Week 11 (10 Mar 2025 – 16 Mar 2025):
The theme for Week 11 is "Brick Wall." What ancestor is giving you fits in your research? What ancestor had been a brick wall, but you’ve broken through? Or, how about an ancestor who built brick walls for a living?

The Life of Sarah Roberta Stilltson McCurdy

1816-1898

Early Life in Maine

Sarah Roberts Stilltson was born on June 28, 1816, in Maine, shortly after it had separated from Massachusetts but before it achieved statehood. Little is known about her early life or her parents, who remain unidentified in historical records. She grew up during a time when Maine was developing rapidly, with its economy centered around shipbuilding, lumber, and fishing industries.

Marriage and Family

At age 20, Sarah married James McCurdy on November 10, 1836. James, born in 1808, was eight years her senior. Their union would prove fruitful and enduring, lasting over five decades until James's death in 1889.

Together, Sarah and James raised a large family of eight children:

• Elizabeth (born 1837, died 1930)
• Olivia Upham (born 1839, died 1933)
• Eunice (born 1841)
• Janet G. (born 1844)
• Lucinda (born 1846)
• Ebenezer (born 1848, died 1927)
• Mary (born 1849, died 1938)
• Joanna (born 1851)

Life in Nova Scotia

At some point after their marriage, Sarah and James relocated from Maine to Nova Scotia, Canada. The exact date of their migration is not recorded, but by 1871, census records confirm their residence in Nova Scotia when Sarah was 55 years old.

The McCurdy family was part of a significant migration pattern during this period, when many Americans moved to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. This migration was often motivated by economic opportunities, family connections, or the promise of available land.

Later Years

Sarah continued to live in Nova Scotia throughout her later years. Census records document her presence there in 1881 (approximate age 65) and again in 1891 (age 75), specifically in Colchester County.

Throughout these years, Sarah was recorded as married, living alongside her husband James until his death in 1889. She likely witnessed her children grow to adulthood, marry, and have families of their own. Her two eldest daughters, Elizabeth and Olivia, would go on to live remarkably long lives, passing away in 1930 and 1933 respectively, well into their 90s.

Legacy

Sarah Roberts Stilltson McCurdy passed away on June 11, 1898, at the age of 81, just seventeen days shy of her 82nd birthday. She died in Nova Scotia, having lived there for at least the final three decades of her life.

As a mother of eight children, Sarah left behind a significant legacy. She lived through a period of substantial historical change, including the American Civil War and Canadian Confederation in 1867. Though the specific details of her daily life remain largely unknown, census records and family histories preserve the outline of a life characterized by family, migration, and perseverance.

Sarah's story represents that of many women of her era whose individual experiences, though not prominently recorded in historical documents, formed the backbone of family and community life in nineteenth-century North America.

 

“write a narrative of the life of _____ using the following facts:” prompt. Claude.ai, Claude 3.7 Sonnet version, Anthropic, March 2025, https://claude.ai/chat

 

Week 8:
The theme for Week 8 is “Migration.” Almost everyone has ancestors who came from somewhere else. Who is someone in your family tree who moved away from where they were born? How did they get there? How far did they move?

I have been considering writing a story about the journey our ancestors took in the 1700s to immigrate to the United States from Europe. While researching, I came across a diary from the 1750s written by Gottlieb Mittelberger, a schoolmaster and organist. Mittelberger documented his experiences to inform potential emigrants about the hardships they would face.

His journey began in May 1750, when he departed from Enzweihingen, Germany. He traveled down the Neckar and Rhine Rivers to Holland, then sailed across the North Sea to England. After spending nine days in England, he boarded another ship to Philadelphia, arriving on October 10th.

The trip to from Enzweihingen to Holland took nearly seven weeks due to 36 stoppages for customs-house inspections. The voyage from Holland to Philadelphia lasted 15 weeks. Mittelberger describes a delay of five to six weeks in Holland while waiting for a ship, as the demand for passage to England was so high that each passenger was allotted only a cramped 2x6-foot space. Depending on the winds, the voyage from Holland to England could take anywhere from 8 days to 4 weeks, while the journey from England to Pennsylvania ranged from 7 to 15 weeks.

Mittelberger spares no details in describing the horrors onboard:

"But during the voyage, there is on board these ships terrible misery—stench, fumes, horror, vomiting, many kinds of sea-sickness, fever, dysentery, headache, heat, constipation, boils, scurvy, cancer, mouth-rot, and the like—all of which come from old and sharply salted food and meat, also from very bad and foul water, so that many die miserably."

He also notes the lack of provisions and the overwhelming presence of lice. With no ordained minister on board, Mittelberger took on the role himself, leading prayer meetings on deck when weather permitted and even baptizing five children in distress.

As conditions worsened, tempers flared among the passengers, leading to violence. Many perished and were thrown overboard. He recounts a particularly tragic story of a woman who was about to give birth during a storm. Unable to survive the harsh conditions, she was pushed through a porthole and cast into the sea. Mittelberger personally witnessed at least 32 children die, mostly from measles and smallpox.

Those fortunate enough to remain healthy received a warm meal three times a week, though the food was barely edible. The water served with meals was often described as “black, thick, and full of worms.” The ship's biscuits were infested with red worms and even contained spiders’ nests.

Upon arrival in Philadelphia, only passengers who could pay their fare were allowed to leave the ship. The rest remained onboard until they were "purchased." Some, particularly the sick, were held for weeks, often perishing at the dock.

Mittelberger details the costs and conditions of the journey. Fares were only paid upon arrival, meaning those who couldn’t afford the trip were forced into indentured servitude. If a spouse died at sea after the halfway point of the journey, the surviving spouse was required to pay their fare. Orphaned children were indentured until the age of 21.

One particularly heartbreaking story is that of Mr. Daser, who traveled with his wife and eight children. During the voyage, he was robbed of all his money and forced to sell his possessions at public auction. A dishonest creditor lent him money only to call in the loan two days later. Fortunately, a kind man named Captain Von Diemer stepped in to help, preventing Daser from being sent to debtors’ prison.

Mittelberger notes that an average of 20 to 24 ships arrived in Philadelphia each fall during his four years in the country, bringing around 25,000 immigrants. He claims many were deceived into emigrating and sheds light on the rampant human trafficking of the time.

The journal goes on to describe life in Philadelphia, the landscape, the community and the economy of this haven of freedom. While he says early on in his work that many Germans regret their choice to emigrate he complains that the English gentlemen have already bought up all the land and are reselling for massive profit and the poor Germans can not afford to live there.

This journal can be read in it’s entirety on the Library of Congress website.

 

Week 7:
The theme for Week 7 is “Letters & Diaries.” Not much beats finding a letter or diary written by an ancestor. Do you have any in your family? Who wrote them? If you don’t have any letters or diaries, which ancestor do you wish had left some?

I’m always so jealous of the people who have family diaries and letters passed down through generations. If only… well my people didn’t seem to keep the information in writing so I have been left with unsubstantiated rumors that I am trying to find any documentation of. If I could have any letters passed down from only one of my Archibald ancestors I would choose John Archibald 1693-1751. I would ask him to journal his voyage across the Atlantic from Northern Ireland in to New Hampshire. My ideal journal of his would include why he decided to leave home to establish a new life an ocean away and did he stay in touch with kinfolk back in Ireland. I’d also want to read about the voyage; how long did it take, how big and crowded was the ship, did they lose any other travelers during the voyage. But mainly I want to know if he was happy.

 

“write a narrative of the life of _____ using the following facts:” prompt. ChatGPT, ChatGPT4.0 version, Open AI, February 2024, https://chat.openai.com/

 

Week 12 (17 Mar 2025-23 Mar 2025):
The theme for Week 12 is "Historic Event." Historic events aren’t always world or national events. Technically, any event that happened in the past is a historic event. How was an ancestor affected by an event, either large or local? (One that pops into my mind is my grandmother, her parents, and siblings barely escaping their house during the Great Flood of 1913.)

The date was September 5, 1881. Michigan's Thumb region had been in drought conditions since April, and by mid-August, multiple forest fires had been reported throughout the area. The extreme dryness, rising temperatures, and lingering ecological damage from the devastating Port Huron Fire of 1871 created the perfect conditions for disaster.

On September 5, the Times Herald reported:
"The drouth still continues severe throughout a large part of the country. In western New York and adjoining sections of Pennsylvania, there has been great destruction of property by forest fires, and at some points, railroad trains have been obliged to plunge through floods of flames."

By September 6, the Lapeer Clarion detailed the impact of the fires:
"Wednesday, the forest fires burned the dwelling of John Storum in Deerfield, nine miles north of this city. Mr. Storum loaded his furniture onto a wagon when he realized he could not save his house and drove with his family to safety. The neighborhood has been almost panic-stricken, fearing the destructive flames that have already caused significant damage. Miles of fences have burned, and many roads through the woods are now impassable. Settlers have been battling the fire night and day."

The same edition of the Times Herald warned that a northerly wind was approaching, potentially bringing cooler weather but also worsening the smoke from burning forests in Sanilac and Huron counties.

While St. Clair County was not initially listed among the hardest-hit areas, reports confirmed that fires had caused devastation across Michigan, particularly north and west of Port Huron. Communication with affected regions was severed due to downed telegraph lines. Train travel was halted, with routes blocked at Deckerville and Croswell. Port Hope was nearly consumed by flames, forcing evacuations, and thick smoke reduced visibility to near darkness. Fires continued to spread across St. Clair County, destroying property, leaving many homeless, and putting towns like Reese, Vassar, and Millington in imminent danger. In East Saginaw, flames destroyed Porter Station and threatened Wheeler and Hemlock. Near Saginaw City, barns burned, and fires rapidly approached the river. The situation was dire for farmers, with immense losses of crops and livestock.

By September 7, newspapers began publishing urgent calls for disaster relief. The mayor of Port Huron called a public meeting to organize immediate aid efforts. In Port Sanilac, residents fought desperately to save their town, hauling water to its outskirts and keeping constant watch. Smoke choked the air, and burning cinders rained down on the village, quickly extinguished before they could ignite further destruction. One family’s oral history recounts how their great-grandmother survived the firestorm by jumping into a well and remaining there until the danger had passed.

At the same time, in Dansville, New York, the first chapter of the American Red Cross was being formed. Clara Barton had met with Michigan Senator Omar D. Conger, a Port Huron native, in May of 1881, and soon after, committees drafted a constitution for the American Association of the Red Cross. The Articles of Incorporation were officially filed on October 7, 1881, outlining the organization's mission:
"To organize a system of national relief and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caused by war, pestilence, famine, and other calamities."

The newly established American Red Cross was immediately mobilized for its first-ever disaster relief effort: responding to the Great Thumb Fire of 1881. The organization coordinated donations of clothing, food, household goods, and cash, distributing aid throughout Sanilac, Huron, and Tuscola counties—bringing relief to those who had lost everything in the fire.

 

 

Week 6: (3 Feb 2025 – 9 Feb 2025)
The theme for Week 6 is “Surprise.” What ancestor dealt with a surprising thing in their life? Any stories of surprise birthday parties? How about the most surprising thing you’ve found or something in a surprising place?

For this week’s topic of ‘surprise’ we will look back into Percy and Lessie (Celestia) Archibald’s children. In my early days of research, I didn’t necessarily keep good records and didn’t really try to document events. Then as I started to document I realized I needed burial information for Percy. I had some census but didn’t have his death info yet. He was listed in the 1900 but by 1910 Lessie was listed as a remarried. I made a phone call down to Lott Cemetery (the city cemetery) in Waycross, Georgia to see if they had any information about Percy since Georgia did not keep death records yet. I was very blessed to have a great employee answer the phone and I asked her saying that “I’m looking to see if my Great Great Grandfather Percy Archibald is buried there – it would have been between 1900 and 1910.” She put me on hold and went to look in her data. After a few brief moments she came back on the line with an odd response. Not only did she find my Percy Archibald 1867-1908 but she found another buried right next to him with the years 1906-1909. What! Surprise there was a child also named Percy Archibald! Here Percy had a son Percy Junior that nobody in the later generations knew about. This little 3-year-old had a such brief life and while I don’t know much more about him other than he’s my Great Grand Uncle. I am proud to introduce little Percy Jr. to the world of 2025.

 

Week 9:
The theme for Week 9 is “Family Secret.” Have you uncovered a family secret? (A reminder that you do not need to post anything publicly.) A secret doesn’t have to be big or negative. (Like my grandpa not telling us grandkids that he was the one playing Santa at the Christmas party.)

Due to the nature of this document I will not be revealing any particular Family Secrets but will be addressing how to deal with them when we do discover them. Family Secrets tend to come out in the process of researching your family tree. Even before DNA analysis was readily available, previous marriages or children born out of wedlock might have surfaced during a thorough investigation of a family lineage.

To say that DNA analysis has changed the way we go about doing genealogical research is not necessarily true, as a good researcher uses both DNA and documentation, but DNA does reveal those secrets hidden behind our paper trails.

Some secrets I have found include a child born and who passed away at the age of 3 in the early 1900s. while this may not have been a purposely kept secret, by the time I came along and started looking into the family, this child had been left out of the family stories.  Another example I found was a family where the first wife of a gentleman passed shortly after childbirth. The man quickly remarried, and all the child’s later documents listed the stepmother as the mother, as she was the one who raised the child. While we cannot be certain whether the child knew about their birth mother, the current generations of the family had not received this information. I have also come across previous engagements that never solemnized into marriage for a myriad of reasons.

Of course, with discussing Family Secrets, it is difficult to avoid the big secrets such as adoptions that were never spoken of.  Now, with DNA analysis we are discovering more cases where our “Nurture family” may not be our “Nature family”

I choose to use the terms “nurturing family” and “natural family” when discussing family secrets involving adoption or cases where a child was born to different parents than those who raised them. These terms are not meant to pass judgment but rather to acknowledge that we are all a product of both nature and nurture.

To illustrate how both nature and nurture shape us, according to my DNA Traits, I am genetically unlikely to play an instrument, a trait I inherited from my mother’s DNA. However, my mother grew up singing after hearing her uncle sing in church, joined choirs at school, and decided that she wanted to be like her teacher, ultimately becoming a music teacher. Because of her influence, I took piano lessons and played saxophone in the marching band. This demonstrates how both genetic predisposition and environmental factors contribute to our skills and interests.

When I work with people analyzing their DNA and discovering that there was an NPE (Non-Parental Event) I emphasize that who they are today results from both the natural and nurturing families. We should not judge our ancestors for decisions they made or actions they took because we do not know their reasons. However, we do know that their choices ultimately led to our existence.

When we think of starting families today – it’s very possible that someone you know has used or was conceived through fertility treatments, whether via IVF, other medical interventions, or surgical procedures. Infertility is not a modern issue; it has existed throughout history.  The first historically rumored case of artificial insemination dates back to the 1400’s, while the first documented case was in the 1790s. Such treatments often occurred discreetly, as people feared social judgment. Before medical advancements, some individuals also conceived children through alternative means, including with a different partner. It is also worth remembering that, historically, women’s primary societal role was to bear children, as they were often unable to work outside the home. As gender roles have evolved, discussions about fertility and reproductive choices have become less taboo.

When handling the potential emotional impact of family discoveries I take the ‘secret’ to the next closest relative who may be affected and ask how they want to handle the information. I allow them time to sit with the information before discussing how they would like to approach the topic. However, I make it clear that I will not lie to maintain a secret. If I am asked directly about something, I will divulge the information, but I will not broadcast or proactively share it if the individual chooses to keep it private. This approach has proven effective for the families involved. Eventually, most people find out, whether through their own research or due to medical inquiries.

I recognize that some people could be emotionally impacted by these discoveries, and I am always respectful when discussing these secrets. I encourage individuals to remember that we are all shaped by the generations that came before us—no matter what.

Week 5: (27 Jan 2025 – 2 Feb 2025)
The theme for Week 5 is “Challenge.” Which ancestor has been challenging to research? What ancestor faced an enormous challenge?

Walter Scott Archibald was born in May 1835 in Truro, Colchester, Nova Scotia, Canada, into the well-regarded Archibald family. His father, Alexander Lackie Archibald, and mother, Christiana Nicholson Cock, provided him with a strong foundation in a region deeply rooted in Scottish heritage and agricultural traditions. Growing up in Nova Scotia, Walter likely experienced the hardships and resilience required for life in a rural, developing community.

In 1859, at the age of 24, Walter married Olivia Upham McCurdy in Nova Scotia. Olivia, born in 1839, came from a lineage that emphasized education and civic duty. Together, they built a family and eventually had nine children: Frank Ira, Alfred Gordon, Alice, Percy Scott, Mary Elizabeth, James McCurdy, Sarah, Ettie Mary, and Roy F. Archibald. Providing for such a large family would have been both a joy and a challenge, requiring Walter to seek out opportunities beyond his birthplace.

By 1861, Walter and his family were still residing in Colchester, Nova Scotia. However, like many others of his time, he sought better economic prospects and migrated to the United States. By 1870, he had settled in Port Huron, St. Clair County, Michigan, an area bustling with trade, particularly in the lumber and shipping industries. The move likely presented challenges—adapting to a new country, establishing himself in a competitive economy, and ensuring stability for his growing family.

On August 31, 1871, Walter was mentioned in The Times Newspaper in Port Huron, indicating some level of community involvement or recognition. The nature of this mention is unclear, but it suggests he was an active participant in local affairs. However, his time in Michigan was not permanent. By 1881, he had relocated again, this time to Essex, Ontario, Canada, where census records place him and his family. This move might have been motivated by economic shifts, family connections, or changing political landscapes in North America.

Walter’s journey was emblematic of the challenges faced by 19th-century migrants. Moving cross-country in the 1880s was a daunting endeavor, requiring careful planning and resilience. Transportation options varied—some traveled by wagon, enduring months of harsh terrain and unpredictable weather, while others took advantage of the expanding railroad system, particularly after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. Railroads like the Union Pacific and Central Pacific made migration faster and somewhat safer, although financial costs and legal barriers remained a concern. For those traveling along major waterways, steamboats provided an alternative means of transport.

Challenges along the way included health risks, such as outbreaks of dysentery and cholera in crowded travel conditions, financial struggles, and social adjustments upon arrival in a new community. Economic opportunities were a major driver of migration, with many seeking work in industries such as railroads, mining, and agriculture. Warmer climates, like those in California and Florida, also attracted individuals suffering from chronic illnesses. Walter’s movements across Canada and the United States suggest that he, too, faced many of these trials while searching for a stable livelihood and a secure future for his family.

In November 1886, Walter left Essex, perhaps in pursuit of better opportunities or due to declining health. Eventually, he moved to Florida, where he spent the last years of his life. Warmer climates often attracted those suffering from ailments aggravated by colder weather, hinting that health issues may have played a role in his relocation.

Walter Scott Archibald passed away in February 1892 in Florida, USA, at the age of 56. His remains were buried in Sumter, Florida. A beneficiary payment recorded on May 25, 1897, in Windsor, Ontario, suggests that his family, particularly his wife Olivia, may have faced financial struggles following his death. Olivia, however, lived a long life, passing away in 1933.

Walter’s life was marked by movement and adaptation. From his roots in Nova Scotia to his travels across North America, he faced the challenges of migration, economic shifts, and the responsibility of providing for a large family. Despite these trials, he left behind a legacy carried on by his children, many of whom lived long and full lives, shaping the next generation of the Archibald lineage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“write a narrative of the life of _____ using the following facts:” prompt. ChatGPT, ChatGPT4.0 version, Open AI, February 2024, https://chat.openai.com/