Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What is Your Birth Surname Henry Number?

From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1) Do you know what a "Henry Number" is? It is a descendant numbering system from a specific person.  The Wikipedia article for Genealogical Numbering Systems describes it as:

"The Henry System is a descending system created by Reginald Buchanan Henry for a genealogy of the families of the presidents of the United States that he wrote in 1935.[3] It can be organized either by generation or not. The system begins with 1. The oldest child becomes 11, the next child is 12, and so on. The oldest child of 11 is 111, the next 112, and so on. The system allows one to derive an ancestor's relationship based on their number. For example, 621 is the first child of 62, who is the second child of 6, who is the sixth child of his parents.


In the Henry System, when there are more than nine children, X is used for the 10th child, A is used for the 11th child, B is used for the 12th child, and so on. In the Modified Henry System, when there are more than nine children, numbers greater than nine are placed in parentheses."

(2)  Go to your first known ancestor with your birth surname in your software program and calculate your Henry Number from that person. Show each generation of your line of ancestors with your birth surname with their Henry numbers.

(3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.

Here's mine:

First of all, I am going to admit that I had never heard of the Henry System nor have I paid any attention to any other numbering system out there.  It's never too late to learn something new.  

My first known ancestor with my birth surname of Tapley is Hosea Tapley (1691-1778).  Here is my Tapley line with their Henry numbers:

1                                    Hosea Tapley (1691-1778)

13                                 Joel Tapley (abt 1720-abt 1790-1791)

132                               Newhampton Tapley (?-1807)

1321                             Sarah Tapley (1775-bet 1850-1860)*

13211                           George Washington Tapley (1814-aft 1880)

132112                        James Madison Tapley (1847-1912)

1321123                     Lusion Keman Tapley (1870-1935)

13211236                  Gilbert Earl Tapley (1928-2008)

132112362                Mary Elizabeth Tapley (1967-)  ** This is ME!

*Yes, I know something is different on my Descendents report.  There is a woman listed!  That is probably not proper in the serious genealogy research world, however, I can tell you that my family tree is not normal or "proper."  Sarah Tapley had her children out of wedlock.  It is/was well known who the father was, but Sarah never married and chose to give her children the Tapley name.  Therefore, the following generations are Tapleys... and not Swains.  

Also, Sarah had twins.  So I do not know if George Washington was born first or his brother, but the report chose George Washington.  

I actually think I should have been 13211264 because my father had children with a previous wife, but that's not how my software program figured it.  It seems the program has his wives out of order.  

I probably do not have a full listing of children for the earlier generations.  That issue, along with program fallacies such as mentioned above, I'm not sure the Henry Numbering System is for me.  However, it was good to get the exposure to something new.  

I use Family Tree Maker 2019 and used the Descendant Report for this information.  I could choose between four different numbering systems, and the only Henry was "Modified Henry."  I don't know what the modifications are.  

I'm headed to share this information now!  Happy Saturday!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Which Ancestors Would You Like to Talk To?

From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1) We sometimes find we have questions we would love to discuss with our ancestors - the who, what, when, why, and how questions that might help with our genealogy research.  

(2)  Which ancestors would you like to talk to?  What questions would you ask?

(3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.

Here's mine:

(1)  Of course, the first ancestor I'd like to question is my 2nd great grandfather, George W. Schwalls, Sr. (1837-1908).  I would ask him where in Germany he was from; who his parents and grandparents were; how he came to America and with whom; how did he become an American citizen; and how is he related to the George Michael Schwall that lived one county over?  Oh, and how did he meet his wife, my 2nd great grandmother, Lincelia E. Claxton (1839-1882)?

(2)  My grandmother, Nealie Drake Tapley, 1895-1970:  I would ask my grandmother who were all the people in the unmarked photos she left behind.  

3)  I would ask my 2nd great grandmother, Elizabeth (1824-aft 1880), married to George Washington Tapley (1814-aft 1880) what her maiden name was??

(4)  I would ask my 2nd great grandmother, Elizabeth Caroline Scoggins (1802-1880), married to Solomon Page (1800-1860) who her parents and grandparents were.

(5)  I would probably have some very personal questions for my 3rd great grandmother, Sarah Tapley (1775-bet 1850-1860).  Like how did she deal with having her twin boys (George Washington [1814-aft 1880] and James Marion [1814-1884]) out of wedlock and dealing with the treatment she must have received because of that?  And why she fell for a married man (Canneth Swain, 1770-1831)?  Why did she give the twins her last name when they grew up knowing who their father was?? And what was her mother's name?  

(6)  I would like to sit all the Hosea Tapleys down and ask them which one was which and who was married to whom already?!  Hosea Tapley, 1691-1778, my 6th great grandfather; Hosea Tapley Jr, bet 1708-1710 - 1770, my 6th great-uncle; Hosea Tapley III, abt 1730-1779, my 1st cousin, 6x removed; Hosea Green Tapley, 1767-1799, my 2nd cousin, 5x removed; and Hosea Tapley, dates unknown, my 3rd cousin, 4x removed, son of Hosea Green.  

(7)  My 2nd great grandparents, Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) and Sarah Schoonover (1840-1918):  I would ask them if they or their parents knew the biological parents of their adopted daughter, Bessie Alice Carter (1883-1960), my great-grandmother.  If so, who were they???  

 Those are the biggies.  I am sure I'm going to be the one in heaven running around with a clipboard and pen, from ancestor spirit to ancestor spirit, asking them a million questions!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Your Oldest Family Photos

From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1) What are the oldest family photos that you have?  Can you date them? Do  you know who is in them?

(2)  Show us one or more of your oldest photos and provide a date and the subjects (if you can).

(3)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.

Here's mine:

(1)  I believe this is my great-grandfather, James Madison Tapley, 1847-1912.  I have no idea when this picture was taken but it is certainly old.  I wonder if it's from the Civil War era. 

(2)  While I do not know who this person is, I believe he is from the Drake family, as this was one of several unlabeled pictures I found in my grandmother Nealie Drake Tapley's belongings. 

(3)  This picture is of my great-grandparents, James Madison "Jim" Tapley, 1847-1912, and Rebecca Page Tapley, 1844-1924.  I do not know when it was taken

but he passed away in 1912, so it was shortly before then.

(4)  My 2nd great-grandfather, Comfort Ranney, 1838-1920.

                                            

(5) My 3rd great-grandfather (Comfort's father), Luther Boardman Ranney, 1809-1890, and his second wife, Caroline Clapp, 1821-1895.  I don't actually have this picture in my possession; I found it on online.  It is very old.

If anyone reading this wants to take a shot at dating these picture for me, I would love that!