Last night I was sitting in the temple thinking about my family. All of my family. The generations that have come before me and the meaning their lives give mine.
I have been very, very blessed.
One (or three) of the blessings is that I know three 4th cousins and their families. Well, okay, one of them, I've only "met" via email--he lives in Australia. Awesome! But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I mean, who the heck knows their 4th cousins, besides me (and my family)?! Does that happen to normal people? Um. I didn't think so.
But I do. And I love it. And every time I have "discovered" one, it has been in the most random way.
Here, I'll explain.
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Example 1: The first time.
Scene: 2003, age 19, Rexburg, Idaho.
About 1 month into my Sophomore year at BYU-Idaho. I was living with awesome roommates in a new apartment in the dorms. My new roommate's name was (is) Nicole (hi coley!!). We hit it off immediately and had a great time together.
One night she came bursting into our apartment with exciting news.
"Ohmygosh!ItotallyjustsawElderEyringintheMC!" (Because to Mormons, seeing General Authorities, especially the First Presidency or a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, is like totally a "celebrity" sighting--but not really because we're much too respectful of them.) Anywhoo. We all conversed excitedly that she had just seen him and--oh my gosh--walked past him. [Deep breath.]
As we chatted, I happened to mention that my grandparents had known him WAY-back-when in the military and he liked stale marshmallows, according to my Nana. Somehow in relating the trivia, I mentioned my grandparents' last name of Bryson. Nicole dramatically gasped (okay, not really). "My grandparents' last name is Bryson!"
What?! All of us freaked out at the coincidence.
So naturally we HAD to find out how we were related. Turns out we are. I pulled out my giant pedigree chart (because that's how I roll) and she called her grandma. After some chatting, we are both descendants of Samuel Bryson, Sr. and Sarah Ann Conrey--our third great-grandparents.
The really sweet thing was that my family knew, and I was able to share, some family stories, particularly about Sam's mom, Margaret, that Nicole's family didn't know. That year, I spent Thanksgiving with Nicole and her family--well, my family. It has been wonderful to build those relationships. Nicole and I still stay in touch and last August we were able to visit and do a session at the Salt Lake Temple together--so wonderful!
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Example 2: The second time.
Scene: 2012--driving back from San Francisco/Oakland, from my former roommate's wedding.
We (there were 4 of us in the car) had carpooled to the wedding and were driving home. I can't remember why it came it came up, but Tyson mentioned that his third great-grandfather was Francis de. St. Jeor.
I just about caused a car accident in my shock. Francis de St. Jeor is MY third great-grandfather!! OH MY GOSH. AGAIN?! What are the odds?!
"Dude, Francis de. St. Jeor is MY third great-grandfather, too," I calmly said. "TYSON--WE'RE 4th COUSINS--and all these years we didn't even know it!"
See, Tyson and I had been friends, and in the same singles ward, for several years by this point, and his aunt and uncle were are in my home ward and friends with my family.
(Later, my mom said she had already told me that they were actually our cousins, but I don't remember that.)
So that was pretty exciting.
And I just realized---Tyson's sister married a Sessions. These particular Sessions' she married into are my 2nd Cousins-once removed or something on my Bryson side. Another de St. Jeor married another Bryson--within the same stake I grew up.
Oh, that's weird. This is a small, small world people.
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Okay. Third Example.
I have an account on Ancestry.com and about 2 years ago, I received any email from someone looking for information on McGraths. Well, as I happen to be one, they were hoping I would be able to clarify a few things. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to--I was really confused and had conflicting information about the people he was trying to research. Not helpful.
Then about 3-4 months ago, Graeme contacted me again to let me know he had found the right information and wanted to help me fix my records. So generous! Multiple emails later (as he lives in Australia), we figured out how we are related--and what the problem was in my family's records.
You guessed it, the ancestor we have in common is our fourth Great-grandparents--Peter and Anastasia McGrath. Because of some weird generation things, we're actually 4th cousins.
Through Graeme's generous sharing of information, I was able to add over 90 names to my pedigree chart and answer some really important questions (like someone who I thought was husband and wife was actually mother and son--kind of a big problem). INCREDIBLE!
This is also an example of patience and answering of prayers. I had been searching for this information for many years.
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One of the interesting things I realized last night as I was pondering each of these experiences is that each of one them is from a line from each grandparent. The only grandparent that is missing is my paternal grandmother's line. Her maiden name is Peck--so if you are reading this (or know someone who is a Peck), based on the above, I'm going to guess we're 4th cousins. My third great-grandparents on that line are Joshua Peck and Nancy Andrus. Let me know!!
Moral of the story? It "pays" to know your family history. You'll never know where (or when) you'll find a distant cousin! And maybe you'll have answers for them, or they'll have answers for you!
Family History work is soooo totally awesome. :) Do it. You won't regret it!
Showing posts with label Family History. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family History. Show all posts
Friday, February 28, 2014
Monday, November 28, 2011
Family Heirlooms
Today's Prompt:
"Describe an heirloom that has been passed down through generations of your family. What is its significance to you personally?"
There are a few things that I have or will have (hopefully) that I love, including my Nana's china--the pink rosebud set. I love it. It's not the more expensive set, but I have fond memories of Nana rarely letting us use it. And the days that we did, I didn't mind helping with the dishes. Not that I was allowed to, though. :) Grandpa brought it back for Nana when he was stationed in Asia in the '50's I think. I specifically remember when Nana did an FHE night on ettiquete. She told us if we had perfect ettiquete all week, she would make us a fancy dinner and we could use the china, crystal, and silver. We did and she did. I will always "blame" that for our family's good table manners. Hopefully I can do the same thing to, er, for my kids. :)
One of my very favorite things I have is photographs and pictures of my ancestors. I love these. I love being able to see who people look like. It makes my ancestors so much more real to me.
I also have some books that belonged to some of my ancestors. I love books and I love old things. So this is a very happy combo for me. :)
I have beautifully detailed tatted doilies and table runners that my great-uncle (Yep, you read that right, UNCLE) made when he was alive. He died long before my mom was even born, so it's cool that we have so many of the crafts he made.
Something that I also treasure is some of the medals my grandpa received while he was in the military.
I've been really blessed that I'm able to have so many family heirlooms. I look forward to being able to pass them on. :)
***
I'm soooo grateful that I've been able to have easy access to family history info. I'm grateful for the people in my family that have worked on it before I did, thus making things extremely easy for me. :)
"Describe an heirloom that has been passed down through generations of your family. What is its significance to you personally?"
There are a few things that I have or will have (hopefully) that I love, including my Nana's china--the pink rosebud set. I love it. It's not the more expensive set, but I have fond memories of Nana rarely letting us use it. And the days that we did, I didn't mind helping with the dishes. Not that I was allowed to, though. :) Grandpa brought it back for Nana when he was stationed in Asia in the '50's I think. I specifically remember when Nana did an FHE night on ettiquete. She told us if we had perfect ettiquete all week, she would make us a fancy dinner and we could use the china, crystal, and silver. We did and she did. I will always "blame" that for our family's good table manners. Hopefully I can do the same thing to, er, for my kids. :)
One of my very favorite things I have is photographs and pictures of my ancestors. I love these. I love being able to see who people look like. It makes my ancestors so much more real to me.
I also have some books that belonged to some of my ancestors. I love books and I love old things. So this is a very happy combo for me. :)
I have beautifully detailed tatted doilies and table runners that my great-uncle (Yep, you read that right, UNCLE) made when he was alive. He died long before my mom was even born, so it's cool that we have so many of the crafts he made.
Something that I also treasure is some of the medals my grandpa received while he was in the military.
I've been really blessed that I'm able to have so many family heirlooms. I look forward to being able to pass them on. :)
***
I'm soooo grateful that I've been able to have easy access to family history info. I'm grateful for the people in my family that have worked on it before I did, thus making things extremely easy for me. :)
Thursday, March 17, 2011
My Irish Heritage
I've been really blessed to be born into the families I have. Both sides have wonderful heritages that are an honor to be a part of. Both of my grandmothers are half French and half English and both of my grandfathers are half Scottish and half Irish. So I'm 25% of each!
Today, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I want to share a history about a couple of my Irish ancestors.
The history is about my 4th Great-Grandmother, Margaret Cowan Bryson Dunlap, aka, Grandma Margaret, aka the Butterfly Grandma (she is why I love butterflies!). She was born in 1797 in Banbridge, Co. Down, Ireland, and died almost a century later in 1871 in Salt Lake City.
Below is her & her son's (Samuel Bryson Sr., aka "Little Sam") history as told by her granddaughter, Ada Bryson Jardine, and recounted by Conrey Bryson and comments by his sister (two of Margaret's great-great grandchildren). His history is generally accepted as official, considering it's the only history I've ever read or heard. Its long, but I love it. I've always felt a strong connection to Grandma Margaret. Maybe because we have such a detailed history about her life, maybe because I heard the stories all growing up, maybe because I decided I was named after her (Megan is a derivative of Margaret). But whatever it is, I'm excited and look forward to the day we meet again.
Click here for the history.
It was really cool growing up knowing this history. Because I was so familiar with it, I was able to find some cousins we didn't know about. Here is that story:
Nicole and I met and were roommates my sophomore year in college. In October, Nicole accidently ran into (almost literally) Elder Eyring in one of the buildings on campus. Apparently he was meeting with President Bednar. Nicole was so excited and came home and told us all about it. I said something about how my grandparents were friends with him way back in the day when they were all stationed at the same base. Somehow their last name came up in conversation and my roommate said, "My grandparents are Bryson's too!" We figured out exactly how we are related and found out we were 4th cousins! It was so awesome. I went home with her for Thanksgiving and met her whole family. And I got to tell them the Grandma Margaret Butterfly story. They had no idea! It was awesome to get to share my family history with new family members. We even got this fun picture of Nicole, her twin, Natalee, and I with our third great-grandfather, Samuel Bryson, Sr., on the pedigree!
Today, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I want to share a history about a couple of my Irish ancestors.
The history is about my 4th Great-Grandmother, Margaret Cowan Bryson Dunlap, aka, Grandma Margaret, aka the Butterfly Grandma (she is why I love butterflies!). She was born in 1797 in Banbridge, Co. Down, Ireland, and died almost a century later in 1871 in Salt Lake City.
Below is her & her son's (Samuel Bryson Sr., aka "Little Sam") history as told by her granddaughter, Ada Bryson Jardine, and recounted by Conrey Bryson and comments by his sister (two of Margaret's great-great grandchildren). His history is generally accepted as official, considering it's the only history I've ever read or heard. Its long, but I love it. I've always felt a strong connection to Grandma Margaret. Maybe because we have such a detailed history about her life, maybe because I heard the stories all growing up, maybe because I decided I was named after her (Megan is a derivative of Margaret). But whatever it is, I'm excited and look forward to the day we meet again.
Click here for the history.
It was really cool growing up knowing this history. Because I was so familiar with it, I was able to find some cousins we didn't know about. Here is that story:
Nicole and I met and were roommates my sophomore year in college. In October, Nicole accidently ran into (almost literally) Elder Eyring in one of the buildings on campus. Apparently he was meeting with President Bednar. Nicole was so excited and came home and told us all about it. I said something about how my grandparents were friends with him way back in the day when they were all stationed at the same base. Somehow their last name came up in conversation and my roommate said, "My grandparents are Bryson's too!" We figured out exactly how we are related and found out we were 4th cousins! It was so awesome. I went home with her for Thanksgiving and met her whole family. And I got to tell them the Grandma Margaret Butterfly story. They had no idea! It was awesome to get to share my family history with new family members. We even got this fun picture of Nicole, her twin, Natalee, and I with our third great-grandfather, Samuel Bryson, Sr., on the pedigree!
Friday, January 14, 2011
An Educational Day
Today I learned some great facts about my grandparents.
Like the fact that my grandparents hung out with Maureen O'Hara while she was filming a movie. (They were taking a tour of the movie studio and the director thought Grandpa was in the movie. When he realized Grandpa wasn't--he invited them to hang around, have lunch with the cast, and watch!)
And just prior to that my Grandpa had a meeting with the Pope in the Sistine Chapel when he was in Rome while on leave. Yeah, you heard that right--the Pope. Not that this really means all that much to Mormons, but it is kinda cool considering that these days its practically impossible. Its actually a cool story. Grandpa told the Pope that he was Mormon. When he told Nana about it, she asked him what the ceiling looked like in the Sistine Chapel (apparently meeting the Pope didn't impress her). He said he didn't even look. Really. At least Grandpa had his priorities straight--meet the Pope. Check. Share the Gospel. Check. So awesome.
Read the full stories here: http://www.vernbryson.blogspot.com/
Like the fact that my grandparents hung out with Maureen O'Hara while she was filming a movie. (They were taking a tour of the movie studio and the director thought Grandpa was in the movie. When he realized Grandpa wasn't--he invited them to hang around, have lunch with the cast, and watch!)
And just prior to that my Grandpa had a meeting with the Pope in the Sistine Chapel when he was in Rome while on leave. Yeah, you heard that right--the Pope. Not that this really means all that much to Mormons, but it is kinda cool considering that these days its practically impossible. Its actually a cool story. Grandpa told the Pope that he was Mormon. When he told Nana about it, she asked him what the ceiling looked like in the Sistine Chapel (apparently meeting the Pope didn't impress her). He said he didn't even look. Really. At least Grandpa had his priorities straight--meet the Pope. Check. Share the Gospel. Check. So awesome.
Read the full stories here: http://www.vernbryson.blogspot.com/
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| Vern & Sybil, October 15, 1942--the day after their wedding. |
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
1/11/11 & My Grandpa's Autobiography
Today is 1/11/11. In case you didn't know. Ha Ha! And my post time is 11:11am. Double Ha Ha (would that be a quadruple ha?) !
***
So I had the best idea today. I've been working on my Grandpa's Autobiography for the last couple of years--yes, you read that right, YEARS. And I feel selfish because no one has been able to read it. It is so wonderful and entertaining. I feel like everyone should have it. But, alas, I am slow.
The thing that makes it hard is that it is really long. Which is a great thing--until you are the one that is typing it up. My Nana started typing it originally (Grandpa wrote it out long hand), but got frustrated (her words were something along the line of--"he wrote it wrong...that's not how it happened...etc.") and stopped. She typed it on a typewriter on small print on large paper, with almost no margins. So while I've typed 50 normal pages, I've made it to page 35 of her pages. It is slow going.
So because people keep asking about it, and I want people to be able to read it, I've come up with a solution. I think its brilliant--maybe even inspired . :)
I created a blog for my Grandpa! So now he is definitely the coolest Grandpa EVER--he has his own blog! 6 years after he died! How cool is that?!?! ha ha ha ha. Ok, here is the address:
www.vernbryson.blogspot.com
And I just double checked the link and it works! Whoo hoo!
Now I'm still working on it, and I probably will for a long time, but here is what I have so far.
If anyone has suggestions, feel free to share!
***
So I had the best idea today. I've been working on my Grandpa's Autobiography for the last couple of years--yes, you read that right, YEARS. And I feel selfish because no one has been able to read it. It is so wonderful and entertaining. I feel like everyone should have it. But, alas, I am slow.
The thing that makes it hard is that it is really long. Which is a great thing--until you are the one that is typing it up. My Nana started typing it originally (Grandpa wrote it out long hand), but got frustrated (her words were something along the line of--"he wrote it wrong...that's not how it happened...etc.") and stopped. She typed it on a typewriter on small print on large paper, with almost no margins. So while I've typed 50 normal pages, I've made it to page 35 of her pages. It is slow going.
So because people keep asking about it, and I want people to be able to read it, I've come up with a solution. I think its brilliant--maybe even inspired . :)
I created a blog for my Grandpa! So now he is definitely the coolest Grandpa EVER--he has his own blog! 6 years after he died! How cool is that?!?! ha ha ha ha. Ok, here is the address:
www.vernbryson.blogspot.com
And I just double checked the link and it works! Whoo hoo!
Now I'm still working on it, and I probably will for a long time, but here is what I have so far.
If anyone has suggestions, feel free to share!
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| Vern Elrick Bryson's ROTC Picture 1941(?) |
Friday, January 7, 2011
Libraries
I love libraries! There are so many things for free there! Books, Movies, TV on DVD, Books on CD.
I really like the Lincoln Library on Twelve Bridges. It is big and open and sunny! Its only a couple of years old so it's not fully stuffed with books, but that is okay, they still have a pretty good selection.
Best part is that the library has free access to Ancestry.com and all the records they have. It is beautiful!
A few weeks ago I even found a bunch of family memebers that we didn't know about on an 1850 census records! It was wonderful. There was enough information that we could have their work done for them!
I highly recommend the use of libraries. The more we use them, the more they are able to provide what people use--books, movies, music, and access to expensive websites! YEAH!
I really like the Lincoln Library on Twelve Bridges. It is big and open and sunny! Its only a couple of years old so it's not fully stuffed with books, but that is okay, they still have a pretty good selection.
Best part is that the library has free access to Ancestry.com and all the records they have. It is beautiful!
A few weeks ago I even found a bunch of family memebers that we didn't know about on an 1850 census records! It was wonderful. There was enough information that we could have their work done for them!
I highly recommend the use of libraries. The more we use them, the more they are able to provide what people use--books, movies, music, and access to expensive websites! YEAH!
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