Georgia Black Crackers

Madness Monday

2012-01-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

Revisiting Ancestral Neighborhoods, Cluster Research, andContinuing the Hunt for a Slave Owner

Back in 2010, I wrote about why I thought Jesse Pierce wasthe last slave owner of my 2^nd great grandparents, Jasper and JanePierce (Part I, Part II). All I needed was the documentation / evidence to support my hypothesis.

In trying to regroup and revise my strategy for determiningthe last slave owner of my Pierce ancestors, one the first things I decided todo was revisit both the 1870 and 1880 census with a fresh set of eyes as wellas mindset. I also decided to set up a spreadsheet containing information fromboth censuses in order to better visualize and evaluate each neighborhood onit’s own as well as in comparison to the other, highlighting the names ofpersons that appeared on both censuses.

When I performed that initial cursory look, I declared thatmany of the names were the same between the two censuses, especially theAfrican Americans surrounding Jesse Pierce / Pearce. However, as I really lookedat both censuses it appears that my cursory assessment might have been a bitoff track.

1870
County:	Greene
Enumeration District:
Inhabitants In:	Militia District 144
Post Office	Penfield

Page 90

Head of Households
Name	Age	Race	Sex

Alex Mumford	42	W	M
Jackson Mumford	60	B	M
Thomas Criddle	28	B	M
Joshua Laurence	23	B	M
William Coleman	39	W	M
Wyley Bryant	35	B	M
Elijah Anderson	27	B	M
Jas Bruce	24	W	M
Siney Criddle	76	W	F
Jesse Pearce	64	W	M
Lucinda Fig	46	W	F
King Pearce	58	B	M
Jefferson Pearce	21	B	M
Bird Pearce	26	M	M
Chas Pearce	34	B	M
Alfred Pearce	28	B	M
Anderson Jones	22	B	M
Mason Jones	60	B	M
Alonzo Pearce	18	B	M
Seaborn Pearce	34	B	M
Delila Pearce	27	B	F
Aggie Jasel	20	B	F
Theopelus Pearce	63	W	M
Seaborn Jordon	50	W	M
Daniel Grant	56	W	M
John Grant	44	W	M
Archibald Rhodes	55	W	M

1880
County:	Greene
Enumeration District:	35
Inhabitants In:	144 DC G.M.


Page 252

Head of Households
Name	Age	Race	Sex





Thomas Newsome	50	W	M
Archibald Mapp	31	W	M
Kato Lewis	60	B	M
Nilson Lewis	80	B	M
Archibold P Peek	42	W	M
Jesse F. Pierce	74	W	M
James Figs	26	W	M
Siberenie Pierce	45	W (B)	B
Martha Jackson	42	B	F
Miles Pierce	46	B	M
Jasper Pierce	30	Mu	M
Greene Pierce	48	B	M
King Pierce	69	B	M
Charles Pierce	44	Mu	M
Joseph Chester	22	B	M
Patsey Lundy	16	B	F
Henry Moore	48	B	M
Joseph S Anderson	27	W	M
Elisha Irby	65	W	M
Josiah Caldwell	74	W	M
Robbert Philips	21	W	M
George Moland	21	B	M
James Alfred	55	B	M

On the 1870 Census, there are 8 African-Americanenumerations for Pierce / Pearce households surrounding Jesse Pearce / Pierce.The 1880 Census contains five such enumerations, one of which is my 2^ndgreat grandfather, Jasper Pierce.

After looking closer at both censuses, it appears threefamilies of African American Pierces appear on both census, that of King Pierce/ Pearce; Chas / Charles Pierce; amd Seaborn / Siberenie Pearce / Pierce. Itshould be noted that on the 1880 census Seaborn / Siebernie is indicated asbeing white but the other information, age, contained on the census leads me tobelieve that this is the same person.

My question is where did the other families from the 1870census go and where did the new families on the 1880 census come from?

As I continue the hunt to try to determine the last slaveowner of my Pierce ancestors, I will try to answer these questions and hopethat it leads to some breakthrough answers.

*****

To find out more about cluster research, I recommend reading some of Michael Hait's articles on this research technique.

Free Offline Genealogy Tools - Week 4 of Abundant Genealogy

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-08:00

Week 4 - For which free offline tools are you most grateful? How did you find this tool and how has it benefited your genealogy? Describe to others how to access this tool and spread the genealogy love.

This genealogy challenge runs from Sunday, January 22, 2012 through Saturday, January 28, 2012.

My favorite free off-line genealogy tool has to be the Carolina Room at the Main Branch of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. While my hectic schedule has not allowed me to use this local resource as much as I would like and hoped to, I still must tout it.

When I first discovered this wonderful local resource, I was pleasantly surprised that they actually have many resources that pertain to other states. Ironically, for my research focus, there actually seem to be more resources for my Georgia ancestral counties than my North Carolina ancestral county.

The Carolina Room is not just for genealogy but history as a hold and therefore, contains many other valuable resources. The following list provides a general idea of some of the resources available in the Carolina Room:

Newspapers
Newspaper Clippings
Periodicals, which includes over 400 titles
Census Records
Pamphlets, Brochures, Ephemera
Maps

To find out more about the resources available within the Carolina Room's collections, just visit the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library site and do a search for the Carolina Room.

*****

This is the fourth challenge in 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, a weekly challenge developed by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog. The weekly challenges are posted by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers.

Free Online Genealogy Tools

2012-01-20T07:30:00.000-08:00

Week 3 - Free Online Genealogy Tools: Free online genealogy tools are like gifts from above. Which ones are you most thankful for? How has it helped your family history experience?

This challenge runs from Sunday, January 15, 2012 through Saturday, January 21, 2012.

There are several free online genealogy tools but two of my favorites are definitely Family Search and Georgia Virtual Vault.

Family Search - I think I might have mentioned this a few times but it seems that within the past year, I've probably been able to find more information via Family Search than with Ancestry.

Some information is a duplication of information found on Ancestry, such as census records, but other information is not.

You can browse by location or name. There are also some wonderful learning resources which are provided through courses or wikis. In addition, there are also discussion forums.

Georgia Virtual Vault - If you have roots in Georgia, this site is a must stop destination in your online research.

The Indexed Death certificates (1919 - 1927) and the Non-Indexed Death Certificates (1928 - 1930) will save a researcher both time and money. There are also marriage records, although these are not available for every county or every year within a given county.

The Vanishing Georgia Collection provides many wonderful pictures that just may contain an ancestor.

The site contains many other wonderful resources. You just have to poke around and I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I have.

......

This is the third challenge in 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, a weekly challenge developed by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog. The Weekly challenges are posted by Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Paid Online Genealogy Tools

2012-01-14T06:36:00.000-08:00

Week 2 – Paid Online Genealogy Tools: Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most? What special features put it at the top of your list? How can it help others with their genealogy research?

I have just two paid online subscriptions, Ancestry and Fold3 (formerly Footnotes).

Between the two, I definitely use Ancestry the most. While I think most people really love them for the census records, I think I like them more for some of the vital record information and images they have in their databases. Yes, that information is a bit spotty depending on what state your are researching but it has allowed me to obtain this information / documents without always having to request these document(s) from individual state's vital records departments, thus saving me both time and money.

Even though I've had a subscription on Fold3 / Footnotes for a few years now, I've not really used it that much but, and this might be strange, but I have always liked it. Fold3's main emphasis these days is on military records. That being said it still has other records on the site from its Footnotes days such as the African American Collection and Native American Collection. Since focusing primarily on military records now, it's might be a bit harder to actually find these collections but they are still there.

In the past, I've had a few other paid online tools and can't even remember which ones they are now, which I guess attest the the fact of how much I used them. Needless to say I allowed them to expire due to lack of use.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy - Week 1

2012-01-12T20:10:00.000-08:00

Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog has done it again, come up with a weekly challenge to help us hone our genealogy skills. You can read up on challenges from previous years at Geneabloggers.

Hopefully, participation in the weekly challenges will help me to get back on track with my research. I'm only one week behind, so I should be able to get caught up quickly.

The challenge for week one is as follows:

Week 1 - Blogs: Blogging is a great way for genealogist to share information with family members , potential cousins, and each other. For which blog are you most thankful? Is it one of the earliest blogs you read, or a current one? What is special about the blog and why should others read it.

Back in 2009, when I renewed the search for the ancestors, blogging about my research was the furtherest thing from my mind. First, up until I started blogging, I just never really got the whole blogging thing. When I say that, I'm talking blogging in general not just a particular subject.

But as I got back into my research, I came across this wonderful medium thanks to Luckie Daniels of Our Georgia Roots, which sadly no longer seems to be up, and Our Alabama Roots. Three years later, I can't exactly tell you how I came across Luckie's blogs our what drew me in but I remember I enjoyed reading them and slowly began to think I can do this. So, within a few short months I begin blogging about my own research with Luckie's encouragement.

Once I begin blogging, I discovered oodles and oodles of other genealogy bloggers, so many in fact that I can't possibly keep up with all the blogs, even with Google Reader, which I guess is Google+ something now (I really need to get caught up on all the 2011 happenings with Google that I'm out of the loop on).

There are many blogs that I enjoy reading and for various reasons, so it's hard to pick ones that have had the most influence but here are three that I always seem to turn to when I've had a significant lull in my blogging and research and am trying to get back on track.

The African-Native American Genealogy Blog - Angela Walton is a wealth of information on African-Native American families and communities. Angela just doesn't tell the history of her family but that of communities. I always seem to learn something that I didn't know when reading Angela's blog. In fact, thanks to Angela, I've learned so much in this area that I was able to assist my BFF with her research.
Geneabloggers - when I've been away for awhile, I always check out Thomas MacEntee's Geneabloggers. I can quickly find out what's going on in the geneablogging world through his calendars and posts. I can find out about new blogs, get reacquainted with old blogs, and learn about any concerns or issues going on in genealogy.
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter - not exactly a blog but always like checking out Dick's review of various products, new products, and happenings around the country.

Genealogy Goals for 2012

2012-01-03T02:53:00.000-08:00

It's the beginning of another year, and like many I find myself reflecting on the past year and contemplating the future.

I didn't get a lot of genealogical work accomplished in 2011. After dad's death, I struggled to get back on track in so many areas of my life. Every time I felt like I was ready to get back at it, I soon realized that I wasn't and needed more time to morn and deal with this huge void left in my life.

But as the year drew to a close, it was like the petals of the flowers feeling the warmth of the spring sun and little by little the petals are opening back up and leading me to rejoin this game called life. So, I find myself tentatively setting goals for the year.

2012 Goals

Attend 2012 African American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) National conference. The conference is being held in my state this year, so how can I not attend. Looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones.
Work with my Hosch cousins and relatives toward having a family blowout in 2013. Much to be done.
Hope to finally get everything organized and make sure citations are up to date, etc.
Meet some of my new to me cousins, discovered during the past 3 years. Goals are to meet my cousins "Little" Irene, great granddaughter of Grand Aunt, Mattie Henyard Martin, in July and if things work out, maybe meeting my Perkins cousins, descendants of Great Grand Aunt Penny Rome Perkins.

2011 Genealogy Christmas Wish List

2011-12-18T00:07:00.000-08:00

I just realized that Genealogy Santa was pretty good to me last year. While I didn't get the Flip Camcorder or Wayfarers in Walton County, I did manage to get everything else on my 2010 Genealogy Wish List.

Of course I have to admit that I didn't actually get the Kia Soul at Christmas time but about 6 months later when the Suzuki Forenza decided that it had had enough.

So what's on my Genealogy Christmas Wish List for 2011.

Camcorder - Since Cisco decided to exist the Flip Video business, I've decided that I would prefer a regular camcorder. As I noted last year, the size of regular camcorders has come down tremendously. As stated last year, I think a small camcorder is perfect for those times when a you need a bit more than a still shot. I just have to determine the one that is right for me and my needs so that I can tell Santa.

Wayfarers in Walton County - I still would like a copy of this. Maybe this will be the year Santa can find a copy to place under my tree.

Nook - No particular reason I need this other than I'm a gadget freak. I'm sure genealogist need a reader for something.

So there you have it. No big ticket items like last year, so I'm hoping Santa can be accommodating.

Tombstone Tuesday

2011-12-06T17:08:00.001-08:00

Research wise, these past few months have been pretty good. While I've not been able to peel away another layer in my lineage or been able to determine that final slave owner. I have had a few successes.

The first was being able to obtain pictures of my Great Grand Aunt's, Nunna Pierce Sims, final resting place. Nunna, is one of my maternal great grandad's, Cornelius Pierce, younger sisters.

For the bulk of my ancestors and collateral relatives, I have no clue whether there is a marker at their grave or not but I still make request because while its not a picture of the ancestor, for me, a picture of the grave and / or marker is still better than nothing. It gives you something to hold onto, to touch, and to imagine their time here on earth.

First, I found Aunt Nunna's death certificate on Georgia Virtual Vault.

The death certificate indicated that she was interred in South View Cemetery in Atlanta, GA. So, I did what I usually do when armed with such information. Yes, I immediately went to Find-a-Grave and entered Aunt Nunna's information and submitted a photo request. My volunteer went to South View twice trying to find Aunt Nunna's grave but was unable to locate the grave and stated that the cemetery had no records on file for Aunt Nunna.

Yes, I was disappointed but you know we researchers don't give up that easily, so a few months back I decided to try again except this time I wrote the cemetery and included a copy of Aunt Nunna's death certificate. Well, no wonder my Find-a-grave volunteer couldn't find her, because all the cemetery records have Aunt Nunna's first name listed as Unna instead of Nunna. Even the marker on her vault has Unna.

But I was able to determine that this was definitely Aunt Nunna based on the burial records / cards that South View provided in addition to the pictures they took for me.

The burial records indicate that Aunt Nunna's husband bought this four person plot when Aunt Nunna died in 1921. In addition to Aunt Nunna, her husband Matthew is interred with her in the brick vault. There are also two other Sims that are buried in this plot. I plan to explore them more in the future to determine exactly who they are.

I hope to be able to visit my Great Grand Aunt's grave in person one day, hopefully next year during the family reunion, but for now I'll just enjoy these pictures.

Pictures taken by the staff of South View Cemetery Association.

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time - Days 26-31

2011-11-01T03:48:00.000-07:00

This posts wraps up the 31 Days of Genealogy from Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy?. The daily challenges were a way to get us working on our genealogy everyday during the month of October, which is Family History Month. Most of the activities required a minimal amount of time, usually 10 minutes or less.

The activies for Days 27 - 31 are as follows:

Days 27) Create a Google Alert - These allow you to monitor the web for interesting information. I've created a google alert for my name, my business name, and for one particular branch of my family (e.g. "Crawley genealogy"). Google.com/alerts is free, and you only need to create a gmail account (also free). You can control how often Google notifies you (weekly, daily, immediately) and the types of items (books, video, news, etc).

Days 28) Join a Remote Genealogical or Historical Society - No matter where your ancestor lived, there's probably a genealogical or historical society at that faraway location. Those remote societies often publish a periodic newsletter, complete with transcriptions, helpful information about resources, and in many cases, they'll do free (or almost-free) look-ups for members. I use this feature often, with my Ontario Genealogical Society memberships, since I'm thousands of miles away in California, since I'm a long-distance member, they'll do a quick look-up for me, saving me time and considerable expense.

Days 29) Try Mocavo.com - Not one of my favorite sites, but many people love it. It's touted as a genealogy search engine, in my opinion, it still has a ways to go before I'll use it on a regular basis. That said, based on your own ancestry, you may find the Mocavo search results useful. Good thing it's free.

Days 30) Find a local genealogy class and take it - No matter where you live, you can probably find a local genealogy class taught within an hour's drive of your home. In many cases, these classes are presented at a public library, at a church or other public venue, and many of the classes are free. Even if the class is outside your general interest area, you can still learn something. One of the most interesting classes I took was a Chinese genealogy class, in San Francisco. I had never heard the term "Paper sons" before, and wasn't aware of the Chinese Exclusion Act and how it impacted generations of Chinese in the U.S. and those desiring to come to the U.S. It gave me a new appreciation of the difficulties of genealogy, and I've used pointers from this class again and again over the years.

Days 31) Create an Ancestor Display - Using a foam board, create a display for one branch of your family, complete with photos, reduced-size photocopies of documents, maps, recipes, migration patterns, interesting quotes, etc. The goal is to create something you can share with your relatives during the holidays. Yes, we know that many of them aren't interested in genealogy, but by creating an attractive, interesting display, you can post it on a wall, easel, stand it up on a table, etc., so, before dinner is served, your relatives will have a chance to examine the information, learn something new, and even the most recalcitrant relative may be inspired to actually open up and share some stories of information.

Day 27: This was something I had already done. I've set up Google Alerts for my name as well as for ancestral surnames.

Day 28: I'm a member of the East Georgia Genealogical Society, which covers all the known counties in which my maternal ancestors resided. I'm also a member of Martin County (NC) Genealogical Society which covers the geographic area of my paternal ancestors.

Day 29: I think I've tried the Macavo site before and didn't particularly care for it. That being said, I did try it again. I'm still not sure about the site. Unfortunately, I can't quite put my finger one what I don't like about the site. I'll put it in my arsenal of tools but not sure if it will be the near the top of the list of things I use.

Day 30: By doing a quick search of my local library's event calendar, I learned that there is a one day class next month, November 12, 2011, at the Mint Hill branch of our library. The title of the class is Find Your Ancestor & Learn About Yourself.

Day 31: This is a great idea. I've done similar things in the past like create a family tree for my my mother and my aunts as Christmas presents. Last night, I really didn't have time to create the foam board display. For me, this is one of those activities that would have taken longer than 10 minutes, so hopefully, after I finish up a few craft projects, I can create this.

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time - Days 19 - 25

2011-10-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

During the month of October, which is Family History Month, I'm participating in Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy? 31 Days of Genealogy. The daily challenges are designed as a way to get us working on our genealogy each day during the month of October. Most of the challenges only require 10 minutes to do.

The challenges for Days 19 - 25 are as follows:

Days 19) Start a family Health History, using your pedigree chart. Note the causes of death of as many people on the chart as possible, looking to identify any trends that may be passed down generation to generation.

Days 20) Write a quick 5-min story about one of your ancestors. Send it, along with a photo, to a local genealogical society for their newsletter, or even to your local newspaper, as they're always looking for fresh content.

Days 21) Look for online obituaries for your relatives. Do an Internet search for the city where they died, to determine the name of the local papers, then look for an online obituary archive.

Days 22) Create a blog for one branch of your family. If you already have a blog, create a new one. Blogs are free on sites like Blogger.com, Wordpress.com,Weebly.com, Blog.com, etc.

Days 23) Backup your family file to Dropbox.com, which is a FREE cloud storage site. You can upload files, documents, videos, music, etc., and access the information from any computer, Mac or PC. You need to backup your family files at least once per month.

Days 24) Create a "Passwords File" which includes all the Internet passwords for the various accounts you have online. This needs to be either placed with your final instructions (for use after you die), or instructions where the file resides on your computer. Without passwords, your heirs will not be able to access any family files/information you've posted online.

Days 25) Make plans to attend at least one regional or national genealogical conference next year. It's never too early to start planning. Groups such as the FGS, APG, Southern California Genealogical Society (SCGS), NGS, International Black Genealogical Summit, RootsTech, Ontario Genealogical Society (Canada), Ohio Genealogical Society, etc., are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out their Web sites and start making plans to participate in one or more of these.

Day 19: While doing my research, I've often noted, mentally, what my ancestors died from but I've never taken the time to do a formal genogram. Since for me, this activity feels like it may take a bit longer than 10, I plan to work on it later in the week when I have more time.

Day 20: What a great idea! This ties in with Lisa challenge from Day 3, which was to work on your genealogy gifts by writing the life history of one ancestor. Since I'm already working on my paternal great grandfather, Peter T. Everett, for the Christmas gift, I've decided to also use him in submitting an article to the Martin County, NC Genealogical Society.

Day 21: This is something I do at least once a week trying to find obituaries for ancestors as well as more recent relatives. Usually, I find myself doing this on Tuesdays when I'm trying to find something to post for Tombstone Tuesday.

Day 22: Currently, I have two blogs documenting my research / search for my ancestors. The first is of course this blog, Georgia Black Crackers, which documents my search for my maternal ancestors, and the other is Conversations with my Ancestors, which documents my search for my paternal ancestors.

Day 23: I think I've heard of Dropbox.com but have never bothered to check it out. After listening to the video on Dropbox, I think this is exactly what I need. Currently, I have genealogy information on my desk top and lap top as well as a couple of flash drives. Many times I've driven myself mad going back and forth between the laptop and desktop to retrieve files.

Day 24: I've created a password file for my financial information and actually have some of my genealogy passwords within that file. However, thanks to this exercise, I created a totally separate file for all my genealogy passwords.

Day 25: Since it will be in my home state, one conference that I'm planning to attend in 2012 is the 33rd Annual National Conference of the Afro-American Historical & Genealogical Society, Oct 4-7. I would also like to attend at least one month meeting of the East Georgia Genealogical Society as well as the Martin County, NC Genealogical Society.

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time - Days 15 - 18

2011-10-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

After finally getting caught up on all the daily challenges from Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy?, I quickly fell behind, again. The daily challenges are a way to work on your genealogy each day during the month of October. Since the challenges require a minimal amount of time, Lisa touts they can be done in 10 minutes, even if you get behind, you can catch up quickly.

The challenges for Days 15 - 18 are as follows:

Day 15) Explore Genealogy Blog Finder blogfinder.genealogue.com. Their collection of topics is wide-ranging and covers such items as famous folks, Jewish, genetic genealogy, podcasts, obituaries, and oh, so much more. Find something new and exciting, or add your own to the mix.

Day 16) Learn how easy it is to print your entire family pedigree on one huge piece of paper. On OnePage Genealogyroots.cs.byu.edu/pedigree/ you can download their software (Mac or PC) and use it to create the chart. Once you've tweaked it, copy the PDF file onto a thumb drive and take it (or email it) to your local copy center to have it printed on a huge poster. OnePage Genealogy is free and is easy to use.

Days 17) Enroll in an online genealogy course with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. Whether you want to go for your PLCGS certificate, or just brush up on one or two courses, these classes are high calibre and very affordable. Classes are conducted online, where you can interact with your instructor via phone or online. Check out their catalog at: www.genealogicalstudies.com

Days 18) Download a free trial of a different genealogy software program. You may love the one you've been using all this time, but each program has its features and benefits, as well as shortcomings. Mac users are lucky in that they can run Mac programs or PC programs, using PC emulation software such as Bootcamp, VMWare Fusion (my favorite) or Parallels.

Check out this site, for a side-by-side comparison of Mac and PC genealogy software programs:

http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ppc-index.html?cmpid=74103

Day 15: I went to the Genealogy Blog Finder site. One of the first things I did was check to see if my blogs were listed there. This blog, Georgia Black Crackers, was listed among the blogs, but my other blog, Conversations With My Ancestors, was not. So, the first thing I did was submit a request to add Conversations with My Ancestors to the list.

I also checked out other blogs on the site. In my eyes, I see the Genealogy Blog Finder as another resource in keeping up with the various blogs. I also use Google Reader and see the two complimenting each other.

Day 16: This is a great idea and something I've always envisioned doing this for a family reunion. So, I've started to work on and tweak this, so that I can hopefully present it at future family reunion(s).

Day 17: After several attempts, I was unable to access the National Institute of Genealogical Studies website. Hopefully, later today, I will be able to access it.

Day 18: I currently use Roots Magic. I also have Family Tree Maker, which was my first genealogy software program. Even though I already have 2 software programs, I decided to download the free version of Legacy Software. I've heard several of my fellow bloggers talk about Legacy, so I decided to check it out. Will report back later on my experience with the software.

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time - Days 13-14

2011-10-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

I've been participating in Lisa Lee's, Got Genealogy?, 31 Days of Genealogy. These are projects to get us working on our genealogy each and every day during the month of October, which is Family History Month. Most of the projects can be done within 10 minutes.

The projects for Day 13 and 14 are as follows:

Day 13) Transcribe or re-transcribe a written document. Have an old military, land, immigration or other record? Take the time to transcribe the entire document, or, re-transcribe one you already transcribed years ago.

Day 14) Order a microfilm from the Mormon Family History Library ONLINE. It's a new feature, at www.familysearch.org/films, and the films will be sent to your local Family History Center (FHC), but it makes it much easier to order the films, using a credit card or you Paypal account.

Day 13: I've not gotten this project accomplished, yet. My goal is to work on it this weekend.

Day 14: I recently discovered that microfilms can be ordered online. I've had 3 sitting in my cart for a while now and needed this prompt to go ahead and order them. I'm so happy that the ability to order microfilms has finally been put online. The Family History Center that I go to isn't on any of my usual routes, I often find myself driving there just to order. It will be so much nicer to be able to order on line and just go when the microfilm finally arrives. It may not add up to a huge time savings but as they say, every little bit helps.

National Black Genealogy Summit, Fort Wayne, IN - Oct. 20-22, 2011

2011-10-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

The National Black Genealogy Summit will take place October 20 - 22, 2011 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Fort Wayne is home to one of the nation's most comprehensive collections of genealogy records, and an excellent source of documents pertaining to Black genealogy in particular.

The three-day conference will feature a number of nationally-known genealogy and research experts, and a wide variety of workshops for everyone from beginners to experienced family researchers. The event is sponsored by the Indiana Genealogical Society; the Friends of the Allen County Public Library; and Ancestry.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.blackgenealogyconference.info/

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time - Day 12

2011-10-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

The project for Day 12 of Lisa Lee's, Got Genealogy?, 31 Days of Genealogy is as follows:

Day 12) Bundle some or your scanned images and documents into CDs or DVDs, burn the, and send them to family members. In case of a natural disaster, if your computer hard drive dies and you don't have a back up, by sending these documents to other family members, you have a better chance of recovering them.

This is something I've been meaning to do for awhile but keep saying I'll get to it "tomorrow." An although it sounds like this is what I'm doing again, I really am putting this on the schedule for Friday, since it's not something I had a chance to work on today due to working on a few craft projects today.

31 Days of Genealogy - Day 11

2011-10-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy? has designed some fun ways to squeeze a little genealogy in every day during the month of October, which is Family History Month.

Today's activity is

Never use an ISP-related email address for your genealogy. What I mean by that is that if your email address ends in "@aol," "@comcast.net," "@earthlink.net," etc., if you ever change your ISP (and you will, eventually), people trying to track you down will have a difficult time doing to.

I've had access to the Internet now for 10+ years and during that time I've changed Internet services providers at least 5 times. After change #2, I decided to forgo the ISP-related e-mail. I first signed up for a yahoo account. Within the the past 5 years, I added Gmail.

Going with a non-ISP email was the best decision I ever made. I got tired of trying to notify everyone of the change whenever I switched providers. Now I can change providers as often as I want without ever giving up my e-mail address.

31 Days of Genealogy - Days 8-10

2011-10-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

For the month of October, which is Family History Month, I've been working through the daily activities that Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy?, has devised to get us working on our Genealogy. Lisa touts that these activities can be done in 10 minutes.

Due to getting slightly behind on reading my e-mails, it was a few days into the month before I realized that Lisa was doing this. As a result, I've been trying to catch up by doing several of the activities each day.

The activities for Days 8-10 are as follows:

DAY 8) County Courthouse Day It may be Saturday, and even though your county courthouse is closed, the internet is open 24/7. Spend a few minutes looking to see what online databases and resources your county courthouse has available. Pick a county where one of your ancestor lived, and do the following searches:
Buncombe County, NC register of deeds (customize this search with YOUR county)
… registrar or deeds
… recorder
… court recorder
… courthouse or court house
… clerk

Each county is a separate entity. Some offer oodles of online information, some offer none, and they constantly change. Even if you've looked before, look again. If you find something useful, be sure to bookmark it.

DAY 9) Public Library Day Just like county courthouses, public libraries may or may not offer information useful to genealogists. One neat trick I've found is that if I search for public libraries in the county where my ancestor, the search results will include any county public libraries found along with all of the cities within the county that also have their own public libraries. Try search for, say, "wayne county michigan public library" and you'll get a list of libraries in Detroit, Westland, Garden City, and others, along with a map of where each is located.
You can also go to PublicLibraries.com, which gives an alphabetical list within each state, which may be helpful.
Some public libraries offer free research assistance, the Richland County, SC public library will do free lookups of obituaries and will scan the images and email them to you (for free), the Indiana State Library has free genealogical databases online including marriages, newspaper indexes, military records, etc., and you don't have to be a member to access this information.

State, county and local libraries are a great start, but be sure to look for college and university libraries, private, genealogical, historical society and ethnic libraries. For example, a search for "african american libraries" or "jewish library association" will provide dozens of links of such libraries all over the U.S. There's a ton of information out there – go find it!

Day 10) Join a Genealogical or Historical Society
Even if you're not a professional genealogist, if you want to become one, the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) is a wonderful place to start (apgen.org). You can join for as little as $35/year, which entitles you to the quarterly journal (APG Quarterly), or for $65/year you'll get full voting rights, discounts to genealogical conferences, will be listed on the APG's Web site and can attend APG meetings. One of the hallmarks of the APG is their commitment to high research standards, to ensure that all APG members conform to their Code of Ethics.

If your ancestor lived in a faraway county, there's probably a genealogical or historical society there, and you should consider joining. Most provide a quarterly journal of local information, and being a member, I've found the ones to which I belong more than happy to help me with look-ups and tips for trip planning… even a free place to stay when I came to town on a research trip. You know how the old saying goes, "You can never join too many genealogical societies."

Day 8: I research primarily in Georgia (maternal lines) and North Carolina (paternal lines). For the counties that I research in Georgia, I don't find much online for the individual counties but I do make full use of Georgia Virtual Vault, which has a considerable amount of information online. In North Carolina, my county of focus has primarily been Martin County. A lot of old deeds and even more recent deeds can be found at the Martin County Register of Deeds Remote Access Site.

Day 9: While I've not done it often, I have employed local libraries in the areas that I research. Most often I write, but I've also visited them if I'm in the area. I appreciate Lisa providing the site to find the listing of Public Libraries. Until now, I did not know of this site.

Day 10: I've already joined a few genealogical societies. I've joined the local ones where my ancestors lived, East Georgia Genealogical Society (EGGS) and Martin County (NC) Genealogical Society. I've also joined the North Carolina Genealogical Society. Depending on funds, I'm also planning to join the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) and the National Genealogical Society (NGS).

And with this post, I'm finally up to date on the daily activities. So far, I've really enjoyed the activities. Thank you Lisa for coming up with this idea.

31 Days of Genealogy - Days 4-7

2011-10-08T23:42:00.000-07:00

For Family History Month, Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy? has devised a series of fun activities and projects to get us working on our genealogy every day during the month of October. Most of the activities will only require 10 minutes of your time.

Today, I worked on the activities for Days 4-7 in an effort to get almost caught up on the daily activities.

The activities for Days 4-7 are as follows:

DAY 4) Consanguinity Loops
Take two minutes to view my "Consanguinity Loops" video and get a better understanding of how two people are related, so that you can explain it at your next family reunion. View Video
DAY 5) Facebook GroupsIf you're not already on Facebook, you're missing out on an incredible resource of information. Find relatives, discover new information about your family, find photos, etc. JOIN FACEBOOK.COM TODAY.

If you're already on Facebook, search for new groups to join and join them. Do a search for:
GENEALOGY
FAMILY HISTORY
ANCESTRY
DNA

You get the idea. Once a member of these groups, you can ask questions, post answers, share interesting Web sites, etc. The more you reach out, the more information you'll find.

DAY 6) Order a Social Security Application ONLINE
If you haven't already tried it, this new, convenient service, is fast, secure and reliable, and costs less, because you don't have to pay for postage, paper and an envelope. Plus, the desired SS application arrives faster than a mail request. $27 for each request. BOOKMARK THIS URL: https://secure.ssa.gov/apps9/eFOIA-FEWeb/internet/main.jsp

DAY 7) Subscribe to Dick Eastman's Genealogy Newsletter
blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/)blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/
Dick Eastman has been around since before the beginning of recorded time, and when it comes to computers, genealogy and all things technology, he's your guy. His award-winning newsletter offers free and premium ("Plus", only $20/year) versions, and both are jam packed with interesting and useful information. Sure, you could probably spend countless hours trying to find half the stuff you'll find in just one of his online newsletters, but he's the expert at finding information and making difficult topics easy to understand. Eastman's newsletter is a must-have for all genealogists. Subscribe today.

Day 4: Depending on the cousin chart used, I tend to have no problems understanding the chart but trying to explain it to a person who use happens to want someone to explain once removed and twice removed, etc. can be a bit daunting.

Lisa's Consanguinity Loops approach is easy to understand. So, the next time I attempt to explain cousins to someone, I will use Lisa's loops approach and see if eliminates the glazed over eyes.

Day 5: I've been on Facebook almost from the moment that I renewed my research back in 2009. Although I was hesitant in joining Facebook, I'm glad that I did. I've discovered and gotten to know some of the descendants of my great Uncle, Will Hosch, via Facebook.

There are also some great genealogy groups. One that I joined recently is DNA Tested African Descendants. Other groups include East Georgia Genealogical Society, Inc (EGGS), Georgia Genealogy Network, and Haplogroup L3.

Day 6: I've ordered several Social Security Applications online. When compared against request that I've mailed in, I do get the application faster.

Day 7: I've been a subscriber to the free version of Dick Eastman's newsletter for awhile. I decided to go ahead and upgrade to the Plus version because often times I've found myself wanting more.

Genealogy Christmas Gifts and 31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time

2011-10-08T04:39:00.000-07:00

In honor of October being Family History Month, Lisa Lee of Got Genealogy? has devised some great ideas and activities that will have us working on our genealogy every day during the month of October. The activities can be done in as little as 10 minutes.

Since I'm a little behind on the daily activities, I'm hoping to get caught up by doing 2 - 3, maybe more, of the activities each day.

The third activity (Day 3) that Lisa has us doing is

Start Working on Your Genealogy Holiday Gifts
No excuse, you have plenty of time to write the life history of ONE of your ancestors, cite it (sources are a MUST), format it, pretty-it-up, print it and get it gift wrapped in time for the holiday season in December. You don't have to write the story of your entire family … just pick one or two ancestors, and tell their story. If you keep it in historical context, it will make your story more compelling and those who receive it will be more inclined to keep it around for future generations.

What a great idea! Lisa even gives an example from her own family.

The thing I like about this project is that for those of us who one day plan to pen the history of our families, it's a great starting point to begin that process.

For this project, I've selected two ancestors, one from my maternal side, great grandfather Cornelius Pierce, and one from my paternal side, great grandfather Peter Everett.

Since I've already done a PowerPoint presentation for Grandpa Cornelius, I'm hoping that one will come together quickly.

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time - Day 2

2011-10-08T04:05:00.000-07:00

October is Family History Month and Lisa Lee, Got Genealogy?, has
devised a clever way for us to squeeze a little genealogy in every day this month.

Since I missed reading this earlier this week, I'm a little behind on the daily activities and am trying to get caught up. So, you might see a few posts from me today as I try to catch up.

The exercise / activity for Day 2 is as follows:

Join StumbleUpon.com

This FREE Web site makes it easy to find interesting Web pages, photos and videos that you probably wouldn't find on your own. You can create your preference of "interests," and StumbleUpon will go out and find other Web sites, photos and videos that include that topic. In addition, if you login using your FaceBook credentials, whenever any of your FB friends "likes" a particular Web site in StumbleUpon, you'll be notified. StumbleUpon makes the Web a much smaller place, and increases the likelihood that you'll find new information you probably wouldn't have found on your own.

I've seen some of my genealogy friends using StumbleUpon but never really understood it or knew exactly what it was until doing this activity.

I set up an account on StumbleUpon and selected my interests. I then searched on some of my interests. Although not genealogy related, I came across an interesting recipe posted in one of the blogs at dailytarheel.com for Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites. By the way, I am a Tarheel.

And although I've seen this before, the first thing that came up when I did a search of genealogy was a cousin chart which had been posted at Los Cuatro Ojos

31 Days of Genealogy - 10 Minutes at a Time

2011-10-06T23:15:00.000-07:00

October is Family History Month and Lisa Lee, Got Genealogy?, has
devised a clever way for us to squeeze a little genealogy in every day this month.

Since I was a bit behind on reading some of my e-mails, I didn't realize that Lisa was doing this until yesterday. So, I'm going to have to play catch-up for a few days.

Lisa's activity for Day 1 of the 31 Days of Genealogy is as follows:

Speling Dusn't Cownt
The first Golden Rule of Genealogy is "Speling Dusn't Cownt," mainly because, back in the day, most folks could barely read or write, plus spelling standards weren't what they are today. Can't find a missing ancestor? Perhaps his/her name was just misspelled, so today's task is to "re-spell" their name based on the following tips:

a) N = U or V - In cursive writing, the lower-case letter “n” often looks like a lower-case ”u,” and there are, quite literally, thousands of instances on Ancestry.com, alone, where these surnames have been mis-transcribed. Names like ANDERSON, HANSEN, JONES, LANHAM, HENDERSON, MONTGOMERY, STONE, etc. can become Auderson, Hausen, Joues, Lauham, Heuderson, Moutgomery, and Stove.

b) REVERSED CONSONANTS - Reversed consonants account for far more unfindable relatives than most people even imagine. In many cases, it’s just due to bad spelling, but in others, it’s poor penmanship or sloppy transcription. Pronounced, bor-DOE, has a Soundex code of B630, sharing that Soundex code with surnames like:
Broadway Barto
Brodie Bort
Beard Brett
Barrett Breed, etc.

However, if the middle consonants (“r” and “d”) were reversed, the name would be Boudreau, pronounced BOO-droe or boo-DROE. Boudreau has a Soundex code of B360, sharing that Soundex code with surnames like:
Bowater Bowder
Butter Bywater
Bader Batter
Beaudry Beiter, etc.

With a Soundex search, you are searching within one unique Soundex code, so even if you do a Soundex search for Bourdeau, you can’t get from BOURDEAU to BOUDREAU using Soundex. It will never happen. So, you decide to do a wild card search for Bourdeau. You might try:
Bourd*
Bord*
Board*
Bo*deau, etc.
Because the middle consonants were swapped, it’s going to be next to impossible to get from Bourdeau to Boudreau using a wild card search, either. Can’t find your missing relative, try swapping middle characters.

c) MISSPELLED or MISPRONOUNCED NAMES - If a name is mispronounced, chances are, it will also be misspelled. Some surnames commonly mispronounced:

GROSVENOR - The “s” is silent, but this name is often mispronounced as GROVES-ner.
WOOLSEY - This surname is often mispronounced as WOOS-lee.
LAHSER - Anyone from the Detroit area is quite familiar with Lahser Road (LA-sir), but for decades, it’s been mispronounced as LASH-er.
MAUGHAN - Both the “g” and “h” are silent, making the correct pronunciation MAWN, but it’s often mispronounced as MAWG-in

JULET - I used to work with a delightful man named Tim Julet. Assuming his surname was French, I pronounced it, zhoo-LAY, only to find out that it’s actually of German origin, and pronounced joo-LET, just like it’s spelled. Too funny.
LEICESTER - I’m going out on a limb here, but I think the correct pronunciation of this is LISS-ter, rather than the commonly used LIE-ces-ter.

Looking for Grosvenor relatives, it would be wise to act as though the silent “s” isn’t even there, and try to track them down as though the name was spelled GROVENER or GROVENOR, and also look for them with the hard "s.". How far a leap would it be for a sloppy clerk to change GROVENOR to GOVERNOR? Not hard at all.

For today's task, try re-spelling the names of your missing ancestors using the above tips.

Using the above tips from Lisa, I once again tried to locate my 2nd great grandfather, Jasper Pierce, on the 1870 Federal Census. Although, I'm fairly confident that he's just not enumerated on the 1870 census, I still try to locate him on it. I have tried some of the techniques that Lisa mentioned and have been unsuccessful but am giving it another try, so I used various spellings of Pierce such as Pearce and Piers. I tried reversing the i and e, I tried leaving the final e off, and for the fun of it I tried reversing the r and c but so far I still wasn't able to locate Grandpa Jasper on the 1870 census.

Surname Saturday - Perkins

2011-10-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

A line in my family tree that I continue to neglect is that of my Rome Ancestors

For the time being, I’m still focusing on trying topenetrate the 1870 brick wall of Jasper and Jane Pierce, 2^nd greatgrandparents via my maternal grandmother, and the 1870 brick wall of my 3^rdgreat grandparents, Frank and Venus Everett, via my paternal grandmother.However, when I’ve temporarily exhausted ideas of where to turn next to bring thosewalls down, I usually begin to focus on other areas of my tree, wondering whatbecame of the various collateral lines.

One of those collateral lines is Great Grand Aunt PennyRome, my granddad’s, LC Hosch, maternal aunt.

Aunt Penny was one of my Great Grandmother’s, Sally RomeHosch, younger sisters. Aunt Penny married Wesley (Wes) L. Perkins in Walton County, GA on 22 March 1894.

The 1900 Federal Census, which was the first census afterthey were married, shows them living in Walton County, GA with the following children: Ruf, Ennis,Wayman, and Maud.

The 1910 Federal Census shows them still to be living in Walton County, GA.

Aunt Penny and Uncle Wes now have nine children: Rufus,Ennis, Wayman, Maud, Calvin, Clifford, Annie, Ophelia, and Ruth M.

After the 1910 census I lose track of Aunt Penny, at leastin Walton County, GA,but thanks to Ancestry’s shaking leaves, I’ve long suspected that Aunt Pennymigrated to Arkansas. About ayear ago, I saw the shaking leaf. My first thoughts were it had to be AuntPenny. It was just too much of a coincidence that there was a Wesley and PennyPerkins on the 1920 census living in Pulaski County, AR, who were born in GAaround the same time as Aunt Penny and her husband Uncle Wesley Perkins andwhose children had the exact same names as those listed on the 1900 and 1910censuses for Walton County, GA and who were also born in GA.

As I focused most of 2010 on trying to bring down thosemonumental 1870 brick walls on the lines mentioned above, I put Aunt Penny onthe back burner. Recently though, my curiosity with regard to Aunt Penny wasaroused when I came across another tree on Ancestry that contained thesuspected Aunt Penny and unlike a lot of trees I come across on Ancestry, thisone actually made sense. As this could possibly be one of my Great Grand Aunt’sdescendants, I desperately wanted to make contact, but I needed to be sure thatthe Penny Perkins that appeared in the 1900 and 1910 censuses in Walton County Georgiawas indeed the same Penny Perkins in 1920 Pulaski County Arkansas.

I initially thought about sending away for the SS-5Application of a Wayman Perkins who died in 1980 in Conway, Faulkner, AR. This could possibly be her son but Idecided against ordering the SS-5 and instead went a different route afterfinding what appeared to be Aunt Penny listed in the Arkansas Death Index. ThisPenny Perkins died in 1937. As death certificates usually cost less than SS-5applications, I checked out the Arkansas Department of Health website to getall the particulars on ordering a death certificate. Per the website, deathrecords that are more than 50 years old can be released to the public.Thankfully, this death certificate met the criteria. The cost for a deathcertificate was $10.00.

When Aunt Penny’s death certificate arrived the week of Sept. 12, 2011, I had literallyforgotten about my request for her death certificate. I was excited and didn’teven wait until I got in the house to open the envelope. Sometimes, before youeven open an envelope of requested documentation, you just know you’ve scoredone for the ancestors. This is how I felt as I ripped open the envelopecontaining Aunt Penny’s death certificate. Never the less, I still bracedmyself just in case the information I sought, the names of her parents, was noton the death certificate.

There it is. Her dad is Wyatt Rome. The informant was herson Calvin Perkins. I’m so thankful that Calvin knew the name of hisgrandfather, my 2^nd great grandfather. I’m also grateful that hesaved his 1^st cousin twice removed the expense of having to writefor an SS-5 application.

Now that I’ve confirmed the relationship, my next step is tocontact the owner of the tree, and try to connect with this forgotten /unknown branch of the tree. Hopefully, I’ll finally be able to record asuccessful reaching out experience. So far, I’ve not had much success in thisdepartment. Wish me luck.

Wednesday's Child

2011-08-31T17:48:00.000-07:00

Everyone was excited to welcome him into the world, especially one of his big cousins (that would be me), but we never got a chance. Prior to his birth, he became entangled in his umbilical cord.

The following year, his great grandmother, my grandmother, would be interred beside him. Growing up and even now, I've always imagined that my grandmother was taking care of him in the after life.

“The Help” in my Own Family – The Stories of My Mother and My Aunts

2011-08-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

I recently read TheHelp by Kathryn Stockett as it was this month’s selection for the book clubthat I am a member of. I hope to also be able to see the movie before it leavesthe area.

Especially in the African American community, the emotionswith regard to both the movie and the book have run the gamut of emotions, fromanger to a sense of pride.

For me personally, I definitely fall in the pride camp. Likeso many others, when reading the book, my thoughts turned to “The Help” withinmy own family. I think it’s the genealogist in me.

Growing up, I heard many similar stories as those depictedin The Help, and I don’t have to travelvery far along the ancestral path to encounter them, because at various pointsin their work lives, my mother and her sisters were The Help. Surprisingly, to the best of my knowledge, my grandmotherwas never “The Help.”

The following are remembrances from Aunt Marie’s and myMother’s days as “The Help.”

Mom

The bulk of Mom’s time as “The Help” was during the summermonths while she was home from college, which would be the mid 1940s and attimes in her early work life, she would fill in for one of her sisters.

My mother had good and bad experiences from that era in herlife as well as those that fall some where in between.

When one of the central characters, Aibileen, of The Help is accused of theft, I wasreminded that my mother went through a similar situation. In one family that mymother worked for, the wife, Mrs. Cook, was an alcoholic. You can see wherethis is leading already, can’t you? Mrs. Cook would get so drunk that she wouldforget where she put her money. One day when she was in a drunken stupor, she,of course, accused my mother of taking her money and threatened to call thepolice. My mother, while somewhat shy and reserved, could and can also be a bitfeisty and told her employer to go ahead and call the police because theywouldn’t find anything on her.

While Mrs. Cook didn’t call the police, she did call herhusband, who came home, surveyed the situation, asked mom a few questions, andreturned to work. Apparently, he didn’t believe his wife’s claim.Eventually, Mrs. Cook found her money but by then my mother had had enough andtold her that she didn’t need the job and wouldn’t be back. And for as spiritedand standing up for herself as my mother was, underneath she was trembling andterrified and she arrived back home in tears where my grandmother asked her“What’s wrong with you?” Through tear filled eyes, my mother told my grandmother what had happened.

The irony of all this is that Mrs. Cook called mymother, apologizing profusely, and begging mom to come back. Mom’s response was “No. I’m notcoming back.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Mrs. Bruce. With Mrs.Bruce, mom and her sisters were baby sitters as mom likes to put it and fromthe way mom reflects on Mrs. Bruce, that term is probably the most accuratedescription of the work they did for her. Mrs. Bruce always wanted one of theHosch girls and if she couldn’t get one of them, then she would just stay homethat day and look after the children herself. The Bruces also paid the best.

Aunt Marie

Of all my aunts, four altogether, I think it’s the story ofAunt Marie the oldest of my aunts that can cause anger to well up inside me.Not so much for the system under which she toiled but for the mind set itcreated in her.

During her work life, Aunt Marie worked for some of thefamous people from my hometown, the O. Max Gardner family from whence one of thegovernors of North Carolina came.As the socialites of my hometown, the Gardnersdid a lot of entertaining, which means they served alcoholic beverages. Beingdeeply religious, Aunt Marie didn’t feel comfortable serving the alcoholicconcoctions and would always ask her coworker if she would take care of thisduty.

Aunt Marie toiled as “The Help” all of her working days, which extended well into the 1970s, even after otheropportunities opened up. Her younger sisters were always trying to get her tono longer be “The Help” but I don’t think Aunt Marie was ever able to envisionherself as anything else. That being said, at the end of her days as “The Help”and when it was well past time for her to retire, she finally said no more. Yousee at the end of her work life, Aunt Marie no longer had her owntransportation as her car had been totaled in a wreck. By this point in time,her last employer was only using her one day a week anyway. So her employercalls and wanted her to come out but wasn’t willing to provide transportation,so Aunt Marie would have had to pay someone to get there. Whatever the pay wasat this point, it wasn’t worth all the trouble, so Aunt Marie told her shewasn’t coming out. Truth is Aunt Marie was just probably tired and worn out.

After reading “The Help” and once again reflecting on theera and times of those who came before, I can say I’m thankful that my motherdidn’t meet a worse fate from the accusations leveled against her. I’m thankfulthat while Aunt Marie never envisioned herself as being anything other than“The Help” that she was still able to hang on to bits and pieces of herself byrefusing to serve alcohol. I’m thankful that my mother and all my aunts, evenAunt Marie, knew that this wouldn’t always be the way, if not for themselves, thenmost certainly their children or grandchildren would know a different life.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy, Week 33 - Nicknames

2011-08-15T00:56:00.000-07:00

Week 33: Nicknames. What was your childhood nickname, and what was the meaning behind it? You can also discuss the nicknames of other family members, both past and present.

This challenge runs from Saturday, August 13, 2011 through Friday, August 19, 2011.

My mother was a stickler that no child of her's would have a nickname. Momma hated and still hates nicknames. In spite of her best efforts to keep the nickname demons away, I still managed to acquire a couple of nicknames. Both were given to me by my maternal aunts.

The first of the nicknames was Maybelline, given to me by my Aunt Frances. I acquired the nickname due to my long eyelashes. Aunt Frances used to always tell me that I would never need to wear mascara.

The second nickname, Chitty, was given to me by Aunt Lucille. Chitty come from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. After having seen the movie when it came to my hometown, my mother made me a dress based on the character Jenmima.. From then on, when when ever Aunt Lucille saw me, she began calling me Chitty

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Madness Monday - Regrouping

2011-04-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

For those that read both of my blogs or keep up via Twitter or Facebook, you know what kind of year this has been already with the passing of my father last month. As a result, I actually thought of taking a break from my research and my blogging. However, even though right now I'm doing both the research and the blogging sporadically, I've come to realize that returning to the research and the blogging helps me cope.

On my maternal side, which is the focus of Georgia Black Crackers, I've not done much this year in the way of research or blogging. With everything that was going on with dad, it seems my focus for this year was and still is the paternal / North Carolina ancestors.

The other thing that has slowed the research on the maternal / Georgia ancestors is I feel like I have run out of ideas to at least begin chipping away at that monstrous 1870 brick wall. But I've got to return to the hunt because that wall isn't going to come down on its own. So the push to find the last slave owner of my 2nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce, begins, again.

The first thing I plan to do is revisit the 1870 and 1880 census, which I will discuss, hopefully, in my next post.

Until next time!

Talented Tuesday

2011-04-20T02:36:00.000-07:00

I've decided that instead of featuring just the ancestors in my blog that I would try to incorporate some of the current generations in my blog also. After all, one day their descendants might one day wonder about their ancestors. So, my goal is to feature some of my talented younger cousins as part of Talented Tuesday.

This is just the beginning and right now I don't have much material, so I'm depending on family members who would like to be featured to provide me with material for this weekly meme.

The first of my younger cousins that I would like to feature is a descendant of my Grand Uncle, Willie Hosch. Graham Hosch, the younger (his granddad is also Graham and is my mom's first cousin) is my second cousin once removed. I've never actually met Graham. In fact, while I have met his grandfather Graham, I don't ever remember meeting Graham the younger's mom, my second cousin, even though we grew up probably less than 100 miles from each other.

Well thanks to Facebook, I've had the opportunity to connect with a lot of my Grand Uncle's descendants, which is how I learned about my talented cousin Graham. Last month, I had the opportunity to see some of Graham's artwork which was on display as part of the "With These Hands" Black History exhibit at the Rowan Museum in Salisbury, NC.

The pictures included in today's post were taken by the owner of this blog on 13 March 2011.

One Lovely Blog Award

2011-04-09T22:55:00.000-07:00

I am honored to have received the One Lovely Blog Award from Karen of Genealogy Frame of Mind and Cyndi (aka Texicanwife) of Mountain Genealogists. Thank you so much.

The recipient of the One Lovely Blog Award is to

Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.
Pass the award on to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered.
Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

I've not kept up with my blog reading during the past few months so this may be a little tough but I'll give it my best effort.

My choices for the One Lovely Blog Award are

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy, Week 11 - Illness and Injury

2011-03-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

Week 11: Illness and Injury. Describe your childhood illnesses or injuries. Who took care of you? Did you recuperate in your own bed, on the couch in front of the television, or somewhere else?

This challenge runs from Saturday, March 12, 2011 through Friday, March 18, 2011.

I was rarely ever sick as a child. I never had any of the usual childhood diseases for my era. You read that right, no chickenpox, no measles, and no mumps. Even when mom thought I had finally contracted chickenpox or measles in junior high, it turned out not to be the case. To this day, I've not experienced the delight of those childhood diseases, and I definitely don't want to experience them at this point in my life.

While I rarely ever got sick, whenever I did it tended to be weird stuff. First there was the aforementioned time that mom thought I had the measles or chickenpox. That episode was one of the few times I got to stay home from school due to illness. You see as only the second generation that really had a chance for education and with both of my parents being teachers, I didn't get to stay home for any and every little thing and I have the perfect attendance awards to prove it.

Back to the suspected measles or chickenpox. After two days of being home and feeling like my head was going to explode with every move I made, mom finally hauled me off to the doctor. The verdict was we don't know what it is but it's definitely not the measles or chickenpox. In college, I would have a similar episode minus the pounding headache and again, it wasn't measles, chicken pox, or the shingles, which my best friend and roommate thought it was. Years later I learned since I had never had chicken pox, there was no way it could have been shingles.

What other strange things have happened? Constipation. Yes, that's another you read that right. Constipation in an of itself isn't terribly bad except in my case, I had two episodes in my young life (elementary school) that if the folks hadn't called the doctor, I probably wouldn't be here now to tell you about them. The first episode was the worst. None of the usual remedies (enemas, laxatives, prune juice, Castor Oil) worked. The main thing I remember is being in my bed for days, not wanting to eat, and whenever I did it would just come right back up. After about two days of this, my parents were worried and for some reason I remember dad being more worried than mom. My doctor basically lived at the end of our street and came almost as soon as mom called. Without being graphic, let's just say that the blockage was removed with my doctor's assistance. He told my folks that it was a good thing they called when they did and that none of the usual things would have ever worked. After my second near fatal episode, I was sent to the hospital for x-rays to see if there was anything wrong. My doctor told the folks there was nothing wrong and that I was just being lazy. How dare he? Anyway just in case (I think my doctor was already tired of removing the blockages), I was put on a prescription for the problem for the remainder of elementary school years after which I never endured another episode of near fatal constipation. As added precaution, mom also made sure I had a tablespoon of Castor Oil each morning as well as a glass of prune juice each day.

Outside of my usual bouts with colds and the accompanying bronchitis, which I still have to deal with, there were no other serious illnesses that I remember from my childhood.

As far as injuries, I had the usual dings and scrapes that come with being a child but nothing like broken bones. I think the worst was when I jammed my thumb when daddy was trying to teach me how to roller skate.

So there you have it, an almost idealistic childhood from an illness and injury standpoint.

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52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy is hosted by Geneabloggers and was created by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog.

I've Been Recognized

2011-03-10T04:34:00.000-08:00

To all my loyal readers and to all those who voted for Georgia Black Crackers,

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Georgia Black Crackers has been recognized as one of Family Tree Magazine 2011 40 Best Genealogy Blogs.

I now know how Grammy award winners feel, because I have a range of emotions. I'm thrilled, ecstatic, honored, speechless, and humbled by the recognition. I wonder if the other 39 blogs that were recognized feel the same gamut of emotions?

Once again, thank you for the recognition and be sure to check out the other blogs that were recognized.

Photo Op With Tony Burroughs

2011-02-27T05:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Robin Foster, Saving Stories and About Our Freedom, and I attended Tony Burroughs' presentation, Finding Your History, at the Hughes Main Library of the Greenville County, SC library system. Following the afternoon session, I got my trusty copy of Black Roots signed by Mr. Burroughs, then Robin, her friend Carla, and I had our picture taking with Mr. Burroughs.

Robin and I discovered that we only live an hours drive from each other. So something tells me we will be seeing each other often.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Week 5, Favorite Food

2011-02-04T04:38:00.000-08:00

Week 5: Favorite Food. What was your favorite food from childhood? If it was homemade, who made it? What was in this dish, and why was it your favorite? What is your favorite dish now?

This challenge runs from Saturday, January 29, 2011 through Friday, February 4, 2011.

One of my favorite foods is an Almond Joy candy bar. The Almond Joy candy bar was one of my mom's favorite candy bars / snacks, which is how it became one of mine. It was always a special treat that mom bought for the two of us at the end of a long day of running errands, etc. What was and still is so special about Almond Joy was the fact that it was like getting two candy bars in one, so I got a candy bar and mom got a candy bar, too. They were just the right size for having a special treat that wouldn't "spoil my dinner." The other thing that made it so special was the bond it helped forge between me and my mother. To this day, Almond Joy is still probably our favorite candy bar.

The picture of the Almond Joy candy was obtained from the Hershey website.

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52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy is hosted by Geneabloggers and was created by Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Do Some Random Research

2011-01-23T05:04:00.000-08:00

This weeks Saturday Night Genealogy Fun exercise from Randy Seaver, Genea-Musings, is

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to follow Chris Staats' rules (from Freaky Friday: Random Research Reports) for picking a random person's name and then doing some online research about that person. Here are Chris's rules:

Go to The Random Name Generator and click the red “Generate Name” button at the top of the screen
Go to Ancestry.com and enter your generated name in the search box on the main search page. [Randy's add: If you don't have Ancestry.com, go to http://www.familysearch.org// and do it there - it's free.]
From the results, your research target will be the first census result for your generated name.
Using whatever online resources are at your disposal, see what else you can discover about your random person and write about it. It can be a formal report complete with footnotes, or just a “research story” about what you tried, problems you overcame, or success you had. Maybe you want to create a research plan for practice?
Post about it on your blog or wherever you wish, and link here to tell Chris about it. Tell Randy about it too as a comment here or a comment on Facebook or Twitter.

The first name the Random Name Generator generated, Efren McDaniel, didn't produce a result, so I generated a second name, Gloria Bennett.

The first Gloria Bennett that showed on Ancestry was from the 1930 United States census. Gloria M. Bennett is listed in the household of G. Clark Bennet, her husband. She is a white female. Her estimated year of birth is 1889. She was born in California. Her father was born in England and her mother in California. She resides in Chico, Butte, California.

In addition, there is a possible previous marriage as there is an Edith V. Wanless, step-daughter, listed in the household of G. Clark Bennett. (Source Citation: Year: 1930; Census Place: Chico, Butte, California; Roll: 112; Page: 15A; Enumeration District: 11; Image: 1042.0.)

Additional information:

1920 Census - Enumerated as Georgie M Bennett and listed in the household of Clark Bennett, husband. Her estimated year of birth is 1888. She was born in California. Her father was born in England and her mother in California. She resides in Chico, Butte, California.

Here, Edith, Mr. Bennett's step-daughter, is enumerated as Edith V. Philips. (Source Citation: Year: 1920;Census Place: Chico, Butte, California; Roll: T625_94; Page: 5B; Enumeration District: 22; Image: 106.)

One World Tree® via Ancestry

Born 13 Jan 1887 as Georgia May James
Father: Georgia Marion James
Mother: Canzanda Isabella Hicks
Died 25 Aug 1966
Married George Clark Bennett 9 Aug 1910

Tree source citations are as follows:

Title: California Death Index 1940 - 1997

Author: Ancestry.com
Repository:
Note: Internet
Media: Book

Title: Butte County Index to Marriage Certificates
Author: Paradise Genealogical Society, Paradise, Butte, CA
Repository:
Media: Book
Page: 15

Tombstone Tuesday

2011-01-18T03:12:00.000-08:00

Mattie Henyard Martin

25 March 1885 - 18 October 1918

Harris-Jones Cemetery, Walton County, GA

Mattie was my maternal grandmother's older half sister. Per conversations with my Cousin Irene, Cousin Ovella, Mattie's daughter, had this tombstone placed at her mother's grave many years after Mattie had passed.

The picture of my grand aunt's tombstone was obtained via photo request at FindaGrave.

Surname Saturday

2011-01-15T19:09:00.000-08:00

Confirmation of a Surname, a Marriage, and Family Lore

While I regroup and decide on my next plan of attack in trying to determine the last slave owner of my 2nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce, I thought I would briefly revisit my great grandmother Fannie.

Since I’ve not written about Grandma Fannie in awhile, some of the basic background with regard to her various surnames is as follows:

Henry – This is the surname handed down by my grandmother concerning her mother’s maiden name.

White – This was the surname handed down by grandmom’s siblings, Ossie, Evelina, and Roy. Prior to 2009, I had never heard of the White surname.

Sanford – This was the surname that the descendants of my grandmother’s older half sister knew Grandma Fannie as.

Amazingly, I’m slowly confirming all of my great grandmother’s surnames.

First there was the White surname. This was Grandma Fannie’s surname at the time she married my great grandfather, Cornelius Pierce, in 1889. I wrote about this discovery in 2009.

During my research trip to Walton County, GA probate court (November 2010), I was finally able to confirm the Sanford surname when I found the marriage certificate for one Fannie Pierce and B. F. Sanford. I do wish that GA marriage certificates gave more information but based on research to date as well as the stories handed down by my grandmother and other descendants, I’m confident that this is my great grandmother and that she married B. F. Sanford after the death of my great grandfather.

To repeat the story handed down from grandmom, after Cornelius died, Great Grandma Fannie had stated that she was not going to marry again because of how great granddad had treated her. (Based on family stories, I think Great Grandpa Cornelius was a ladies man.). However, not too long after Cornelius’ death (14 May 1910), there was some man hanging around and Great Grandma proceeded to try to get her girls married off. However, grandma never did complete the story and never divulged this new man’s name or even if Fannie remarried although I guess it’s sort of implied. Years latter, and after my grandmother had passed, we learned of the Sanford surname when some of Grand Aunt Mattie’s children came to visit.

So, this only leaves one surname to prove or disprove and of the three, it’s the one that presents the biggest challenge and yet, based on family lore, and circumstantial evidence I believe it existed, too and while I’ll continue to try to find Grandma Fannie via the White surname, my gut still keeps telling me it’s the Henry or versions there of that will help me to locate her prior to 1889.

The picture of the marriage license for my Great Grandmother to B. F. Sanford was taken on November 15, 2010 by the owner of this blog. The marriage license is located in Book K, page 124, Walton County, GA Marriage Records, Colored.

Motivation Monday - Can I Apply FlyLady Methods to Genealogy?

2011-01-10T11:16:00.000-08:00

I along with a lot of my fellow genealogists / geneabloggers have organization as one of our main goals for 2011. This, along with Weight Loss, always seems to be at the top of my list of goals for each year.

In order to meet this goal in life and in genealogy, one thing I’ve decided to do at the start of 2011 is revisit the FlyLady method / principles of organization. Several years ago, when I applied the Flylady to my everyday life, the methods / principles seemed to have an effect on me. But since I have a tendency to get bored, easily, I ended up dropping it and have been struggling ever since. So today, I’m recommitting to applying the FlyLady principles / methods in all aspects of my life including genealogy.

The FlyLady method is fairly simple; it’s just a matter of doing it. In fact, I think a lot of what she says is just common sense but it sure helps to have a bit of nudging, instructions, and motivation from her and the rest of the FlyBabies.

As I reacquaint myself with FlyLady and get back in the grove, I’ll discuss how I’m incorporating FlyLady into my genealogical organization efforts.

Household Chore 1 – Shine Your Sink

Under the FlyLady system, shining your sink is the first household chore. Why is this the first chore? As FlyLady explains it, if you’ve struggled as long as some of us have in this area, you need to feel a sense of accomplishment. When I did this years ago, I really didn’t think she knew what she was talking about but surprisingly that little accomplishment lead to more and more.

So, how do I plan to make this fit a specific chore in genealogy? This one’s an easy one. Instead of shining my sink, I’ll be shining my desks.

Sentimental Sunday - Star Search Contestant

2011-01-09T21:34:00.000-08:00

Approximately 23 years ago, there was a little girl with a big voice that appeared on Star Search.

1988

Well, that little girl, who is my 2nd cousin once removed, is all grown up now and still singing her heart out.

May 2010

The videos of my cousin were obtained via Youtube.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Necktie Quilt

2011-01-06T02:32:00.000-08:00

My mother made this beautiful Necktie "Crazy Quilt" sometime during the 1990s. One year she entered it at the Cleveland County Fair and received Judges Choice honors.

The picture of this beautiful quilt is part of the personal collection of the mother of the owner of this blog.

Madness Monday – The 1870 Brick Wall

2011-01-03T16:23:00.000-08:00

Depending on your age, most African-American researchers arrive at that towering and almost impenetrable 1870 Brick Wall rather quickly. For me, depending on the line, it took only 3 generations (parents, grandparents, great grandparents). Think about that for a minute. When I started out hoping to duplicate what Alex Haley did, hitting that wall was one of the most disheartening things imaginable. I knew it was there but somehow I still wasn’t ready when I ran up against it.

When I was younger (20s and early 30s), emotionally, I couldn’t handle the WALL. I think I shed a tear for each nameless individual listed on the 1860 Slave Schedule. Along with life taking over, I think it’s why I had to step away from my research for awhile.

These days, from an emotional stand point, I can handle the Wall, although I still find myself shedding a tear now and again.

I don’t think about the Wall everyday but it’s there and yet, if I bring it down, what do I find on the other side? Just how much further can I go if I bring it down? I know DNA can take me back to Africa but it’s a hollow victory without the names of those that resulted in my being.

The Wall stares at me, mocks me, frustrates me, and yet I refuse to give in to it. To do so would be devaluing the lives of my enslaved ancestors. They didn’t give up, so why should I?

So, I will continue to plan trips to courthouses hoping to find some shred of evidence in an old master’s will or the mention of a name in a tax record. I’ll continue to write descendants of possible slave owners hoping for something recorded in an old family bible. I’ll also contact churches, cemeteries, and funeral homes hoping their records chart a course. And I’ll continue to review what documentation I already have searching for that minute piece of information that I might have missed previously. And maybe, just maybe, even if I don’t bring it down, by the end of 2011, I’ll at least have made a hole in one if not all of my current 1870 Brick Walls.

The 1870 Brick Wall on the maternal side of my family that I began working on in 2010 and will continue to work on in 2011 is that of my 2nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-12-31T21:17:00.000-08:00

To all my readers,

May you have a blessed 2011!

Treasure Chest Thursday - Remembrances

2010-12-30T04:57:00.000-08:00

Several times in the past few weeks, I’ve tried to write this post but every time the tears started flowing as I tried to find just the right words to honor two of my grandparents descendants that we had to say goodbye to this year.

During the week leading up to Christmas, the two suddenly became three and again I struggled.

Then without warning, the words I had struggled to write to pay tribute to two first cousins and an uncle suddenly started flowing as I reflected on not what I lost with their passing but what I had gained by having each one of them in my lives.

Cousin Vera

Cousin Vera was 20 years my senior.

When I was a kid, I remember Vera loved soap operas. She was my baby sister when I was in elementary school. So, through Cousin Vera, I was introduced to the world of Mrs. Chancellor, Jill, Snapper, Brock and the Brooks sisters of The Young and the Restless. The Edge of Night was our other favorite soap opera, although I don’t remember any of the characters from it.

I use to love for Cousin Vera to press my hair. She was the only one that I never feared burning me with the pressing comb. Mom and I always thought she missed her calling by not doing hair.

The best thing that she gave me was one of my first buds, her oldest, my cousin Daryl, who was one year younger than me. I tell ya until we hit junior high, he and I were practically joined at the hip or at least it felt like it. It helped that Cousin Vera and her family lived with our granddad in his house, which as I’ve mentioned on numerous occasions was one street over from our house.

She was diagnosed with cancer about 4 years ago. Even after she was diagnosed, she was courageous and chaired the last family reunion that was hosted by the North Carolina branch of the Pierce descendants. On 15 June 2010, her battle with cancer was over as it had the last word.

Cousin Ann

A few weeks ago, I posted a picture of my big cousin Ann and me for Wordless Wednesday. Shortly after I posted that picture, she passed. In fact, she passed while I was in Georgia for the Atlanta Family History Expo and my first research trip.

Ann, Cousin Vera’s younger sister, actually babysat me before her big sister did. Ann always recalled that I was always threatening to tell my mother on her about something. Meanwhile, I always remembered her washing my mouth out with soap although she swore she never did that.

One of the most interesting things about Ann is that outside of her North Carolina family (includes grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, first cousins and first cousin’s descendants) she’s known by her first name Elizabeth or Liz for short. When you start talking about Ann to family outside of North Carolina, they are like who’s that? Then you have to remember that they know her by her first name.

From my earliest days of researching, Cousin Ann was always pushing me to write a book about our family history and even offered to help write it. She mentioned it again the last time I talked to her, which was a few weeks before her death. I always said no because….well I had a lot of excuses. However, since I’ve been blogging, I’ve begun to think about doing a book about our family and my research even if it’s just for family. Ann’s passing has made me want to do it even more especially since I know how important learning about her ancestral past was to her.

Cousin Ann was also battling the cancer demon and once again it won. We lost her on 14 November 2010, exactly five months after the loss of her sister.

Uncle Melvin

Uncle Melvin was 96 years young and the second of my maternal grandparents' children. He was part of their “Georgia” kids. I suppose we / I should have been expecting that his days were possibly numbered given the numerous health problems he’s had of late. But as the last uncle on my maternal side, blood or otherwise, it just seemed like he would be there forever or maybe I just didn’t want to think about it.

From my childhood years, there is no one special moment that stands out. Like the rest of my aunts and uncles, Uncle Melvin and Aunt Dot, supported me in some of my early endeavors. While I was a Girl Scout, I could always count on them to be among my first customers each year for Girl Scout cookies.

There was one recent special moment. Through the years, I had never given Uncle Melvin anything for his birthday but this year, even though it was several weeks late, I just had to give him a little something. So, one weekend when I was in the hometown, mom and I went to his house, where I hand delivered the belated birthday card, which had a small gift of cash inside. Uncle Melvin was in good spirits that day. He read aloud the card that I had given him. I didn’t even realize that’s what he was doing as I was too busy talking to Aunt Dot and getting caught up on how my cousins were doing. Mom had to tell me to be quiet so that Uncle Melvin could read the card. After Uncle Melvin finished reading the card, mom and I stayed a little longer and visited a bit more before we had to leave. On the way out, I gave my Uncle a hug and a kiss and told him that the next time I was on that side of our hometown, I would be sure to stop in and say hello.

Uncle Melvin’s earthly journey concluded on 20 December 2010.

Reflecting on 2010 Genealogical Goals

2010-12-23T09:49:00.000-08:00

Where has 2010 gone? Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were welcoming in the year?

Looking back on my goals for 2010, I didn’t get nearly enough accomplished. In some areas, I did better than I thought I had done or at least I think I did. And in other areas, as with everything in life, there are things I need to improve on.

Accomplishments for 2010 include:

I did manage to get to a couple of conferences. Both happened to be in the state of Georgia. I attended the Southeast Family History Expo in February and the Atlanta Family History Expo in November.
In February, I attended my first genealogy workshop. The workshop was given by a local group, Comprehensive Genealogical Services.
After all these years, I went on my first research trip. It was a great experience and while I think I had great preparation, there were a few things I forgot like taking snacks to keep your stamina up. I will be better prepared for my next research trip.
Even though some months I struggled with what to say, but, at least on this blog, I stayed on an even keel, more or less, with my posts. Now, Conversations with My Ancestors, the blog about my paternal ancestors, is a totally different story.
I feel that I did manage to get in a bit more quality time with the folks although most of the dad quality time revolved around hospitals and doctors.

So, what do I hope to accomplish in 2011? Everything I didn’t manage to get accomplished in 2010 and then some. I’ll list specifics next week or at the beginning of 2011.

Vote for Me, Vote for Me

2010-12-13T19:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I’m speechless. I just discovered that my blog, Georgia Black Crackers, was nominated for the Family Tree Magazine 2011 40 Best Genealogy Blogs in the Heritage Groups category.

Thank you to my nominator(s). I’m honored to be recognized and considered alongside others whose writing and research I’ve admired.

You can find out more about this recognition by reading the announcement on Family Tree Magazine’s blog, Genealogy Insider. Then go to the ballot to vote for your favorites. Voting is open through December 20, 2010, and you can vote as many times as you would like.

If you would like to check out all the blogs before voting, DearMYRTLE of DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog was kind enough to prepare a Sample Ballot with links to all the nominees’ blogs.

Now, here’s where I’m supposed to go into politician mode, but since I’m definitely not a politician, there won’t be any stump speeches promising things I can’t deliver on. Sorry folks. I hope you’re not disappointed.

Now start voting!

Advent of Christmas Memories, Day 12 - Charitable / Volunteer Work

2010-12-12T04:40:00.000-08:00

Did your family ever volunteer with a charity such as a soup kitchen, homeless or battered women’s shelter during the holidays? Or perhaps were your ancestors involved with church groups that assisted others during the holiday?

Through the years I've participated in many charitable activities this time of the year either on my own, through church, or through work. This was instilled into me at an early age through my mother. My folks were two different denominations and I usually attended church with mom. Every year, our church would participate in Operation Santa Claus. My mother always adopted a child for Operation Santa Claus and included me in the process of selecting items for our adopted child.

After I was out on my own, I continued participating in Operation Santa Claus / Angel Trees, etc. either on my own or through church. Also, many of the places I've worked, adopted a family for the holidays and I also contributed food and clothing items toward those activities also. I did and still do get a rush from helping a child or family have a Blessed Christmas.

Christmas Blog Caroling, 2010 - A Non Traditional Song

2010-12-11T20:47:00.000-08:00

I love music, period but especially Christmas music. I like traditional renditions of traditional songs but I also like traditional songs played in other genres such as jazz, soul, R&B, and rock. I especially like non traditional Christmas songs. So with all that in mind and remembering songs and groups from my youth, my entry for Footnote Maven's Annual Tradition of Blog Caroling is Give Love on Christmas Day by none other than little Michael Jackson and his brothers, aka The Jackson Five. This version is sung A cappella.

Revisiting Private Wheeler Sharp

2010-12-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Last year, after being allowed into my Aunt Lucille’s stash of photos, I posted on some of the pictorial finds. One of those was Pvt. Wheeler “Bubba” Sharp, who was one of my grandmother’s people.

I’ve traced “Bubba” backwards and forward, but have been unsuccessful in determining the connection he had to my grandmother. As stated previously, Bubba and his family migrated out of Walton County, Georgia about the same time my grandparents did and briefly settled in my home county in North Carolina before eventually moving on to Ohio.

Since posting about “Bubba,” I’ve often wondered if any of his children were still living and if so how I might get in touch with them. Well, this morning, the answer fell into my lap. I came across my potential lead toward finding out more about Bubba in the usual way I sometimes unexpectedly find leads; I simply was playing around, doing a Google search on various things I wanted to find answers to. Today I searched “‘Wheeler Sharp’ Ohio.”

I’m sure I’ve done this or a similar search before but came up empty. Today was different. Today, the obituary for one of Wheeler’s son’s, Avie, came up. Avie died last month. As luck would have it, two of Avie’s siblings are still living. So of course I’m planning to try to get in touch with them. Hoping and praying that 1) they will respond and 2) that at the least that they can tell me how “Bubba” is one of my grandmother’s people.

Family Recipe Friday - Momma’s Hot Russian Tea

2010-12-10T19:01:00.000-08:00

The weather in North Carolina this week has been bitterly cold. Okay, I know you Northerners won’t think 19° is cold but for we southerners it is especially when it’s accompanied with wind. During these times, there is only one thing I can think of that chases the chills away, my mother’s Russian Tea. When I was a child, I couldn’t wait to get inside to have a cup. Nothing compared to it, not even hot chocolate.

After I grew up and moved away from home, my mother quit making Russian Tea and even lost the recipe. Whenever I would ask her how to make it, she would give me some recipes that she had collected over the years but none were it. For years, on my own, I would try to find recipes but none came close to duplicating the tea or the memories from my youth. Then suddenly about 4 years ago, I finally found one that even if it’s not how momma made it, it’s pretty darn close.

Ingredients

5 quarts water, divided
4 c sugar
2 Tbs whole cloves
1/3 inch piece cinnamon (I use way more than this)
6 family size tea bags
1 c pineapple juice
2/3 c orange juice or juice from about 3 oranges

Directions

Combine 1 quart of water, sugar, and spices. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes. Strain (I don’t strain the spices out. Mom never did and that’s what made it so good). Bring 1 quart of water to boil and pour over tea bags. Steep 5 minutes. Combine spice mixture, tea and all of the juices. Boil remaining 3 quarts of water and add to above mixture. (I usually just add it directly to the mixture and bring back to just below boiling).

Serve with slices of orange. (I usually like to include a few pieces of the unstrained spices just like Mom use to do).

This version that’s as close as can be to mom’s appeared on http://www.wrcbtv.com/ on Jan 31, 2007.

Lastly, I have friends who make something under the same name to give as Christmas presents. This version is a mix made from tang, instant tea, etc. No offense to my friends but it’s just not the same.

Amanuensis Monday – Research Trip, Day 1

2010-12-06T20:47:00.000-08:00

After the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo, I went on my first research trip. Day 1 of the research trip was spent in Monroe, Walton County, GA and Day 2 of the trip was spent in Greensboro, Greene County, GA.

The main purpose of this research trip was to acquire the probate records of my maternal Great Grandfather, Cornelius Pierce. Last year, I wrote the Walton County, Georgia Probate court to inquire if there were probate records for my great grandfather. They informed me that there were records but that due to the age and fragileness of the documents that they could not make copies. The documents would need to be transcribed or I could take a picture of them. I did both. My mother, who accompanied me to the Family History Expo and on the research trip, was a great help during the transcribing. She read and I wrote.

My great grand father died intestate, without a will. Therefore the records regarding his estate were found in the Minutes of the Walton County Ordinary Court and not the Wills and Estate Records. Because of this, it took me awhile to locate the proceedings.

Proceedings regarding my great grandfather’s estate took place over the course of the September and October 1911 terms of the court. (My great grandfather died May 14, 1910.) The following are the proceedings petitioning the court to sell the property. At the time of my great grandfather's death, he was in the process of purchasing this property.

Walton County Court of Ordinary, Oct 2nd Term 1911

To the Ordinary of said County

The petition of Jas. E. Carlton, adim of the Estate of Cornelius Pierce deceased, showeth that the Estate of said deceased in part A track of land in Town district it being part of the James Tanner Place. Containing 62 ¾ acres more or less bounded on the north by Alex Norris, east by Lon Pierce, south by Green Hawk, and west by G. A. Gibson and Mrs. Allcorn. Said Cornelius Pierce, at the time of his death, held bond for title to said land with part purchase money paid and the Bank of Monroe held deed. And said Bank of Monroe consents to the sale, provided the balance of the purchase money is paid by the Admin or all of the sale of the land and that for the purpose of paying the debt of said estate. It is necessary to see the said land. Therefore, petitioner seeks an order directing citation issue and be published as the law requires and if no good cause be showed to the contrary your petitioner be granted leave to sale said land.

J. E. Carlton Administrator

Walton County Court of Ordinary, Sept Term, 1911

Upon reading the foregoing petition, it is ordered that citation issue intervene and published as the law requires.

E. C. Arnold, Ordinary

Walton County Court of Ordinary, Oct. Term 1911

The written petition of James E. Carlton as admin of the estate of Cornelius Pierce, deceased, praying for leave to sell the land of said deceased having been duly filed and in appearing that notice of the same has been published as required by law that is necessary for the purpose of paying the debts of said estate that said land be sold and no objection being filed. Hereto it is ordered by the court that the said James E. Carlton he, and he is hereby granted leave to sell for the purpose of aforesaid, the following described land of said deceased all the track of land in town district in Walton County containing 62 ¾ acres more or less bound on the North by Alex Norris, east by Lon Pierce, south by Green Hawk and west by G. A. Gibson and Mrs. Allcorn.

The balance of the purchase money to be first paid to the Bank of Monroe, and the balance to be paid on other debts according to priority.

E. C. Almond, ondy

The underlined words were ones that mom and I had trouble making out.

Also, Lon Pierce, whose proprety was to the east, was my great grand uncle, great granddad's brother.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #48 - Personal Genealogy Library

2010-12-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog, created a 52 week challenge to help we genealogist sharpen our skill set. This is my second week of participating.

The challenge for this week is Examine different online tools for cataloging your personal genealogy library and keeping track of the books you read. LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com//) is a site where you can catalog and tag the books in your own personal library. It is a great tool for keeping track of the genealogy books you have. You can ever create tags for books you want to purchase. Good Reads (http://www.goodreads.com//) and Shelfari ...(http://www.shelfari.com/) are web sites that help you keep track of books you have read. All three of these sites have social networking components. Your challenge this week is to browse these sites and see how genealogists use them. Bloggers, do you use any of these tools? How do you organize your own personal genealogy library?

This challenge runs from Saturday, November 27, 2010 through Friday, December 3, 2010.

I checked out and set up accounts with both Library Thing and Good Reads. After one day of use, I preferred the set up of Good Reads. For whatever reason, it seemed more user friendly to me.

How will I use this in tool in my research? Good Reads will definitely help me keep track of books in my collection and others that I have read but that aren't part of my library. I think it will also help keep track of materials I have ordered but not yet received. I recently checked a book out of the library that I had already ordered through half.com. This occurred because I simply had forgotten about the ordered book (the book arrived within a few days after I had checked the same title out of the library).
The other thing the catalog system helped with is visually seeing how my voracious reading appetite has returned even if it is for all things genealogical. I amazed myself with the books I've read during the past 2 years and I'm still no where where I would like to be.

This was a great challenge. Thanks Amy!

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy - Challenge #47 - Genealogy Christmas Wish List

2010-11-26T05:36:00.000-08:00

Amy Coffin of We Tree blog, created a 52 week challenge to help we genealogist sharpen our skill set. The series has been on-going since the beginning of the year but this is the first time I've participated.

The challenge for this week is Make your genealogy gift list. The holidays are coming! Prepare a list of genealogy-related gifts you’d like to receive: books, magazine subscriptions, software, electronics, society memberships or anything else that might look good with a bow on it. If you’re blessed to already have everything you could possibly want, consider charitable donations and in-kind gifts to societies, libraries and preservation groups. If you have a genealogy blog, you can share your list and give gift ideas to your readers as well.

This challenge runs from Saturday, November 20, 2010 through Friday, November 26, 2010.

My Genealogy Christmas Wish List for 2010 includes

Flip-Pal Scanner - I've wanted a portable scanner for some time but for whatever reason have not been that impressed with the wand scanners. I always thought a portable scanner would be perfect when hitting up relatives for pictures, since most are a little leery about letting such items out of their possession. Before ever seeing a demonstration of the the Flip-Pal, I knew this was what I had been looking for. Watching the demonstration of it at the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo cemented the deal that this was the one I wanted.

Flip Camcorder - This is another item I've wanted for awhile. I know the size of regular camcorders haves been scaled down but they still aren't for me. The flip is perfect for the times when I want / need something a little extra besides a still shot or video from my digital camera. Besides I inherited a love of electronic gadgets from my dad.

Kia Soul - The current vehicle has 108,000+ miles and counting. It will probably manage to get around locally for awhile longer but I've gotten concerned with taking it on extended trips. A new vehicle would hopefully alleviate the expense of a rental car when doing research trips. And why a Soul specifically - 1) affordability, 2) MPV - so it would hopefully be more suited for taking excursions off the beaten bath, and okay the most important reason - it looks like a fun car to drive.

Family Finder DNA from Family Tree DNA for mom. I have autosomal results for her from 23andme but would also like to do the Family Finder DNA on her, too. I already have both on dad and with the continued upgrades to reporting, etc. with Family Finder, I think in the long run I will prefer the Family Finder.

A copy of Wayfarers in Walton County. I know the chances of finding any of my Walton County Georgia Ancestors in there is probably slim and none but I would still like a copy because I just might get lucky.

There are plenty other items I would like such as books, research trips, etc. but the above items are the big ones for now.

Wordless Wednesday - My First Research Trip

2010-11-24T02:49:00.000-08:00

Probate Records, Walton County, GA

The picture is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog and was taken on 15 Nov. 2010 during my trip to Monroe, Walton, GA probate court.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What are You Thankful For?

2010-11-20T22:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight’s assignment from Randy Seaver, Genea-Musings, is

Make a list of Genealogy-oriented people or things that you are thankful for. Any number -- 1, 10, 100, whatever.

I am thankful for

All the wonderful stories handed down to me by my mother. Not only has my mother done a wonderful job telling me about the places, people, and events in her own family, she also managed to capture a few for dad’s side of the family, also.
Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.org (all versions – pilot, beta, etc.), Georgia Virtual Vault, et. al. for the multitude of databases, records, etc. provided online.
Walton County, GA probate court for the assistance provided from afar during the past 20+ years and especially during this past year. I also need to thank them for the assistance provided this week during my first research trip.
Half.com for enabling me to expand my genealogical library in a cost effective manner.
The support of the online Genealogical Community – Afrigeneas, Twitter, Facebook, and of course all my fellow Geneabloggers.
All my Ancestors who didn’t give up when they easily could have. I am because of you.

Wordless Wednesday - 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo

2010-11-17T22:21:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder why I ever carry a camera with me seeing as I end up not taking many pictures.

Here are the whopping two pictures I took at the Atlanta Family History Expo.

Amy Coffin and Valerie Craft explaining how to set up a blog.

Linda McCauley and Drusilla Pair taking a break between sessions.

2010 Atlanta Family History Expo

2010-11-13T17:37:00.000-08:00

Today was the second day of the Family History Expo - my first day. I'm exhausted but it was great day! Day 2 of the conference began at 8:00. We didn't stay for the closing keynote, so for us, the day ended at 3:30.

The day began at breakfast where I met presenters / bloggers Angela Walton-Raji, Drusilla Pair, and Thomas MacEntee.

After breakfast, we proceeded on to the Gwinnett Center and picked up our packets. There were five class sessions, today. Mom and I attended four of the five class sessions. During the morning sessions, we both attended Breaking Down Brick Walls with Location Based Genealogy presented by Bernie Gracy of AncestralHunt.com. The presentation was standing room only and additional chairs were brought in. The presentation included important points to consider when doing location research such as Physical Geography, Human Geography, and Transportation Technology. Separately, we attended Records of Ante-Bellum Southern Plantations for Family Historians by Jean Cooper and Over One Century of Treasure in Historic Plantation Records by Dr. Lisa Bratton.

During the final morning session and over lunch, I spent time at the geneabloggers table, where I met more of my fellow bloggers, Amy Coffin, Tonia Kendrick, Valerie Craft, and Linda McCauley. Due to technical difficulties (I wasn't able to log on to the Internet), I was unable to blog during this time.

During the afternoon sessions, my mother attended Beginning African American Research by Melvin J. Collier, author of Mississippi to Africa, where she learned many techniques to begin doing genealogy. What was really exciting was because of my research mom already knew a lot of the information. Even so, I think this class was by far her favorite session. She's still excitedly talking about the class. While mom was attending Melvin's class, I attended Freedman's Bank Records and Southern Claims Commission Records for African American Research by David Dilts of the FamilySearch Family History Library Staff.

Finally, we both attended Angela Walton Raji's session, Discovering an African American Community's History Through Civil War Research where we learned about how civil war records can reveal the stories to go with the names we are researching.

This Week - Atlanta Family History Expo

2010-11-12T16:25:00.000-08:00

The last couple of days of this week leading up to the Expo have been hectic and crazy to say the least.

First, on Wednesday, the check engine light came on in my car, again. Now as far as this altering my plans to attend the conference, it didn't because I am using a rental car for transport. But it did make me realize that I'm going to probably have to break down and get a new car or at least a new to me car. I just spent $800 on the car about 3 weeks ago.

Second, Thursday at 5:00 AM, the assisted living facility where my dad is staying called me to tell me that dad had a serious nose bleed. Dad's on blood thinners so anytime he starts bleeding we get concerned. Dad was transported to the emergency room. By the time, I got there the nose bleed was stopped but dad was still spitting up blood. This event almost prevented me from traveling but after calming down a bit and with everything under control for now, I decided to travel on to Duluth for the Family History Expo. My reasoning was that if anything happened, although it would take a few hours to get there, I was within driving distance of home. So, I decided to keep my plans for the weekend. The only alteration in plans is that I will probably cut the research portion of my trip short a little bit, since I need to get back and start addressing the car issue before I head back to work.

So, Duluth we made it. Looking forward to seeing my fellow bloggers / genealogist tomorrow.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-11-10T03:57:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of me and my big cousin, Ann, who was also one of my early baby sitters. This picture was taking at our grandparents' house ca 1962.

I recently discovered Ann's been reading my blog. Partly because of that but more so because she's having health issues, I've been thinking about this picture a lot lately. Hoping that Ann gets a chance to see it and that it brings a smile to her face.

The picture used for this post is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Four More Days

2010-11-08T21:18:00.000-08:00

I can’t believe there are only four more days until the Atlanta Family History Expo. I’m excited and nervous all rolled into one. The nervousness comes from trying to make sure I’m semi-prepared, semi-organized, etc. I’m worried that there is something I’m leaving off the list of things I need to do before leaving and things I want to get accomplished while in Georgia.

Most of the preparation things I did today have more to do with the research I’m hoping to do after the expo.

Today, I

E-mailed the Walton County, Georgia Probate Court to confirm hours and days of operation.
Confirmed the hours of operation for the Walton County Georgia Superior Court.
E-mailed South View Cemetery in Atlanta. If time permits, I hope to visit the graves of my Great Grand Aunt, Nuna Pierce Sims and also hope to find out more about a Jesse Pierce that is buried there. I wrote about this Jesse, who I believe to be a Great Grand Uncle, several months ago.
Continued adding items to the list of things I need to take with me and also continued adding to the list of things I hope to get accomplished at each locale that I visit.
Purchased extra writing instruments, etc (highlighters and mechanical pencils.

As the days are fast approaching when mom and I will be heading to GA, I’m also a little disappointed, as I had hoped to be able to surprise my mother with a visit from or to some of the other descendants of my 2^nd great grandmother, Matilda Hosch. I contacted my Ancestry.com contact last month about setting up a possible meeting and even talked to him on the phone but to date, I’ve not heard from any of the descendants of my granddad’s Uncle Augustus “Gus” Hosch. Maybe one day, it will happen.

Count Down To the Atlanta Family History Expo - Getting Ready

2010-11-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

The Atlanta Family History Expo is less than a week away, which also means I'm a week away from my first research trip. I've decided in this week leading up to both event(s) that I would tell something that I've done each day to prepare for both.

First, even though I did this several weeks ago, I finally created some genealogy business cards.

(In real life, it's not crooked. I just can't seem to scan anything where it comes out straight.)

Today, I went through the schedule of events, again, and made decisions on which workshops / lectures I would really like to attend. I quickly realized that many of the sessions I am interested in attending were being given at the same time. So, I did what any resourceful genealogist would do, I registered my mother for the Family History Expo, also. Although my mother is traveling with me, she hadn't really planned to attend the FHE, but I need her to go to some of the sessions, so she'll be attending and taking notes, too.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF)

2010-11-06T21:42:00.000-07:00

The assignment from Randy Seaver, Genea-Musings, for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is as follows:

If you found a bottle on the shore, and it had a genea-genie in it, and rubbed it and you had ONE WISH to make about your genealogy and family history research, what would it be?
Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment or note on Facebook

My One Wish would be that in this week leading up to the Atlanta Family History Expo and my first research trip that I would find something, anything, that proves or disproves Jesse F. Pierce being the owner of my 2nd great grandparents, Jane and Jasper Pierce. For a man whose name appears frequently in other's wills / probate proceedings, it's a bit ironic that there appear to be no probate records or any documentation for his holdings. I know I've probably not used all resources and techniques in order to find out more about Jesse F. Pierce but for now I'm out of ideas. I keep looking back through notes, census records, vital records, etc. looking for, hoping for, some little nugget of information that I've missed on previous passes that will show me the way, but to date, no nuggets have jumped out. So, I just need Genea-Genie to show it to me and while you're at it, I've got 2 other lines (paternal side) that require the same special treatment.

Genea-Genie, if you granted this wish, I would be forever grateful.

Review of Genealogical Goals for September / October 2010

2010-11-03T20:32:00.001-07:00

While I still have several goals from September / October that need to be started on and / or completed, I actually managed to get a few things accomplished.

Goals I attained are as follows:

Research

As I will be doing my first research trip this month to ancestral counties, I decided not to resubmit my request to RAOGK to obtain a transcription / photograph of my great grandfather's, Cornelius Pierce, probate records. One of my goals while on the research trip is to obtain this myself.
I did order and receive microfilm through the Family History Center. Films ordered were: Index to records, 1790 - 1942, Greene County, GA and Original Wills, ca 1663 - 1978. Unfortunately, there was no apparent documentation to assist me in the continued search for my Pierce Ancestors prior to 1870.

Blogging / Writing

While only 2 of the posts during the month of October actually had anything to do with my research, I did manage to get seven posts in during October.

Miscellaneous

I did decide on a location to hold the reunion for the descendants of my grandfather, LC Hosch, my great Uncle, Will Hosch, and their cousin, Eli Hush. (Now I just need to put down a deposit and get to the real planning part).
I did help my friend Leonard with the genealogy part of his grad school project. Given the short time frame in which I had to work and the fact that I didn't have a lot to go off of, I think we got a lot accomplished. He at least now has names of some great grandparents and all of his grandparents.

And the Winner Is

2010-10-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

As stated previously, today is the day that I am announcing the winner of the two free tickets to the Atlanta History Expo. I appreciate the contributions of the four entrants and thoroughly enjoyed reading the reasons you would like to attend the expo.

Without further ado, the winner is George Geder, comment #1 on the reminder post about the contest. The selection was purely random. I placed all entrants names in a box, mixed thoroughly, and pulled a name.

Congratulations George. I'll contact you soon with the details.

Once again, thanks to all the participants and also a big thank you to the organizers of the Family History Expo who provided me with this opportunity to give the tickets.

Oh, I apologize for the lateness of the announcement. I've had a crazy couple of days.

Two Days Left to Win Tickets to Atlanta Family History Expo

2010-10-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

There are only TWO DAYS left for a chance to win TICKETS to the Atlanta Family History Expo, which is being held next month in Duluth, GA. So far, there have been no participants in the give-away contest, so if you enter, there is a good chance that you will win.

As a reminder, all you have to do is look at the Agenda for the Atlanta Family History Expo, and let me know which session you would like to attend and why. The explanation doesn't have to been long or complicated. It can be something as simple as "this session looks interesting to me."

Please post your responses either here or on the original post regarding the contest. The winner will be selected randomly and announced on October 25, 2010.

Once again, best wishes to all who enter.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Who's to Blame

2010-10-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

Randy Seavers, Gena-Musings, has posted this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. The subject matter for this week is Who's to Blame.

Instructions are as follows:

Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:

Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?
Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?
Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?
If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.

My response to the first question has to be my mother, who passed along all the stories handed down from my maternal grandmother, coupled with my own curiosity.

No, I did not pick up where a relative left off. There were the stories handed down but no one had actually started documenting our family history when I began in the late 1980s to look for my ancestors.

My interest steamed from my own curiosity about my ancestors and also the mini-series, Roots, which aired during my sophomore / junior year (1977) in high school and by Roots: The Next Generations, which aired during my senior year in high school (1979). However, I didn't really get started on actually attempting to research my family until the late 1980s. To this day I still remember the excitement of my first genealogical find, my grandfather's, Oscar Lucillous "LC" Hosch, WWI draft registration card and realizing that although he was reared in Walton County, GA, he was actually born in Jackson County, GA. Back then, I used snail mail to obtain a copy of granddad's registration card. With the exception of taking a 10 year break between 1999 and 2009, I've been researching ever since.

Thank you mom for instilling in me the desire to know our history because as you always told me Everybody has a right to know from whence they came.

And also, once again, thanking Cousin Nicholas, for motivating me to return to my research.

Psst - Guess What Else Is Going On Next Month

2010-10-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

In addition to attending the Atlanta Family History Expo,
I'm doing my first research trip.

Part of me still doesn't feel like I'm ready to do a research trip but I figured that since I will be down in GA anyway for the FHE, I might as well take a couple of extra days and do some on the ground genealogical sleuthing. In fact, realizing that I might hopefully be able to meet some Hosch cousins (descendants of Great Grand Uncle Augustus "Gus" Hosch) who reside in Gwinnett County was the driving force behind me wanting to attend the FHE. Hopefully, the meeting will happen.

In addition to hopefully meeting cousins, I'm also planning to head over to both White Plains, Greene County, GA and Monroe, Walton County, GA in order to hopefully learn more about my Pierce Ancestors. This means, I will finally have an opportunity to take a picture of and transcribe the probate records for my great grandfather, Cornelius Pierce. With each passing day, the excitement about this trip just keeps building and building. So much so that I'm about to explode. But I've got to calm down and make sure that I'm as prepared as can be for this, my first research trip.

In the coming weeks, I'll keep you up to date on my preparations for this part of my trip as well as asking for suggestions, tips, etc.

Count Down To the Atlanta Family History Expo

2010-10-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday or today (depending on when I actually get this posted), marked 1 month and counting until the Atlanta Family History Expo in Duluth, GA. The Expo is being held November 12-13, 2010. I'm only attending the Saturday session, which is why October 13 was 1 month and counting. I'm looking forward to meeting fellow geneabloggers that I've been communicating with for the past year and some change.

Also, don't forget to enter the contest I'm having for a chance to win two tickets to the Expo. The contest ends on October 23, 2010.

Family History Month 2010- Challenge #2

2010-10-12T02:44:00.000-07:00

In honor of Family History month, Afrigeneas is conducting a series of Family History Challenges. My entry for Challenge #1 is posted on Conversations With my Ancestors as well as at Afrigeneas.

The instructions for Challenge #2 were as follows:
Since we're getting ready to enter a long holiday season, it seems a good time to remember holidays past.

How did your family celebrate special occasions and holidays? What are your favorite memories?

Interpret the theme any way you like. Write as long or short as you like. We encourage you to post photos to illustrate the story. Be creative!

Just a couple of rules:

Make our lives easier, please! Post your story as a response to this thread so we can keep track of the stories in each challenge.
Challenge #2 begins today, Oct 7th and ends at 11:59 pm on Oct 11th.

My entry was a few hours late. I had it written but fell asleep before getting it posted. What can I say? I was exhausted.

One of my fondest memories during my childhood days was the sort of mini reunion that my maternal granddad’s branch of the Hosch family held at Christmas each year. We typically gathered at one of the relative’s house, which most years seemed to be Aunt Lucille’s house.

Even though I saw some of my cousins on a daily basis (the bulk of my first cousins lived in my hometown), there was still something special about the descendants of my grandparents getting together at Christmas. After everyone arrived, the occasion always began with us singing Christmas Carols. Aunt Lucille, through the years, had acquired a large stash of FREE Christmas Carol songbooks from one of the local banks. So, my dad, the true musician in the group and who had married into this monstorous Hosch clan, would provide the instrumental accompaniment to our singing. On occasion, after I got older, the instrumental duties fell on my shoulders.

The above pictures, which are part of my mother’s personal collection, show dad at the piano, granddaddy and his children, grands, and great grands all gathered around, singing carols. (Granddaddy is sitting on the sofa next to the lamp.) If you look carefully, you can tell how thrilled all the kids were with the hymn and carol singing. :)

After the completion of the carol singing, we usually ate. Dinner was usually potluck, similar to the annual Hosch family reunion that was held back in those days but on a somewhat smaller scale. But before we ate, there was grace. Uncle Ed, Aunt Lucille’s husband who was also a minister, usually said grace. On the way to the Holiday Feast, Aunt Lucille would have us all speaking into her trusty microphone / cassette tape recorder. I remember we had to say our name, tell our place in the family, and then say something about the holidays or what ever else was on our minds. Just goes to show that daddy’s side of the family wasn’t the only side of my family that relied on tape recordings to communicate / document family events. (Reminds me, I will see auntie some time this week and should ask her if any of those old recordings are still in existence. By chance, maybe they haven’t met the same fate as other family recordings that are now special to me but no longer around.)

After we were through stuffing our faces, we gathered around the Christmas tree doing our usual family socializing until the gifts were handed out. After all the gifts were handed out, we lingered and socialized some more before we slowly started filing out to return to our individual homes. Looking back, it almost feels like that each one of us in our on way tried to make that day last as long as possible. It’s almost like we knew those times wouldn’t last forever and we were trying to make those gatherings last as long as we could.

Atlanta Family History Expo and A Contest

2010-10-09T21:22:00.000-07:00

The Atlanta Family History Expo is the weekend of November 12-13 and is being held in Duluth, GA. Although I won’t be able to make both days, I will be attending. I’m looking forward to getting a chance to meet fellow Geneabloggers. What’s more, I’ve been invited to attend as a Blogger of Honor, which only adds to the excitement.

My invitation also will benefit one lucky reader. You see, thanks to the wonderful folks at Family History Expo (FHE), I have two free tickets to give away for the Atlanta Family History Expo. This would be a great opportunity for anyone who is currently conducting research or thinking about entering the wonderful world of genealogical research to come learn more as well as meet other researchers.

Entering the contest is easy. Simply view the Agenda for the Atlanta Family History Expo then return to this thread and let me know which session you would like to attend and why. That’s it. All entries must be in by October 23, 2010 at 11:59 pm. I will announce the winner on October 25, 2010. You can check back on that day to see if you won or not and to get instructions for claiming your tickets.

Best wishes to all who enter.

Reveiw of September Goals and Setting October Goals

2010-10-02T08:11:00.000-07:00

For as productive as I was the first month that I posted monthly goals, I was equally unproductive during my 2nd month of posting goals. Looks like the only thing I managed to get accomplished was blogging / writing goals. I acutally had 8 posts (doesn't include goal setting and review posts) and half of those were written posts.

September was a more hectic month than usual with dad's continued health issues and me working practically every weekend so I would have time off during the week to ferry him to various doctor appointments. Hopefully, October will return to normal, whatever that is these days.

So, my goals for October 2010 are just going to be a rehash of my September 2010 goals.

Sentimental Sunday - Meeting Nicholas

2010-09-26T03:59:00.000-07:00

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you know I started my research back in the 1980s then took about a 10-year hiatus from my research when I moved back home, started grad school, helped dad take care of one of my paternal aunts who had Alzheimer's, etc., etc., etc. You probably also know about my cousin Nicholas who contacted me in 2009 and who triggered something in me that motivated me to return to my research, and I've been going practically non-stop ever since.

Well earlier this year, July to be precise, at the 2010 Pierce Descendants reunion, I finally got the opportunity to meet Cousin Nicholas as well as his mom, Suzy. Both were really nice and cousin Suzy took the opportunity to thank me for including Nicholas in the journey that is my research. For the record, Nicholas is my 2nd cousin twice removed. (Nicholas' great grandmother is my mother's first cousin, so his grandmother and I are second cousins.)

The picture of cousins Nicholas and Suzy are part of the collection of my 2nd cousin, R. Williams, whom I also had a chance to finally meet after meeting her on-line earlier this year via Facebook.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-22T04:05:00.000-07:00

Uncle Melvin Hosch and my first cousin Michael from back in the day. Uncle Melvin celebrated his 96th birthday earlier this month.

This picture is from the personal collection of O. Jones.

Tombstone Tuesday

2010-09-21T02:44:00.000-07:00

Tommie Lee Martin (1909 - 1969)

Tommie Lee was the son of my Grand Aunt, Mattie Henyard Martin (the oldest of my grandmother's siblings), which makes him my second cousin once removed. Tommie Lee was the only one of Aunt Mattie's children that didn't remain in Ohio with his brothers and sisters after they migrated there from GA. Tommie Lee is interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Polk County, FL.

Tommie Lee had a son, Tommie Lee, Jr., whom the family has lost contact with through the years, so Tommie Lee Jr. if you or your son Chris come across this post, your family in Georgia, Ohio, and North Carolina would sure love to hear from you.

The pictures of Tommie Lee Martin's tombstone were obtained via photo request at FindaGrave.com.

Sentimental Sunday and Sunday Supper - Fried Chicken

2010-09-19T06:28:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it was an African-American / Southern Tradition or just a family tradition but you always knew it was Sunday when you saw the Fried Chicken. It didn't matter whose house in the family you went to either, because you always knew what the main attraction was going to be. The side dishes might change but the main course was always the Fried Chicken. And of course there was always the fights over your favorite piece(s). Mine were the wing and upper back.

With the passage of time, this Sunday tradition seems to gone by the wayside since we don't eat a lot of fried food anymore. Also, mom and my aunts having grown up on the farm with their own chickens don't particular care for today's store bought chickens at least if they are the ones cutting it up into pieces. I remember many conversations between my mother and Aunt Lucille back when they were still buying a whole fryer, cutting it up and frying it and about how that store bought chicken looked like nothing they had ever seen. The conversation definitely would turn your stomach.

By the way, we still purchase and cook chicken in a variety of ways, with the exception of frying it seems, we just buy it already cut up deskined, etc., so we don't have to think about the current state of chicken affairs. And ever so often, you can find us grabbing a piece of fried chicken from the buffet at Golden Corral, getting a dinner from KFC, etc. but you just can't walk into our houses any more and know it's Sunday by what's being served for dinner.

The picture used for this blog post was obtained from Sourthernfood.about.com.

Surname Saturday - Stovall

2010-09-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Surname Saturday - Stovall

The Stovall surname represents the only 3rd great grandparent I’ve been able to discover.

My Stovall lineage is as follows:

Me
Mom
Oscar Lucillous “LC” Hosch - born abt 12 Aug 1887 in Jackson County, GA; date of death - 10 Sep 1978, Shelby, Cleveland County, NC
Sallie Rome – born abt 1868, Walton County, GA; date of death unknown (most likely between (1895 – 1900)
Wyatt Rome – born abt 1840 in Georgia; date of death unknown (between 1910 and 1920), Walton County, GA
Eliza Stovall – born abt 1810 in Georgia; date of death unknown (between 1880 and 1900). Grandma Eliza appears on the 1880 census in the household of my 2nd great grandfather, Wyatt Rome, but is not on the 1900 census.

In addition to Grandpa Wyatt, the 1870 Federal census points toward my 3rd great grandmother probably having at least 2 other children, Emma Stovall and Lou Stovall. I’ve tried to trace forward to find out what became of them but have been unsuccessful to this point.

WorldNames Public Profiler doesn’t provide any information on the origins of this surname. I tried a Google Search and checked out a few other sites in hopes of learning more about the origin of the surname and other than one site indicating that it was English and another indicating that it was French, there appears to be no available explanation for the surname.

Could this be a truly American name? The surname distribution leads one to believe this could be a possibility. The top three countries for this surname are United States at 53.4 FPN, Luxembourg at 8.5 FPN, and Canada at 1.6 FPN. The top three regions for the surname are Mississippi at 261.9 FPN, Texas at 209.75 FPN, and Georgia at 191.5 FPN. Finally, the top three cities for this surname are Memphis, TN; Atlanta, GA; and Chicago, IL.

I’ve not done much work on my Stovall line, so as always, I’m hoping that another descendant of Grandma Eliza Stovall will come across this blog and help me fill in the details.