Inspired by “The Ancestral Places Geneameme” post at lonetester.com, I created this list of places connected to my ancestors. As you can see, some letters are more represented than others. And I was unable to locate any place names for U, X, and Z. But I left them blank for now – because you never know.

I particularly liked the idea that this list is actually cousin bait for surnames and locations.

So here goes!

A – Alberton, Mineral County, Montana (Blacker, Kieron/Kieran)
A – Amesbury, Essex County, Massachusetts (Martin, Silver, Weed)
A – Andover, Essex County, Massachusetts (Blake, Tyler)
B – Baden-Württemberg, Germany (Kauzler, Ziegler)
B – Belmont, Lewis and Clark County, Montana (Rumping, Schenk/Schenck, Ziegler)
B – Belt, Cascade County, Montana (Schenk/Schenck)
B – Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana (Rümping)
B – Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona (Rümping)
B – Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts (Webb)
B – Boxford, Essex County, Massachusetts (Howard, Tyler)
B – Bradford, Orange County, Vermont (Collins, Martin)
B – Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana (Kieron/Kieran, Hennelly, Myers)
C – Chambersburg, Franklin County, Pennsylvania (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
D – Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
D – Deer Lodge, Powell County, Montana (Blacker, Kieron/Kieran)
D – Denver, Denver County, Colorado (Blacker)
D – Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa (Rümping)
D – Dover, Stratford County, New Hampshire (Howard, Rowe)
D – Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa (Rümping)
D – Drumgoosat, County Monaghan, Ireland (Kieron/Kieran, Martin)
E – Elizabeth, Miami County, Ohio (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
F – Fort Benton, Choteau County, Montana (Blacker, Rumping, Specht)
F – Forchheim, Emmendingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (Specht, Futterer)
F – French Creek, Chautauqua County, New York (Collins, Martin)
G – Germany (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
G – Goffstown, Hillsborough County, New Hampshire (Martin, Runyon)
G – Great Falls, Cascade County, Montana (Blacker, Dalin)
H – Halsingtuna, Gävleborg, Sweden (Ersdotter, Johansdotter, Karlsson)
H – Hassel, Broadwater County, Montana (Dahlin/Dalin, Johansdotter)
H – Heeke, Osnabrück, Niedersachsen, Germany (Rümping, Zum Dresch)
H – Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Montana (Blacker, Dalin)
H – Hertfordshire County, England (Andrews)
H – Houghton, Houghton County, Michigan (Schenk/Schenck, Ziegler)
H – Hudiksvall, Hälsingland, Gävleborg County, Sweden (Dahlin/Dalin, Johansdotter, Andersson)
H – Huntingdon Country, Pennsylvania (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
I – Idaho Falls, Bonneville County, Idaho (Buchenau, Smith)
I – Iron Mountain, Dickinson County, Michigan (Schenk/Schenck)
J – Jefferson, Ashtabula County, Ohio (Tyler)
J – Judith Gap, Montana (Blacker)
K – Karlsbad, Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (Buchenau)
K – Knodishall, Suffolk, England (Martin)
L – Lebanon, New London County, Connecticut (Chapman, Tyler)
L – Leigh, Wiltshire, England (Armitage)
L – Liverpool, England (Myers)
L – Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts (Howard, Tarbox)
M – Macomb, McDonough County, Illinois (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
M – Marysville, Lewis and Clark County, Montana (Rümping, Schenk/Schenck)
M – Missoula, Missoula County, Montana (Blacker, Kieron/Kieran)
N – Neihart, Cascade County, Montana (Andries, Schenk/Schenck, Ziegler)
N – Newbury, Essex County, Massachusetts (Silver)
N – North Vernon, Jennings County, Indiana (Specht, Gueringer)
O – Oakland, Alameda County, Montana (Blacker, Kieron/Kieran)
O – Ottawa, LaSalle County, Illinois (Buchenau, Tyler)
O – Ower Townland, County Galway, Ireland (Hennelly, Myres/Myers)
P – Pendleton, Lancashire, England (Armitage)
P – Piermont, Grafton County, New Hampshire (Chapman, Tyler)
P – Prussia (Blacker/Bleiker, Lauer/Lower/Lowry)
Q – Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland (Hennelly, Myres/Myers)¹
R – Radersburg, Broadwater County, Montana (Blacker, Buchenau)
R – Rattvik, Dalarna, Sweden (Andersson, Ersson, Hanson, Larsdotter, Larsson, Olsdotter)
R – Richland, Richland County, Wisconsin (Martin, Tyler)
R – Ropley, Hampshire, England (Silver)
R – Rowley, Essex County, Massachusetts (Silver)
S – Salisbury, Essex County, Massachusetts (Martin, North)
S – San Jose, Santa Clara County, California (Blacker, Swezey)
S – Sand Creek, Jennings County, Indiana (Specht, Gueringer)
S – Saybrook, Ashtabula County, Ohio (Howard, Tyler)
S – Shropshire County, England (Tyler)
S – Skagway, Alaska (Blacker)
S – Somerset, Somerset County, Pennsylvania (Collins)
S – Springfield, Delaware County, Pennsylvania (Martin, Tyler)
S – St. Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri (Blacker, Buchenau, Tyler)
S – St. Louis, Missouri (Rümping)
S – St. Louis County, Minnesota (Dahlin/Dalin)
S – Stockholm, Sweden (Ruthman)
S – Switzerland (Schenk/Schenck, Saltzmann)
T – Thetford, Orange County, Vermont (Howard, Rowe)
U –
V – Virginia City, Madison County, Montana (Blacker)
W – Warren, Cochise County, Arizona (Rümping)
W – Wathena, Doniphan County, Kansas (Buchenau, Tyler)
W – Wenham, Essex County, Massachusetts (Tarbox)
W – Wrightsburgh, Ashtabula County, Ohio (Howard, Tyler)
X –
Y – Yew Tree Cemetery, Lancashire, England (Myres/Myers)
Z –

What places do your ancestors come from?

*Note: I regularly update this list to include more locations. Last update made 22 Jan 2018.

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The featured image is a photo by dkaminsky, canstockphoto.com.

NOTES

When I hear the song “O Christmas Tree”, I am reminded of the Christmas trees of my childhood.

Perhaps a picture best illustrates the point.

This is my brother and me posing in front of our family Christmas tree in 1955 – probably our last Christmas spent in Montana before moving to New Mexico.

And yes, it’s a real tree. Covered with lots and lots and lots of tinsel. It’s impossible to see the lights and ornaments underneath all that tinsel but at night the red lights and shiny red ball ornaments were beautiful.

You see, my Dad was very particular about the tinsel. And as I recall, “tinsel-decorating-training” began at around age 6 or 7 – several strands draped very carefully, one branch at a time.

I wonder how many boxes of tinsel are on that tree??

The end result was always spectacular. And the lyrics so fitting . . .

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!
Such pleasure do you bring me!

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“Snowflakes in tinsel” featured image is from www.canstockphoto.com.

A few years ago, I came up with an idea for holiday cards that I think is a little different.

Well, actually, I can’t take full credit for the idea – because it came to me while scanning several beautiful Christmas cards that were created by my grandmother’s cousin.

Here’s an example of one of the cards – front, inside and back.

The artist, Aaron Schenck, was born June 14, 1923, in Neihart, Montana. I never knew Aaron personally but I’ve heard family members speak of these Christmas cards quite fondly.

When Aaron died in 2007, Michael Jamison of the Missoulian wrote a beautiful piece about him. I was certainly not surprised to learn that he was an art teacher. And interestingly, the article states he served with the ski troops in Italy during World War II – which explains the image and notation on the back the card. Jamison wrote that Aaron was also a “sketcher . . . of favorite old houses” and “a keeper of family and history”.¹

Well, I’m certainly not an artist – but I loved the idea of sending a card that tells a family story.

So I decided to take an old family photo and create a fun holiday card to send to family and friends. Here’s an example of the card I sent in 2015.

It’s fun and easy to create these cards. And there are enough photos on both sides of my family to supply with me with ideas for years to come!

So . . . my original point in creating this post was to share a “clever” idea I had for creating holiday cards with family history in mind.

But as it turned out, I now find myself feeling a little disappointed for not having known Aaron – and incredibly grateful to have come across the article written by Michael Jamison.

One thing, and then another.

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NOTES