Month: January 2019

Happy Beginnings Part II: Now Her Father’s Side

Happy Beginnings Part I

Many weeks have passed since I discovered who my client’s mother was. I have been looking at the DNA matches which correlate with her paternal line in order to identify her father.

My research led me to a couple in Hardeman, Tennessee. William T. “Dee” Dunnahoe (1900-1958) and his wife, Vergie Cox (1906-1943.) Together they had nine children, three boys, and six girls. Virgie died in 1943, and Mr. Dunnahoe married Frances Williams (1922-2005.) Frances and Dee had seven children together.

My client was born in 1969, so I had to look closely at the children of Mr. Dunnahoe. Mr. Dunnahoe had two wives so I had to determine which wife I had to foccus on. I began looking at the parents and grandparents of both, Virgie and Frances.

My client had numerous matches to individuals who descended from Thomas Cox and/or Martha Hurst, Virgie’s parents. Thus, Dee Dunnahoe and Virgie Cox were direct ancestors of my client.

My client’s closest match to this line was to a woman named Georgia Dunnahoe. Georgia was the youngest daughter of Virgie and Dee. My client and Georgia had 1969 shared centimorgans.

Georgia’s DNA suggested she could have been a great-grandparent, aunt, or great-aunt.

My client’s next closest match was to a man who is the grandson of Dee and Virgie.

It was the third match which helped me understand that I was looking at the wrong generation. I had been looking at the male children of Dee and Virgie and presumed one of their sons was my client’s father. If I had looked closer, I could have seen that several of their daughters were born in the 1930’s and one of their son’s could have been the father. My client had a match with the same amount of shared centimorgans to Dee’s grandson, yet she was a generation later.

The Key match was Dee and Virgie’s great-granddaughter. Her father/mother would have been my client’s half-uncle/aunt. Thus, her half-uncle is my client’s father.

Now we reach out, hope, and wait!

Unraveling the Truth: Unfolding DNA Mysteries

Our story is very much like the many DNA mysteries discovered each day when the DNA testing company informs donors that their DNA results are ready. Usually, the person’s first quest is to learn about their ethnic make-up. Then there is a realization that ethnicity predictions are only estimates based on algorithms. Come on, did we think they could discover the journey of thousands of our relatives from a saliva sample?

My husband and I ordered genetic DNA tests in hopes of determining who his paternal grandmother was. We had a few clues and wanted to see if DNA could help us find her. Little did we know, answering this question would lead us to more unanswered questions and thus our journey of discovery, enlightenment, and acceptance began.

My husband’s father was James Patterson Hill, Jr. He was born in 1926 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Jimmy only had a few memories of his mother from when he was a young child and he knew very little about her. Jimmy died in 2007, and left us with a birth certificate and a baptism record for clues.

The birth certificate listed James Patterson Hill, Sr. as the father and Susan Lloyd as the mother. Susan was born in 1903 in Minnesota. The certificate of baptism listed his mother as Katherine Lloyd.

I researched the name Susan Lloyd in Minnesota with the birth year of 1903. I found one woman in several censuses’ who met these criteria. I reached out to a gentleman, Shawn Lloyd via Ancestry messaging and asked him about the Susan Lloyd in his tree. Unfortunately, this Susan was his grandfather’s sister, and the family didn’t have much information about her.

The DNA test revealed that Shawn Lloyd was my husband’s second cousin. The Susan Lloyd in his tree was his mother. Although the DNA was helpful in determining who is grandmother was, my husband had no DNA connection to the Hill family.

James P. Hill Sr.

Susan Lloyd

Susan Lloyd 1903-1961

Susan Lloyd

Susan was the daughter of Victor Lloyd and Catherine Moore. She was born in Hennepin, Minnesota in October of 1903 and she was the eldest of eleven children.

As the eldest daughter, Susan’s responsibilities probably included taking care of her younger siblings. Her youngest sibling was born in 1921 when Susan was eighteen years old.

 

Susan’s father worked for the Glenwood Inglewood Company and was a member of the Teamsters Union, Local 544. By the age of eighteen, Susan was working as an operator for Northwest Bell Company and living with her parents and two years later she would be married.

Marriage to Donald Babler

On January 25th, 1924 Susan married Donald Babler who later moved to Miami, Florida and opened a newspaper stand. (Marriage Certificate)

The Miami News

Timeline of events:

January 1924- Married Donald Babler

May 1925- Pregnant with “Jimmy”

February 1926- Gave birth to “Jimmy”, in West Palm Beach, Florida and listed James P. Hill Sr. as the father.

May 1926- Donald Babler died

The Star Tribune, Minneapolis

The newspaper article in Miami mentioned a postcard found in Mr. Babler’s pocket. It indicated that his mother wanted him to return to Minnesota because she didn’t want him to be alone in Miami. Apparently, Mr. Babler and Susan had separated.

James Patterson Hill, Sr.

James Patterson Hill Sr. 1888-1962

James Patterson Hill was born to Alexander N. Hill and Mary M. Young in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1888. He had had three older sisters, (Leah, Ida, and Mitzi) a younger sister, (Edith) and a younger brother, (Michael). His parents had two more daughters, (Alexis and Beatrice) who died prior to the age of one.

Death of Father

In 1902, James was fourteen years old when his father, Alexander Hill, died. The cause of Alexander’s death is unknown but two of his brothers died prematurely. His brother Adam died at age 42 and his brother William died at 52, from tuberculosis.

Alexander N. Hill

The Public Ledger, Obituary Philadelphia, Pennsylvania August 30, 1902
“Hill- On the 28th, Alexander Hill, aged 40 years. The relatives and friends of the family are respectfully invited to attend the funeral on Saturday afternoon at 1 o’clock, from his late residence, the rear of No. 1519 South seventh street. To proceed to Mount Moriah Cemetery.”

U.S. Navy

Five months after the death of his father, Mr. Hill joined the Navy. He enlisted on January 21, 1903, at the young age of fifteen. He began as an apprentice seaman in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was later assigned to the U.S.S. Indiana (BB-1).

U.S.S. Indiana BB-1

The U.S.S. Indiana was the Navy’s first battleship. She was commissioned in 1895 and was one of many ships, in the Battle of Santiago Bay during the Spanish American War in 1898.

The U.S.S. Indiana was decommissioned from December 29, 1903, through January 9, 1906, for repairs. She was drydocked in the U.S. Naval Yard in New York City for a thorough overhaul.

After the necessary repairs, President Theodore Roosevelt sent the U.S.S. Indiana to Havana, Cuba in 1906 to protect U. S. interests. This second occupation of Cuba was also known as the Cuban Pacification and lasted three years, ending with the establishment of a legitimate government. The U.S.S. Indiana had returned to the League Island Navy Yard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by September 1907. She traveled between Philadelphia and New York naval yard, often during the remainder of Mr. Hill’s service.

The Washington Times, September 26, 1906

U.S. Navy Part II

Mr. Hill enlisted in the Navy for the second time in Chicago, Illinois on May 21, 1918. He attended the U.S. Naval Acadamy in Hampton, Virginia from May to November. In November, Mr. Hill began serving on the torpedo destroyer, U.S.S. Gamble (D-123).

The U.S.S. Gamble (D-123), February 24, 1919

U.S.S. Gamble Service history
After shakedown training out of the Virginia Capes, Gamble sailed from New York City on 13 January 1919 to take part in maneuvers off Cuba; Key West, Florida; and New England seaboard until June 1919. Following overhaul at Norfolk, she joined the Pacific Fleet at Sandiego 7 August 1919 and operated along the Pacific coast until placed in reserve status in the Mare Island Navy Yard, 1 December 1919. She was decommissioned in San Diego on 17 June 1922. “

New York City

June 2, 1917

Death of Mother

Mary Young

Mr. Hill’s mother, Mary Young died in October of 1924.

The Public Ledger Obituary, Philadelphia Pennsylvania. “Hill-Oct. 29 MARY, widow of Alexander Hill. Relatives and friends are invited to attend funeral services, Sat. 2 P.M. late residence, 2510 Gross St. Int. private. Friends may call Fri., 8 to 10 P.M.”

By 1926, Mr. Hill was living in West Palm Beach, Florida. He worked as a Taxi Cab driver and was in a relationship with a woman named Susan Lloyd.

Susan Lloyd