Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has issued a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge that has temporarily brought me out of my hole:
1) Make up a limerick about genealogy - it should be A-A-B-B-A in rhyme (don't worry about iambic pentameter and all that). So here goes:
There once was a family named Floyd
Whose descendants are really annoyed
That despite spats and suits
Those irascible coots
Have left us of clues quite devoid.
Thanks, Randy!
Showing posts with label Saturday Night Fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saturday Night Fun. Show all posts
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Sunday, August 14, 2011
SNGF: True Confessions About Genea-Assets
Pipsqueak helps me sort papers and folders
I think that I was reading Randy Seaver’s mind this weekend.
Randy's assignment was:
1) Think about this: Is all of your genealogical material, which you've gathered over the years, well organized? Do you have papers, certificates, photographs and other ephemera squirreled away somewhere in your genealogy cave center? Do you have forgotten digital files, including documents, photographs and notes hiding in your computer file folders? It's Saturday night, do you know where ALL of your family history information is?
2) Give yourself a grade (from A to F) on how well you've done with your filing of tangible and digital genealogical assets (two grades, one for each). Brag about your organizational prowess if you deserve it - you can be a good example to the rest of us. Bemoan your situation if your files are like mine.
3) Look through your tangible or digital genea-assets and find something you've "lost," forgotten or overlooked that might add to your knowledge about one or more families. Tell us what you found, how will it help you, and will you commit to analyze it, source it, and use it?
Why do I think I was reading Randy’s mind?
Saturday I was going to do some research. I went up to my home office, aka “Genealogy Central,” to start work. The item I needed was under a pile. That pile included some genealogy folders. And on top of the box next to desk were more genealogy folders. I realized that some of these items should go into the folders in the box.
So I took all of the stuff downstairs to the family room, where there is plenty of space to spread out, to sort and file.
Three hours later, the materials were all sorted and filed.
This is why I am giving myself a “B” for organization of hard-copy assets and not a “C”. I must have somehow sensed that Randy’s task this weekend had something to do with organization.
A couple of weeks ago, I did some preliminary organization by consolidating some binders and hanging files into portable file boxes (each box contains materials for a particular line where I have done a lot of research: Brinlee, Moore, etc.):
The materials for most of the rest of the family lines I am researching are kept in binders:
Families for which I have only done preliminary research are kept in hanging files, along with materials on genealogical societies, genealogy publications, and so forth.
So there is a system and I can pretty much find what I need at this point. Still, there are a few odd file boxes and binders that are not organized by family: the items I obtained from my research trip to Greenville, SC still have a separate box (there are materials on three different family lines in that box), there is a file box containing documents that were too large to fit in binders or the shorter file boxes that I use, and I still have a binder full of “miscellaneous” genealogy notes.
For digital files, I would also give myself a “B”. Most of the sub-folders in my Genealogy folder are organized by family name, with sub-sub folders divided into individual generations, and sub-sub-sub folders for digital copies of vital records, newspaper articles, write-ups, correspondence, etc. The remaining folders are subject-based and have a number at the beginning of the file name so that they precede the family names: 1Forms, 2Research trips, 3To Do Lists, 4Resources, and so forth.
The main problem with my digital files is that I have digital files on two different computers (there was a third I used for a while, but I believe I have transferred all of those files to my MacBook Pro). I can access the files on my desktop computer through the Time Machine, but there is a lot of duplication and enough differences in organization between the desktop files and the laptop files that it can be confusing. Transcription projects, collections of newspaper articles, etc. can sometimes be hard to find. And I still need to put my photographs from both computers onto the Time Machine. So maybe that's a B-.
Bookmarks should also be included in digital organization. Not great - two different browsers + 3 computers = Chaos. This probably brings my digital grade down to a C+. However, I have been working on consolidating everything into a Genealogy Toolbox and have also been using Diigo.
One thing I found while reorganizing was a set of articles from doing a search on “Koehl” on GenealogyBank; the Koehls in these articles were not people I recognized as belonging to my husband’s Koehl family, but could be related, so I filed them under the “Leads” section of the Koehl family binder. The source information has already been written on them.
What has been my big advantage in organizing my files?
I’ve only been doing genealogy for six years.
If I can accumulate this much stuff in six years, what will my files look like in 20 years?
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Heritage Pie Chart
Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings has come up with the following challenge this week:
Your mission tonight, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).
2) Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.
3) For extra credit, go make a “Heritage Pie” chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the "Heritage Pie" chart idea.]
4) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook or google+.
Here are the 14 I know (plus the states for the two that I do not know based on the information given by their daughter in the census).
1. Hiram Carroll Brinlee Sr., b. 25 Dec 1808, Tennessee or Kentucky, d. 28 Jul 1885 Collin County, Texas. I am using Tennessee because that appears more often in the censuses for him (and in those for his children when they list parents' states of birth).
2. Elizabeth Ann McKinney, b. 23 Feb 1823 Kentucky, d. 23 Mar 1889 Oklahoma.
3 and 4. The parents of my great brick wall, Susan Elizabeth Smith, whoever they were. According to Lizzie Smith Brinlee’s entries on the censuses, they were born in either Tennessee or North Carolina; I am choosing North Carolina because it appeared on two censuses and Tennessee appeared on only one.
5. Joseph Madison Carroll Norman, b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama, d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas. Married 4 Dec 1851 Talladega, Alabama.
6. Rebecca Monk, b. 1837, Alabama, d. bef 1864 Alabama
7. William T. Sisson, b. ca 1826, Georgia, d. 12 Feb 1894, Alabama. Married 13 Jun 1851, Talladega, Alabama.
8. Jerusha Elizabeth Neeley, b. Alabama, d. bef 1858 Alabama.
9. William Spencer Moore, b. 1813, South Carolina, d. 31 Oct 1871, South Carolina
10. Emily Tarrant, b. 1813, South Carolina, d. bef 1873, South Carolina
11. Elisha Berry Lewis, b. 1813, South Carolina, d. 23 Feb 1889, South Carolina. Married 3 Feb 1835 Anderson County, South Carolina.
12. Martha Poole, b. 1815, South Carolina, d. bef 1865, South Carolina
13. George Floyd, b. 29 Sep 1807, Vermont, d. 11 Mar 1880, Texas. Married 13 Nov 1835 Greene County, Illinois.
14. Nancy Finley, b. ca 1816, Illinois, d. 5 Feb 1864, Texas
15. Absalom C. Matlock, b. 21 Mar 1825, Kentucky, d. 1865, Texas. Married 13 Aug 1846 Warren County, Kentucky.
16. Nancy Malvina Harris, b. b. 28 Apr 1827, Kentucky, d. 11 Aug 1862, Texas
Looks like I'm 87.5% Southern Mutt.
Your mission tonight, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) List your 16 great-great-grandparents with their birth, death and marriage data (dates and places).
2) Determine the countries (or states) that these ancestors lived in at their birth and at their death.
3) For extra credit, go make a “Heritage Pie” chart for the country of origin (birth place) for these 16 ancestors. [Hint: you could use the chart generator from Kid Zone for this.] [Note: Thank you to Sheri Fenley for the "Heritage Pie" chart idea.]
4) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook or google+.
Here are the 14 I know (plus the states for the two that I do not know based on the information given by their daughter in the census).
1. Hiram Carroll Brinlee Sr., b. 25 Dec 1808, Tennessee or Kentucky, d. 28 Jul 1885 Collin County, Texas. I am using Tennessee because that appears more often in the censuses for him (and in those for his children when they list parents' states of birth).
2. Elizabeth Ann McKinney, b. 23 Feb 1823 Kentucky, d. 23 Mar 1889 Oklahoma.
3 and 4. The parents of my great brick wall, Susan Elizabeth Smith, whoever they were. According to Lizzie Smith Brinlee’s entries on the censuses, they were born in either Tennessee or North Carolina; I am choosing North Carolina because it appeared on two censuses and Tennessee appeared on only one.
5. Joseph Madison Carroll Norman, b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama, d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas. Married 4 Dec 1851 Talladega, Alabama.
6. Rebecca Monk, b. 1837, Alabama, d. bef 1864 Alabama
7. William T. Sisson, b. ca 1826, Georgia, d. 12 Feb 1894, Alabama. Married 13 Jun 1851, Talladega, Alabama.
8. Jerusha Elizabeth Neeley, b. Alabama, d. bef 1858 Alabama.
9. William Spencer Moore, b. 1813, South Carolina, d. 31 Oct 1871, South Carolina
10. Emily Tarrant, b. 1813, South Carolina, d. bef 1873, South Carolina
11. Elisha Berry Lewis, b. 1813, South Carolina, d. 23 Feb 1889, South Carolina. Married 3 Feb 1835 Anderson County, South Carolina.
12. Martha Poole, b. 1815, South Carolina, d. bef 1865, South Carolina
13. George Floyd, b. 29 Sep 1807, Vermont, d. 11 Mar 1880, Texas. Married 13 Nov 1835 Greene County, Illinois.
14. Nancy Finley, b. ca 1816, Illinois, d. 5 Feb 1864, Texas
15. Absalom C. Matlock, b. 21 Mar 1825, Kentucky, d. 1865, Texas. Married 13 Aug 1846 Warren County, Kentucky.
16. Nancy Malvina Harris, b. b. 28 Apr 1827, Kentucky, d. 11 Aug 1862, Texas
Looks like I'm 87.5% Southern Mutt.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Elevator Speech
Tonia Kendrick’s (of Tonia’s Genealogy Blog) first challenge of 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog - to write an elevator pitch for our blogs - has become this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun at Randy’ Seaver’s Genea-Musings.
This is mine:
I’m crazy about genealogy and I’m addicted to it. Some people think I’m just a crazy addict. The purpose of this blog is to show you why I’m hooked on genealogy and why you should be, too. Should you decide to give genealogy a try, I’ll provide some pointers on how to find your ancestors. Once you have felt the thrill of the hunt, you’ll never want to stop.
This is mine:
I’m crazy about genealogy and I’m addicted to it. Some people think I’m just a crazy addict. The purpose of this blog is to show you why I’m hooked on genealogy and why you should be, too. Should you decide to give genealogy a try, I’ll provide some pointers on how to find your ancestors. Once you have felt the thrill of the hunt, you’ll never want to stop.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
What (and Who) I Hope to Find on the 1940 Census
This weekend Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun at Genea-Musings is as follows:
3) Where did your ancestral family members live in 1940 on Census Day? Have you found all of the addresses in city directories or telephone books? Please list the ones you know the addresses of, and the ones you need to find addresses for.
Most of my ancestral family members were living on farms at this time, so I do not know exact addresses, but I generally know counties and often the towns near which they lived. These are the main ancestors I will start looking for:
My great-grandmother Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith Bonner Brinlee. I imagine she will be in Collin County, Texas, living with her son Odell Brinlee and his family, or possibly with another son, Austin Franklin Brinlee. I am especially interested in finding more information on her, because she is my brick wall. Will this census finally provide an accurate age for her?
My grandparents Lawrence Carroll Brinlee and Sallie Frances Norman Brinlee. They will be living in Fannin County, Texas, somewhere near Bonham. I believe my Aunt Sarah Evangeline Brinlee will already be married and out of the house, but my father and most of his brothers will be living at home.
My grandparents Kirby Runion Moore and Eula Amanda Floyd Moore. They will be living in Baylor County, Texas, near Bomarton. I believe their four youngest surviving children (the youngest, Ray, died in 1932) will be shown living with them. My mother will be with her first husband; I believe they were still in Baylor County, but they might have moved to California. Baylor County has never had a very large population, so I will be going over all of the images; there are bound to be numerous other relatives living there.
My great-grandparents William Henry “Jack” Norman and Sarah Jane Sisson Norman had died during the previous decade, but a number of their children would have been living in Fannin County, or perhaps in neighboring Hunt or Grayson counties. I am particularly interested in finding my Great Uncle Oby Norman, whom I could not find on the previous three censuses. I know that in 1925 a son, H.P., was born to Oby and his wife Edith Beulah Watson Norman; H.P. died in 1928 and was their only child as far as I know. On the 1930 census I found Edith living alone in California and in that same year she travelled to Hawaii alone. Where was Oby? The separation was apparently not permanent; they lived together in California until Edith’s death in 1956.
Lizzie Brinlee was the only one of my great-grandparents who was alive in 1940, but I do hope to find all of the siblings of my grandparents who were still living. Most were in Texas, but a few may have been in California. Of course, I do not have exact addresses for these siblings, but I will start by looking near where they lived on the 1930 census.
I am disappointed that the parents’ birthplace will not be included, but I do hope that the question on who provided the information will help me to judge its accuracy.
3) Where did your ancestral family members live in 1940 on Census Day? Have you found all of the addresses in city directories or telephone books? Please list the ones you know the addresses of, and the ones you need to find addresses for.
Most of my ancestral family members were living on farms at this time, so I do not know exact addresses, but I generally know counties and often the towns near which they lived. These are the main ancestors I will start looking for:
My great-grandmother Susan Elizabeth “Lizzie” Smith Bonner Brinlee. I imagine she will be in Collin County, Texas, living with her son Odell Brinlee and his family, or possibly with another son, Austin Franklin Brinlee. I am especially interested in finding more information on her, because she is my brick wall. Will this census finally provide an accurate age for her?
My grandparents Lawrence Carroll Brinlee and Sallie Frances Norman Brinlee. They will be living in Fannin County, Texas, somewhere near Bonham. I believe my Aunt Sarah Evangeline Brinlee will already be married and out of the house, but my father and most of his brothers will be living at home.
My grandparents Kirby Runion Moore and Eula Amanda Floyd Moore. They will be living in Baylor County, Texas, near Bomarton. I believe their four youngest surviving children (the youngest, Ray, died in 1932) will be shown living with them. My mother will be with her first husband; I believe they were still in Baylor County, but they might have moved to California. Baylor County has never had a very large population, so I will be going over all of the images; there are bound to be numerous other relatives living there.
My great-grandparents William Henry “Jack” Norman and Sarah Jane Sisson Norman had died during the previous decade, but a number of their children would have been living in Fannin County, or perhaps in neighboring Hunt or Grayson counties. I am particularly interested in finding my Great Uncle Oby Norman, whom I could not find on the previous three censuses. I know that in 1925 a son, H.P., was born to Oby and his wife Edith Beulah Watson Norman; H.P. died in 1928 and was their only child as far as I know. On the 1930 census I found Edith living alone in California and in that same year she travelled to Hawaii alone. Where was Oby? The separation was apparently not permanent; they lived together in California until Edith’s death in 1956.
Lizzie Brinlee was the only one of my great-grandparents who was alive in 1940, but I do hope to find all of the siblings of my grandparents who were still living. Most were in Texas, but a few may have been in California. Of course, I do not have exact addresses for these siblings, but I will start by looking near where they lived on the 1930 census.
I am disappointed that the parents’ birthplace will not be included, but I do hope that the question on who provided the information will help me to judge its accuracy.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Ancestral Name List Roulette
Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings has issued his latest challenge:
1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?
3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!
My maternal grandfather, Kirby Runion Moore, would be 130 years old now. Divided by four, that is 32.5. Unfortunately, numbers 32 and 33 are the parents of my great-grandfather Hiram Brinlee, Sr. - and I don't know who they are! :( (It is indicated on the 1880 census that they were both born in Virginia.)
So I tried my paternal grandfather, Lawrence Carroll Brinlee, who would be 117 years old (118 on 29 January). Divided by four, that is 29. Number 29 on my ahnentafel is my great-great grandmother Nancy E. Finley, who married George Floyd.
It’s a good thing that we only have to provide three facts, because that is about all I know:
She was born in Illinois, probably around 1816.
She died on 5 February 1864.
She is buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Dallas County, Texas.
Thanks, Randy.
1) How old is one of your grandfathers now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person?
3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."
4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or comment, or as a comment on this blog post.
5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a grandmother, or yourself, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, or even your children!
My maternal grandfather, Kirby Runion Moore, would be 130 years old now. Divided by four, that is 32.5. Unfortunately, numbers 32 and 33 are the parents of my great-grandfather Hiram Brinlee, Sr. - and I don't know who they are! :( (It is indicated on the 1880 census that they were both born in Virginia.)
So I tried my paternal grandfather, Lawrence Carroll Brinlee, who would be 117 years old (118 on 29 January). Divided by four, that is 29. Number 29 on my ahnentafel is my great-great grandmother Nancy E. Finley, who married George Floyd.
It’s a good thing that we only have to provide three facts, because that is about all I know:
She was born in Illinois, probably around 1816.
She died on 5 February 1864.
She is buried in Edgewood Cemetery, Lancaster, Dallas County, Texas.
Thanks, Randy.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Dear Genea-Santa
This Saturday’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenged, issued by Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings, is as follows:
1) Write your Genea-Santa letter. Have you been a good genealogy girl or boy? What genealogy-oriented items are on your Christmas wish list? They could be family history items, technology items, or things that you want to pursue your ancestral quest.
2) Tell us about them in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook status or comment to this post.
Dear Genea–Santa:
You were very, very good to me last year:
- I was able to attend the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference and meet up with fellow Genea-Bloggers.
- I got to go to Greenville, South Carolina to research my Moore line with my cousins Paula and Carolyn. We had a blast and found enough information on our Moores to keep us busy for a long time.
- I was contacted by a distant Floyd cousin who, together with another cousin, provided my Texas Floyd cousins and me with a whole bunch of new information on the Floyds. This included the siblings of our great-great grandfather, George Floyd, as well as copies of letters written by several of our Floyd relatives. Now my Texas Floyd cousins and I are working on finding court records concerning our Floyd ancestors, and quite a bit of eye-opening information has come to light.
- I learned from a cousin on the Brinlee line that we have a match with a Tennessee Brinley family that may help us break through the brick wall (find the parents of Hiram and George Brinlee) and some other Brinlee cousins sent me some wonderful Brinlee family photos.
- I have had a ton of fun reading genealogy blogs and corresponding with other genealogy bloggers, as well as with quite a few distant relatives and other people who have contacted me through my blog.
- I have attended most of my local genealogical society’s meetings as well as the Spring Conference and Fall Fair and learned a great deal.
So Genea-Santa, I am very happy with this year and I hope my list for next year is not asking too much. I have been a pretty good girl – I have done some transcribing, researched a branch of my daughter’s host mother’s family, done a couple of volunteer genealogy-related translations, and was able to post a number of pictures on Findagrave. I finished inputting Norman family information up through the great-great-grandparent level and have started on my last known set of great-great grandparents, Hiram Brinlee and Betsey McKinney.
1. My first request is a repeat of last year’s request: I would like one document – any type of document, but I would like for the document to have had a reliable source – that provides the names of my great-grandmother Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee’s parents.
2. If it’s not too much trouble, I would like to be able to attend the National Genealogical Society conference in Charleston, South Carolina. We have already made hotel reservations, but everything depends on my daughter’s final exam schedule in college working out – her exams will need to be early in May!
3. A chance to go back to Greenville for some research and to see more of the city would be awesome, and we would like to include some time in neighboring Anderson County as well.
4. And, as ever, I complete my list with one of the most difficult items to find of all: more time.
Please take it easy out there flying, Genea-Santa; there are going to be all kinds of crazy drivers in the air. I will leave out a kolache, some chocolate chip cookies, and, if that is not enough, some awesome whisky (to be taken in moderation in view of the “crazy drivers”).
Yours faithfully,
Greta
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: GeneaLeaks
Inspired by Travis LeMaster’s post on his TJLGenes blog on GeneaLeaks this week, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has issued this weeks challenge:
1) For SNGF, please answer one or more of these questions:
* What GeneaLeak do you want to expose to the world from your own research or experience? Do it!
* What GeneaLeak about your own family history research would you like exposed to help you in your genealogy pursuit?
* What GeneaLeak about genealogy websites, collection providers, genealogy software or genealogy bloggers, writers, or colleagues would you like to see exposed?
My GeneaLeak about my own family history research: In July 1872 Hiram Brinlee, Sr. was forced to sell 430 acres in Bowie County, Texas to pay plaintiff Abraham Rhine in a lawsuit. It is believed that he had to sell the land to pay debts he incurred as a result of legal fees involved in the defense of his sons David Francis Brinlee and William Hiram Brinlee, who were charged with murdering George Walters in Collin County, Texas.
The GeneaLeak I need: The parents of Susan Elizabeth Smith (Bonner) (Brinlee). Some pictures would be nice, too – you know, to get readers’ interest.
The GeneaLeak I want to see: How decisions are made on which new databases are added to Ancestry.com and how to influence those decisions. Just sayin’….
1) For SNGF, please answer one or more of these questions:
* What GeneaLeak do you want to expose to the world from your own research or experience? Do it!
* What GeneaLeak about your own family history research would you like exposed to help you in your genealogy pursuit?
* What GeneaLeak about genealogy websites, collection providers, genealogy software or genealogy bloggers, writers, or colleagues would you like to see exposed?
My GeneaLeak about my own family history research: In July 1872 Hiram Brinlee, Sr. was forced to sell 430 acres in Bowie County, Texas to pay plaintiff Abraham Rhine in a lawsuit. It is believed that he had to sell the land to pay debts he incurred as a result of legal fees involved in the defense of his sons David Francis Brinlee and William Hiram Brinlee, who were charged with murdering George Walters in Collin County, Texas.
The GeneaLeak I need: The parents of Susan Elizabeth Smith (Bonner) (Brinlee). Some pictures would be nice, too – you know, to get readers’ interest.
The GeneaLeak I want to see: How decisions are made on which new databases are added to Ancestry.com and how to influence those decisions. Just sayin’….
Saturday, October 16, 2010
SNGF: Who’s To Blame?
I really love Randy’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun theme this week, and for a special reason that I’ll detail below.
Randy’s instructions are in bold and my answers follow them.
1) Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:
I had already read Brenda’s article when I saw the SNGF challenge. I enjoyed Brenda’s post because I love to read about what lured people into genealogy. And in this case Brenda asks not just “how” but also “who.”
* Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?
Yes, I can, although there were several other people who aided and abetted by making the ground fertile so that the seed of genealogy obsession could sprout: my mother, who often told family stories (and whom I often begged to “tell me about the Olden Days,” to much laughter), various members of her family who participated in storytelling at family gatherings, my father and Uncle Bill, who let little bits of information drop about their family (“Grandma started doin’ Brinlee family history but got disgusted when she kept turnin’ up criminals and horse thieves who got themselves hanged”), and my Cousin Paul, who passed me a copy of the History of the Floyd Family.
But the person who is really guilty is the author of the History of the Floyd Family, my second-cousin Eunice. And why is this so special just now?
Recently two distant Floyd cousins, Randy and Rich, got in touch with me after finding Floyd articles on my blog. It turns out that they have a whole slew of information as well as family letters on the family of Eunice’s and my great-great grandfather (and brick wall), George Floyd. The letters include one from our great-grandfather Charles Augustus Floyd and several written by my grandmother’s sister Lannie Angelina Floyd only a few years before she died after giving birth to her first child. There is rich information on George’s siblings (only one of whom, Henry, was our branch of the family even vaguely aware of) and Rich’s conclusion on the identity George’s father, which coincides with Eunice’s original guess.
I have corresponded with Eunice a number of times and exchanged family history stories and information, but the demands of life have pulled one or the other of us away from “the hunt” at times. But this recent windfall, additionally fueled by some interesting articles I have found on our Texas Floyd family through my recent subscription to Genealogy Bank, has gotten Eunice “back into the game,” as well as another Floyd descendant family, Jim and Patsy (Eunice’s first cousins and my second cousins).
Now we are merrily turning up more information than we had thought possible and shooting off e-mails about our finds. Of course, each mystery solved is turning out to give rise to several new mysteries. I found reference to a lawsuit in one of the articles, gave Eunice the number, and she went to the library, printed off the file, and sent it to me. This is the second big family lawsuit file I’ve acquired in little more than a month!
So, my research is just now coming full circle, in a way. I’m doing it the way I enjoy it most – with “cousin co-conspirators” – and having a blast!
* Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?
Sort of, and thank goodness my first look at a family history was a wonderful example of “how to do it.” Back in the 1990s, Eunice did it the old-fashioned way: books and microfilm at the library and interviewing relatives. And this was the information I started with in my first tentative Internet searches. The fact that I could push some of the lines back using just names, dates, and places that Eunice had provided (especially some tantalizingly unusual middle names) opened my eyes to how much I could find and the fact that I could keep going. But for the Floyd line itself, I was not able to add much to what Eunice had found, though I did find a marriage certificate for George Floyd and Nancy Finley, some Illinois land documents for George and Henry Floyd, and a few additional descendants of George’s other sons.
* Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?
No. One of my daughters had a family tree project in elementary school, but that was before I got involved in genealogy, and I was not able to give her much information from my side.
* If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.
I’ve only been researching for five years.
2) Write your responses on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a note or comment on Facebook.
Here it is.
Randy’s instructions are in bold and my answers follow them.
1) Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:
I had already read Brenda’s article when I saw the SNGF challenge. I enjoyed Brenda’s post because I love to read about what lured people into genealogy. And in this case Brenda asks not just “how” but also “who.”
* Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?
Yes, I can, although there were several other people who aided and abetted by making the ground fertile so that the seed of genealogy obsession could sprout: my mother, who often told family stories (and whom I often begged to “tell me about the Olden Days,” to much laughter), various members of her family who participated in storytelling at family gatherings, my father and Uncle Bill, who let little bits of information drop about their family (“Grandma started doin’ Brinlee family history but got disgusted when she kept turnin’ up criminals and horse thieves who got themselves hanged”), and my Cousin Paul, who passed me a copy of the History of the Floyd Family.
But the person who is really guilty is the author of the History of the Floyd Family, my second-cousin Eunice. And why is this so special just now?
Recently two distant Floyd cousins, Randy and Rich, got in touch with me after finding Floyd articles on my blog. It turns out that they have a whole slew of information as well as family letters on the family of Eunice’s and my great-great grandfather (and brick wall), George Floyd. The letters include one from our great-grandfather Charles Augustus Floyd and several written by my grandmother’s sister Lannie Angelina Floyd only a few years before she died after giving birth to her first child. There is rich information on George’s siblings (only one of whom, Henry, was our branch of the family even vaguely aware of) and Rich’s conclusion on the identity George’s father, which coincides with Eunice’s original guess.
I have corresponded with Eunice a number of times and exchanged family history stories and information, but the demands of life have pulled one or the other of us away from “the hunt” at times. But this recent windfall, additionally fueled by some interesting articles I have found on our Texas Floyd family through my recent subscription to Genealogy Bank, has gotten Eunice “back into the game,” as well as another Floyd descendant family, Jim and Patsy (Eunice’s first cousins and my second cousins).
Now we are merrily turning up more information than we had thought possible and shooting off e-mails about our finds. Of course, each mystery solved is turning out to give rise to several new mysteries. I found reference to a lawsuit in one of the articles, gave Eunice the number, and she went to the library, printed off the file, and sent it to me. This is the second big family lawsuit file I’ve acquired in little more than a month!
So, my research is just now coming full circle, in a way. I’m doing it the way I enjoy it most – with “cousin co-conspirators” – and having a blast!
* Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?
Sort of, and thank goodness my first look at a family history was a wonderful example of “how to do it.” Back in the 1990s, Eunice did it the old-fashioned way: books and microfilm at the library and interviewing relatives. And this was the information I started with in my first tentative Internet searches. The fact that I could push some of the lines back using just names, dates, and places that Eunice had provided (especially some tantalizingly unusual middle names) opened my eyes to how much I could find and the fact that I could keep going. But for the Floyd line itself, I was not able to add much to what Eunice had found, though I did find a marriage certificate for George Floyd and Nancy Finley, some Illinois land documents for George and Henry Floyd, and a few additional descendants of George’s other sons.
* Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?
No. One of my daughters had a family tree project in elementary school, but that was before I got involved in genealogy, and I was not able to give her much information from my side.
* If you have been researching many years, it may be hard to pinpoint one reason for this journey.
I’ve only been researching for five years.
2) Write your responses on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a note or comment on Facebook.
Here it is.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Make Your Own Poster
In response to Randy Seaver's latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge, I created a milk carton "Missing" ad for one of my unidentified photos.
The instructions were as follows:
1) Go to the www.ImageChef.com website and explore their FREE offerings. Click on the "Create" button, or choose to make a slideshow or posters from their main page (there are more than one screen of poster backgrounds).
2) Make one or more posters or other creation - perhaps they relate to genealogy or your own family history.
Thanks Randy (and Sheri!). These are addictive!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Why Do I Pursue Genealogy?
Another fabulous Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings:
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Think about the question: "Why do I pursue genealogy and family history research?"
2) Tell us about it on your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.
I do genealogy because I can’t not do it; after five short years, it has become a part of who I am.
It is intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying. You get to be a cross between a detective and a scholarly researcher. Sometimes you are pursuing the thinnest of clues (detective), and other times you are amassing, comparing and cross-checking, and filtering out many different pieces of information from sources of widely varying thoroughness and reliability (researcher). Depending on your mood on any given day, you can assume one role or the other, or both.
And, as many puzzles as you solve, there is no end of them. There will always be another ancestor to find, another distant cousin or uncle who has mysteriously disappeared, another strange fact that doesn’t fit in but has to fit in. You are always learning something new in genealogy.
Got some OCD tendencies? Filling in those little boxes can be very satisfying. Have some unfulfilled artistic leanings? Artful storytelling or visually beautiful presentation of photographs, family trees, or old documents can be a major part of your family research. Love history? You will never feel so connected to history as you do when you learn that one of your ancestors was actually present at some historical event. Have a philosophical bent? Family research allows you to see life in both macrocosm and microcosm: it provides perspective while filling in little details. Your own life doesn’t seem so difficult after you compare it to the hardships and heartbreaks your ancestors had to endure.
Genealogy can be a solitary pursuit if you wish, but it is one of those passionately pursued pastimes that is a natural social activity: connecting with family, connecting with other researchers, connecting with an audience or classroom, and, if the results of your research are preserved, connecting with future generations. Collaboration actually produces better results.
Genealogical research can be adapted to your circumstances and mood. Like to travel? There are road trips for research, strolls through cemeteries, attendance at conferences and conventions, and visits to interview family members. Like to get “goodies” in the mail? There is nothing like getting a big, fat envelope from the archives. Prefer to be a Super Surfer of the Internet and a master operator of your genealogy program from the comfort of your home office? There are genea-gizmos and whizbang gadgets for genealogists galore. Don’t have much to spend on genealogy? There is an entire world of free genealogy programs, free online databases, and RAOGK.
And that’s just skimming the surface.
Thanks, Randy. This is one of my favorite subjects.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Think about the question: "Why do I pursue genealogy and family history research?"
2) Tell us about it on your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.
I do genealogy because I can’t not do it; after five short years, it has become a part of who I am.
It is intellectually stimulating and emotionally satisfying. You get to be a cross between a detective and a scholarly researcher. Sometimes you are pursuing the thinnest of clues (detective), and other times you are amassing, comparing and cross-checking, and filtering out many different pieces of information from sources of widely varying thoroughness and reliability (researcher). Depending on your mood on any given day, you can assume one role or the other, or both.
And, as many puzzles as you solve, there is no end of them. There will always be another ancestor to find, another distant cousin or uncle who has mysteriously disappeared, another strange fact that doesn’t fit in but has to fit in. You are always learning something new in genealogy.
Got some OCD tendencies? Filling in those little boxes can be very satisfying. Have some unfulfilled artistic leanings? Artful storytelling or visually beautiful presentation of photographs, family trees, or old documents can be a major part of your family research. Love history? You will never feel so connected to history as you do when you learn that one of your ancestors was actually present at some historical event. Have a philosophical bent? Family research allows you to see life in both macrocosm and microcosm: it provides perspective while filling in little details. Your own life doesn’t seem so difficult after you compare it to the hardships and heartbreaks your ancestors had to endure.
Genealogy can be a solitary pursuit if you wish, but it is one of those passionately pursued pastimes that is a natural social activity: connecting with family, connecting with other researchers, connecting with an audience or classroom, and, if the results of your research are preserved, connecting with future generations. Collaboration actually produces better results.
Genealogical research can be adapted to your circumstances and mood. Like to travel? There are road trips for research, strolls through cemeteries, attendance at conferences and conventions, and visits to interview family members. Like to get “goodies” in the mail? There is nothing like getting a big, fat envelope from the archives. Prefer to be a Super Surfer of the Internet and a master operator of your genealogy program from the comfort of your home office? There are genea-gizmos and whizbang gadgets for genealogists galore. Don’t have much to spend on genealogy? There is an entire world of free genealogy programs, free online databases, and RAOGK.
And that’s just skimming the surface.
Thanks, Randy. This is one of my favorite subjects.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: A Prolific Dad
Randy at Genea-Musings has assigned the following SNGF assignment for this Father’s Day weekend:
Your mission for Father's Day, if you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Determine who is one of the most prolific fathers in your genealogy database or in your ancestry. By prolific, I mean the one who fathered the most children.
2) Tell us about him in your own blog post, in comments to this blog post, or in comments on Facebook.
This is an easy one; I don’t even have to think about it. It would be Joseph Madison Carroll Norman, my great-great grandfather (father’s mother’s father’s father). By three wives he had at least 26 children (possibly 27, but there is uncertainty as to one of the children who died very young). You can see from the list below why I have been whining so much for the past few months over getting the basic information entered for this family; it has been a labor of love, but sticking with it was sometimes a real pain. Here are the 23 whose names are known plus three infants, names unknown, that family historians are pretty certain about:
Joseph Madison Carroll Norman
b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama
d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas
& Rebecca Monk
b. 1837, Alabama
m. 4 Dec 1851, Talladega, Alabama
|--Cyntha Ann Norman
|----b. 1856, Alabama
|--William Henry “Jack” Norman
|----b. 15 Mar 1858, Alabama
|----d. 19 Dec 1939, Leonard, Fannin County, Texas
|---& Sarah Jane Sisson
|----b. 14 Feb 1855, Alabama
|----d. 25 Apr 1937, Fannin County, Texas
|----m. 1879
|--Leatha L. Norman
|----b. 3 Sep 1859, Alabama
|----d. 27 Sep 1909
|---& Thomas Wiley Huff
|----b. 29 Mar 1861, Alabama
|----d. 21 May 1931
|----m. 12 May 1879, Cave Springs, GA
|--Josephus James “J. J.”/”Joe”/”Jode” Norman
|----b. 1 May 1861, Alabama
|----d. 12 Jun 1924, Lamasco, Fannin, Texas
|---& Martha King
|----b. 5 Sep 1865, Arkansas
|----d. 3 Jun 1949, Bonham, Fannin Co., TX
|--Thomas Frank Norman
|----b. 1862, Alabama
|----d. ca 1912, Texas
|---& Letha/Lillie Brown
|----b. Oct 1873, Texas
|----d. ca 1906, Texas
|--Betsy Norman
|--Infant Norman
Joseph Madison Carroll Norman
b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama
d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas
& Mary Patterson
m. 9 Mar 1864, Talladega, Alabama
|--Susan A. “Sudie” Norman*
|----b. 18 Dec 1864, Alabama
|----d. 20 Jul 1908, Peak, Garland Co., Arkansas
|---& William A. Cannon
|----b. 7 Jan 1862
|----d. 4 Mar 1890
|----m. 3 Oct 1882
|--Susan A. “Sudie” Norman*
|----b. 18 Dec 1864, Alabama
|----d. 20 Jul 1908, Peak, Garland Co., Arkansas
|---& Mitchell C. Blackburn
|----b. 25 Apr 1851, Missouri
|----d. 8 Jan 1916
|----m. 11 Jul 1892, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Norman
|--John Norman
|----b. 1867, Alabama
|--Norman
|--Martha Rebecca Norman
|----b. 21 Sep 1871, Alabama
|----d. 18 Jun 1962, Albuquerque, New Mexico
|---& Enoch R. Fuller
|----b. Mar 1859, Arkansas
|----d. bef 1920
|----m. 6 Feb 1887, Pineland, Pike Co., Arkansas
|--Loney Norman
|--Voney Norman
|--Newton Leonard Norman*
|----b. 15 Jan 1871, Alabama
|----d. 4 Jan 1959
|---& Rebecca Dulcenia Weston
|----b. 22 Aug 1870
|----d. 30 Jul 1899
|----m. 28 Sep 1890, Garland County, Arkansas
|--Newton Leonard Norman*
|----b. 15 Jan 1871, Alabama
|----d. 4 Jan 1959
|---& Lillie Catherine Kinsey
|----b. 22 Jun 1882, Arkansas
|----d. 20 Mar 1915, Arkansas
|--Newton Leonard Norman*
|----b. 15 Jan 1871, Alabama
|----d. 4 Jan 1959
|---& Elsie Camilla Jones
|--Elijah “Lige” Norman*
|----b. 11 Jan 1874, Alabama
|----d. 15 Feb 1953
|---& Margaret Agnes Kinsey
|----b. 26 Jan 1874
|----d. 28 Sep 1918
|----m. 18 Oct 1894
|--Elijah “Lige” Norman*
|----b. 11 Jan 1874, Alabama
|----d. 15 Feb 1953
|---& Pellie Barthena Moore
|----b. 1 Oct 1877
|----d. 8 Jul 1970
|----m. 20 Aug 1919, Garland County, Arkansas
|--Mary Norman
|----b. 1876, Alabama
Joseph Madison Carroll Norman
b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama
d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas
& Mary Frances Karr
b. 22 Oct 1854
d. 17 Mar 1931, Arkansas
m. 1 Jun 1880
|--Sallie Norman
|----b. ca 1881
|--Joseph David “Wiley” Norman
|----b. 4 Jul 1881, Arkansas
|----d. 25 Jan 1957
|--& Fanny Gertrude “Gertie” Helms
|----b. 18 Aug 1886, Arkansas
|----d. 23 Feb 1971
|----m. 17 Dec 1905, Meyers, Garland, Arkansas
|--Jessie “Judge Spivey” Norman*
|----b. 5 Dec 1883, Arkansas
|----d. 26 Feb 1969
|---& Caldonia Emiline “Callie” Tallent
|----b. 3 Nov 1883, Arkansas
|----d. 4 Jun 1926
|--Jessie “Judge Spivey” Norman*
|----b. 5 Dec 1883, Arkansas
|----d. 26 Feb 1969
|---& Annie Butram
|----b. ca 1909
|----m. 5 Nov 1937, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Margaret D. “Maggie” Norman
|----b. 11 Jun 1887, Arkansas
|----d. 24 Mar 1973, Hot Springs National Park, Garland, Arkansas
|---& Joel Boston “Boss” Weston
|----b. 28 Dec 1885, Arkansas
|----d. 9 Nov 1965
|----m. 21 Jul 1903, Montgomery Co., Arkansas
|--Sanford “Sam” Norman
|----b. 3 Mar 1888, Arkansas
|----d. 1 Nov 1960
|---& Isabelle “Belle” Hickman
|----b. 4 Sep 1891, Arkansas
|----d. 20 Mar 1966
|----m. 19 Mar 1911, Garland County, Arkansas
|--Benjamin Norman
|----b. 1891, Arkansas
|----d. 15 Aug 1916, Garland Co., Arkansas
|---& Jeanette “Nettie” Cearley
|----b. 12 Aug 1891, Arkansas
|----d. 1 Jun 1968, Vacaville, Solano, California
|----m. 25 Aug 1912, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Abraham Norman
|----b. 10 Sep 1893, Meyer, Garland, Arkansas
|----d. 14 Jul 1965
|--Dora Belle Norman
|----b. Apr 1897, Arkansas
|---& Henry Alexander Patterson
|----b. 23 Mar 1883, Springtown, Texas
|----d. 2 Aug 1959, Vera, Knox County, Texas
|----m. 4 Mar 1923, Meyer, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Reuben E. Norman
|----b. 14 Aug 1898, Arkansas
|----d. 19 Nov 1911
Did I mention that I tried to track down as many descendants of JMC Norman as I could? I have concluded that I must be related to at least half the people in the United States with Southern family connections. No, really.
Your mission for Father's Day, if you decide to accept it, is to:
1) Determine who is one of the most prolific fathers in your genealogy database or in your ancestry. By prolific, I mean the one who fathered the most children.
2) Tell us about him in your own blog post, in comments to this blog post, or in comments on Facebook.
This is an easy one; I don’t even have to think about it. It would be Joseph Madison Carroll Norman, my great-great grandfather (father’s mother’s father’s father). By three wives he had at least 26 children (possibly 27, but there is uncertainty as to one of the children who died very young). You can see from the list below why I have been whining so much for the past few months over getting the basic information entered for this family; it has been a labor of love, but sticking with it was sometimes a real pain. Here are the 23 whose names are known plus three infants, names unknown, that family historians are pretty certain about:
Joseph Madison Carroll Norman
b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama
d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas
& Rebecca Monk
b. 1837, Alabama
m. 4 Dec 1851, Talladega, Alabama
|--Cyntha Ann Norman
|----b. 1856, Alabama
|--William Henry “Jack” Norman
|----b. 15 Mar 1858, Alabama
|----d. 19 Dec 1939, Leonard, Fannin County, Texas
|---& Sarah Jane Sisson
|----b. 14 Feb 1855, Alabama
|----d. 25 Apr 1937, Fannin County, Texas
|----m. 1879
|--Leatha L. Norman
|----b. 3 Sep 1859, Alabama
|----d. 27 Sep 1909
|---& Thomas Wiley Huff
|----b. 29 Mar 1861, Alabama
|----d. 21 May 1931
|----m. 12 May 1879, Cave Springs, GA
|--Josephus James “J. J.”/”Joe”/”Jode” Norman
|----b. 1 May 1861, Alabama
|----d. 12 Jun 1924, Lamasco, Fannin, Texas
|---& Martha King
|----b. 5 Sep 1865, Arkansas
|----d. 3 Jun 1949, Bonham, Fannin Co., TX
|--Thomas Frank Norman
|----b. 1862, Alabama
|----d. ca 1912, Texas
|---& Letha/Lillie Brown
|----b. Oct 1873, Texas
|----d. ca 1906, Texas
|--Betsy Norman
|--Infant Norman
Joseph Madison Carroll Norman
b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama
d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas
& Mary Patterson
m. 9 Mar 1864, Talladega, Alabama
|--Susan A. “Sudie” Norman*
|----b. 18 Dec 1864, Alabama
|----d. 20 Jul 1908, Peak, Garland Co., Arkansas
|---& William A. Cannon
|----b. 7 Jan 1862
|----d. 4 Mar 1890
|----m. 3 Oct 1882
|--Susan A. “Sudie” Norman*
|----b. 18 Dec 1864, Alabama
|----d. 20 Jul 1908, Peak, Garland Co., Arkansas
|---& Mitchell C. Blackburn
|----b. 25 Apr 1851, Missouri
|----d. 8 Jan 1916
|----m. 11 Jul 1892, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Norman
|--John Norman
|----b. 1867, Alabama
|--Norman
|--Martha Rebecca Norman
|----b. 21 Sep 1871, Alabama
|----d. 18 Jun 1962, Albuquerque, New Mexico
|---& Enoch R. Fuller
|----b. Mar 1859, Arkansas
|----d. bef 1920
|----m. 6 Feb 1887, Pineland, Pike Co., Arkansas
|--Loney Norman
|--Voney Norman
|--Newton Leonard Norman*
|----b. 15 Jan 1871, Alabama
|----d. 4 Jan 1959
|---& Rebecca Dulcenia Weston
|----b. 22 Aug 1870
|----d. 30 Jul 1899
|----m. 28 Sep 1890, Garland County, Arkansas
|--Newton Leonard Norman*
|----b. 15 Jan 1871, Alabama
|----d. 4 Jan 1959
|---& Lillie Catherine Kinsey
|----b. 22 Jun 1882, Arkansas
|----d. 20 Mar 1915, Arkansas
|--Newton Leonard Norman*
|----b. 15 Jan 1871, Alabama
|----d. 4 Jan 1959
|---& Elsie Camilla Jones
|--Elijah “Lige” Norman*
|----b. 11 Jan 1874, Alabama
|----d. 15 Feb 1953
|---& Margaret Agnes Kinsey
|----b. 26 Jan 1874
|----d. 28 Sep 1918
|----m. 18 Oct 1894
|--Elijah “Lige” Norman*
|----b. 11 Jan 1874, Alabama
|----d. 15 Feb 1953
|---& Pellie Barthena Moore
|----b. 1 Oct 1877
|----d. 8 Jul 1970
|----m. 20 Aug 1919, Garland County, Arkansas
|--Mary Norman
|----b. 1876, Alabama
Joseph Madison Carroll Norman
b. 8 Jun 1833, Alabama
d. 1 Apr 1901, Arkansas
& Mary Frances Karr
b. 22 Oct 1854
d. 17 Mar 1931, Arkansas
m. 1 Jun 1880
|--Sallie Norman
|----b. ca 1881
|--Joseph David “Wiley” Norman
|----b. 4 Jul 1881, Arkansas
|----d. 25 Jan 1957
|--& Fanny Gertrude “Gertie” Helms
|----b. 18 Aug 1886, Arkansas
|----d. 23 Feb 1971
|----m. 17 Dec 1905, Meyers, Garland, Arkansas
|--Jessie “Judge Spivey” Norman*
|----b. 5 Dec 1883, Arkansas
|----d. 26 Feb 1969
|---& Caldonia Emiline “Callie” Tallent
|----b. 3 Nov 1883, Arkansas
|----d. 4 Jun 1926
|--Jessie “Judge Spivey” Norman*
|----b. 5 Dec 1883, Arkansas
|----d. 26 Feb 1969
|---& Annie Butram
|----b. ca 1909
|----m. 5 Nov 1937, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Margaret D. “Maggie” Norman
|----b. 11 Jun 1887, Arkansas
|----d. 24 Mar 1973, Hot Springs National Park, Garland, Arkansas
|---& Joel Boston “Boss” Weston
|----b. 28 Dec 1885, Arkansas
|----d. 9 Nov 1965
|----m. 21 Jul 1903, Montgomery Co., Arkansas
|--Sanford “Sam” Norman
|----b. 3 Mar 1888, Arkansas
|----d. 1 Nov 1960
|---& Isabelle “Belle” Hickman
|----b. 4 Sep 1891, Arkansas
|----d. 20 Mar 1966
|----m. 19 Mar 1911, Garland County, Arkansas
|--Benjamin Norman
|----b. 1891, Arkansas
|----d. 15 Aug 1916, Garland Co., Arkansas
|---& Jeanette “Nettie” Cearley
|----b. 12 Aug 1891, Arkansas
|----d. 1 Jun 1968, Vacaville, Solano, California
|----m. 25 Aug 1912, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Abraham Norman
|----b. 10 Sep 1893, Meyer, Garland, Arkansas
|----d. 14 Jul 1965
|--Dora Belle Norman
|----b. Apr 1897, Arkansas
|---& Henry Alexander Patterson
|----b. 23 Mar 1883, Springtown, Texas
|----d. 2 Aug 1959, Vera, Knox County, Texas
|----m. 4 Mar 1923, Meyer, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Reuben E. Norman
|----b. 14 Aug 1898, Arkansas
|----d. 19 Nov 1911
Did I mention that I tried to track down as many descendants of JMC Norman as I could? I have concluded that I must be related to at least half the people in the United States with Southern family connections. No, really.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Matrilineal Line
Over at Genea-Musings Randy Seaver’s latest Saturday Night Fun assignment is:
1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!
2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.
On short notice, since some of these ladies are not yet entered into my database, here is what I came up with:
Grace Madeline Moore (1917 TX -1987 TX)
Eula Amanda Floyd (1883 TX -1972 CA) m. Kirby Runion Moore
Angeline Elizabeth Matlock (1847 KY -1916 TX) m. Charles Augustus Floyd
Nancy Malvina Harris (1827 KY – 1862 TX) m. Absalom Matlock
Martha E. Skiles (1805 KY-1861 TX) m. Thomas Highsmith Harris
Elizabeth Hamilton (1785 VA -1845 KY) m. Henry Skiles III
Isabel Clemons (1751 VA – 1846 VA) m. William Hamilton
Mary Campbell (ca 1706 Northern Ireland – bef 1759 VA) m. Jacob Clemons
Sarah Gay m. William Campbell
(Not too sure about the last two. Mary looks kind of old to be Isabel's mother.)
I have not yet had my mitochondrial DNA tested, but I would like to. Recently I’ve been reading Bryan Sykes’ Saxons, Vikings, and Celts and his maps of the maternal clans of the British Isles are interesting.
1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you!
2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in.
On short notice, since some of these ladies are not yet entered into my database, here is what I came up with:
Grace Madeline Moore (1917 TX -1987 TX)
Eula Amanda Floyd (1883 TX -1972 CA) m. Kirby Runion Moore
Angeline Elizabeth Matlock (1847 KY -1916 TX) m. Charles Augustus Floyd
Nancy Malvina Harris (1827 KY – 1862 TX) m. Absalom Matlock
Martha E. Skiles (1805 KY-1861 TX) m. Thomas Highsmith Harris
Elizabeth Hamilton (1785 VA -1845 KY) m. Henry Skiles III
Isabel Clemons (1751 VA – 1846 VA) m. William Hamilton
Mary Campbell (ca 1706 Northern Ireland – bef 1759 VA) m. Jacob Clemons
Sarah Gay m. William Campbell
(Not too sure about the last two. Mary looks kind of old to be Isabel's mother.)
I have not yet had my mitochondrial DNA tested, but I would like to. Recently I’ve been reading Bryan Sykes’ Saxons, Vikings, and Celts and his maps of the maternal clans of the British Isles are interesting.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: I’m on TV!
Here is Randy Seaver’s (Genea-Musings) latest genea-challenge:
1) Pretend that you are one of the subjects on the Who Do You Think You Are? show on NBC TV.
2) Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long show? What stories would be told, and what places would you visit?
The first ancestor I would feature would be my great-great uncle, William Henry Lewis, who was the sheriff of Dallas County from 1886 to 1892. We would start out at his birthplace, Anderson County, South Carolina. Further research would put us in contact with John Hornady, the gentleman who provided me with so much information and generously passed to me the Lewis family artifacts (letters, documents, pictures) that he had in his possession. This would give us information on Henry’s adventures as sheriff – stopping two lynchings, bringing in various other criminals, and others – as well as his marriage to the love of his life, Julia Mister, and their role in bringing up the children of Julia’s good friend Bettie Curtice Rosser following Bettie’s death. That portion of the show would take part in Dallas County. It would be neat if we could locate and interview descendants of A. C. Thurman, the gentleman who wrote the letter featured in one of the posts below.
The second relative would probably be my great-great grandfather Hiram Brinlee, Sr. We would tell the story of how he and his brother George went from Kentucky to Texas with Collin and Daniel McKinney and how the two brothers married Daniel McKinney’s daughters. The second part of the story would cover their trial(s) for murder and attempted murder during the days of the Republic of Texas. Locations would be Collin County, Texas, specifically the “Four Corners” of Texas where Grayson, Fannin, Hunt, and Collin counties meet, as well as a repository holding records of the Republic of Texas.
[The genea-geek in me actually wants to cover the story of my great-great uncle Preston Moore as related in Searching for Preston Moore, but that’s probably not considered exciting enough for prime-time TV.]
1) Pretend that you are one of the subjects on the Who Do You Think You Are? show on NBC TV.
2) Which of your ancestors (maximum of two) would be featured on your hour-long show? What stories would be told, and what places would you visit?
The first ancestor I would feature would be my great-great uncle, William Henry Lewis, who was the sheriff of Dallas County from 1886 to 1892. We would start out at his birthplace, Anderson County, South Carolina. Further research would put us in contact with John Hornady, the gentleman who provided me with so much information and generously passed to me the Lewis family artifacts (letters, documents, pictures) that he had in his possession. This would give us information on Henry’s adventures as sheriff – stopping two lynchings, bringing in various other criminals, and others – as well as his marriage to the love of his life, Julia Mister, and their role in bringing up the children of Julia’s good friend Bettie Curtice Rosser following Bettie’s death. That portion of the show would take part in Dallas County. It would be neat if we could locate and interview descendants of A. C. Thurman, the gentleman who wrote the letter featured in one of the posts below.
The second relative would probably be my great-great grandfather Hiram Brinlee, Sr. We would tell the story of how he and his brother George went from Kentucky to Texas with Collin and Daniel McKinney and how the two brothers married Daniel McKinney’s daughters. The second part of the story would cover their trial(s) for murder and attempted murder during the days of the Republic of Texas. Locations would be Collin County, Texas, specifically the “Four Corners” of Texas where Grayson, Fannin, Hunt, and Collin counties meet, as well as a repository holding records of the Republic of Texas.
[The genea-geek in me actually wants to cover the story of my great-great uncle Preston Moore as related in Searching for Preston Moore, but that’s probably not considered exciting enough for prime-time TV.]
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Ah-Ha! Moments
Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has posed the following challenge:
1) Think of any number of genealogy events or moments that make you have a genealogy happy dance, an ah-ha moment, or a genea-gasm.
2) Tell us about them in a blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.
Some of my Happy Dance moments were:
Finding a death certificate on line for my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore that listed both of his parents; until that time I knew only that my maternal grandfather’s name was something like Perrin Moore.
Finding genealogy forum posts on Harlston Perrin Moore’s parents Spencer and Emily Moore that included where they had lived and the names of their other children.
Finding a message in an archived mailing list that mentioned that Bud Mathis Moore of Greenville County, SC had a brother named Spencer who “lived over in Anderson County and had a son named Commie” – that would have been Spencer’s son Commodore Worth Moore – so that I knew I had to search for Spencer’s family in Greenville.
Finding an index entry for the will of a Samuel Moore of Greenville, SC that listed his children Spencer (misspelled “Spencar”), Susannah, and Elizabeth. This listing of my great-great-grandfather Spencer Moores and his two sisters indicated to me that this Samuel Moore was my great-great-great grandfather.
Finding a Lewis family with a daughter Martha of the right age to be my great-grandmother Martha Lewis that met the following requirements: the parents were born in SC but lived in GA around the time that Martha was born (1848 – they were there on the 1850 census) but were back in Anderson Co., SC by the 1860 census so that she could meet and marry Harlston Perrin Moore. In Texas censuses from 1880 on Martha Lewis Moore’s state of birth was given as Georgia and that of her parents was given as South Carolina, therefore ….
An “Ah-Ha!” moment occurred when I finally had a trail for descendants of my great-great uncle David Floyd. My evidence indicated that David’s granddaughter Sada Crum had married a man named Robertson (one of their sons, Clyde, was shown living with her father Mason Crum on the 1920 census), but tracing the history of this family was difficult due to its disintegration and scattering. I found a “Josphes” and “Saddie” Robertson on the 1910 census as the parents of this Clyde Robertson, but in 1920 I could not find them … until I realized that the guy listed as “Seab” Robertson, when I looked at the census, was actually “Seaf” Robertson: Josephus > Seaf. Ah ha!
In a similar case, I realized that an MDL Lee on one census and a Fate Lee on the other census were the same guy: MDL = Marquis de Lafayette > Lafayette > Fayette > Fate. Ah ha!
1) Think of any number of genealogy events or moments that make you have a genealogy happy dance, an ah-ha moment, or a genea-gasm.
2) Tell us about them in a blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.
Some of my Happy Dance moments were:
Finding a death certificate on line for my great-grandfather Harlston Perrin Moore that listed both of his parents; until that time I knew only that my maternal grandfather’s name was something like Perrin Moore.
Finding genealogy forum posts on Harlston Perrin Moore’s parents Spencer and Emily Moore that included where they had lived and the names of their other children.
Finding a message in an archived mailing list that mentioned that Bud Mathis Moore of Greenville County, SC had a brother named Spencer who “lived over in Anderson County and had a son named Commie” – that would have been Spencer’s son Commodore Worth Moore – so that I knew I had to search for Spencer’s family in Greenville.
Finding an index entry for the will of a Samuel Moore of Greenville, SC that listed his children Spencer (misspelled “Spencar”), Susannah, and Elizabeth. This listing of my great-great-grandfather Spencer Moores and his two sisters indicated to me that this Samuel Moore was my great-great-great grandfather.
Finding a Lewis family with a daughter Martha of the right age to be my great-grandmother Martha Lewis that met the following requirements: the parents were born in SC but lived in GA around the time that Martha was born (1848 – they were there on the 1850 census) but were back in Anderson Co., SC by the 1860 census so that she could meet and marry Harlston Perrin Moore. In Texas censuses from 1880 on Martha Lewis Moore’s state of birth was given as Georgia and that of her parents was given as South Carolina, therefore ….
An “Ah-Ha!” moment occurred when I finally had a trail for descendants of my great-great uncle David Floyd. My evidence indicated that David’s granddaughter Sada Crum had married a man named Robertson (one of their sons, Clyde, was shown living with her father Mason Crum on the 1920 census), but tracing the history of this family was difficult due to its disintegration and scattering. I found a “Josphes” and “Saddie” Robertson on the 1910 census as the parents of this Clyde Robertson, but in 1920 I could not find them … until I realized that the guy listed as “Seab” Robertson, when I looked at the census, was actually “Seaf” Robertson: Josephus > Seaf. Ah ha!
In a similar case, I realized that an MDL Lee on one census and a Fate Lee on the other census were the same guy: MDL = Marquis de Lafayette > Lafayette > Fayette > Fate. Ah ha!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My Other Interests
Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has issued this challenge: Tell us about your "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc.
Other than time with my family, my “non-genealogy” interests are:
1. Language. It’s my profession and still accounts for a lot of my spare time, too. Mostly Eastern European languages.
2. Music. I am not a musician of any kind, although I played the oboe in my high school band and took violin lessons for a short time when I was younger. However, I have to have music of some kind to listen to. My family and I attend musical events when we can and I love iTunes and my iPod. A lot of what I listen to is “classical” music or “ethnic” music (includes bluegrass, Cajun, Scandinavian, Breton, Cape Breton, Acadian, Eastern European, Galician, other Celtic).
3. Gardening and enjoying nature. Some people are drawn to the sea. I am drawn to the dirt. I love to try new things, be creative, and take care of “my little plot of land.” This includes the animal visitors, even the pests. I also like to take walks around my neighborhood or in the places we visit, whether city or country.
4. Reading and snooping around in bookstores.
Other than time with my family, my “non-genealogy” interests are:
1. Language. It’s my profession and still accounts for a lot of my spare time, too. Mostly Eastern European languages.
2. Music. I am not a musician of any kind, although I played the oboe in my high school band and took violin lessons for a short time when I was younger. However, I have to have music of some kind to listen to. My family and I attend musical events when we can and I love iTunes and my iPod. A lot of what I listen to is “classical” music or “ethnic” music (includes bluegrass, Cajun, Scandinavian, Breton, Cape Breton, Acadian, Eastern European, Galician, other Celtic).
3. Gardening and enjoying nature. Some people are drawn to the sea. I am drawn to the dirt. I love to try new things, be creative, and take care of “my little plot of land.” This includes the animal visitors, even the pests. I also like to take walks around my neighborhood or in the places we visit, whether city or country.
4. Reading and snooping around in bookstores.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Dear Santa
From Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings: Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission: Impossible music), is to write a nice letter to Genea-Santa Here are the directions:
1) Write a letter to Genea-Santa and ask for only ONE thing. It could be hardware, software, a missing family Bible, a record that you desperately want, etc.
2) Tell Genea-Santa what a good genea-girl or genea-boy you've been this past year and give examples.
Dear Genea-Santa:
I would like one document – any type of document, but I would like for the document to have had a reliable source – that provides the names of my great-grandmother Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee’s parents.
I have been a pretty good genea-girl this year, though I know I could have been much better. For one thing, I was pretty good about keeping my resolution to write down a memory every Monday. There were a few Mondays I missed, but then again, a few memories were written down on different days so they might all add up to 52 at the end of the year. My performance on keeping my other main resolution, transcribing the documentary materials I have, has been rather spotty. I did, however, transcribe about 200 obituaries for the next item, which is completing the first and major phase of one of my big research projects, “The Descendants of Samuel Moore (d. 1828) of Greenville County, South Carolina.”
As for writing up research in my blog: so-so. I was happy to have written up posts on two of my great-great-uncles: William Henry Lewis and Preston E. Moore, both of which, by the way, were Carnival of Genealogy submissions. (There is nothing like the COG to inspire you to get cracking on writing up your research!) I would like to have participated in more carnivals and prompts, but was often too disorganized to do so. In addition, I have not been very good about posting regularly in my two Graveyard Rabbit blogs, The Graveyard Rabbit of Northern Virginia and The Graveyard Rabbit Afield. I hope to do better next year.
1) Write a letter to Genea-Santa and ask for only ONE thing. It could be hardware, software, a missing family Bible, a record that you desperately want, etc.
2) Tell Genea-Santa what a good genea-girl or genea-boy you've been this past year and give examples.
Dear Genea-Santa:
I would like one document – any type of document, but I would like for the document to have had a reliable source – that provides the names of my great-grandmother Susan Elizabeth Smith Bonner Brinlee’s parents.
I have been a pretty good genea-girl this year, though I know I could have been much better. For one thing, I was pretty good about keeping my resolution to write down a memory every Monday. There were a few Mondays I missed, but then again, a few memories were written down on different days so they might all add up to 52 at the end of the year. My performance on keeping my other main resolution, transcribing the documentary materials I have, has been rather spotty. I did, however, transcribe about 200 obituaries for the next item, which is completing the first and major phase of one of my big research projects, “The Descendants of Samuel Moore (d. 1828) of Greenville County, South Carolina.”
As for writing up research in my blog: so-so. I was happy to have written up posts on two of my great-great-uncles: William Henry Lewis and Preston E. Moore, both of which, by the way, were Carnival of Genealogy submissions. (There is nothing like the COG to inspire you to get cracking on writing up your research!) I would like to have participated in more carnivals and prompts, but was often too disorganized to do so. In addition, I have not been very good about posting regularly in my two Graveyard Rabbit blogs, The Graveyard Rabbit of Northern Virginia and The Graveyard Rabbit Afield. I hope to do better next year.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: A Nice Thing
Genea-Musings’ Randy Seaver’s latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge is probably the easiest ever:
1. What is the Nicest Thing another genealogist did for you, or to you, in the last week or so? (If you have no examples for this past week, go back in time - surely someone has done a nice thing for you in recent years!).
It seems various genea-friends (some I know and others I have never even met, not even online!) are doing something nice for me at least once a week, and some weeks are real bonanza weeks. In addition to this last week I’d like to mention some kind favors done for me in recent months.
Just this last week Linda Hughes Hiser at Flipside nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. The lovely comments and words of encouragement that people leave on this blog are also Nice Things.
Then there is Tipper at The Blind Pig and the Acorn who posted an article by Ethelene Dyer Jones in which I recognized a family name; Tipper kindly put me in touch with Ethelene to confirm that there was indeed a family connection.
This last week I posted a list of Texas-connected genea-bloggers. I should have mentioned that two of them, Vickie Everhart of BeNotForgot and Patti Browning of Consanguinity, had volunteered to do look-ups for me in their local area when they learned that some of my family lines are from there.
I have mentioned in a number of posts how people have generously sent me information and family pictures; recently some of my Norman relatives – Pat D. and Chuck G. – sent me some photos of relatives I had never seen before, including my first photo of a great-great-grandparent (the prolific Joseph Madison Carroll Norman). The pictures you may have seen on this blog of my distant Brinlee relatives were provided by ace researchers Gale W. and Edna S.
The South Carolina researcher, Kelly O., who has been providing me with those many Moore obituaries will often find a death certificate or related article on a relative that she will just add into the bunch without charge; she has also given me valuable information on obtaining membership in the DAR and other societies.
My cousin Carolyn L. has provided me with many wonderful family stories. I have received many useful pointers and much encouragement from my fifth cousin through the Lewis line, Gayle H. When I first got into genealogy, the generosity of my third cousin Jo Ann S. with both information and photographs left me humbled, and I have tried ever since to emulate her generosity when I meet “research relatives.”
These are just a few of many examples. This kind of generosity ultimately serves the noble goal of increasing our knowledge. One bit of information may provide the clue to another researcher that helps break down a brick wall. One picture can mean the world to someone who has never seen a picture of that relative before. One word of encouragement can keep a discouraged researcher “in the game” to make new discoveries that can then be shared. The cumulative impact of an act of kindness cannot be overstated.
1. What is the Nicest Thing another genealogist did for you, or to you, in the last week or so? (If you have no examples for this past week, go back in time - surely someone has done a nice thing for you in recent years!).
It seems various genea-friends (some I know and others I have never even met, not even online!) are doing something nice for me at least once a week, and some weeks are real bonanza weeks. In addition to this last week I’d like to mention some kind favors done for me in recent months.
Just this last week Linda Hughes Hiser at Flipside nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award. The lovely comments and words of encouragement that people leave on this blog are also Nice Things.
Then there is Tipper at The Blind Pig and the Acorn who posted an article by Ethelene Dyer Jones in which I recognized a family name; Tipper kindly put me in touch with Ethelene to confirm that there was indeed a family connection.
This last week I posted a list of Texas-connected genea-bloggers. I should have mentioned that two of them, Vickie Everhart of BeNotForgot and Patti Browning of Consanguinity, had volunteered to do look-ups for me in their local area when they learned that some of my family lines are from there.
I have mentioned in a number of posts how people have generously sent me information and family pictures; recently some of my Norman relatives – Pat D. and Chuck G. – sent me some photos of relatives I had never seen before, including my first photo of a great-great-grandparent (the prolific Joseph Madison Carroll Norman). The pictures you may have seen on this blog of my distant Brinlee relatives were provided by ace researchers Gale W. and Edna S.
The South Carolina researcher, Kelly O., who has been providing me with those many Moore obituaries will often find a death certificate or related article on a relative that she will just add into the bunch without charge; she has also given me valuable information on obtaining membership in the DAR and other societies.
My cousin Carolyn L. has provided me with many wonderful family stories. I have received many useful pointers and much encouragement from my fifth cousin through the Lewis line, Gayle H. When I first got into genealogy, the generosity of my third cousin Jo Ann S. with both information and photographs left me humbled, and I have tried ever since to emulate her generosity when I meet “research relatives.”
These are just a few of many examples. This kind of generosity ultimately serves the noble goal of increasing our knowledge. One bit of information may provide the clue to another researcher that helps break down a brick wall. One picture can mean the world to someone who has never seen a picture of that relative before. One word of encouragement can keep a discouraged researcher “in the game” to make new discoveries that can then be shared. The cumulative impact of an act of kindness cannot be overstated.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Grandma Moore, Banana Pudding, and the Telephone: An Evening of Terror
Grandma with Uncle Neil
Randy Seaver’s genea-fun for this weekend is the following:
1. What is one of your most vivid childhood memories? Was it family, friends, places, events, or just plain fun?
2) Tell us about it in a comment to this post, a Comment or Note on Facebook, or in a blog post of your own.
One evening when I was about four years old, my parents went out to see a show with my Uncle Neil and Aunt Ina. They left me with my mother’s mother, Grandma Moore, to babysit me for the evening. I think we had had a big dinner that was finished off with banana pudding. I remember that evening well, because it was filled with terror.
Grandma Moore had a real sweet tooth, and for the sake of her health (she may have had geriatric diabetes), her children strictly rationed the sweets she could eat. She was somewhere around her mid-70s at this time and could still get around fairly well and cook for herself, but if her kids found out that she had baked any desserts, they would tell her, “Now Mama, you know you can’t eat all of that; now let’s just put the rest of it up.”
And that’s what happened with the banana pudding. We finished up our meal and the leftovers went into the refrigerator. Off went my parents and aunt and uncle, and Grandma and I sat down to watch TV. Or at least I did. As I sat hypnotized by the TV program, Grandma must have sneaked off to eat more of the pudding. I didn’t notice anything wrong for quite a while, but at some point I heard my grandmother moaning. This was scary. Then Grandma called out to me, “Call the doctor.” I sat there, frozen. “Call the doctor; the number is by the phone.” I got up, walked over to the phone, and stared at it. The number was right there. I was four years old, but I knew my numbers. I did not, however, have much of an idea of how to use a telephone. I don’t know if I was more frightened by what might happen to my grandmother or by the prospect of being punished for not doing what she told me to do. I couldn’t say anything or move from the spot where I stood. Each time she moaned or told me to call the doctor, my fear jumped up a couple of notches.
Finally my parents and Neil and Ina returned. They realized right away that something was wrong and must have called the doctor (I was so numb with fright that I don’t remember much of what happened at this point). No one yelled at me.
I have never been much of a telephone conversationalist. When calling friends or acquaintances, I am always certain that I am calling at an inconvenient time, and always try to time my calls perfectly so that they do not interfere with meals or other relaxation time. Even calls to make appointments are something I tend to put off. It’s not that I don’t enjoy speaking to people over the phone once the conversation gets under way, and I have even been involved in the so-called “Texas telephone call.” That’s when you get a wrong number, but you both realize that the other person is from Texas, and two hours later, after exchanging names, family information, and life histories, you finally hang up. Well, okay, it was not a wrong number, but rather (and this is actually genealogy-related) a telephone conversation with a person in Texas who has a distant connection to me by marriage (he is descended from the wife of a great-uncle by a different husband).
This aversion to the telephone was worse when I was young and shy, but now that I am older and pretty impervious to intimidation, I think it’s just not a habit that I ever developed. And it just may have something to do what that long-ago Evening of Terror.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
SNGF: My Favorite Song
Randy Seaver’s latest Genea-Blogger mission, should we decide to accept it:
1. What is your all-time favorite song? Yep, number 1. It's hard to choose sometimes. If you made your favorite all-time Top 40 music selections, what would be #1?
2. Tell us about it. Why is it a favorite? Do you have special memories attached to this song?
3. Write your own blog post about it, or make a comment on this post or on the Facebook entry.
Like many other Genea-bloggers, I have so many favorite songs that it is difficult to choose just one. These songs cover many different genres, but I have chosen Voi che sapete from Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro because my daughter has recently also discovered Frederica von Stade in the role of Cherubino, so it is something we can share.
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