SNGF -- Five Questions For An Ancestor -- Anna Maria Gleeson (1860-1912)

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to:

1)  If you could go back in time to interview one of your ancestors, what questions would you ask him or her?  Tell us your selected ancestor's name, their birth and death years/locations, and their spouse's name and marriage date/location.  List at least five questions to ask that selected ancestor.

Here's mine:
The ancestor I’ll ask questions of is my great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson, born 13 February 1860 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada,[1] and died 3 January 1912 in Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana.[2] She married John H. Sullivan sometime in 1882, likely at Mitchell, Davison Co, Dakota Territory.[3]

I wished I had asked my grandmother questions about her childhood and her parents. But she died before I became interested in genealogy.

Questions to ask:

1. What was life like in Canada while you were growing up? Did you go to school? What were your parents like? As the oldest daughter, did you help take care of your younger brothers and sisters? Were you close to your sisters? What was your mother’s last name? Do you know your grandparents’ names? When were your parents born?

2. What was the journey like to the Dakota Territory? When did you leave Canada and arrive in the United States? Was the homestead land the draw for your parents? Why Dakota Territory?

3. What was the goal for you to apply for homestead land? Your land was adjacent to your father's and your brother’s land. Was it to have as big a spread as possible? What was it like to improve the property? Did your father and brothers help build your house and dig your well?

4. How did you meet John? What was courtship like? When did you marry and where? Who was there with you? Did you live in his house or your house? Who had the better homestead land, you or him?

5. What can you tell me about John’s life before marriage? When did he come to America? Did he come with his family or alone? What ship did he arrive on? How did his family survive the famine?

6. What was the decision to move to Anaconda? Was it money troubles? Why did the sheriff sell some of your land? How did John come to work as an electrician at the mines in Anaconda? That’s a big step from being a farmer. How did you raise your children in Anaconda?

7. Were you active with church activities? What was your life like in Anaconda? Did you have special recipes? Did you make your own clothes? When did you become ill? Did your daughters help around the house?

If I had answers to half these questions, I could tell a good story about the family.

---

[1] State of Montana Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate, Anne Gleeson Sullivan (certificate #55-281). Also, St. Philips Church, Richmond, Carleton Co, "Ontario, Canada, Parish registers, 1836-1917," digital images, FamilySearch, (http://familysearch.org), 1860, baptism B6, Ann Gleeson.

[2] State of Montana Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate, Anne Gleeson Sullivan (certificate #55-281), 1912.

[3] Holy Family Catholic Church records begin after 1882. However, I did not see the original record, only a derivative record at the church office. The parish began in 1880, so the beginning pages of the record book may be missing.

Copyright © 2011-2025 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.