Identified! OR - Cave Junction, 'Annie Doe' WhtFem UP10929, 16-20, Redwood Hwy, Aug'71 - Annie Lehman

[Owutatangledweb]

A start? Lol

Vanstone - New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 - Ancestry.com

 

[Alleykins]

A start? Lol

Vanstone - New York, Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957 - Ancestry.com

Yikes, are you able to fill in the dates and blocked info because I won't pay for these ancestor sites

 

[Alleykins]

The article from the New Zealand paper has a lot of information. I would say they're probably struggling. It seems to be a very difficult case.
Is there anything we can do besides try to spread the word?

I'm thinking there may be a road block or snag. I'm no genealogist, but poking around the ancestral lineages has me shaking my head. I can understand where they might be at a standstill. Now I have a small idea what my great aunt may have gone through, and she didn't have the internet for research. She did everything by snail mail, phone calls and visits to archives, libraries and cemeteries. Much respect to those researchers' patience!

 

[the_missing]

The most obvious thing that occurs to me (I know absolutely nothing about genealogy) is that they need to figure out which one of Mr and Mrs Vanstone's kids Annie is descended from, ie. they need to figure out which branch of the Vanstone family Annie hails from.

In other words, this is a case for Kiwi genealogists, for now at least.

 

[MarziPanda]

The most obvious thing that occurs to me (I know absolutely nothing about genealogy) is that they need to figure out which one of Mr and Mrs Vanstone's kids Annie is descended from, ie. they need to figure out which branch of the Vanstone family Annie hails from.

In other words, this is a case for Kiwi genealogists, for now at least.

Not necessarily. They also said that Annie could be descended from a sibling of either Mr Vanstone or Mrs Vanstone. If that's the case, Annie might not be a kiwi and her family may have never been to NZ, if they're a relative of one of these two who either never left England (which would make Annie English or having English parents) or moved to the US (which would make her American but perhaps with English grandparents or great grandparents). There are still other possibilities. Her being descended from these two particular ancestors is still very likely but not the only option.

 

[AmonAmarther]

I'm also wondering why they have released so much info. Possibly because they've realised the NZ press is excited about this, and they want the publicity (not a bad thing! Publicity means donations and donations means more cases being taken on!) or maybe because they're hoping this will encourage more people in NZ to upload to GEDmatch and therefore might help to identify Annie Doe. There are lots of possibilities. I'm hoping it's not because they're struggling with her. MOO.

That what I was thinking! It could also be what other websleuthers exposed (they're stuck in their research) , but I hope they released all that info to have an attractive story and encourage Kiwis to upload their DNA.

 

[Owutatangledweb]

Yikes, are you able to fill in the dates and blocked info because I won't pay for these ancestor sites

I don't belong to those sites either, but I'm sure as DNADoe narrows the tree they are working on, they will get to these lists if there is an American connection. I also think it's very possible that she came through Canada.

 

[sunnynz]

19th century Canterbury couple could help solve US body mystery

“The DNA Doe Project researchers have found two of the New Zealand matches shared DNA with each other. Their common ancestors were Canterbury couple Richard James Vanstone and Harriet Ellen Vanstone, whose maiden name was Williams. Richard was born in Devonport, England in 1832 and died in Little River, Canterbury in 1900. Harriet was born in Akaroa in 1861 and died in Little River in 1948.“

Ok now this is a weird little - unrelated - coincidence and probably too off topic to post here but it's so odd that I had to...

Little River is in a small and fairly low population area called Banks Peninsula. Googling the Vanstones of Banks Peninsula came up with this guy Graham Vanstone who went missing in 1999 never to be seen again.
Banks Peninsula vineyards prove their worth
Where are they?

Given the size of the area and the fact it's a less common surname, I would be pretty confident that Graham is a descendant of Richard and Harriet.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Ok now this is a weird little - unrelated - coincidence and probably too off topic to post here but it's so odd that I had to...

Little River is in a small and fairly low population area called Banks Peninsula. Googling the Vanstones of Banks Peninsula came up with this guy Graham Vanstone who went missing in 1999 never to be seen again.
Banks Peninsula vineyards prove their worth
Where are they?

Given the size of the area and the fact it's a less common surname, I would be pretty confident that Graham is a descendant of Richard and Harriet.

Well, that's... fifty shades of eerie

 

[Gardener1850]

Ok now this is a weird little - unrelated - coincidence and probably too off topic to post here but it's so odd that I had to...

Little River is in a small and fairly low population area called Banks Peninsula. Googling the Vanstones of Banks Peninsula came up with this guy Graham Vanstone who went missing in 1999 never to be seen again.
Banks Peninsula vineyards prove their worth
Where are they?

Given the size of the area and the fact it's a less common surname, I would be pretty confident that Graham is a descendant of Richard and Harriet.

Wow, great find. I'm working on the Vanstone family tree in my spare time (which is not much this week as Thanksgiving is approaching). I'm going to see if I can connect him to Richard and Harriet. Did you send that to DNA Doe Project? (they probably know but just in case)

 

[Gardener1850]

Ok now this is a weird little - unrelated - coincidence and probably too off topic to post here but it's so odd that I had to...

Little River is in a small and fairly low population area called Banks Peninsula. Googling the Vanstones of Banks Peninsula came up with this guy Graham Vanstone who went missing in 1999 never to be seen again.
Banks Peninsula vineyards prove their worth
Where are they?

Given the size of the area and the fact it's a less common surname, I would be pretty confident that Graham is a descendant of Richard and Harriet.

I started a thread for Graham Vanstone: New Zealand - Graham Vanstone, Missing Millionaire from Akaroa, NZ, 5 Sept 1999

 

[sunnynz]

Wow, great find. I'm working on the Vanstone family tree in my spare time (which is not much this week as Thanksgiving is approaching). I'm going to see if I can connect him to Richard and Harriet. Did you send that to DNA Doe Project? (they probably know but just in case)

I didn't but I will do that now. Thanks

 

[Gardener1850]

Wow, great find. I'm working on the Vanstone family tree in my spare time (which is not much this week as Thanksgiving is approaching). I'm going to see if I can connect him to Richard and Harriet. Did you send that to DNA Doe Project? (they probably know but just in case)

I have found the connection. The missing Graham John Vanstone is a Great Grandson of Richard and Harriet (I won't post any other names but the link is easy to find in public family trees). He disappeared in 1999 on Father's day at the age of 49. He had two sons (see MSM articles on his thread). I don't believe Graham is old enough to be Annie Doe's father-- if my math is right they would have been close in age. I wonder if perhaps Graham's sons or grandchildren have contributed their DNA to GedMatch hoping to find Graham? Just speculating that that may be why DDP was able to make a connection to the family line. If they have not uploaded their DNA, this may be another mystery that could be solved if they did. I hope his family would consider it if they have not already. JMO.

 

[carbuff]

That is a strange coincidence.

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

There used to be a called vanstoneweb.co.uk , but unfortunately it's no longer operational. I did, however, manage to open various screenshots of that page on Wayback, and there's a seven part PDF named A History of The Vanstones of New Zealand by Carol Bell (see link below) That would be an interesting read...

The Vanstone Web

Edit: Carol Bell seem to be a person of interest when it comes to genealogy and the Vanstone family in NZ (she is a descendant). Her name comes up quite often in forums.

 

[carbuff]

There are Vanstones in Boston US, Alberta Canada, and one who appears to have been a Scotland Yard detective A Man in Plain Clothes by Charles Vanstone Ex Detective Superintendent - AbeBooks

 

[sunnynz]

I have found the connection. The missing Graham John Vanstone is a Great Grandson of Richard and Harriet (I won't post any other names but the link is easy to find in public family trees). He disappeared in 1999 on Father's day at the age of 49. He had two sons (see MSM articles on his thread). I don't believe Graham is old enough to be Annie Doe's father-- if my math is right they would have been close in age. I wonder if perhaps Graham's sons or grandchildren have contributed their DNA to GedMatch hoping to find Graham? Just speculating that that may be why DDP was able to make a connection to the family line. If they have not uploaded their DNA, this may be another mystery that could be solved if they did. I hope his family would consider it if they have not already. JMO.

This is so interesting.

I passed on the tip to DDP via their Facebook page as a comment on the Annie Doe post. They were thankful and said it was the first they knew of Graham Vanstone. Hopefully every piece of information is a piece added to the puzzle.

By the way, if you look at the comment I wrote on the DDP post, the name I use on Facebook for sleuthing stuff is not my real name - I private message some shady people as part of these pursuits so I like to protect my identity!

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

There are Vanstones in Boston US, Alberta Canada, and one who appears to have been a Scotland Yard detective A Man in Plain Clothes by Charles Vanstone Ex Detective Superintendent - AbeBooks

I found quite a few Vanstones in Ontario, Canada, especially Toronto - Bowmanville area. Great Lakes, anyone..?

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

There used to be a called vanstoneweb.co.uk , but unfortunately it's no longer operational. I did, however, manage to open various screenshots of that page on Wayback, and there's a seven part PDF named A History of The Vanstones of New Zealand by Carol Bell (see link below) That would be an interesting read...

The Vanstone Web

Edit: Carol Bell seem to be a person of interest when it comes to genealogy and the Vanstone family in NZ (she is a descendant). Her name comes up quite often in forums.

Update: Managed to get a hold of that PDF, and the last chapter deals with Richard James and Harriet Ellen Vanstone from page 58 and forward. It mentions their daughters, but stops there (I suppose it's because of privacy protections). Do you think DDP is aware of Carol Bell? She's the author of this text.

Information on more recent generations may be available to family members and can be obtained from carolbel@es.co.nz

 

[Alleykins]

Has DDP given any indication what their roadblocks are or where they're getting tripped up? I imagine they have some of the best genealogy & research volunteers on their team, so I'm thinking if their experts are stumped, it has to be something of note.