Names, Places and Most Wanted Faces

I haven't been writing nearly as much as I'd like, so here's a good time to jump back in: Thomas MacEntee has suggested that bloggers revive the Names, Places and Most Wanted Faces blogging meme from Craig Manson of GeneaBlogie. Thomas explains how it works:

"To participate, do the following at your own blog and post a link back here in the comments:

1. List your surnames in alphabetical order as follows:

[SURNAME]: State/Province (county/subdivision), date range

2. At the end, list your Most Wanted Ancestor with details!"

So, here are mine:

1.

ATTANUCCI: Campania, Italy (Pastorano, province of Caserta), 1840-1900

AZZOLINO: Campania, Italy (Pastorano, province of Caserta), 1840-1900

BOEHM: Hessen, Germany, 1786-1840; Pennsylvania (Allegheny County) 1840-present

BOYD: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County), 1800-1900

BRENTON/BRINTON: Pennsylvania (Washington County), 1740-present

BROCK: Ohio, 1820-1850; Pennsylvania (Washington County), 1850-1900; West Virginia (Marion County), 1895-present

DAVIES: Pennsylvania (Beaver County), 1919-present

DURKIN: Pennsylvania (Centralia, Columbia County), 1860-1940

ELLER: Pennsylvania (Beaver, Lawrence and Fayette counties), 1860-present

FERGUSON: Pennsylvania (Fayette and Westmoreland counties), 1880-1930

FRITSCHLE: Baden, Germany, 1785-1852;

FRITZLEY: Pennsylvania (Allegheny and Beaver counties), 1852-present

HAYES: Ireland, 1820-1870; Pennsylvania (Beaver County), 1870-present

KANE: Pennsylvania (Centralia, Columbia County), 1880-1971

MERALILLO: Campania, Italy (Pastorano, province of Caserta), 1830-1920

MUSCIANESE: Campania, Italy (Pastorano, province of Caserta), 1820-1921

OVERAND: Scotland (Lanarkshire), 1836-1863; Pennsylvania (Allegheny and Westmoreland counties), 1863-1940

SWIFT: Pennsylvania (Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties), 1820-1953

TEMPLIN: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County), 1905-present

WAGNER: Bavaria, Germany (Schedendorf), 1860-1923

WRIGHT: Pennsylvania (Washington County), 1840-1910

2. Most Wanted Ancestor:
Charlotte DUBREE/DUEBEL
b. abt. 1885 in Arkansas
m. abt. 1905 to William TEMPLIN
d. probably between 1920 and 1930
Lived in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.

SNGF - My Matrilineal Line

I am trying to get back into posting regularly after a long absence, as life has been extra...interesting...lately. I am working on a few things at the moment, aside from client work. I'm currently doing research for an article about the Crawford Expedition, in which I'm fairly sure my ancestor was a prominent participant.

In the meantime, I thought I'd jump back in here with something fun. Randy at Genea-Musings posted this challenge:

"Hey genealogy buffs - it's Saturday Night again -- time for more Genealogy Fun!!
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!

2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.

3) Post your responses on your own blog post, in Comments to this blog post, or in a Status line on Facebook or in your Stream at Google Plus.

4) If you have done this before, please do your father's matrilineal line, or your grandfather's matrilineal line, or your spouse's matrilineal line.

5) Does this list spur you to find distant cousins that might share one of your matrilineal lines?"

Here's my matrilineal line:

a) My mother, Laura, whose maiden name was Fritzley.
b) Helen Ada Brenton (1924 Brownsville, PA - 2008 Pittsburgh, PA), married William Fritzley.
c) Gertrude Ada Swift (1903 Scottsdale, PA - 1953 Brownsville, PA), married Everett Brenton.
d) Delilah Ferguson (1872 Mount Pleasant, PA - 1936 Mount Pleasant), married Robert Swift.
These next two generations are unverified; many online family trees have them, but I haven't found anything to support them yet other than a few census records.
e) Catherine Pletcher (1832 Westmoreland County, PA - 1895 Bullskin, PA), married George W. Ferguson.
f) Phoebe Nichols (1802 Liberty, PA - 1872 Ruffsdale, PA), married David Pletcher.

I intend on having my mitochondrial DNA tested as soon as I can save up for it, and I'm very much looking forward to the results.

This line is one that I don't have much information about past my great-great grandmother, Delilah (Ferguson) Swift. I know there must be many, many distant cousins out there, and I hope to find more of them soon!

Surname Saturday - Brenton Family of Western Pennsylvania

I will have to break my promise to make my next post about my genealogy classes. The reason for this, along with my long gap in blogging, are school-related and will be explained in my next post. I'm waiting to hear back from a source at the moment.

On to the surname Brenton:
I do not know from what country my branch of the Brenton family immigrated to the United States. However, Ancestry.com indicates that most people with that name immigrated from England or Ireland. Since my first ancestor that I know of with this name lived in Pennsylvania in the late 18th century, I believe it is more likely that they came from England. Ancestry.com's surname search indicates that the surname Brenton mostly likely originates from a settlement of that name near Exminster in southern Britain.

This is my ancestry as to the Brenton family: