Hello Family and Visitors -

This web site is one way of sharing the family history data I've been compiling the past few years. 
Also included is a small sampling of scanned pictures, sibling lists, ancestor and descendant trees created from our family history for you to view.

The FAMILY Database

All the family data has been entered into a genealogy software program called FAMILY TREE MAKER (ver. 8). 
The data is exported to GEDCOM format, and dates of living persons are removed using a program GEDPRIVY97 (v. 1.01)
I then use another software called GEDPAGE (v 2.21) to make the data available on this website.

The database at home has much more information than this web version displays.
Birthdates of living individuals have been marked PRIVATE.
Currently, there are over 1600 individuals in the database.

  With sincere affection and respect - kinsman Ronald Earl Thomas - January 2012

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McBirney Cousins Found

A very distant cousin William Evaroa of the South Pacific supplied us with details and stories of the descendants of his grandfather William McBirney of Rarotonga, Cook Islands. (William and I are 4th cousins once removed)   I have been slowly entering this data and updating the web page as I go along.
Our common ancestor is James McBirney of Mullaghglass Townland, Clare, County Armagh, North Ireland.

In late 2004/early 2005 I was concentrating on McBirney research, and wrote letters and emails to people I'd found via the 'net who I thought were relatives. Success!! - we are in touch with cousins who are descended from my
Grandfather Earl Carter McBirney's sister Mabel McBirney Benard and his brother Warren Clarence McBirney.

This web page was found by Bruce Henry McBirney III, a 3rd cousin, and he has shared many photos, including our g-g-grandparents James McBirney and wife Ellen Carter McBirney, and he supplied us with information on his branch of descendants.

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Seven more generations of Thomas'!

Via the 'net I ran across a Thomas family history that had my great-great-grandfather John Adams Thomas listed.  We knew his death date, that he'd been born in Woodbridge and that he was 46 when he died on January 29, 1866.  The data I ran across listed a John Thomas, born in Woodbridge, resided in Derby, and died on the same date  at the same age.  A match!!   The gentleman who compiled the data to shared it with us, and it has been merged into the database.  We now have information on seven more generations of Thomas ancestors and an extensive ancestry of Wheelers back to the 1400's!  All this new information is sourced. 

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The siblings of Harvey D. Bronson, and ten new generations of New England ancestors!!

In April 2004, I was contacted by Mr. Craig S. Ashley of Boston, Massachusetts, with information on the children of Harvey and Fanny (Munson) Bronson. Craig is descended from daughter Fannie Matilda Bronson (1810-1889) who married Isaac Buckingham (1799-1859). Fannie Matilda Bronson is the sister of my g-g-grandfather Harvey D. Bronson.

Craig's description of his research:

"The record of the family of Harvey and Fanny (Munson) Bronson is an extract from a manuscript concerning the descendants of Isaac and Fannie (Bronson) Buckingham. A typed extract of the manuscript was made by Mrs. Mildred Haines of Seymour, a Buckingham descendant, in 1974, but its current location is not known. The author of the work is not identified and the extract did not provide any citations to source material. However, the information in the manuscript agrees with all vital statistics, deeds and census records located for the Buckingham family. The information concerning Harvey and Fanny Bronson appears to have been derived from a family bible, as the vital record and church collections at the Connecticut State Library do not contain this information. In reference to Laura (Buckingham) Strickland, a daughter of Isaac and Fanny, the manuscript reads "Old Bible record says she was born Feb. 5, 1826, but grave stone in Hartford was marked Feb. 5, 1828". There was no other information concerning the Bronson family in the manuscript."

·         Craig S. Ashley, Boston, Massachusetts, April 30, 2004

Craig also supplied us with information of ten generations of ancestors from Fanny Matilda Bronson and her siblings. These ancestors include our MAYFLOWER roots. I've added these into the database, though the entries are at present unsourced.

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Our famous ballet teacher!

"Lives in Canada.  Mrs. Patricia McBirney Nicolaysen (sister) thought she lived in Vancouver, B.C.  She was a ballet dancer and now teaches and examins(sp) in ballet." (1961, SWM).

The entry above was a note that Stanley Ward McBirney had listed in his manuscript as applying to Florence McBirney.  However, Sean McBirney Carson stated in his work that a sister he called "Myra" was the one who immigrated to Canada and became a famous ballet teacher.

In late 2003 I did some internet searches and determined that a "Mara McBirney" was a well known ballet teacher in Vancouver.  In reply to a request for information about Mona McBirney on the alt.ballet newsgroup,  Leland Windreich sent this to us:
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"I found a few facts on Mara in an electronic encyclopedia of dance issued many years ago.  There is very little about her origins:

Born Mona McBirney in London, UK.   No date given.
Studied dancing with Judith Espinosa.  Trained at the Royal Academy of Dance and entered their teaching program.
Sent to Canada in 1946 to introduce a program for teaching children the RAD methods.
Opened her own studio in Vancouver in 1948.  Co-directed a company called Panto-Pacific Ballet in 1949.  Company folded within the year.

Over the next many years she taught some of the major figures in Canadian ballet.  She was highly respected in the dance community and although a task-master, her methods were excellent and professional.

When I have time I shall try to track down the date of her death and see if there is an obituary for her.

I met her socially several times and found her very knowledgeable in her field.  She was an incessant smoker, which accounts for her death by lung cancer.  I believe she was inactive as a teacher for several years before she died.

I am going to forward copies of this message to people in the ballet world who have e-mail, and perhaps they can give you additional information, having been closer to her professionally than I was.

Cordially,  Leland Windreich"  January 2004
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"Kaija Pepper, who wrote the book THE DANCE TEACHER; A BIOGRAPHY OF KAY ARMSTRONG ( Toronto, Dance Collection Danse, 2001) has this to say about Mara:

Born Mona McBirney in London in 1905; trained as a home-economics teacher before turning to dance at 21; emigrated to Canada in 1946 as an adjudicator for the Royal Academy of Dance. Became a successful teacher in Vancouver.

"She was known to keep a bottle of whiskey in a paper bag to which she would resort during class. In the Province [Vancouver daily paper] in April 1987, shortly after McBirney's death, Hugh Pickett [local concert manager] is quoted as saying "Mara had a real elegance about her - people used to call her the Duchess of Windsor." " "

supplied by Leland Windreich, January 14, 2004

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Ireland Trip

Time flies - we visited County Armagh and Belfast and the west and south of Ireland in May 2003.  Was it that long ago? While I did not find the graves of James and Ellen Carter McBirney, I did learn when and where they died, and I also learned the identity of my great-grandfather James Francis McBirney's first wife.  The townlands of Ballysheil Beg and Ballysheil Mor and the village of Clare in Co. Armagh were beautiful.  Clare Glen was beautiful beyond words.

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Strange Relationships

Due to the circumstance of at least three instances of cousins marrying cousins in the past, it has led to some very complicated relationships within the family.
John Wheeler (1694-1725/26) married his 2^nd cousin Elizabeth Burr (1701/02-1769). (7^th g-grandparents - Thomas side)
Ebenezer Bronson (1688-1768) married his 1^st cousin Susanna Langton (1696-1775). (5^th g-grandparents - Bronson side)
My g-g-g-grandparents Harvey Bronson (1774-1848) and Fanny Munson (1780-1826) were 5^th cousins via their Baldwin ancestors
and 3^rd cousins once removed via their Plumb ancestors.

So because of these marriages, my father Gordon Elliott Thomas Sr. is also all the following:
My 7^th cousin once removed, 7^th cousin twice removed, 8^th cousin, 9^th cousin once removed, 9^th cousin twice removed,
10^th cousin, and 10^th cousin once removed!!

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PICTURES and some stories

Harry Burdette Thomas (1883-1939) A portrait as a young man. 

Mary Van Orden Bronson (1857-1929) with her grandson Charles Bronson Thomas (1907-1954) and with her son Lewis George Bronson (1885 - 1944)

Charles Thomas (1853-1928) with his granddaughters Mary, Eva, and Thelma Thomas

A Family Gathering of the Bronson Family - August 17, 1930
(I could really use some help here identifying people!!)

A McBirney Family Portrait The James Francis McBirney family (circa 1910)

Frederick Peters and his 2nd wife (circa 1889)

A Smith Family Portrait The William John Smith Family (circa 1908)

TREES and LISTS

These links below are some 'trees' I made with the Family Tree Maker program. This cut'n'paste method works for some limited branches, but doesn't work with the whole database. In order for them to be readable, I made them large and you have to scroll around. Unfortunately, most of them do not print out very well from most web browsers.

Select a family tree you want to see:

Descendants of Harry Burdett Thomas II

Nana Thomas' Siblings (children of George Bronson and Mary Van Orden)

The Children of Harry Thomas and Bessie Bronson

The Curtiss Ancestor Tree