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This is a story about my Stiles research. It does not include anyone “famous”, but most stories on family history do not.
Several years ago, I made contact with a descendant of Lucy Wellington through her daughter Augusta Wakefield. I descend from Augusta’s sister, Mary Wakefield (1831-before 1888) who married Wilbur Stiles (1827-1870). This contact was able to provide me with the names of the children of Wilbur and Mary who were known at that time – including a William Henry Stiles. At the time, she had found a William H Stiles in the census with a family in Genesee County Michigan, but did not know for sure if this was our William Henry Stiles. My gut told me it was, but gut feelings are not proof.
Then, almost 2 years ago, I made contact with a descendant of William H. Stiles from Genesee County. Her family story said that William’s mother was a Native American – possibly with the name of “Sue Bee” (or some variation of spelling). However, she could find no proof of that family legend. She did have the father as probably Wilbur Stiles.
The information that this cousin provided proved to me that we were indeed talking about the same family. She just wasn’t sure only because of the family legend, but again, my gut told me it was the same family. And the information that was provided coincided with the census information that was found earlier.
This however still was not definitive proof. The historian for the Stiles Family of America felt that it was not definitive enough proof to remove the missing link information for that family and to link it to my family. So the search continued.
I then broke down and ordered the military service and pension files for Wilbur Stiles Jr (1864-1938). In it, was a copy of a page from a Bible which served as his birth certificate.
As you can see above, the copy is not the best. What intrigued me though was the line under Wilbur F. Stiles at the bottom. It’s hard to see in this image, but there is a William H. Stiles listed – the lettering is just really light. It could be because it was written in pencil instead of pen, or it could be due to age I suppose. The thing is, it proved to me that there indeed was a son of Wilbur and Mary who was named William H. Stiles. My gut again told me that this was the same person as in the census and the ancestor of this newly discovered cousin from 2008. However, it was still not enough proof for many.
Then, today, March 8, 2010, I accessed another resource – pilot.familysearch.org. This website had images of the record books from the various counties in Michigan. Here I find the following pictures.
 The marriage of William H Stiles to Emma Elliott from the Lapeer County Michigan book of Marriages.  The marriage record of William H Stiles and Mabel Gibbs as recorded in the Genesee County Michigan Marriage Record book. Finally – I have proof that William H Stiles that my cousin descends from and that appeared in the later census records really is the son of Wilbur and Mary. My gut was right! This still doesn’t explain the “Native American” legend from that branch of the family – although quite frankly, many family legends in Michigan contain that fable. However, it doesn’t diminish my excitement for this discovery.
As we get older, the time seems to go by even faster. It seems that 2009 just started, and now it’s ending. Frankly, I’m glad it’s over. This year has been not a good one for me. I’ve had to close my online business due to the insane amount of money I was loosing on it. I lost my job when the old company that I was contracted to was bought out by another company and that new company did not want to continue the part of the business that had employed me. Since I was an “independent contractor” I had no benefits, so finding a new job was the top of the priority list. I luckily did find another job – but ended up leaving that one after 2 months as I couldn’t take the manager’s attitude anymore. Unfortunately, I wasn’t employed long enough to be eligible for any benefits, so once again, finding a new job was top priority. I had also found another “job” which allowed me to learn a little bit more about the insurance industry, but it was something that I could not do as I did not have the skills for it. Thankfully, I did find a new job with a brand new company – doing essentially what I had done before, but with more responsibilities. I’m still an Independent Contractor, but I love this job.
School has taken a very far back seat. The first half of the year I was “attending” but got nothing done. I then took a term break for the last half of the year. I’m starting back tomorrow, but really, my heart isn’t into it. But, it’s either that or start paying back the student loan, which I can’t afford. I hope that I can get into the swing of things and get the degree completed.
In July was the Stiles Family of America reunion – held in Providence, Rhode Island. I had to miss it due to having the 2 month job. I hated to miss it, especially when I had done all of the organizing for it. I understand everyone had a good time, but I still would have loved to attend the reunion that I organized…
Health wise, things have not really improved – my back still bothers me after 1 1/2 years after a back surgery. My blood sugar is getting worse according to the A1C test, and my roseacea is getting much worse. In fact, when I was at the dermatologist’s office last week, the nurse was instructed to take a picture of my face, and afterwards she compared the new pictures to the old ones and said “wow, you have really gotten worse!” and carried on with that sentiment for a while. Like I needed her to tell me that – I know my roseacea is worse – nothing is helping it.
Here’s to hoping that 2010 will be a better year. I’m hoping my job will not disappear again, so I remain employed the entire year. I’m hoping my health starts to improve and my blood sugar gets under control again. I’m hoping that I can get some of my debt paid down so I can find a new home of my own to move into in the Cincinnati area. I’m also hoping that I can get my BS in Information Technology degree finished.
I did a search on ancestry.com for my gr-gr-grandfather, John Rivers. I put in his birth and death information and found exactly 6 results – all in the family trees section. Out of those 6 results, 5 were public member trees and 1 was in OneWorld tree. I just thought I would check the public member trees to see if I could gather any new clues about John. What I found was both interesting and frankly rather disappointing.
Out of the 5 trees, 3 of them were the exact same tree – just submitted by 3 different people. These 3 had source citations – the exact same ones. Clearly, they were just copying each other. The other 2 were unsourced, but one of them was actually more useful and I am waiting to hear back from that person.
I point this out because the 3 trees that were carbon copies of each other have completely incorrect information in them that the other 2 trees had copied. The incorrect information is GLARINGLY incorrect which is what makes this so much worse. The 3 trees have him married twice and living in 2 different states in 1880.
According to these three trees, John was born 16 May 1823 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and died 21 November 1902 in Taymouth [Township], Saginaw [County], Michigan. This sort of coincides with information that I have (although I have his birth as April 1824).
The 3 trees have John married twice with his first wife as an Elizabeth and two children – Elizabeth Betsy and Susannah. The problem is this can NOT possibly have been the same John Rivers. The wife Elizabeth has a birth of 1765 and a death of 1810 (her death is 13 years BEFORE John Rivers was born – how could they have been married?). The daughter Elizabeth Betsy Rivers was born 12 Jan 1780 in Virginia and died 1822 in Green Kentucky. The daughter Susannah was born 25 Dec 1783 in Virginia and died 1824 in Green Kentucky. Both daughters were born before their father was born???? Come on – it’s obvious that this family does not belong with the John Rivers born in 1823/4 in Montreal Canada.
These 3 family trees also give that John Rivers was living in 2 different states in 1880 – one in Albee [Township], Saginaw [County], Michigan (who is my gr-gr-grandfather) and one in Newport, Orleans, Vermont. The census for Vermont gives his age as 56 born Canada and lists only children who were born in Vermont with him – John age 24, Fredie age 18, Annie age 15, Melvina age 13 and Eugene age 10. The census for Michigan gives John as age 55 born Canada with wife Jane (Francis Jane) age 34, children Betsey age 16, John age 14, Thomas age 10, Gardner age 8, Birtie (Burt Eugene) age 4 and Daniel (James Daniel) age 1. All the children were born in Michigan. The ONLY things that the Vermont John Rivers shares with my gr-gr-grandfather is his name and birth year/general place. It is a coincidence that these two happen to have the same name and same birth year/general place. It is clear that these are 2 separate and different John Rivers. They are not the same person as these 3 trees suggest.
I really wish that people would just not copy information and tout it as accurate without examining the evidence. This is a perfect example of why you cannot count on the information in the family trees section of ancestry.com. It provides clues only – not truths. And in this case – not very good clues even.
Oh. The one tree that was more useful was a tree that was unsourced (which always makes me a little suspicious), but was one that did NOT just copy information from the others. Yes, the birth of John was copied, but it only listed one wife and one child (which is inaccurate). But it gave more information on that child – that Daniel was married twice (which I knew and the names matched) and had at least 2 kids – one by each wife. That was new – I didn’t know about the 2nd child. This person was clearly a descendant of the 2nd child by the 2nd wife and was completely new information to me. That is why I pursued contact with this person and am waiting for a response now. Am I taking it as gospel? No, not until I make contact with that contributor and verify the information.
The Stiles Family of America DNA project got started in July of 2007. As of September 20, 2009, there have been over 80 participants in our study. Out of that number, only 49 have the Stiles/Styles surname. The rest have other surnames – mostly unrelated men, although some have maternal Stiles descent. For the purposes of this discussion, I will only concentrate on the 49 Stiles/Styles surnamed men as it is their DNA that has the most meaning for the surname of Stiles/Styles.
Of the 49 Stiles/Styles participants, 13 have believed they are descendant of Robert Stiles (1637 – 1690) who died in Boxford, Massachusetts; 11 have believed they are descendant of John Stiles (1595 – 1662) who died in Connecticut; while the remaining 14 had various lineages of descent not from Robert or John. The lineage was based on paper data gathered over the years from census, tax lists, bible records, documented histories, etc. One participant has not provided any type of paper lineage for himself which makes it hard to do a full comparison, although it will be noted that his DNA does not match anyone else’s in the study.
The DNA evidence has proven 10 distinct groups of relatives out of the 49 who have had their DNA tested so far. One of those groups is actually a group of 12 totally unrelated men – they are not related to anyone else in our DNA study at present time (not even related to each other). I have grouped them together only because it makes looking at the data a little easier.
Those who believe they descend from Robert Stiles (1637-1690) of Boxford, Massachusetts, actually fall into 2 distinct groups. Ten men are clearly related to each other, while the remaining 3 are related to each other, but not related to the other ten men. The three men who are not related to the others all descend from Robert’s grandson Israel (1716 – 1791) and Israel’s son John (1736 – 1785). The DNA however, has not told us if it was Israel or John who was adopted since there has not yet been a participant from a descendant of any of Israel’s other sons (Moses, Isaac, Samuel or Robert). If one of those descendants were to have their DNA tested, that could indicate if it was Israel or John who was adopted.
There are 11 DNA participants that traced their lineage to John Stiles (1595 – 1662 CT). Of those, 1 traces descent from John’s son Henry, 6 trace to John’s son Isaac and 4 trace to John’s son John.
Of those who trace their descent to Isaac, 1 traces to Isaac’s son John and 5 to Isaac’s son Jonathan “Long Jonathan”. The one who traces to Isaac’s son John is unrelated to any other participant. Could this John, the son of Isaac, be adopted? Hard to say as we would need more descendants of this John to test.
Of those who trace their descent to Jonathan “Long Jonathan”, 2 trace to his son Jonathan Jr (and also Jonathan III and his son Jacob). The descendants of Jonathan happens to match the DNA of descendant of Henry the son of John (1595-1662). So, either the Jonathan that was Jonathan “Long Jonathan”’s son was really a descendant of Henry, or the descendant of Henry was really the descendant of Jonathan II. It’s hard to say which for sure because we don’t have any other descendant of Henry in the DNA study. By the way, the descendant of Henry is one that had his lineage just revised to be a descendant of Henry rather than a descendant of a William (who doesn’t even factor into this study yet).
Of those who trace their descent to Jonathan “Long Jonathan”, 3 trace to his son Stephen. Of those 3, 2 trace their descent to Stephen’s son Aaron and one traces to Stephen’s son William. Interestingly, the 2 who trace their descent to Aaron match according to the DNA and the one who traces to William does not match anyone else in the DNA study. This leads me to believe that William may have been adopted, but again, we need more DNA data from William’s descendants to be sure.
Of those who trace their descent to John son of John (1595-1662), 3 trace their descent to Ephraim Sr (grandson of the immigrant John born 1595) and 1 traces to John III. Interestingly, the one that traces to John III matches DNA with those who trace descent from Joseph (b 1648 Eng). So, could John III be adopted? Hard to say until we get more DNA evidence.
Of those who trace their descent to Ephraim Sr, 2 trace their descent to Ephraim’s son Ephraim and one traces to Ephraim Sr’s son Isaac. The 2 that trace their descent to Ephraim Jr, one traces to Ephraim Jr’s son Eli and the other to Ephraim Jr’s son Simeon. Now, none of these three men match any other participant. This leads me to think that perhaps Isaac – son of Ephraim Sr was adopted. In addition, I’m thinking that either Eli or Simeon were adopted by Ephraim Jr – but which one? It’s hard to say for sure because we don’t have enough DNA evidence.
In conclusion, the DNA study has proven that what we thought was accurate in the paper genealogical trail is inaccurate as there are clearly some adoptions (or more correctly “non-paternal” events) that happened somewhat frequently. It has allowed us to connect some long-lost relatives together (consolidating some of our missing link families) and shown us that we need to keep searching the paper records. One thing that is clear from this analysis is that we need more DNA tested – and for the participants to share their genealogical lineage with us so we can further examine the paper records. Only through active participation and collaboration will we start to unravel the mysteries of the Stiles/Styles lineages.
This was posted in one of my genealogy email lists and I thought it was interesting. 
Thought this article from the New York Times (6 Aug 1875) might interest someone.
A Considerate Ghost.
He Throws Stones About a House in Michigan for Nearly a Year, but Injures No One.
There having been stories circulated relating to the “haunted TURNER farm,” four miles south of the village of Byron, in Shiawassee County, Mich., a lady from Byron recently visited the locality, and sends her observations to the Detroit Free Press, as follows:
“Arriving at the farm Mrs. TURNER, in explanation of the phenomena, said that she did at first think the stones were thrown by human persons, but is now perfectly satisfied that they are not. She did not believe in the supernatural, but had always been a Methodist, and previous to August last had never seen or heard anything she could not account for. Continuing the recital, Mrs. TURNER said that her husband had purchased the farm a little over six years ago, and at that time it contained a lot which had been used as a burying-ground by former owners. According to the terms of the bargain the friends of those buried there proceeded to remove the bodies, Mr. TURNER assisting them in that work. A gentleman from Flint, named BROWN, had a mother buried there. He was very angry about the removal of the body, and was heard to say many times that, if there was such a thing possible, and he should die first, he would haunt TURNER for this act. Last August BROWN died. That same month this stone-throwing was commenced. The TURNERs assert that they did not know of BROWN’s death until some time after. The first stone thrown was one evening about sundown, while Mrs. TURNER was milking, the stone falling by her side, and about the size of a man’s fist. She called immediately to her son, about ten years of age, not to repeat the act, as he might frighten the cow and hurt her. He replied that he had not thrown anything. Just then two more came down, one striking near her and the other near the child. Mr. TURNER, who was unharnessing his horses near by, called out angrily, looking about to see whence they came: ‘There, that will do; throw no more stones here or you will find, whoever you are, two can play at that game!’ More stones came flying, and both Mr. and Mrs. TURNER began to search for the person throwing the stones. They found themselves puzzled to find out from what direction they came, for they could not see the stones till they were within a few feet of them, and apparently coming form all directions. This sort of thing kept up for several days before they informed their neighbors and friends and asked for help in finding the cause. The neighbors came, and the stones continued rapidly falling about them in their search for the person throwing them. Everybody gave up, declaring they could not solve the mystery. A peculiarity of this stone-throwing has been that with all the apparent recklessness with which they fell, there has been no one hurt. They have passed by the persons so near as to brush their clothing, and then fall to the ground near by, not even denting the soft ground. Mr. TURNER last Fall was very anxious to have snow fall, as he reasoned that if the stones were thrown by living individuals, their tracks would betray them. The stones continued to be thrown all Winter, even when the snow was deep. They would fall upon the roof of the house and roll down, leaving scarcely a vestige of their course in the snow. No tracks of persons whatever could be found. Mrs. TURNER says it is more as if the stones were swiftly carried by than thrown. Certain of the stones were carried home by the neighbors and privately marked. These identical stones would soon be found again in TURNER’s yard. A thousand or more persons have visited the place, and a great many have themselves seen the stone throwing, but vastly many more have waited and went away without seeing it, and have pronounced the whole thing a humbug. Mrs. TURNER says the stones ordinarily commence to fall at 10 o’clock in the forenoon and continue to be thrown until dark. None have ever been hurled after dark. None were thrown on the occasion of the visit here described, the last having been seen Sunday afternoon. The shower of stones is not so great as last Summer, and the family are in hopes it will stop altogether.”
[The New York Times. 6 Aug 1875.]
Comcast just isn’t working out for me. I’m starting the job hunting process again. 
Yesterday I attended the GMA job fair in Detroit. My local ABC station, ABC12, was there and did a broadcast. They also put a link to their story on their Facebook page. I posted a comment about the story giving a brief account of my experience at the job fair. I didn’t really think much about it at the time.
Today, I receive an email from a recruiter who contacted me through my personal website. In this email, the recruiter said he saw my comment on the ABC12 Facebook page, and then went to my website (by clicking on my name and visiting my Facebook page where I have my personal website listed as a link) and thought that I might be a match for a job and to please call him. So, I called and spoke with the gentleman. I now have an interview lined up for Friday afternoon.
So, while I never would have thought that my Facebook page, let alone a comment that I made on Facebook, would ever yield a job interview, I’m very glad that it did!
This morning, Good Morning America hosted a job fair at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Since I’m now unemployed (have been for a week now), I thought that I would attend in hopes of getting a job lead. My local ABC affiliate, Channel 12 was broadcasting from there, as well as GMA and a couple of other local channels.
Doors were to open at 6am and close at 10am. I got there at 6am – and was about the 300th person in line. That is a guestimate of mine – I don’t actually know how many were ahead of me, but I did not get to enter the hall where the companies were setup until 7am as they were only allowing so many in at a time. The line was going from the hall straight down to the other end of the building – and had started looping about 3 times in that half of the building by the time I started moving forward. When I left the facility at 10:20, the line was even longer than when I had started moving into the hall. I’d be interested in hearing if they knew how many people showed up today – it’s in the thousands that’s for sure.
One complaint that I have about the job fair – they had everyone (about 70 companies) stuffed into one little corner of the hall. The rest of the hall was roped off with people stationed to make sure no one went past the ropes. There wasn’t nearly enough room between the lines of tables for everyone – especially with some of the tables (Kellogg’s and NSA just to name 2) having lines of about 30 people waiting to speak with the recruiters.
But, I did get a couple of job leads. I have a qualification exam with Comcast on Thursday afternoon for a Technical Support Specialist (call center) position. I’ve also got a couple of leads from other companies hiring in Michigan and a couple hiring in other states (IT). As much as I want to stay in Michigan (it is my home and I love it here), I am willing to relocate if it means getting a decent job. Many of the companies wouldn’t even talk to me about IT positions unless I was willing to relocate. A sad reality of being in the Information Technology field in Michigan.
This was my first ever job fair, and to be honest I did not know what to expect when I went. I was rather surprised that at the entrance of the hall, there were big white “gift” bags for us to take. I quickly found out why – several companies had not just literature for you to take, but also promotional items like pens, notepads, etc. I got a tiny stapler, a “stress” ball (well, it’s actually star shaped), a frisbee, several pens and notepads and even some food like cookies, candy, individual box of frosted mini-wheats, a bottle of water, and a bottle of protein water. Yes, Kellogg’s was there.
Well, I better get back to filling out online applications. Even though I took 70 copies of my résumé (handed out about 20), many companies said to apply online in addition or instead of accepting the paper résumé.
The first half of the episode was so hilarious – poking fun at themselves. The second half so far (still about 6 minutes of show left) is so NOT funny – but it is equally awesome! Who would have ever guessed what has happened so far? The twists and turns the story has taken! I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again – Eric Kripke you are a GENIUS!!!!!!!
I just received an email from one of my genealogy mailing lists talking about a new resource for doing family history research in Michigan. The mission of Seeking Michigan is “To enrich quality of life by providing access to unique historical information that promotes Michigan’s cultural heritage. We define cultural heritage as the stories of Michigan’s families, homes, businesses, communities and landscapes as told by unique source documents, maps, films, images, oral histories and artifacts.”
Clearly, this could be a very valuable resource. Currently, they have a small fraction of records available (25% according to the email I received), so expect more records to be added in the coming weeks. The only problem that I have with the site is the search.
On their main page is a search box. I entered John Rivers – he was my gr-gr-grandfather who died in Taymouth Township, Saginaw County, Michigan in 1902. The search came up empty. I tried a couple of others – and they too came up empty. I tried doing an “advanced search” – telling it to look at just the last names for Rivers (so I wouldn’t get all of the deaths in Three Rivers, MI) and it did NOT work. I still ended up with every single instance of the word Rivers. When I did a search for just Rivers and started going through the boatload of hits I found my John Rivers!
Obviously, they need to work on their search engine a bit. That said, it’s still worth checking it out.
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