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!

Tiffany Koerner and the Search For Her Father

Recently, I had the honour to be a part of something truly remarkable. On Wednesday, March 7^th I was contacted by a woman named Tiffany Koerner through 23andMe, the company I chose to do my DNA test two years ago. She explained that I was her top match, and that we are predicted 2^nd cousins. She shared with me a little about herself and why she did a DNA test. She wanted to know who her father was. She had previously done DNA testing with disappointing results, however, she was fairly sure this time. She said she thinks his surname is Grant. BINGO! A starting point! My maternal grandfather’s surname is Grant!

I immediately logged into my 23andMe account and compared our shared relatives and there she was: Christina Mason! A relative I had confirmed as a 3^rd cousin a couple of years ago! Christina and I share 2^nd great grandparents, Elias Vidito and Mary Jane Sabean. This is exciting because their daughter, Leafy May Vidito is my great grandmother, and she married George Angus Grant. So, there is a Grant connection between her and I…and she is related to Tiffany too!

I immediately opened my family tree on ancestry.ca to gather information for Tiffany.  I gave her the information about our shared relative and how she and I are related, as well as information about Leafy May Vidito and George Angus Grant along with a list of their male children, as it would seem likely that Tiffany descends from one of them.

She responded immediately saying she was just about to meet with another DNA relative she was matched to through 23andMe. They met at a Tim Horton’s (so Canadian!) and she messaged me after the meeting and let me know he was a descendant of my great grandmother, Leafy May Vidito’s sister, Eva May! He is my 3^rd cousin! This was fantastic... another match to the Grant line! 

At this point Tiffany was certain of who her father was: Harold Grant, a brother of my grandfather, Angus Grant. This would make Tiffany my first cousin once removed.

Now when I say Tiffany is tenacious, I truly mean it. She wasted no time once she received her DNA results to figure out who her father was. That same day that she contacted me and met up with our mutual DNA relative at Timmie’s, she was also communicating with one of Harold’s daughters, Ruth! As it turns out one of Ruth’s sisters, Kelly, had done a DNA test! After a brief challenge trying to figure out how to compare DNA from different companies and one in a format not compatible with GEDmatch, Tiffany had done it! Within 3 days she not only had a confirmed match to a half-sister, but she also knew Harold Grant was her father! Unfortunately, Harold died July 15, 2016, but her newly found siblings wasted no time in sharing photos of their father with Tiffany. Here is a very handsome one of him in his younger days.

Harold Grant

On Saturday, March 10^th Tiffany met four of her siblings for the very first time! It was so exciting to see Tiffany get that final puzzle piece in place! It was even more exciting and heartwarming to see how open and welcoming her newly found siblings were! They celebrated meeting their new baby sister with a cake that read “Welcome Tiffany”, a balloon proclaiming “It’s a girl!” and other precious gifts to show her she was welcomed and loved.

Tiffany (centre) with 4 of her newly found siblings:

Paul, Ruth, Katherine and Kelly.

I am so incredibly happy for all of the Grant siblings and hope they enjoy getting to know each other over the years to come! And selfishly, I too, am incredibly blessed by now knowing all of these new cousins of mine!

As always, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks! You never know who you are going to find!

Anna May Adams (1893-1930) and Thomas Pollard (1895-1929)

I generally stick to my direct line ancestors, however, this past Christmas I was contacted by a volunteer, Arden Phair, with the (spoiler alert!) Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial asking if I had information regarding Thomas Pollard, the husband of my 2^nd Great Aunt Anna May Adams, which has now led to me writing this post! I, unfortunately, did not have any new information for Arden. I had the basic records for Anna, including her marriage to Thomas, but Arden graciously shared wonderful documents with me creating a richer understanding of their lives.

Anna May is the sister of my 2^nd great grandfather, Sidney Adams, and daughter of Adam and Matilda Adams. She was born December 11, 1893 in Peter’s Arm, Newfoundland and was baptized privately sometime afterward.

She married Thomas Pollard on October 30, 1912 in Botwood, District of Twillingate, Newfoundland. She was 19 and went by the name Annie, Thomas was 22, and they were both residents of Peter’s Arm at the time of their marriage. Their witnesses were Arch Adams and Hettie Snow, and they were married by Ensg. Simmons. I had the transcribed record of marriage from FamilySearch.org, but Arden actually had a copy of their Marriage Certificate! And if you know me, I always prefer primary sources! It was such a treat that he shared it with me!

According to the census record for Welland, Ontario in 1921, Thomas and Annie had immigrated to Canada from Newfoundland in 1916, and at the time the census was taken in 1921 they were living at 191 Burgar (Street) with their two children, Edward, age 8, and Matilda, age 4. This record tells us that their son, Edward was born in Newfoundland, and their daughter was born in Ontario. It also tells us that Thomas’ race is Irish, while Annie’s is English, that they were members of the Salvation Army and that Thomas’ occupation was “Labour”. As well (and a little confusing), Annie’s name on the census is listed as Mary. So, we have a couple of discrepancies here: her name AND her age. The census was taken June 1, 1921. Annie should be 27 years old. Since the age is only off by one year, this isn’t a huge concern. The name, however, is a puzzling. Even if she had started to go by her middle name, according to her baptism record, that would be May not Mary. Could it be an error on the part of the enumerator? I don’t know. You will see, from further documents that I will discuss, this must be the Annie, but for now, I’m going to switch gears, and talk about Annie’s husband, Thomas Pollard.

I was unable to find a birth or baptism record for Thomas. However, on the registration of his death, it states he was born in Newfoundland in 1895 to his parents, Abraham Pollard and Lillian Gillard, both of whom were also born in Newfoundland.

We already know he married Annie in 1912 and immigrated to Canada in 1916. Tipping my cap to Arden again, he gave me a copy of a certificate which provided me with some great information about Thomas, and by association, Annie. Apparently, prior to settling in Ontario, Thomas had served as a Fireman in Reserve Mines, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia! The “Stationary Engineers Certificate of Fireman Province of Nova Scotia” was signed in Halifax, dated November 20, 1917. It states:

“having been examined under the provisions of Chapter 8 of the Acts of Nova Scotia 1908 and Acts in amendment thereof, is hereby granted a Certificate of Service as Fireman.”

Now, this is really interesting because it places Thomas and Annie in Nova Scotia after immigrating to Canada, whereas I had previously assumed they went straight to Ontario. Also, Annie’s brother, my 2^nd Great Grandfather, Sidney Adams was also in Reserve Mines in 1916! He was working there as a Miner and enlisted in the Military while working there. After he returned from war, he too, settled in Ontario! On top of that, we know that Annie and Sidney’s mother, Matilda, along with her second husband, Elkanah Sheppard, and their children from previous marriages, also moved to Ontario! The information from their Passenger List reveals they traveled from Port Aux Basques, Newfoundland to North Sydney, Nova Scotia before continuing on to Ontario. The record states they were bound for Toronto, however, future records reveal they settled in Welland as well!

When all is said and done, we know the following family members all relocated to Ontario from Newfoundland:

·        Matilda Jenkins (my 3^rd Great Grandmother), arrived in ON in 1918

·        Elkanah Sheppard (2^nd husband of Matilda Jenkins), arrived in ON in 1918

·        Anna May Adams (my 2^nd Great Aunt), arrived in ON bef. 1921

·        Thomas Pollard (husband of Anna May Adams), arrived in ON bef. 1921

·        Sidney Adams (my 2^nd Great Grandfather), arrived in ON by 1919

·        George Adams (my 2^nd Great Uncle – on Passenger List with his mom and step-father), arrived in ON in 1918

·        Martha Sheppard (daughter of Elkanah Sheppard), arrived in ON in 1918

I wanted to share that information to provide a deeper understanding of their family dynamics. I find the patterns of immigration, relocating, etc., very telling in how families end up in one place or another.

Now back to Annie and Thomas… Going back to the record of death for Thomas, where we discovered his year and place of birth as well as his parents’ names, we also discover the sad and tragic way in which he died. Thomas was working as a Bridgeman with the Canada Bridge Company. He died on September 7, 1929 in the County of Lincoln, Division of Grantham. It also states his length of residence there had been 1 month. His cause of death was a “fall from bridge”. The contributory factor in his death was a “Fracture of Skull”.  It also states the fall resulted in “immediate death”. Once again, Arden provided me with an incredible document, which I have included below, regarding Thomas’ death.

Source: Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

It is invaluable to have such specific details about this tragic event. I also feel this way about a newspaper clipping about Annie’s death, just over a year later, and a photo of Thomas and Annie’s gravestone, also given to me by Arden.

As if Thomas’ death wasn’t tragic enough, his wife, Annie, died just over one year later. On November 7, 1930 she died from Myocardial Failure. Annie and her children had been living with her mom and step-dad after Thomas’ death, and while still reeling from the death of their father, they also lose their mother. The newspaper article also states that she had been living in Ontario for 11 years, which now gives us a time for when Annie and Thomas moved from Nova Scotia to Ontario: 1919. The article also gives information confirming that they were still members of the Salvation Army.

Source: Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

Edward would have been 17 when his mom died. Matilda would have been 13. I wonder how these two young adults coped with such deep, consecutive losses, and I wonder where they ended up and how their lives turned out.

Interestingly, and still puzzling, Annie’s name in the article about her death is Mrs. Mary H. Pollard. On the Certificate of Registration of Death her name is listed as Hannah Mary Pollard. However, on her death registration her parents’ names and where they were born are given: Adam Adams, b. Newfoundland, and Matilda Jenkins, b “Mr. E. Sheppard, Address: 77 Garner Ave, Welland, Relation to Deceased: Father.” And going back to the newspaper article, it also states that she and her parents resided at 77 Garner Avenue, Welland.

One last piece of evidence for Thomas and Annie is their gravestone, which states:

“P

THOMAS W.

POLLARD

DIED SEPT. 7, 1929

IN HIS 35^TH YEAR

HIS WIFE

ANNA ADAMS

1892-1930”

So, even with the discrepancies, this is obviously the same person. This is a great example of using corroborating evidence to sort out confusing and conflicting information. Sometimes you need to look at many different sources to confirm a person’s identity. Thankfully, in this situation, and with much help from Arden Phair, I was able to sort it out quite easily. That is certainly not always the case!

Unil next time, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!

SOURCES:

·        1921 Census of Canada, Welland, ON; Libraries and Archives Canada

·        Canada, WWI CEF Attestation Papers, 1914-1918, Library and Archives Canada

·        Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, ancestry.com

·        Certificate of Fireman from Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

·        Document from Welland Ship Canal from Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

·        Marriage Certificate, provided by Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

·        Newfoundland, Canada, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1850-1949, FamilySearch

·        Newspaper Clipping form Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

·        Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1946, ancestry.com

·        Ontario, Canada, Marriages 1826-1936, ancestry.com

·        Photo of gravestone for Thomas Pollard and Anna Adams from Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

·        Register of Baptisms, Exploits-Dominion Point, 1879-1899, Newfoundland’s Grand Banks

Abraham (Adam) Adams (1854-1913)

***UPDATED***
Original post published on January 27, 2018, updated with corrections on May 29, 2018

My closest Adams ancestor is my biological maternal grandmother. I prefer not to share information about living relatives, and since I have already written previously about her father, Sidney Adams on this blog (please go to post dated November 11, 2016 for more information about him). I will jump ahead to his father, Abraham Adam Adams.

UPATED: I originally thought Abraham was born March 4, 1854 in St. John’s, Newfoundland, that his parents names were Abraham Adams (Laborer) and Drusilla Brace, and that he was baptized April 20, 1854 at the Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in St. John’s, Newfoundland. I no longer believe this to be true, as I found an Abraham Adams and his family actually residing in St. John's (unlike my ancestor), and other documentation for that family also refers to Abraham Adams and Drusilla Brace. See post for May 2018 for more on this. 

He married Sidney’s mother, Matilda Jenkins on July 20, 1888 at Horse Islands, Newfoundland. According to their record of marriage he was a fisherman and they had four children: Thomas, Anna May, Sidney and George.

I found various names on the records, however, when comparing all of the pertinent information on each record it is clear they are the same person:

·        Name on marriage record: Adam Adams

·        Name on son, Thomas’ birth record: Adam Adams

·        Name on daughter, Anna May’s birth record: Adam Adams

·        Name on son, Sidney’s marriage record: Abraham Adams & Abram Adams

·        Name on daughter, Hannah Mary's (Anna May) death record: Adam Adams

In the Twillingate District records there was an Adam Adams, a fisherman, living in French Beach in 1894. In the McAlpine Directory for 1904 for the District of Twillingate there was an Adam Adams, a fisherman, living in Peter’s Arm.

We know in August 1891 his son, Thomas, was born in French Beach, and in 1893, his daughter, Anna May (Hannah Mary on her death record) was born in Peter’s Arm. Also, both Thomas and Anna May’s birth records confirm their father, Adam, was a fisherman. So, it seems likely that the Adam Adams in the directories is the correct one. The only question is why he would be going back and forth between French Beach and Peter’s Arm between 1891 and 1904. I asked this question on the Newfoundland’s Grand Banks Facebook page and from the replies I received it was common for men to travel for work.

My great grandfather, Sidney Adams, was born March 19, 1898 in Botwood, Green Bay, Newfoundland, according to his Attestation Paper dated December 28, 1916. At that time he was living at Reserve Mines, Sydney, Nova Scotia working as a Miner. His father isn’t listed on the Attestation Paper, and his mother had obviously remarried by this point, as her name is listed as Matilda Shepherd.

This made me wonder if Abraham/Adam Adams had died. I found a death record for an Adam Adams that died July 25, 1913 from pneumonia. It states he was 57 years old, died in Twillingate and was buried in Botwood. There was no information about his family, nor an informant. The attending physician was Dr. Smith and the attending clergyman was Ensg. Simmons. Another valuable piece of information was that his religious denomination was “S.A.” I assume that means Salvation Army. This lines up with information about his wife, Matilda. When she married her second husband, Elkanah Sheppard on January 10, 1914, it took place in Botwood, Newfoundland, their religious denomination is listed as “S.A.” and their Clergyman was also Ensign Simmons. With all the similarities I believe the death record is likely a correct match to our Adam Adams.

So, this month’s post is short and sweet. Mainly because I will be away for the next week and wanted to meet my deadline.

Until next time, happy hunting, fellow gene geeks!

SOURCES:

·        Canada, WWI CEF Attestation Papers, 1914-1918, ancestry.ca

·        Civil Marriage Register, Notre Dame Bay, Pt 3, 1912-1916, nl.canadaweb.org

·        Civil Register of Multidenominational Births for Persons of Notre Dame (1891-), Part-1A, ngb.chebucto.org

·        Marriage Certificate, provided by Arden Phair, Volunteer, Welland Canal Fallen Workers Memorial

·        Newfoundland, Canada, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1757-1901, ancestry.ca

·        Newfoundland, Canada, Births, Marriages, and Deaths, 1850-1949, ancestry.ca

·        Newfoundland’s Grand Banks Facebook Group

·        Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1946, ancestry.ca

·        Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1936, ancestry.ca

·        Register of Baptisms, Exploits—Dominion Point, 1879-1899, ngb.chebucto.org