Pandemic Genealogy: The Van Dosen Discoveries

During this pandemic and lockdown year, I've worked on many different genealogy projects, both big and small. A favorite has been my collaboration with my newly discovered 3rd cousin, Gerlyn Bowman. Back in September, she reached out to me via Ancestry messaging:

Hi, I am searching Melinda Williams as she was my grandmother's great grandmother.  I have some pictures to share.  It looks like your research is extensive.  thanks!  gerlyn bowman

I recognized the name Melinda Dunton Williams right away, as I had identified her in my research as my 3rd great-grandmother in my Van Dosen line (this is my mother Shirley's father Orlie's line). 

I'm always happy to hear from someone who is interested in collaborating, and I was especially intrigued by the mention of pictures. I wrote back to Gerlyn and shared some of my family tree so we could figure out how we are related. 

Melinda Dunton Williams' daughter Jessie Bell Williams and Jessie Bell's husband Henry Van Dosen are Gerlyn's and my 2nd great-grandparents. Gerlyn descends from their daughter Nina Ardale, and I descend from their son Harry. What fun it was to see a photo of this little family!

Gerlyn, in turn, sent me a wonderful photo of Melinda's watch, along with a photo of Melinda and some family members. Gerlyn also had a large collection of calling cards that we determined were associated with this family. The calling cards are so beautiful and fun to look at. 

Melinda's watch and pin and some Van Dosen calling cards

Through discussion and reference to the tree, Gerlyn and I were able to attach 18 calling cards to people in my tree. One calling card proved to be particularly important in going back further in our genealogy, but I'll get to that later.

First a bit of background on my story. Shirley's father, Orlie Van Dosen, was not a part of our lives. He abandoned my grandmother Ruth while she was pregnant with Shirley, marrying another woman and having two sons, Joseph and Donald. I vividly remember my mom meeting her half-brothers for the first time in the 1970s. 

Donald and wife Mary, Shirley, Joseph and wife Carmen

I don't really know how Orlie's life was with his other family, but I do remember my mom saying that he died alone in a 'flophouse' (as she described it). Orlie was one of 7 children of Harry Van Dosen and Lula Hudson. 

I often reflect on what events must have happened in Orlie's life to evolve and end the way it did, when he started out as this cute baby in what appears to have been a stable family? Maybe that's just something that happens when there are so many children, some get lost in the shuffle?

Back: Orlie, Myron, Lula Hudson (mother of the Van Dosen siblings), Earl Badger? (Nina Ardale's husband), Nina Ardale (Harry Van Dosen's sister), Harry Van Dosen, Jessie Bell Williams (Harry and Nina Ardale's mother), Frank Granger (Jessie Bell's second husband), Arba. Kids Front: Yota, Harry/Pete, NinaBelle. Gerlyn and I worked several weeks on identifying the people in the photo. I'm 90% sure we have the boys correctly identified - some were very close in age, so it was challenging.

Shirley did not have contact with her uncles; I never even knew until I was an adult that she had uncles. However, her aunts Yota and NinaBelle were part of her life. I knew two of Yota's daughters as 'aunts' in childhood, along with their children as my 'cousins.' P's daughter D was a sister figure to me in childhood, as we are the same age and lived near each other for a period. We attended the same school for a few years and were even in the same kindergarten classroom.

D's and my kindergarten class. D is Mary and I am the shepherd on the far right

I have memories of visiting NinaBelle as a child. She lived near the school that D and I attended. I have one particularly vivid memory of visiting there with Shirley. As we were leaving, NinaBelle brought out a present for me to put in the trunk of the car. In retrospect, I think she felt sorry for us, as Shirley struggled as a single mother and often had trouble providing birthday or Christmas presents. Gerlyn had a very nice photo of NinaBelle as a young woman in her collection. Although I was unable to get any of NinaBelle's descendants to confirm the photo, we are confident it is correctly identified based on notation on the back.

In 1998, Shirley was contacted by SK, a man who had been adopted and was searching for information about his birth parents. It was at that time that I sat down with Shirley and she told me whatever she could remember about the Van Dosen siblings and their families, so that we could share that info with SK. SK sent us a photo of him and his child, and the child's resemblance to Emily was amazing! This event is what got me interested in genealogy, although it wasn't until a few years ago that I really delved in. (Over the years, I had often wondered if SK found the information he was seeking. I'm happy to report that I found him just a few weeks ago, as he took the Ancestry DNA test. I was able to message him, and we have been working on identifying his birth mother. I believe we have solved the puzzle!)

Until Gerlyn contacted me, I had exactly one picture of Harry Van Dosen, which I had found on a random Ancestry tree; I wasn't even sure if it was him (as it turns out, it was!). I also had a similarly found picture of one Van Dosen sibling, Harry / Pete. That was it. So, any photos in this post have come directly from her box of treasure, and I am so grateful for her generosity and sharing all of these photos and memorabilia!

After several weeks of emailing back and forth, we decided that our collaboration could benefit from an in-person session. So, Gerlyn drove up and stayed in Santa Barbara overnight, hauling her collection of goodies with her.

Gerlyn and I working hard at our research

Over two days, we went through photos, identifying people, making and testing hypotheses, learning about each others' families and admiring the handiwork of our female ancestors. Gerlyn's memorabilia included handicrafts made by several generations, their needles, buttons, and so much other interesting stuff. A special treat that Gerlyn brought for me was this shadowbox she had constructed containing many of these items. Isn't it beautiful?! She also gifted me with an envelope full of photos of Harry Van Dosen. I don't know if she could see the tear in my eye as I opened these treasures?

Jessie Bell Williams, Nina Ardale Van Dosen, Melinda Dunton Williams and Grace Bowers (Gerlyn's grandmother) in the front.

Up to this point, I had done quite a bit of work on one branch of this line, that extending from Jessie Bell's paternal grandmother, Polly VanAntwerp. There are societies, genealogy pages, blogs and all other manner of resources to explore these lines. The VanAntwerp family is well-researched as they were early settlers of a variety of cities including, of course, Antwerp Township, Michigan, but also Schenectady, New York. The Mabee Farm Historic Site in Schenectady is the home of a set of 9th great-grandparents in this line.

Polly's paternal grandmother, Annetje Veeder, had ancestors who settled New Amsterdam (now of course known as New York). In New York City, ancestral name Schermerhorn is well-represented. On the left, a photo Emily took last year in New York at the Brooklyn Hoyt–Schermerhorn subway stop. On the right, photo of the Schermerhorn Building on the campus of Columbia University (thanks to friend Lori Seward for the photo).

One really fun discovery I made initially following this trail was my connection to the British Royals: John Stewart aka Robert III, King of Scots is my 20th great-grandfather. This results in all kinds of fun cousin connections, including my (and Gerlyn's) 22nd cousins: Charlotte, George, Louis and Archie. Whenever we watch The Crown, Victoria, or other such shows, John and I joke about learning of my family history, LOL!

The collaboration with Gerlyn has allowed me to extend other lines that had been what we call in the genealogy world 'brick walls.' And that brings me back to the calling cards. Up to this point, I was pretty much stuck at the parents of Melinda Dunton, Alfred Dunton and Polly Bentley. I had identified two siblings, Edwin and William. So, I was really happy to see this come through the email:

By researching the name of the photographer etched in the photo (yes, there are directories of photographers!), I was able to confirm that the time frame of the photo matched the approximate age of Edwin, Melinda's brother. There's nothing quite as special as putting an image to an ancestor's name.

I was also intrigued by this calling card for Adelphia Dunton. I had no Adelphia in my tree. Was it possible she was an unidentified sibling of Melinda or a sibling of Melinda's father Alfred? With the unusual name of Adelphia, maybe I would have some success in researching?

I did! Fortune shone upon me, as I uncovered probate records related to the will of Ebenezer Dunton, which listed all of his children (Adelphia and her siblings), as well as the children (Melinda et al) of Alfred Dunton, who had died before his father. 

Well, this was a real jackpot, as I was able to fill in all of Alfred's siblings, subsequently identifying many of their descendants. As well, I was able to trace Ebenezer Dunton back as far as 6 generations (depending on the branch), placing my roots in these lines in Great Britain, primarily England, but also maybe Scotland and Wales. 

In one branch I got lucky with wills and was able to find the signatures of my 8th, 9th and 10th great-grandfathers.

All of those discoveries from one little calling card! Thank you Adelphia Dunton.

Now that Gerlyn and I have been 'talking' with the ancestors, I've had all kinds of inquiries / connections with Van Dosen descendants in the past two months! On the DNA front, I've been able to confirm matches to descendants of several of the Van Dosen siblings: Orlie (including 2 children of my mom's half-brother Joseph), Yota, Arba, and Myron. As well, I've been in touch with a descendant of NinaBelle, discovered while researching family trees, in addition to working with SK.

This project really gave me a sense of connection to my Van Dosen line, both historically, as well as with my new cousin and friend Gerlyn. Next up, we hope to meet up in Inglewood, California, where we recently discovered through our joint research efforts that great-grandmother Jessie Bell Williams is buried. When we can safely gather again, we have more pictures to go through, now that our tree is more built out. The fun and discoveries continue!