Still Digging for Roots

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Write a Poem on "Where I'm From"

2011-07-23T21:46:00.015-04:00

From Randy Seaver's blog, this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is this assignment:

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Write a poem about "Where I'm From" using the template found at the website http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm

2) Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Google Plus or Facebook note.

I haven't done one of these for over a year, but I liked the challenge and decided to try. I'm pretty happy with the result. Here's what I came up with:

Where I'm From

I am from old cars, from Skippy peanut butter and hand-me-downs from cousins whose pretty dresses I loved to wear.

I am from the house on a dead-end near the dog pound, a tiny rental, the only one on the street with pine trees instead of sycamores and flower gardens planted by my mom.

I am from the pricker bushes that scratched my legs, from poison ivy rashes every summer, and from seeds sprouting through the coffee grounds next to the back stoop where we spit them because we were too messy to eat watermelon in the house.

I am from vacations spent at Grandma’s every year and cheapskates, from Atkinson and Tolbert and Fife.

I am from secret keepers and avoiders of doctors, from stories about relatives who weren’t, and true stories that I should have listened to more closely.

I am from Presbyterians who became Methodists, and from Baptists, who took me to a liberal pacifist church. I'm agnostic, yet I see evidence that my Sunday school lessons still influence me daily.

I'm from Scots and Germans from Pennsylvania and hillbillies of unknown origin, brought up on meat and potatoes and canned green beans.

I'm from my mom’s invented ancestry uncovered when I grew up, from a kiln operator whose work I’m reminded of every time I turn over a plate to read the pottery mark, from many housewives, some rumored to have earned a little extra income in ways that were whispered about, and maybe from a moonshiner.

I am from lost and re-found connections on my mother’s side and deep-rooted family trees collected by others who came before me on my dad’s. When I search for my ancestry, I learn about myself and feel closer to the people I love.

Evidence indicates...

2010-12-12T13:54:00.008-05:00

I was saddened to read that Elizabeth Edwards had died this week. Since I now live in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, NC, area, it was local news for me, as well as a story of National importance. I admired her.

While reading stories about her, I discovered that her mother's maiden name was "Thweatt". (See Elizabeth Edwards Dies of Cancer at 61, page 2). This piqued my interest because my husband, John's g-g-grandmother's name was Mary Eliza (Thweatt) Clark. I wondered if there might be a family connection between John's family and that of Mrs. Edwards. Below I'll list the steps I took to search for information that indicates that Elizabeth Edwards and my husband share a common ancestor!

I tried using Google to see if I could find any of her family info posted on the internet, but I didn't see anything beyond the name of her mother. Most people don't publish much information about living people in their online genealogies. However, a very few helpful people had already updated their databases at Rootsweb with Mrs Edwards' date of death, so that a search for "Elizabeth Anania" led me to this information: Mary Elizabeth Anania. Her pedigree from that database shows her g-g-grandfather was named Nicholas Booker Thweatt, whose parents were named Howard and Elizabeth (Echols) Thweatt, but there the database stopped. Thankfully, Rootsweb makes it easy to search for an individual in other people's databases. I clicked on the name "Nicholas Booker Thweatt" and near the bottom of his page I clicked on the link that reads "Search WorldConnect". I was shown three databases containing a man with that name. By random, I chose the second one in the list and was able to follow his ancestors back to a man named Henry Thweatt whose wife's name was Hannah Stanley. Bingo! This couple is in my database for John's family. Henry Thweatt was the brother of John's 6th g-grandfather, John Thweatt, and this indicates that John and Mrs Edwards' common ancestors were the parents of John and Henry Thweatt: James Thweatt and his wife whose name is unknown to me. (I see that other people believe she may have been Mary Lee.)

If the information posted on Rootsweb is correct, then John A. Clark and Elizabeth (Anania) Edwards shared a common 7th great-grandfather, which according to the chart HERE, makes them 8th cousins!

Rest well, cousin Elizabeth! If you would like to see more info, visit her virtual grave at Find a Grave.

53 years ago today...

2010-04-20T08:30:00.007-04:00

If you had been at the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Ruff Creek PA on this day in 1957, you might have seen this happy couple, my parents, Jim and Ann (Tolbert) Atkinson. And while the marriage didn't last, I feel fortunate to have a good relationship with both of them, and even better, they have maintained a friendship of their own. In fact, they both visited me at the same time for several days in the early '00s. When people ask them how it went, they both say that it was fine and that their divorce took away their "license to fight". There is one thing my mom wishes she could have changed about that day. She says that if she had realized at the time that April 20 was Hitler's birthday, she probably would have picked a different day. That year, April 20 was the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter, which is her favorite holiday!

And here, you see my most recent photos of me with each of them, with Mom last November, and with Dad last May.

Tombstone Tuesday: Susannah (Faris) Atkinson

2010-03-02T08:59:00.006-05:00

Yes, it's been a very long time since I've touched this blog, and I can think of no way to ease back into it than by creating a Tombstone Tuesday entry!

You are looking at photos of the gravestone of my 3rd great grandmother, Susannah (Faris) Atkinson, daughter of William and Susannah (Curtis) Faris and wife of George Atkinson. They were taken in 1999 with a film camera.

My husband and I were able to visit the cemetery because he was doing some work in Columbus, OH at the time. When we got there, we couldn't find the grave right away, but I did find some of Susannah's relatives near a fallen gravestone. I became convinced that the fallen stone was the one we wanted, so John and I propped it up with pieces of the base and found that I was right! This was one of my earliest graving expeditions, so I was very excited! Poor John, though, was not so much. There was poison ivy under the marker and it was soon obvious that John should have been wearing gloves. I'll always be grateful for his help and I hope he felt like it was worth it!

You can visit Susannah's memorial on Find a Grave.

My Genealogical Threes

2009-08-02T13:06:00.005-04:00

I haven't been keeping up, have I? But I try to check out Randy Seaver's "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" each week to see if he comes up with something that inspires me. This week he's asking us to:

1) Tell us your three responses to the questions:

* Three genealogical libraries I frequent
* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips
* Three genealogy societies I belong to (or want to)
* Three websites that help my research
* Three ancestral graves that I've visited
* Three ancestral places I want to visit
* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more

2) Post your responses as comments to this blog post, in your own blog, or in a Facebook comment.

Check him out at: Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- My Genealogical Threes

Here are my answers:

* Three genealogical libraries I frequent:

I haven't been out much lately, but my favorites are

1. Family History Library, Salt Lake City (where I used to be able to visit for a week every year until this one when they canceled the computer conference that my husband would attend at the same time)
2. Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne IN (which I used to live close enough to visit when I first got started in genealogy back in 1997. I'd love to get a chance to visit again!)
3. North Carolina State Archives (where I need to go sometime soon to work on some genealogy I promised my sister!)

* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips

1. Pax & Scarbro, WV
2. Carroll County, VA
3. Washington, Greene & Allegheny Counties, PA

* Three genealogy societies I belong to (or want to)

I'm really bad about this, I've never actually joined any. These are some I SHOULD join:

1. Genealogical Society of Southwestern Pennsylvania
2. Carroll County Genealogy Club
3. Durham-Orange Genealogical Society of North Carolina

* Three websites that help my research

1. WAGS & Ohio County WV Genweb
2. Washington Co., Pennsylvania Genealogy & History
3. Historic Pittsburgh

* Three ancestral graves that I've visited

This one is hard to limit to 3. Here is a list of my ancestors on Find a Grave & I've visited all but a couple myself: Cherie's Ancestors. And here are three specific ones that were particularly difficult to find:

1. William S. Tolbert
2. Nancy J. (Chase) Wolfe
3. Michael S. McDaid

* Three ancestral places I want to visit

1. Founders Brook Park, Portsmouth, RI
2. Glen Cemetery, Paxton, IL (where my 3rd g-grandfather is buried)
3. Summers County, WV (but first I have to track down a location for the "Talbert Cemetery" where my g-grandmother, Rhoda (Webb) Tolbert Wilson is buried according to her death certificate.)

* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more

Sometimes I think the only way I'm going to find out more about any of these people is if someone has an old Bible or other records hidden away in an attic or basement somewhere.

1. James P. Skiles
2. Allen Tolbert
3. George Shrewsbury

71st Carnival of Genealogy: Local History

2009-05-01T15:13:00.011-04:00

I've certainly been neglecting this blog and I hope to do better in the future!

Now for my entry for the 71st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy:

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Local History! As genealogists, we are used to tracing our ancestors and the history of the places they lived. But not all of us live where our ancestors did - do we take the time to see the history all around us? Use some of your investigative skills to research the house, street, or town/city where YOU live. Write about an interesting person, place, or event of local history. The deadline for submissions is May 1st. This edition of the COG will be hosted by Donna at What's Past is Prologue.

Back in March, I was out at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh to fulfill three Find a Grave photo requests. The family name was Bagley, and when I found the graves, I realized that this family was important to the history of this state. In the family plot was the grave of Jonathan Worth, a governor of North Carolina during Reconstruction, and the Bagleys were the family of his daughter, Adelaide Worth Bagley. You can see the grouping to the right showing Gov. Worth's grave behind those of his grandson on the left and his daughter and son-in-law's on the right. This piece of obscure local history concerns the grandson whose name was Worth Bagley.

This photo shows the back of Worth Bagley's gravestone which tells of his service in the Spanish-American War. He was the first officer killed, and the only line officer of the Navy to die in that war. He was 24 years old. I snapped some photos and didn't think much about the family for a while.

However, fate seemed to want me to know more about Worth Bagley. During the first week of April, my husband and I were walking on the grounds of the NC State Capitol looking at the memorials and other historical markers there when I came across the statue in the photograph to the right. You guessed it, that's Worth Bagley, probably as he looked when his family last saw him. The inscription on the base reads:

Worth Bagley
ENSIGN USN
FIRST FALLEN
1898

I imagine that the heartbreak they must have felt in losing such a promising young man and their pride that he gave his life for his country led them to do whatever it took to make sure that he would always be remembered!

Click on their names to see the memorials for Ensign Bagley and Governor Worth on Find a Grave.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2009-04-01T11:36:00.001-04:00

This is my husband John with his mother, photographed in Iola Kansas in June of 1976 wen John became an Eagle Scout! John was 15 years old!

Tombstone Tuesday: Frederick Wachter

2009-03-31T23:59:00.002-04:00

I haven't been keeping up with Tombstone Tuesday or Wordless Wednesday very well. Between dealing with a new job and with John doing upgrades to his server (where I store many of my pictures) I ended up taking a week off.

What you're seeing here are a couple shots of the grave marker for John's 2nd great-grandfather, Frederick Wachter. You may be able to tell because of the rust that this is made from iron that was painted white. It's in bad shape here, badly corroded and the cross lying on the ground used to be a part of the marker.

The inscription reads:

Frederick Wachter
Born Aug 4, 1828
Died May 13, 1917
Age 89 years, 10 months

(The age is wrong, obviously someone calculated it wrong)

He and his wife, Mary Ellen Trentmann (also known as Angelina) were both born in Germany. They lived for several years in Delphos, Ohio, where their three children were born, and later moved to Nodaway County, Missouri. Angelina died there in 1891, and Frederick spent the last years of his life living with his daughter, Margaret and her family in Woodson County, Kansas. He is buried outside Piqua, KS, at the Old Catholic Cemetery there.

You can see more info about him HERE or visit his Find a Grave memorial.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

2009-03-22T13:28:00.007-04:00

Randy has been coming up with Saturday Night Genealogy Fun projects, and THIS is his latest:

Provide a list of your paternal grandmother's patrilineal line. Answer these questions:
What was your father's mother's maiden name?
What was your father's mother's father's name?
What is your father's mother's father's patrilineal line? That is, his father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?
Can you identify male sibling(s) of your father's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

Grandma's maiden name was Rowene Mae Fife, born in Canonsburg, Washington Co. PA
Her father was Charles Edgar Fife who was born in Upper St. Clair Twp, Allegheny County, PA
These are his patrilineal ancestors (from earliest known to Charles E. Fife):
William Fife 1720 - 1799 (born in Scotland, died in Pennsylvania)
William Fife 1757 - 1838
William Fife 1789 - 1868
John Fife 1816 - 1892
John Calvin Fife 1846 - 1879
Charles Edgar Fife 1874 - 1941
My grandma had two bothers. Selwyn Fife who had no children, and Raymond Fife whose male descendants are my dad's first cousin Chuck and Chuck's son Paul who are both living in or around Canonsburg, PA.

That was fun! I'll have to participate again next week and maybe I'll even remember to do it on Saturday night!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-18T20:47:00.002-04:00

A picture of my dad, sometime during his grade-school years!.Wasn't he a cutie? He just celebrated his 75th birthday last Sunday!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Tombstone Tuesday: Mary Fife

2009-03-17T12:14:00.003-04:00

This is the gravestone of my great-great grandmother, Mary Frances (McConnell) Fife. She is buried with her husband at Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Her husband's family were early members of the church from the 1770s, and I believe her mother's Morrow family may have been also, although I haven't found a connection, YET, between Mary's grandfather, John Morrow and the many Morrows buried at Bethel Cemetery. Mary's father, Charles, was an immigrant from County Donegal Ireland, making him my most recent immigrant ancestor. You can see my entry about his tombstone here.

This stone reads:

Mary F.
Wife of
John Calvin Fife
Born Nov 6, 1851
Died Feb 24, 1917

Mary's husband, John Calvin Fife, died young, and you can read about him HERE. As I mentioned in the post I wrote about Calvin Fife, Mary was left alone with 3 very young children and a fourth on the way, daughter Calvin (called Callie) who was born about 3 months after her father had died. The day his obituary appeared in the newspaper, there was also the following classified ad at the bottom of the same page:

PUBLIC SALE.
The undersigned will sell at the late residence of Calvin Fife, at the corner of Green and College Streets, Canonsburg.
Saturday, November 22d, 1879

Two good work Horses, 1 spring Colt, 1 two-horse Wagon, set work Harness, Collars, Bridles, set of double Buggy Harness, Plow, Harrow, double Shovel Plow, 1 single Shovel Plow, 1 barrel of Vinegar, 1 barrel of Salt, 1 riding Saddle, Double Tree, Coal Shovel, Kitchen Furniture and numerous other articles not mentioned.

Sale to commence at 1 o'clock, p. m. A credit of 6 months will be given.
Mrs. Mary F. Fife.

I've always thought it was admirable, although very sad, too, that g-g-grandma would be thinking about the practical realities of life so soon after her husband died. She never remarried, so she must have found a way to support herself. In her later years, the census listed her as a nurse.

A legacy passed down from Mary and her family was her religion. When I first started researching, I found that my dad's side of the family were almost all members of the Presbyterian Church, so I wondered how my grandparents came to be members of the First United Methodist Church in Canonsburg, PA. When I discovered that Mary's parents were buried at Fawcett Methodist Church Cemetery, I found my answer. While Mary was buried with her husband with his family in the Presbyterian cemetery, she, along with her children and grandchildren, attended a church of the same denomination as her parents. My grandfather, raised in the Presbyterian Church, joined the Methodist Church when he and Grandma got married. He served as a church administrator in his later years, as did grandma's brother, Raymond Fife, who grew up going to the Methodist Church. Much later, my brother and I were baptized in that church.

68th Carnival of Genealogy: A Tribute to Women

2009-03-14T12:02:00.009-04:00

From Destination: Austin Family comes these instructions for the 68th Carnival of Genealogy:

And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, and March 8th being International Women's Day, the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. Write a tribute to a woman on your family tree, a friend, a neighbor, or a historical female figure who has done something to impact your life. Or instead of writing, consider sharing a photo biography of one woman's life. Or create a scrapbook page dedicated to a woman you'd like to honor. The next edition will be hosted at Creative Gene. The deadline for submissions is March 15th.

My entry is not a tribute, but rather a call for information that is inspired by the hope that someday I will be able to understand the decisions of a mystery woman.

For this subject, I have decided to write about a woman in my family who is almost completely unknown to me, my maternal grandmother, Mattie (Tobert) Shrewsbury. My mother's earliest memories are of living with her grandfather William Tolbert and his second wife. Her grandfather died when she was 6, and she continued to live with her "Grandma Anna" until Anna died, and after that, she lived with Anna's brother so Mom had no contact with her birth family until 2001 when she was finally able to reunite with her two sisters who remembered her as a baby.

My mother's only memory of her "real" mother happened not long after William Tolbert died. Mattie came to visit her, perhaps to see about getting her daughter back. She came with a man who was never introduced to my mom. He scared Mom by telling her that Mattie was her real mom, causing my mom to run to Anna and say "This is my mommy!" Mattie and the man left after that and she was never heard from again...at least by anyone we've been in contact with since. My mom has often remarked that the experience must have been very hurtful for Mattie if what she wanted was a relationship with her daughter.

Grandma was born Mattie Tolbert in August of 1897 in Carroll County, Virginia. She is mentioned in her parents divorce (filed in 1898 in Carroll County and granted in 1903) as Mattie Haner Tolbert. I've often wondered if the name "Haner" might have been a phonetic misspelling of the name "Hannah". In the 1900 census, Mattie was living with her mother, Rhoda, and Rhoda's mother, Sarah Webb. The other three living children of William and Rhoda lived in William's home. Despite the fact that William and Rhoda had divorced in 1903, they reconciled sometime before 1910. In the census for Trap Hill District of Raleigh County, West Virginia, the couple was living together and had another son, Claud, aged 3 and born in WV. That's the last written record of Mattie that I have found. She seems to be completely absent from the census in 1920 & 1930, I have found no record of her marriage to the father of her children, George Shrewsbury, and none of her 4 (known) children had birth certificates. Sometime after my mother was born, she left George and took my mother to William and Anna. Her other children were farmed out to other relatives. George remarried to a woman with sons, one of whom shot George to death in 1950, claiming that George was abusive and the 17 year old step-son had feared for his life.

The circumstances of George Shrewsbury's death gives some credence to a story I was told at the reunion of my mother and her sisters in 2001 by one of my new-found cousins. She told me that some people in the family had always believed that George, thinking that Mattie had been unfaithful and that my mother was not his child, had murdered Mattie and her baby and that he had hidden their bodies so that they had never been found. Obviously, I am extremely grateful that it didn't happen that way, but it also seems that an anecdote so horrible wouldn't have been passed down if there wasn't something about George Shrewsbury that made it credible.

My mom still has a lot of anger towards Mattie for abandoning her, and can't understand how Mattie could have left her other children, either. The rumor that George had killed Mattie gives me some compassion for a woman who might have left in fear for her life.

I would love to someday find someone who could tell me where Mattie went after my mom last saw her. That encounter had to have occurred after 1939, which was when William Tolbert died. My hope is that she was able to move on and have a peaceful and productive life after she disappeared from her family.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-11T23:59:00.002-04:00

This is a photo of my husband's mother Lillian and his sister Julie holding babies. Lillian is holding her granddaughter, Donna, and Julie is holding her brother, Patrick. These two children were born on the same day in March of 1964!

Tombstone Tuesday: Jacob Eckroate

2009-03-10T16:58:00.011-04:00

Here are two views of the gravestone of my mother-in-law's great grandfather, Jacob Eckroate. I believe these pictures were taken about 10 years apart. The first was taken by my husband's sister when she made a trip to Nebraska to look for family graves with her mother who is in the photo. The second shot is my husband and his mom with the same gravestone in 1998, not long after I started my own family research.

Jacob was born in Ohio, enlisted in the Army during the Civil War in Illinois, and spent most of the rest of his life in Nebraska.

Another of his descendants recently shared the following obit with me:

The Fremont Weekly Herald - Fremont, Nebraska 18 Dec 1890

AN OLD SETTLER GONE

Jacob Eckroate for many years, a resident of Pleasant Valley township, died at St. Mary's Hospital, Columbus, Tuesday night. Deceased was well-known as one of the old settlers of the County, but for some years has been living in different localities in the hope of benefiting his health. He has been at the hospital for some time, under treatment for a complication of diseases, which finally resulted in his death at the age of 63.

He is buried at St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery, in Pleasant Valley township, Dodge County, Nebraska, beside his wife, Barbara and a son Daniel.

His memorial on Find a Grave is here.

11th Edition - Smile For The Camera: Brothers & Sisters

2009-03-08T16:57:00.015-04:00

Check out the latest theme for Smile For The Camera

The word prompt for the 11th Edition of Smile For The Camera is brothers & sisters? Were they battling brothers, shy little sisters, or was it brother & sister against the world? Our ancestors often had only their siblings for company. Were they best friends or not? Show us that picture that you found with your family photographs or in your collection that shows your rendition of brothers & sisters. Bring them to the carnival and share.

This is a fairly informal photo of my dad, his sisters and brother with their dad. I'm not sure where this was taken, but if I had to guess, I'd say Ohiopyle which from family stories seemed to have been a favorite location for outings. My dad looks about 5 to me, so it had to have been taken around 1940 or a little earlier.

From left to right: Dad, Elizabeth, Louise, Charlotte, David and Grandpap.

I like the casual feeling to this photo, almost as if they weren't posing. Uncle Dave and Pappap died in 1987, but my dad and his sisters, despite the fact that they live in far-flung areas of the country, have stayed close and still tease each other the way I magine they must have done when they were children!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-04T18:21:00.001-05:00

This is my brother and me with my dad at the Wade Park Rose Garden in Cleveland. It must have been taken about 1962 or 1963. We lived in Cleveland until sometime before I started kindergarten, which was in the fall of 1964. Rick and I didn't look very happy, did we?

Tombstone Tuesday: James P. Skiles

2009-03-03T23:59:00.005-05:00

You may not be able to read this stone. The writing on it is:

JAMES P. SKILES

Died Jan. 27, 1885

In the 70. Year of His Life

He was my 3rd great-grandfather, born in somewhere in Pennsylvania, died in Washington County, PA--probably in the area of Thompsonville.

His wife was Martha Hair (or perhaps Hare), and they were the parents of 9 children, including my great-great-grandfather, James Hare Skiles.

At the time when I found his grave, I had never seen that hand symbol pointing up before, so I was interested in whether it had some special significance. I found this:

A hand with the index finger pointing upward symbolizes the hope of heaven

When he died, he left one of the most interesting will that I've found for a family member.

Will of James P. Skiles

(Willbook 14, FHL US/CAN Film 1318308)

I James P. Skiles of Thompsonville in the County of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, do _____(?) and declare my last will and testament to be as follows, viz: I bequeath to my wife Martha all my household goods, out of which she is to give to my son Ebenezer our bedstead, one featherbed and bedding therefor.

I bequeath to my daughter Rebecca the picture now in her possession of my deceased daughter Mary Anne.

I bequeath to my daughter Martha the picture of my deceased daughter Rachel now in the possession of Wm J. Wallace.

I will that my executor sell and convey in such manner and upon such terms as to him shall seem best, all my real estate and that the proceeds thereof, and of my personal property not specifically bequeathed be applied first in payment of my debts and funeral expenses, and that the residue after payment thereof be invested by him during the life of my wife in National State or Municipal bonds, or on first mortgage or real estate that the net income therefrom be paid to her for and during her life and that at her death the principal be divided among my children then living, or hereunto born of my children who are or shall be dead, Such children to take together such share as their parent would have taken if living. In case my wife shall elect to claim to have any part of my of my estate set apart to her by virtue of any statute allowing an exemption in her favor she shall take nothing under this will.

In case any legatee under this will shall present any claim against my estate, he or she so claiming shall receive nothing under my will but shall be excluded and not counted in the distribution.

I do hereby appoint Wm. J. Wallace to be my executor of this my last will and testament.

James P. Skiles {L.S.}

Signed sealed and declared in the presence of us in in the presence of each other and at his request this twenty fourth day of July one thousand eight and eighty-three.

George Guinn
H. D. Gilkison

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Washington County S.S.

Be it remembered. That upon this 5th day of February 1885 before me John F. Cooper, Register for the Probate of Wills and granting Letters of Administration within and for said county came Geo. Guinn and H. D. Gilkeson the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing attached will of James P. Skiles deceased who after being duly qualified according to law depose and say : That they were present at the execution of said will saw the testator sign the same, heard him publish it as and for his last will and testament; that they at his request, in his presence and in the presence of each other subscribed their names thereto as witnesses.

Sworn and subscribed before
John F. Cooper
Register

George Guinn
H. D. Gilkeson

And now Feb 5, 1885; It being adjudged that the said will has been duly proved; it is admitted to probate and letters issued to Wm J. Wallace in said testament named who was qualified by

John F. Cooper
Register

I still hope I can discover who his parents were. There was one man in Washington County, a Gideon Skiles who came there from Lancaster, PA, in the early 1800s who would have been the right age to be his father, but I haven't found any connection between James P. Skiles and Gideon Skiles. There is a fairly large Skiles family in the area around Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, but when going thru wills from that area, I have found that most of them had sons names James but none of them indicated that their James Skiles moved to Washington County. Maybe someone out there knows?

You can see an entry for James P. Skiles in my database at Rootsweb, and you can visit his entry on Find a Grave.

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

2009-02-28T14:28:00.005-05:00

Over at GeneaBlogie, Craig Manson has come up with a new meme related to genealogy surnames that he's calling,

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

I'll let him tell you about it:

List the surnames you are researching and the general localities. Then tell the names of your “Most Wanted Ancestors,” that is, the ones you most want to find behind that brickwall. (You can tag people if you want; I’ve chosen not to do that here so that all readers are included). Let’s see your lists; maybe we can each help someone out!

I have dozens of names I could share because I try to research all my collateral lines, too, but I'll stick to my direct ancestors for this posting. You may notice that most of my ancestors didn't move around much. I'm going to split these up into groups based on my each of my paternal grandparents and then my mom's family. I also research my husband's family, but for now, I'm going to concentrate on my own blood relatives!

My grandfather's family surnames

ATKINSON: Virginia/now West Virginia (Ohio County, Brooke County), Ohio (Delaware County), Pennsylvania (Washington County)
McDAID: Pennsylvania (Greene County, Washington County), West Virginia (Marshall County)
KIMMINS: Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County, Washington County)
WOLFE: NJ (probably Morris County), Pennsylvania (Greene County, Washington County)
FARIS: Virginia/now West Virginia (Ohio County), Ohio (Delaware County)
SUPLER: Pennsylvania (Philadelphia County, Washington County)
CHASE: Massachusetts (Barnstable County, Bristol County), Pennsylvania (Washington County)
BROWN: Pennsylvania (Cumberland County), Virginia/now WV (Ohio County)
CURTIS: Virginia/now WV (Berkeley County, Ohio County)
KIRK: Pennsylvania (Chester County, Washington County)
MITCHELL [two lines possibly related to each other]: Pennsylvania (Cumberland County), Virginia/now WV (Ohio County)
CARROLL: Pennsylvania (Washington County)
SHERMAN: Massachusetts (Bristol County), Rhode Island (Newport County)

My grandma's family surnames:

FIFE: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County, Washington County)
SKILES: Pennsylvania (Washington County)
McCONNELL: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
ADAMS: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
MORROW: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)
McCORMICK: Pennsylvania (Allegheny County)

And from my mom's family where my information is very sparse:

TOLBERT: Virginia (Carroll County), West Virginia (Raleigh County, Fayette County)
SHREWSBURY: West Virginia (Raleigh County)
WEBB: Virginia (Carroll County), West Virginia (Raleigh County, Summers County)
COMBS: Virginia (Carroll County)

For the locations I show as "Virginia/now WV", those families were there before West Virginia was formed. If I labeled a place as "West Virginia" only, either the family moved there after WV was formed, or else I don't know when the family got there.

My most wanted ancestor? Probably my orphan g-g-grandmother, Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles who I have written about previously at My Brickwall Ancestor: Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles 1850?-1904.

Are you interested in sharing your family surnames on Twitter? Thomas MacEntree has created a Twitter Group called Genealogy Surnames and a new meme for sharing the names we're researching that he describes at Surname Saturday - A Twitter Meme. I'm planning to participate by posting one surname each week, along with it's link to my Rootsweb WorldConnect database. You can see my first tweet relating to my Atkinson surname here.

I hope someone can make a connection to a name here, but at the least, I find these types of postings useful because you never know when someone might find me through Googling one of these surnames! And if you're reading this, please feel free to participate, too!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-25T09:14:00.001-05:00

For this week's (Nearly) Wordless Wednesday, I'm selecting something that is covered with words. When my cousin Russell lent me the papers and photos that came from my grandparents' house after Pappap died in 1987 so that I could scan them, I was touched to find the following letter. It was the first I ever wrote. It was a class assignment, way back in second grade, I believe. And I think this proves that I inherited my packrat tendencies!

The Graveyard Rabbit: New Carnival on the Block

2009-02-24T12:31:00.008-05:00

Announced on Jan 31 at The Graveyard Rabbit: New Carnival on the Block:

The topic for the premier edition of this carnival is "exceptional finds." Share with us those rare and unique cemeteries, gravestones, monuments, memorials, inscriptions, etc. Send one, send two; it's up to you! Submissions are due on February 25. And hey, bring a friend! Let's make this the best carnival debut in history!

I've been putting off writing this article because I couldn't decide what to share. I'm afraid I have already written articles about my most exceptional finds that relate to my own family, so I'm going to take this opportunity to write about a grave I found which does not belong to a family member. Now I know that "I" didn't actually discover this grave, that other people realized where he was buried, but when I visited the Mentor Avenue Cemetery in Lake County, Ohio, I was surprised to find a large zinc marker for Jonathan Goldsmith. Perhaps, unless your grew up in North East Ohio or if you are some kind of architecture expert, you may not know who he was, but since I DID grow up there, I recognized the name right away! He was a well-known architect and builder in the part of Ohio that used to be called "The Connecticut Western Reserve".

A few years ago while visiting my mom in Painesville, she and I were driving along Mentor Avenue and for the first time, I saw a cemetery in a spot that I only remembered as an overgrown field. My mom told me that someone had made it a project to clean it up, making it visible for the first time in decades! It's hard to imagine that such a thing could remain unknown for so long along such a busy road. The cemetery is now usually referred to as Mentor Avenue Cemetery, but has been called Painesville Twp Cemetery, Blish Cemetery, and Nye Road Cemetery at different times. Many Lake County pioneer families are represented there, and you can see some history and a full transcript on a page from the Lake County Genealogical Society (Ohio) Projects Site. In 2006, after I began submitting photographs to Find a Grave, I talked my mom into spending an afternoon there with me exploring and taking pictures. That's when I found Mr. Goldsmith's grave marker.

I decided to submit his information to Find a Grave and I thought he needed more than just the bare biography that I could create from the information on his grave and from my own memory, so I looked for biographical sources on the internet that I could use to compose something original without much success, but luckily, I found an out-of-print book on eBay called Jonathan Goldsmith, pioneer master builder in the Western Reserve by Elizabeth Hitchcock that I was able to get for a reasonable price. It became my main source in writing a biography for him on Find a Grave which I am also republishing below. I hope you find it interesting! I also hope you'll also take a few minutes to visit his memorial that I created there. It contains more pictures, including a famous example of his work at Jonathan Goldsmith.

Master Builder, Architect. Jonathan Goldsmith was considered a pioneer in the Greek Revival Style of architecture, and he was also known for creating buildings in the Federal style. Originally apprenticed to a shoemaker in his native Connecticut, he bought out his apprenticeship four years early and apprenticed himself to a carpenter-joiner.

In 1805, he went into business for himself, first in Hebron, CT, and later in Hinsdale, MA. In 1808, he married Abigail Jones, and in 1811, he, his wife and their two eldest children followed many of Mrs. Goldsmith's family members to Painesville, OH. At first, he was only able to find work as a cobbler, and when the War of 1812 broke out, he volunteered for service. After returning home, he went on to become a well-known architect and builder in the area of Ohio once known as the Connecticut Western Reserve.

Goldsmith's buildings include 30 homes and commercial buildings in Painesville, another handful around Lake County, and 10 houses in Cleveland. Many still exist today, although many more have been demolished. The front doorway of one of those razed homes, known as the Isaac Gillet House, has been exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art. His drawings were also included in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum's titled "The Greek Revival in the United States" in 1943. His work is better documented than many other 19th century builders due to the efforts of his daughter Lucia, who preserved his drawings and other manuscripts. Many of his personal and professional papers are stored at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland.

He was also known as a mechanic and farmer, and he is credited with inventing a multiple plow. While visiting his son, Gillett Goldsmith, who lived in Bexar County, TX, he obtained a patent from the Republic of Texas on May 7, 1840. In later years, Goldsmith suffered financial setbacks resulting in his selling his home, which he had built himself in 1818, as well as 86 acres of land. His final building project was the creation of a smaller house, later known as "Ingleside" where he lived until his death. The home was purchased in 1911 by the Lake County Agricultural Society as part of a parcel of 36 acres that is now the Lake County Fairgrounds. It was destroyed by fire in 1929. Jonathan Goldsmith was buried in the Painesville Twp Cemetery (now known as the Mentor Avenue Cemetery), located less than a mile from his home.

Tombstone Tuesday: John Atkinson

2009-02-24T07:57:00.005-05:00

These photos show the gravestone of my immigrant Atkinson ancestor, John Atkinson, who was probably born in Ireland, sailed to Baltimore and eventually came to what is now Ohio County, WV in the late 1700s. He and his wife, Eleanor (Mitchell) Atkinson were the parents of 9 children. I descend from their son, James.

The graveyard where many of the earliest Atkinson from my family doesn't seem to have an official name. It has been transcribed as both "Riley Hill Road Cemetery" and as "Atkinson Cemetery". It's located on property that was once owned by John Atkinson that was passed down to his son, David whose descendants lived there until sometime in the last 75 years, I believe.

I was first told of it by a distant cousin in 1997, but I wasn't able to find it until 10 years later, and then just last summer I was able to visit again with a GPS to record the exact location. It's in the middle of a woods behind a field, and can be difficult to find if you don't know exactly where to go, and to make it even more confusing, if you try to follow the GPS, it will try to lead you up a dirt road that washes out before you can get where it says you can, so you have to know to go around and through a residential area.

The cemetery hasn't been well taken care of, but someone has been trying to repair the graves and clean the place up recently. I don't know who that is. I wonder if this might have been a place for kids to hang out and cause trouble, some of the broken stones look as if they've been shot. It's sad that there are people who would treat the final resting place of human beings that way.

One thing I was grateful for was a photograph of a tree that marks the location of those graves. Another researcher shared it on a private Ohio County research site. I loved that she declared that the huge, ancient oak seemed to be guarding over the Atkinson family buried there. The photo below is mine, my first view of the tree which told me that I was finally on the right path to view the graves of my earliest Atkinson relatives in America!

You can view John Atkinson's entry on Find a Grave, or see my data for him on Rootsweb.

KreativBlogger: Me?

2009-02-22T17:33:00.005-05:00

I'm shocked! Valerie C. at Begin with 'Craft' picked this blog for a KreativBlogger Award! I was just checking out blogs last night who had received it, and I remembered feeling relieved that I probably wouldn't get one, so I didn't have to worry about who I would select!

Just kidding, Valerie, I'm honored!

Here are the procedures connected with the KreativBlogger Award:

Copy the award to your site.
Link to the person from whom you received the award.
Nominate 7 other bloggers.
Link to those sites on your blog.
Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

Now for the hard part. My choices are blogs that I read regularly who I don't think have been nominated before. I started searching for other people who were blogging about genealogy before I found the Genea-Blogging community, so some of these might be new to you! I like blogs with lots of pictures, shared information and other personal touches the best.

These are listed in no particular order.

I hope anyone reading this will take a look at these blogs!

Eureka!

2009-02-20T14:09:00.006-05:00

I couldn't wait to share an exciting piece of information I just found!

I had just read a posting on Dear Myrtle's Genealogy Blog that mentioned:

The West Virginia birth, marriage, and death records, and the South Dakota state censuses for 1915 and 1925 are now complete. Many thanks to the thousands of online FamilySearch Indexing volunteers who helped make these wonderful records available. See the chart below for more details. The new records can be searched for free at www.FamilySearch.org (Click Search Records, then Record Search pilot).

I've been searching for a while now for my great-grandmother's death certificate at West Virginia Vital Research Records with no luck. Her maiden name was Rhoda Ann Webb, and she had been married twice, first to William S. Tolbert, my great-grandfather, and later to another man, Joseph Wilson who apparently died between 1920 when Rhoda lived in his household with him and 1930 when Rhoda lived with her son and was listed as a widow. I kept hoping the WV Vital records would update their files so that I could find her death certificate. I hadn't checked the FamilySearch site yet, but seeing the message above gave me some incentive.

This is where I started:

http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#start

I entered her name, Rhoda Wilson, selected Death/Burial under Life Event, and typed West Virginia in the Place box, and I was shown a list of 7 names. The 5th name was Rhoda Ann Wilson who died in 1960 in Summers County, WV. I about jumped out of my chair because that's her! The location and month of birth are correct, the year of birth is off by one year, she was born in 1866. When I clicked her name I was taken to a page that gave me this information:

Name: Rhoda Ann Wilson
Death date: 13 Jul 1960
Death place: Hinton, Summers, West Virginia
Gender: Female
Age at death: 92 years
Birth date: Oct 1867
Birth place: Hillsville, Va
Marital status: Widowed
Spouse name:
Father name:
Father birth place:
Mother name:
Mother birth place:
Occupation:
Street address:
Residence:
Cemetery name: Talbert Cem.
Burial place:
Burial date: 14 Jul 1960
Film number: 589345
Digital GS number: 4228489
Image number: 326
Reference number: v 4 p 229
Source: County Records
Collection: West Virginia Deaths 1853-1970

Now hopefully I'll be able to get a copy of her actual death certificate. According the WV Vital Records page, Summers County only has its death certificates online up to 1958. I will try to find out if I need to contact Summers County directly, or maybe I can stop at the WV Archives the next time I drive thru Charleston if they have the record there.

Now if I can just figure out where "Talbert Cemetery" is!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-18T14:34:00.002-05:00

This was my grandfather's last driver's license. He passed away in 1987.

Until I saw his birthday typed out in the format shown here, I didn't see the significance of the date of what would have been his 100th birthday to those of us who lived thru that day.

Tombstone Tuesday: Josias Brown

2009-02-17T10:10:00.002-05:00

This is the gravestone of my 5th great grandfather, Josias Brown. I first learned of him in 1997 when I made contact with a distant cousin whose main interest was in finding as much information about Josias' descendants as she could. My family filled in some blanks for her because I am descended from Josias Brown's daughter, Margaret (Brown) Atkinson.

I wasn't happy with the quality of the photographs I took that day at Peters Run Cemetery (AKA Old Tent Cemetery), especially the ones of the graves of Josias and his wife, Hannah (Mitchell) Brown. I guess that means I'll have to go back!

It took me years to find this cemetery. I think I first looked for it in the summer of 1998, driving back and forth several times along Peters Run Road outside Wheeling WV, a very curvy, 4.7 mile long road lined with thick trees that has a surprising amount of traffic, which made it impossible for me to drive along as slowly as I wanted to. I went back a few years later with my husband along and still couldn't find it. Finally, in 2006, someone was able to give me a general location for the cemetery, and in the summer of 2007 I finally found it! The people who own the property were very nice! They've been working on restoring the graveyard, and they gave me printouts of a cemetery reading done by the DAR back in the 50s or 60s. They also showed me two gravestones there that they had recently unearthed. The names of those two people never appeared on any previous transcript and they were hopeful that they would continue to find buried gravestones.

You can see more about Josias Brown and his family HERE, and you can visit his virtual grave on Find a Grave.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-11T09:52:00.008-05:00

Men of the family, from a gathering in the early 60s. They were sitting on the glider on the front porch of my grandparents' house in Houston, PA.

All but Tom Jackson have passed away, their names link to their Find a Grave pages.

Front (l to r): Great Uncle Selwyn Fife, Great Uncle Raymond Fife, cousin Tom Jackson

Back (l to r): Uncle Eddie Champ, Uncle David Atkinson, and Pappap (Charles Atkinson).

Tombstone Tuesday: Batte Peterson Clark

2009-02-10T11:31:00.008-05:00

This is the gravestone of my husband's great-grandfather, Batte Peterson Clark, Jr. John and I visited this grave at Fairlawn Cemetery in the fall of 2005. We planned a trip to Dallas for John's 25 year high school reunion, and I talked him into adding a few extra days so we could drive up into Oklahoma to look for his family graves. It was a fun and fruitful trip to a part of Oklahoma that I had never visited before.

B. P. Clark has a family legend attached to him, and so far, I haven't found anything to confirm or disprove the following story that I found in some notes made by John's Uncle Terrence who passed down some of his genealogy research to his family.

My grandfather Clark

Batt Peterson, 4th child of Batte and Mary Clark, born in 1855, when about 16 years of age rode out of Alabama to La [Louisiana] to avenge the murder of his brother... He rode from there into La. soon afterwards the body of the man who killed Albert his brother was found behind a stump on a La road. Batt Clark never did say that he killed the fellow, but he did say enough to his son Albert to make him believe that the fellow was trying to waylay his papa as he had his papa's brother. Grandmother Watts always said that Batt killed the fellow and then road into Panola County, Texas. In those days one could commit a crime in La and get into Texas and be safe from the law.

Batte Peterson Clark was born in Alabama, lived in Texas for much of his adult life, and spent his final years in the area around Comanche, OK. His entry in my database can be seen HERE, and you can also visit his entry on Find a Grave.

Smile for the Camera: Costume

2009-02-09T20:43:00.007-05:00

From 10th Edition Smile For The Camera - A Carnival of Images:

The word prompt for the 10th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Costume? No, not as in Halloween. Costume as in dress in general; especially the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or period.

I don't have a lot of photos of my family members that seem to represent a particular period in time, but I finally decided that these two shots fit that theme.

These photos show my grandma and her sister, Genieve (above), and Grandma alone to the left. According to the writing which you can see on one photo, they were taken in Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) in September of 1925. I think everyone will agree that we don't see people today dressed like Grandma and Aunt Genieve. I like the way they looked, and I'll never forget that when my mother-in-law (a lady who was born in 1923) saw these pictures, exclaimed that their clothes were "so stylish"!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday: Happy birthday Rick!

2009-02-04T09:23:00.003-05:00

Monday (Groundhogs' Day) was my brother, Rick's birthday. I'm not sure he'd want me to post his age for all to see, but I'll say that he's nearly 13 months younger than I am. Here are some pictures throughout his life (so far).

From left to right below: Rick as a baby; me and Rick in a photo taken in Ashland KY in 1960; Rick and me in our backyard in Painesville OH in the mid-60s; Rick with a catfish he caught in North Platte NE in 1971; Rick in the summer of 1979 behind our grandparents' house in Houston, PA.

And this is my most recent photo of him, with me and my mom after a meal at Outback in Mentor OH last August.

Tombstone Tuesday: Charles McConnell

2009-02-03T14:02:00.004-05:00

You are looking at the gravestone of my 3rd great-grandfather, Charles McConnell. Something that makes him particularly interesting to me is the fact that, as far as I know, he was my most recent immigrant ancestor. According to the inscription on the stone, he was "Born in Co. Donegal, Ireland 1800" and "Came to America 1820". I've never seen immigration information on any of my other family graves.

He died on December 25, 1871.

I actually know very little about him. I don't know who his parents were. I don't know what ship he came to America on. I do know that in 1850, he lived in the home of his future father-in-law, John Morrow. The census claimed he was 65 at that time, and his future wife, Ann Jane Morrow, was 28. They must have been married soon after because my great-great-grandmother Mary F. (McConnell) Fife was born in 1851. In the 1860 census, Charles listed his age as 60, which matches the date on his tombstone. Charles and Ann Jane lived all of their married life in Upper Saint Clair Twp, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, but they must have attended church in Bridgeville, PA. They were buried in the churchyard at Fawcett Methodist Church located there.

One mystery in my research were two people living in his home in 1860: Gerry and Anna McConnell who were born in Ireland. It seems likely that they were relatives, but I have not been able to locate them in any other census. I do not know if they were a married couple or perhaps brother and sister. I used to wonder if they were his children from an earlier marriage, but if Charles McConnell came to America in 1820, then Gerry and Anna, born in 1831 and '37, could not have been his children, perhaps his niece and nephew.

Charles and Ann Jane were the parents of two daughters, my previously mentioned g-g-grandma, Mary Fife, and Sarah (McConnell) Dunlap.

You can see Charles McConnell's entry on Find a Grave HERE.

My Genealogy Happy Dance!

2009-01-30T13:31:00.004-05:00

From: kinexxions: The Winter Carnival has Arrived!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: "The Happy Dance. The Joy of Genealogy." Almost everyone has experienced it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to go crazy with joy? If you haven't ever done the Happy Dance, tell us what you think it would take for you to do so."

This is a tough one. Surely, we've all had those moments, and I know I can't share all of mine here. And I know, as soon as I make this entry, I'll remember something I should have chosen instead.

Should I pick my first? Or my latest? Or maybe I should write about the first thing that entered my mind when I read the topic?

Well, the first time I felt like doing the "Happy Dance" was way back in 1997. I had a list of names that my 1st cousin had entered into his genealogy program. In it, it mentioned that our earliest known Atkinson ancestor had lived in Ohio County VA (now WV). I didn't even have a clue where that was, but I went to the Internet to see what I could find out. That was when I discovered Genweb. After finding that there was a page for Ohio County, I started looking thru the genealogy postings until I found a query that mentioned Robert Atkinson, who might have been the earliest white settler in Guernsey County, OH. Robert was the brother of my 4th great-grandfather, James Atkinson. That was the first time I made contact with anyone researching the same family that I was and it was a turning point in my life!

Another time was something I've written about here previously. You can read about my serendipitous discovery of the graves of my 3rd great-grandparents in my first Tombstone Tuesday entry HERE.

But since most of my most happy discoveries have been by accident while browsing records (something I consider a benefit of having a family that stayed in the same area for many generations), I want to tell you about a "Happy Dance" moment that came as a result of real planning on my part! Sometime back in 2001, I received information from a distant cousin that mentioned that Nancy Jane Wolfe, the g-g-g-grandmother whose grave I found by accident in 2005, had been born Nancy Jane Chase. That obviously gave me a whole new avenue to check out. Since most of that part of my family lived in West Finley Twp, Washington County, PA, I started looking for possible Chase families in the census for that area. The most likely candidate to be her father seemed to be a man named Barnabas Chase who lived in West Finley and had been born in Massachusetts. Since Nancy was married before 1850, I knew the census wouldn't help me decide whether Barnabas was the right guy or not. I searched the Internet and found quite a bit of information about Barnabas and his family back in Massachusetts, including family trees back to the 1600s when his ancestor William Chase came to America with John Winthrop, but nothing that showed any of his children. My next hope was that Barnabas Chase had left a will. I found an index entry that indicated that he had, but no transcript or abstract that would tell me who was mentioned in that will.

In those days, my husband traveled to a computer conference in Salt Lake City every March, and I would go along and spend the whole week in the Family History Library. Since it was nearly that time of year, I added "Search for the will of Barnabas Chase" to my to-do list. And when I got to the FHL, that's the first thing I did! You can imagine how happy I was when I read this line in the will:

...my daught Nancy Wolff has got hir hundred...

I think I made a noise while I was sitting there in the dark at the microfilm and when I went to make copies, I'm sure I told everyone I came in contact with! I think what makes that experience so special is the fact that I had a hope for what I would find, and that's exactly what I found! That's the moment that always comes to mind when I think of a genealogy Happy Dance!

You can see Nancy's pedigree HERE. And below is the full text of Barnabas Chase's will, as transcribed by me from a photocopy:

Will #344,
Willbook #9, page 503
Washington County, PA

Will of Barnabas Chase

I Barnabas Chase of West Finley Township Washington County do make this my last will and testament first I commit my soule to God how give it and my body to the earth from whence it came--- 2 that my executors pay all my just debts, 3d I will my son James Chase the farm where he now lives forever, and I will my son Joseph Chase Eighty Acres of the home farm of the South west side Going McNays so to run a parlel line so it will be an equal breuth from Southerland heirs clene thrugh land I will my son John Chase the balance of the home farm and I will my son Simen C. Chase five hundred dollars, and I will my daughter Ruth one hundred dollars-- and I will my daughter Jane Bromer One hundred dollars and my daught Nancy Wolff has got hir hundred -- and I will to my two granddaughters Mary E. McKeag and Suny E. McKeag three hundred dollars each and will the household and kitchen furnerture and the balance of my parsonly property and money is to be equally devided ammonnge my sons and daughters and I constute and appoint my son John Chase and John Burnes my executors to settle my estate in testimony thereof I set my hand and seal this 30 day of July 1866.

Barnabas Chase (seal)
test
Wm Jordan
Millin M. Sutherland

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Washington County SS

Be it remembered that on this 1st day of June before me I. Y. Hamilton Register for the Probate of Wills and granting Letters of Adminstration within and for the said County came Wm Jordon & Wm M. Sutherland the subscribing witnesses to the foregoing attached will of Barnabas Chase deceased who after being duly qualified according to law, depose and say; that they were present at the execution of said will, saw the testator sign the same -- heard him publish that they at his request, in his presence & in the presence of each other subscribed their names thereto as witnesses and at the time of doing so the said testator was of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding to the best of their knowledge observation and belief.

Sworn and subscribed before I. Y. Hamilton Regr.

Wm Jordan
W. M. Sutherland

And now June 1 1870 it being adjudged that the said will has been duly proven and John Burns one of the executors being deceased & the other executor John Chase having renounced his right to the same, Letters are issued to J. W. Hancher by agreement who was duly sworn by

I. Y. Hamilton Regr.

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday: Great Grandma Fife

2009-01-28T10:23:00.002-05:00

This photograph is the best one I've ever seen of my great grandma, Martha (Skiles) Fife. I've wondered if other cousins might have better ones. You can see her information from my genealogy database here, and her Find a Grave entry here.

Tombstone Tuesday: William Tolbert

2009-01-27T16:34:00.005-05:00

William Steffel Tolbert was my great-grandfather. His was buried on his own land near Pax WV. His wife, Anna is also buried there, but while she obviously had her own information engraved when she picked out the stone, no one bothered to have it finished when she died in 1949. Anna was his second wife, so she wasn't a blood relative, but my mother lived with Anna until she died. My mom was 15 then, and afterwards, she went to live with Anna's brother until she married my dad. My mom was 22 then.

Several years ago, my mom and I went back to where she grew up to try to find William and Anna Tolbert's graves. My mom hadn't been there since 1949 and things had changed a lot. We had no luck finding the spot. Later, I made a posting on the Rootsweb mailing list for Fayette County, WV, and I was rewarded by a woman who went out and found them for me. She later gave me wonderful directions so I was able to find it myself later! The first time my mom and I visited, I actually drove up this road to get to it, but since then, I've been back twice, and both times I walked! It's quite a trek!

Semi-wordless Sunday :)

2009-01-25T13:27:00.006-05:00

Since I missed my (Nearly) Wordless Wednesday this week, I decided to post a Semi-wordless Sunday!

This is a photo of my grandfather and his little brother, George. Since George was born in 1915, I estimate that this was taken around 1920, or maybe a little earlier. Pappap sure had wild hair when he was young!

It's a favorite of mine, mainly because there seemed to have been so few candid snapshots taken back in those days!

Wordless Wednesday #6

2009-01-14T09:22:00.004-05:00

Another picture of me as a baby, although this photo is faded and you might not notice the baby on my Grandma's lap. I have no idea what my dad is doing to his mother in this picture. This was taken in my grandparents' living room.

The back of this photo is labeled:

Taken Jan 25, 1959
Cheryl Ann (sic) 20 days old
[and added in different different handwriting]
Grandma Atkinson
Jim Atkinson

Note: My middle name is spelled "Anne"

Tombstone Tuesday: John Calvin Fife

2009-01-13T17:11:00.009-05:00

This is the grave of my g-g-grandfather, John Calvin Fife. You may be able to see that he died young, at age 33 on November 14, 1879. He was killed in an accident while he was working on building a bridge. He and one other man were killed.

It had to have been a real struggle for his widow, Mary Frances (McConnell) Fife. She was only 28, the mother of three children and pregnant with her 4th. She never remarried and supported herself as a nurse.

When her 4th child was born in February 1880, although the baby was a girl, Mary named her Calvin after her dead father. She was called Callie.

Calvin Fife was buried at Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Bethel Park, PA. Six generations of my Fife ancestors are buried there. The church's history website mentions the Fife family being associated with them from the beginning.

The sentiment engraved at the bottom of his stone is particularly touching. It reads:

Death is certain, the hour unseen.

An article that appeared in the local newspaper at the time of his death describes the accident in especially gruesome details. The paper, which was a weekly, published his obituary the next week, along with a paid notice of a public sale being held by Mary Fife. It makes me sad that she had to deal with the practical details of having to support herself and her children at a traumatic time like that. Below are transcripts of the articles from the newspaper.

From the Canonsburg Herald, Canonsburg PA, Friday Nov. 14, 1879.

_______________
Terrible Accident
Fall of a Bridge near Canonsburg-- Samuel Cochran killed-- Calvin Fife Fatally Injured-- Five others Badly Injured and Several Slightly Hurt--Aid for the Sufferers.
_______________

One of the most heart-rending local accidents which has fallen to our sad duty to chronicle, happened on Friday afternoon last. For some time past workmen have been engaged upon a new bridge over Chartiers Creek, for J. V. H. Cook, at his coal works a short distance above the railroad station at this place.

The bridge is a private one, and is to be used for running the cars from the mines on the south side of the creek to the platform on the north side. The bridge is a frame truss, 72 feet long, 9 feet wide and nine feet high, outside measure. The height of the floor to the creek is about 10 feet. John T. Roberts had the contract for the woodwork, and had the framework all complete for raising into position on last Friday morning. A solid scaffold on tressles (sic) had been constructed, and during the forenoon the eastern frame was safely put into position. This was secured by guy ropes attached to the top of the frame at each end, and tied to stakes in the ground a few rods away on each side. In the afternoon the frame for the west side was put together on the scaffold and at half past two o'clock, twenty-eight men mounted the platform to put the frame into position. The miners had been summoned from their work and a number of neighbors had collected together to assist. Mr. Roberts, the contractor, believed everything to be safe, and as every man's aid was needed, he took a position with the others to give a lift.

The heavy frame was steadily lifted, but when it was nearing it's upright position, a projecting chord caught one of the guy ropes holding the first frame, unnoticed, and the great pressure was sufficient to cause the opposite ropes to give way and cause the first raised frame to fall inwards, and in an instant the second fell back, the one directly upon the other. When the first side began to move someone gave a warning shout, and all who could, to save themselves from being crushed, sprang through the openings of the frame to the ground and creek below. In a few remarkable cases, persons were so situated that the framework fell over and around them and left them standing untouched. Frank Coleman was left standing in an opening, which appeared scarcely large enough to allow his body to pass. Mr. Cook, himself-- suddenly aware that something was wrong--turned his head as the frame passed over him. This act saved him from being carried down with the timbers.

As soon as the men could recover themselves, a sickening spectacle presented itself, four men lay crushed and mangled beneath the heavy structure. They were Samuel Cochran, John T. Roberts, Calvin Fife, and Christopher Patterson.

Several men at work upon the new railroad abutments nearby, rushed to the spot, and assisted those not disabled in extricating the injured men. The killed and wounded were the following:

Samuel Cochran, chest crushed, died in a few minutes after he was removed from the wreck.
Calvin Fife, lower part of the body badly crushed. Kidneys injured. He cannot recover.
John T. Roberts, both legs broken, below the knees, and one broken above, three ribs and jaw broken. Has suffered much but will likely recover.
Christopher Patterson, colored, right leg broken above the ankle, and the left above the knee.
Aaron Henderson, Sr., colored, knocked off the bridge and badly hurt on his face and side.
Vance Donaldson, son of John Donaldson, three bones broken in his foot.
William Dungee, colored, knee cap dislocated.

Besides these several others were slightly hurt by receiving bruises and flesh wounds. Allen Thompson was struck in the back as he jumped from the bridge. Joseph Neill was struck upon the shoulder.

As soon as the wounded were extricated from their horrible positions, messengers were dispatched for physicians, Drs. Alexander, Donaldson, and Bane, and many citizens promptly hurried to the scene, and did all in their power to give relief to the sufferers. Spring wagons were brought and stretchers were made and each carried to his home. The procession, with the dead and some of the wounded in wagons and others carried upon stretchers , as it came into town, formed one of the saddest spectacles we have seen in many a day. The three physicians, together with Dr. Barnet, and later in the evening, Dr. Lacock, gave what surgical attention was needed as rapidly as the several cases could be attended to. Dr. Dickson was absent from home at the time. The citizens did all in their power to render needed assistance.

Nothing has happened in this community for a long time that has cast so great a gloom over the people, or brought out so great an expression of sympathy. Nearly all are men of families who would suffer for want of necessities and comforts, without aid from some source.

At the request of a number of citizens the Town Council held a meeting on Saturday morning to devise some means to secure pecuniary relief fro the injured men and their families. John Chambers, Sr., was appointed Treasurer, and W. R. McConnell, Wm. Martin, and W. S. Callahan a committee to disburse contributions where and when needed. W. R. Campbell, C. M. Greer and D. C. Houston were appointed a committee to solicit contributions. To this call for aid the people of the town and vicinity have responded liberally.
***************************************************

From the Canonsburg Herald, Friday Nov. 21, 1879

_______________________
The Second Victim.--Calvin Fife, one of the persons injured at the late bridge disaster, died from the effects of his injuries, on last Friday evening. He received the most assiduous medical attention, but nothing could avert the fatal result. Mr. Fife was in the 34th year of his age, and leaves a wife and three small children to mourn his loss. His funeral took place on last Sunday from his late residence at the corner of Green and College Streets. Short services were held at Bethel Church in Allegheny County whither his remains were taken to be interred. Many persons accompanied the procession.

****************************************************
Also from the same paper listed under DIED:

FIFE.-- In Canonsburg, Pa., on Friday evening Nov. 14, 1879, John Calvin Fife, aged 33 years and nine months.

****************************************************
Just below, listed under new advertisements:

PUBLIC SALE.
The undersigned will sell at the late residence of Calvin Fife, at the corner of Green and College Streets, Canonsburg.
Saturday, November 22d, 1879

Two good work Horses, 1 spring Colt, 1 two-horse Wagon, set work Harness, Collars, Bridles, set of double Buggy Harness, Plow, Harrow, double Shovel Plow, 1 single Shovel Plow, 1 barrel of Vinegar, 1 barrel of Salt, 1 riding Saddle, Double Tree, Coal Shovel, Kitchen Furniture and numerous other articles not mentioned.
Sale to commence at 1 o'clock, p. m. A credit of 6 months will be given.
Mrs. Mary F. Fife.

My Brickwall Ancestor: Lydia (Lafferty) Skiles 1850?-1904

2009-01-13T10:06:00.011-05:00

Miriam, who writes the blog AnceStories, came up with a great idea for posting our genealogy brick walls in her post: Who Are Our Brickwall Ancestors, and Why Aren't We Blogging About Them Regularly?

This is what she suggests as an outline:

A title of "My Brickwall Ancestor: [Name], [dates, if known]"
List what we want to know.
A chronological list (timeline) of known information.
List positive and negative searches in detail.
List any possible resources you can think of that you haven't checked.

I love the idea! I had been thinking for a long time about doing something like that, but as usual, it seems I need someone to give me a little push. I figure it's important to let people know what I'm looking for, you never know who might be Googling that person's name. Someday I'll write about how a Google search reconnected my mom to her birth family in 2001, all because I had made a post that mentioned her mother's name on a message board! You never know what someone might find!

For my first brick wall, I am choosing my g-g-grandmother, Lydia Catherine (Lafferty) Skiles. She may have been born in June 1850 in McKeesport, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and died 25 July 1904 in Canonsburg, Washington County, PA.

I would like to find out who her parents were and exactly when she was born. I would also like to find out if she had any blood relationship to the family who raised her. When I first started working on genealogy, my father told me that Lydia, his great-grandmother, had been an orphan. Everything seems to point to that being true.

I first found her in the 1860 Census. She was living in Peters Twp, Washington County, PA, with Joseph and Jane "Denison". It showed she was 12 years old.

In 1870, she was still living with Jane "Dennison". Joseph had died in the meantime. In 1870 they started showing relationships within the household. Lydia was listed as a domestic servant, and they said she was 26 years old.

By 1880, Lydia was married to my g-g-grandfather, James Hare Skiles, and they were living in North Strabane Twp, Washington County, PA. They had three children, Alice, Martha and William. Lydia was listed as Liddie C. Skiles and her age was 29, only a difference of 3 years from 1870!

In 1900, the family was living in Canonsburg, Washington County, PA. Lydia Skiles was listed as 50 years old, born in June 1850. It showed that she had borne 10 children but only 5 were living. I only have information about 9 of those 10.

On July 25, 1904, she died. The Record of deaths, 1893-1906, which is on FHL film #1318243 (items 1&2), lists her date of death as 1905, but that is obviously an error. I have a transcript of her obituary.

Canonsburg Herald, Thurs. 28 Jul 1904, front page:

Lydia L. Skiles -- On Monday night, July 25, at her home on East Pike Street, Mrs. Lydia L. Skiles died of lung trouble in the 55th year of her age.

She is survived by her husband, Jas. H. Skiles and the following children: Mrs. C. Fife, Mrs. H. Bowers, Alice and Maude. The funeral services were held in the First M. E. Church on Wednesday at 1 p.m. Interment was in the Center Presbyterian Cemetery.

The Record of deaths gives her place of birth as McKeesport, PA. However, at some time, Lydia's youngest daughter, Maude (Skiles) Emory, filed a delayed birth certificate for herself that listed her mother's place of birth as "Hastings, Allegheny County, PA". I cannot find a locality in Allegheny County called Hastings, although in Cambria County, more than 90 miles away, there is a town called Hastings. It seems unlikely that Lydia was born there.

I also found this mention of her in the Samuel MacMillan Manuscript which has been transcribed for the Washington County PA GenWeb site. You can read more about this document HERE.

Mrs James Skiles wife of James Jr Canonsburg July 25, 1904, 56

I have visited her burial place at Center Presbyterian Church in Peters Twp, Washington County. There are no markers for either her or her husband, although there is an empty spot next to the graves of her husband's parents where I am assuming they were buried. My dad's cousin told me a story that might explain what happened to the markers for their graves. According to the cousin, her Uncle Selwyn (my great-uncle) visited the cemetery many years ago and claimed he saw their gravestones in a rubbish pile, yet he never did anything about it. Uncle Selwyn was known as the family eccentric which makes this story seem questionable. Perhaps they never had markers. In another part of the cemetery are the graves of Joseph and Jane "Denniston", Lydia's foster-parents.

I haven't been good about keeping records of my negative searches, but I do know that I have gone page by page thru the Orphans Court Records for Washington County, PA, looking for possible guardianship information about Lydia. I have found other Laffertys listed, but none that mentioned Lydia. I also believe I have looked for information in the Allegheny County Orphans Court records, but looking thru unindexed information from Allegheny county can be daunting because the city of Pittsburgh is there.

You can see her listing in my database on Rootsweb WorldConnect at Lydia Catherine Lafferty. Her entry on Find a Grave can be seen HERE.

Carnival of Genealogy: A Winter Photo Essay

2009-01-11T15:25:00.003-05:00

The Carnival of Genealogy, 63rd Edition has been posted!

And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: A Winter Photo Essay. Show us those wintertime photo(s) of your ancestors or family members and tell us the story that goes along with them. Winter is here! Let's record it and celebrate it! The deadline for submissions is January 15th.

Having lived here in North Carolina for over 10 years now, it almost seems out of season to be thinking about snow, although we did have flurries for a few minutes back in November. I always think I miss real winter-like weather until I happen to be visiting somewhere farther north during cold & snowy times!

According to what was written on the back of the 6 photos in the slideshow, they were taken during the winter of 1939-1940. Most of the children shown were my dad's sisters and his brother: Elizabeth, Louise, David, Charlotte and Jim, my dad--the baby of the family. My dad is in only one of these, the second shot that shows a toddler sitting on a sled. They were the children of Charles and Rowene (Fife) Atkinson. At the time of when these photos were taken, Grandma and Pappap lived along 4th Street in Moninger, Pennsylvania.

And one more photo, taken years later showing the view from my grandparents' front porch at 235 Reed Avenue, Houston, PA, looking towards the southeast.I always loved this view. My grandparents moved into that house long before I was born, so it was the only place they lived while I knew them. The last I heard, one of Grandma's nephews bought the house after Pappap died. I find it comforting to know it's still owned by family.

Wordless Wednesday #5

2009-01-07T08:41:00.003-05:00

Below is a newspaper clipping found in the papers saved by my grandparents. The photo shows my grandfather "Charley" Atkinson and his sister Esther Atkinson among their classmates. I wonder how many of the other kids were relatives, I see quite a few surnames also found in my genealogy.

Tombstone Tuesday: William Faris

2009-01-06T16:09:00.010-05:00

Here you see two photos I took of my earliest born ancestor whose burial place I know. William Faris was my 5th great grandfather. Since he was 84 when he died in 1818, he would have been born about 1734. He and his wife are buried at Stone Church Cemetery in Elm Grove, WV.

When I first started working on my genealogy in 1996, I started out with some printed trees and reports that my cousin Russell had sent to my dad. They included information Russell had collected from our aunts, uncles and cousins about their living families, and some information that Russell had added to a genealogy program that came from a family genealogy created by our grandfather's cousin back in the 40s & 50s. I entered everything into Family Tree Maker (version 3, I think) and started searching the internet. I soon found Genweb, and scoured the postings on the Ohio County, WV site looking for family connections! One of the first cousins I met online was Jane Carson Topoly. She is related to me by blood through our Brown ancestors, and also connected by marriage through the second marriage of our ancestors, William Faris (son of the man whose gravestone you see here) and his second wife, Elizabeth (Irwin) Carson. Elizabeth and her deceased first husband were Jane's 3rd great-grandparents.

Jane was a huge help to me in learning how to research my ancestors and she pointed me towards where I could find out more about them. I was soon able to find out more about William Faris' parents and located their burial place. Another distant cousin sent me photographs of the graves. It wasn't long after that when I was able to visit their burial place. I used a film camera to take pictures in 1998, and when I visited again in 2005, I used a digital camera. Just this summer, I went back again and got the newest view that you see to the left. I do not know who provided the new bronze marker for William Faris, but I am very grateful, especially since it's obvious that his original sandstone marker will eventually disintegrate. I noticed new markers on many Revolutionary War graves there.

You can see the entry I created for William Faris on Find a Grave here.

Another great resource I have found is a book called Eight Generations of the Virginia Branch of the Faris Family in the United States of America. It is a compilation of information about the descendants of William and his wife, Dorratha (Johnson) Faris that was collected by my distant cousin, Nellie L. Flack. She published her book sometime before 1919. While I was warned that there are some errors, I found it to be very accurate in showing my particular family line. And when it comes to looking for ancestors, aren't we all just looking for a nudge in the right direction so that find original sources and make our own conclusions?

Smile for the Camera: Who are you?

2009-01-06T10:44:00.006-05:00

I recently discovered Smile for the Camera in time to participate in the 9th Edition:

The word prompt for the 9th Edition of Smile For The Camera is Who Are You - I Really Want To Know? Show us that picture that you found with your family collection or purchased, but have no idea who they might be.

Someone took the time to be photograph, someone took the time to send it to a loved one, someone didn't take the time to identify the photograph. And you really want to know who they are. Bring it to the carnival. Share! Maybe one of our readers can help.

Admission is free with every photograph! Your submission may include as many or as few words as you feel are necessary to describe your treasured photograph. Those words may be in the form of an expressive comment, a quote, a journal entry, a poem (your own or a favorite), a scrapbook page, or a heartfelt article. The choice is yours!

Well, I have two that I would like to share. This first one is a family. I have had this photo posted for years on my genealogy website, here. My cousin sent it to me, saying that he had been told these were our Fife relatives and that my ancestor, John Calvin Fife was in the photo. Since he died in 1879, and I've been told the photograph looks like it was taken in the 1890s, I have wondered if he might be the man in the photograph on the back wall. In that case, the older woman shown here might be my g-g-grandmother, Mary F. (McConnell) Fife, along with two of her daughters and her son, my g-grandfather, Charles E. Fife. However, I have seen other photos of great-grandpa, and that man doesn't really look like him to me. (For comparison, there is a distant photo of him here, and a group photo showing him fourth from the left, here.) Maybe someday someone will be able to definitively identify these people for me!

This second picture shows one person I know, and three that I do not. The back of this photo was written on. It reads:

"Esther Atkinson and the Hunter Kids"

Esther was my great-aunt, the sister of my grandfather, Charles Atkinson. But who were those Hunter kids? Relatives? Friends? Maybe Esther helped take care of them?

You can see more about the photo here.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if someone recognized these children?

The 99+ Genealogy Things Meme

2009-01-05T08:17:00.007-05:00

Over at kinexxions, Becky has created (with some help) The 99+ Genealogy Things Meme

I did the original "99 Things meme" on my MySpace blog, but here's the new one:

If you wish to participate in the meme, simply copy the text below and paste it into your blog (or into a note on facebook if you don't have a blog) and annotate the list accordingly. We're on the 'honor system' here, no one is going to check up on you! Participation is up to you, no tagging of other bloggers required. A link back to this post would be nice but is not mandatory ;-)

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (color optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Belong to a genealogical society.
Researched records onsite at a court house.
Transcribed records.
Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents) .
Joined Facebook.
Helped to clean up a run-down cemetery.
Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group on Facebook.
Attended a genealogy conference.
Lectured at a genealogy conference.
Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
Talked to dead ancestors.
Researched outside the state in which I live.
Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
Cold called a distant relative.
Posted messages on a surname message board.
Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
Googled my name.
Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
Have been paid to do genealogical research.
Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
Participated in a genealogy meme.
Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
Performed a record lookup for someone else.
Went on a genealogy seminar cruise.
Am convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
Found a disturbing family secret.
Told others about a disturbing family secret.
Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby.
Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).
Taught someone else how to find their roots.
Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.
Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
Disproved a family myth through research.
Got a family member to let you copy photos.
Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
Translated a record from a foreign language.
Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
Used microfiche.
Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.
Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
Taught a class in genealogy.
Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century.
Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century.
Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
Visited the Library of Congress.
Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War.
Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
Can read a church record in Latin.
Have an ancestor who changed their name.
Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
Created a family website.
Have more than one "genealogy" blog.
Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
Have broken through at least one brick wall.
Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.
Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Had an amazing serendipitous find of the "Psychic Roots" variety.
Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War.
Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.
Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.
Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
Use maps in my genealogy research.
Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors.
Visited the National Archives in Kew.
Visited St. Catherine's House in London to find family records.
Found a cousin in Australia (or other foreign country).
Consistently cite my sources.
Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don't live in) in search of ancestors.
Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.
Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).
Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
Organized a family reunion.
Published a family history book (on one of my families).
Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
Have done the genealogy happy dance.
Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
Offended a family member with my research.
Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

Wordless Wednesday #4

2008-12-31T13:47:00.004-05:00

Me and Pappap, Mar 13, 1960, on the front steps of their yard in Houston PA.

Tombstone Tuesday #4

2008-12-30T21:07:00.004-05:00

This is the gravestone of my husband, John's great-great-grandmother. It's special to me because of how I came to photograph it.

When John and I lived in Toledo, Ohio, from February 1996 until May 1997, we planned to take a vacation driving around Lake Erie and visiting Niagara Falls in the Summer of 1997. But then John changed jobs which required us to move to St. Louis. We decided to take the same vacation anyway.

I had only recently gotten interested in genealogy and was in the process of entering information that my mother-in-law had given me into my genealogy program. I noticed that one of my husband's ancestors had lived in Canada, and that his first wife, Elizabeth Baechler, had died and was buried near Shakespeare Ontario. While it wasn't really on our planned route, I convinced John that we should make the detour to see if we could find her grave.

We drove to Shakespeare with no idea where to look for the cemetery, but luckily, we found a coffee house with an employee that sent us in the right direction and it didn't take us long to find the cemetery.

John stood by the grave and told me that he realized the attraction of genealogy for the first time in his life. If that young woman hadn't lived, if she hadn't married Henry Baechler and given birth to 4 children before she died at age 29, then he, John, would have never existed. John's motto for his life is "It's all about Me!"

Resolutions

2008-12-27T12:06:00.002-05:00

I'm gonna get this one in on time :)

Here's the description for the next Carnival of Genealogy project:

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: New Year's Resolutions! What plans do you have for your genealogy research next year? How about for your blogging? No groaning or whining now. Write 'em up and let us know! The deadline for submissions is January 1st, 2009.

See: Creative Gene: Carnival of Genealogy, 62nd Edition

I'm such a procrastinator, I always have tons of things I should be doing, so it's easy to come up with a list of things I NEED to get done!

My little sister, who was adopted by my dad, tracked down her biological father and now has a relationship with him and his wife. About a year ago, I offered to do some research on his family for her, and then promptly forgot what she told me his surname was. I finally got over my embarrassment enough to ask her again, and I fully intend to fulfill that promise! It'll be good practice for me, by coincidence, he lives about 50 miles from me here in NC, and I'm very close to the NC State Archives. I have little reason to visit to research my own relatives there.
One of my long-time goals has been to scan all my paper records into PDF files and organize them. Last Spring I upgraded my Adobe Acrobat to version 8, which supports a paper feeder. My old version was 3, which made it necessary for me to feed the sheets one at a time to scan. Now I have little excuse to keep putting it off.
One of my worst habits is doing research and not getting it entered into my genealogy program. I have pages that I copied and notes that I made from two week-long visits to Salt Lake City in 2007 and 2008 that I still haven't organized and entered. It's about time, don't you think?
In 2005, I borrowed 10 boxes of slide projector carousels from my dad that I want to scan. Each one holds up to 80 slides, and most are full. These are photos from my young childhood and my teen years, family pictures and vacation slides. I think I've scanned 10, total. That's another thing I need to get to work on.
I have tons of photocopies of wills that need transcribed. That's something I find so frustrating, though, that I'll probably NOT get around to them this year!

I think that'll be enough to keep me busy for at least a year, don't you think? What about you?

Christmas Memories

2008-12-25T16:26:00.007-05:00

What your seeing here is a letter written to Santa Claus by my grandfather in 1908...sort of, anyway. If you look closely, you'll see that some of the presents, and the signature at the end were erased and re-written. This letter was originally written by Pappap's elder sister, Esther, but I guess he was too lazy to write his own, so he took hers. The original is in my aunt Charlotte's possession now, but I was lucky enough to get to scan it a few years ago. It's hard to imagine him as a child, so it's nice to have something that reminds me!

Wordless Wednesday #3

2008-12-24T10:44:00.002-05:00

I don't have a lot of family photos taken at Christmas-time. My aunt gave me this one a few years ago. That's me and my cousin Michael at our grandparents' house in Houston, PA. This had to be my first Christmas in 1959.

Tombstone Tuesday: William & Sadie (McConnell) Dunlap

2008-12-23T23:59:00.007-05:00

To the right, you see the grave markers for William and Sadie Dunlap. Sadie was the sister of my g-g-grandmother, Mary (McConnell) Fife. As you can see, at the time when I last visited their graves, these stones were almost completely buried under dirt and grass. Below is the large marker for the family plot. The name Schaufele was their daughter, Mary's married name. I had visited a few times, but had never found the graves of William and Sadie's daughter and son-in-law. I had wondered if their stones HAD been completely buried under the sod, or if they had never been buried there.

Through one of my genealogy email lists, I came into contact with a woman who works at Oak Spring Cemetery. she has been very helpful to me in tracking down my relatives buried there. Eventually, I realized that she might have a clue as to where the Schaufele graves might be. And I was right. She checked the records for plot ownership and found this note:

"On Feb. 10, 1966, Mrs. J. W. Schaufele sold 4 lots back to Oak Spring Cemetery since she was now living in Arizona."

Now I know, to track down what became of the descendants of my g-g-grandma's sister, I need to search in Arizona!

Interested in seeing what these people looked like? I have posted an old photograph on Find a Grave! Luckily, it's one of the few I have seen that someone IDed the people on the back of the photo!

I have also been told that the graves are no longer buried. When I get back there, I'll have to take new photos!

(Just a side note: I had a little problem with the formatting of this entry. It looks fine in Firefox, but not so good if you're using IE...sorry.)

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-21T14:04:00.005-05:00

I uploaded the PowerPoint presentation to Google Docs so I could embed it here for everyone. However, they removed the pretty fonts and transitions I used, so if you have PowerPoint (or a PowerPoint Viewer), you can download and view the original HERE.

I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

3 wishes

2008-12-18T12:33:00.002-05:00

I waited too long to submit this entry, but I thought, "Why not do it anyway?" I'm always looking for ideas!

Dear Genea Santa,

While my biggest wishes this year are for both my parents to continue to have a good quality of life, I know that you are only able to help me with my genealogy related material items. I had to think for a long time about the things I really want!

1. First of all, I wish I had thought to ask for my grandma's set of dishes when my grandfather died. They were pink, with tiny flowers on them, made by the Canonsburg Pottery where my grandfather worked for 40 years. A few years ago, I was able to find a similar set to buy on eBay, but I've never seen Grandma's exact pattern anywhere.

2. In his will, my g-g-g-grandfather, James P. Skiles, bequeaths pictures of his deceased daughters, Mary Ann and Rachel, to two of his then living daughters, Rebecca and Martha. If I can't have the originals, I'd love to own copies!

3. My third wish is also for photos. My mother says that she had an album full of childhood photos of herself before she was married. When she left home, an argument with her Aunt resulted in my mom NOT bringing any of her personal possessions with her. I have often wondered if that album still exists. I have never seen a picture of my mother where she was younger than 18.

I hope I'm not asking for too much. If you can get these for me, it will be my best Christmas ever! Then I hope you'll get a well-deserved rest after fulfilling everyone's genealogy wishes this year!

Love, Cherie

See more letters to Genea Santa at: Creative Gene: Carnival of Genealogy, 62nd Edition

Wordless Wednesday #2

2008-12-17T15:10:00.005-05:00

Christmas in the 70s
My mother-in-law, Lillian and her 5 youngest children: John, Victor, Patrick, Jenny & Mary

Same people, Thanksgiving 2006
Victor, Mary, Lillian, John, Patrick, Jenny

Tombstone Tuesday: Michael McDaid

2008-12-16T10:35:00.006-05:00

This is the grave of my 3rd great grandfather, Michael S. McDaid. This was taken long before I owned a digital camera. Michael was an interesting character, but with as much as I know about him, there is so much more I wish I knew.

He was born in Pennsylvania, but I've never found his parents. There were few McDaid families in Western Pennsylvania, but he could have been from the eastern part of the state where the name is a little more common. He was born sometime around 1809-1810, although I can't be sure. Every census gives an inconsistent age and even his pension applications after the Civil War gave ages that don't match a particular date of birth.

He married his wife, Jennet (or Janetta) McCoy, presumably before 1828 when his eldest daughter, Mary Jane, was born. He and Jennet went on to have 8 children, including my 2nd great-grandfather, Samuel S. McDaid. They moved around Greene and Washington Counties in Pennsylvania, finally seeming to settle down in West Finley Twp. However, the Civil War changed that.

Michael McDaid was about 50 years old when the war started. He and his son, William, went to Wheeling, West Virginia to enlist to fight for the Union. Michael served in Co. L of the 2nd WV Cavalry. According to his service records, though, he was away from duty quite a bit, often related to injuries that seemed to be caused by clumsiness or carelessness, although his age could have been a factor. One major injury was a dislocated shoulder caused by a rearing horse. There was some indication that he was AWOL for a time, but his excuse was that he had returned home to recuperate.

After the war, Michael never returned to live in West Finley, but instead went to live in Marshall County, WV, with a man named Jesse Gorbey. Mr. Gorbey might have been a relative -- perhaps a brother-in-law -- I've seen information that indicates that his wife's maiden name might have been "McDaid". Jennet McDaid continued to live on her own in West Finley. After the war, she filed for a pension based on the service of her son William who had died of Small Pox in Washington, DC, during the war. Her pension request included several affidavits signed by her neighbors and friends testifying to the fact that her husband had abandoned her! And yet, I have never found any indication that she and Michael were divorced. However, in 1879, Michael married Lucinda Martin in Marshall County. She was at least 25 years younger than he was, and Jennet was alive until at least 1883. The fact that Michael McDaid seemed to have been married to two women at the same time makes him interesting to me, but I know of one cousin who was upset when she found the same info I did in the pension records. She seemed sorry that she had done the research, and I don't even know if she's still doing genealogy.

Michael died in 1892, although there seems to be some confusion about exactly when. The date shown in his pension paperwork looks like February 10, 1892. However, a pension increase was approved in April 1892, and his file wasn't closed until December. It seems that Lucinda might have been a little shady. She remarried the next year to another Civil War pensioner. After he died, she applied for widow's pensions based on the service of both husbands, while indicating on each application that she had only been married to one veteran. Someone at the VA was on their toes and caught her deception. The files of her two husbands have been combined at the National Archives.

Luckily, since Michael was a veteran, his grave has been marked. He was buried at Shepherd Methodist Church in Adaline, WV. The stone only shows his name and service info, no birth or death date. I originally found a record of his burial on the website for Marshall County WV GenWeb . Also buried there was Mary Gorbey, wife of Jesse. The town is very isolated, and my husband and I had a little trouble finding it. That was in the days before Google Maps or GPS devices, but you can see it's location below. We were relieved when we located the churchyard.

View Larger Map

I think of Michael as one of my more interesting ancestors. In his pension file is a letter written in his own handwriting. One of my brothers-in-law does handwriting analysis. I had him look at that letter without telling him anything that I had learned about Michael McDaid. He told me that the handwriting indicated that the writer was a creative and intelligent person who bored easily and probably seemed irresponsible. He also mentioned that the handwriting indicated that Michael was a heavy drinker, but due to the age he was when the letter was written, he might also have had a minor stroke at some time. I have wondered how his abandonment of his family might have affected later generations.

Blog Caroling

2008-12-12T22:15:00.002-05:00

This is my contribution to footnoteMaven's Blog Caroling. Not exactly a traditional carol, but my favorite none the less. This is a cover version of Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas" performed by U2.

Wordless Wednesday #1

2008-12-10T14:23:00.004-05:00

Uncle Selwyn with my dad (early 1940s?)

Tombstone Tuesday: Nancy Jane (Chase) Wolfe

2008-12-09T13:13:00.008-05:00

I've recently started spending more time reading other people's genealogy blogs, and I've noticed some memes I'd like to use for inspiration. One of these is "Tombstone Tuesday". Since I have uploaded almost 4100 photos (so far) to Find a Grave, I have plenty of content for sharing photos of tombstones!

For my first entry, here's the grave of my g-g-g-grandmother, Nancy Jane (Chase) Wolfe. I took this photo in July of 2005 while I was on vacation in Southwestern Pennsylvania where my dad's family lived for generations, looking for family graves. At the time, I had barely learned Nancy's name and didn't have a clue where to look for her and her husband's graves.

On our way to see the graves of my McDaid relatives who are buried at West Finley Cemetery in Washington County, we stopped at Windy Gap Cemetery which was on the way. I had read a partial transcript that showed that the sister of my g-g-grandfather, Samuel McDaid, whose name was Mary Jane, had been buried there in 1852, so I wanted to see if there was a marker. As I walked thru the gate, I saw the stone you see here. It reads:

Nancy.
Wife of
LUTHER WOLFE
DIED
July 30, 1873
Aged 63 years
11 Mos & 16 ds.

You can't imagine how excited I was. In fact, hers was the very first grave I entered on F-a-G. It turns out it was more than serendipitous that I found her grave then. In August of this year, I was able to visit again, and the stone had degraded so much that I'm not sure I would have recognized the name on the stone. Luckily on that day in 2005, the stone was in good enough condition and the light fell just right on the face for me to read the inscription!

I don't know a lot about Nancy beyond the basics. She was the daughter of Barnabas and Elizabeth (Carroll) Chase, born August 14, 1809, and died July 30, 1873. She married Luther Wolfe, and they had 7 children, including my g-g-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth (Wolfe) McDaid. You can see Nancy Wolfe's info on Rootsweb WorldConnect HERE. Something I found very interesting about her is the fact that she's the only female ancestor I've found so far who had a will of her own. I wish I knew more about her. Here's a transcript:

Will of Nancy Wolf

(Washington County, PA, Willbook #10, page 161)

Know all men by these presents that I Nancy Wolf of West Finley Township in the County of Washington and state Pennsylvania widow being in ill health but of sound and disposing mind and memory do make and publish this my last will and testament hereby revoking all former wills by me at any time heretofore made.

And as to my worldly Estate, and all My property personal or mixed of which I shall die siezed and possessed or to which I shall be entitled at the time of my decease I devise bequeath and dispose. There of inasmuch following to wit. First my will is that all my just debts and funeral expenses shall by my Executor hereinafter named be paid out of my Estate as soon after my decease as shall by him be found convenient-- I give and bequeath to my daughter Sarah A. Potter one of my best milk cows her choice, also my bay mare, and the one half of my bed clothes and bedding; The other half of my bed clothes and beding I give to the children of my deceased daughter Jane Milligan. I will and bequeath to my soninlaw Samuel McDaid one hundred dollars; My will is that all the rest of myproperty be sold by my Executor and after the payment of all legal exhenses of the settlement of my estate that the ballance of the money be divided between my daughter Sarah A. Potter and the children of my deceased daughter Jane Milligan; the one half to my daughter Sarah A. Potter, the other to the children of Jane Milligan deceased-- My son Christopher C. Wolf and my daughter Elisabeth McDaid have received all that I intend them to have.

And Lastly I do nominate and appoint J. W. Milligan to be the Executor of this my last will and testament subscribed my name and affixed my seal this fifth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy two.

signed sealed published and declared by Nancy Wolf as and for her last will and testament in the presences of us, who at her request and in her presence the presence of each other have subscribed our names as witnesses hereto

William S. Irey
Arthur Sprowl

Commonwealth of Penna.
County of Washington s.s.

Be it Remembered that upon This 2d day of Aug. 1873 before me A.O. Day Register for the Probate of wills and granting Letters of administration within and for said county came William S. Irey & Arthur sprowls the subscribing witnesses to the forgoing attached will of Nancy Wolf deceased who after being duly qualified according to law depose and say, That They were present at the execution of said will, saw the testatrix sign the same heard her publish it as and for her last will and testament, that they at her request in her presence and in the presence of each other subscribed their names ____ as witnesses, William S. Irey Arthur Sprowls sworn and subscribed before A.O. Day Register
And were Aug 2, 1873 As being adjudged that the said will has been duly heard Letters are issued to J. W. Milligan who was duly qualified. A.O. Day Regr.

Illiterate Ancestor

2008-12-04T11:42:00.008-05:00

I got the inspiration for this entry after reading: Shocking Discovery Not That Shocking

It's hard to imagine* the thought process of an editor who reviewed a story like this one: Michelle Obama's family tree has roots in a Carolina slave plantation, and decided the most noteworthy fact in Mrs. Obama's family history was this: Future first lady had illiterate ancestor.

(*Although if you know anything about UPI and its owners, you might get a clue. See Wikipedia)

Of course, if we all go back far enough, we're going to find someone who couldn't read. Thinking about that fact made me want to write about this very recent ancestor, my great-grandfather, William S. Tolbert, who according to the 1930 Census, had never learned to read. This is the only picture of him that I have ever seen, which I believe is a faded photograph that was enhanced by sketching. It shows William with his younger sisters. My mother, who had lived with him and his second wife until he died in 1939, was amazed by the likeness. She told me she had forgotten that he had a mustache until she saw it, although he was much older by the time she knew him. She was only 6 when he died. It was shared with me by a great-granddaughter of Rosa Lee Tolbert. My cousin told me that the story in her part of the family was that Joe, as he was known, had moved to West Virginia and the family never heard from him again.

William Tolbert was born to a single mother, Elender Tolbert, in Carroll County, VA, on Feb 3, 1867. (Ellie herself was also the daughter of an unmarried woman, facts that have led to a lot of mysteries and dead ends in my research of that line of my family -- so far, anyway!) On September 19, 1887, William married Rhoda Ann Webb in Carroll County. Between 1887 and 1898, when he and Rhoda filed for divorce, they became the parents of 5 children, Rozelle (who died at age 2), Mary, Diona, William Henry, and Mattie, who was my grandmother. Mattie (Tolbert) Shrewsbury's fate is a big family mystery, but that's a story to tell in the future! I have copies of William and Rhoda's handwritten divorce papers that were filed in the Chancery Court of Carroll County. They make interesting reading. In them, William, whose lawyer filed the papers, told of being in jail for bootlegging during which time he claimed that Rhoda had been unfaithful. Their divorce was finalized on May 23, 1904. However, at some time between then and the time when they were counted in the 1910 census, they must have made up. In 1910, they were living together in Raleigh County, WV, with three of their elder children, and a new son, Claud, aged 3 who was born in WV. The reconciliation didn't last, obviously, because by 1920, Rhoda was remarried, and William was not to be found in the census. I found him next in the 1930 census referenced below. On July 12, 1939, William died and was buried on the property he owned near Pax, WV. More details about him and his family can be found on Rootsweb, and you can see photos of his gravestone on Find a Grave.

Below is the full page of the 1930 Census where he was enumerated with his second wife, Anna Lucretia (Larwood) Tolbert.

(Click on the picture to see a view that can be enlarged.) (from Ancestry.com: Year: 1930; Census Place: Fayetteville, Fayette, West Virginia; Roll: 2531; Page: 16A; Enumeration District: 17; Image: 1024.0)

And here's a closeup that includes the section on education. William's info is on the first line:

As you can see, great-grandpa could not read. When I first started working on my genealogy and was learning how to search and record the info available in the census, I didn't even think to look at the columns other than "Name" "Age" "Place of Birth" and maybe "Occupation" in case someone made a living by any other means than farming! By accident, though, I started noticing that a lot of my relatives who lived in Virginia and West Virginia after the Civil War were not able to read or write. It shocked me, then made me sad; it's hard for me to imagine a life without the benefit of a basic education. As I learned more about my family and the places they lived, I came to realize that people in their world who had an education were rare and my people were not the ignorant outcasts I imagined them to be. I'm grateful that I grew up in a world where school is considered a basic right for everyone, and not a privilege for a lucky few.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

2008-11-28T13:38:00.010-05:00

Today, my grandma would have been 107 years old. She died in 1977 of some kind of cancer. I'm a little ashamed to admit that I don't really know for sure what kind, I've been told that it might have been kidney or bone cancer. All I know is that she was clear minded the last time I talked to her in June of 1977, just days after I graduated from high school. The year before, she and my grandfather had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary and she seemed completely healthy.

To the right, you can see her as a teenager. I have always liked this picture because she looks a lot like my cousin Sally in it.

Grandma was a fun person, a big contrast to her husband. Pappap always seemed so serious to me. Here they were not long after their marriage.

While I cannot say for certain that Grandma was interested in equality for women, when I think of her, I always remember a particular incident that I believe said a lot about her opinions on the "superiority" of men. I must have been 7 or 8 years old, and Grandma was washing dishes while I wiped down the counters. I picked up a dishrag and tried to squeeze the water out of it by bunching it into a ball. Grandma took it from me and showed me the proper way to wring out a wet cloth, laughing at me while explaining, "You were trying to do it like a MAN. They THINK they're strong enough to squeeze the water out like that." (I also shared that story on her Find-a-Grave memorial.)

I wish I had listened more when Grandma had talked about her family. On our last talk together, she was describing this photo of her and her siblings. I wasn't paying attention, and so much later, when I finally got interested in my family history, I didn't have her stories to share. You can see a larger version of this photo with my caption for it here. Grandma is third from the left.

And let me end this with two pictures of Grandma looking the way I remember her. To the left is Grandma and Pappap's last studio photo, taken just before their 50th Anniversary. To the right is a snapshot that shows them dressed to go out, not long before Grandma died.

Repost from old Blog

2008-11-28T12:42:00.007-05:00

This is a repost of an entry in a personal/political journal I used to keep on AOL. I made the original post on 11/30/2004. Now that AOL has discontinued its journals and websites, I have the journal, called "Who Cares What I Think?" archived on Blogger, but I have kept it private because I haven't gotten around to taking the time to format it to make it look nice. Since I referenced this entry in another entry in this blog, I decided to recreate it here. You can see where I referenced it in My Famous Progenitor. This entry was originally titled "Family Disgrace?" I wish there was a way to share the comments from the original post, I thought they were amusing!

Thanks to free access over the weekend to the database of The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, I have been obsessed the last few days with looking for info about one of my ancestors. His name was Philip Sherman, and he lived from 1610 to 1687. He came to Massachusetts from England in 1834, but left the Puritan church about 1637 to go to Rhode Island where he became a Quaker. This is how it was described in the NEHGR in 1870, Vol 24, on pages 64-65:

In the Anne Hutchinson troubles, in Boston, he took the popular side; but as Gov. Winthrop ultimately prevailed, he with others found it convenient to immigrate to Rhode Island. In Providence, they met Roger Williams, who advised them to purchase the island of Aquetnet (now Rhode Island) of the Indians. The purchase was completed March 24, 1638. On the first day of July, 1639, they established a regular government, of which Coddington was chosen governor and Philip Sherman secretary. after this he often held office in the colony, and, in critical periods, as a man of intelligence, wealth and influence, was frequently consulted by those in authority.

A helpful relative has created a timeline of his life here: Philip Sherman (1610 - 1687)

And this is the link to his info in my files: Philip Sherman

The plaque in this picture shows his name spelled "Phillip Shearman". It's in Founders Park, Portsmouth RI, and a link can be found here.

I was feeling pretty proud to be descended from this guy. Wouldn't you? But then I found this horrible fact: George W. Bush is also a descendant of Phillip Sherman. If you're interested in how, visit this page and scroll down to the 7th table.

One bright spot, The table on the previously referenced page also shows that I am also related to John Kerry thru the great-grandfather of Phillip Sherman. I'm not sure that will make up for the shame of being related to the Bushes. :::::::shudder:::::::

Memory Medallions

2008-11-20T15:39:00.002-05:00

This is also posted on my photo blog, here, and I thought it was appropriate for this blog, too.

You may ask, "What is that thing?" And if you found one in real life, you'd still wonder! I have seen a few of these on gravestones around Washington and Greene Counties in Pennsylvania where most of my dad's side of the family lived and died. Being the curious person I am, I had to see what they were.

From the Memory Medallion website, this is how they're described:

The Memory Medallion is a small disc, about the size of a half dollar, which is embedded in a monument, memorial or grave marker. Inside the Medallion is a digital memory device that holds a photograph and life story of your loved one.

To access the information on a Memory Medallion, all you need is a handheld computer or laptop—and the special Memory Medallion “touch wand”. Simply connect the wand's cord to your computer and touch the metal tip to the Medallion. Instantly, the information on the digital memory device will download to your screen—and you'll be looking into a beloved face, or reading the life story of someone special.

The Memory Medallion can store one photograph and up to 600 words. Each profile page also offers hyperlink capabilities so you can access Internet sites, including genealogical sites, family history pages, military history pages and personal Web sites. The Memory Medallion opens up a whole world of photos, video and stories to enhance and enrich your memories.

With the Memory Medallion, the true spirit and meaning of a person's life can be stored—and shared—for generations.

Pretty cool, huh? I've never seen one in action, but I'd like to. Maybe someday they'll be more common. I photographed this one at Enon Cemetery.

My family and the military

2008-11-11T11:27:00.007-05:00

I remember as a child in school, we'd stop what we were doing to stand with our hands on our hearts for a moment of silence at 11:00 AM every November 11. And although the holiday was changed to "Veterans Day" before I was born, I also remember having at least one teacher in elementary school who called it "Armistice Day".

I have always disliked the idea of war. In fact, although I never realized it until I was grown, the church I grew up attending is considered a pacifist church. Although I feel like I've been a lifelong agnostic, I loved my church as a child and I guess it's natural that something rubbed off on me, huh? And yet, as a realist, I know that not all wars are avoidable and sometimes we have to fight for things we care about.

I am grateful to those who served in our military. My belief is that any soldier who follows the legal orders of his superiors has served honorably, no matter the outcome of the action in which he participated. Defeat cannot make a soldier dishonorable.

As a genealogist, I am very grateful for the records that war and the military has provided me. In a previous post, I wrote about the Civil War pension files that I have viewed at the National Archives in Washington, DC.

Like most Americans, I have many ancestors who fought in wars. For example, here is a list of my known ancestors who fought in the American Revolution whose burial places I know.

Josias Brown

William Faris

John Fife, Sr.

William Fife, Sr.

William Fife, Jr.

John Supler

These links all go to Find a Grave

As far as I know, I only have two ancestors who fought in the Civil War, Michael McDaid and his son, Samuel, who were my 3rd great and 2nd great grandfathers. I did have dozens of collateral relatives who served. I find it interesting that on my mother's side of the family, my g-g-grandmother's husband, a man who was not my ancestor, died in the Union prison, Camp Chase, during the Civil War. John J. Webb died of typhoid. All three of these Civil War soldiers are also listed on Find a Grave:

Michael S. McDaid

Samuel S. McDaid

John J. Webb

Since then, only my father enlisted. He wanted to go to Korea like his brother, my Uncle Dave. Dad ended up spending his Army years in occupied Japan. Below are some pictures taken of him during those years:

He looked so young, didn't he?

My "little" brother, Willie, also spent several years in the Navy. I can still get a rise out of him by saying how cute he looks in his "sailor suit".

I know we owe a lot to our Veterans. I hope everyone gets a chance to thank them today and every day!

Photographs of my great-grandma

2008-06-13T13:04:00.005-04:00

My cousin Russell recently emailed me some family pictures, which I hoped contained the first photos I've ever seen of my great-grandma, Lilly May (McDaid) Atkinson. Russell couldn't say for sure, so I emailed them to my dad who confirmed my suspicions! She was my grandfather, Charles Atkinson's mother, and I remember my grandma saying that she never got along with her mother-in-law because May (as she was known) had someone else picked out for her son to marry. I'm always seeing evidence that people today are no more petty than people who lived in the past!

The slideshow below includes the three photos that show May Atkinson. The captions in quotes (" ") are my dad's comments, the rest of the info is what I have added.

Great-grandma is buried with her husband and daughter at West Alexander Memorial Cemetery in Pennsylvania.

Family photo

2008-06-03T15:31:00.004-04:00

I've been meaning to try creating new posts for this blog, but I've been waiting to feel inspired.

I have another blog that I use for posting my pictures for various Photo Memes I've found. Recently, one of the sites I visit, gave us a theme of "Nostalgic". That was a tough one, mainly because I think of the past when I'm nostalgic. I have hundreds of scanned photos of my family that I've been able to collect from relatives, but they aren't "mine" technically because I didn't take them. I hope you'll visit Cherie Takes Pictures: Nostalgic to see what I posted because it's somewhat genealogy related, or at least it's family related.

After I posted it, I thought someone might be interested in seeing what those "kids" looked like when they were children, so I'm posting the photo you see below.

From left to right: Charlotte, Elizabeth, Jim (my dad, in front), Louise, and David. On the back of the photo is written the year, 1939. Uncle Dave died in 1987. On my other blog, the order is Jim, Elizabeth, Louise, and Charlotte.

My famous progenitor

2008-06-01T12:44:00.008-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Sunday, December 3, 2006

Anyone reading this will probably think I've abandoned this journal. Sorry for the long break!

I wanted to share some pictures my husband, John, took for me last summer when he was doing some contract work in Connecticut. One evening, at my request, he drove to Portsmouth, RI, to look for a plaque in Founders Brook Park that mentions my ancestor Philip Sherman, who was a signer of the Portsmouth Compact. If you are interested in more information, please visit the Wikipedia entry here.

John had a difficult time finding the actual park, but was lucky to run into a man, Michael Ford, who has made himself the unofficial caretaker and gardener of Founders Brook Park. He was able to point John in the right direction and gave him more information about the two women who are prominently honored with plaques in the park, Anne Hutchinson and Mary Dyer. The night before these pictures were taken, there had been a huge storm which resulted in a broken tree across the path to the plaque, which you'll see in the photos. John had quite an adventure, and I hope to be able to visit the park myself someday!

The plaque on the stone reads:

1638-1936

Erected to honor the memory and perpetuate the spirit and the ideals of the founders of the first government in the world to allow and to insure to its citizens civil and religious liberty. Established on this site in the year 1638

THE PORTSMOUTH COMPACT

We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given in His Holy Word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby.

William Coddington
John Clarke
William Hutchinson, Jr. [husband of Anne Hutchinson]
John Coggeshall
William Aspinwall
Samuel Wilbore
John Porter
John Sanford
Edward Hutchinson, Jr. Esq.
Thomas Savage
William Dyre [Dyer, husband of Mary Dyer ]
William Freeborne
Phillip Shearman [ Philip Sherman ]
John Walker
Richard Carder
William Baulston
Edward Hutchinson, Sr.
Henry Bull
Randall Holden
Thomas Clark
John Johnson
William Hall
John Brightman Esq.

I hope you will take the time to read the external links I have provided here!

PS on 6/01/08...I also made a post about my feelings when I first found out about another person you might recognize who also has Philip Sherman as an ancestor. I no longer write in that blog, but you can still read the entry I made on Nov 30, 2004, which I titled "Family Disgrace?"

PPS on 11/28/08...Since AOL has closed their journals, I have recreated "Family Disgrace?" in this blog as "Repost from old Blog".

Find-a-Grave Cemetery Picture List

2008-05-19T10:59:00.002-04:00

Originally posted HERE on November 29, 2005

(That page has been updated several times since then, but from now on, I’ll update this entry instead.)

Below are graveyards for which I have entered one or more photographs to the cemetery entry page on Find-a-Grave. This entry is intended to be an addendum to my Find-a-Grave Biography.

Still Graving

2008-05-18T14:16:00.004-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Tuesday, November 29, 2005

LTNS.

I've still been working on adding grave information to Find-a-Grave. It's an obsession, I guess, so much that I haven't done much in the way of other research over the past couple of months. In October, while in Texas for John's 25th High School Class Reunion, we took a couple extra days to drive up into Oklahoma and northern Texas to look at family graves for John's father's family. Last week, while visiting his mom for Thanksgiving, we drove out into the country to look at his mother's family graves in rural Kansas and Missouri. I think I have entered all of that now, and I've been trying to update my F-A-G bio. Right now, I have included there a list of links to cemeteries where I have added general pictures to the website, but while adding more links to the list today, I find that my bio has finally exceeded the character limit.

Since there is no way to make a public list of these cemeteries, my next entry will be ONLY that list, which I will link to from the biography. I'm pretty proud of some of those photos, please take a look if you are interested!

Brown Cemetery, Jersey County, IL

2008-05-04T11:26:00.003-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Sunday, August 21, 2005

I promised to post those pictures if I found them. Well, I did, and I just finished scanning them.

These were all taken on the afternoon of July 25, 1998.

Hope they meet your expectations :)

Grave Adventures

2008-05-04T11:20:00.001-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Over the last weeks since my vacation, I have managed to upload most of the information and photos about burials to Find-a-Grave that I have collected over the years I've been doing genealogy. You can browse what I've submitted by using the link I provided in my previous entry, if you're interested!

All this thinking about graves and cemeteries reminded me of an "adventure" I had a few years ago. At the time, I lived in Kirkwood, MO, a suburb of St. Louis. I belonged to a mailing list (in fact, I still do) along with a couple of the descendents of a man named William A. Tolbert, a brother of my g-g-g-grandmother, Mary Tolbert. They had mentioned that he was buried in Jersey County, IL, in Brown Cemetery, which I discovered was only about an hour and a half drive from where I lived. One day, when I was bored, I decided to take a short road trip! The following is the text of the email I wrote the next day describing the experience.

Written July 26, 1998:

Yesterday I had a few free hours and decided I would drive up to Jersey Co, IL to look for the grave of William Allen Tolbert. (Good thing I didn't wait until today... it's all rainy and dark outside!)

There is good news and some very bad news! I did manage to find the cemetery, but if W. A. Tolbert was buried there, either the gravestone is gone, or it has fallen over and the weeds and bushes have hidden it! The whole place is a mess, I feel like I must have been divinely inspired to even find the graveyard! (OK, maybe I just have good intuition!) :)

I got to Jerseyville about noon, and spent a couple hours driving back and forth in the area where I knew it had to be, trying to see if there were any graves off the side of the road where I could see them from the car. I couldn't find anything, and I worried that the graves might be behind one of the tall corn fields in the area. I took a break and went back after lunch. I tried a couple more times (I couldn't drive as slowly as I wanted to... I was surprised how much traffic there was on that road). There was one place along the road that I decided I would park and get out and walk around. It was a large clump of trees, right in the middle of all the corn and soybean fields. And there was actually a place nearby where I could pull off the road... most of the rest of the road had ditches close to the pavement (or gravel, or dirt, depending on which part I was on). I walked over to the trees, and managed to get over the ditch on some fallen branches, and when I pulled back some bushes, I found a rusted iron fence with three graves in it, so I knew I had finally found it. At first I thought that was all to the graveyard, and I was disappointed to see that the gravestones were all for a family named Campbell. But looking thru the thick branches beyond the fence, I could see more gravestones outside the fence.

The condition of this graveyard is horrible! I managed to get thru the bushes and weeds (the worst were blackberry bushes... ouch!!) all the way back to the rear boundary of the cemetery. There were about 15 graves that I could see, and all but one of the large stones were knocked over. Some smaller stones had broken off, and someone had propped them up against their base. Of the recognizeable graves, I could read at least part of maybe 5 of them. I couldn't find a grave with William Tolbert's name on it, but I am assuming that there were probably many more gravestones that had fallen down and were hidden by the undergrowth. There was one large gravestone that had fallen down that I couldn't get close enough to read, because of the blackberry bushes all the way around it! (I kept thinking of the castle in Sleeping Beauty!) But I could see a masonic symbol on it, and I thought I could make out the word "wife", so I don't think it was the one I was looking for. In all, it probably took me 45 minutes to work my way thru the cemetery and back. I took some pictures, mainly to show the condition of the grounds and the stones there. My hair was full of leaves and sticks, and I spent a few minutes looking for ticks (I only found 3) :)

Dixie, how long ago was it when your brother took those pictures? From what I saw, I would guess that it's been several years since anyone has been back in there. I would really be interested in seeing copies of the pictures he took for comparison (and let me know if you'd like me to pay costs.) After I see how my photos come out, I'll be happy to scan and email them to anyone who'd like them, or I can have copies made and snailmail them. Let me know!

Sorry this email was so long, but I wanted to try to impress on you all how difficult and disappointing it was to find this cemetery. From the way it looked, I can't imagine it being cleaned up unless there was some way to burn all the undergrowth without damaging anything else. I don't know if there would be any way to organize enough people to make a difference!

What did I learn from this excursion? Well, since then I have carried sweat pants and a sweatshirt in the trunk of my car. I sure could have used them that day!

I still have those photos, although they didn't turn out very good. Mainly they just show a very tangled bit of wooded wilderness. If I come across them soon, I'll post them here to illustrate!

Find a Grave

2008-04-27T09:54:00.009-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Saturday, July 16, 2005

I've been so bad about writing here, I'm sure no one is reading this journal. But I wanted to pass on something I found last week.

I took a trip to Washington County, Pennsylvania, last week. Most of my dad's family had lived there for generations, and I wanted to revisit some of the cemeteries that I've visited in the past so I could take pictures with my digital camera.

Have I mentioned before that I LOVE cemeteries? And I have such a nice husband, willing to spend part of his vacation looking for dead people related to me.

Anyway, I now have hundreds of digital photos of tombstones and graveyards, and I was thinking of creating some webpages to display them, but I found something even better! Take a look at:

Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records

I've already started contributing, you can see my info here!

The site seems a little to devoted to the collection of information about famous dead people, but I can't help imagining a day when every known internment will be recorded. Can you imagine what a wonderful resource that will be for genealogists everywhere? And I want to help!

I just can't imagine why it took me so long to find it!

National Archives

2008-04-08T10:00:00.001-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Wednesday June 1, 2005

My husband, John, teaches IT classes at a community college here in Durham, NC. During the summer break, he contracts to teach the same classes at businesses all over. Last week he went to Gaithersburg, MD, so I went along because it’s very close to Washington DC. I spent three days there looking at Civil War pension files at the National Archives. Besides being the place where everyone can view originals of the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution, our government also stores other important original documents in this building! If you have an ancestor who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, those pension files can be a goldmine! There is a lot of great "how-to" information at the NARA website. I would recommend going thru them thoroughly before you visit, although there are lots of friendly employees and volunteers at the Archives to help newcomers!

I have visited the Archives a few times in the past. The first time, I was able to look at the files for my g-g-g-grandfather, Michael McDaid, and three of his sons, George, Samuel, and William McDaid. I was overjoyed to find a letter in Michael McDaid’s file, apparently written in his own handwriting! Something like that can really make a person come to life. Michael was an "interesting" person. I’ll surely write more about him in the future. His son, my g-g-grandfather, Samuel McDaid, didn’t serve long enough to collect a pension, but just the fact that his wife applied after his death provided information that I may not have found anywhere else.

On this trip, I looked at the files for ten other relatives who served in the Civil War. It’s a pretty simple process to find a Civil War ancestor with the resources they provide there. The pension index is on microfilm, arranged in alphabetical order. Also on microfilm are lists of members of specific regiments who applied for pensions. I have lots of relatives who served together, so I browsed thru a couple of those, too. You can view the info I have collected about these relatives:

James B. Ackley

George Lyman Atkinson

Samuel Andrew Carter

Carroll B. Chase

David Parkhurst Chase

Milton B. Chase

David McKeag

James W. Milligan

Jerome Potter

William H. Potter

If you happen to be related to any of these people, or anyone else whose pension files I mention within my genealogy files, feel free to drop me a line. While I don’t usually make copies of every page in a file, I would be happy to copy and send you what I have. Or if you know the info for your ancestors Civil War service, you can order copies online directly from NARA. The index which the Archives keeps on microfilm is also available from Ancestry, although I do not subscribe to that database. Many public libraries and Family History Centers have access, so you should check to see what is available locally to you.

What I’ve been doing

2008-04-08T09:48:00.005-04:00

Originally posted HERE on Tuesday, May 17, 2005

I haven’t been doing a good job at keeping up this journal, have I?

One of the things I love about having a subscription to Ancestry.com is that I can work on census research any time of the day or night. I only subscribe to the census option, to me it seems like the best value.

Every little piece of new info is a small victory for me. In August 1999, I visited West Finley Cemetery in Washington County, PA, where many family members related to my great-grandmother May (McDaid) Atkinson were buried. The gravestone shown in this entry was taken then. Mrs. Fields was May Atkinson’s first cousin. And ever since then, I have tried to find the first name of the man who married Nina Fields Grim.

Just a few days ago, I finally had some luck. In the 1930 census for Cameron, Marshall County, WV, I found Nina Grim, living alone, her marital status marked "D" which would mean divorced. That’s the first time I had been able to track her down with her married name. But it still didn’t tell me who her husband had been.

So I looked at the 1920 Census for Marshall County, and found Nina Grim living with her husband, daughter, and her husband’s brother. Unfortunately, the census taker had horrible handwriting, and I couldn’t make out the husband’s name. The Ancestry index called him "Steve", but it looked more like the name started out "stu" to me, maybe Stuart? I then looked in the 1910. The Grim family was listed that year by their initials, S. G. and N. L. Grim. So frustrating! My last plan was to go back to the 1930 census to see if Nina Grim’s husband might have still been living nearby after they separated. Finally, I was able to find a man named Sturgis Grim, living alone with a marital status "D." At last, I had his name!

Sturgis Grim seemed like a unique name to me, so I then used Google to search for "Sturgis G. Grim" and found a link to a relative of his who had posted his obituary online, here. I also found an outline of his military service during the Spanish American War, here.

Will Sturgis Grim end up being important to my research? It’s too early to tell. I know that he and Nina had a daughter named Adaline, so there’s always the possibility that there are living descendants out the somewhere. And one of them might have some missing piece of info that will take my own line back another generation, or they might know the maiden name of one of my female ancestors, and they just might find me now that I have more information! You never know.

Take a look at what I’ve put together about Sturgis Grim!

Fun with Genealogy

2008-03-01T16:03:00.004-05:00

Originally posted HERE on Saturday, April 16, 2005

I thought some people might be interested in seeing this PowerPoint presentation that I made for a computer class I took in 2004. If you don't have PowerPoint on your computer, you might want to download a viewer first:

Windows

Mac

Now watch Atkinsons Through History

If it opens in a browser window, click on each slide to move to the next. When you reach the end, you can click the "back" button on your browser to return here if you want!

(BTW, I got an "A" on this presentation!)'

Update:

I had stored a screenshot of this file on AOL but since then they have discontinued AOL Hometown, that file is no longer available. I have saved the entire PowerPoint presentation on Google Documents. so I'm testing that by embedding it here:

Genealogy Frustrations

2008-02-26T13:26:00.004-05:00

Originally posted HERE on Thursday, April 14, 2005

In the first comment made to this new journal, Duane (fdtate714) has hit upon a constant in every genealogist's life, frustration!

If I had a low tolerance for frustration, I would have quit long ago. Yep, it would have been great to know exactly what year John A. and Mary Catherine Eckroat first came to Oklahoma (family stories say they were real "Sooners", that at least John Eckroat was there before he was supposed to be.) And I was disappointed to find that the number of great-grandchildren was part of the information that was illegible. But when dealing with old records, especially if you're looking at them on microfilm.

Personally, I HATE transcribing wills. I have found that they are some of the greatest sources of information about families and how people are related to each other (overall, most tend to mention their heirs by name and relationship, but there are exceptions) but I have a real problem reading the copies I make from the FHL microfilms. If the top part is clear, then often the bottom is too dark or too light to read. Sometimes I make several copies, changing the brightness so that a section will be legible on each separate copy and that all together, I'll be able to read the whole thing. Or the handwriting might be messy so that I can't make out what's being written. Or they might use legal language that makes it hard to figure out exactly what the will writer wanted to do. There's one will, that of my 5th great-grandfather, John McCormick of Allegheny County, PA, who died in 1828 that I have been working on transcribing for over a year. Not constantly, of course, but a little at a time, until I get so frustrated that I want to tear the thing up!

Interested in taking a look at what I'm looking at? See McCormick.pdf (Warning, it might take a while to download!)

Another place where frustration is common, is trying to find people in the census. The quality can be awful, but the indexing can be even worse. From what I understand, if the census-takers couldn't speak directly to a member of the family, then they would ask the neighbors, which can be one explanation for the many mistakes the census can contain. And then those who made the indexes that we use had to read the handwriting of the original census-taker, which is many times VERY difficult. Recently I was able to find my g-g-aunt and her husband in the Ancestry.com index for 1930 by searching for a man named Eugene and a wife named Alice in New Jersey. No wonder I hadn't been able to find them, their surname, "DeVergnies" had be indexed as "Stevergnies". And at that time, I had no idea how the name had REALLY been spelled. The only source I had was the writing on the back of an old photo that read "Camden New Jersey, Aunt Alice and Uncle Eugene DeVernie's (Grandma Fife's oldest sister)" and I had been told the spelling was incorrect by another cousin who also didn't know what it was really supposed to have been.

And you never know how the census-taker might misspell a name. Back in my early days of research, I looked and looked for John's g-g-g-grandfather, whose name was Batte Peterson Clark. I knew he was born in Georgia in about 1820 from some research that had been done in the 1950s by John's Uncle Terrence. Terrence had also known that Batte Peterson's children had been born in Alabama, probably near Tuskeegee. I searched and searched for Clarks in the 1850 index for Alabama, concentrating mainly on Macon County where Tuskeegee is located. No luck at all! I think I even tried going thru the microfilm itself, page by page, but it's easy to miss someone if you're tired and not even sure you're going to find what you're looking for. Still came up empty. Then, in a desperate attempt to see if I could have possibly missed the family in the index, I looked once again at the index. This time my eyes wandered to the other side of the page where I noticed some people indexed under the spelling "Clarck"! Now who could imagine that anyone could misspell "Clark"??? I had looked for an "e" at the end, but I never, before that, would have thought of someone adding an extra "c" to the middle. But there among the Clarck families was a B. P. Clarck. Finally I was able to find the entire family in the 1850 census.

Unfortunately, I still have not been able to find any of these family members in the census for 1860 and 1870, but I have a logical explanation for why this might be. Sometimes you have to think about what was going on at the time when you're looking for people. In 1860, the Civil War was about to start. I imagine that many southerners weren't very cooperative when the Federal government sent people out to take the census that year. And by 1870, I think there was probably still in a lot of turmoil in Alabama. Things like that can lead to a lot of frustation for genealogists.

These are just a couple of the challenges that have faced me as I work on genealogy. I'm sure if I thought about this longer, I could come up with more, and I bet other genealogists could name their own pet peeves! But over all, the rewards must outweigh the frustrations, and I have to hope that the info I can't find one place will be available somewhere else if I just look hard enough!

NOTE: The link for Sooners in the first paragraph is no longer valid. The closest substitute I could find is on Wikipedia.

Newspaper Archives

2008-02-18T15:30:00.003-05:00

Originally posted HERE on Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Yesterday, I spent part of the afternoon looking for obituaries and other newspaper articles online for part of my husband John's family. His mother grew up in Oklahoma City, and several months ago I discovered that the OK City newspaper has an archive online back to 1903! His grandmother's maiden name was Eckroat, an unusual family name that had many relatively prominant members in the Oklahoma City area, so it was easy to find articles about them. I paid for a 24 hour subscription to the archives, and I was able to download 24 articles that mentioned members of the Eckroat family. My most exciting discovery was the obituary for his grandmother, Mary Catherine (Baechler) Eckroat who died in 1943. It had been printed on page 3 of that day's newspaper, and included a photo. Unfortunately, the archives online are made from microfilm copies of the original newspaper, and that page had a part of the left margin cut off, as well as part of the photograph, but I was able to figure out most of the words, and it was amazing to see the family resemblance between my mother-in-law and her grandmother, below.

Obit copied from The (OKC) Oklahoman, Jan 9, 1943, page 3

(Words and blanks inside []s are illegible or added by me. Also, she was born in Canada, not in France.)

Services Set Monday For Mrs. Eckroat
City Church Worker, Native of France, Was State Pioneer

Mary Catherine Eckroat, 79 years old, wife of the late John A. Eckroat, pioneer resident of Oklahoma City and early contractor and builder here, died Friday afternoon in her home, 601 Northeast Tenth street. Services will be held at 9 a. m. Monday in Corpus Christi church, and burial will be in Fairlawn cemetery. Rosary will be recited at 3 p. m. Sunday and at 8 p. m. in the Watts and McAtee funeral home chapel.

Born in France, Mrs. Eckroat came [to] Oklahoma with her husband in [ ]. The couple first settled on a [ ] southwest of the city where now [ ] located Packingtown. Later they [mov]ed to another farm southeast of [the] city. Eckroat subsequently played [ ] in the laying out of the section [kno]wn as Eckroat addition.

[In] addition to his farm activities, [Eck]roat engaged in the building con-[tract]ing business here, and became [ ]ly known as builder of many of [ ] early establishments of the city. [Bus]iness blocks, homes, and such [bui]dings as Corpus Christi church, St. [Jose]ph's church, St. Anthony hospital, [Sac]red Heart church, and St. Jo-[sep]h's orphanage were among those he [bui]lt.

Mrs. Eckroat was active in many [cha]ritable and other organizations of [the] city. She was one of the first [me]mbers of the Altar society of Cor-[pus] Christi church, and prominant in [ ] activities of the church.

[S]urviving her are six sons, Frank [of] Mission, Texas; John, William, Daniel, Lawrence and Paul, all of Ok-[la]homa City, and four daughters, Mrs. [Ma]ry Koelesch, Sister Mary Philomena [an]d Mrs. Lillian King, Oklahoma City, and Mrs. Rose Stvirenzski of Enid. [Sh]e also leaves 33 grandchildren and [ ] great-grandchildren.

The archive for the Oklahoman are available at: http://www.newsok.com/home/archives and the rates are reasonable.

Library photos

2008-02-15T13:09:00.002-05:00

Originally posted HERE on Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Almost every year, John and I visit Salt Lake City. He goes to a computer convention there every March, and I go along so I can go to the Library. This year, for the first time, I took some pictures inside and outside of the library. Hope you enjoy them!

Why Genealogy?

2008-02-12T11:20:00.002-05:00

Originally posted HERE on Monday, April 11, 2005

People I talk to when I visit Salt Lake City often wonder if I'm a member of the LDS church. For those who don't know, the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons, research their genealogy as a part of their religion. They believe that they can baptize and perform other ordinances for their ancestors to make sure they go to heaven. In order to make this easier for their church members, they have created a huge collection of Family History resources. The center of this is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, which is the largest genealogy library in the world. And to make this information more accessible to people who can't get to Salt Lake, they have a system of Family History Centers all over the world where they make microfilms of their documents and books available, either as part of their permanent collection, or for a fee, they can have any film sent from the FHL. And the best part is, one doesn't have to be Mormon to use it!

Occasionally, the Mormons upset some people with their practice of baptizing the dead. I belong to several Rootsweb mailing lists, and every once in a while a discussion will start up about exactly WHY the LDS church collects family history information. And predictably, there will be someone who will be VERY upset at the idea that their ancestors may have been baptized by a church they probably had never heard of. According to the head of their church, "We serve in behalf of those who have died without a knowledge of the gospel. Theirs is the option to accept or reject the ordinance which is performed." I think of myself as a practical person, though. If our ancestors who are long dead are even aware of what we're doing here on Earth, they must find us pretty amusing, and I have a hard time believing that anything we do now can affect their condition in Heaven or elsewhere. I just feel grateful that there is a very rich organization willing to spend so much money on my hobby and they're willing to share it with me!

That being said, I do find the following article somewhat disturbing. (Jews, Mormons to meet over baptism for the dead) I was under the impression that Mormons were only performing ordinances for their own ancestors. According to the article, this is not always true. However, it doesn't change my appreciation of the resources available to me from the LDS Church.

*Note: The link in the last paragraph is no longer valid, but you can read an archived version of the article (along with the blogger's commentary) at:

Posthumous Jewish baptisms

*New Note: Neither the specific article nor the blog entry that I've referenced above exists on the web anymore.

Old Photo

2008-02-09T13:01:00.009-05:00

Originally posted HERE on Monday, April 11, 2005

For my final entry today, let me share with you a photograph of my grandmother with her brothers and sisters. My guess is that it was taken about 1910. Grandma described it to me once, I wish I had been more interested back then. My advice? Always pay attention to your older family members when they talk about their families, you never know when you might wish you had!

From left to right:
Florence (b 1906), Velma (b 1903), Rowene (b 1901), Raymond (b 1899), Genieve (b 1900) and Selwyn (b 1905).

They were all the children of Charles E. and Martha L. (Skiles) Fife, who lived in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

Car trouble and some graving

2008-02-05T16:09:00.004-05:00

I just found out my car is going to need a new alternator.

We just replaced the old one in Dec 2005. At that time, John and I were on our way to Roanoke VA when the battery light came on. We stopped at a little garage along the way, and the mechanic there was able to get us a new one and installed it for about $250. I've found out today that it was a bargain! The dealership we use here wanted about $1000 to purchase and install a new Honda alternator. We were in shock! My car is a 1992 Honda, and that's almost what the car is worth. I'm not ready to buy a new car, though, so we'll be looking at other alternatives. John checked Autozone and they have a compatable alternator for $186, with a core refund of $60. We'll probably buy that one and have Honda install it. Geez!

While we were at the dealership, I took some time to go take photos of a tiny cemetery between the Honda and Lexus lots. There were 16 recognizeable graves. Most were of people who were obviously related to each other, but I was somewhat puzzled by two more recent burials, that of Hans Lowenbach and his wife. Since there was no sign identifying the graveyard, when I returned home, I searched the Durham County North Carolina Cemeteries site. The mystery seems to have been cleared up when I read on the transcript:

Canvassed by Dr. Hans Lowenbach (1981)

I wonder if he might have owned the property at some time.

Take a look at my new cemetery entries on Find a Grave at Penny-Trice Family Cemetery. I have also uploaded a couple of cemetery photos to the front page, but they might not be approved yet.

I added a comment to the original posting of this entry which read:

Just a quick update...John found me an alternator at a junk yard that cost $35. We had the dealership mechanic install it and it's working great so far. For that price (plus the cost of labor at the dealership) we can have it replaced 5 times for the price of a new Honda alternator!

Posted by Cherie on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 12:25 PM