Evergreen Cemetery
My name is Bonnie Jean MacDonald and I have been researching my family for over 15 23 years now. I started in 1986 when my Aunt Miriam sent me 6 pages of her research notes and other documents. Life got in the way and about 1998 I started up again.
In about 2000, I started my own professional genealogical business and helped about 50+ people with their genealogical research over the years.
I retired my client business about 2015. I also retired from the Association of Professional Genealogists www.apgen.org and the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists www.psapg.org. https://psapg.wordpress.com/
I followed that up and retired from being Past Newsletter Editor of the Washington State Genealogical Society. WSGS retired the newsletter and created a blog – https://wasgs.org/
This was retirement from professional genealogy was not the end of my interest in genealogy, In 2015 I attended the Delano Kindred Reunion in San Diego, California. It was a fun experience. My 2nd great grandfather Daniel D. Spracklin married his first wife Elizabeth Keller and her mother was Mary Ann Delano. That lineage goes up to the second boat to Plymouth, the Fortune. The Delano Kindred is dedicated to the lineage to Philippe de Lannoy. https://www.delanokindred.us/
I have created several blogs in order to write about my family and what I have discovered. It helps to keep me sane! One of my clients lost his grandmother’s research and I helped to recreate as much as I could but still it is not the same.
My inspiration was my cousin Paul H. Goss who died in 1963. He did a great deal on the Goss Family research and he is the one who inspired several of my blogs. His partner in genealogy was a Flora M. Osborn and she too inspired me.
On the right side of this blog you will find links to blogs I like and my blogs. I have used Blogger and WordPress over the years. Each has its own interesting way of doing things. I am now with WordPress but they have made a lot of changes to their interface since 2010 and it is challenging.
All my blogs interrelate and are all are parts of my family tree.
First, I started with my Dad’s side of the family with the blog: The Man Who Lived Airplanes: The Life of Keith B. MacDonald (2010) to celebrate him and his love of airplanes. http://macdonellfamily.wordpress.com/ My dad’s mother was Grace Barclay McDonald the daughter of George and Amarilla, the subjects of this blog. Amarilla is the key to the DAR and Mayflower lineage in my family.
On my mom’s side there is the blog about The Boardmans and Browns of Winnipeg, A Canadian Story (started 2010) http://boardmanbrown.wordpress.com/ I have met several cousins who have really helped me and shared their research. I never dreamed I would get as far as I have with the research on my mother’s family.
This blog that we are on – The Barclay’s of Pine River (started 2010) is the next step up from the The Man Who Lived Airplanes for my dad’s line connecting his mother Grace A. Barclay McDonald to her parents and covers then covers lives of George Barclay and Amarilla Spracklin. It also explains Amarilla’s parents Daniel D. Spracklin and Elizabeth Keller. Daniel’s parents are John Andrews Spracklin and Lydia Goss. Lydia is the youngest daughter of Solomon Goss.
The fourth Blog is titled Solomon Goss of Fearing Twp. in Ohio and it covers Solomon’s ancestors and his descendants: https://sgossfamily.wordpress.com
I started that blog writing about my genealogical research trip to Ohio in August/September of 2011. Solomon Goss is a pivotal ancestor. His migration from the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania in the early 1790’s and settlement in Fearing Twp., north of Marietta, Ohio was extremely important. Several of my family lines connect in Ohio and are tied to Solomon Goss. I have been writing about this lineage on the Solomon Goss Blog for many years. It includes Goss, Delano, Keller, Spracklin, Scott, Wolcott, Chapin, Bliss, Cooley, Hayward, White and so much more.
Joining DAR and Mayflower
Solomon Goss is my patriot. I joined the DAR – Daughters of the American Revolution on January 2019. Solomon is also the ancestor that takes me to the Mayflower, through his father Philip Goss b. 1724, his father Philip Goss b. about 1700 and his parents Capt. Philip Goss 1676 and Judith Hayward. To Judith’s mother Anna White. Anna’s father Resolved White and then William White my Mayflower Passenger. I was accepted into Mayflower on July 26, 2022.
This compiler’s father Keith B. MacDonald, his mother Grace Barclay McDonald and her mother Amarilla Spracklin Barclay are now part of the lineage to these two honored organizations. My Aunt Miriam said that Amarilla tried to get into these organizations but failed. Well, hopefully, they are all smiling.
You can follow me or fill out the email subscription which is very easy to do and then you will get a new post in your email so you can see what is happening. It is on the right side of the blog. The other suggestion is that you make a comment, just remember that this is not email so keep your comments on the subject matter and not about you. I do have editing rights and will make sure you are okay before I approve a comment.
Thanks for stopping by, Bonnie
Updated September 27, 2022
The Barclays of Pine River 
Hi Bonnie Jean, I am a family researcher and would love to learn more of your current family. My interest comes from a neighbor of my family, Beulah Spracklin Harris. She was a niece of Amarilla Spracklin Barclay, and is in my family tree because of marriages, etc. but not a blood relative. I do however trace each person’s family as far as I can, and believe I found some information, relative to Martha M Barclay in CT. Hope to hear from you, Rob Stinson, Duluth, MN
Rob: Beulah is a daughter of Virda Huston Spracklin…He is my great grandmother Amarilla’s half brother or one of them. HA! I am so glad to hear from you. I would love to share information. In time I will dig deeper into George A. Barclay’s siblings but that is not going to be for a while. I am in the early 1880’s and the siblings were not discovered till 1906 when I obtained Alexander Barclay’s probate file. This blog is a big and is going to take time to write all the information I have. You might want to visit my Massachusetts Meanderings and search for Barclay posts. I did do some work on Martha when I was there in Connecticut back in April 2011 just recently. I have not placed it on the Barclay blog yet my findings.
Bonnie and Rob: Beulah Harris is my great aunt. My grandmother, Lola is her sister and Virda my Great grandfather. I am working on the Spracklin information and hope to have some of it synced to Ancestry. I have been to Brainard a number of times with my parents, when I was younger. I plan on stopping up there this summer with my two grand-daughters to do some more research… Any tips and information as to where to go would be greatly appreciated… lThanks.
Pat Stoudt,
Orion, IL
Pat: I just checked my Legacy database and I have both Beulah and Lola and at least 9 children for Virda and Lille. I do have the husbands but that is about it. So that is good you are taking this on. When you get your information on Ancestry, let me know and I will inform others as well when I talk about what I know about Virda which is not much. That will be when I post about Daniel’s death in 1915 and that is a ways away. This is so wonderful. I knew there were more cousins out there and I love meeting them. Tips and information is why I am writing these blogs. I have the links to major repositories on the side for you to check out. I did not blog my trip to Iowa that idea did not come till later. I will mention it and give tips as I go along. In Iowa the Historical Society is the biggy and that is in Des Moines and Iowa City. Also the Iowa Genealogical Society they are very good repositories.
Hello. I am Laurie Marie Harris, (now Peterson). I am the granddaughter of Beulah Spracklin Harris. My father is David Harris. Beulah was married to Anderson Harris. Not sure if that can help at all in your research efforts.
Laurie: Welcome cousin. I have very little on Beulah Spracklin Harris, I have that she married Elmer Ernest Harris on 27 Sept, 1927 in Jerauld, South Dakota. She is of course a daughter of Virda Huston Spracklin and Lillie Mae Amdsen. Do you know Pat Stoudt she is a descendant of Virda and Lillie as well. Let me contact you off the web and you can tell me more about your family. So glad to meet you. I will be posting about Virda in a future post once I get the Barclay siblings completed. So keep and eye out.
Hello!
I am interested in Henry Marclay. He and his wife came from St. Paul on the same flat-boat that Daniel Apgar and wife were passengers going to Shakopee in 1852. The story I have was that they built a shanty with poles, barks, and a few boards. Within 4 days after arrival, a son was born to them on June 1, 1852. He lived just 4 days, and was buried at the top of the Minnesota River bank near where it was born.
Anyway, I am interested in Shakopee history, and thought maybe you might know more!
David Schleper
In my post Tracking John Barclay to Minnesota, I found this book about the early years of the state’s history “History of the Minnesota Valley, including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota and History of the Sioux Massacre, by Rev. Edward D. Neill and Charles S. Bryant published in 1882, Eagle Creek, [Shakopee, Scott Co., Minnesota], page 315. This book is at Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/cu31924028913022, My John Barclay is briefly mentioned in the pages as settling in Shakopee in 1853. I have visited Shakopee but I have not really delved into the history of that city. You will also find books that are like journals of trips and I have featured them throughout my blog regarding the parts that are mostly about George Barclay son of John. Good luck in your search.
Hi I am Clifford Spracklin (Amos’ brothers) granddaughter. I was able to go out to the ranch in Jordan with my mother Mable when I was about 13. My Grandfather Clifford was a sheep herder at the time and lived outside of Miles City in a sheep wagon. I find your blogs wonderful. I personally knew Amos and Ivy as we called Iva. I found the area my mother lived at until she was 12 very rough. Those folks had a pretty hard life! Thank you for sharing all your dates, obituaries and other information. I would love to see what you have on the Goss family since they are my relatives also. I live in Hamilton Montana. Thank you again!
Hello Sherri: Thanks for stopping by. I have visited Bertha several times in Miles City and she has taken us to the ranch as well. She is really the one you should thank. She did a lot of research on the family in the early 1980’s and shared it with me. Gave me permission to use it. I have a little about Mable and David Welch but not much. Bertha is very proud of her ranching heritage. Because Amos and Ivy had girls Bertha said she sort of took over being the tomboy for Amos and helped him. On the right side of each of the blogs is a list of my other blogs. You are on my Barclay Blog because Amarilla my great grandmother was a Spracklin but she was of the 1st wife of Daniel D. Spracklin, she was Elizabeth Keller. Sarah was his 2nd wife and had Lydia, Virda, Reed (your line father of Amos and Clifford), Daniel, Peter, Charles, and Alfred. So I come done from the 1st marriage which was Henry, Oliver, Mary and my Amarilla. That means we are half cousins. On the right side of the blog, look for Solomon Goss in Fearing Twp. blog. It is huge and covers quite a bit. At the top are what are called pages and I have Table of Contents for the blogs about the post written that could help you find things. I started out with my trip to Ohio, then Solomon’s children and then is life in Ohio. I am currently writing about his life in Pennsylvania (Westmoreland Co., Litchfield, Conn was the area till 1783 when Pennsylvania took over and Connecticut lost its title to the land around Wilkes-Barre). At some point I went back in time and started to write about Solomon’s father and mother Philip Goss IV and Mary Kendall and their lives and migrations from Brookfield, MA to Connecticut, back to Massachusetts and then to Wyoming Valley in what we call Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. Lots of history. Thanks again for stopping by. I love to hear from my cousins. Bonnie