52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #30 Walter McFarlane, A Reluctant Farmer

The challenge of life on a farm in 1885 is hard enough for me to grasp, but to my grandchildren it would seem like the dark ages. Imagine no cell phone, no computer, no electricity, no gas and no running water. The nearest phone was likely miles away. The outhouse might have an old mail order catalog, not soft toilet paper. Water would be carried from the nearest source and wood chopped for heating and cooking. There were no big red tractors, no big green harvesters, no cars or pickups. Candles and lanterns were the source of indoor lighting.

The more family members could share the work, the better. Fields needed to be plowed, sown and harvested. Crops had to be taken to market. A garden provided food and some of the yield would need to be canned for use throughout the year. Animals had to be fed, watered and cared for. Some had to be slaughtered for food. Fences, wagons and tools required repair. Meals had to be prepared and dishes washed. Laundry, sewing and cleaning were constant tasks.

Just thinking about the amount of work is overwhelming. My great-grandfather, Walter McFarlane, must certainly have been overwhelmed when he inherited the Wisconsin family farm at the tender age of 21. Within the past three years the rest of his family had died: first his older brother, then his father, Joseph, and finally his mother. Unfortunately, Walter despised farming, according to family legend. But was it the work he hated or was it the solitude?

Suddenly he was all alone and grieving his family. He would have been exhausted trying to do everything that needed to be done. Did he hire a field hand or household help? Could he even have afforded to do so? Did he have time to go courting and find a wife? If so, he was not successful.

Walter's mother, Margareth Mitchell McFarlane died in October of 1885. In February of 1888, Walter sold the Monroe County farm. He had farmed on his own for less than 30 months when he threw in the towel.

Walter was born on July 20, 1864, so was not yet 24 when he walked away from the farm to make a new life. The next few years are a mystery to me. By 1896, Walter was living in Chicago and working as a motorman on the city's streetcars.  How did a Wisconsin farmer become a Chicago motorman? That seems like quite a change.

On April 07, 1897, he married Mary Ellen Vossler in a ceremony performed by the pastor of a Presbyterian Church. Mary Ellen's brother, John Vossler, worked with Walter on the streetcars and roomed in the same boarding house as Walter. It's possible that Mary Ellen also lived there. The couple certainly met through John or their living situation.

Quick drop page from Full Circle, ClubScrap

Walter and Mary Ellen had two daughters: Ruth in 1898 and Margaret in 1900. Their comfortable life came to an end between 1904 and 1905. Walter was injured at work and was left brain-damaged. After healing, he was able to do only menial work. He briefly returned to farming in Bartlett, Illinois. He also worked in a factory and was a night watchman at the historic Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

Walter McFarlane died in Chicago on August 21, 1922, and was buried in an unmarked grave at Rosehill Cemetery.

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: #29 Joseph McFarlane of Wisconsin in the Lost and Found

Found: One Joseph McFarlane

Location: Monroe County, Wisconsin

Goal: Reunite Joseph with his family

 

Identifying Statistics:

•     Born in Scotland between 1814 and 1820
•     Married between 1850 and 1860, probably in Wisconsin, to Margareth Mitchell
•     Died in 1884 or 1885

Joseph had three documented children, only one of whom had known issue:

•     Joseph McFarlane, born about 1858, died December 17, 1882, in or near Monroe County.
•     Walter McFarlane, born July 20, 1864, in Monroe County. Died August 21, 1922, in Chicago.
•     William McFarlane, born about 1867, died young.

Joseph arrived in New York City on the ship John Kerr on July 28, 1849. Listed with him were Ann, age 31, and Elizabeth, age 17, while he was listed as age 30. Also on board was Robert, age 48. None of these persons have been found living with Joseph in Wisconsin. However, the next page is missing from the 1850 census and that might show differently if it becomes available.

In the census of 1850, Joseph McFarlane, age 30, was a farmer in Fort Winnebago Township, Columbia County, Wisconsin. On October 29, 1850, in the Circuit Court of Columbia County, he filed his Declaration of Intent to become a naturalized citizen of the United States. He stated that his age was about 32, that he sailed from Glasgow, Scotland in May, 1849, and that he arrived in New York in July, 1849.

By 1860, Joseph had married Margaret Mitchell and was living in Jefferson Township, Monroe County, Wisconsin, with a stated age of 45. Joseph bought and sold land in Jefferson and Sheldon Townships. In 1875, he described his house as part of proving his homestead claim:

... a log house, one story high, 15 x 20 feet with shingle roof, two floors, one outside door, 3 windows and is a comfortable house to live in.

Joseph sold all his land to his wife on December 26, 1884. That may have been his strategy to avoid probate or the deed could have been forged after his death by his wife for the same reason. Margareth mortgaged a portion of the farm on January 10, 1885. When Margareth died in October, 1885, she was a widow, which places Joseph McFarlane's death in 1884-1885, most likely around the dates of these land transactions.

If you've lost this Joseph McFarlane, please leave a comment so we can connect.

Autosomal DNA Matching 102

In the last post you met my cousin Mary, who has DNA tested at Ancestry and uploaded her results to the free GEDMatch site. We know our common ancestors, William and his wife. But I also mentioned a "gotcha".

Mary and I are related through my mother. Our matching DNA on chromosome 2 is from 74188298 to 105591639. But I can't assume that everyone who matches me in those segments are matches on my mother's side. It's so very important to look at chromosome matching in detail after you have identified a known relationship. GEDMatch is just one tool that will help do that.

Another good tool is DNAGedcom. It is a free site that works only with files from FTDNA and 23AndMe. Note that it cannot work with Ancestry files.

DNAGedcom will pull my DNA information and my matches right from my FTDNA account and will upload the files to the website. I can then run a report that will graphically show my matches for each chromosome. These graphics are far better than GEDMatch and FTDNA for seeing the shared segments.

Here's a part of my DNAGedcom report for chromosome 2. I can see the name and email address for each person who matches me at FTDNA. If they have put surnames on file, I can hover over their information to see those surnames. I can also hover to see the names of the people who match me in common with that person.

Mary is not on this report, as she has not uploaded her results to FTDNA. The large fuchsia line at the top is for my Dad. The yellow boxes show the areas where I have matching DNA with Mary.

Notice the top yellow box. I have matches that are up to 85044774 that match my Dad (fuchsia on the left), yet are in the range where I match Mary. Then there are several matches starting at 84408203 that do not match my Dad. Is the matching DNA random, or IBS (identical by state)? Or is there a real match?

Is part of my match with Mary IBS? I need more confirmed matches to know if the DNA matches are real or random. The point is to not make assumptions based on one match. Keep working with your matches to find more confirmed cousins and to build your knowledge of what your DNA reveals.