My Trails into the Past

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to:  1)  Do you have Research Notes for some of your ancestors in a number of sources and papers, or perhaps in a Person Note or Research Note in your desktop family tree program, and dread trying to put them into a coherent genealogical sketch or research note?   2)  This week, take all of the Research Notes you have for one person in your tree and put them all in one word processor document. Organize them if you want - you don't have to.  Make a PDF file of your new word processor document and name it.   3)  Go to your favorite LLM (you know, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, or any other LLM), load the document, and ask the LLM to "Please organize the research notes in the attached document for [your ancestor's name, birth and death year] and c...

On 27 May 1821, Robert Bishop, the administrator of Frederick Bishop’s estate, put a notice in the Scioto Gazette that he was selling at a public auction the late dwelling house of Frederick Bishop, which was a “certain tract of land, containing 117 acres, with the appurtenances thereunto belonging, on the waters of Paint Creek, near Robert Johnson’s mill, late the property of Frederick Bishop, deceased, subject to the widow’s dower.” [1] This land was located in Ross County, Ohio. Frederick Bishop was my husband’s third great-grandfather. His daughter, Mary Ann Bishop, married Daniel Shotts. [2] Their daughter, Catherine E. Shotts, married Amos Gorrell. [3] Their son, Joseph N. Gorrell, married Matilda Pearl Davey. [4] This notice gives me information about Frederick’s property. While I do not have the exact land description, I have the watershed (Paint Creek), the number of acres (117), and a neighbor (near Robert Johnson’s mill). These are clues that will help me pinpoint th...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has a new mission for us: 1) Which of your ancestors were born on this day, 31 March? How can you find out? Tell us how you did it. 2) If you don't have an ancestor born on this date, then select another date in March and list those. 3) Share your findings in your own blog post, or in comments on this blog post, on Facebook or Google+. I have no direct ancestors with a 31 March birthdate, but there were quite a few people in my RootsMagic database who were born on this date. I left off those who are still alive. My Husband's Line Elizabeth Bishop was born in 1769 to Heinrich Bischof and Catherine Schreyer and the sister to  Norman's direct ancestor, Frederick Bishop. She was likely born in Pennsylvania or Maryland. She was his third great grandaunt. Carolina Samuelsdotter was born in 1826 in Tidersrum, Östergötland län, Sweden to Samuel Persson and Maja Stina Jonasdotter. She was the sister of Norman'...

Daniel Shotts and Mary Ann Bishop were my children’s third great-grandparents on their father’s side. On 28 March 1831, Daniel Shotts married Mary Ann Bishop in Ross County, Ohio. [1] They had obtained their license on the 19th of March and were married nine days later by Pleasant Thurman. 1831 Ross Co., Ohio Marriage Daniel Shotts & Mary Ann Bishop So what can be learned from this record? There were no other records with Pleasant Thurman listed on the same page. Some of the marriages on the page did identify if the officiant, perhaps as M.G. (Minister of the Gospel) or even by identifying the church. So was Pleasant Thurman a minister? He could also have been a justice of the peace. Searching in Ross County records on Ancestry.com, I found Pleasant Thurman living in the area in the 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses. The 1850 census for Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio, gave no occupation. He was sixty-six years old. [2] In an abstract of death notices from ne...

I found the newspaper item where Jacob Bishop requested the partitioning of a piece of property in Huntington Township, Ross County, Ohio, and listed all of the children and heirs of Henry Bishop and Catherine Schreyer. [1]   You can find that post here . Then on 31 May 1838, another item was found in the Scioto Gazette . [2] It was a notice of the public sale at the Courthouse in Chillicothe of the same tract of land from the previous notice.  Here is the transcription. Ross Common Pleas. Scioto (Chillicothe Ohio) Gazette , 31 May 1838, p 3 Jacob Bishop,                    }        vs.                                }  Petition for Partition . David Bishop and others   } By virtue of an order made in the above cause at the April Term...

It's been a while since I posted. I am currently working on my husband's Bishop line. I found this notice in the Scioto Gazette , a newspaper published from 1835 to 1854 in Chillicothe, Ohio, which is in Ross County. [1] Family names that were searched in this newspaper were GORRELL, SHOTTS, and BISHOP. What brought my attention to this article was Mary Shotts’ name along with her husband, Daniel Shotts. These are my husband’s paternal 2nd great-grandparents. Mary’s maiden name was Bishop. Notice. “Notice,” Scioto Gazette, 18 Jan 1838, p3, GenealogyBank.com ( http://www.genealogybank.com  : 17 Nov 2014). JACOB BISHOP, of Ross county, Ohio, hereby gives notice To David Bishop, who resides in Indiana, Amos Bishop, Mary Shotts, late Mary Bishop, and her husband, Daniel Shotts, Eliza Toops, late Eliza Bishop, and her husband Tho- mas Toops, and Catharine Bishop, all of whom reside in Ross county, Ohio; Daniel Bishop who resides in Ross county, Ro- bert Bis...