Patrick J. Norton (1855-1905) of County Galway, Ireland was born on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1855, 159 years ago, hence his name.

What a nice surprise for this Saint Patrick's Day. I discovered today that my great grandfather, Patrick J. Norton (1855-1905) of County Galway, Ireland was born on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1855, 159 years ago. That is why he was given the name Patrick. I had already known that he became a citizen of the United States on November 23, 1888 in Boston because a photocopy of his naturalization certificate was handed down in the family. I also knew that he died of blood poisoning on October 9, 1905, 109 years ago.

From left to right are: John Edward Winblad I (1856-1914); Salmine Sophia Severine Pedersen (1862-1914); Dewey Ernest Lattin I (1898-1985); Jarvis Andrew Lattin (1853-1941) in a hat; Mary Jane Puckett (1854-1927); Eva Ariel Lattin (1892-1939) who has her hand on Norman Edward Winblad (1911-1980); and Theodore Roosevelt Lattin (1901-1980) at the home of Jarvis Andrew Lattin near Santa Barbara, on the Isle of Pines, Cuba in 1911. The photographer was Anton Julius Winblad II (1886-1975).

What is up with Wikia.com. Their servers are down multiple times during the day for several minutes. I would say that three or four times a day I get the message:

Oops! Google Chrome could not connect to familypedia.wikia.com

Then maybe once a month the site is down for a day or more where I can read pages from the server but I cannot write to the server. It is independent of the browser I am using. 

My insurance company, American Modern Insurance Group of Cincinnati, Ohio, is cancelling my home insurance because they want the front of my house repainted because it has some pealing paint on the cedar shingles. I called them up and said: "Do you really expect me to paint the outside of my house in sub-freezing weather. The paint will freeze before it dries." Their answer: "Yes, you must address the deficiency listed in the letter we sent you." I am not sure what risk peeling paint will bring to a house that just survived two hurricanes in two years. Time to find a new insurance company.

New DNA based family news. My cousin Kevin Borland and I both did a DNA test through Ancestry.com and we came up as matches as expected. Except, I have a match with another known cousin, Todd Wickman, from the Norway side of the family. Kevin came up as 0% Scandinavian. So, it seems that we have solved an old family mystery. We know that my grandfather, Arthur Oscar Freudenberg (1891-1968) abandoned the family in 1928, the year that Helen Eloise Freudenberg (1928-1989)  was born. So now it seems that my grandmother raised one of Arthur's children from one of his mistresses. That baby was Helen Eloise Freudenberg. The next step is to order her birth certificate and see who is listed as the mother. 

Emil August Schneider (1886-1955) with Inga Karoline Eldora Pedersen (1882-1927) circa 1913-1914

Emil August Schneider (1886-1955) with Inga Karoline Eldora Pedersen (1882-1927) and Eddie August Schneider (1911-1940) and Alice Violetta Schneider (1913-2002) circa 1913-1914. Image from Ancestry.com.

Will Bury Heights War Hero. Another of World War martyrs, Corporal [sic] Louis Julius Freudenberg will be buried Sunday afternoon in Flower Hill Cemetery. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. at his late home, 22 Hopkins Avenue, Jersey City. Dr. Clark, of the Summit Avenue, M.E. Church and a delegation of Fisk Post, Veterans of Foreign Wars, will officiate. Corporal [sic] Freudenberg was 24 years old at the time of his death. He was a runner in Company M, of the 309th Infantry, 78th Division. He was wounded in the right leg at the battle of Montfaucon, October 16, 1918 and while making his way back to the first aid station was shot through the head by a German sniper. Young Freudenberg was born in Hoboken and attended No. 3 School of that city and No. 8 School of Jersey City. He was inducted April 4, 1918 and trained at Camp Dix, leaving for France in May with his unit. He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Eloise Freudenberg, five brothers, Charles, Arthur, Richard, formerly of the 32nd Field Artillery, 11th Division; Ralph and Eugene and three sisters, Ada, Clara and Grace.

Person: Louis Julius Freudenberg I (1894-1918)

Louis Julius Freudenberg I (1894-1918); his sister, Ada Augusta Freudenberg (1885-1957); and Ada's husband, Ralph Kohlman (1885-1957) circa 1915-1917 at Matavan beach, now Cliffwood Beach, New Jersey.

Why do I see this 4 or 5 times a day when I am editing in Familypedia? I have never come across a website that is down so much. This is Wikia. It seems to be down for 5 minutes at a time 4 or 5 times a day. What is the problem with Wikia and their servers?