Grandma's Granny's Family Album

 History  Date  What our Family is Doing at the Time  Jamestown Colony Founded  1607     The Mayflower      Plymouth Colony Founded  1620  Richard Warren signs Mayflower Compact  50 to 60 Families of French & Walloon Protestants  from The Netherlands Founded First Colonies in New York & New Jersey  1623  Catalyntje Trico, in first group of European women in New York, & husband Joris Jansen Rapalje sail on Unity  to found Fort Orange, now Albany, New York    1623  Elizabeth Walker Warren & 5 daughters arrive in Plymouth on ship  Anne from Hertfordshire ,  England  Dutch Moved Colony from Albany to Manhattan  1626    Massachusetts Bay Colony Founded  1628      1630  approximate time Francis West arrives in New England from Wiltshire, England  Saybrook Colony  1635-1644    Connecticut Colony Found...

Eva Katharina Kramer and Jakob Sulzbach, the same age, grew up together in Rockenberg, Hesse.  Katharina was a gregarious sort who liked to surround herself with people who liked to have fun as much as she did.  The Kramers were a wealthy family, as families go in the small area of Rockenberg and its sister town, Oppershofen, prominent citizens and active in politics. ( see Sulzbach Pedigree Chart) It was Jakob she had her eye on, and he didn't seem to know.  Jakob was a serious boy from a philosopher family.  He had incredible musical talent in a family talented in cultural pursuits - ideas, music, religion, education.  Jakob and his twin, Heinrich, immersed themselves in church culture.  They had been singing in the choir since they were small boys.  As teenagers, Jakob began arranging his own music for the large group to sing in parts, while Heinrich leaned into education.   It wasn't just music that the Sulzbachs were interested in. ...

It's 1845.  First we find a family, the Zollers, on a sailing ship named Probus,  which left Le Havre, France, for a 6-week voyage to America.  Barbara Magdalena, who is 56, appears to be the mother, and she has 3 teenagers, Theodor, 19, Leopold, 16, and Victoria, 12. Theodor is a farmer, and they are from the tiny town of Mechenhard, squeezed in the Bavarian mountains along a narrow strip of land by the Main River.  Where is the father, Simon?  Why would they leave?  Surely Barbara Magdalena has more than 3 children.  She didn't suddenly start having babies at 37.  She probably has 4 or 8 more, all older than 19.  Where are they?  Next on the passenger list is Gertrude Kress, the same age as Theodor.   Do they know each other from Mechenhard, or did he suddenly notice how pretty she was when she walked up the gangplank behind him?  Are they already sweethearts planning a new life in America, or is she just along to help t...

T he Robertson sisters, probably in Boston, in the 1920s.  We know it's the 1920s from those beautiful finger curls!  From left, we have Cass, Hattie, Blanche, Rilla, and Grace.  Hattie (Harriet Emma) is the oldest, then Rilla (Bridget Marilla), then Cass, (Catherine Elizabeth), then Grace Irene, and Blanche Ellen is the youngest.  They are the daughters of Joseph Ellis Robertson and Ann Elizabeth Acker Robertson.  See Robertson Pedigree Chart for where they fit in. Another one is of Cass and her daughter Margaret, and Rilla and her daughter Eva, around 1920 or 1921, at the Robertson family home in Churchover, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.  Margaret is the younger child on the left, Eva the older child on the right. Rilla is the woman on the left, and Cass is the woman on the right. My favorite picture is the Robertson grandchildren as babies.  This is taken in Boston in 1918.  From left, Grace holding her daughter Edie, Eva holding 2 of her brot...

The Ashfolk / Astfalk and Gottlieb Families of Brooklyn, Wurttemburg, and Hesse-Darmstadt

  Here  are some pictures of Joseph Ellis Robertson, fisherman, who was born in 1850 in Churchover, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, and died in 1932 in Churchover. This picture was taken in Valley Stream, New York in early 1929.  See Robertson Pedigree Chart for where he fits in.   The only picture I have of Joe and his wife Ann together is in front of their house in  Churchover in  Fall 1921 or Spring 1922.  From left is Joseph Edwin their son,  Joseph Ellis the father, Ann the mother holding the dog, someone I don't know, and  Havelock (youngest child of Joe and Ann).  In front are Joe the younger's children  Frank, Anne, and Joseph Junior.  Frank is in front of Joe the younger, Anne is in  front of Joe the elder, and Junior is in front of the unknown person.   After Ann died in January 1929, her widower Joe came to New York to  visit.  These pictures are taken in front of the Valley Stream, Long Island hou...

William Van Wart, 1817 - 1876  Husband of Annie Hughes Van Wart Father of Edwin, Isabelle, Joseph, Mary Grandfather of Maud Van Wart Sorenson Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn  See Sorenson Pedigree Chart  

                                                Here's one of my favorites, my whole family all together. The portrait was taken about 1908 in College Point, Queens County, New York.  Mrs. Sulzbach moved to College Point with her family, the Zoellers, in 1868.  Mr. Sulzbach came to straight to College Point from Germany to join his father.  Father and son lived at the Zoeller boarding house.  Ahh, the boarding house romance!     Look at their faces.  Which one do you think is the doting parent, and which the strict task-master?  Which the rebel who left, never to return, and which was Mama's baby?  Which ones followed their parents' wishes, and which did the opposite?   The little boy on the left is Albert Jacob or Al, called Albie by his mother.  He is my father.  He stayed in the general area of College...

On April 25, 1861, an eager and enthusiastic Edwin Forrest Van Wart, only 20, either very patriotic or very bored with his cap cutting job, answered President Lincoln’s call to arms to suppress the rebellion.   New York was required to send 17 regiments of men who appeared to be over 18 and under 45 and in physical strength and vigor.    To circumvent this problem, Edwin claimed to be 21, and his father, William Van Wart, claimed to be 40 instead of 44 when he signed up to join his son on muster day, May 9, at Fort Schuyler, for 2 years.   As a police officer, William must have thought he was in perfect shape to be a soldier.     Battle Flag of the 5 th  NY Zouaves, Companies A - H   Colonel Abram Duryee had been asked to raise the regiment.   He must have given stirring rousing speeches because he raised the regiment in less than a week.   Edwin and William’s company, H, was recr...

The Wendel, Federlechner, Tetsch, Hegeman, Murray, and Connell Families of Brooklyn; Winnweiler, Bavaria; Karlsruhe, Baden; Berlin, Prussia; Flatbush, New York City; and Prince Edward Island, Canada.  For next ancestors, see Wendel, Ancestors of Henry Pedigree Chart

The Scovel Scovil Scoville, Champion, Brockway, Willey, and Harvey Families of Horton Township Nova Scotia; East Haddam, Lyme, and New London, Connecticut Colony; Taunton, Massachusetts Colony; and Norfolk, England.  See Scholfield and West Pedigree Charts for descendants.

The Wendel and Federlechner Families of Brooklyn; Winnweiler Bavaria; and Deutschneureut, Karlsruh, Baden.  See Wendel Pedigree Chart for descendants

The West, Look, Crossman, Scholfield Schofield Scovel Scoville, Coaldwell, Jordon, and Ward Families of Cornwallis, Falmouth, and Horton Townships, Kings County, Nova Scotia; Martha's Vineyard, Dartmouth, and Stoughton, Massachusetts Colony; East Haddam, Connecticut Colony; Norfolk England; and Yorkshire.  Find next ancestors at Scovil and Presbury Pedigree Charts.  Look for descendants at Spence Pedigree Chart. 

The West, Presbury, Skiff, Snow, and Warren Families of Martha's Vineyard and Plymouth Colony; and England; including Richard Warren, Mayflower passenger and signer of the Mayflower Compact.  Look for descendants at West Pedigree Chart. 

The Rushton, Coon, Brown, Harrison, and Lovell Families of River Philip, Westchester, and Maccan, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia; Westchester County, New York Colony; the Palatinate; and Rillington, Yorkshire.  Look for descendants at Spence Pedigree Chart.

The Sulzbach, Kramer, Zoeller, and Kress Families of College Point Queens County New York, Rockenberg Hesse, Manhattan, and Mechenhard Bavaria

The Sorenson, Schombs, Van Wart, Hughes, and Shaffner Families of Brooklyn, Denmark, Baden, Rockland County New York, England, Baltimore, and Washington DC

The Robertson, Acker, Madden, Oxendine, Mortimer, McSparling, and Rowland Families of Long Island; Boston; Shelburne County, Nova Scotia; Westchester County, New York Colony; and the Carolina Colonies

Read to the bottom for How to Use this Blog . I have been exploring genealogy since I was little, listening to all the stories told by Aunts Connie and Helena, Cousins Ann and Howie and Maurietta, Uncles Leonard and Arthur. There were m ore dead people in the stories than live ones, and they were lots more fun. This was way before it was anyone's hobby, when I was the only one who was interested. Sneaking into the Archives underage and running around graveyards. I was lost to the present, either reading books about Pilgrims or building stories in my head. Always asking, asking, asking. "How is he related to us? Who is their mother? What was her name, and her name, and her name? " While Aunt Anna said, "I don't want to find out anyone was arrested for stealing sheep."