Saturday, January 15, 2011

Saturday Night Genalogy Fun

Randy Seaver of the Genea-Musings Blog always has interesting challenges and games for Saturday night  ...but I'm often either not home or have no time to participate.   But I'm right here tonight!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

My maternal grandfather, Kenney Marcus Comstock, would be 123 years if he were living.  Divided by 4 and rounded off that would be 31 for my roulette number

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?

Since I use RootsMagic4 for my genealogy, that was a quick and easy task.  And the ancestor corresponding to number 31 is Mary Rowena Hoskins, a great great grandmother.

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

1.  Mary was born 15 September 1918 in New York State.
2.  She married Peter B. Allen 28 Dec 1836 in Vigo County, Indiana.
3.  Peter and Mary moved to Arkansas before 1840, where they are found in the Territorial Census in Sevier County, a part which soon became Polk County.

I cannot stop with only three facts.  Peter and Mary Hoskins Allen lived the rest of their lives in Polk County, Arkansas.  They raised nine children - two of their sons fought for the Confederacy; one son for the Union Army.  Mary died 15 Mar 1885 and is buried Pleasant Grove Cemetery near Cove, Polk County.  I have never been able to find parents for Mary Rowena though it's likely a Silas Hoskins who married Peter Allen's sister Amanda in 1825 in Vigo County, Indiana, was Mary Rowena's brother.  The Allens had come to Vigo County from New York, Ontario County, circa 1818, so it is possible the families were previously acquainted.  There are no older Hoskins found in Vigo County - possibly they were orphaned.

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!

My comment is here.  Thanks for reading - it was fun!