Vikings in Lincolnshire

It does seem strange how one family demands attention. It is as if the ghosts of our ancestors are saying 'pick me pick me!' They will not be denied.  As of today there are 38,059 people on my tree. In preparing the Christmas project for 2013 it was the Cullins family that pushed to the fore. (Hannah Cullins was my paternal grandfather’s mother.) Throughout this year I’ve added to the Cullins information and I can’t seem to get away from them.

Ancestry.com sends emails with new hints for our trees. These hints could be for any one of the 38,059 people, although they generally are hints for direct-line ancestors, which narrows the pool significantly.  Still, that is a lot of people. I decided to pick one random hint, do an updated search, and write up a little article for the blog.  It was the Billesby family that was picked out the virtual straw hat. I knew nothing about them but when I looked them up – guess what! – they lead right on down to Hannah Cullins .

Cicely Billesby * (1475 - )

is Sandy’s 13th great grandmother

Your 13th great granJane Langton * (1515 - 1559)

daughter of Cicely Billesby *

Edward Asfordby * (1545 - 1590)

son of Jane Langton *

William Asfordby * (1575 - 1623)

son of Edward Asfordby *

John Asfordby * (1617 - 1657)

son of William Asfordby *

William Asfordby * I Hon (1638 - 1698)
son of John Asfordby *

Susannah Asfordby * (1669 - 1745)

daughter of William Asfordby * I Hon

William Beatty * II (1695 - 1757)

son of Susannah Asfordby *

George Beatty * (1735 - 1811)

son of William Beatty * II

Rebecca Jane Beatty * (1762 - 1843)

daughter of George Beatty *

John Cullins * II (1791 - 1857)

son of Rebecca Jane Beatty *

William C Cullins * (1825 - 1918)
son of John Cullins * II

Hannah Lenora Cullins * (1866 - 1921)

As you can see the first Billesby (Billsby, Bilsby) in our family was Cicely born in 1475. Once she married we lost that name, of course, but the DNA flows on down.  So, what of Cicely’s family? It seems that the family of Cicely’s husband, Alexander Langton and the Asfordby family were close, intermarrying neighbors in or around the village of Billesby (now Bilsby, yes it is still there!), Lincolnshire, England. Cicely’s second husband was John Asfordby.

 Lincolnshire, England

These days Bilsby is a 10 minute drive to the beach at Sutton on Sea, or a 2 minute jaunt into the market town of Alford, East Lindsey District.  You can read more about Bilsby at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilsby

Here is what I’ve gathered from perusing the online information given for the Billesby family. They were likely not Angles or Saxons, or Norman French . . . most likely, they were settlers who came with the marauding Vikings of Norway.  If you haven’t seen the Vikings series on the History Channel I recommend it, especially to my family.  These are your ancestors, colorfully portrayed. (Another of our lines leads back to Ragnar.)  I’ve watched the first season, but there are two more.  Also, look at this article about the Norman Invasion of England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_conquest_of_England#Tostig.27s_raids_and_the_Norwegian_invasion especially the section called Tostig's raids and the Norwegian invasion.

The suggestion that Bilsby (Billesby) was probably named for a Norse goddess, Bil, is another clue that our ancestors were Norwegian settlers. They, of course, didn’t have a 10 minute drive in from the coast, but a few days of trekking would have brought them to the ideal spot for a settlement.  I believe they were there a while before the Norman Invasion of 1066. After the invasion when the Normans were in power they would have granted the Billesby family the land they had already claimed, no doubt, in thanks for aiding in the conquest of England. By the time the Doomsday book recorded Billesby it was a settlement of 18 households.  There was, eventually a castellated and moated house (replaced by the Bilsby House mansion built in 1740 on the same sight). The other dwellings would have been wattle and daub with thatched roofs.

Our family name comes from that first settlement and most likely was of that first land holding Billesby family.  Here is Cicely Billesby’s family tree:

John de Billesby */ (1226 - )

is Sandy’s 21st great grandfather

Your 21st great grandfath

Robert de Billesby * (1256 - )

son of John de Billesby */

Eudo de Billesby * (1286 - )

son of Robert de Billesby*

Richard Billesby * (1316 - )

son of Eudo de Billesby *

John Billesby Bilesby * (1346 - 1394)

son of Richard Billesby *

Thomas Billesby * (1376 - 1430)

son of John Billesby Bilesby *

Richard Billesby * (1417 - 1459)

son of Thomas Billesby *

John Billesby * (1440 - 1471)

son of Richard Billesby *

Cicely Billesby * (1475 - )

daughter of John Billesby *

John de Billesby, born 1226, is as far back as the records go at the moment. That is 160 years after the Norman invasion and 140 years after the village of Billesby was listed in the Doomsday book.  The family certainly had a long history in that area prior to the first of our records. This John was my grandchildren’s 23 great grandfather.  

Lincolnshire is primarily, even to this day, agricultural and life keeps the slow pace of the seasons. Most likely the landholding Billesby's were Medieval landlord famers with tenets working a good deal of the land. For many more generations Cicely’s descendants remained in Lincolnshire. It wasn’t until 1674 that the brave Billesby descendent, William Asfordby, gathered his wife, Martha Burton, and children and left the land their family had claimed six centuries before and headed for America.  You’ll find some interesting facts about this intrepid ancestor at William Asfordby. 

Credits: Thanks to ancestry.com and wikipedia.com

Ichabod and ADGD

[There's a song at the bottom!]

Okay, here’s the deal. . . I have this disease called ADGD. The above picture was posted on Facebook by one of my genealogy wielding 3^rd cousins, whom I love dearly. It’s meant to be funny (I’d love to give credit for the picture, but I don’t know where she got it). It is in no way meant to poke fun at those with ADD or ADHD. Still I think most genealogists will agree that they have a problem with ADGD, which if you are trying to accomplish anything, can be a very real problem.

At Christmas I promi told my family to expect an “Ohio family-of-the-month” until the workbook I sent them was complete. That would mean I’d need to send one family’s information in January, right? Today is January 30. Yikes! It is a given that January is a very busy month for me in other ways but you’d think I’d be able to finish the Cullins family in short order as it is the one I’d already started. Not done. Of course, there’s plenty of time . . . two days. I have two whole days to work on this. Aren’t I lucky there are 31 days in this month? I have many non-gen things to do but that is beside the point.

Boy have I been distracted. There were several days when I was determined to work on the Cullins. Indeed, they are fascinating people but. . . picture this, I’m sitting at my desk looking at ancestry.com’s John Cullins page on my monitor and then someone walks by me with a steaming bowl of home-made corn chowder. My nose picks up the scent, I sniff the air, my head turns to follow that delicious odor, and I start to float out of my chair. I'm transported out of the 1805 Cullins’ cabin with spoon in hand and feet flapping. Picture, if you will, Ichabod Crane at a party. Yes, it is downright cartoony. Of course, it isn’t literally a bowl of chowder it is more likely a comment someone made on the Oldfield family on Nancy Fidler’s page. (I started this morning with this one.) Since ancestry.com revved up their ‘comment’ section to social media status it has been a banquet of comments (large

enough to cause nightmares), most of which I’ve had to save to look at later (even with the fear that the headless horseman will soon be riding my way).

Or, it could be that I pulled myself back to the Cullins only to find I’ve somehow gotten wrapped up in the fascinating Vassal family (Yum, pot roast with veggies!), landing in the 1600s. Well, who could resist. You probably haven’t heard of Uncle William who, in my opinion, was one of the most significant men to set foot on our soil. For me he has risen to the ranks of Abe and MLK and FDR. So, you can understand why I was pulled away from the good ol’ Cullins.

I’m switching everything over to a new tree. I try to do some of that every day -- it’s a distraction. In December I found my cousin Stephanie’s daughter on Facebook. There’s so much to catch-up on with her (Hm, chocolate cake!). Oh, but she's not a Cullins. And so it goes . . .

I’m really rock ‘n rollin’ with Facebook. Yesterday I added as friends cousin Patty and her daughter on my father’s side (hamburgers hot off the grill!) and the son of my cousin Susie on my mother’s side (the chips – got to love those Lays).

So you can see each circumstance is a delightful bowl of food passing by Ichabod’s nose.  Old Ic definitely has ADGD. There is no end to the work you can do on your family history. It is absolutely endless.  Still there is a great feeling of satisfaction when you complete a project, which is why every month I’ll work to overcome ADGD!

Credits: 

Ichabod and pie – Disney Wiki  http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Ichabod_Crane
The Headless Horseman Pursuing Ichabod Crane, by John Quidor, 1858, Smithsonian.
Turn, Turn, Turn - The Byrds, embryonicsoul, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4ga_M5Zdn4
YouTube GVmota

Saddling Up the Horse



It says there have been 34 visitors to my blog so far today and that is amazing as nothing has posted in almost a month. Like everyone I was busy with the holidays. January is an odd one. Welcoming it as a fresh start I try to sort through any files from the previous year both paper and digital to be ready for taxes, have a clean and orderly desk with room in it (!), and a tidy computer with fresh files for the New Year. That is the ideal anyway. I try to have a life in addition to all that but do hope by the end of the month I’ll be ready to rock 2014.

After Christmas Our Ohio Pioneers and the stacks of books had been sent off to family. My copy was still in pieces and there was a very messy guest/assembly room to reclaim. The door was closed on the mess. As of this morning it is accomplished. The book is on the shelf and the room looks great. Guests are welcome once more. So, what’s next?

The book, or rather workbook, is a work in progress. The introduction promised that more information on each of our families would be added every month. "Welcome to the family of the month club!" reminiscent of the fruit of the month, wine of the month, etc. This month it's time to finish the Cullins family of Muskingum County, Ohio. What fascinating stuff! I’ve run into references to Melungeons, a mixed-race group of mysterious origin from Appalachia, mention of Jamestown, and even John Smith and Pocahontas. Good grief, maybe there were vampires back there as well! (Okay, just kidding. If you haven't followed the Twilight series that comment makes no sense at all.)

Are any of these related to my family? I don’t know yet, but what interesting possibilities they present.  There's still a lot of work to be done. Of all the Ohio pioneer families we had this Cullins family is most like the one depicted in Conrad Richter’s Awakening Land Trilogy. They entered Ohio very early and carved out a homestead in the wilderness.

So folks, that’s where I’m at. Just saddling up the horse for a ride through the year. (No, not a literal horse, that beauty at the top of the page isn't mine. I snapped a photo of him while working on Sandy Hikes San Diego, at the lovely and rugged Daley Ranch near Escondido, CA. Two riders were ready to go up one of the many trails best accessed on horseback. Looking further into these Ohio families will be an interesting journey, and it brings up the desire, once again, to travel to Ohio. Today the TrekOhio website posted on Facebook a fabulous winter hike. Check it out!

I received a note on my hiking blog that the musical links were great. There isn't anything relevant to my genealogy work at the moment except that wonderfully cool, mellow music that has been keeping me company - Jack Johnson's album Brushfire Fairytales. Enjoy!

Credits: TheJackJohnsonShow YouTube, Jack Johnson - Drink The Water, Album – Brushfire Fairytales

Wrapping It Up

For decades, since I first read them, I had an idea. That idea was to share The Awakening Land trilogy with my family; and to develop a family history library of literature that was reminiscent of our family experience. The Luckett family is a fictional composite but their experiences, culture, and life represent our many families who moved into Ohio in the early days, shortly after the Northwest Territory was divided.

For Christmas of 2012 the family library idea kicked off, not with the early 19^th century, but with Elizabeth Chadwick’s two historical novels: The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion. Unlike Conrad Richter’s Ohio trilogy these weren’t fictional characters but fictionalized accounts of real people on our family tree – Sir William Marshall and his Lady Isabel deClare who lived in the 12^th and early 13^th centuries.  These five books, plus the two genealogies I’ve put together make a seven volume start to that family history library for my children and grandchildren.

The 2013 experience also included blog posts that documented my Internet journey into Ohio. This is how the blog post started back on

June 1, 2013:



. . . and so it begins. Our pioneers in Ohio.

~

Here we are the day after Christmas. That is 54 blog posts and close to 40 books into the mail to the family – including my own self-published workbook.

As in any huge project, there were changes from the initial idea. I realized that sending all four books at Christmas would be overwhelming to readers busily involved with the holidays and the toys they’d just unwrapped. They needed more time to read and digest the books. The trilogy, individually published as The Trees, The Fields, and The Town, to my dismay had slipped out of publication and pulled from library shelves. It seems I was just in the nick of time. Our libraries are less and less repositories for literature of the ages and more and more shelf space for current best sellers. I had to scour the country via Amazon, Abebooks, and other sources to find all the copies I needed – each part of the story becoming more and more expensive. In fact, I’m sure my searching for so many of these hard to find books pushed up the price in the used book market.

By October I had all the copies of The Trees I needed. It was the easiest to find as it, at one time, was read in mid-western schools as part of the curriculum. Since they were early Christmas presents, they were wrapped in pretty paper and tied up with ribbon and off they went to their various homes. The Fields, more scarce in the marketplace, was wrapped and ready to send before Thanksgiving. The Town, for which Richter received the Pulitzer Prize, was the most costly. It is available in more recent publication but expensive and difficult to find in its original version. I’d heard that the story was compromised somewhat by being edited for a modern audience. I didn’t read multiple versions to test this out, but bought the older versions if I could come up with the asking price.

With The Town wrapped and ready to go in December that meant I had the daunting task of finishing, editing, printing, and packaging my Ohio book. After doing the Ohio and 18 county histories and designing and setting up the framework for the actual genealogy I realized it was humanly impossible to include all of the family information. The best I could do was add the information I’d gathered on the Cullins family – that pioneering group I was working when I started the Ohio project. So, the book morphed from a complete and bound book to a workbook-in-progress placed in a ring-binder.


Family Reunion - the workbooks together and ready to send.

Finishing up that huge project was one of the most intense, difficult, and rewarding I’ve attempted. I was happy with the result and hope that it will be, at least eventually, loved and appreciated by each family that received it. In the end it was exactly as it should be – a work in progress.  Over the months of 2014 I will be adding the pioneer families to each of the counties and sending them on to be added to their ring-binders.  In short order, the smaller ring-binder will have to be replaced with a larger version. You know those gifts people send – the wine of the month, the fruit of the month. This will be the family of the month! 

Group Hug!

During the year, in addition to these books and the blog, I read Helen Hooven Santmyer’s (1895-1986) Ohio Town, her autobiographical memoir of Xenia, Ohio. Although we had no family in Xenia it is representative of the development and growth of Ohio towns and is an amazing read that incorporates the memories of her grandmother, mother, and her generations.
2013 has been my Ohio year.

I hope one day to make it there!

Muskingum County ~ Pottery Capital of the World

Muskingum County Courthouse
Zanesville, Ohio

The first families I tracked into Ohio were the Cullins and the Cordrays and allied families. These are my father’s people and they were in Muskingum County very early.  Everything about Muskingum is interesting to me from the name to the rivers to the pioneers. This is a place where I’d like to do some genealogical digging, or vacationing, or visiting.

I did it backwards today. I’d already done most of the research I needed to complete the history page for the book.  I wrapped that up early. It has been a hot, humid, miserable day – not quite as bad as yesterday – as there was a slight breeze – but bad enough without AC.  Yahoo tells me that right now it 5:00 PM it is 89°- ugh.  I have a feeling we’ll have to cut the bridge game short tomorrow because it will be Tuesday before we have a break. I’m wondering what the weather is like in Muskingum County, Ohio right now. . .it is later in the evening as they 2,338 miles east of here.  Well, it’s not much different.  They had a high of 86. Right now it is 79 and they are expecting 69 and isolated thunderstorms. Alas, we have no rain but yesterday the air was so moist that a beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky.

I’m staying home this Labor Day Weekend but I wonder what is going on back in Ohio. I see that there is a Rib Cook-Off at the county fairgrounds – Yum!  Other than that it looks like a quiet Labor Day.  But, coming up starting Sept 7-Oct 31 is something I would love – a Corn Maze. How fun! Coming up in mid-September is The Ohio Show – an annual juried art  show. 

John Glenn
Astronaut

Muskingum County is famous for its pottery. I could spend a whole trip looking for the perfect pot! Have you ever tried to throw a pot on a wheel? I tried, I failed and I admire those who can.  No romantic evenings with the wheel and some clay a la Ghost for me. Sigh.  I wonder if any of their famous citizens got their hands into the clay – see if you can imagine astronaut John Glenn or actor Richard Basehart, or writer Zane Grey covered in the sticky stuff.  Hm, maybe not but I can see Agnes Morehead turning out a nice bowl or pitcher.
                               

Whether you are off on a three day jaunt, picnicking with family, or catching up with the yard work I hope you have a fun and relaxing Labor Day.

Agnes Moorehead
Bewitched, 1969

 Photos: Wikipedia
Clipart: www.microsoft/clipart.com

Zanesville-Muskingum County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau http://visitzanesville.com/our_history/index.html

Finding Focus Through Chaos

The To Do list is the rock I tether my boat to.  The To Do for daily housekeeping tether’s my life boat. The To Do list for the Ohio project keeps me focused on a long range goal. Life is messy and it gets in the way, often causing obstacles or log jams that impede the flow. Lately that has included company, social activities, housework, a broken washer, and a couple of trips to the dentist.  It’s always something, right? And, for those not retired that would include work.  I’m very thankful to be retired from working for others so that I can focus on my life’s work of family history and writing.

Lately I’ve been swept along with the river of events taking a swipe at the project at odd bits of time. Now, looking at the To Do list and my x’s (which marks completed) I can see I’m making progress. Sure I’d hoped to be finished with this first family last week.  I can console myself that it is the first family – the one that breaks ground and of necessity takes the longest as I figure out what works best.

Of course, the simple statement that there are 18 families with 9 on each side (father and mother) is deceptive. The Cullins family, John and Rebecca, with whom I started, has grown to include their ancestors and descendants who also lived in Ohio.  Looking at the timeline (also on the list) shows that these families were in the area since before part of the Northwest Territory became the State of Ohio in 1803. Basically our families in Muskingum County were there from about 1802-1850 when there was a big migration west as Iowa was opened for settlement.

This morning I found on the Muskingum County Ohio Genealogical Society website the application for “First Families” to settle in the county. Our people certainly qualify.  The application is lengthy and filling out forms is one of my least favorite activities – however, I may pursue this for our first family. It is possible that all 18 or so families will qualify for similar status but the cost to establish that fact may be too much unless family members would like to ‘sponsor’ a family.

Of course, this one family of the original 18 families has grown to more families.  There are Cullins: John Sr. and John Jr. The Cordray family is there but needs more research.  The Meredith family is from Coshocton County that borders Muskingum County.  Dorcas Meredith (married to John Cullins Jr) and her father, Obediah were probably some of the earliest into Coshocton.  Rebecca Draper, who married Obediah Meredith traveled to Coshocton County with her parents, Isaac and Ann McCord Draper . . . and so it grows.  We now have Cullins (3 generations with William moving to Iowa), Cordray, Meredith, Draper, and McCord surnames with just our first family. With 5 surnames and two counties you can see how easy it could be to get lost in the research.

When doing some research this morning I found that my new blog is showing up with the googles already. YAY!  Anyone out there – information on any of these families is most welcome.   Oops; I'm floating out of sight of the boat – time to swim to the To Do list.

Find A Grave

Find A Grave – this website was at the top of my “To Do” list for John Cullins and family this morning. Do you know this site?  It is a gem. According to my membership account I’ve been a member 2 years, 4 months, and 4 days. Despite its sad connection to death it is a living, growing, active website where people come to find relatives who’ve passed, or pay tribute by leaving virtual flowers,

or see who else is researching their Aunt Mabel. It stands alone or as a compliment to your ancestry.com tree, and Find A Grave information is available there.

It is a forum to share messages and photos. It is also a great place to volunteer. I use the site very often but do not invest the time many people do, as there are higher priorities at the moment.  In two years it tells me I’ve added one memorial; I manage 2 memorials (that previous owners have handed over to me); uploaded one photo; put in 4 photo requests: left 88 virtual flowers; and added 2 friends. I haven’t put up a bio.  I know, that is pretty pitiful and I must do better in the future.  I’ve volunteered to go out to the local cemeteries and take photos of grave sites requested but it is a popular thing to do here and any requests are snatched up before I get a chance to get out there.  Sigh. For the four requests I’ve made for the Robb family at Cadiz Union Cemetery in Harrison County, Ohio, no one seems to be volunteering.  Maybe some of these San Diegans can drop by sometime. The site tells me that it is only 2,057 miles from home.

Cadiz Union Cemetery
Cadiz, Harrison, Ohio

The Cullins' grave sites needed for our Ohio Pioneers project are in Muskingum County Ohio. Thank you to the volunteers who have trekked to the local cemeteries to record and upload the graves. 

I do my best to connect the Find A Grave to each person (international grave sites are being recorded, as well) where it is available.  I download the hint from ancestry.com and then visit the Find A Grave site – pick up the link and put it in the “Web Links” section (bottom right corner) of the page for that person.  I used to laboriously transfer photos from Find A Grave to ancestry.com but there isn’t any need now that the link is on the page – just a click and you’ll find them.

This morning I looked up the Find A Grave for John 1705-1780 and Jane Cullins. Name spellings change over time and for this name I needed to search Cullins, Cullin, Cullen, Cullens. In Virginia the name comes up Cullens and in Ohio it comes up Cullins for the same family of different generations. John and Jane are my 6^th great grandparents and are our immigrant couple coming from Ireland and settling in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. I found no listings for their grave sites – they may exist but are not on findagrave.com. Their son Edward Cullins and wife, Jane Jones, 5^th great grandparents, moved to Orange County, Virginia. No luck finding their resting place.

Ah, but their son John Cullins, 4^th great grandfather, is on Find A Grave – not with a grave site but a very nice memorial article.  He, along with his wife, Rebecca Jane Beatty, was our early Ohio pioneer, possibly around 1803. There is no memorial for Rebecca. They added to the early population of Ohio by having 10 children and they died in Washington, Muskingum, Ohio.

The 5^th child of John and Rebecca Cullins was John Jr. 1791-1857.

Gravestone of John Cullins, Jr. 1791-1857

He married Dorcas Meredith. Dorcas came from a family of Ohio pioneers in Coshocton County and she died in Fayette County, Iowa. Her tombstone is pictured on Iowa Gravestone Photos Project online. John Jr is featured on Find a Grave in Muskingum County,Ohio. These were my 3^rd great grandparents.

The 2^nd great grandparents, William C Cullins and Amanda Cordray were born in Muskingum County, Ohio but moved on to be Iowa pioneers. It is likely that William’s mother, Dorcas moved west with this couple after the death of her husband.

It has been fun finding information on Find A Grave this morning. Complaints about the site?  I don’t think their search engine works as well as it could.  If you put in information for a specific person often they don’t come up although they are there somewhere.  I’ve found that searching by location and cemetery is sometimes necessary. Search by last name only is helpful. If you are persistent you can often be rewarded.

[Note added 20 Feb 2018 - Since writing this article Find A Grave was purchased by ancestry.com. Subsequently, they have revamped and up-graded the site. It is a great addition to ancestry.com and it is easy to connect your ancestor in Find A Grave to your tree in ancestry.com!]

Photo of John Cullin's gravestone Added by: Kaci Cullins
11/22/2006 on findagrave.com