Family Tree online!

I’ve been able post the Jeffrey Family Tree on a free website. The website is http://jimjeffrey.tribalpages.com. Feel free to check it out. I’ve only posted the Jeffrey side of my family tree, because that is where my efforts have been recently. My mother’s side, the Bolenders (her adoptive parents), and the Lanes has not been uploaded to the website. That will come later.
It’s been pretty amazing how much information has been uncovered. The earliest events are the births of a couple of ancestors in 1625! The latest event is the death of my uncle, William Keith Jeffrey in May 2007. I’m still in the process of adding photos to this website. The Jeffrey ancestors in the tree have come from Scotland, England, Ireland, and Norway. I have not done all the work. My family has contributed much of it (especially my mom, Nancy, and sister, Janet). I have also had the fortune of connecting with others who have done much research on different branches of the tree. I’ve been in touch with a handful of other Jeffrey, MacFadden, McLean, and Shipman researchers that have graciously shared their information with me.
I’d love to hear any comments, corrections, or suggestions you might have. It’s been a very fascinating and rich time for me!

Genealogy Treasures

Was visiting family over the Thanksgiving holiday, and came across a few items that were of interest in my ancestry research.
The first was a brush holder that I referred to when I told about my great-grandfather, Hans Eldor Morck. He had crafted this for his daughter, Elsie, and she had given it to my dad, James Warren Jeffrey, as a memento of his grandfather. Hans was very gifted in his craftsmanship, and it is reflected in this piece.

The second item was a closer look at the bed that belonged to my parents. There is the date 1852 inscribed on the bottom of the frame. My mother is convinced that this is the bed Henry Jeffrey was born in, and she also says that James Leonard Jeffrey was born in this bed. This cannot be confirmed, but is very interesting. My parents inherited the bed from my grandmother, Agnes Morck Jeffrey, James Leonard’s wife.
The third item was a treasure! I discovered an ambrotype photograph of my great-grandmother, Agnes Moscrip Jeffrey, holding her newborn baby, Henry. The photo must have been taken in early 1860 (Henry was born January 12, 1860).
The technique of an ambrotype was invented in 1851. The photographic image was formed on a treated sheet of glass and then backed with a dark, usually black, material. Being made of glass, they were fragile and were housed in a casing, whick usually looks like a miniature book. The major disadvantage of the ambrotype is that copies could not be made. Each ambrotype is an opiginal. The case is falling apart, and someone has used clear tape to keep the hinge together, but it is a classic! I’ve touched up the photo, and here is the photo of mother and child.

Ole Benjamin Pedersen

Ole Benjamin Pedersen was my great-great grandfather (my grandmother's grandfather). He was born on September 20, 1834 at the farm Ladingen in Stamnes, Alstahaug Norway. He was the son of Peder Ingebrigtsen Vestvog and Berit Olsdatter Laddingen. He was baptized October 12, 1834 at the Alstahaug church.
In rural Norway, a person’s name meant much more than a name. Ole’s whole name was: Ole Benjamin Pedersen Vestvaag. His official name was “Ole Benjamin”, which is the name he was baptized with. A patronymic name was usually added in day to day interactions, because there could be several persons named Ole Benjamin in a community. So he was called Ole Benjamin Pedersen, because he was Ole Benjamin, the son of Peder. Finally, because there could be several persons in a community with the name Ole Benjamin Pedersen, rural Norwegians would add the name of the farm where the person was living – not as a name, in the modern sense of the word, but as an address or identifier. So they would say of him, “There goes Ole Benjamin, the son of Peder, who lives on the Vestvaag farm.” The farm Ladingen where he was born seems to have been the farm that his mother and her parents lived on.
He spent his early life at fishing. His daughter described him in 1902 as “an old seafaring man, who didn’t feel any seasickness” as they traveled on the North Sea, even as the others who traveled were very seasick. He married Else Marie Johansdatter Sornaes at the Tjotta church on October 18, 1863, at the age of 29. Else was 24 years old at the time of their wedding. Ten children were born to this marriage; five died early in life, the others were two sons and three daughters. Their fourth daughter, Jorgine Emilie Pedersen, was my great-grandmother. Ole was “a faithful Christian man, and a member of the Lutheran Church all his life.” His daughter, Jorgine remembers that “Father read the Gospel every Sunday to his family.”
Else passed away in 1902, so Ole decided to emigrate to America, where two of his daughters had already settled. He arrived in Philadelphia on October 18, 1902, and proceeded directly to Mandan, North Dakota, where his daughters lived. Ole remained in Mandan until his death in 1922. At the time of his death, he had 41 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. He was remembered as being good with his hands, and was known for making baskets in his later years, square-shaped, out of natural wood. These he sold for 75 cents each. With the sales of these baskets, he saved up $38 to pay for his funeral! He was very well known in Mandan, and reputed to be the oldest resident of the community. He was a great reader, and had a lively memory. He kept up on history and current events up until days before his death.
Ole Pedersen suffered a paralytic stroke in June 1921, and spent most of his time in bed after this. He died in Mandan on April 22, 1922 of pneumonia, at the age of 87.

More Photos of Ole Pedersen

Here are a few more photos of Ole Pedersen. The first is a colorized photo of him outside of his house in Mandan, North Dakota (date unknown). The second is of him with his daughter, Jorgine (left), and her three children: Agnes (back, right [my grandmother]), Harold (right), and Elsie (next to Ole), taken around 1910. The third is of Ole with his many grandchildren. The fourth is of Ole in approximately 1920. He is in a typical pose, reading his newspaper.

Catharine (McLean) MacFadden

Catharine Amelia McLean was born on June 21, 1839 in Brockville, Canada. Very little is known of her life. She was the eldest of at least 7 children. Her parents were William McLean and Jane McNish. William was a farmer while Catharine was growing up, probably of wheat, and Catharine was raised on the farm. Harvesting grain was a large and important task for farmers in the 1850s. It involved the entire family because it was a major source of money for the family. Everyone helped in the fields in mid- to late- July when the grain was ready. Harvesting was done by hand, either with a sickle or a grain cradle to cut the grain. The McLean family moved to the city of St. Mary’s when Catharine was in her teens. She married James MacFadden on January 19, 1860 in St. Mary’s, with her younger brother, George, serving as a witness. She was 20 years old at the time of her marriage, and her new husband was 18 years older than she. She had 7 children during her marriage (4 girls and 3 boys). Her eldest daughter, Jennie, born when Catharine was 22, is my great-grandmother. Her youngest child, Kate, was born when Catharine was 43 years old.
Six years after their marriage, the young family moved to Stratford because of James’ new job. Stratford remained Catharine’s home until her death in 1894. Their last home was located on Huron Street in Stratford. She listed her religion as Presbyterian, which was the religion of her parents.
Catharine died on June 30, 1894, at the age of 55, of stomach cancer.

More photos of Catharine (McLean) MacFadden

Here are three more photos of Catharine. The top left one is a very interesting colorized portrait, as a young woman, probably from around the time of her marriage. There is no date on the actual portrait. The upper right photo is of Catharine as a young mother in 1863, with her two eldest daughters on her lap: Jennie (my great-grandmother) the oldest, and Minnie. The last photo is of the whole MacFadden family in 1888 in front of their home in Stratford. Catharine is wearing the stripped dress.

Old Signatures

Here are copies of the signatures of some of my relatives that I have written about:

James MacFadden from the 1860s. The W.M. below his signature stands for "Worthy Master." He was a Master in the Masons.

Andrew Jeffrey from a letter he wrote in 1831 to his father-in-law, James Hall



Agnes Moscrip Jeffrey from the 1870s, signed in her daughter Jessie's date book

Jennie E. Jeffrey, signed at the end of the first letter she wrote to her soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Agnes Morck, written a month and a half before their wedding in 1925

Henry Jeffrey's signature at the end of his "Last Will and Testament", signed March 15, 1945, 9 months after the death of his wife, Jennie

James Leonard Jeffrey, signed at the end of his Will, dated October 3, 1944.