Something Fun to Try

Here's one way to waste some hard earned online time: Try the World Names Profiler and see how surnames are distributed across the globe in the present day. Type in the surname you are interested in--let's say you are wondering about "Nevins". Make sure you click the SEARCH button after the name.

The page takes a minute to reload then you'll see a world map with shaded areas demonstrating the high/low ranges of families with that surname in a particular area. Click the darkest areas which are the heaviest density for that surname, the page will take a second to reload then you'll get a closer view. You can click down to general localities.

Now, I enjoyed doing this but even more fun was scrolling down the page past the maps to see the most common first names with that surname and the specific cities with the highest density of the surname. I learned about this from one of my favorite podcasts and it was more entertaining than I expected it to be!

Enjoy and have a great weekend! We'll be in Connecticut for a wedding.

DNA news

The DNA results of the test Chris submitted for the Ryan surname are dribbling in. I can't make heads or tails of any of it yet, but so far it looks somewhat promising that we might be able to link up to other Ryans that belong to our line. So far, the 12 marker and 25 marker test results are in and the 37 marker results are due in about 2 more weeks. As I said, I don't understand any of it just yet but the more markers, the better the chances are of making a close connection. I hope to devote some real time to studying this shortly.

So thanks again, Chris!

The Schooner Festival has been in high gear in Gloucester recently as shown by some great pictures by Jay Albert you can see at Cape Ann Images blog and the Good Morning Gloucester blog. So, of course this makes me think about schooners in our family history.

This is a picture of the schooner Concord, owned and operated by Captain John Duguo, an ancestor-in-law a couple of generations back who sailed about the same time as our direct ancestor Captain John Bentley. This picture puts in perspective for me the relative size of the ship to the mean and to the sea. Yikes. Those guys sure look small there and it's a wonder ANY of them ever came back from these fishing trips.

John Bentley was born in 1847 in County Galway Ireland. I have not yet found the siblings he surely must have had. To my knowledge, his parents Henry and Kate never came to America. He arrived in New York from Ireland before he was 18 years old, perhaps in 1863 when he would have been only 16--Ryan's age! He married Mary Catherine Costello (Kate) Christmas Day 1864 (17 years old if we accept the dates on the various records). Our ancestor Catherine Bentley was born 4 years later, the third of six children.

Captain Bentley and his father in law, Martin Costello, died at sea in February 1882 when he was only 35 years old. His wife was left with 5 living children, the youngest only 8. Kate Bentley died just 3 years later of "natural causes". By this time, the children were older and probably taking care of each other, but I've often wondered what life was like for them after they lost their father and then their mother in such a short time. An article in the October 1886 The Century Magazine called Gloucester Fishers states "Few men who fish on the Banks live to be old, and the result is there are comparatively few old fishermen in Gloucester." And many fatherless children.

Captain Bentley is our great great grandfather -- the same generation as the old fisherman Timothy Ryan. When I read The Perfect Storm I immediately thought of Captain John Bentley and have always felt a strong bond with this story.

102nd BKTF Day

Today is the 102nd Be Kind To Francis Day. I hope you all remembered to spoil someone you love.

Nanny is getting "analyzed"!! Imagine what she would say...

I won a contest today! I submitted this letter from Nanny for handwriting analysis and it was selected! This analysis will be broadcast in an upcoming Genealogy Gems podcast episode and I will keep you posted. Other samples have been very interesting to listen to and I'm looking forward to what this expert will have to say.

And here's what I had to say when I submitted the letter: Attached please find a candidate for handwriting analysis on your show. This is a rare example of a handwritten letter from my grandmother C. Paula Nevins Flynn. She normally used a typewriter so I have very few extended samples of her handwriting, so I treasure this especially. One reason I believe this is worthy of consideration is that I haven't heard any analysis of female ancestors yet and I hold my grandmother in very high esteem as a great example of a woman living before her time.She was born in 1910 and grew up in family who held the value of education very dear. She graduated from college in a time when this was relatively rare. Even more "appalling" was that she chose to work outside the home when my mother (her only child) was young (mid to late 1930s). I do believe it was a choice and not necessarily dictated by the Depression economy.Throughout her life, she made unconventional choices. Even in death, when she chose to be cremated knowing the Catholic church did not approve. Her Catholic roots and devotion ran deep yet she decided to forgo a "proper" Catholic funeral and burial due to her desire to be cremated.For this and other reasons I created and sponsor a graduation award to honor a graduate pursuing unconventional educational opportunities.I am so proud to have come from such a strong role model, but am curious about the parts of her personality I never got to know. Another reason I find this letter interesting is that it was written just post the great "No-Name" storm on the East coast in March 1993 which we all remember quite vividly. We got some 3-4 feet of snow dropped rather suddenly in mid March which "cancelled" my daughter's 5th birthday. Many memories arise from that weather event (hey--how about that podcast question/survey?) and this letter helps commemorate my grandmother and the storm.

Well Known to the Older School of Fishermen

This is the story of Timothy Ryan, our great great grandfather--the Ryan who emigrated from Ireland and started the whole story in this country. I don't know enough about him yet but I recently obtained his newspaper death notice which told me he was "well known to the older school of fishermen". I love that phrase!

Gloucester records indicate Timothy arrived in Boston in 1847 at the age of 20. He stated he was born in Tipperary. He made his way to Newfoundland and married Mary Ann Squires. It must have been the call of the sea because he was apparently a fisherman most of his adult life. About 5 years after his arrival in Boston, his first child Michael was born in Newfoundland closely followed by sister Elizabeth. Two years or so later, they were in Gloucester welcoming another baby Catherine.

Eight Ryan children were born to this family. William, our ancestor, was child number 5, born a few short months after his 2 1/2 year old sister Mary died.

By 1900 when he was probably in his early 70s he and his wife were living with their son James in Gloucester. They apparently moved to Portsmouth around this time perhaps with James' family. That has me curious--what was in New Hampshire for them?

Just a short time later, in 1903, Ann died and was brought "home" to Gloucester for burial. Timothy died suddenly while visiting his long time hometown of Gloucester in 1909.

The Gloucester Daily Times states: "He was a most industrious man, of great integrity, honorable in his dealings with all men, and gained the confidence and respect of those with whom he had business dealings."

A new blog you might like!

Ryan has started his own blog at http://dalpmania.blogspot.com and he'd be pleased to have you take a look and leave a comment if you like. It's meant to be from the perspective of a HS athlete and I think he does pretty well for himself.

First day of football season today so you can expect to be hearing about that! At least it's not unbearably hot today.