Start with What You Know

Mom began collecting all the old papers and photos that she had around her house, and that she had received from family. There were lots of newspaper clippings of obituaries and death notices, which were a treasure trove of information. She had the obituary for her father (my grandfather), Fenwick Bowen Small (1918-2003).  He was born in Providence, a son of the late Woodrow and Lola (Brown) Small. He had been an electrician and refrigeration specialist in the maintenance department of Bostitch Corp for 25 years. Besides his wife, he was survived by 3 daughters, eight grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. He was the father of the late William A. Small and the brother of the late Albert and Alberta Small.

Mom also had the obituary for her mother (my grandmother), Marion Drucilla Whichelo (1922-2006). Born in Providence, she was a daughter of the late Florence F. (Whichelo) Winsor. No father listed—more on this later. She was a machine operator for Leviton Manufacturing Co. for more than 30 years. Besides her 3 daughters, she was survived by 3 brothers, Thomas, Phillip and Ernest Winsor; two sisters, Alice Wheeler and Mary Perry; eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. She was the mother of the late William A. Small and the sister of the late Irving Winsor and Anna MacLaughlen (correction: O’Loughlin). Both of my grandparents are buried in Quidnessett Memorial Cemetery in North Kingstown, RI.

Next was the obituary for my great-grandmother, Mrs. Florence D. (Whichelo) Winsor. She was born in North Kingstown Dec. 19, 1902, the daughter of the late Alfred P. and Drucilla F. (Worville) Whichelo. In addition to her husband, Irving L. Winsor, she is survived by 4 daughters, Mrs. Fenwick Small, Mrs. Louis Wheeler, Mrs. Richard O’Loughlin and Mrs. Robert Perry; 4 sons, Irving L. Winsor Jr., Phillip A., Thomas A. and Ernest R.; 4 sisters, Mrs. Russell Bunn, Mrs. Robert Snow, Mrs. Arthur N. Tucker and Mrs. Melvin A. Barbour; and a brother, David A. Whichelo. She is also buried in Quidnessett Memorial Cemetery in North Kingstown, RI.

On the obituary for my great-great grandmother, Mrs. Drusilla F. (Worville) Whichelo, someone had written in the date: Sept. 10, 1939. She was the widow of the late Alfred P. Whichelo and a native of England. The couple had moved to the United States after their marriage. She was a member of Loyal Prosperity Lodge of East Greenwich. She was survived by 8 children: Mrs. Florence Windsor, Mrs. Ethel Bunn, Mrs. Bertha Snow, Mrs. Gladys Tucker, Mrs. Lillian Barber, Ernest Whichelo, Charles Whichelo, and David Whichelo; and 20 grandchildren. We used the information in the obituaries to add names, dates and places to our pedigree chart. Everything will need to be verified with other sources, but we have lots of clues to help with our search.

Our first mystery… One glaring blank on the pedigree chart was my grandmother’s father. My mom only had some vague details about her mother’s paternity. Born out of wedlock in the 1920’s, my grandmother Marion never knew her father. For the few years of her life, her grandparents pretended to be her parents and she thought her mother, Florence, was her sister. Eventually the truth came out, and everyone learned that Florence was Marion’s mother. But who is the father? The first step is checking Marion’s birth certificate to see if a father is listed. Unfortunately, my mom does not have this document so we will have to research how to get a copy. To be continued…

Family History class at the Providence Library

One family history class at the library… and we’re hooked! Last January, I was looking for a way for my mom and I to jump into family history research. I knew there were countless genealogy websites on the Internet, like Ancestry.com. I had bought my mom a book on genealogy for Christmas (I’ll write a post on this once we have had time to read it). All the available information and resources were a little overwhelming, and we really needed some guidance to get started. Then while scanning through my Feedly blog list, I came across a post on the Kidoinfo.com blog (Link) about the Family History Workshop Series (Link) at Providence Public Library. The first class, “Genealogy 101,” was scheduled for the following Saturday morning. Luckily, there were still spots available so we signed up immediately.

That Saturday morning, we were so excited that we arrived before the library opened. By the end of the hour-long class, we were hooked! The class was an excellent introduction to family history research. The instructor, Kate Wells, is the Rhode Island Collection librarian for the Providence Library and had helped so many other people with their searches that she decided to start working on her own family tree about five years ago. She did a great job outlining the basics of genealogy, and offered many tips on how to get started and how to avoid common pitfalls of new genealogists.

Here are my notes from the class. Keep in mind that before the class I knew very little about genealogy—everything seemed interesting and important.

Sources

·         Primary – a record created at the time of the event (ex: birth certificate)

·         Secondary – records created after the event took place

·         Census – data is protected for 70 years = the 1940’s census was just released

Tips for filling out the forms

·         Women’s maiden names – be consistent, for ex: first middle (maiden) last

·         Be consistent with all notation – suffixes

·         Search by all names: maiden, nicknames, etc.

·         Parents: Father – up, Mother – down

Where to get information

·         Family resources: interview family members, photo albums, family bibles

·         Libraries – local libraries have local history

·         Online: Ancestry.com (free at library), Familysearch.org (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)

Basic info (try to find primary sources)

·         Birth date and location

·         Names of parents, siblings, spouses and children

·         Occupation

·         Death date and location

·         Burial location

·         Obituary

Documentation

·         Family Group Sheet – lists spouses and children, plus their vital statistics

·         Pedigree Chart – lists only your direct ancestors and their vital statistics

·         Research Log – to cite your sources

·         Online family tree makers: Myheritage.com, Familysearch.org

o   Can link you to other people with the same relatives

Numbering systems

·         Ahnentafel – you are #1 and the numbers grow larger as you go further back

·         Register style – your furthest ancestor is #1 and the numbers grow as you move forward in time – used for published genealogies

After the presentation, we had some time to work on a couple handouts: a pedigree chart and a family group sheet. Step One to beginning your family history research is to record what you already know, starting with you and working backwards. On the pedigree chart, my mom wrote her name and her parents’ names, Fenwick Bowen Small (1918-2003) and Marion Drucilla Whichelo (1922-2006). She also filled out a family group sheet for Fenwick and Marion, listing their children: William A. Small (1941-1955), herself, and her 2 sisters. We added as many vital statistic (birth, marriage and death) dates and locations as we could remember. The excitement was building as we talked about the many documents that my mom already had about other relatives. We couldn’t wait to get home to gather more information and fill in the blanks. After the class, we knew this hobby would become a new passion for us.

Welcome to SMALL Bits of History

 “In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our 

heritage — to know who we are and where we came from.”

~Alex Haley 

My mom and I have recently started the journey to discover our family history. This blog is a record of our adventures. Genealogy has quickly become a fun and exciting hobby for us. We are trying to stay organized and document all our findings, but it’s hard not to get caught up in the thrill of adding new names and pictures. We have a lot to learn, and I know we will make mistakes. Feel free to correct us, in the nicest possible way, if you have any suggestions. We’re both very busy so we’ll fit our research in when we can. Posts will be sporadic at best. My goal is to write 1-2 posts a month, more if we have a lot to share, less if we take some time off. We’re looking forward to connecting with distant relatives and new friends, and working together to grow our family tree.

We are starting our research with my mom’s parents, the Small and Whichelo roots. Through these two lines, we have also found the surnames Brown, Nickerson and Worville. Our locations include Rhode Island, Maine, Canada and England. 

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