Happy 68th Anniversary Lawrence & Jennie Wisner!

It's not very often that a couple will reach their 68th wedding anniversary while they are still living. Unfortunately due to their declining health, they may not have a memory of it anymore. But here is the jist of it. On 8 February 1944, Lawrence Benjamin Wisner and Jennie Allene Orrell were married in Bethel Church in El Monte, CA. They were married by Lawrence's dad Raymond. Lawrence had joined the Army 1 year before, soon after they were married he had to leave, and a couple weeks after D-Day he would be in Normandy.

Birthday Bio - William Douglass (1731-1805)

There is a lot of information already written on the Douglass family, and I have found a lot of William Douglasses. This one was born 279 or 280 years ago today on 7 February 1731 or 1732 in New London, CT. Here is some information that I have found on him.

A collection of family records: with biographical sketches bearing the name Douglas
Charles Henry James Douglas
Pg 147

96.
WILLIAM5 DOUGLAS (William4 Richard3, William2, William1), born in New London, Conn., Feb. 7, 1731-2. He married, May 31, 1752, Mary, daughter of Ivory and Mary Lucas, of New London. He was first constable and collector in New London from 1764 to 1772. He died Oct. 1, 1805. She died Jan. 31, 1810, aged 83 years. Children, born in New London :—
242. i. William6, b. Sept. 29, 1753; m. Lucretia Caulkins.
     ii. Margaret6, b. Feb. 19, 1755; m. Joseph Tinker, N. London.
     iii. Mary6, b. Dec. 25, 1757; m. Stephen Morgan, N. London; set. Wethersfield.
243. iv. Caleb6, b. April 16, 1760; m. Grace Morgan.
244. v. Ivory6, b. 1761; m. Phebe Smith.
     vi. Samuel6, b. abt. 1763; m. Deborah, dau. Samuel Morgan, N. London; d. s.p.
245. vii. Jonathan6, b. Aug. 31, 1765; m. Abigail Lay.
     viii. Sarah6, b. 1767; d. young.
240. ix. Daniel6, b. 1770; m. 1st, Lucy6 Douglas, 2d, Amelia6 Douglas.
247. x. Josiah6, b. 1772; m. 1st, Mary Griswold, 2d, Mrs. Elizabeth (Starr) Bishop.
     xi. Richard6, b. 1774; d. young.

Laas Broersma turns 111

My Great Grandfather, Laas "Lawrence" Broersma was born the day after his son was born, at least on the calendar. He was born 111 years ago, on 4 February 1901 in Piaam, in the Netherlands. His son Lloyd was born yesterday, as you can see in the previous blog entry.

Laas was the immigrant ancestor for me on the Broersma side. This picture was taken most likely before he left the Netherlands to come to the United States.

Happy 85th Birthday Lloyd Broersma!

Today my grandpa turns 85! He was born on 3 February 1927 in Ireton, Iowa. His full name is Lloyd Julian Broersma. In Dutch tradition the names of the children typically are after the grandparents. Usually the the first son's first name is after the paternal grandfather, with the second name after the father. The first daughter is named after the maternal grandmother, and so on. One time when I was visiting with my grandpa he told me that his first name Lloyd (starting with the letter L) is for his paternal grandmother Luitske, and his middle name Julian (starting with J) is for his paternal grandfather Jetze. When he was growing up they were a pretty poor family, and the women told Lloyd's mom (Grace Gertrude Wichers) that she couldn't name her son such a fancy name since they were poor. She didn't care.

Here's a picture I recently found of him from when he graduated from 8th grade.

Job Greene & Merebah Carr

The Greene family seems to be pretty well documented. Almost all of my research on them comes from a book. 255 years ago today, on 2 February 1757, my 6 Great grandparents were married. Here is what is written on their family:

New England families, genealogical and memorial Vol 4
William Richard Cutter
pg 2152, 2191

(IV) Job Greene, son of Henry Greene, was born at West Greenwich, March 2, 1735, and died in Vermont, January 25, 1792. He married, at West Greenwich, February 2, 1757, Meribah Carr, daughter of Caleb and Sarah Carr, the ceremony being performed by Isaac Sheldon, justice of the peace. She was born July 14, 1739, died July 12, 1785. They moved to Halifax, Vermont, and afterward went farther north. In 1790, according to the first federal census, the sons, Job and Nathan, were at St. Albans, Vermont, and Job had in his family one son under sixteen and two females; Nathan had himself and wife.

Children of Job and Meribah:
Eunice, born October 17, 1757;
Sarah, January 1, 1759,
Henry, July 17, 1761 ;
Margaret, August 5, 1762;
Job, mentioned below; November 7, 1765;
Nathan (q. v.), November 7, 1767;
Susanna, January 13, 1770;
Meribah, June 11, 1772;
Humility, May 1, 1774;
Gardner, July 19, 1776;
Polly, February 20, 1779;
Amy, September 7, 1782.

RIP Julia Ann (Barto) Wisner

88 years ago, on 29 Jan 1924, Julia Ann (Barto) Wisner passed away in Lodi, California. She had been married to George A Wisner, who died in 1905 up in Washington. Until I got a copy of her death certificate, I didn't know when she died or where she was buried.


Since she was not buried next to her husband, that made it hard to find her grave. But as you can see on her death certificate it says she was buried in the Lodi Cemetery. I was able to request a photo through Find-A-Grave.com and this is what it looks like. Mystery solved.

Four Generation Friday - Maternal Swanson

Elva Charlotte (Swanson) Earls (b. 1916)
Lillian Bernice (Earls) Wisner (b. 1948)
Sandee Denise (Wisner) Broersma (b. 1975)
Natalie Kate Broersma (b. 2005)