Celebrate Canada Day with FREE Access to Ancestry....

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog: Celebrate Canada Day with FREE Access to Ancestry....: To celebrate Canada Day [FN1] , Ancestry.ca is providing free access to all 235 million Canadian records on their site.



The offer is in effect until July 1, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

Read more: http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/06/celebrate-canada-day-with-free-access.html#ixzz3eNk988ts

Find Your Ancestor in Ships Passenger Lists

Visitors to the website Olive Tree Genealogy often ask  for a list of all the free ships passenger lists the site has published online.

 

Read the list at Find Your Ancestor in Ships Passenger Lists or Naturalization Records

Ancient Human Remains Found

Ancient human remains have been found at a construction site in St. Catharines Ontario Canada. Experts believe the bones may be over 200 years old. 

Read the full story at http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2015/04/20/ancient-human-remains-found-at-downtown-construction-site

Happy DNA Day! 20% off on AncestryDNA Kits

AncestryDNA is celebrating their annual DNA Day this April by offering a 20% discount on AncestryDNA. The special will run from April 23-April 27, 2015. Happy DNA Day! 

This link takes you to their offer DNA Day 20% off AncestryDNA 

If you don't have your DNA kit yet, maybe it's time. Don't miss out!

Keeping your genealogy research safe and sound is so important

Most of us spend years working on our genealogy. Keeping your genealogy research safe and sound is important. And the award winning iDrive is extending their special offer to the end of February.

iDrive is offering 1TB of automatic Online Backup Storage PLUS 1TB of Sync Space file storage, for $14.88 for the first year. This is a 75% savings off the regular price of $59.50 and saves you almost $45.00. Offer good until Feb. 28/15

iDrive just received the prestigious PC Mag Editors Choice award for online backup for 2015. iDrive is easy to install and easy to use. There's no learning curve and you can start protecting your years of genealogy research immediately. 

Use this link for the exclusive iDrive offer

The Coffin Plate Of Elisha Caleb Cary

Elisha Cary

Elisha Caleb Cary

AGED

13 years 2 mo 6 days

It is hard to tell from this photo if Elisha was 13 or 73. More research is needed.

For more Coffin Plates go to ancestorsatrest.com

Decorating My Genealogy Christmas Tree

Genealogy Mystery: What Happened to Cyril (Charles) De Meulenaere?

Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy is posting her Top 10 Genealogy Mysteries, and encouraging others to follow suit with their own.

You can read her Genealogy Mysteries at Top 10 Genealogy Mysteries

Here is my Top Genealogy Mystery: What Happened to Cyril (Charles) De Meulenaere?

My great grand uncle Cyrillus (Charles) De Meulenaere was born in Tielt Belgium in 1888. On 27 February 1937 he died in Detroit Michigan. The family lore has always been that he was killed - stabbed to death outside a bar in downtown Detroit.

Here is what I've been able to find out about Cyril (Charles):

• November 1915: Border Crossing states his last permanent residence was Berlin Canada (now Kitchener Ontario) and he is heading to Detroit. Has no relatives there
• March 31, 1916: Joined the CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Forces) during WW1. Says he was born in 1881 (a lie) and living in Berlin (Kitchener) Ontario
• June 5, 1917: Joined the American Expeditionary Force. Says he lives at  2166 Mack Ave, St Clair Michigan and works for J. A. Cornille (of Cornille Bros) driving a team of horses.
• May 15, 1919: A document from the US Pension service states that Cyriel was discharged from service on May 15, 1919, and provides the date of his death as February 27, 1937. His name is written as Charles Demenllenere & Demeulenere. 
• September 3, 1932: Cyril/Charles attempts to cross from USA into Canada at Windsor. Says he is going to visit brother "Arthur" [Note: this is actually his brother Archie] in Bridgeport Ontario. Lives Detroit Michigan, American, sister Marie in Tielt Belgium. He was REJECTED.
• February 27, 1937: Cyril dies in Detroit Michigan
• March 1, 1937: his brother Archie tries to go to Cyril's funeral in Michigan but is deported. Archie's son always said that his father was escorted to the funeral by officials (Border Guards? Police?) and then taken back to the border and deported. 

I contacted Mt. Olivett Cemetery , Detroit Michigan where Cyril is buried. Here is their information:

Cyril Demeulenaere

Date of Death: FEBRUARY 27, 1937
Cemetery: Mt. Olivet Cemetery
Location: Section 44, Tier 25, Space 84

The cemetery owns the grave and buried him for free due to a financial hardship of some sort.  They did not have an address of where he lived at the time.  Below is all the information that the cemetery had for him:

Date of death - 2/27/1937
Date of interment - 3/3/1937
Funeral home - VanLerberghe
Church - Our Lady of Sorrows
Age - about 48 

Next step was to contact the funeral home and the church.

VanLerberghe Funeral Home answered re Cyril's death:

Cyril Demeulenaere
Age 45, passed on February 27, 1937
Born in Belgium
Buried at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Detroit, Michigan
Funeral Services held at Our Lady of Sorrows Church on March 3, 1937 at 10am.

Our Lady of Sorrows Church burned down 1963 but I found the new church where the parish and the records went. They also replied to my email with this information:

Our Lady of Sorrows death records indicate that Cyril Demeulenaere died on February 27, 1937 and was buried March 3, 1937,at Mt.Olivet cemetery here in Detroit following a mass at Our Lady of Sorrows celebrated by Rev. H. Syoen. There is no further information listed.

I would like to know exactly what happened to Cyril!  There are two things I am hoping for:

1. An obituary or death notice or newspaper article about Cyril's death on 27 February 1937. I'm willing to bet there is a write up in a Detroit Newspaper. If anyone has access to these papers, I'd be very grateful for help.

2. A photo of Cyril's grave at Mt. Olivet Cemetery.

Homeless Man Arrested for digging in historic Salem graveyard

A historic Boston graveyard was vandalized recently when a man managed to dig about 4 inches into the ground of a grave, exposing the original headstone. A new stone had been placed on the grave and the original laid flat and buried with the grave.

The graveyard, which dates back to 1637, is supposed to be locked at night, but rarely is. Read the full story at Homeless Man Arrested for digging in historic Salem graveyard

The Coffin Plate Of Frank Brown 1899

Frank Brown 1881~1899

Frank Brown

Died Nov 11. 1899

AE 18Yrs 10Mos 10Dys

For more coffin plates go to

http://ancestorsatrest.com/

Important ancient tomb discovered in Greece

The Tomb

For the past few years archaeologists have been working on excavating a massive burial mound not far from the ancient city of Amphipolis in Greece. Located just 370 miles north of Athens and dating from the era of Alexander the Great, many have speculated that one of Alexander’s military commanders or family members may be buried inside. Archaeologist Katerina Peristeri dates the burial tomb to between 325 B.C. and 300 B.C. in the era just at the end of the reign of Alexander the Great. Archaeologists have not yet entered the tomb but expect to in the next few days.

King Richard III to be burried in Leicester Cathedral

King Richard III

Officials have finally decided on the re interment details for the remains of the 15th-century English ruler King Richard III.

His remains will be laid to rest on Thursday, March 26, 2015, in Leicester Cathedral during one of three services to honor the English king.

The king's remains, which were found under a parking lot in Leicester, England, in 2012, will be placed in a tomb made of Swaledale fossil stone and black Kilkenny marble crafted by Michael Ibsen, a descendant of King Richard III's sister Anne of York. 

The Wine Cup Of Pericles

A ceramic wine cup that is believed to have been used by Classical Greek Athenian statesman Pericles has been found in a pauper's grave in north Athens. The cup was found smashed into pieces but after piecing it back together, archaeologists were amazed to find the name "Pericles" along with the names of five other men.

Pericles

Experts are sure that the cup was used by Pericles, as one of the other names listed is that of Pericles elder brother Ariphron. The name Ariphron is extremely rare so having it listed above that of Pericles makes a strong case that these are the two brothers.

Pericles died of the plague in 429 BC. The cup is to be displayed at the Epigraphical Museum in Athens.

Militants blow up Prophet Jonas’ tomb in Iraq

The monument to the purported burial place of the prophet Younis was erected around 1393

In a sad act of vandalism The shrine of Jonas – revered by Christians and Muslims alike – has been turned “to dust” near Iraq’s Mosul.

Ancestor Death Record Finder now available as an E-Book on Amazon

Lorine McGinnis Schulze of The Olive Tree Genealogy has just published!   3 Guides to help you find alternate sources for  Vital Statistic records. If you want to have a peek, here are the links for each guide. Oh and did I mention they are only $1.15 each?

Also, you don't need a Kindle reader to read these. The Kindle Cloud Reader is free and it allows you to read any Kindle book on your computer  and the free Kindle Reading App works on your smartphone, tablet and computer.

Ancestor Birth Record Finder: Tips on Finding a Birth Record When You've Hit a Brick Wall is available on Amazon as an E-Book for only $1.15

 Ancestor Marriage Record Finder: Tips on Finding a Marriage Record When You've Hit a Brick Wall available as an E-Book on Amazon for only $1.15

 Ancestor Death Record Finder: Tips on Finding a Death Record When You've Hit a Brick Wall available as an E-book on Amazon for only $1.15

You can also see a list of all Olive Tree Genealogy's published E-books on the Author page

Twenty-five skeletons found on farm

Archaeologists have unearthed more than two dozen skeletons in what is thought to be an ancient cemetery at Chester Farm, near Irchester.
It is hoped the exciting discovery may shed further light on the 2,000-year-old Roman settlement and give another glimpse into what life was like in Roman Britain.

Read More About The 25

Living With The Dead

HIDDEN between tomb stones and ancient crypts, this Filipino graveyard has become an unlikely living city for poverty stricken families.

North Manila Cemetary in the Philippines is home to more than 10,000 people too poor to afford rent in one of the most densely populated places on Earth.
Originally home to caretakers, the living population of the cemetery started to grow as generations hit by poverty moved into their family crypts, sleeping with the deceased remains of parents and grandparents.

Read More

 

Skeletons of war dead from 11,000 BC go on display

Oldest War Dead

Lying on their sides, curled together, the two skeletons on display for the first time at the British Museum look peacefully laid to rest. But the razor-sharp stone flakes scattered around and among the bones are the remains of ancient weapons, with a myriad breaks and slash marks on the skeletons. The two are among the oldest war dead in the world, men who died a brutal death after violent lives 13,000 years ago.
The cemetery they came from, on the banks of the Nile in what is now northern Sudan, is famous among archaeologists: dating from about 11,000 BC, it is among the oldest organised burial grounds in the world. However, the finds, including the shattered bones of scores of men, women and children and the remains of the weapons that killed them, have never been exhibited before.

Read More About War Dead

The 'oldest tree in Europe' discovered in a Welsh cemetery

5000 year old yew tree in Wales

I don't normally blog about trees (well perhaps Family Trees) but as this one is in a cemetery its worthy of note. Experts say a yew tree found in St Cynog’s churchyard in Wales, is probably Europe’s oldest living thing.

The tree is more than 5,000 years old, that's 3,000BC. It started growing about 500 years before the Pharaohs in Egypt built the Great Pyramid of Giza. And it was a sapling at about the time work first began on building Stonehenge.

If only it could talk.

Down syndrome in medieval France

The 1500 year old skull of a young girl with Down Syndrome

New research by archaeologists in France have discovered what is believed to be the oldest case of Down syndrome in the archaeological record. Archaeologists had originally discovered the skeleton of a young girl aged about 6 years old in 1989, when they excavated it along with 93 other skeletons from a 5th to 6th century cemetery located near the Abbey of Saint-Jean-des-Vignes in northeastern France. Researchers had suspected at the time of the excavation that the child may have had Down syndrome, but they believe they can now confirm the diagnosis.