Susannah Rolfes

Ancestors

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Biography

I've been interested in my family tree since I was a little girl. Around age 6, I started trying to piece together my family tree, and I started doing genealogical research when I was 12. That was before the Internet, so I had to depend on my parents to drive me places to do research. In 1999, I began to use the Genforum web site to try to make more connections, and have researched genealogy off and on, as time has allowed, ever since.

I grew up in the woods at the edge of my grandparents' farm in rural Indiana, and I still live there. Living a quarter mile away from my grandparents, and a mile and a half from my aunt, uncle, and cousin, allowed me ample time to learn old family stories and ask questions about our family history. Knowing that an aunt had already researched my father's side of the family, and a second cousin had researched my maternal grandfather's side, I have mainly focused on my maternal grandmother's side, since it appears that no one else ever had, although I am also interested in verifying and expanding the research done by other family members. My grandmother only had one surviving half-sister, so there is not an extended family on that side. I hope to find connections further back that will allow me to fill in the missing pieces.

I've always had a great interest in history and the arts. My hobbies include writing piano music, creative writing, making things (art, as well as practical things), working on my house, genealogy, and reading (both fiction and non-fiction). I enjoy doing research, using my creativity, and helping others. I have a virtually useless Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and minored in History and Sociology. Although this never helped me get a job, I would not trade in what I learned for anything.

I am proud to be Autistic, and I hope to contribute to the cause of Autistic people being accepted in society as different-but-valued participants in mainstream culture, valued because of our unique gifts and abilities, and not judged as less than others because of our differences.

My father's family comes from Cincinnati, Ohio by way of mostly Germany (Hanover and Prussia) and Ireland. My mother's family comes from Kentucky by way of Eastern colonies (mostly Virginia), and, allegedly, I have a great-great-grandmother who was Cherokee, but she died when my great-grandfather was a toddler, so I can't confirm this.

Surnames in my family tree in the past 10 generations: Rolfes Brown Luttrell Lawless Chilton Page Fair Meeks Green Forman Vanhoy (Van Hoy?) Hendricks Miller Russell Estridge Horton Norris (or possibly Morris) Hollingsworth/Hollandsworth Shelton Gaines/Games/Gam Vardaman Buckner or Lundy Broaddus Dermont Daniel Ballard Shipley

I have traced some branches of my family back to legendary kings of England and the Orkney Viking sagas, though these are, of course, not verified by me (the sources is the Generations Gone By web site, and I suspect there is a mistake 9 generations back, and have left out certain surnames from the above list until I can confirm one way or another). I also have a great-great grandfather who came along and married my great-great grandmother in 1901, they divorced with just one child, born a year into their marriage. I have photos of this man. I have stories about how he came to visit when my grandmother was a child, driving my great-grandmother around in his car, and yet, I know absolutely nothing about where he came from, when he was born or died, where he lived, or what he did for a living. That is so recent to know so little.

I want to fill in the missing pieces, and I want to verify what I have. I'd like to help others do the same with what I have learned, and what I will learn.

GEDCOM: G131070

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Susannah Rolfes at registration.

To Do List

Look these up on Newspapers.com

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/102134436/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/104567935/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/100979608/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/99722176/

Press and Sun-Bulletin from Binghamton, New York on November 22, 2014 · Page A11

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/127102703/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/221818687/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/116467277/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/79128074/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147942937/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88389046/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/53840478/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/27974013/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/53137017/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/147942937/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/88389046/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/16734099/?terms=morris+green

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/39596249/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/37505564/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/105164279/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/100979608/

https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/99722176/