Thanksgiving 1967

I know where my parents were 50 years for Thanksgiving. At home in Jay and Au Sable Forks, New York. And below is the photo! It is of my father and grandfather with the buck my father bagged. Not the greatest photo but still a good photo!

David and Thomas Coughlin
November 1967
Jay, New York

And let's not forget the newspaper accounts:

Adirondack Record-Post
Au Sable Forks, NY
December 7, 1967

Mr. Thomas Coughlin was a lucky man. While home form his naval base on furlough he had the good fortune to shoot a fine buck. It was his first. His dad Mr. David Coughlin was with him.

Adirondack Record-Post
Au Sable Forks, NY
November 30, 1967

Tom Coughlin, who is home on leave, shot a 150-pound buck on Palmer Hill on Tuesday morning. In the party besides Tom were Dave Coughlin and Ned Hoey.











I am thinking that my grandmother, Helen Torrance Coughlin, wrote the second one and her aunt, Margaret Madden wrote the first. Grandma loved details!!!

Now I know the story of the deer head that I swore stared at me in the hallway at night 😁

Happy National DNA Day!

Yes, there is really a National DNA Day!! It is promoted by National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH aka National Institutes of Health. Their focus is genetics and genomics (branch of molecular biology) but genealogists love it too!

I have had my DNA tested through Ancestry and Family Tree DNA. But to be honest, I have not had much success with connecting with any potential cousins out there. I have sent a few emails out with no responses. Those were cases where they did not have a lot posted but I was able to figure out how we are connected. I was proud of myself finding the connection with only a few people listed!! For Family Tree DNA the closest matches I have we have no idea how we are connected!! 😕

But one of the reasons I wanted to take the DNA tests were to see the ethnic breakdown. The results were more or less what I thought. I did have a larger British Isles make up than I thought. That comes from the Coughlin-Hall line for sure!

Here's the Ancestry results:

And here's Family Tree DNA:

Ancestry has me at 11% Scandinavian while Family Tree DNA has me at 3%. Yet on Family Tree DNA most of the close matches have Scandinavian names!! And 66% British Isles on Ancestry compared to 44% on Family Tree DNA.

As a close friend commented "no matter how you slice it Coughlin, you are still white toast"!!!  🍞😊

Coughlin - Senecal - Wedding Announcement

Today my parents would have been married 51 years. They married on a Monday and until their deaths "Monday, Monday" by the Mamas and Papas was one of their favorite songs. Always think of them when I hear it!!

Here's the wedding announcement in the Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post from April 28, 1966:

Adirondack Record-Elizabethtown Post
April 28, 1966

Coughlin-Senecal

Thomas R. Coughlin, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Coughlin of Jay and Sharyn A. Senecal, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Senecal of Au Sable Forks, were united in marriage at a nuptial mass on Monday, April 19 at 11 A.M. in Holy Name Church. Rev. John Downs officiated at the ceremony. The attendants were Allen Strong and Jessie Hoey.

The bride wore a white suit with rose accessories and the maid of honor wore a pale blue suit with beige accessories. Both Mr. Coughlin and Mr. Strong, members of the U.S. Navy, were their uniforms.

A reception was held immediately after the ceremony at the Rendezvous Diner, where a delicious dinner was enjoyed by all present.

Out of town guests included Mr. and Mrs. Donald Carte of Keeseville, Mrs. R. Plumadore of Saranac; Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Nugent of Jay; Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gilbo and Mrs. Grace Denton of Port Henry.

After their honeymoon, the couple left for Charleston, South Carolina, where Mr. Coughlin, a member of the U.S. Navy, is presently stationed. They will make their home at the Isle of Palms, near Charleston.

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First, the wedding was actually on April 18th not the 19th. My father was not the greatest when it came to dates. He had a watch with dates and names in it. It was always fun to watch him try to remember a date and he realized he had a different watch on!! When Dad was retiring from the Navy and filling out forms, he called me and asked if Mom was home. I said no. He said "great. What's our wedding anniversary?" I said "what no watch?". I can't give the answer he gave me but suffice it to say he did get his answer. And of course like many times before and after this he said, "and don't tell Mom"!!!

I recognize most of the names except for Grace Denton. Not sure of any connection. I know Henry and Mildred Gilbo were also from Port Henry. Mildred was my father's aunt through his mother, Constance Hall Coughlin, who died when he was 2 years old.

In my recent move, I found the scrapbook Mom kept from their honeymoon. I need to photograph it soon.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! We love and miss you both!! 💒