Patricia Craig Johnson --- Searching for My Ancestors --- Sharing My Life Stories

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Thursday, August 2, 2007

A Red Letter Day With News From Ohio!!


Little did I know when I started this blog at 2am this morning that today's mail would bring my first success (actual documentation) in solving the unknown heir of JohnVan Buskirk. My theory, after months of analyzing censuses, marriages, deaths, and the Internet, is that the unknown child of John Van Buskirk, was a daughter named, Elizabeth. Elizabeth married two men, Charles Bannon and James Davis, in Pickaway Co Ohio. I narrowed her children down to a male (John) and a female (Sarah) Bannon, and a male (William) and a female (Nancy Jane) Davis.

Today I received a death certificate for one of the heirs that quit claimed his share of the Van Buskirk farm in 1870 - William Bannon of Auglaize Co Ohio. William died in 1922 and I crossed my fingers that someone knew when he died who his parents were. It was a gamble that paid off, his sister was the informant and she verified my theory that Willam's father was John Bannon. John Bannon was the child of Elizabeth Van Buskirk. I still have to prove the other three of Elizabeth's children. However, I can breathe a sigh of relief today, I am on the right track.

You may wonder why I am so intent on proving this theory. After all, Elizabth Van Buskirk is not my ancestress. Her youngest half brother is my 2nd great grandfather. Two things cause me to pursue this: I am naturally nosy as all detectives are, and I feel a deep commitment to solving the story of female ancestors. They are so often forgotten by history. Their identity was almost always dependent on being someone's daughter, sister, wife or mother. In Elizabeth's case, she was also an heir to her father's farm, and this led to finding her family and her story.

Keep checking back to see if my theory is 100% correct. Want to make any wagers?

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