Some Important Milestones in My Genealogical Research Projects

Countless discoveries have been made while researching my father’s family and mother’s family back through time. However, among the many discoveries and occurrences of varying import, the following ones helped make the greatest strides forward in expanding knowledge of family history and in aiding further research. /Charles W. Paige

Timeframe	Discovery Particulars	Page or Barnes
Pre-Genealogy-Project Years
1950s-60s	I was exposed to the first written genealogy I had ever seen—this one for the Bliss family. It had been handed down to my mother by her Aunt Etta (Bliss) Kendrick after being used to qualify Aunt Etta for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R).	Barnes
Early 1970s	I realized how little Barnes and Page family history I knew, especially in contrast with the Bliss genealogy. (While away from home serving in the US Navy.)	Barnes and Page
1970s
Early 1974	Injured in a traffic accident that left me somewhat mobile but off work at Penn Central Railroad in Jackson, MI for over a year, allowing for a large amount of research time when I began genealogical projects in earnest.	Barnes and Page
Mid-1974	I was chosen to be president of the next year’s Barnes reunion and to assist my mother and her siblings to collect family vital statistics to be included with reunion’s minutes.	Barnes
1974	Cousin Horace Levengood and his collection of Barnes family vital statistics since the early 1970s, and his mother Myrtie Adell (Rhoodes) Levengood’s collection of family-related newspaper clippings since as early as 1890, all of which would be invaluable to the project. From Horace I first learned of great-great-grandparents Thomas and Sarah Barnes, who came to Michigan from New York.	Barnes
1974	Probate repository for old Thomas Barnes, which established and/or verified Thomas and Sarah’s seven children. (Jackson County Probate)	Barnes
1974	Several aged, yellowing, pencil-written pieces of paper holding the memoirs of my grandfather William Hood Barnes comprised of information about ancestors on his father’s side—Barnes, Eggleston, Sittser—and mother’s side—Hood, McNellly, Duncan, Wilson—truly one of the most important discoveries for my mother’s side of the family. (Possessed by Aunt Helen Leggett.)	Barnes
1975	Cousin Lillian Striker’s information on the Sevira Ellen (Barnes) and Philo Andrew Bonham family from the Bonham family bible.	Barnes
1975	Cousin H. (Horace) Howard Field of Tonawanda, New York, who shared information from genealogical research he had been doing on the Melissa (Barnes) and William Field family.	Barnes
1976	California cousin with Michigan roots Dorothy Avalon “Tillie” Maher provided her composition "Bells are Ringing for 'Hattie' and her Brood" plus some other family history tidbits telling of the Johnson family—a Barnes cross-branch—and its migration to California from Michigan.	Barnes
Mid-1970s	Riley Page’s son George Hudson Page was born in Webster, Monroe Co., NY—George’s mother’s name unknown (George’s death certificate at Charlotte, Eaton Co., MI). This led to all the discoveries regarding the Page family in New York. It also led to an automobile trip, with my father, to Webster in 1977, where we found additional information. The Webster connection was truly one of the most important discoveries for my father’s side of the family.	Page
Mid-1970s	R. P. or Riley P. Page’s parents were William H. and Chloe (Thayer) Page, including listing of Riley P. and his brother William H., Jr., full dates and/or years of birth, plus marriage and death  information for Chloe and William, Sr. and Chloe and first husband James Robinson  (Mormon Church genealogical records)	Page
Mid-1970s	Chloe Thayer’s genealogy, including listing of William H. and Chloe Page, with Riley P. and his brother William H., Jr., in book by Bezaleel Thayer (Mormon Church genealogical records)	Page
Mid-1970s	Edward P. Castner born in Yates Co., NY (From marriage record for Edward Castner and Franky Sutliff at Sheppardsville, Clinton Co., MI). This led to the discovery of the Castner family in New York and its link to New Jersey; also the names of Edward’s parents William and Sarah Castner and some of his siblings.	Page
1977	William and Sarah Castner’s vital statistics found in their death certificates ordered from Clinton Co., MI. Learned that Sarah’s maiden name had been “Weltes,” which later turned out to be “Welter.”	Page
1977	Riley Page married Emma (Conant) Wright at Webster, Monroe Co., NY in 1905. Riley’s middle name listed as “Preston.” (From marriage record for Riley’s third marriage)	Page
1977	Learned much information about the life and marriages of ancestor Isabella Duncan, the names of her children, and of the life and death of her first husband ancestor John McAnally/McNelly. He died a soldier during the War of 1812. (From Old War Widow pension file for Isabella Duncan McAnally Ellis, National Archives Military and Pension Records)	Barnes
1980s
Early 1980s	Death certificate for Helen M. (Hubbard) Bliss listed her parents as Adam Hubbard and Mary McClean, and that Helen was born at Moravia, Cayuga Co., NY. This led to discovery of the Adam F. and Mary M. Hubbard family in Moravia and later to additional information about them and their descendants in New York and Michigan, and about Adam and wife Ann M. in New York and Michigan. (1850 Federal census for Adam F. and Mary M. Hubbard at Moravia, Cayuga Co., NY; 1860 Federal census for Adam F. and Ann M. Hubard at Aurelius, Cayuga Co., NY; and 1870 Federal census for Adam and Ann Hubbart at Albion, Calhoun Co., MI.)	Barnes
Early 1980s	Learned the name of the sister of Alexander Wilson the Ornithologist and her husband, Mary (Wilson) and William Duncan. (Robert Cantwell’s book “Alexander Wilson Naturalist and Pioneer.” Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1961) This led to many more discoveries about the family of Mary and William Duncan, their descendants, and Mary’s immigration to America with her children.	Barnes
1980s	Nearly complete list of Edward Potter Castner’s siblings received from cousin Gayle (Page) Miller, adoptive daughter of Marshal and Esther Page, which she had received from Maude Annabelle (Castner) Page Moore. The list also gave Edward’s middle name as “Potter.” The only name missing was that of the firstborn Elizabeth, whose name escaped Maude’s memory at the time she made the list, although a numbered space was left for the name. I later discovered the name in an obituary for the siblings’ mother Sarah Castner, which further led to information about Elizabeth’s marriages, families, and children.	Page
1980s	Learned the names of Great-Grandmother Sarah M. (Keyes) Page Cline’s parents. (From Sarah’s death certificate at Lansing, MI) Led to extensive discoveries over many years regarding Keys/Keyes and Shook families, including Civil War participation by her father Rev. Orlando Keyes.	Page
1980s	Learned much information about the life and marriage of ancestor Lucinda Shook Keyes, the names of her children, and of the life and death of her husband ancestor Orlando Keys/Keyes, who died as a result of serving in the Civil War. (From pension file for Lucinda Keyes, National Archives Military and Pension Records)	Page
1980s	Learned the names of Lucinda Keyes’ parents Johnathan “Jonas” and Annah “Fanny” Shook, except for the mother’s maiden name LaRoche, which was not learned until found in 2005 as part of Lucinda’s 1918 obituary. (Lucinda Keyes’ death certificate) This led to further discoveries about the Shook family and its history in PA, NY, and MI.	Page
1990s
1990	Advent of the World Wide Web AKA Internet and email greatly enhances access to genealogical and other information—more so as time progresses—while also providing quick and inexpensive access to fellow researchers.	Barnes and Page
1990s	Scanned and OCR’d all of my prior genealogical writings using personal computers and other hard- and software. Updating was done after all OCR’d writings were organized and cleaned-up and continues to be done.	Barnes and Page
1997	Obtained access to database of some Keyes family cousins—descendants of Benjamin Keyes of East Bloomfield, Ontario Co., NY. (GEDCOM file from Charles Babcock)	Page
1998	Obtained access to database of some Shook family cousins. (GEDCOM file)	Page
1998	Obtained access to database of Martha Barnes Eggleston’s parents, siblings, ancestry, and other kin. (GEDCOM file)	Barnes
1999	Obtained access to database of Orlando Keys/Keyes’ parents, siblings, ancestry, and other kin.  (GEDCOM file)	Page
1999	Obtained a database of Aaron Barnes’ parents, siblings, ancestry, and other kin. (GEDCOM file of information collected by Donald Barnes of Tampa Bay, FL)	Barnes
2000s
2000	Verified that Sarah, wife of ancestor Thomas Barnes, had “Sittser” as her maiden name. (From last will and testament of David Sittser of Sennett, Cayuga Co., NY, posted as a text file on the Cayuga Co., NY, genealogical web site.) Led to massive amounts of information about Sarah, her parents, grandparents, siblings, and other relatives.	Barnes
2000	Obtained a database of Sarah Barnes’ Sittser parents, siblings, and other kin. (GEDCOM file of information collected from research done by the late Douglas Norton Sittser of Muskegon, MI, and other Sittser cousins)	Barnes
2001	Learned that Riley Page and his parents were already living in Branch Co., MI. (1860 Federal census of Bronson and Matteson, Branch Co., MI.) Originally believed that Riley’s parents never migrated to Michigan, and that Riley did not arrive in Michigan until after the birth of son George in 1864.	Page
2001	Learned that Riley Page’s first wife, whose name was known to begin with an “E,” was Elizabeth (1860 Federal census of Matteson, Branch Co., MI.), and that they had a daughter Carrie who was born before George—formerly thought to be the firstborn child. (1870 Federal census under the name Reyley Page at Batavia, Branch Co., MI.) All of this ultimately led to further information about Elizabeth, Carrie, and Carrie’s families.	Page
2001	Learned of the descendants of Isabella Duncan McNelly’s youngest brother James Duncan through one of James and wife Jane (Waddell) Duncan’s descendants then living near Detroit, MI. Information provided included vital statistics and pictures for some of the generations as well as information surrounding the death of James Duncan Hood during Civil War.	Barnes
2002	Thomas Barnes’ sibling Jeffrey Samuel Barnes settled and died in Bronson Co., MI, by 1870. (Michigan’s GENDIS Database). Led to discovery of Jeffrey’s family in Bronson Co. and Berrien Co., MI, and later some New York locations.	Barnes
2002	1810 Federal census of Sharon, Litchfield Co., CT and 1820 Federal census of Aurelius/Mentz, Cayuga Co., NY, proved that ancestor Thomas Barnes had six siblings, and that the family did not immigrate to Cayuga Co., NY, until after 1810.	Barnes
2002	Ancestor A(a)ron Barnes was found at the Pine Hill Cemetery at Throopsville, Cayuga Co., NY, next to a daughter "Sephronia (Barnes) Craw. This provided date of death for Aaron as 1-3-1824. His wife Martha has yet to be found.	Barnes
2005	Aaron Barns’ name found on list of testators for Cayuga Co., NY. Testator information subsequently received concerning the last will and testament and estate of Aaron Barns, who died at Mentz, Cayuga Co., NY. (Surrogate Box # 4 and Will Book B 1 page 193 for Aaron Barnes) This led to the complete list of Thomas Barnes’ siblings, about whom further discoveries were made.	Barnes
2005	Riley Page’s brother William Henry Page found in Branch Co., MI, under names Henry Page and William H. Page. (“Branch County directory…” comp. by Stevens & Conover, 1870-71.) Led to extensive information about William Henry Page, Jr., his wife, and their children in Michigan and New York.	Page
2005	Learned the name of Riley Page’s first wife Elizabeth Hollenbeck from a list of marriages for St. Joseph Co., MI. Subsequently sent for the marriage certificate, which had the date of marriage and other information.	Page
Late 2005	Took early retirement from Northrop Grumman Corporation which allowed for a large amount of research time.	Barnes and Page
2006	Purchased membership for six months at Ancestry.com, a genealogy-based online website, through which I was able to mine huge amounts of census information on a wide assortment of individuals and families. Other information was found also in other aspects of the website.	Barnes and Page
2006	Learned of the marriages of Carrie B. Page, firstborn daughter of Riley Page and his first wife Elizabeth Hollenbeck in response to queries I posted to the Kalamazoo Co., MI online message board. Led to further information about Carrie’s marriages, life and descendants.	Page
2007	Through cheek scrapings processed by FamilyDNA, learned of the strong possibility that my male line of ancestors may have been Flemish settlers to England and/or Scotland. This may have been as early as around the time of the Norman Invasion of 1066. (DNA near matches to Scottish people of probable Flemish descent.) I’ve joined two FamilyDNA projects so far:  Page and I1a. I’ve also joined the National Geographic Genographic Project and Ybase.org.	Page
2007	Learned and confirmed extensive amounts of information about Ebenezer Page—long believed to be a half-brother of Riley Preston Page—including members of Ebenezer’s family and parentage. Through Ebenezer’s death certificate, William and Martha were confirmed as his parents, and Martha’s maiden name was discovered to be “Hudson.” Ebenezer’s obituary listed his surviving children, leading to further discoveries about other of his descendants.	Page
2007	Receipt of an email from Sandra (Sturdevant) Cline led to adding two more children to the family of William and Mary (Wilson) Duncan—Jean and Anna. S. Cline is a descendant of Anna, who was William and Mary’s last child, born in 1797. Anna married James Sturdevant, and they had several children. S. Cline and another cousin with whom she was in contact, G. Evans, provided significant information that required extensive changes made to The True Story of a Family in History. Jean was born in 1795 but nothing further as yet has been discovered about her.	Barnes
2007	On July 2 the name of the history was changed to Great-Great-Grandfather Duncan Married…a Sister of Alexander Wilson the Ornithologist of Philadelphia. A concerted effort was soon begun to publish the work when completed. In late July I began polling for potential subscribers for an October or November publication. The plan evolved to self-publish upwards of 50 copies for the initial printing. By late September the total number of pages finally stabilized at 136 after assorted new material was added including an extensive index. By the end of 2007, 38 copies were sold and distributed.	Barnes
2008	In early August, 2006, I had posted a query online with Greene County NYGenWeb requesting information regarding Andrew SITZER, variously spelled Andreas SITZER, Andries SITZER, Andreas ZITZER, Andries ZITZER. On March 21, 2008, I received an email from the genealogist/actor/writer Henry “Hank” Jones in which he stated:  “I note your posting on an old Greene County genealogy message board. In case you haven't seen it, my book More Palatine Families has a fully documented section on the Zitzer/Sitser et var. family of colonial New York, including my German discoveries from their ancestral village overseas. All my books are available via my website: http://www.hankjones.com.” In less than a week I sent away for the book and received it shortly thereafter. I was subsequently able to make the connection with my Zitzer/Sittser family, taking that family back to its origins in Germany.	Barnes
This Web page was created March 31, 2007 by Charles W. Paige and last updated June 4, 2008. Copyright 2008 Charles W. Paige

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