Treasure Chest Thursday - 1838 Marriage Certificate

Back in 2002, I believe, a post was made to the Cohoe surname forum about a marriage certificate that had been found stuffed in a piece of framed embroidery. 

The marriage certificate was the original 1838 certificate for my 3rd great grandparents, Francis Cohoe and Elizabeth D Willson.

I was not able to collect it at the time due to distance and I suggested that it be taken to a local museum or archive. I figured that I would never get to see this piece of my own family history as it was too fragile to ship anywhere.

Last summer, 2009, my husband and I decided to take a vacation to Ontario, Canada to do some of my family research and visit the museums and battlefields.

I decided to track down the people who had found the certificate. It took a little digging and a friendly neighbor of theirs, but I located them. I gave them a call to see if they still had the certificate. 

They DID!!! AND they gave it to me. I was totally thrilled to have this piece in my hands.

Since it was held at a Friend's meeting, all the people present signed the certificate, including the newly wedded couple.

I have since had it cleaned and preserved in archival materials, with a copy hanging on my wall.

This is truly a family treasure and I am still amazed that I ended up with this piece...

Wordless Wednesday - John G Cohoe

Picture of John G Cohoe, third from left. His picture was added later, don't know when photo was taken for sure. Only known photo of John G Cohoe. He's my 2 great grandfather.
Andrew Wilson Cohoe 1841-1921, Justus William Cohoe 1844-1907, John G Cohoe 1847-1943, Harriet Cook Cohoe 1839-1934, Daniel Bedell Cohoe 1849-1942, Francis Willson Cohoe 1853-1928

In the beginning...

I’ve finally decided that I should start a blog. I’ve read several blogs and they are quite good, so we will see how mine turns out! I can’t promise that I will blog every day, or even every week… but definitely now and then!

Why now? Because it’s time that I actually put to words some of my thoughts, passions, discoveries and insights.

I am the family historian. I declared this title in 1998, around the time that Genealogy and research were starting to make the news. Yes, I caught the bug from a magazine article. It was a tiny little paragraph, I think now, about Cyndi’s List. And it’s led me on a wonderful adventure so far, including finding cousins and discovering family I never knew about. A bunch of research trips and many an hour researching online and still, I am fascinated by the puzzle. It’s a crazy, mixed up kind of puzzle and every little piece found gives me immense satisfaction and a joyful zing in my heart.

I don’t have really that many famous relatives… at least none have shown up yet. And a bunch were farmers, but some were printers, lawyers, jewelers and musicians and I’m still discovering more as I go along. But since they didn’t stick out so much, didn’t make the news, kept to themselves pretty much… it has made the research more challenging. And ever so much more rewarding when I discover them in various hiding places.

And I research my husband’s line as well, and since I didn’t grow up with his stories and tales, it’s a little harder. I remember, early on, after asking about his family and recording what I had so far, discovering through census records that he had great aunts who were twins. When I told him what I had found… he said, “Oh, yeah… Gertie and Gussie… I knew about them”. Thanks a lot, hun!

Some of the family lines I am researching… on my side: Paternal surnames : COHOE (all spellings), CAMPBELL (MS, TN), BELL (MS, TN), JOHNSTON (MS), FARRINGTON (NY, Canada), WILLSON (CANADA). Maternal surnames: ORR (KY), POE (OH), FEILDING (OH, Ireland), MALONEY (OH, Ireland), THOMAS (OH, WV), WILSON (OH).

Hubbie’s surnames: SHULTZ (OH, PA, Germany), CLARK (OH, PA), SULIVAN ( OH, Ireland), RICE, (OH), WITHROW (OH, PA), SHAFER (OH, PA), HILLARD (KY), ROBINSON (KY), HOLLAND (KY), LUNSFORD (KY).

Of course, there are lots more out there. I’ve done pretty well in my research… most of them have been found in the Censuses and other public records. I am now working on finding siblings and the elusive relative or two that can’t be found. And I have not ‘crossed the pond’ on the majority of my surnames.

So now, you know a little about me and my research. I will work on this just like I work on the family history… a little here and a little there. My plan is to write about my journey thus far on this interesting voyage of discovery. More to come!