In my last entry I mentioned my 10th great grandfather Ferdinando Thayer. Ferdinando was born in England in 1625 and died in Mendon, Massachusetts in 1713. His parents were Thomas and Magery Thayer. He and his parents immigrated to America in 1637. In 1652 he married Huldah Hayward who was born in London. He was one of the major founders of the town of Mendon (1663). He either was in Mendon or left just prior to an Indian attack (part of the King Philip War) on Mendon that did much damage to the town. The picture shows a monument to the founders of Mendon. Ferdinando's name is the first name on the list.  ¶ 9:58 AM 0 comments

 
I have three ancestors that lived in North America in the 1650's to the 1700's. They were John Meader (9th great grandfather - New Hampshire), William Burgess (9th great grandfather - Maryland), and Ferdinando Thayer (10th great grandfather - Massachusetts). I just realized the other day (I had never thought about this before) that Sir Isaac Newton was alive and making major discoveries at this time and that New Hampshire, Maryland, and Massachusetts were Royal Colonies and these three ancestors and their families were subjects of the British Crown.  ¶ 10:19 AM 0 comments

 
In my entry of November 12, 2008 I mentioned a gg-grandfather on my father's side that was in the Norwegian-Swedish War of 1814. There is another Norwegian gg-grandfather that fought in that war. His name is Gudbrand Larson Bergsunlia. He is from my mother's side. His son Lars Gudbrandson Haselhaugen and his family came to the United States in 1877 and settled in Barron County, Wisconsin. What I have underlined in the picture is the information about him being in the army/war written in Norwegian.  ¶ 12:53 PM 1 comments

 
My gg-grandfather Lorenzo Dow Weinhart was in the egg and poultry business for almost thirty years in Ankeny, Iowa. I thought it was interesting when I found out that he was an exhibitor in the 1911 Iowa State Fair in the egg laying contest. He failed to place though.  ¶ 2:35 PM 0 comments

 
My g-grandparents, Sjur (Syvert) and Ingeborg Markusen, were among the first members of the Kenyon Hauge Church that was formed in the 1859. It is also quite possible that they were the first or one of the first marriages performed in the church. Their daughter Isabelle though was the first baptizism to take place in the church. It occurred June 21, 1861 (see picture).  ¶ 8:47 AM 1 comments

 
Sylvanus Knight who I mentioned in my last entry may be the only link between one of my branches of ancestors and ancestors of my wife though it is not biological. As I mentioned in my last entry Sylvanus, who was my ggg-grandmother's second husband, liked to tinker with mechanical things including inventing things. In 1850 he patented an invention for the improvement of boilers for steam engines. At that time he was living in Winchester, Wayne County, Indiana (see picture of patent). Also living near Winchester were ancestors of my wife. It is possible that maybe they knew each other or probably more likely knew of each other.  ¶ 8:23 AM 0 comments

 
Sylvanus Knight was my ggg-grandmother's (Beulah Fish Weinhart) second husband and step-father to my gg-grandfather Lorenzo Dow Weinhart. Sylvanus and Beulah were married in August, 1860 about six months after her first husband died. Sylvanus was very mechanically inclined. The picture shows part of his patent for improvements for an animal trap. This was dated December 12, 1865 and that at this time he along with Beulah were living in the city of Adel, in Dallas County, and in the state of Iowa.  ¶ 10:44 AM 2 comments