The Clues That Have Been Left

The commercials for Ancestry (dot) com make Genealogy look so easy.  "Just type in a name and watch the past be revealed before your eyes."  Boy is that a 'crock' if I ever heard one.

Genealogy is a lot of work. It takes A LOT of time. For most of us, it becomes an obsession.  It is as much about the history of the times and places our families lived in - as much as it is about the people themselves. When we look back at history - we become detectives in order to piece together the lives of those who came before us.

And in order to do that we need clues. We need stories. We need facts and photos.  If you are reading this - and you have parents and grandparents who are still living - go and talk to them. Record your conversations. Record their memories. Write everything down. Look through old photos and label them (with their help). Uncover as much of 'their' past as you can - before you lose the opportunity.

The 'Genealogy Bug' bit me early - but not early enough.  I guess it hit - when my father died in 1995. I was 32.  We tried to talk to my mom - but we didn't go much further.  In 2001 I lost my mom.  At that point, only my dad's youngest brother was still alive (d. 2003) - and my mom's brother and 3 sisters - who thank the Lord, are still with us as I write this - but are spread out all over the US.

As we went through our parents home, in order to get it ready to sell  - we found things. We found scraps of paper. We found books. We found my Grandpa Hastings Bible. In it was the start of a family tree.  Now I had something to plug into Ancestry.  You see - if you don't have events and people to connect to your events - you don't know how it all comes together.

I am at a standstill with several relatives - as I have found several people with the exact same name living in the same area at the same time. How do you figure out which person belongs to you? You dig - and you rely on the clues that you have. 

This was a BIG ONE. The inside of one of my maternal Grandpa  -Dewey G. Hastings  bible.

My sister Laura has been a big help in all of this - as well as my aunts and uncle - and my cousins and other siblings. They have memories we didn't have.  Right off the bat - someone who knew nothing about the family would see that DEWEY G. Hastings - has an arrow pointing to his name saying adopted.  One might think that meant that Dewey was adopted - but he wasn't. The story is - that he 'took on' or 'adopted' the G as a middle name - because he wasn't given one - when he was born.

The bible pages above - served as my first stepping stone to my mom's family. Dewey had written his parents names, his siblings and what he knew of his wife Frances' family too. There are names written in a disorganized manner - that I couldn't figure out - but with the help of census documents - things began to fall into place. 

Dewey and Frances (nee Baker) Hastings (Buffalo, NY) about 1920's

my moms parents

Unfortunately - even after 10+ years of research - I am still stalled on some of my Grandfather's ancestors.  I have learned quite a bit about William J Hastings (Dewey's father) and came across his sisters MaryJane, Emma and Sarah Ann in the census documents along with their parents Robert Hastings (b. Ireland) and Anna (nee Noonan) Hastings (b. in Ireland).  I even got as far as Anna's parents Patrick and Mary Noonan (Ireland) and their children - but - can't get any further back from that. 

Anna (nee Noonan) Hastings Buffalo News 1905

(Mother of William Hastings)

William J Hastings mother is another brick wall.  I have her parents names, Michael Zinn and Wihelmina Wolkenberg.  Their names appeared on William and Amelia's marriage documents - but other than that - there is no trace of Michael Zinn in Buffalo NY. 

Amelia (nee Zinn) Hastings and William Hastings and their 7 children

 (Buffalo, NY) about 1900

(Dewey Hastings Family - He is on moms lap)

Frances' father Reginald Baker is another brick. His parents names are listed here and on marriage documents in Canada. Other than that - nothing.  Frances' mother is another story.

Reginald and Minnie (nee Williams) Baker (Buffalo, NY) about 1920

(Parents of Francis Baker Hastings)

I had always heard she grew up in a town in Ontario named after the Williams Family. I found it - Glen Williams Ontario.  I have been to the Cemetery and found my sons' 5th great grandfather Benajah Williams grave and marker.

 Joel and Francis Anne (nee Harris) Williams

Ontario Canada 

(Minnie Williams parents) 

I am so blessed to have found distant cousins and relations on line - thru Ancestry and even Facebook. The internet  has brought technology to our finger tips - data bases in the living room. 

I am enjoying the detective work - and am working towards my next break through. I also would like to use this blog as a place to start keeping track of information I have and share it with all those who are interested. 

These are not just my ancestors - but my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cousins as well.

How I Started . . .

Back in the Spring of 2002, my oldest son was assigned an Ethnic Festival Project. Each student had to research one of the lands that their ancestors had come from.

Now I had always been interested in my family history. I always asked questions of my parents and grandparents - but never thought to write anything down. As kids we never think about losing the ones we love. We never think that they won't be there to ask questions of. But it happens - and all of a sudden there is no one left to ask.

This Blog is about my mother's family. I am going to start with my mom's generation and her siblings - but out of respect for my siblings and cousins - who are all living - I do not plan to get into those relationships.

I lost my mom's parents in 1978 (her dad) and 1993 (her mom). I lost my mother in 2001. But there was a trail that was left - one that I could follow. My mom loved family photos - and so do I. She became the caretaker of her mothers photos - and then I became the caretaker of those as well as my moms.

In searching through my parents lives - in the things that were left behind (my dad died in 1995) my siblings and I found clues to help us in our search. With the internet and some ancestry websites I began the search.

It has been long and slow - and is a continuous project of patience and love. Initially writing things down for my son to use for his project - I stopped after getting most of what I could get from free websites. A couple years later my next son had the same project (different teacher) and so the search started again - only this time I started with some paid subscriptions and found more.

This blog is to share the information that I have found on the ancestors of my mom pictured here 

Lois Marilyn Hastings 

1928-2001

Perhaps  somewhere down the road this info will be helpful for future generations wanting to dig back in their roots.