Sunday, January 14, 2018

"LONGEVITY," for #52ancestors challenge:

This year I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy challenge, "52 Weeks/52 Ancestors," which I also followed for two years 2014 & 2015.

We have relatively long-lived ancestors showing in our lines: my father's parents lived to mid-late 80s, my mother's mother/grandmother/great-grandmother lived in their 90s and 100s. I have every expectation of living to 100!

My longest-lived direct ancestor who lived over 100 is my 2nd great-grandmother, Harriet "Hattie" Philena ORMSBEE.  Here's a 1924 photo of her at 97 years of age, during a visit my grandmother took with her 5 children including my 2 year old mother, from Vancouver BC Canada to Englewood, New Jersey. She is the shortest in the photo, second from left.

My grandmother wrote on the back, identifying each person and their relation to her. I love how this photo shows relationships here. My 2 year old mother is playing with her mother's jewellery, and Madee and GreatGrandma Graves were clearly talking about something while waiting for the photo to be taken. I suspect Madee's husband, my great-grandfather, was taking the photograph.

From left to right:
"Madee" Clara Augusta "Gussie" GRAVES
      b. 5 Nov 1857 Jordan NY, d. 30 Oct 1955 Englewood NJ

"GreatGrandma Graves" Harriet "Hattie" Philena ORMSBEE
      b. 28 May 1827 Manlius NY, d. 20 Aug 1929, Englewood NJ

"Mary" [my mother] 2 years old in this photo

"Mother" - my Grandmother known as GrandPete,
      b. 19 May 1880 Syracuse NY, d. 23 Oct 1973 Burnaby BC Canada

I have a number of long-lived persons in their 90s as well, even back in the 1700s with baptism dates with birthdates as well. Of course, there are also a number of women who died young, likely in childbirth, as well as men who died before 50, perhaps in accidents or due to illnesses.

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If any of these are ancestors of yours, I would be happy to hear from you with your comments or corrected information. I am also very happy to share any details I might have that are not shown on this post. Contact information calewis at telus dot net is found at the very bottom of this blog.

Blooger has a glitch which is stopping me from replying to your comments, but please do know that I appreciate your comments very much. You make my day! Thanks so much for stopping by to read my family blog. 

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Welcome!

Family, friends, and others - I hope you enjoy these pages about our ancestors and their lives. Genealogy has become somewhat of an obsession, more than a hobby, and definitely a wonderful mystery to dig into and discover. Enjoy my writing, and contact me at celia.winky at gmail dot com if you have anything to add to the stories. ... Celia Lewis