Cousin A.J.'s Relationship to Me

Okay, I'll admit it. I was just a bit disappointed when Geni's relationship calculator couldn't find a connection between me and A.J. Luckily, however, it worked from A.J.'s end, so I now know that he is (in a fuzzy, I don't claim there are any valid genealogical proofs, way) my 87th cousin 24 times removed.

The short path includes myself, my father, 197 relatives, A.J.'s mother, and A.J.

The long path… well, as A.J. put it, "it goes so far back that I'm not sure it's 100 percent trustworthy. I'm sure there's a cleaner and shorter route." A.J., I discover, has a knack for understatement. But, he's ready to call me cousin and I am now officially invited to the Global Family Reunion.

For your amusement—for this surely tickles me!—I present the long path below the cut:

Cousin A. J.'s Get-Together

A. J. Jacobs, "editor at large at Esquire magazine and author of four New York Times bestsellers" according to his website, is hosting what he hopes will be the world's biggest family reunion. News of his upcoming party has been shared widely, with notices on the WikiTree, Geni, and My Heritage blogs, and in the New York Times. Jacobs has also been a guest on Boston's NPR program On Point, for a discussion of "Crowdsourcing And The New Genealogy Boom."

I looked him up on Geni, to see what our connection is, but that was a bust. Geni just couldn't find the connection. Which is strange, because I know there is one, as explained in the email I just sent to A.J.:

Hi A.J.,

Although Geni tells me it can't find a path between us, I know there has to be one. Here's why:

You say that Albert Einstein is your second great-uncle’s third cousin’s wife’s first cousin. Well, Geni reports that he's my 6th great aunt's brother's wife's fourth great niece's husband's aunt's husband's great grandson. This is a distant, some might even say tenuous, connection, but it is a connection none-the-less.

I'm on Geni at http://www.geni.com/people/Pamela-D-Lloyd/6000000007818456107. I'm also on WikiTree at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Lloyd-1428, but my ancestry is much less developed there, mostly because the entry process is much more time-consuming.

Your website requests that I submit the names of my four great grandparents. My paternal grandparents are Elmer Bruce Lloyd and Inez Minerva "Sissy" Herrington. My maternal grandparents are Galen Weiker Rote and Lulu P. Craun.

My Lloyd lineage goes directly back to Thomas Lloyd, my 8th great grandfather, who served for a time as lieutenant governor of provincial Pennsylvania under William Penn.

I hope I've provided you with sufficient information for you to discover our connection. I'm sure there is one, since I hold to the firm conviction that all humans on the planet are related and it's only through a lack of knowledge of the connections that we don't all call each other cousin.

Best wishes,

Pamela D. Lloyd

What I didn't tell A. J. is that I'm unlikely to attend in person. Not only would travel to the party pinch my pocketbook, but I really don't like big crowds. But, that's okay because I can attend virtually, via a Google Hangout.

For more information about the MegaReunion, as it's sometimes called, check out WikiTree's Global Family Reunion project and then join WikiTree's Global Family Reunion Project.

What about you? Ready to join the party?  Do you think you might be related to A. J.? Or to me? I'd love to hear from you.

Sibling Day & Throwback Thursday Coincide

Here's a picture of me with my brothers.

Pamela, Donald, and Craig Lloyd

WikiTree and Me

Since May 2013, I've been a member of WikiTree, a free genealogy site that uses the power of a wiki to help genealogists collaborate on a worldwide family tree.

Although I'm little more than a newbie on the site, I've been invited to participate on the WikiTree blog in two ways: an interview about my genealogy experience, and a blog post. You can find these posts at:

Meet Our Members ~ Pamela D. Lloyd, posted 6 January 2014

Pamela’s Perspective ~ A Member’s Thoughts on WikiTree, posted 4 December 2013

WikiTree has been tremendously welcoming and a great way to meet other genealogists. Plus, because it's run collaboratively by genealogists, for genealogists, it's free and promises to stay that way.

New Traditions

Genealogy, and genealogy blogs, tend to focus on the past. But, tonight, I'd like to share a bit of the present. For the last couple of years, I've been making calendars to help my stepson Fritz, who has Down's Syndrome, better understand how long he has to wait for important events, such as his birthday or Christmas. Fritzie loves his calendars and loves marking off the days, which he does with the help of a family member, usually his dad.

Here's this year's advent calendar:

What else are we doing this year? We're baking biscotti. Or, to be more accurate, my husband is baking biscotti with Fritzie's help, although I hope to be able to help with tomorrow's batch. He's made at least four different batches so far, in a variety of flavors, and we're all chiming in with suggestions for new flavor combinations. Tonight's batch is orange-almond. I managed to snag a taste from the small stack of imperfect cookies that won't be going back into the oven for their second baking, so I can attest to the fact that they're very yummy.

An Unusual Lullaby: The Whiffenpoof Song

I've just spent about an hour and a half—a small fortune in time, given the number of things I should be doing—listening to versions of The Whiffenpoof Song, which was one of the lullabies my mother used to sing to me when I was a child.

My husband had whistled a snatch of "Beautiful Dreamer" and, in response to my comment about how much I loved it, had laughed and said it was just something he used to hear Bugs Bunny sing when he was a kid. He also mentioned, it was relevant even if I can't remember exactly why now, that he thought Bugs may have claimed to have attended Yale. That was all it took! The next thing you know, I'm searching YouTube for versions of The Whiffenpoof Song.

As lullabies go, The Whiffenpoof Song must be among the more unusual, since it is commonly known as the Yale Drinking Song. But, it was one of my favorites, and I asked for it often. After listening to numerous versions, including several a capella renditions by Yale choristers, I'm convinced that Rudy Vallee, who seems to be the earliest to have recorded the song, sang it the best. Here's one of Rudy Vallee's versions, from 1930:

I found a couple of other Rudy Vallee versions: one may be even lovelier than this one, but visually it had no discernable connection to the song, while the other was an earlier recording and had more sound defects. This song has also been recorded by a number of other artists, including Bing Crosby, The Lettermen, every single class of Yale choristers, Louis Armstrong (in a very altered revision), and even (in a very tiny "unpublished" fragmentary snatch that's part of a medley) Elvis Presley. (You should listen to the Presley version, just for the beauty of it, even if it isn't really this song.)

The lyrics my mother sang, as I remember them, were slightly adapted from the original, which was published as sheet music in 1909, more than a decade before she was born. Most notably, she seems to have left several lines out, and to have changed the word "damned" to "doomed." Also, because my mother's name was Luella and she was often called Lui, I'm sure it was her dwelling we were both thinking of.

Using the lyrics from the WikiSource page for the song (see link in the first paragraph), I've attempted to provide the lyrics as I remember my mother singing them, complete with omissions and my childhood misunderstandings:

To the tables down at Mory's,
To the place where Lui dwells,
To the dear old [???]
We love so well,

See the whiffenpoofs assembled
With their glasses raised on high,
And the magic of their singing casts its spell.

[skipped lines] 

We are poor little lambs
Who have lost our way.
Bye-lo-bye!

We are little black sheep
Who have gone astray.
Bye-lo-bye!

Gentlemen songsters off on a spree
Doomed from here to eternity
God have mercy on such as we.
Bye-lo-bye!

As my mother sang, I imagined the whiffenpoofs as stork- or crane-like birds, sitting around Mory's tables while wearing top hats and carrying lorgnettes, looking very fine and very aloof as they sang the little lambs on their lonely way. The little lost lambs were wandering around pastoral hills and dales, trying to find their way home, and certain they would be lost forever, but I was sure that a shepherd or shepherdess was nearby and would find them before long. My certainty that the lambs were in no danger and would soon be home safe and snug, made this a very reassuring song for me.

I have no idea why, despite the fact that I knew very well that lambs say "baa" I heard my mother sing "bye-lo-bye," but that's the way I remember it.

Alpheus McClelland Rote and Ella E. Ward, and their Children

Alpheus McClelland Rote, my great grandfather, was born March 1865 in Pennsylvania. He was the son of William Rote (b. October 1814 in Pennsylvania, d. 11 Dec 1880 in Pennsylvania) and Magdalena, also called Martha, (b. July 25, 1823 in Pennsylvania, d. June 8, 1891).

Ella E. Ward, my great grandmother, was born March 28, 1861 in Mount Holly (or Mount Holly Springs), Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of John E. Ward (b. about 1840, d. ?) and Elizabeth (b. about 1840, d. ?) .

Alpheus Rote and Ella Ward married in 1883. In 1884, Alpheus was listed in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania City Directory, as was his mother, then a widow, at a separate address. Alpheus also appears in the Harrisburg city directories for 1890 through 1896. In 1884, Alpheus was listed as working as a laborer; in later directories, as a brakeman.

Most of the 1890 US Census records were destroyed in a fire, including those most likely to list Alpheus and Ella.

Alpheus and Ella are listed in the 1900 US Census for New Castle, Pennsylvania. Alpheus' occupation is given as "Heater Tin Mill." Ella is reported as having given birth to 7 children, of whom 6 had survived. There were six children living in the home: 

Mabel, daughter, b. April 1886 (14)

Galen, son, b. March 1888 (12)

John, son, b. February 1893 (7)

Emma, daughter, b. April 1895 (5)

Howard, son, b. June 1897 (2)

Minnie, daughter, b. August 1899 (9 months)

In 1908, the Rote home was struck by lightning. My blog post, linked, includes a transcript of the newspaper report.

In the 1910 census, Alpheus and Ella are shown as still living in New Castle. Alpheus is working Odd Jobs, and Ella is listed as having 5 children, with 5 surviving. The children in the home are: Mabel, Gail [sic] W., John, Emma, and Howard. Minnie, the youngest, had died sometime since the previous census.

In the 1920 census, Alpheus and Ella are still living in New Castle. Alpheus is now reported to be a Storekeeper working at a Confectionary Store*. Living with Alpheus and Ella are their children, John, who works as a  (probably Sales) in the Phonograph industry**, and two grandchildren, John H. and Ella L. Faller. It took some doing, but I eventually confirmed that these were Mabel's children***.

In the 1930 census, Alpheus and Ella are still living in New Castle. Alpheus is now listed as the Proprietor of a Confectionary Store, which he owns. Living with them are their daughter, Emma O. Cavander (I think this is a misspelling of Cavender), and three grandchildren, Anna G. Cavender, Henry J. Faller, and Ella L. Faller.

Alpheus died September 29, 1936 and Ella died November 14, 1936. Their obituaries report that Ella Faller was still living with them at the times of their deaths.

*   *   *

Mabel Rote married John Henry (or Henry John) Faller May 13, 1912. The couple had two children: Henry John Faller and Ella L. Faller. Mabel died in early January, 1919; her funeral was held January 10, and she was buried in Greenwood Cemetery on the 13th. Her husband died March 23, 1963. 

Galen Weiker Rote married Lulu P. Craun, of Toledo, Ohio, August 29, 1911. The couple had two children: Marian Virginia Rote, who died as a child, and Luella Jean Rote. (Luella was my mother.) Galen died August 10, 1941. Lulu died February 21, 1966.

John Charles Rote, Sr. married Alice Mae Wimer, 18 Nov 1924 in New Castle. The couple had three children, Janet Louise Rote, John Charles Rote, Jr., and Arthur Lyle Rote. John, Sr. died June 22, 1982. Alice died February 24, 1978.

Emma O. Rote married a Cavender, about whom nothing more is known. The couple had a daughter, Anna Grace Cavender. Emma's date of death is unknown, but sometime after 17 Jun 1944, when a visit to New Castle (she was then living in Detroit) was reported in the New Castle News.

Howard J. Rote married Ruby Mae Brooks June 5, 1919 in Youngstown, Pennsylvania. The couple had two sons, James Russel Rote and Fredrick C. Rote. Howard died January 1974; Ruby died February 1983.

Minnie Rote never married, having died as a child sometime between June 13, 1900 and June 13, 1910.

I have no further information about the seventh child noted by the 1900 census, although I speculate, given the gap between Galen's birth, and John's, that this child might have been born between them.

---

* The census reports Alpheus as an employee, rather than the owner of the store, but this may be erroneous. Will probably need to research business licenses to get full information.

** This may have bearing on my speculations in Was Granddad in Show Biz?, about my grandfather, Galen.

*** See the following posts to read about how I unraveled this small mystery (most recent, first):

• A Fortunate Discovery 
• Searching RootsWeb for Henry John Faller
• New Data on Rote and Faller
• The Mystery of John H (Henry J) and Ella L Fuller or Faller