Deconstructing the Tabele Family

This discovery is actually a couple years old, but I wanted to document it here.  I also have an important new lead to discuss.  It is a nice example of discovering new ancestors whom you never knew about before.  For our family, that's pretty…

Who Were the Parents of Stephen W. King (1824-1865)?

  In 2016, I wrote a series of three articles published in the Minnesota Genealogist regarding my 2GG Fred A. King (1857-1920).((Steven Nelson Jonnes, “Searching for the Parents of Fred A. King of Saginaw, Michigan,” Minnesota Genealogist,…
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Are You Sure That’s How You Spell Your Name?

The Minnesota Genealogist just published a short item in their Autumn 2018 issue about the spelling of my surname: Jonnes.  We were always one-N Joneses going back to the 17th century.  Indeed, our original patrilineal immigrant ancestor was…

Redoubt #10 at Yorktown

Okay, so here's our first sojourn over to my father's side of the family tree.  Sit up, Jonnes cousins! One of my father's favorite ancestors was Sgt. William Brown (1761-1804), arguably the most illustrious soldier in our family history. …

Climbing Houghton Hill

It's always cool when you discover a place named after one of your ancestors.  Manhattan has Vermilyea Ave. and Ross County, Ohio has Jones Road, for example. So, here's a new one: Houghton Hill in Homer, New York.  Homer is 30 miles due…

Probate Discovery: Fred A. King (1857-1920)

On our recent trip to northern Minnesota, we stopped in the Cass County Courthouse in Walker, Minnesota and obtained a copy of Fred A. King’s probate file.  Fred is my 2nd great-grandfather (2GG).  This was an overdue discovery, given…
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Road Trip to Red River Valley II

Our road trip this summer to the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota was a tremendous success.  We added 3 Norwegian ancestors to our family tree! Background:  Our Bonn ancestry is based upon a connection to the village of Bøn,…
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Road Trip to Red River Valley I

Genealogy on the Move:  Genealogy road trips are a marvelous, fun way to conduct research.  Nothing can replace the intimacy of seeing a family homestead, former residence, or grave site in person. Road trips can also be remarkably productive. …