Maternal

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – Children of God

joelowry1982 Maternal, Paternal, Wordless Wednesday
Somehow this group ended up on the altar of St. Edward Church in Youngstown. This photo was taken around 1988 or 1989. Left to right are me (Joe Lowry), my cousin Laura Lowry, her brother Michael, my sister Caroline, my cousin Chrissy Sofranko and cousin Michelle Dockry Churchman. While I look ready for a military review, the rest of the group are doing their best to stand still. What I wonder was the occasion?
Click to enlarge.

Update 2/17/14: In talking to my Aunt Chris, we believe this event was either my sister Colleen’s baptism or a Mass in memory of grandma Lowry. The timeframe is nearly December 1988.

Treasure Chest Thursday – Naturalization Index for Carl Porubsky

joelowry1982 Devlin, Maternal, Porubsky, Treasure Chest Thursday
My great great grandfather Carl Porubsky arrived in the United States from Russia in 1900. He signed an intent to naturalize in 1918 but it was not until 1938 that he became an American citizen. By then, he was a 53 year old grandfather. These index cards indicate that he was naturalized in the United States District Court in Topeka, Kansas on April 18, 1938. Witnesses to the naturalization include William W. Werner, a neighbor and his brother-in-law Harry Devlin, likewise a neighbor on Madison Street. Harry was married to Carl’s sister Elizabeth.

Front. Click to enlarge.

Back. Click to enlarge.

Source:
United States. U.S. Department of Labor. Immigration and Naturalization Service. Naturalization Index for the Western District of Missouri, Compiled 1930 – 1950, Documenting the Period Ca. 1848 – Ca. 1950. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Record Group 21. Ancestry.com. Web. 21 Jan 2014. <Link>.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – My Great Grandparents Francis and Helen Witt

joelowry1982 Bixler, Maternal, Witt, Wordless Wednesday
Photo provided by Marie Witt Dockry.
My maternal great grandparents Francis and Helen (Bixler) Witt all dressed up with hopefully somewhere to go! Great Grandpa sure looks dapper with that navy blue pocket square. The corsages lead me to believe this was for an anniversary party or perhaps a wedding. I’m certain someone knows; it’s just that I don’t. This photo was taken around 1980.

Where Were My Ancestors in 1900?

joelowry1982 Maternal, Paternal

Genealogist Michael John Neill made an interesting exercise of figuring out where his ancestors lived in 1900. I thought I would follow suit to provide a fuller picture of my family in 1900. In 1900, the following ancestors were alive:

(Lowry ancestors are in italics, Witt ancestors in roman.)

Great Grandparents (5):

  • Charles Edward Lowry (1899 – 1975) in Leetonia, Ohio
  • Noah E Groucutt (1882 – 1967) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Kathleen Esther (Rogan) Groucutt (1891 – 1978) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Francis John Witt (1899 – 1992) in Youngstown, Ohio
  • Helen M (Bixler) Witt (1898 – 1985) in Youngstown, Ohio
Three of my great grandparents were born after 1900. The earliest born was Noah Groucutt. He was also the first to die. The latest born was Caroline Porubsky Wolford (1910) and the last to die in 2003.
Great Great Grandparents (16):
  • Michael J Lowry (1868 – 1949) in Leetonia, Ohio
  • Anna F (Lottman) Lowry (1869 – 1945) in Leetonia, Ohio
  • George Peter Pepperney (1871 – 1962) in Charleroi, Pennsylvania
  • Mary Anna (Bahle) Pepperney (1877 – 1935) in Charleroi, Pennsylvania
  • George Leo Groucutt (1862 – 1941) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Bridget (Foy) Groucutt (1862 – 1925) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • James Francis Rogan (1858 – 1938) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Catherine A (Travers) Rogan (1868 – 1933) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Joseph Franklin Witt (1868 – 1943) in Youngstown, Ohio
  • Mary E (Governor) Witt (1870 – 1951) in Youngstown, Ohio
  • William Joseph Bixler (1875 – 1944) in Sharon, Pennsylvania
  • Elizabeth (Perkins) Bixler (1872 – 1951) in Sharon, Pennsylvania
  • Stanton M Wolford (1864 – 1946) in Topeka, Kansas
  • Henrietta (Rogers) Wolford (1869 – 1950) in Topeka, Kansas
  • Carl Porubsky (1885 – 1962) in Kamenka, Saratov, Russia
    • He left for the United States in June 1900.
  • Elizabeth (Schulmeister) Porubsky (1887 – 1972) in Topeka, Kansas
All of my great great grandparents were alive in 1900. The oldest at the time was James Francis Rogan at 42. The youngest in 1900 was Elizabeth (Schulmeister) Porubsky at 13. She was also the last of my great great grandparents to die. The first was Bridget (Foy) Groucutt in 1925.
Great Great Great Grandparents (25):
  • Michael Lowry (1830 – 1928) in Leetonia, Ohio
  • Bridget (Conley) Lowry (1825 – 1904) in Leetonia, Ohio
  • Martin Lottman (1846 – 1921) in Perry Township (Salem), Ohio
  • Margaret (Bretchel) Lottman (1844 – 1924) in Perry Township (Salem), Ohio
  • Frank Pepperney Sr. (1847 – 1927) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
  • Margaretta (Buhl) Pepperney (1849 – 1923) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
  • Jacob L Bahle (1832 – 1908) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
  • Rachel (Schnauffer) Bahle (1842 – 1921) in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
  • James Rogan (1827 – 1910) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Esther (Callahan) Rogan (1832 – 1927) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Anna M (Mooney) Travers (1834 – 1916) in New Castle, Pennsylvania
  • Martin Witt (1830 – 1921) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Elisabeth Louise (Kreher) Witt (1840 – 1930) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Nicholas J Governor (1842 – 1914) in Vienna, Ohio
  • Katherine E (Krantz) Governor (1850 – 1918) in Vienna, Ohio
  • J. G. William Bixler (1843 – 1907) in Youngstown, Ohio
  • Mary (Lehn) Bixler (1850 – 1930) in Youngstown, Ohio
  • Mary (Price) Perkins (1845 – 1829) in Youngstown, Ohio (probable, not confirmed)
  • James Mathias Wolford (1846 – 1905) in Bluffs, Scott, Illinois
  • Harriet (Maines) Wolford (1840 – 1910) in Pleasant Township, Indiana (not Bluffs, Illinois, with her husband!)
  • Mary Ann (Chapman) Rogers (1840 – 1903) in Bluffs, Scott, Illinois
  • Mathias Porubsky (1858 – 1929) in Kamenka, Saratov, Russia
  • Christina (Vogelman) Porubsky (1863 – 1917) in Kamenka, Saratov, Russia
    • She and Mathias left for the United States in June 1900.
  • Michael Schulmeister (1856 – 1937) in Topeka, Kansas
  • Anna Maria (Unknown) Schulmeister (1861 – 1934) in Topeka, Kansas
Five 3rd Great grandparents were dead before 1900. Two others I am not sure of their date of death. The oldest of my 3rd great grandparents is Bridget (Conley) Lowry believed to be born in 1825. The last born is Christina Vogelman Porubsky born in 1963, 38 years after Bridget.

I have no Fourth Great Grandparents that were alive in 1900 that I know of, but I am missing several who would would be likely candidates to still be alive in 1900.
Of my 46 relatives alive in 1900, only seven of them lived in what I consider home, which is Youngstown, Ohio. The rest lived in:
  • New Castle, Pennsylvania: 9
  • Pittsburgh or Allegheny, Pennsylvania: 6
  • Topeka, Kansas: 5
  • Leetonia, Ohio: 5
  • Kamenka, Russia: 3
  • Vienna, Ohio: 2
  • Perry Township (Salem), Ohio: 2
  • Bluffs, Illinois: 2
  • Sharon, Pennsylvania: 2
  • Charleroi, Pennsylvania: 2
  • Pleasant Township, Indiana: 1
Source:
Mostly 1900 Census data through the Lowry-Witt Family Tree

2013 – My Year in Genealogy

joelowry1982 Maternal, Paternal
Some Lowry-Witt genealogy stats for the year:
2 – Number of visits to the National Archives. I hope to better this number in 2014.
4 – Number of cemetery visits. Fortunately for her, I only dragged my wife to one of them.
8 – Number of genealogy webinars I ‘attended.’ There are free webinars on different topics in genealogy offered almost daily. I try to continually increase my genealogy knowledge and webinars are an easy way to do that.
80 – Number of blog entries I’ve written this year.
484 – The number of dollars I’ve spent on genealogy in 2013. Don’t tell my wife. At least my ROI is better than if I’d bought lottery tickets with that money.
1,200 – Number of family photos scanned and uploaded to my Flickr site. A majority of those are Lowry and Pepperney family photos. I have a few additional Witt photos scanned that need to be uploaded. I hope to get that done in the next few weeks.
1,502 – The number of people in my Lowry-Witt family tree. It started as a sloppy mess of a tree, with random additions in there before I started getting serious about genealogy. Instead of starting from scratch with a ‘clean’ tree, I am weeding out the bad info. It’s not the best approach, I know, but it works for me.
7,000 – Approximate number of pageviews on this blog this year. Most of those are by automated bots, but it’s still a great number.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday – The Quilt

joelowry1982 Maternal, Witt, Wolford, Wordless Wednesday
My great grandmother Caroline Porbusky Wolford loved to make quilts. She made this beauty as a gift to my grandparents Howard and Barb Witt. It was presented to them the night before my parents’ wedding. In this photo are, from left to right, my grandmother Barb Wolford Witt Viti, grandfather Howard Witt, uncle Tom Witt, great grandmother Wolford, my mom and (I think) two unknown relatives in the right foreground.

Thanks(giving)ful Thursday: The Mayflower Connection

joelowry1982 Maternal, Soule, Thankful Thursday, Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time to share a meal with family and give thanks. It wouldn’t be complete with remembering those ancestors who broke bread in thanks years ago. In my case, those ancestors include a family who shared the blessings of the harvest with Squanto and his band of Patuxet Indians.

George Soule is (probably) my 9th great grandfather. George was born in England around 1595 and traveled as a servant for Edward Winslow, perhaps as a teacher for Winslow’s children, aboard the Mayflower.

Mayflower II at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Photo by Joe Lowry.

The famed ‘Plymouth Rock’. Photo by Joe Lowry.

My presumed path from George Soule:

1. George Soule (c. 1595 – 1679) m. Mary Beckett
2. Nathaniel Soule (1637 – 1699) m. Rose Thorn
3. Sylvanus Soule (1684 – 1766) m. Sarah Slade
4. William Soule m. Keziah Gifford
5. Jacob Soule (1744 – 1822) m. Meribah Lewis
6. Anna Nancy Soule (1775 – 1830) m. Zepheniah Rogers
7. Howard Rogers (1813 – 1883) m. Mary Ann Chapman
8. Henrietta Rogers (1869 – 1950) m. Stanton M Wolford
9. Raymond Hudson Wolford (1909 – 1970) m. Caroline Porubsky
10. Barbara Jean Wolford m. Howard David Witt
11. Rebeca Ann Witt m. Patrick Edward Lowry
12. Joseph Patrick Lowry m. Eileen Ann Cummings

Genealogies published through the Mayflower Society have allowed me to verify generations 1 through 5 and I can personally verify generations 8 through 12. I’m less certain about connecting 5 to 8, but figured there’s only one day a year I can write about the a Mayflower connection and that was Thanksgiving. Waiting until Thanksgiving 2014 didn’t seem like any fun!

Peace Be With You!

joelowry1982 Lowry, Maternal, Paternal, Photo Friday, Witt

When I graduated from Ursuline in 2000, my graduation party featured a life-size picture of me in my tux before senior prom, printed on white paper so family and friends could write a message of support/good luck/inspiration. It’s a fairly common thing, I suppose, for a new graduate to need all the help he can get leaving the nest for the first time. Afterward, not wanting to dispose of these sentiments, I folded this massive piece of paper and stored it in a Rubbermaid container where it sat for years. Sorting through some boxes this past summer, I realized it wasn’t practical to keep it when I needed to make room in those bins for my Lego’s, a Star Trek comic book collection and a stockpile of Air Force unit patches, enough to outfit an entire squadron, that still clogged my old bedroom at my parents’ house.

I took one final read of what was written on that large piece of paper. Some comments were witty, others sentimental, and some were just plain stupid (“Never change!” – like that’s even possible). Of everything written, there was one comment that stuck with me. In the top, right corner, my grandpa Howard Witt wrote something so very Howard – “Peace be with you!”. My Grandpa Witt had incredibly strong faith and shared that faith where he could, whether in writing, in his spoken words or in the stained glass crosses he crafted that still grace many homes in Youngstown (and don’t forget The Vatican!). I cut this corner off the rest of the paper and it’s in my scrapbook, a fantastic reminder of an honorable and loving grandfather.

Carry on!

Grandpa Witt and a very young me taking a stroll during a trip to Topeka, Kansas to visit relatives.