THE FAMILY SLEUTH

As you may or may not know, Suzanne has caught to Family History bug and has done wonderful work along many lines. As an aside, she made a special notebook for Dad and presented it at the reunion. It contained information on his mother's side,(Leone Irene Christenson), his father's side (Magne Agle) and step father, (Axel Verner Anderson including things like the passenger list on the on which they they came to America, pictures, and many other things. We appreciate the information greatly.

After the return from the reunion and Sashy's homecoming, she is back to sleuthing again and shared the following with us:

" Here I am, back on the Family History trail again. I took a little time off over the summer to gather my thoughts but 2 weeks ago, I started the work on some international mysteries. Yes, I know, being British is international enough! But I have what call 'real international' mysteries in my family. My paternal grandfather was born in Argentina, my great great grandmother was from Ireland, my great grandfather and his father were both in the military and born in Canada and I have 2 great great uncles born in India! These are not records you can find in your local family history center so I knew I had to go up to the world renowned family history center in Salt Lake and search their extensive International records.

 I thought I would try the hardest first - India. After much searching (I also learned a lot about areas in India and the military presence there in the 1800's) I found a record in St. Mary's church in Belgaum, which is in the province of Madras, India that had my great great uncle's birth date and baptism and his parent's names and the military unit and rank that his father belonged to. There are so few records of India, especially in the 1800's. What a find! I was able to make a copy from the microfilmed record. 

It isn't very clear but great great uncle James Alfred Barkham is the top line.

 I have a lot more investigating to do yet but this was such a rewarding start on the more difficult searches.

The old photo of the family is that of my great grandparents and 3 of their 6 children. 

If you look closely in the lower right hand corner you will see the word 'Rosario'. This was taken in Rosario, Argentina, in 1896, 2 years before my grandfather was born in Buenos Aries. The back of the photo has names and dates and ages of the children recorded. It is one of my most treasured historical possessions. I know, I am a nerd!

I have discovered my great great grandfather won a military medal for bravery while rescuing Irish families from an outpost in Canada. It was during the Finnean Raids and Red River Expedition. This is my next quest, to discover how all this came about and if this was where he met his future Irish wife. I feel like Sherlock Holmes! Now all I need is a Dr. Watson......any volunteers?

Can you blame Dennis for loving her so much?