Does It Pay Good To Be Crazy?

While searching for a relative in the Ontario death records, I noticed a record for an individual who died in the London Asylum for the Insane. In the box where the "occupation of deceased " was noted, it read : "Insane person" !

It is Said....

Old genealologists never die... they just lose their census ! (no comments please)

Name of the Day

She was born Sarah Bigg-- but on March 20th 1889 in London Ontario she married Fred B Pickle and then her name was Sarah Bigg Pickle !

Name of the Day

On Apr 20 1925 Nina Fonugia married George Zammit and became Nina Fonugia Zammit

The Nickname Factor

More than once I've banged my head against the wall looking for an elusive family member when they've been right under my nose all along ---under a nickname. For example, the Nancy I searched high and low for in the 1880 census was recorded right after her brother Donald as "Annie" and since they were about the same age and the only other household member was his mother, I had assumed for years she was his wife.
Another Annie was found after I finally realized she was Mary Ann.She and her "sister " were actually one and the same person !
"Minnie "was a popular nickname for Mary Jane.
"Donald" and "Daniel" were interchangeable, often the same person.
"Flora" often became "Sophronia"
There were numerous , and sometimes improbable sounding nicknames used in the 1800's , so it's a subject worth boning up on if you're up against the brick wall in your family research.

Strange Brew

Sometimes researching family histories turns up some odd relationships within a group of relatives. One such case is where a young woman's mother took as her second husband the brother of her daughter's husband. This made the young wife's husband's brother both her stepfather and her brother- in-law. To be clear, this was neither illegal nor immoral--just kind of weird !

Name of the Day

John Burley married Sally E Hurley. She became Sally Hurley Burley. My husband's great great aunt Eliza Londry married their son William Hurley Burley in 1853. (I wonder if they had a whirlywind courtship.)

Coincidence? Perhaps Not !

Occasionally my sister and I discuss the question of whether or not there is just one person that a person is meant to marry, even though it is obvious that so many of us jump the gun and end up trying all over again to make that "perfect match".
In researching both my own family history and my husband's, I have come upon some interesting connections and parallels between our families over 150 years ago, even though each of us were born in different provinces, and our parents had no connection whatsoever.
I found that his grandmother and my great- great grandaunt were next door neighbors (kith) on Manitoulin Island in the 1880's and 1890's ! Mike's 5th cousin and my 2nd cousin married in 1927. (kin)
We each have one French Canadian family line-my great- great grandfather was Joseph Maveal born 1834 and his great -great grandfather John Baptiste Londry born in 1830-both Wesleyan Methodists-even though French Canadians are generally Roman Catholic.
Just recently I've discovered that his paternal grandmother and my maternal great grandmother were born less than 100 miles apart in the former Austrio-Hungarian Empire in 1870, both named Marianna.Both were from German families who were colonists in that part of what is now the Ukraine.
I absolutely do not believe in reincarnation, and the idea of people "reconnecting" in subsequent lives. I do find it fascinating that my and my husband's ancestors either crossed paths or actually knew each other long before either of us were born.
Sadly though, one thing I haven't been able to locate in my in-law's family tree is a single drop of Scottish blood ! Oh well, we wouldn't want us to be too much alike !