My dad recently sent me this photo of my grandmother’s “Uncle Charlie & Uncle Ed Coppenbarger circa 1914.” I love seeing the old photos of these two uncles, but I am particularly happy to see them posing with this old Model T and Harley Davidson, both of which are about 100 years old! I also love Uncle Charlie’s riding outfit, and the way Uncle Ed is posed. “Uncle Charles & Uncle Ed Coppenbarger circa 1914” from the Stewart Family Photo Collection My dad did some research on these early Harley Davidsons. The 1914 to 1916 models looked very similar. He...
I recently met a “new” Peters cousin through Ancestry.com and we have been sharing photos and other information. She sent me two paintings that her family believed were of William Peters (1850-1927) and his wife, Mahala McFarland (1859-1906). William was a son of Joachim Peters (1815-1894), the immigrant patriarch I’ve been sharing about recently. Cousin’s Painting Labeled William Peters, son of Joachim Peters. Used with permission. Cousin’s Painting Labeled Mahala (McFarland) Peters, William Peters’ wife. (Used with permission.) When I saw the paintings, I thought they looked really familiar. My family has a photo of our Peters’ immigrant couple, Jochim...
In October, I started telling the story of one of my immigrant families: the Peters. My purpose was to find additional details about this family and their immigration, but I ended up tracing them back to Germany! I also broke through a “brick wall” and found their parents, too! This post is a summary of that discovery with links to the posts I shared as I traced this immigrant family. Custom Map Created by My Dad At some point, I heard a lecture or podcast about finding your ancestor’s ship arrival in a New York newspaper. And, that is where...
Last week, my dad sent me this photo which was labeled “Cassie McCluskey and Linda Peters.” He said the original was “so light you could hardly make out the figures of the two ladies. [He] had to push the contrast and darkness really hard to get an image, hence the jet black areas in some places (around Linda’s eyes for instance).” Photo Labeled “Cassie McCluskey and Linda Peters” but likely Cassie (McCluskey) Long and Luda (Tibbetts) Peters Although we are related to Peters, we do not have a Linda Peters – as either a maiden or married name – in...
Diahan Southard, known as “Your DNA Guide,” is a genetic genealogist who teaches through seminars and video training, publishes DNA quick guides, and provides consultation services. On Saturday, Diahan shared three presentations with the members and guests of the Houston Genealogical Forum (HGF). Me and Diahan Southard at HGF – Nov 2016 Getting Started in Genetic Genealogy: A Beginner’s Guide During the first presentation, “Getting Started in Genetic Genealogy: A Beginner’s Guide,” Diahan talked about the three types of DNA tests – YDNA, mtDNA, and atDNA – and also the three main testing companies: Family Tree DNA, AncestryDNA, and 23andMe. She...
After locating the church in Bellin, Germany, where my Peters family attended in the late 1850s, my dad found a website that appeared to have a dozen photos of this church. However, the writing was in German. I often copy and paste entire paragraphs into Google Translate which, although it isn’t an accurate translation, helps get me started. But, I’ve been reading “Trace Your German Roots Online” by James M. Beidler, and he had a tip about translating an entire webpage at one time! It’s really quite simple. Paste the URL for the website you are wanting translated directly into...
I spent hours looking for the baptismal record of my great, great, great grandmother, Henriette Maria Magdalena Bünger. I believed she was born on July 15, 1817 in the present day state of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in Germany. I knew her father’s name from her marriage record, Johann David Bünger, but I could NOT find her. I was trying every trick I knew. Then, I remembered MyHeritage and how it had helped me with another German family. I went to the site and put in Henriette’s name. Immediately, I found her on someone’s tree! It not only had her parents full names and dates,...
In the U.S., most of my ancestors were farmers. But, my newly found German ancestors had a variety of occupations. As I tried to locate the birth family of my 3rd great grandfather, Joachim Peters, using his father’s occupation as a “keyword” helped me find the correct family. Mecklenburg-Schwerin, where the Peters family lived, did not take many censuses. In fact, the only ones I’m aware of are for the years 1704, 1751, 1819, 1867, 1890, and 1900. Since the family emigrated in 1859 and Joachim was born about 1815, the only useful census would be 1819. However, the 1867...
Although I didn’t get a word by word translation, volunteers at the Facebook group “Genealogy Translations” helped me to translate the marriage record of Joachim Carl Otto Peters and Henriette Maria Magdalena Bünger, my third great grandparents who would later immigrate to America. Ancestry.com, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1519-1969 (Lehi: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016), online database,marriage record of Joachim Carl Otto Peters and Henriette Maria Magdalena Bünger, 21, July 1843, Dobbertin, Mecklenburg, page 12, item 49. The page this entry was found on was for 1843. The first column shows the date which both the translator and Ancestry...
I started researching our family in 1998, and my dad’s aunt, Beulah, had probably researched several decades before that time. But, discovering the full name of my third great grandparents earlier this week – Joachim Carl Otto Peters and Henriette Mary Magdalena Bünger – busted a hole in our brick wall. Now, it is falling down. [Read part 1 and part 2.] Yesterday morning, I found the marriage record of Joachim and Henriette. It shows the Peters family was from Bergfeld, which is one of the pieces of information I’d learned on Monday. And, most excitingly, the marriage record includes...
