Finally Finding My Great Grandmother, Dora Annie Black’s Biological Mother!

When I first started researching my Great Grandmother, Dora Annie Black, I was on a mission to find out who her biological parents are. The only record I had at that point was the 1901 Census of Canada for Weldford, Kent County, New Brunswick, where she was listed as adopted daughter, living with Anne M Black and George A Black (Anne’s son). Dora was listed as Dora A, born March 13, 1884, 17 years old and born in New Brunswick. So, I had her date of birth, first name and middle initial to search by. I found a Late Registration of Birth for a Dora A Ward, born in Cail’s Mills, Kent County, New Brunswick, but her birth date was listed as March 13, 1883. Although it was off by a year, it was the exact day and month, and in the right county, so I felt it warranted more research. I phoned the local library and ordered the microfilm through the interlibrary loan program. I was ecstatic when I got the call that it was in. This document had no father listed, which was obviously a disappointment. The mother’s maiden name that was listed was Jane Ward, born Weldford Parish, Kent County, New Brunswick. The form was completed by a non-relative who stated “I have examined the records on file at the Old Age Assistance Board, which confirms the date of birth as above stated.” It was signed May 11, 1953. Dora’s full name on the form was “WARD, Dora Ann (Mrs. Wilson)”.

I immediately searched for a marriage record for Dora and a Mr. Wilson and found one for a William George Wilson, Farmer, Widower, 60 years old marrying Dora Annie Farrer, Housekeeper, Widow, 50 years on September 1, 1934. It also states she was born in Cail’s Mills, Kent County, NB. Bingo! This birth location and age for Dora Annie Black lined up with the information on the marriage record when she married John Henry Farrer (my Great Grandfather).

On the marriage record to her second husband, William George Wilson, it was very interesting, surprising and exciting that she listed her parents as Thomas Cail, born Pine Ridge, Kent Co., NB., and Jane Ward. This is very surprising since on the marriage record for her and my Great Grandfather, John Henry Farrer she listed her adoptive parents. Why would she now be listing her biological parents?! 

This is where I ran out of steam on finding solid leads for who Jane Ward is. There weren’t many options, and none in the immediate geographic location of Dora’s birth. I had a DNA test done with 23andMe to hopefully help break through this brick wall, however, even after four years, I was no closer to solving the mystery. Until now. And it didn’t even happen using genetic genealogy! It was good, old fashioned genealogy research! It was on a record I already had but I either forgot or missed a vital piece of information!

Every so often, I go back over old records for my "brick wall ancestors" to try and find a new lead. And boy, did I hit the jackpot! On February 16^th of this year I found Dora’s record of death. I think at the time I was researching Dora’s father, so I had just put this record aside. Looking at it again with fresh eyes the other day, I noticed her parents were listed as “Tomas Cail, born New Brunswick and Zillah Jane Ward, born New Brunswick”. I have to admit that at first, I assumed her first name must have been misspelled and maybe the “Z” was actually an “L” with a pen drag mark making it look like a “Z”. So, I didn’t even search for Zillah. I jumped immediately to Lilah, Lillian and any variation of that. After finding nothing, I finally searched “Zillah”. Three records came up. What?! Yes, her name is Zillah Jane Ward, and there were records there all along.

Source: Registration of Death for Dora Ann Wilson, 1961,

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

Now, online I have seen trees attaching Dora to a Sarah Jane Ward, and I spent years following that trail with no DNA matches connecting me to that line. It is a great reminder never to blindly copy information from other people’s trees. They all seem to copy the same misinformation, so when ten matches show up in your search, it seems legitimate, but when I go in to each tree I see there are actually no records or genetic links to back up their claims, and they’ve all just been copying the same misinformation. Do your own research. Always. 

I found a death record for a Zillah Jane Tower. Her spouse was Alexander Tower (deceased) and her parents are James L. Ward, born Rockport, N.B., and Lavinia Cole, born N.B. The informant was her son, Murray Tower of Sackville, N.B. According to this record Zillah was born September 29, 1865 in Rockport, N.B., and died December 31, 1960 in the Moncton Hospital Annex, Moncton, N.B. Although the place of birth is different, all the other information lines up with this being the correct person. I mean, it’s not like I’m searching a Jane Smith here. Absolutely no other Zillahs showed up in any search at all!

I have made some more (a lot more!) progress on this line and may have also made a DNA connection, however, I will save that for another day!

Until next time, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!

SOURCES:
Ancestry.ca
Library and Archives Canada
Provincial Archives of  New Brunswick

DNA Matches, Process of Elimination, Conclusions? The Neverending Saga of Thomas Cail

The saga to figure out which Thomas Cail is my great grandmother’s biological father continues. To recap, my great grandmother, Dora Annie Black, was adopted by Anne M Black some time between 1891 and 1901. I’ve come to this conclusion because Dora was not listed with the family in the 1891 census, but is listed with them in the 1901 census. According to her late registration of birth, her biological mother was Jane Ward, born in Weldford, NB. The father’s name is not listed. When she married my great grandfather, John Henry Farrer, Dora listed her parents are William and Maria Black.  (Brief note about her adopted mother’s name: Going through all the records for this family it appears that she went by both her first and middle name, appearing as Ann Moriah, Anne, Ann M, Maria and Moriah. However, from the other information listed on the records it is very clear that they are all referring to the same person.)


Interestingly (and thankfully because it gave me a HUGE lead) when Dora married her second husband, William George Wilson on September 1, 1934 in Rexton, NB, instead of listed her adopted parents’ names, she listed them as Thomas Cail, born Pine Ridge, Kent County, NB and Jane Ward. Since I already have documentation that her biological mother’s name is Jane Ward, I have concluded that her biological father’s name is Thomas Cail. After a thorough search of records in New Brunswick trying to find out who Thomas Cail was, I pieced together a large family, and instead of finding one Thomas Cail, I found numerous ones. Ugh. I narrowed down my search to only Thomas Cails in the right age group and geographical location to possibly be Dora’s father. This still produced more than one Thomas Cail. There were three potential matches, all cousins: Thomas William Cail, Thomas Burgess Cail and Thomas Edward Cail. Since there were multiples matches I decided to get a DNA test done. I knew this would still be tricky since I will share DNA with descendants of all of them. It would come down to how much DNA I share with my matches.

I learned about my first match (I’ll call him MATCH A) in 2015 shortly after getting my DNA results from 23andMe. MATCH A is the great grandson of Thomas William Cail. Comparing our results, we share 62 centimorgans and 0.82% DNA, with a predicted relationship of 3^rd to 4^th cousins. If I was also a direct descendant of Thomas William Cail, we would be 2^nd cousins once removed, and should share between 75-360 cMs. Taking into consideration our amount of shared cMs and our traditional genealogy research, it is more likely that we are 4^th cousins once removed. This would mean it is more likely that Thomas William Cail is not Dora’s father. 


Thankfully, my second DNA relative (I’ll call him MATCH 2) is a descendant of one of the other Thomas Cails! MATCH 2 is the great grandson of Thomas Burgess Cail.  He and I only share 26.6 cMs, even less DNA than MATCH 1 and I share, so it is very unlikely that I could be a direct descendant of this Thomas Cail.

Although neither of these DNA relatives were able to help me confirm which Thomas Cail is Dora’s biological father, by the process of elimination, it seems likely that I am a direct descendant of Thomas Edward Cail. 


Going back to my genealogy records for Thomas Edward Cail this is what I know.


Thomas Edward Cail was born March 12, 1859 in Kent County, NB. He is the son of George Cail and Jessie Girvan. He was living with his mom (widowed) and siblings in Weldford County in 1871. In 1881 the census lists him as being married, however, on closer inspection, it appears he was living with his two sisters, Sarah and Jessie, and their mother, Jessie. 


Thomas married Emily McLeod Sullivan on September 22, 1885 and they had the following children: George William, Sarah, Frederick and James Edward. A note of interest is that the family was living in Pine Ridge in 1887, 1889 and 1891 according to birth records for the three eldest children, which is where Dora’s biological father was born.


Thomas Edward Cail was a farmer, and was living in Kingston (Rexton), Kent County, NB in 1892, 1894 and 1901, but relocated some time prior to the 1901 census to Richibucto, Kent County, NB. His wife, Emily, died September 27, 1913. Thomas married his second wife, Sarah Jane Walker on October 20, 1915. Sarah died in 1927. Thomas died September 17, 1928 and is buried in St. Andrew’s Cemetery, Rexton, NB, where his second wife is also buried.


Although this is a good lead, I still want to confirm it with DNA. I will continue to keep checking matches on 23andMe.com and GEDmatch.com. As well, I have just ordered an AncestryDNA kit. I am hoping a solid lead will help me confirm who Dora’s biological father is. I feel like if I finally close the door on that side, I can re-focus on figuring out who her biological mother is… who I strongly suspect is a relative of her adopted mother… It never ends! There is always a mystery to figure out in genealogy!


If you are reading this and are a descendant of Thomas Edward Cail and are interested in helping me confirm this match, I would love to hear from you!

SOURCES:

·         23andMe.com

·         ancestry.ca

·         archives.gnb.ca (Provincial Archives of New Brunswick)

·         automatedgenealogy.com

·         GEDmatch.com

SEARCHING FOR MY 2nd GREAT GRANDFATHER, THOMAS CAIL, BORN IN PINE RIDGE, NEW BRUNSWICK IN THE MID-1800s

This is a continuation of my search from last month. However, I am going to focus solely on the search for Dora’s biological father today. To help you understand how I came to my reasoning regarding who her father may be, I started with information directly from Dora. When she married her second husband, George Wilson in 1934 she listed her father as being Thomas Cail, born in Pine Ridge, Kent County, New Brunswick. This is interesting because on the marriage record to her first husband she had listed her parents as William and Maria (Ward) Black, who were her adopted parents. How peculiar that thirty-one years later she had listed Thomas Cail as her father along with Jane Ward as her mother, who I know from her Late Registration of Birth is Dora’s mother. Since we know Jane is Dora’s biological mother, it makes sense that Thomas Cail is her biological father. As well, since her father’s name is not listed on Dora’s Late Registration of Birth, I believe it is probable that Jane and Thomas were not married. A search for a marriage record between the two did not produce any results, nor did I find any other records to back up the idea that they were married.

Since Dora was born in 1883, I decided to search the 1881 census, specifically in New Brunswick, for Thomas Cail. This produced five results, three of which were in the right age range to have most likely fathered a child. Those three are:

1.       Thomas Kail, 21, Farmer, living in Weldford with his parents, Jonathan and Euphemia, and siblings, James, William and Frederick.

2.       Thomas Cail, 28, Farmer, living in Weldford with his wife, Jane, and children, James and Loria J.

3.       Thomas Cail, 28, Farmer, living in Weldford with a Sarah (23), both Thomas and Sarah have an M under marital status, a Jessie (20 yrs) and another Jessie (57 yrs) who is widowed.

My next step was to search each of these Thomas Cails, especially the second one, whose wife’s name is Jane to see if it was Jane Ward. This is what I pieced together:

1.       Thomas Kail on other records was spelled Cail. His full name is Thomas Burgess Cail and his parents are Jonathan Cail and Euphemia Burgess. Thomas was born December 1860 in New Brunswick. He married Agnes Lawson on September 30, 1886 in Brown’s Yard, Main River, Kent County, NB. Although their marriage record states they were married in 1886, their son, Frederick’s Late Registration of Birth states he was born August 25, 1883 in Brown’s Yard, Kent County, NB. In the 1891 census the family was living in Pine Ridge, Kent County, NB.

2.       Thomas William Cail, born January 10, 1855 in New Brunswick. His parents are Thomas W. Cail and Jessie Irving. He married Jane WALKER, date unknown, and they had their first child, James Walker Cail on October 14, 1876 in New Brunswick.

3.       Thomas Edward Cail, born March 12, 1859 in Kent County, NB. His parents are George W. Cail and Jessie Girvan. After much research I’ve come to the conclusion that the 1881 census has Thomas and Sarah wrongly listed as married. I believe Sarah (23) and Jessie (20) are his sisters, and Jessie (57 and widowed) is their mother. Thomas married Emily McLeod Sullivan on September 22, 1885. Emily died in 1913, and Thomas remarried on October 20, 1915 to Sarah Jane Walker, 48 yrs, spinster. According to his children’s birth records they lived in Pine Ridge, Kent County, NB in May 1887, April 1889, March 1891.

Once I had fleshed out my three candidates’ lives a little more, I was still unable to pinpoint which one Dora’s biological father is. Making it even more challenging is that once I pieced their families together, I traced them all back to one source, their grandparents, Jonathan and Christable Cail. All three Thomas Cails are first cousins. I had expected them to be related, so that wasn’t a surprise, but I had hoped that they would have been a little more spread out geographically to help me figure out who the correct Thomas Cail is that way. Firstly, they were all in Weldford, Kent County. Secondly, to give you an idea of how small Weldford is, Cails Mills, which is where Dora was born is less than 8 km from Pine Ridge.

So, then I decided to look at how close each of them lived to Dora’s adopted family, as well as any Ward families that may be relatives of Dora’s biological mother, Jane Ward.

The family who will adopt Dora some time after the 1891 census and before the 1901 census are listed in the 1881 census as living in Division 3 of Weldford, Kent County, NB. The only Thomas Cail also listed in Division 3 on the 1881 census is Thomas William Cail. Here is the proximity of Thomas William Cail to them as well as the other Black and Ward families in that division:

·         P.11 – House #43 WARD, GRAHAM, WARD, (3 families at 1 dwelling)

·         P.12 – House #44 BLACK

·         P.13 – House #46 WARD

·         P.13 – House #47 WARD

·         P.13 – House #48 BLACK, William, Ann M, George B & William (Dora’s adoptive family on 1901 census)

·         P.16 – House #57 CAIL, Thomas (William) (28), Jane (24), James (4), Loria J (2)

Interesting thing to note here, which I won’t go into in this post since I’m only focusing on the Cail line right now, is that the family on p. 11, House #43 is Dora’s adopted mother, Anne M Black’s family. It is two of her brothers and their wives, as well as her parents, all living at the same dwelling.

The other two Thomas Cails are listed in the 1881 census in Division 2 of Weldford County:

·         P.3 – House #12 BLACK

·         P.4 – House #21 KAIL, Jonathan, Euphemia, James, William, Thomas (Burgess) (21), Frederick

·         P.7 – House #35 BLACK

·         P.10 – House #52 BLACK

·         P.38 – House #192 CAIL Thomas (Edward) (24), Sarah, Jessie (20), Jessie (57, W)

·         P.42 – HOUSE #288 Gordon family has an Eliza WARD (19) living with them, no relation or occupation stated

Based on these findings I feel my best lead is Thomas William Cail, however, without more information this will be a challenge to figure out. I have known of one DNA relative from the Cail line for a few years now, and I recently discovered another DNA relative to compare with. I will discuss that more in my next post.

In the meantime, if you are a descendant of the Cail line in New Brunswick, especially if you are a descendant of a Thomas Cail from New Brunswick, I would love to hear from you!

If you aren’t connected to the Cail family, but know someone with the surname Cail who has root in New Brunswick, please share this post with them!

Thank you! And… Happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!


SOURCES:

·         Daniel F. Johnson’s New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

·         New Brunswick Cemeteries, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

·         Place Names of New Brunswick: Where is Home? New Brunswick Communities Past and Present, Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

·         Vital Statistics from Government Records (RS141), Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

·        1861 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

·        1871 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

·        1881 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

·        1891 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

·        1901 Census of Canada, Library and Archives Canada

·        Automatedgenealogy.com

·        Ancestry.ca

Are You A Descendant of Either The Ward or Cail Families in New Brunswick? I Am Looking For Help In Making A Connection.

This post is more of a request for help. I am hoping someone out there reading this has a link to the ancestors I am searching for.

I am looking for anyone descended from either the surname WARD or CAIL that lived in New Brunswick in the mid to late 1800s. My great grandmother, Dora Ann Black was adopted, however, I know the names of her biological parents: Jane Ward and Thomas Cail. As well, I have found a link to a genetic relative through DNA testing to the Cail line in New Brunswick. Unfortunately, even with that link confirmed it is too removed to confirm the exact identity of 'my' Thomas Cail. 

The challenge I am having with figuring out who Thomas Cail is, is that there are a few of them in the same area at the time that Dora was born, so without a closer match to a particular Thomas Cail, or finding more documentation to confirm his identity, I am stuck.

The challenge I am having with figuring out who Jane Ward is, is that I have not found sufficient documentation to confirm her identity and have found no genetic matches. I do believe that Dora's adopted mother (Anne Maria Ward) is probably related to her biological mother as they share the same last name, however, I don't have enough information at this point to confirm.

That's where you come in! If any of this information lines up with your family history, or if you descend from WARD or CAIL and have done or are willing to do a DNA test, I would love for you to get in touch with me so we can compare. 

I have copied and pasted my original post about my search for Dora's biological parents below, which has more information. 

Thank you!

From November 2015:

The Brick Wall

The biggest challenge in my genealogy research so far has been my great grandmother, Dora.  I knew as soon as I read the information my sister, Chandra had sent me, that Dora was going to be trouble. She was adopted. There I was brand spanking new to genealogy and I was up against an adoption. I toyed with the idea of moving on to an easier ancestor, someone more obliging to give me quicker results, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to find out who her biological parents were.

1901 Census of Canada, Weldford, Kent County, NB

Armed with her adopted name (Dora Anna Black), her date of birth (March 13, 1883) and where she was born (New Brunswick), I began by searching census records on www.automatedgenealogy.com for her in the New Brunswick Census records. I found her on the 1901Census of Canada for Weldford Parish, Kent County, New Brunswick. She was living with her mother (Anne M. Black) and brother (George Black). The year of birth was off by one, but the day and month matched and she was listed as “adopted daughter”.

Late Registration of Birth for Dora Ann Ward

Then I searched the Vital Statistics in the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick’s database http://archives.gnb.ca/Archives/?culture=en-CA (PANB) and in the Index to Late Registration of Births I found a record for Dora Ann Ward, born March 13, 1883 in Cails Mills, Kent County. Her mother’s name was listed as Jane Ward.  The father’s name was not listed. Could this be my great grandmother? Did I just find out her biological mother’s name?  I ordered the microfilm through the library and not-so-patiently waited for the call that it was at my local branch. Once it arrived, I couldn’t wait to get to the library. I scrolled through the microfilm slowly careful not to miss it, and there it was; a copy of the actual record. Unfortunately, it didn’t give any information that could confirm this was my great grandmother, but it did give clues. I now had her married name as of May 11, 1953, Mrs. Wilson. It also specified that her mother’s name, Jane Ward, was her maiden name, and that she was born in Weldford Parish, Kent County. 

In the Vital Statistics records on PANB I also found the marriage record for Dora and my great grandfather, John H Farrer. On this record Dora’s parents are listed as William and Maria (Ward) Black. I haven’t confirmed that Anne M and Maria is the same person, but I suspect so from other records that I’ve found. What I do want to take note of here is that Maria’s maiden name is the same as Dora’s biological mother’s maiden name. Was she adopted by a relative? I was unable to find Dora on the 1891 Census of Canada, but I did find her adopted family. So where was Dora? I wonder if she was still with her biological mother in 1891. Perhaps her mother died sometime between 1891 and 1901 and that’s why she was adopted by Anne. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find documentation to support this theory.

I found a Jane Ward living in a nearby town but have been unable to find sufficient documentation to prove that she is Dora’s biological mother. With nothing to confirm her mother’s identity, and no information on her father the trail ran dry and remained that way for a long time. I moved on to other ancestors, but could never fully let it go, and would periodically search again. Then one day I found a document with some incredible information. It was the record from her marriage to her second husband, William George Wilson. WILSON! The same last name that was listed on her Late Registration of Birth in 1953! On this record her name is Dora Annie Farrer (her married name from her first husband, my great grandfather, John Henry Farrer); she is 50 years old, and a widow. It all matches AND confirms the Late Registration of Birth. As I continued to read through the marriage record, her parents’ names were listed as: Thomas Cail and Jane Ward! NOT William and Anne M./Maria Black, but Thomas Cail and Jane Ward! Her biological mother’s name matched, which would imply that the name under “Father” would be her biological father!  Did I finally know her biological father’s name? Also, her father’s last name is the name of where Dora was born, Cails Mills.

With fresh exuberance, I began searching for Thomas Cail in the PANB database. Considering that I already knew there was a Cails Mills in Kent County, I should have realized that this may be a big family with a long history… and multiple Thomas Cails. Which one was mine??? Next thing I knew I had diagrams, charts, piles of notes and a head swimming with too many Cails to count! I made a timeline of each Thomas Cail, noting when they were married, when their children were born and where they were living at the time of Dora’s birth to discern a probable match.

I spent months on this, going over each record with a fine tooth comb again and again. All the while I had the nagging thought, how does Dora know who her father is? What if the name she wrote on her marriage record isn’t correct? I could be spending all this time on a false trail. It was time to take it to the next level: DNA testing. I ordered a kit through 23andMe.com. It took a few weeks to get my results, but once I did I found out that I have over 900 matches from 2nd to distant cousins just on the 23andMe site alone (sadly the two 2nd cousin matches are anonymous and haven't responded to my request to share information). I have A LOT to learn about understanding my results, but I do know one thing for sure: I have a match that is a 3^rd to 4^th cousin from the same Cail line in New Brunswick! Which proves that one of these Thomas Cails IS my 2^nd great grandfather! Now I know I have the correct ancestral line! I still want to figure out exactly which one it is, but am still pretty excited that I've managed to piece together as much as I have. I also hope to figure out if the Jane Ward I think may be my 2nd great grandmother actually is, but I suppose I'll just have to keep digging for now.

From Matching To Meeting: An Update On Tiffany Koerner

Hello again! I decided to take a break from my genealogy blog this Summer, and I thought the best way to start back at it again was to bring you up to date on the developments from this past Spring. To recap, I was genetically matched to a first cousin once removed, Tiffany Koerner, who was trying to find out who her father was. You can read about that in the blog posts from March and April.

In June I had the opportunity to meet her and some of her newly found siblings! My mom and I planned a girls’ trip to Niagara Falls, and it was while we were there that I had the chance to meet them. It was extra special that my mom was with me. At one point she was sharing how happy she was to be there for this special meeting “even though she wasn’t really family” (since I’m her adopted daughter), and not just me, all of them, piped up that of course she was family!!! It was heart-warming.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. When I told Tiffany that I would be in town and wanted to meet her, she was happy to do so, and plans were quickly hatched to meet at the Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial. This was apt since she and I had previously talked about how we both wanted to visit it, and even though we live very far apart we had said we should meet there some day. Now here we were, making plans to do just that! When I arrived, I was walking to my car after going into the info centre to ask a question, and I saw a familiar face. Was that Tiffany’s brother? I hesitantly asked, “Are you Paul Grant?” He replied “Debbie?” From there I met a wonderful group of people, including Tiffany, who surprised me with a gift. It was so thoughtful! A puzzle piece! How perfect is that? I am so glad she has been able to fit all the pieces together and now has so many wonderful people in her life.  

A picture of the first time we all met at the 

Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

June 2018

We finally got to meet in person!

Myself and Tiffany

June 2018

The keychain Tiffany gave me.

She used her dad's surname.

June 2018

After spending some time at the memorial, we made plans to go for lunch. Of course, it had to be at a Tim Horton’s! Tiffany’s first meeting of a DNA match had been at a Timmies. And if I’m remembering correctly, she also met another DNA match at a Timmies, as well. So, it seemed fitting that we go there. It was a great day that, unfortunately, went by too quickly. I hope to get back there for a longer visit again sometime.

Lunch at Timmies!

June 2018

But that’s not all I have to report on Tiffany! In August her siblings threw her a surprise birthday party! They put so much thought and love into it. I wasn’t able to attend in person, but was able to watch them surprise her via video. They showered her with love, thoughtful gifts and a specialty cake, detailed with all the things that are important to Tiffany.

Then in September, Tiffany had the opportunity to go to Nova Scotia for a Grant reunion! She stayed with her Dad’s sister (who is also my Grandpa’s sister), and it was such a joy for me to follow along by reading her posts on Facebook. She met many family members and visited the location of her Grandparents’ home. The home is no longer there, but she has a piece of rubble from it as a souvenir. 

Tiffany in Nova Scotia holding a sign

her Grant relatives made for her.

September 2018

Tiffany with her brother, Paul, in Nova Scotia

September 2018

Tiffany with Aunt Shirley, her dad's sister

Nova Scotia, September, 2018

It has been such a cool and enriching experience being matched to her and subsequently having the honour of watching her connect with her long, lost family. I hope to visit Nova Scotia some day and meet our extended family. I had planned to go to Nova Scotia last year, however, I had to cancel my plans. At the time I was really upset about it, but I am quite happy it happened that way now! Tiffany has tread the path before me. It would have been such a shame to have gone there before knowing about my family members that live there, and the special places that I now know I need to see!

That’s all for now. I am in the process of analyzing DNA matches so maybe I’ll have a post on that in the near future! Until next time, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!

Would The Real Abraham Adams Please Stand Up! Corrections To My Work On Abraham Adam Adams

Back in January I wrote a blog post about my Adams line in Newfoundland. I am coming back to that today to make some corrections. I have found more documentation which clearly shows there must have been more than one Abraham Adams around the same age in Newfoundland at that time. I tracked the records and grouped them by date and place. Doing this has led me to believe I was mistaken in attributing a baptism record to “my” Abraham Adams.

As I continued to discover more records for the Adams surname, I became increasingly confused as the dates overlapped. This would mean that one man was married to two women at the same time. Possible? Yes. But not likely. I needed to investigate further.

There was an Abraham Adams in St. John’s, married to an Ellen Tuffen (various spellings). They had numerous children. I found records for them being born or baptized between 1880 and 1895, all of whom were born in St. John’s, either at St. Patrick’s Church or Basilica of St. John the Baptist Church. Then I found a death record for an Abraham Adams as having died from gastric perforation on July 20, 1897 in St. John’s. He was buried at the Church of England Cemetery in St. John’s. The record also states he was an Iron Moulder, age 42.

On the baptism record that I had attributed to my Abraham Adams it states Abraham Adams was baptized Mar 4, 1854 and that his parents were Abraham Adams (Servant) and Drusilla Brace. The baptism took place at the Anglican Cathedral in St. John’s. This Abraham is a better match for the baptism record taking into consideration the location. My Abraham would have lived over 400 kilometres away from St. John’s based on his marriage record and baptism records for two of his and Matilda’s children, nor have I found a link to the Roman Catholic Church. When my Abraham married Matilda Jenkins, it was recorded in the Methodist Marriages, White Bay District, Englee, and on the record for his son, Thomas’ baptism their religion is documented as Methodist.

As well, referring back to the “other” Abraham’s probable death record, his occupation is listed as Moulder. In the directory for the city of St. John’s in 1890 and 1897 there was an Abraham Adams living on Williams Lane and he was a Moulder, making this very likely the same person. Whereas, my Abraham was living some 400 kilmetres away and was a fisherman. These two men are obviously not the same individual.

I still believe that the death record I have for Abraham is the correct one, as it has him located in Botwood, District of Twillingate. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a spouse or informant’s name on it so I can’t be sure, but based on the timeframe and location, it seems like a good match.

Here is a chart showing the differences between the two men:

ABRAHAM/ADAM ADAMS (Twillingate)	ABRAHAM ADAMS (St. John’s)
1888: Adam Adams (fisherman, bachelor) married Matilda Jenkins (spinster), Horse Islands, per marriage record	1880: Son, William Charles b. St. John’s, parents: Abraham Adams & Ellen Tuffell
	1882: Son, Robert John b. St. John’s, parents: Edward Adams & Ellen Tuffin
	1885: Dau., Bertha Joseph b. St. John’s, parents: Abraham Adams & Ellen Tuffen
1891: Son, Thomas, b. & bp. French Beach, Twillingate District, parents: Adam Adams & Matilda Adams, per baptism record	1890: Abraham Adams (moulder, Con Foundry Co.), residence: 6 Williams Lane, St. John’s, per Directory
	1891: Son, George Stanislaus b. St. John’s, parents: Abraham Adams & Ellen Treffen
1893: Dau., Anna May b. & bp. Peters Arm, Exploits-Dominion Point, parents: Adam (fisherman) & Matilda Adams, per baptism record	1893: Son, Stanley, b., per 1921 & 1935 Census, St. John’s (he’s living with his mother)
1894: Adam Adams (fisherman), French Beach, Twillingate District, per census	1895: Dau., Gertrude b. St. John’s, parents: Ambrose Adams & Ellen Tuffin, res: Williams Lane
1898: Son, Sidney, b. “Bootwood”, Green Bay, mother: Matilda Shepherd, per Attestation Papers, 1916, parents: Matilda Jenkins & Abram/Abraham Adams, per marriage record, 1919	1897: Abraham Adams (moulder), res: 8 Williams Lane, St. John’s, per Directory
	1897: Abraham Adams (moulder), d. St. John’s, age 42, interred at Church of England St. John’s Cemetery
	1898: Drucilla Adams, wid Abraham, res: 12 Freshwater Rd (same address: George J Adams & Joseph Adams, per Directory
1902: Son, George, b. NFLD, per Cdn Passenger List, 1918
1904: Adam Adams (fisherman), Peter’s Arm, Twillingate District, per McAlpine’s 1904 Directory	1904: Drusilla Adams, wid Abraham, res: h. 3 Maxe. (same address: George I & Alice M., per Directory
1913: Adam Adams, d. pneumonia, Botwood, District of Twillingate, per death record

Since my direct ancestor from Abraham Adams is his son, my great grandfather, Sidney Adams, I had begun my search for Sidney’s parents based on the information I found in Sidney’s records. This is why I was searching for an Abraham/Abram Adams. As I continued searching and found his parents’ marriage record and records for his siblings, the information overwhelmingly supports that even if Sidney’s father’s Christian name is Abraham, he went by Adam. I have searched extensively for records using this name, but I haven’t found any new documentation for him. It is a brick wall for now, but I will continue to search!

Realizing my mistake was a tough blow, as I had accumulated a lot of information for the other Abraham’s lineage, including an Abraham Adam’s link back to England as well as deeper roots in Newfoundland on his mother’s side. I thought there must be an ancestral link between the two Adams families, but try as I might, I have been unable to find one so far. Therefore, sadly after hours upon hours of work I had to remove huge amounts of information from my family tree.

However, it’s an important side of genealogy to address, and a great lesson that one new document can change the entire trajectory of your work…sometimes dismantling it. So here I am at the beginning again. Oh well, not all days can produce amazing finds. You need the lows to appreciate the highs!

Until next time, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!

Guest Blogger, Tiffany Koerner's Journey To Find Her Birth Father

It is my honour to pass the reins for this month's blog post to my newly found first cousin once removed, Tiffany Koerner. Last month I shared my experience of Tiffany reaching out to me after we were matched through DNA testing. Today, I am so excited that she has agreed to share her story. I really appreciate her openness and willing to share her journey on my genealogy blog. ❤ 

The Journey To Find My Birth Father (Dad)

In my early twenties I had already been through three DNA tests with men all thought to be my father. I was told growing up that my father was a man who had passed away when I was a baby. In my early twenties a man had walked into Tim Horton’s where I was working and he had told me he was my father, completely turning my life upside down. I rushed home and ordered a DNA test online and went through the waiting process only to have disappointing results. Moving on, now I needed to know if the man who was believed to be my father originally was really my father, and maybe this was a good time to get to know my other family members and find out some family background.  About a year had passed and I got in contact with my would-be half brother, the son of the man believed to be my father. He agreed to do a DNA test to see if we were half siblings. We were so sure and couldn’t wait to see the results. That day finally came about three months later, and it was negative. After requesting the test be done over with the company I had gone through, they had said it was 99% accurate and there was no need to pay for another one. The loss I felt for myself and that family is a terrible feeling. A feeling like you don’t even know who you are, a loss like you are not complete and only half full. By this second DNA test and all the heartbreak that came with it, I was now more determined to find out who I really was. There is a whole half of you that’s missing when you don’t know who one of your birth parents is.

             I had another man’s name and right away I was off and decided to just do the awkward knock on his door and say, “Hey, I may be your daughter.” So, I explained the story and this man asked if I could give him a few minutes and he would be right back. This man came back a few minutes later and handed me court documents from 1987 of a paternity test he had taken upon himself to do way back when. I was shocked to say the least. I went and made copies of the paperwork he had and emailed the company that he had done the testing with all those years ago. I asked them if with the advancements with technology could there possibly be a different outcome if we had proceeded now with a new test. They responded saying, “No. DNA doesn’t lie.”

            So, now feeling at an even bigger loss then when I knew none of this, I tried to get names from my mother, which wasn’t easy as she suffers with mental illness. I had heard of a man’s name a few times from my aunt, brother and a little from my mother. Each DNA test I went through my aunt had mentioned to me that maybe my father was a man that she knew my mother hung around with. She told me every time she ran into him she had noticed his blue eyes and said they were similar to mine. I had asked my mother if she thought this man named Harold Grant was a possibility and she said no. To me, for sure, he was a possibility. I had told my mother that I had done a little research and saw that he was living not that far away, in the next town actually. She insisted he wasn’t a possibility.

             It was my own decision at that point not to seek out this man named Harold after learning he was an elderly man with children already grown. I decided to let it be. It was only a possibility and there was a good chance after three negative test results that this one could be negative as well. At that point I thought I may never know who the other part of me was, get to know my full heritage or any family health history. I accepted that this was just my path in life and I had to learn how to move on and be okay with that.

             When I was in my late twenties my fiancé and I moved to Saskatchewan and didn’t think we would be coming home to Ontario for a long while. Life was moving fast and new adventures were coming, but the one adventure I couldn’t get off my mind was, “What if that man who lives in Wainfleet is my father and I’m missing my chance.” I know I could easily find out. It would be simple to go knock on his door, say hi, tell him my story and ask for a simple easy DNA test. My mind battled back and forth for months about making a decision to just show up to his residence and ask him to do a test with me. But I just couldn’t bring myself to go and ask an older man something so shocking when it was only a possibility. I had three negative results before, how would I have felt if it was negative again? Not too good, I’m sure, also factoring in his family’s feelings. I had pretty much decided deep within myself to not be selfish and bring this news to this man. But for whatever reason I decided to take a leap and write a letter just in case something changed and the situation felt right. I kept this letter for a while. With a little time moving on I felt at peace with knowing that I would just never know who my birth father was. One thing I did know was that he had children and maybe one day one of them would be willing to do a half sibling DNA test with me.

             Over the years I went to mediums and psychics and they all gave me wrong leads on who my father was. They sure sent me on the run around. Needless to say I had over exhausted my search and needed to move on with life still continuing to fill out important paper work with a blank space for “birth father” looking at my birth certificate that states birth father UNKNOWN. Reading “unknown birth father” on your birth certificate sure feels like your identity is unknown and you are not relevant to this world. There was a man out there who was my father but I was never going to know who he was and I was never going to feel whole.

            A few years went on with fast moving life bringing us home to Ontario. I had Googled Harold’s name every so often as he never left my mind, being the one man who I couldn’t carry out the final result with.  

Christmas 2017 I received a DNA testing kit from 23 and me. I said “I’m going to find out who my birth father is through this.” I just knew it. DNA testing has come such a long way each year and is so wide spread now with all these kits making connections. I was ecstatic to spit in that cup and send my saliva on its merry way for analysis. I sent out my sample on January 2^nd 2018 and then began the long wait for the results.

             I told everyone I knew that I was doing this test, as well as my story of why I was doing it, and that if I wasn’t able to find my birth father through it I would at least know the other half of my heritage. I had a poll going on at work. I asked everyone what they thought my ethnicity was and they were all so excited to see what the results were going to be. I thought maybe one day, years down the line, someone on my birth father’s side will do a DNA test also and we will be matched up that way somehow. I always stayed positive and optimistic. Either way I knew something very good was going to come out of it.

            On Wednesday, March 7^th, 2018 I opened my email. The results were in!  To my surprise I had over a thousand related matches. I was excited and anxious to dig into my history. I started with my very top match who was Debbie.  The test predicted we were second cousins through our great grandparents. I read through her profile and none of it was making sense, which was a good thing, because this had to be my father’s side of family. The excitement within me grew and I was two steps ahead of myself leaving out important pieces. I was already messaging relatives to find clues and found another predicted second cousin through great grandparents named Gary. Gary lived in the same city as me and we wasted no time meeting up at good old Tim Horton’s. Gary had some of the same information that Debbie had sent me that day and even though it didn’t make sense to me that was a good thing and I felt hot on the trail to finding out who the other half of me was. When I got home from meeting Gary, I re-read Debbie’s profile and saw she had a list of known surnames associated with her. She had 45 surnames and I can’t even explain how fast my eyes scanned that list to see if “Grant” was on it. IT WAS!!!!!!! To me it was all over. I knew my birth father was Harold Grant! I knew! Of course, it was him. It was only my luck that if I had reached out to him when I had previously thought about doing so, I could have had a chance to meet him because   he unfortunately passed away in 2015. It was only 6 months before he had passed that I was driving by his house with my letter on hand wondering if it was him. But I was reminded of why I did not pursue seeking any knowledge from him and I was fine with that. At least I was here and maybe someone could help me with a picture of him. Debbie had sent me a list of the Grant brothers and there was Harold Grant’s name. I was connected to Debbie. Debbie through her research found we were connected to others and I was certain it had to be him.

             I wasted no time and on that same day only hours after receiving my test results from 23andMe, at 10:09 pm I sent my first message on Facebook to my potential sister, Ruth. The message basically said I believe I am also Harold’s daughter and I wanted to do further testing if she was ok with that. I hit send and I waited…. About 15 minutes went by and I heard that little noise, you know that noise you hear when the other person “sees” your message. So, I sat down and I waited 2 minutes to verify that she saw it. And as I opened the message I saw that the noise I heard was Ruth hitting the thumbs down icon on my message. My heart sank. I had intruded and she must not have thought it was possible. Even though I prepared myself for the worst, you aren’t really prepared for rejection.  So, I sat back and thought, “Okay, that’s fine. At least I know.” But I couldn’t help myself!!!! Nope, I went ahead and sent the same message to another possible sister named Kelly. Same thing, thumbs down icon. I thought to myself, “Man, they aren’t even thinking about it,” and gave my mind another overdose of overthinking. I thought there must be bad history there like I suspected. So I couldn’t give up. I had already gone this far and I knew I was too near to putting the last piece of my puzzle in its’ place. I sent the same message to a possible brother, Paul. Well, wouldn’t you know I got a thumbs down icon after he read my message. So now I’m like okay…. Wait a minute. These guys are maybe trying to copy the message I sent to them and while trying to copy what I had sent them they accidentally hit the thumbs down icon and didn’t realize it? That’s what I hoped anyway since I had the same response from the three of them. Then at 11:32 pm I got a message from Ruth! She had said this was a surprise and a DNA test would not a problem. She asked me what I would like to know. Pictures? History? And wow! I wasn’t expecting that even though I had bulldozed and raced to message her and her family. Then I received messages from Kelly and Paul. They too, didn’t realize they hit the thumbs down icon while trying to copy my shocking message. But then followed conversations. Right off the bat the Grant siblings were amazing and warm and welcoming even without solid proof yet. Luckily for me, Kelly had done a DNA test a few years back with another company. After a few failed attempts and then more research to try to match up our DNA we were able to upload both of our DNA test results to GEDMatch Genesis and compare them through the One-to-One comparison tool. On March 10^th the results were in. It was a 1.4   generation match which meant…. HALF SIBLINGS!!! At that moment I felt the tidal wave crashing over me and swallow up the void half that I had been missing, coming together as one complete “me”. The emotions that followed, I can’t even explain them other then, I got swooped up on a cloud and couldn’t find the ground for the next 8 days… literally. I stayed in this weird state of shock and realized what I had been telling myself for years that this moment was unreachable and I just had to accept it… but it was just reached. I was here. That day we had ordered Chinese take-out. When I opened my fortune cookie, it read: 

I told my new found siblings about the cookie and said I was keeping it forever.

 The Grant siblings, Harold’s kids, my sisters and brothers were so welcoming and then I had another huge realization.  I had 8 more half siblings. Whoa. They were always in the back of my mind but my main focus was, is Harold Grant my father? Upon finding out that we were half siblings we wasted no time in making plans to get together. I was invited to Ruth’s daughter’s house to meet some of the family! I was in disbelief that this day had come, and I drove by Ruth’s daughter’s house three times because I was still in shock! I pulled up, squeezed every muscle in my body and prepared to walk up to the house and meet my family! I was so emotional for days learning the positive results. I tried hard to hold my composure as I met my new family. It was a very surreal, beautiful and humbling feeling that I will never forget. I met my sisters, Ruth, Katherine and Kelly, my brother, Paul, as well as their spouses and some nieces and great nephews. They welcomed me with open arms along with a balloon and a cake that read: Welcome Tiffany. I thought it would be a great idea to bring a balloon saying, “It’s a girl!” When I walked in they had the table set up as a beautiful display with pictures upon pictures and articles for me of our dad. They shared with me some pretty amazing stories about him. They even told me that he would joke with them that there may be another brother or sister out there who will show up from his war days!!! My ears and eyes were wide open being so grateful to be here and learning everything from them. 

Tiffany (centre) with 4 of her newly found siblings:
Paul, Ruth, Katherine and Kelly.

My Father, Harold Grant, had passed away in 2015 at the age of 91 he had left behind this amazing legacy of his life and family for me to get to know him through after all. And believe me when I say. I felt connected right away with the puzzle piece fitting right in. The stories, the pictures and similarities that I am seeing every time I connect with my new found amazing family. I can now say I know who my birth father is and was. Everything makes sense to me and the best part is he was the sweetest man to whom everybody in his whole town referred to him as Grandpa. The stories I hear from my new found siblings, I hold onto every word. It’s a big deal to me to hear who he was. I can no longer say I feel like half a person anymore. I am now full. I know where I come from and I’m learning my path in this life. I always say every thing happens for a reason along with patience is a virtue. My story is a perfect testimony to where I am today. And the best part is it’s just getting started!!!! I have soooo many new family members. I have my new brothers and sisters, I have many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews and even a few great great nieces and nephews at my age of 32! I have lots of family and cousins in Nova Scotia whom I cant wait to meet. My special cousin Debbie who’s own journey lead me to solving my journey. It’s been a great ride. I’m very grateful and have many reasons to wake up smiling.

 My Father Harold Grant was born on November 7^Th 1924 in Digby, Nova Scotia. He served in the West Nova Scotia Regiment during the Second World War. He fought in the Italian campaign and the liberation of Holland. He also saw service in France, Belgium and Germany. My new siblings have been sending me pictures right from the start, and what I find to be the most amazing, and so surreal, is seeing pictures of my father in the 1950s with the same expressions on his face as I see on my own at times. It’s an amazing feeling and I’m meeting him every time I see any of my new found family members. I do wish I had got the chance to meet my father before he passed away. I feel like if we had met we both would have looked into each other’s eyes and smiled. I do believe things happen for a reason so I do not regret it, the time was now and not then. And I have to say I hit the jackpot with all my new family members. What better way to get to know my dad then through all of their warm embraces. I always felt that there was something bigger for me and that door is open now and will never be shut. It is a very humbling feeling and I have absolutely no regrets. I am looking forward to the future and learning more about my big, new family! I smile knowing that my father was a good man whom everyone loved. A man that loved to joke around. My journey has ended in finding him but my journey of connecting with my new family members has just begun. On many occasions I’ve been told that our father would have been proud of me. What better ending could there possibly be than hearing that.

Harold Grant

Harold Grant's hat.

Thank you, Tiffany, for sharing your story and your heart.

Your persistence paid off and you deserve all the blessings that have come your way!