Category: Generations Remembered

Genealogy Information

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Duart One-Name Study Updated

Well, I finally am getting to update my Duart One-Name study website to make it much more informative. I am accepting information for Duart, Dewart, Dhu-ard, Doward, and other variants of the name. Ultimately, I would like to add a Y-DNA component to the site, but first I need Duart males to step up and take a test. It is preferrable that FTDNA tests be used, however if you have already taken another company Y-DNA test and are willing to share the information, I would love to talk to you about adding your results. Just an FYI, if you are thinking about testing with 23 and Me – DO NOT. They are in financial difficulty and are trying to sell the company. The ramifications are still unclear, what will happen to the information they already have in their database, whether it will be purchased by a pharmaceutical company or other unnamed companies is still unknown. Watch the news – MSNBC, CNN, or other news outlets, to see what is going to happen. Back to the Duart study. I will be making modifications to the website as I learn how to navigate the TNG (The Next Generation) system that the Guild of One-Name Studies has created. It is a fun website program and fairly easy to use, even for this non-computer literate genealogist. If you have photos, documents or stories you would like to share on my website, please feel free to send to my email at [email protected] and I’ll find a spot within the program. Standby for further updates on the website.
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William and Hannah (Milliken) White Tombstone Reset

My husband and I traveled West to visit relatives and friends and our route went very close to Pana, IL. I knew my three times great grandparents were buried there in the Linwood Cemetery. We found the stone and I was able to photograph, scrape off a few lichens and vowed to come back to clean the stone sometime.

William White Tombstone Linwood Cemetery, Pana, IL
Hannah Milliken White Tombstone Linwood Cemetery Pana, IL

This past May (2023) we found ourselves near Pana, IL again and located the stone. I had taken D2 (recommended tombstone cleaning solution) along just in case we got near the cemetery and could clean the stone. It didn’t look too bad when we left and the rain would clean it further, over time. The above photos are shortly after I cleaned them as best I could with the lack of water.

I got the name of a company who could straighten and reinforce the base of the stone, as it was leaning. Pyramid Marble and Granite located in Pana and Effingham, IL were nearby and very helpful. They inspected the tombstone and by the time I got around to calling them to look at the stone, it had fallen. It looks nice and clean, lying on the ground, but now it really needed some help.

Pyramid Marble and Granite sent me a quote and had the job done within a week. It is straight and on a solid base now, hopefully, for another 50 years. If you are trying to locate the stone, it is in the old section along side the road.

William White 1803 – 1882

Hannah M White cleaned tombstone
Hannah M White cleaned tombstone
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William and Hannah (Milliken) White Tombstones in Pana, IL

Al and I went on another adventure to visit friends and relatives in our motorhome. We visited with Cousins Mark and Colleen Myers in Cleveland, TN. Always fun to hear about Marks latest birding trips. He has been all over the World banding birds and taking wonderful pictures.

Our next stop was Plano, TX to visit Nephews Jeff and Rob. We stayed in a RV park nearby and had the pleasure to meet a group of Venezuelans who were celebrating their friend’s birthday. We talked with one of the couples who gave us a dining suggestion, Hola Cafe. It is in nearby Carrollton, TX. They were absolutely correct that their country’s cuisine is delicious.

On to Tucumcari, New Mexico then heading home. Since we were going across the upper corner of TX and OK then through Kansas we stopped in Kansas City, MO to visit my boss from Adria Laboratories, Karen and husband, Kevin. As far as boss’ go, she was the best. She always championed her employees plans for their career and would take the heat to see that everyone was fairly treated.

On our way through Illinois, we were very close to Pana, IL where three times great grandparents William and Hannah (Milliken) White are buried. I cleaned their stones as good as possible. The rain, if it comes, will help to further clean their stones. I will be contacting a local stone mason to right their stones.

William M. White Tombstone Linwood Cemetery, Pana, IL
Hannah Milliken White Tombstone Linwood Cemetery Pana, IL

I have DAR supplements for both of these ancestors. Thomas White is the grandfather of William and his brother, Thomas’ son, James great grandfather. James also married Sarah White, daughter of previously mentioned and pictured above William and Hannah White. Making two supplements for the same ancestor. Hannah Milliken’s grandfather was Samuel Milliken. I proved him as a new Ancestor.

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Footprints: Two Brothers – One Family – The Whites

My White Family history in two volumes landed on my doorstep today. Wahoo! What a yeomen’s effort of Joyce Hughes and Marsha Pilger. Joyce worked on this history until her death and then the burden fell on Marsha. She has done a fine job and it looks great. I’ll be spending the weekend in Charlottesville, VA watching Sam’s American U. soccer game and reading my books.

I helped Joyce with my part of the family. She had a good start, however I have kept track of a lot of the White cousins through hosting a White Family reunion a number of years. I was able to locate descendants of Alexander Right and Mary Ella (Hess) White’s children. I found someone in each of the married children’s families. The children of Alex and Mary Ella include: Nettie (never married); Bess White Hosler (Gilbert); Sara White Myers (Melvin); Mary White Spencer (Howard); Grace White Hooker (James); William Walter White (my grandfather) (Effie); Charles A. White (Louise); and Earle White (Margaret). We are scattered to the four corners of the US and some of the great, great grands are living abroad.

I thought the Whites had not moved out of Pennsylvania until I was researching Thomas White as a Revolutionary War patriot for DAR. Alas, this is not true. William White who married Hannah Milliken moved West and died in Pana, Illinois. Last year, Al and I were traveling Route 30 west and stopped in Pana to find where they are buried. This story you can read in a previous blog posting. Anyway, if anyone is so inclined to travel there, let me know.

Thanks to Marsha Pilger for finishing Joyce’s work and publishing this wonderful history of our family.

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Samuel Milliken Added as New Ancestor in DAR

What a struggle to get 5 x great grandfather Samuel Milliken proven as a Revolutionary War patriot, but it’s done. Samuel was born in Ireland c. 1727, married Sarah Jardine, sister to Mary Jardine the wife of Thomas White. They lived in Cumberland County, later Perry County that broke off of the former in 1820. Samuel and Sarah are buried in Bixler, Perry County PA

Their son, David Milliken moved west to Braddock Fields, Allegheny County, PA where he and some of his family are buried. The big question for DAR is how did Hannah, daughter of David Milliken marry William White if the family had moved west and William was still in Perry County. They were concerned about Hannah being only about 10 years old, must have stayed behind and not moved to Allegheny County with her family. Why would a 10-year-old not go with them? A lot of speculation, but probably to help with relatives’ children.

I thought that none of the Whites went west from PA, however Hannah Milliken married William White. They moved west through Indiana and finally settled in Pana, Illinois. Al and I took a trip on Route 30 west. Pana, IL is not far off of Rt 30, so we went on what I call “grave digging” looking for William and Hannah’s burial site.

We arrived in Pana, found the cemetery rather quickly and began the search. There was a caretaker working and I stopped to ask if he knew where they were buried. Since they were among the earlier people buried in the cemetery, he directed us to the older section. We parked the motorhome, and I began to look for their tombstone. I knew from FindAGrave what the stone looked like and started up and down the rows. No luck out the driver’s side door, going up and down the rows, so I crossed the road to go up and down that side. After about a half hour, I was back at the motorhome and you guessed it, the tombstone was right beside the RV. AHHHHHHHHHHHH! I figured Hannah and William must have had a great sense of humor to let me do all that walking when they were right there.

Their stone is not in bad shape; however, it needs to be cleaned and reset to be in good shape for many more years. I am calling a local tombstone company to see if they can fix the stone.

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Samuel E. Hershey, “Mr. McCaskey” of Sports

So proud of our Sam Hershey, for all of his sports accolades he has received this year. He was named All-American for 2020 in soccer and more recently to the 2021 Big 33 football team as a kicker. Sam also plays on the McCaskey basketball team. He follows a history of sports standouts in the Hershey family.

https://lancasteronline.com/sports/mccaskey-soccer-standout-sam-hershey-named-all-american-for-2020-season/article_d09fc16e-3e66-11eb-ba49-8f4e7a1cdf1b.html

Trevor Hershey, Sam’s father played soccer at James Madison University and his mother, LindaLee (nee Papuga) scored the first ever goal in women’s soccer for Gettysburg University. Grandfather, Al, was an All-American soccer player for Elizabethtown College. All of them have coached on a collegiate level with Trevor and LindaLee at Millersville University. Al coached soccer at his Alma mater, Elizabethtown College and for 10 years at Franklin and Marshall College.

For those of you who do not know the Big 33, it is a team of high school seniors, chosen to represent Pennsylvania in a football game against Ohio or Maryland. Every Super Bowl has had at least one player who was on a Big 33 team.

https://big33.org/2021-big-33-team-pa-release-video/
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Erin Spencer and Asha deVos National Geographic Special

According to the National Geographic website, cousin Erin Spencer will be featured on February 24, 2021 at 4:00 pm on YouTube. Below is copied of the information from the Nat Geo site. For more information about this program go to www.nationalgeographic.org to sign up. If you are a teacher, this is a great place to find educational programs to be used in your classroom.

“Asha de Vos is a Sri Lankan marine biologist, ocean educator, and blue whale expert. She founded the nonprofit Oceanswell to educate the next generation of ocean heroes and in 2019, Asha was named one of 12 Women Changemakers by the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Erin Spencer is a marine ecologist and science communicator focusing on fisheries conservation and management. Her recent work has focused on the mislabeling of seafood in the United States and innovative responses to invasive species management.

Asha and Erin are together onboard the OceanXplorer with scientists and technologists from around the world. They’re currently offshore in the Bahamas, which is their first stop on a mission to explore the most unreachable parts of the ocean! Join them to hear behind-the-scenes stories from the frontlines of ocean exploration.” 

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Isaac Long Barn Remembered

Cousin Bill McCord ran across a photo that belonged to Great Grandma Effie Long Bell and passed it along to me. The back of the photo reads “Isaac Long Barn of Landisville (it is really in Landis Valley), Lancaster Co., Penna. From this farm David Long came to Pfoutz’s Valley in 1812. My earliest known ancestor, Effie Long Bell.”

It is a wonderful picture of the Isaac Long Barn that is famous because it was at this farm that the first American born denomination was organized in 1766 -The Church of United Brethren in Christ Church. The farm is six miles northeast of Lancaster city.

Much has been written about this farm. The blue State Historical markers placed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission dedicated the marker June 16, 1960. The text says”The United Brethren in Christ, and the Evangelical United Brethren Church trace their origin to the joint efforts of Rev. Philip W. Otterbein of the German Reformed Church and Martin Boehm, a Mennonite preacher, at a revival held here about 1767. The barn stands a mile and a half to the north off PA 272 (Oregon Pike) at Landis Valley Museum. ” (Ref. Beyer, George R., Guide to the State Historical Markers of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1991)

Although Effie Long Bell may not have known ancestors before David Long/Lang, William Gabriel Long in his book History of the Long Family of Pennsylvania with the help of the Long Family Organization, was able to take the Long/Lang family back a few more generations. David was the son of Abraham Lang and Maria, born in 1743 Manheim Township, Lancaster County, married Catherine Hershey. Aha, I’m descended from the Hersheys as well as being married to one. Abraham Long fought in the revolutionary war as did Catherine’s father, Abraham. Both of these ancestors have been proven, by me, for Daughters of the American Revolution. Just let me know if you want to join the Daughters or Sons of the American Revolution. I have all the paper work.

Abraham Long’s father was John and mother, Anna Long. The Long/Langs had lived in Lancaster County, PA until David moved to Perry County, PA. John was the son of emigrant, Christian Lang, who was said to be from the Palatinate Germany. I have not gone back any further, but it is on my list of research.

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Eagle Scout Project at Gailey-White Cemetery

Prospective Eagle Scout, Jonathan Garula has chosen cleaning and restoring the Gailey-White cemetery as part of his project. He and his volunteers have replaced both bridges, removed a large tree, filled groundhog holes, righted and cleaned the stones.

Jonathan did this project this August and is now at college in Boston. We always need our mother’s help and his set up a “Go-Fund-Me” page that raised enough for the project and a donation to the scout troop. Thanks, Mom!

A big thank you to Jonathan and his volunteers for a job well done. Also, thank you to Henry Holman and his son for continuing to mow the walkway to the cemetery. They have kept the cemetery open for many years. Now is a good time to visit our ancestor’s graves.

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Looking for Living Charles Family Members of Pennsylvania

I am working on a project for the Hiram Charles family of Lancaster County, PA and would like to hear from any members who are willing to provide a DNA sample for family research.  Depending on your family relationship, a DNA kit may be provided.

This project will use Autosomal DNA, so you won’t be excluded because of gender.  The results may be uploaded to GedMatch, but would not be identified with any of your information.

For further questions about this project, send an email through this website.

Thank you,

Deborah