Branches and Leafs

For those of you who keep up with my genealogical diggings and family history research:

Since this project was first started, back in October 2007, it has grown from a simple quest to do a simple pedigree, to an enormous, time consuming project. The tree goes back sixteen generations and includes nearly 1300 people. But there are still a lot of things I need to get and a lot of information I need to find. So I've decided to make up a to-do list for my genealogy and family history quest. This is for me as much as it is for everyone out there who can help me.

*Note: When I say "descendants" I mean all the information, such as names with birth/death date/place, including their spouses and all their information as well. And any step/adopted children (and parents). Pictures would be wonderful, too!


The List:

1. NOLAN family. I still need to get all the descendants of the Nolan children. I have most of Patricia's family but I have very little on Constance's family or on Anna Bell's family.

2. NALLY family. Again, I still need all the descendants of Patrick NALLY and Sara MULLIGAN. I'm also trying to figure out how all the Nallys in the are related. I know they are, I just don't know how.
2.5. FLANNERY family. One of Patrick and Sara's daughters married into the Flannery family. I am supposed to meet with one of her sons this month (and hopefully many other family members) to fill in those gaps. I'm so excited for that to happen!! It will really help my tree.

3. GREENE family. Apparently Uncle Richard (Wendy's dad's brother) did some research and has a family tree. I haven't been able to get a hold of him about it, though. I would love to get my hands on this information. It would certainly be a gold mine of information. I have next to nothing about the Greene family, just Wendy, her siblings, her parents, their parents. That's it. I don't even have his dad's siblings or his parents' siblings. Nothing. So these records - at least just the file - would be greatly useful.

4. OLSON family. I did figure out how the Olson family on Dan's mother's side is related to the Olson family on his father's side. Here goes - Dan's paternal grandfather's sister (that's his grand aunt) married Arnold Olson. They had six children, one of whom was John Olson. John married Dan's maternal grandmother and had three children with her (Dan's mom's [half] siblings). So Dan's (half) aunt and two (half) uncles are also his second cousins. Meaning they are a generation ahead through his mother but the same generation through his father.
Anyhow, what I don't have is information on this family. I know John Olson's birth date/place and who his parents are but I don't know anything at all about his siblings and their children and grandchildren (and possibly great grandchildren). Dan's aunt was supposed to get us this information last month but we haven't heard back from her yet. She does have two little children so I'm sure she's busy. But either way, I still need that information.

5. SKARR family. As usual, I am still confused about this family. I've been seeing conflicting reports which is really not helping me. I hope to resolve this soon, but I honestly don't know how to go about doing it. Hopefully we'll get there soon though.

6. REDCAY family. I'm trying to find all the descendants of my great grandparents - my maternal grandmother's parents. Of their nine children, five proceeded them in death, three as children. And only four of them had children. I have the information for two of their daughters who had children but not of their sons, two of whom had children.
I'm also trying to find the birth certificate of the eldest Redcay sibling. Here's a bit of the story: My great grandparents were married in 1912. I haven't been able to find their marriage certificate anywhere, despite the fact that they were both born and raised here, as were all of their children. My great grandfather was married previously (or at least just obtained a marriage license) in 1906. What became of his first wife, I do not know. I assume she got married but I never found her again after the 1910 census, when she is living right next door to my great grandfather, with her parents, as she had all her life. Anyhow, my great grandparents first child was born Dec 1909. Their next child was born Jan 1912. The eldest child's birth certificate is a mystery, as I haven't been able to find it. She appears no where in the 1910 census. She isn't with my great grandmother or my great grandfather or his first wife. She's no where.
In Pennsylvania, then and still now, there is a three day wait period for marriage licenses. Once they are obtained they are not valid for three days so a couple can not just get a license and get married. Maryland, however, does not have a wait period. At that time, since it was considered a sin to have a child out of wedlock, many couples ran down to Maryland to get married so the child would be born in married parents. This seems to be what my great grandparents did since they were married in 1912 and their second (or maybe first) child was born in January 1912 and their marriage license is not found in the state of Pennsylvania.
But now we have the question of the first child, who was born in 1909. She is present in the 1920 and 1930 census, although she is living with her maternal grandmother in one of those reports. To make matters even more interesting, her birth certificate is no where to be found, at least not under the last name of Redcay. So I need to investigate this further. She may have been born and immediately taken to live with an aunt or uncle, someone who was married and could care for the child without the social stigma and was returned once my great grandparents were married. Or maybe she was adopted and just never told. She may have been a child in the streets who was taken in by my great grandparents. She may actually be their niece (or even cousin) whose parents died and thus was taken in by my great grandparents. I have no idea so I must investigate further. Of course, this means I have to get up to Harrisburg and with Dan's work schedule I don't see that happening any time soon.

7. BAUER and BOWER families. Yet another connection I am desperate to find, assuming there is one. My paternal grandmother's mother was born a Bower. The furthest person I have in her tree is John Heller Bauer. My (half) aunt married a Bauer, whose family originated in Pennsylvania, just like my other Bower family. While I have no proof of any connection, I have a feeling there is one and I'm determined to discover it, assuming it exists.

8. BUZA family. Dan's great grandfather may have been raised a Greene, but he was born a Buza. All I know of his birth family is that his mother was from Poland and his father was from Canada. They came to the states where Frank, Dan's great grandfather, was born. When he just two years old, his father died. His mother was very close to the Greene family and there is some evidence to suggest she married into the family. While I do intend to research the Greene family and learn more about the family that raised Frank, I very much want to know who his birth family is, who is father is. I know next to nothing about either of them so I'm hoping I can find something. I'm sure someone out there is researching the Buza line and probably wondering about what ever happened to this lost child. Hopefully we will find each other and be able to trade lots of information!


So for the time being, that is my to-do list. I hope to get it complete soon so I can really get into the book I'm making Mae. It's going to be huge!! And probably very costly to print and bind, but that's okay. Genealogy and family history is worth it!