This message is sent on the anniversary of the first message that was sent out last year from our new Wickenden Families website.
End of the Year Updates on recent Website activity include the following:
- New Copies of Old Pictures - Cynthia Wickenden Steinmann sent in three pictures of ancestors from Ashland, Kentucky. The one pictured above is of our great-grandmother, Marie Eugenia ("Eugie") Waymer, who married William Shuman and whose daughter was Dee F. Shuman, our grandmother. What a great addition this will make to the Thomas H. and Dee Shuman Wickenden page! If any other Wickenden families have old pictures like this Ambrotype, taken on glass and popular beginning in the 1850's, or tintypes, which took over the market in the 1860's and 1870's, please remember that they can easily be scanned and preserved for posterity on the family pages of this website,
- New Information about Old Ancestors - WikiTree is a great medium for collaborative work on family history, which is one reason why we have included links to the Wickenden Wikitree on each family's website page. One recent example is the merger of Mary Wyatt into Mary Kimball Riddlesdale that was proposed by Leigh Ann Deer. This profile was imported via a GEDCOM from Donna Wickenden, who worked with Leigh Ann to finalize the merger. Also involved were the Puritan Great Migration Project, Linda Franks, John Putnam and Paul Lewis, all of whom had responsibility for managing some of the profiles involved. Another example is the recent update of information imported via an GEDCOM from Nigel Wickenden about Ellen Maria Wickenden (formerly Matthews) by Maureen Fearn, who used to work in Tonbridge and has ancestors near Wickenden (now lost) in Cowden, Kent. Check out your section of the Wickenden Wikitree, join (for free), and add information about your own ancestors.
- Modern Findings about Ancient History - We are now exploring the possibility of publishing a book about the Wicken, a recently discovered, early group of vikings who joined the Angle tribe, migrated down from Angeln and across to the Isle of Thanet, moved through Kent to establish several farms including the Wicken den in Cowden, formed a line of defense against the Picts reaching up into East Anglia, and staged a carefully planned and coordinated migration across to the West Midlands, where they modified the pronunciation and spelling of their name and established the Kingdom of Hwicce.
We hope you enjoy the website. There is a great deal to explore, especially if you have an interest in family history, family trees, information about your ancestors, or stories about Wickendens around the world. Also, don't forget to check out the History Timeline, the blog with News about the site, and the Frequently Asked Questions. Be sure to send us a comment if you have a question or a suggestion or pictures and documents you would like to contribute. Thank you all for subscribing, and please encourage your family members and relatives to take a look!
Be well, stay safe, and have a Healthy Holiday and a Happy New Year!
The Website Wickendens