Help with my Troubles



Eva May Shurtleff Jordan

Sometimes I become so overwhelmed with unanswered family lines, I steer from participating in my research at all. My dad's family is the type of family that rarely spoke about the past, and many of the "elders" in the family felt that children should be seen and not heard. Although I loved my grandparents, uncles and aunts, this practice means that family stories have unfortunately become harder to uncover with their passing.

My grandmother, on my dad's side, only saw me less than ten times during my life. However, one time I can remember her ridiculing the idea of anyone wanting to research the past. With some of the stories I've uncovered, I understand somewhat why she felt this way.

One of the areas I am most befuddled with is my father's side of the family. So far what I have found is that my dad's grandmother, Eva Jordan, was alive for sixteen years of his life, but he never knew about her. According to my cousin, my great-grandmother Jordan could not get along with her strong willed husband, William Jordan, so she lived with her sister on a Mohawk reservation, while William lived with my dad's family. Eva Shurtleff Jordan is where my line on my dad's side ends.




Eva's Obituary

Also on my father's side of the family, his mother's line is somewhat quizzical. According to census records, Minerva, or Minnie as the family refers to her, was born in Iowa, supposedly on a Potowatomi Indian Reservation. One census suggests that Minnie's mother, Catherina or Katherine, remarried Henry Gimble whom Minnie was raised with in Rochester, New York. Needless to say, they do not show up on census in a regular manner making it hard to track them.

Throughout my childhood I loved the idea of being Native American. This is the sole reason why I started researching family history. Unfortunately, it is sometimes frustrating too!

Recently, on Ancestry.com I received an email from a relative of my maternal grandmother's late husband. Clint, my grandmother's second husband, is the reason I became interested in family research- it's all his fault! His cousin in Philadelphia was emailing me to say what a great job I have been doing with my research. Appreciating his comments, I responded him thanking him and also expressing my frustration. Little did I know, he had just received certification in family research from a local university. Isn't it amazing how certain people come into your life at just the right time. Hopefully, together we can crack the family mysteries of the two Native American lines on my dad's side of the family.

Caution

 

Hazel May DeGroff Jordan

The most current research I have attempted is on my dad's grandmother's family.  As a child I can remember a picture that I would always inquire about at my grandmother's house.  In this picture was two men and a woman on horseback.  My grandmother, Hazel May DeGroff Jordan, would tell me that those were her relatives that were Potowatomie Indians.  Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away over twelve years ago and with her the story behind this particular picture disappeared forever.  





When I picked up my research after a pretty long hiatus, my main purpose was to identify the Native Americans, especially the Potowatomies, in my dad's family.  I searched for any piece of information I could find in regards to my grandmother's mother, Minnie.  I wrote my aunt and uncle, spoke with my dad's cousin, and searched through anything I or my dad might have that could help me.  Somewhere in the midst of all my childhood papers, that my mom had kept in a box, was a torn out piece of journal paper.  On the piece of paper was a family tree of my dad's side of the family that my mom had jotted down while we were visiting my grandparents in Rochester one summer.  One of the notes mention that Minnie's parents were Henry and Catherina Gimble.  I immediately began piecing my great-grandmother's family together.  Unfortunately, in a census, I found Minnie's "parents" and her brother, but it listed her brother as a step-son.  So although my mother had listed Henry Gimble as my great-great-grandfather, it appears as though he was only a step-father.  



Charles Roy Jordan, Sr.; Hazel M. D. Jordan,
Sigrid A. Hagerstrand Jordan; Jessica (me) A. J. Warner
and Kerry N. J. Harville



So currently, I am still cautiously searching for Minnie, and her biological birth name, and any information I can possibly find about the Gimbles, especially Catherina.

A Proud Pa

William Robert Jordan as a young boy.

When I started to use ancestry.com to aid in my research, I began asking my dad more probing questions about his side of the family.  Afterall, the entire reason I picked my research back up was because I wanted to learn more about the Native Americans on my dad's side of the family.  Needless to say, I haven't fully been able to prove the Indian blood yet, but my husband reminds me that I am Indian everytime I turn red in the sun!

So last spring my dad handed me a folder with pictures and old family memorablia that his mom had given him.  In it was a picture of his grandfather, William Robert Jordan.  Having never seen the picture before, I immediately began to ask questions, of which my dad had plenty of answers for William had lived with my his family throughout his childhood. 

"Pa" Jordan and his red tie

Out of all of the stories my dad told about his grandfather, the one that I hope to never forget is this one:

"As a boy I remember there being a chest in the basement full of my grandfather's Irish kilts.  He often would put them on and leave the house.  Along with the kilt, my grandfather refused to ever leave the house without his red tie on.  The red tie let those in the community that did not know him, know that he was Irish.  He was so proud that his mother's family had immigrated to America when she was very young."

Recently while corresponding with my dad's cousin, Nettie, I learned that William Robert Jordan's mother, Anne McCarthy, had not just immigrated to the United States in 1850 during the potato famine, but she had in fact lost a brother, Andrew, in the process. 

Hearing these stories, and the many others I have learned throughout the process of researching my family, makes researching my family's past all the more special.  I want their struggles to remind me how lucky I am to live the life I have today.  I hope they are proud of what I have become and how their struggles have provided their family members today a truly blessed life.

"Pa" Jordan- How I wish I knew the story behind this picture!