![](https://www.wikitree.com/photo.php/1/1c/WikiTree_2022_Challenge_Graphics-30.png)
Hello WikiTreers!
WikiTree Challenge 19 for Mark Hamill has wrapped up. The collaboration was incredible to watch, and it was a lot of fun watching those Swedish and English lines grow! The Force was with team members as they took on the challenge and amazed us with their discoveries.
It was exciting to follow along as they tracked down his paternal ancestors from England, Ireland, and Scotland. The English lines connected back to some really early ancestors, including Rauld Adolpheus Lovecotes, born about 1030! The Swedish lines turned to Denmark lines, reaching back to 1475! There were many Swedish lines as well on his mother's side, reaching as far back as 1663 or earlier! Also on his mother's line were Canadian (1843) and Holy Roman Empire (1728) ancestors, which were part of his Swiss lines (1440).
Challenge participants added 1,255 family members to his branches! There were 115 direct ancestors added, 257 nuclear relatives of ancestors, and 883 additional relatives within seven degrees! New connections were made to the global tree on all eight of the ancestral lines!! This will help a lot of us grow closer together.
Altogether, more than 46 members made 5,720 edits to his family profiles. Many did research, while others worked on profile narratives, looked up articles, added categories, made peripheral connections, and contributed in other ways.
MVP: Marta Johnson
Top Bounty Hunters: Donna Baumann & Homer Thiel
Team Captain: Kathy Nava
Challenge scoring explanation. Challenge Resources.
Here are some highlights from our discoveries:
- Mark's second great grandfather William Arthur Hamill served in the US Civil War for the Union. He was as an adjutant in the 156th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Infantry. He survived the war and lived until 1904, at which point his widow Priscilla applied for her widow's pension.
- Mark’s third great grandfather Thomas Hamill (1790-1858) was born in Derryaghy, Lisburn, County Antrim. We know the village because it was recorded in his Army records in the Lancashire, England, militia. One of the oldest Catholic Churches in the region was built on the Hamill family’s farm.
- Another of Mark's third great grandfathers, Hiram Hull, published an advertisement in 1825 stating: "NOTICE. It is the request of the subscriber, that his FRIENDS and COUSINS should suspend their visits for two years. HIRAM HULL. Bennington, Sept. 20, 1825." The reason for the ad? He was in prison for two years.
On the lighter side, his daughter Martha wrote a letter in his pension file that states: "father was called the handsomest man that walked the streets of old Bennington.
- Mark's seventh great grandfather Per Olofsson (1610-1696) got a last message from the priest in his death record, "Vir dives qvidem et opibus abundans, utinam beni partis." Google translates it to, "A man rich in every way, and abounding in wealth, I wish you would go to the party." The last part might better be translated as, "I wish I could be part of it".
- Mark's eighth great grandfather Peder Esbjörnsson (abt. 1628 - 1724) got a last message from the priest in his death record: "Har warit en mäkta wacker Man i sitt lefwerne." Translated to English: "He was a mighty handsome man in his life."