 1892 from Ireland with his parents, John and Mary Fearon, the family spent some time in Illinois before finally stopping in Scammon, Kansas. Joining the Kansas Infantry in Topeka when he was 18, he rose to a non-commissioned officer in four years. Upon dischage, he traveled to Ray, North Dakota in 1912, and married the eldest daughter of a local Norwegian farm family. Accepting a position on the police force, he rose to the position of Police Chief over the past five years. In the block asking if the were any reason why he should be excluded, he wrote a large emphatic "NO", and handed his registration to Roy Enerson, Chief Registrar. Nevertheless, he remained in his post through the war, and had one more child eight years later - my father.