Joseph Jesse Derusha was the paternal great grandfather of my friend Rachel.

When Joseph Jesse Derusha was born on December 7, 1870, in Saint Ignace, Mackinac, MI, his father, Joseph, was 30 and his mother, Josephine LaJoie, was 22.

Here are photos of Joseph’s parents (Rachel’s 2nd great grandparents:)

Joseph  married Bridget McLeod on July 17, 1890, in Hendricks, Michigan. On his marriage records he uses his middle name “Jesse.” Race was indicated on the marriage record with Jesse being “white” and Bridget listed as “Indian.”

The photo here is very small, so I have included the transcribed information too:

The first census record that I found with Joseph listed is 1880, when Joseph was 9 years old.  In this census, his father is listed as a fisherman and his mother is “keeping house.” The family lived in Mackinac, Hendricks, MI.

By the time of the 1910 U.S. census, “Jesse” is now 20 years old and working as a lumberman. I loved how he gave his work location…”in the woods.” He is using his middle name of Jesse in this census. In the 1910 census, a person was asked to state their race. Bridget now states she is “white.”  They live in Mackinac, Hendricks, MI.

In the 1920 census, Joseph lists his name as Joseph (no longer uses Jesse). He is still in Mackinac, Hendricks, MI.

Joseph died in 1925, he was 54 years old.

Frans was the paternal great grandfather of my friends Heidi and Kurt Thornbladh. Frans was born on 13 December 1863 in Carlskrona (or Karlskrona), Sweden.  I learned from my friend Heidi that that there is not much family information on her paternal great grandparents. It seems that her grandfather had left home as a young man because he was upset and chose to walk away from his parents. So, now, as a genealogist, I focus on the few facts I can piece together about the life of this Swedish paternal great grandfather.

I found a record for Frans listed in Swedish household examination books. His residence at the time of the record was Eskilstuna Kloster och Fors, Södermanlands, Södermanland, Sweden. I am not sure of the exact date of the record.

Frans married Hilda Vilhelmina Pettersson on December 26, 1886. This makes Hilda the paternal great grandmother of my Thornbladh friends.

Again, using Swedish examination booklets, I found these children recorded for Frans and Hilda:

June 5 1880        Emilie Isabella (great aunt to my friends)

Sep 28 1889        Elsa Matilda (great aunt to my friends)

Sep 2 1893          Erik Teodor Ferdinand (great uncle to my friends)

Mar 4 1897         Nils Magnus (grandfather to my friends)

Not listed in the record above is a possible additional daughter Gunhild who I believe died when she was just one year old in 1888.

There is a big gap in years of birth and this sometimes signals to genealogists that one or more births are missing from the records. I simply do not know!

In the examination record, a younger sister of Frans is also listed. Her name was Emilie Matilda Nilsson born on Jan 31 1874.

I found a birth record for Nils Magnus.  Remember,Nils was my friends paternal grandfather, the same man who apparently left home as a very young man leaving his father Frans and mother Hilda over a probable dispute.

I found a transcribed record below (cannot view the original document) showing Frans’ emmigration from Sweden to Denmark. (note: the occupation of “barn” just means a child) This record shows that at the age of 11, Frans left Sweden with his family and moved to Denmark. I am unable to find out if this was a short or long stay abroad. This record is helpful because it lists the name of his father as “Per Tornblad Olsson.”

I believe that Frans died sometime around 1950 in Sweden. I will continue to update this story if more information becomes available. Your feedback and comments are welcome.

Many of the Swedish examination books are available on the Family Search website. (You may be required to create a free account with the LDS Family Search site in order to view the records) Also, note that the list available by using the link below gives information on Frans and other people who had the same name…

https://www.familysearch.org/search/record/results?count=20&query=%2Bgivenname%3A%22frans%20august%22~%20%2Bsurname%3Athornbladh~&https://www.familysearch.org/search/hr/search=undefined

I am researching Cecelia and Thomas Joyce because they are the 2nd great grandparents of my friends Heidi Thornbladh and Kurt Thornbladh.  During the years of our friendship, Heidi has shared stories about the life of “Celia” Gallagher from Ireland. I found her stories captivating! This short essay will present some of the genealogical facts and historical documents that I have come across.

Cecelia F (“Celia”) Gallagher was born on May 3, 1841, in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of Margaret Madden and William Gallagher.

She married Thomas E. Joyce on October 11, 1868, in Newton, Massachusetts. They had four children during their marriage.

Cecelia’s occupation was a nurse. This is documented in the US census records of 1900. In the 1900 census, Cecelia states she has had 5 children and only 4 are living. In this census, Cecelia also states that she immigrated to the United States in 1860 (that would have made her 19 years old.) Her immigration date is up to question because in the 1920 census she states she arrived state side in 1865. (Cecelia became a citizen by naturalization).

By the time of the 1930 census, Cecelia is using the name “Celia”. She is 88 years old at the time of the 1930 census and is no longer working. In that 1930 census, 2 of her daughters are living with her. Their names were Mary (age 56) and Carrie (age 54). It is interesting to note that Carrie was also a registered nurse. They lived in Manchester, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, USA

Cecelia died on May 19, 1930, in Manchester, New Hampshire, at the age of 89, and was buried there in Saint Joseph Cemetery. This is the link to see the tomb stone marker:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/73958308

I have also found her death certificate (this was also an important document as it lists her parents names – or the 3x great grandparents of Heidi and Kurt!)

This shows the records of Cecelia’s direct descendants:

Thomas E. Joyce was born in 1841 in Manchester, New Hampshire to Mary Fitzsimmons Foley and Lawrence Joyce. Manchester was a mill town. During the 1800’s the town would be changing from a farm based economy to factory work.

In the 1880 US Census, Thomas listed his occupation as an Iron Moulder. He lived at 100 Caley Road, Manchester, New Hampshire. In this census, Thomas also states that both of his parents were born in Ireland.

In the 1900 census, Thomas states that both of his parents were born in Ireland. He was born in New Hampshire.  At the time of the 1900 census, Thomas was 60 years old and working as an iron moulder. At this time, he lived in a rented house with his family.

Thomas died on June 17, 1922,  at the age of 81, and was buried in Manchester, New Hampshire. I was able to find his death certificate, which is again important because it lists the names of his parents.

This shows the record of Thomas’ direct descendants: