Thomas Timothy Sisson
b. 2 Nov 1865, Alabama
d. 15 Aug 1930
& Elza Jane McLaughlin
b. 21 Mar 1873, Alabama
d. 24 Nov 1973
m. 19 Dec 1889, St. Clair Co., Alabama
|--Lillian May Sisson
|----b. 10 Mar 1892
|----d. Jan 1980, Leeds, Jefferson, Alabama
|---& Milton C. Stewart
|----b. 1894, Alabama
|--John Charles Sisson
|----b. 4 Jul 1894, Odenville, Alabama
|---& Nell
|----b. 1897, Alabama
|--Elon Guy Sisson
|----b. 25 Oct 1896
|----d. 29 Jul 1960
|---& Lucy Mae Slate
|----b. 17 Dec 1904
|----d. 6 Feb 1976
|--Samuel T. Sisson
|----b. May 1899, Alabama
|---& Ruby F.
|----b. 1903, Alabama
|--Annie E. Sisson
|----b. 1903, Alabama
|--Effie C. Sisson
|----b. 1904, Alabama
|---& Forney Allen Simpson
|----b. 13 Dec 1900, St. Clair Co., Alabama
|----d. 1 Oct 1937, St. Clair Co., Alabama
|----m. 1 Sep 1923, St. Clair Co., Alabama
|--Bessie J. Sisson
|----b. 1907, Alabama
|--L. Marjorie Sisson
|----b. 1909, Alabama
|--Bill Sisson
|----b. 1913, Alabama
|--Fannie Sisson
|----b. 1917, Alabama
This is the family of my great grandmother Sarah Jane Sisson’s half-brother, Thomas Timothy Sisson (parents William T. Sisson and Margaret Jane Lambert) and his wife Elza Jane McLaughlin (parents John Columbus McLaughlin and Martha A. Vann).
This is not one of the Sisson siblings who moved to Texas from Alabama, so I do not know much about them. I would like to know: the maiden names of John Charles’ wife Nell and Samuel T.’s wife Ruby and the death dates for quite a few of these siblings.
I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Treasure Chest Thursday: 20 Years Ago Today
The first thing my husband said to me this morning after waking up was: "At this time twenty years ago today, it was snowing, you were having contractions, and we were on our way to the hospital."
Today at 9:08 p.m. my oldest ceased to be a teenager.
Love ya, Bun, more than you can know.
Today at 9:08 p.m. my oldest ceased to be a teenager.
Love ya, Bun, more than you can know.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Transcription Tuesday: “They Want These Things”
In an effort to stick to my resolution to do more transcriptions this year, I will try to feature a transcription a week for “Transcription Tuesday” (when I don’t do an Amanuensis Monday a la John Newmark of TransylvaniaDutch in place of Memory Monday).
The following Dallas Morning News article from Christmas 1891– a satirical wish list for Santa on behalf of various Dallas, Texas luminaries of the 1890s – seemed an appropriate place to start since it reminded me a bit of all the letters to Santa posted by GeneaBloggers recently. The targets include my great-great uncle, Sheriff William Henry Lewis. Apparently Sheriff Lewis’ prospects for re-election to a fourth term as sheriff in were not so promising; he did not get re-elected, although he did end up coming in a fairly close second. Sheriff Lewis was in many respects popular sheriff and much admired man, but his popularity suffered somewhat when he prevented a couple of racially tinged lynchings.
I believe the last person on the list, J.E.G. Bower, was the same Bower who was Henry Lewis’ partner in a real estate company in later years. S. B. “Bev” Scott had held several offices in Dallas County: deputy sheriff in the 1870s, tax assessor, and county clerk. Alderman Briggs was known to be a strong advocate for building a crematory. Connor was the mayor of Dallas in the late 1880s and early 1890s, including during the 1893 depression. He faced accusations of misuse of city funds, had problems keeping the city afloat during these lean times, and himself owed the city a large sum in back taxes.
From the Dallas Morning News, 25 Dec 1891
THEY WANT THESE THINGS.
What Old Santa Should Put in Some Men’s Stockings
Sam Klein – Chairmanship of the water commission and Dennis Mahoney’s scalp.
Bev Scott – Well, two or three thousand would do for me.
Chief Arnold – More policemen.
Henry Lewis – A way to get re-elected sheriff.
Joe Stewart – More fees.
Nat Turney – Nomination for county judge.
Tom Nash – Me, too.
J. H. Webster – More vitality to the mayoralty bee.
Barry Miller – A call to run for county attorney.
Harry Trace – Some new sub-alliances.
Mayor Connor – Peace.
Alderman Briggs – I sing a song of a crematory.
The fair committee – A quorum of stockholders.
Ed Gray – A black eye for Cleveland.
Brock Robertson – Smoother sailing for James Stephen Hogg.
Dick Scurry, Sid Reinhart and John Alderhoff (in chorus) – An assurance of less fire now and hereafter.
J. E. G. Bower – A boom for the judgeship of the new court to be established.
The following Dallas Morning News article from Christmas 1891– a satirical wish list for Santa on behalf of various Dallas, Texas luminaries of the 1890s – seemed an appropriate place to start since it reminded me a bit of all the letters to Santa posted by GeneaBloggers recently. The targets include my great-great uncle, Sheriff William Henry Lewis. Apparently Sheriff Lewis’ prospects for re-election to a fourth term as sheriff in were not so promising; he did not get re-elected, although he did end up coming in a fairly close second. Sheriff Lewis was in many respects popular sheriff and much admired man, but his popularity suffered somewhat when he prevented a couple of racially tinged lynchings.
I believe the last person on the list, J.E.G. Bower, was the same Bower who was Henry Lewis’ partner in a real estate company in later years. S. B. “Bev” Scott had held several offices in Dallas County: deputy sheriff in the 1870s, tax assessor, and county clerk. Alderman Briggs was known to be a strong advocate for building a crematory. Connor was the mayor of Dallas in the late 1880s and early 1890s, including during the 1893 depression. He faced accusations of misuse of city funds, had problems keeping the city afloat during these lean times, and himself owed the city a large sum in back taxes.
From the Dallas Morning News, 25 Dec 1891
THEY WANT THESE THINGS.
What Old Santa Should Put in Some Men’s Stockings
Sam Klein – Chairmanship of the water commission and Dennis Mahoney’s scalp.
Bev Scott – Well, two or three thousand would do for me.
Chief Arnold – More policemen.
Henry Lewis – A way to get re-elected sheriff.
Joe Stewart – More fees.
Nat Turney – Nomination for county judge.
Tom Nash – Me, too.
J. H. Webster – More vitality to the mayoralty bee.
Barry Miller – A call to run for county attorney.
Harry Trace – Some new sub-alliances.
Mayor Connor – Peace.
Alderman Briggs – I sing a song of a crematory.
The fair committee – A quorum of stockholders.
Ed Gray – A black eye for Cleveland.
Brock Robertson – Smoother sailing for James Stephen Hogg.
Dick Scurry, Sid Reinhart and John Alderhoff (in chorus) – An assurance of less fire now and hereafter.
J. E. G. Bower – A boom for the judgeship of the new court to be established.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Memory Monday: The Tree in Our Basement
The recent snowstorms and a trip to the basement to water my brought-in-from-the-cold potted plants brought back a memory – of a tree that once grew in our basement. It was not a tree in a pot, but a tree that actually took root and grew in the basement.
This happened not so long ago. I believe it must have been in 1996, following a huge snowfall (actually two) here in Northern Virginia; more precisely, the sprouting of the tree followed the sudden flood that was created by a hard rain and an unseasonably warm day that melted the gigantic drifts of snow.
But I should back up at this point and explain our basement. We bought our smallish, Depression-era house years ago. One of the many inconvenient quirks of the house was its shallow basement. We loved the comfort and convenience of our neighborhood and did not want to “move up,” so we put on an addition, including a full-depth basement. To access the new basement, we had a doorway cut into it from the old basement. This meant cutting through the concrete blocks that formed the old basement wall. These blocks have a hollow structure, but are filled with dirt and other fill materials; this filling was exposed when the doorway cut right through the middle of a row of blocks. We never thought much of it and never did anything to “finish off” the surface.
Then came the great winter flood of 1996. The basement, carved into marine clay on a lot which lies at the low point from a hill, is prone to flooding. Usually our four pumps can take care of it, but a power failure or very sudden and overwhelming flooding can still occasionally cause water to rise in the lower basement. Even then, it is rare that the water will go over 18 inches high so as to reach the level of the upper basement. That winter deluge was the first time it did and the first time those concrete blocks were “watered,” so to speak.
I don’t know when we noticed it, but at some point we saw that something was growing in one of the blocks. Perhaps a squirrel had gotten into the basement after the blocks were exposed and buried a seed? It didn’t seem very likely. We could only conclude that the seed must have been there since 1930, when the house was built.
And of course, some sort of instinct led us to water the thing.
After a couple of weeks the little seedling took on the appearance of a very anemic sapling which, from previous experience, we guessed was a black walnut.
A tree really shouldn’t be growing in the basement. But when we thought about it, we decided that the poor growing conditions – mainly poor lighting – would ultimately take care of the problem of the tree.
Meanwhile, we continued to water the thing.
It was just one of the usual household chores we did. “Well, I brought in the paper, fed the cats, and watered the basement tree,” one of us might recite. It had become a regular fixture of our life, though a pale one.
And it was pale, and became increasingly so, not to mention leggy and rather spindly. We considered and then rejected the option of transplanting it to the yard. We didn’t really want a black walnut tree and it most likely would have died from exposure.
So the tree survived for a surprisingly long time, perhaps a year, but not much more.
We became less conscientious about watering it, knowing that the end was not too far off, and then returned from a short vacation to find it with no leaves.
The tree’s demise did not make us sad, but perhaps just a little bit wistful at the prospect of no longer having a little “survivor” from more than 60 years ago growing in our basement.
It’s surprising what a trip to the basement can make you remember.
This happened not so long ago. I believe it must have been in 1996, following a huge snowfall (actually two) here in Northern Virginia; more precisely, the sprouting of the tree followed the sudden flood that was created by a hard rain and an unseasonably warm day that melted the gigantic drifts of snow.
But I should back up at this point and explain our basement. We bought our smallish, Depression-era house years ago. One of the many inconvenient quirks of the house was its shallow basement. We loved the comfort and convenience of our neighborhood and did not want to “move up,” so we put on an addition, including a full-depth basement. To access the new basement, we had a doorway cut into it from the old basement. This meant cutting through the concrete blocks that formed the old basement wall. These blocks have a hollow structure, but are filled with dirt and other fill materials; this filling was exposed when the doorway cut right through the middle of a row of blocks. We never thought much of it and never did anything to “finish off” the surface.
Then came the great winter flood of 1996. The basement, carved into marine clay on a lot which lies at the low point from a hill, is prone to flooding. Usually our four pumps can take care of it, but a power failure or very sudden and overwhelming flooding can still occasionally cause water to rise in the lower basement. Even then, it is rare that the water will go over 18 inches high so as to reach the level of the upper basement. That winter deluge was the first time it did and the first time those concrete blocks were “watered,” so to speak.
I don’t know when we noticed it, but at some point we saw that something was growing in one of the blocks. Perhaps a squirrel had gotten into the basement after the blocks were exposed and buried a seed? It didn’t seem very likely. We could only conclude that the seed must have been there since 1930, when the house was built.
And of course, some sort of instinct led us to water the thing.
After a couple of weeks the little seedling took on the appearance of a very anemic sapling which, from previous experience, we guessed was a black walnut.
A tree really shouldn’t be growing in the basement. But when we thought about it, we decided that the poor growing conditions – mainly poor lighting – would ultimately take care of the problem of the tree.
Meanwhile, we continued to water the thing.
It was just one of the usual household chores we did. “Well, I brought in the paper, fed the cats, and watered the basement tree,” one of us might recite. It had become a regular fixture of our life, though a pale one.
And it was pale, and became increasingly so, not to mention leggy and rather spindly. We considered and then rejected the option of transplanting it to the yard. We didn’t really want a black walnut tree and it most likely would have died from exposure.
So the tree survived for a surprisingly long time, perhaps a year, but not much more.
We became less conscientious about watering it, knowing that the end was not too far off, and then returned from a short vacation to find it with no leaves.
The tree’s demise did not make us sad, but perhaps just a little bit wistful at the prospect of no longer having a little “survivor” from more than 60 years ago growing in our basement.
It’s surprising what a trip to the basement can make you remember.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Silly Saturday: New Year’s Eve ‘Nip Party
The Koehl Cats had presents in their Christmas stockings this year, with the favorite being NipSticks. To celebrate New Year’s, they had a Nip Party.
BooBoo warms up with the Ole Nip Bag
Pipsqueak gets in on the action
R.B. monopolizes one of the new NipSticks.
“C’mon, R.B., share.”
"Pretty please?"
"You can't have it. The Precious is all MINE!"
"Now the Precious is MINE!"
"Wow. That was good stuff."
BooBoo warms up with the Ole Nip Bag
Pipsqueak gets in on the action
R.B. monopolizes one of the new NipSticks.
“C’mon, R.B., share.”
"Pretty please?"
"You can't have it. The Precious is all MINE!"
"Now the Precious is MINE!"
"Wow. That was good stuff."
Friday, January 1, 2010
Top 10 Genealogy Moments of 2009
Hats off to Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist and Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings for the idea for this one:
10. Attending and participating in the genealogy brick wall workshop with my Lizzie Smith material.
9. Ordering more and more Moore family obituaries as I kept finding more people in this family.
8. Attending the genealogy conference hosted by the Fairfax Genealogical Society.
7. Finally writing up articles about my great-great uncles William Henry Lewis and Preston E. Moore.
6. Learning that Vickie Everhart of BeNotForgot and Ethelene Dyer Jones are my cousins!
5. Just being part of the Genea-Blogging community.
4. Getting in touch with lots of Norman cousins, many of whom have generously provided Norman family pictures and genealogy information.
3. Hosting the 85th Carnival of Genealogy.
2. Receiving a picture of my grandfather (plus his mother and two brothers) from my cousin George.
1. Hearing from my younger brother.
I cannot call all of these things “accomplishments,” but they were pretty exciting….
10. Attending and participating in the genealogy brick wall workshop with my Lizzie Smith material.
9. Ordering more and more Moore family obituaries as I kept finding more people in this family.
8. Attending the genealogy conference hosted by the Fairfax Genealogical Society.
7. Finally writing up articles about my great-great uncles William Henry Lewis and Preston E. Moore.
6. Learning that Vickie Everhart of BeNotForgot and Ethelene Dyer Jones are my cousins!
5. Just being part of the Genea-Blogging community.
4. Getting in touch with lots of Norman cousins, many of whom have generously provided Norman family pictures and genealogy information.
3. Hosting the 85th Carnival of Genealogy.
2. Receiving a picture of my grandfather (plus his mother and two brothers) from my cousin George.
1. Hearing from my younger brother.
I cannot call all of these things “accomplishments,” but they were pretty exciting….
Featured Family Friday: William T. Sisson and Susan Caroline Tant
William T. Sisson
b. ca 1826, Georgia
d. 12 Feb 1894, Talladega, Alabama
& Susan Caroline Tant
b. 12 Nov 1838, Alabama
d. bef 1920
m. 17 Oct 1875, Talladega, Alabama
|--Martha Edna Sisson
|----b. Jul 1876
|---& Reuben/Robert John Mulky
|----b. Jan 1872, Georgia
|----m. 6 May 1891, Calhoun Co., Alabama
|--Wiley Turner Sisson
|----b. 10 Aug 1876, Alabama
|----d. 22 Jan 1957
|---& Lula E. Macon
|----b. 8 Jul 1879, Alabama
|----d. 28 May 1950
|----m. ca 1899
This is the family of my great-great-grandfather William T. Sisson and his third (and final) wife, Susan Caroline Tant, who I believe was the daughter of John T. Tant, Jr. and Adeline Ogletree. William and Susan Caroline were married in Talladega, Alabama on 17 October 1875. I believe William was Susan Caroline Tant’s first and only husband; she would have been about 37 years old when they married. Her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application is the source of a good bit of the information I have on this family. She appears on the 1900 and 1910 censuses with her daughter Martha Edna Sisson and son-in-law Reuben Mulky. I cannot find her on the 1920 census, so I have given that as a possible latest date of death, but then again I cannot find Martha and Reuben Mulky on that census, either. There are a lot of dates of death missing for this family: Susan Caroline Tant, daughter Martha Edna Sisson Mulky, and son-in-law Reuben John Mulky.
I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.
b. ca 1826, Georgia
d. 12 Feb 1894, Talladega, Alabama
& Susan Caroline Tant
b. 12 Nov 1838, Alabama
d. bef 1920
m. 17 Oct 1875, Talladega, Alabama
|--Martha Edna Sisson
|----b. Jul 1876
|---& Reuben/Robert John Mulky
|----b. Jan 1872, Georgia
|----m. 6 May 1891, Calhoun Co., Alabama
|--Wiley Turner Sisson
|----b. 10 Aug 1876, Alabama
|----d. 22 Jan 1957
|---& Lula E. Macon
|----b. 8 Jul 1879, Alabama
|----d. 28 May 1950
|----m. ca 1899
This is the family of my great-great-grandfather William T. Sisson and his third (and final) wife, Susan Caroline Tant, who I believe was the daughter of John T. Tant, Jr. and Adeline Ogletree. William and Susan Caroline were married in Talladega, Alabama on 17 October 1875. I believe William was Susan Caroline Tant’s first and only husband; she would have been about 37 years old when they married. Her Confederate Widow’s Pension Application is the source of a good bit of the information I have on this family. She appears on the 1900 and 1910 censuses with her daughter Martha Edna Sisson and son-in-law Reuben Mulky. I cannot find her on the 1920 census, so I have given that as a possible latest date of death, but then again I cannot find Martha and Reuben Mulky on that census, either. There are a lot of dates of death missing for this family: Susan Caroline Tant, daughter Martha Edna Sisson Mulky, and son-in-law Reuben John Mulky.
I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can use the “Contact” button on the left side of this blog to get in touch with me.
Family Newsletter Friday 1 Jan 2010
I love that my first Family Newsletter Friday post for the New Year is on January 1st!
Norman
Almost all my genealogy activity (and there has been some!) over the past couple of weeks has been devoted to inputting information on the Norman family. I am still working on the children of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman and Rebecca Monk, specifically J. J. Norman. Not exactly sure what “J. J.” stands for, as I have found varying expansions. Inez Cline has James J. “Jobe” Norman. I have seen “Josephus,” “Jode,” and “Joe” as well. He and Martha King had a large family (12 children, I think), so this will take a while. Right now I’m working on his son Joel T. Norman’s family, also a large family. Joel T. Norman would have been my Grandma Sallie Frances Norman Brinlee’s first cousin.
Smith
When I’m in the family room, I work on my laptop, which does not have my Reunion genealogy program loaded on it, so I tended to do all my Lizzie Smith brick wall research there. I have started a Bonner candidate database based on the 1870 and 1880 censuses (Lizzie Smith’s first husband was reputed to be a Bonner).
Blogs
If you have not already, you absolutely must visit Carol at Reflections from the Fence and see the picture story of a fantastic gift given by her.
Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve I took a break from the somewhat intensive posting of December and went “visiting” to various blogs to have more leisure in reading them and commenting on them. While I want to keep up a good blog writing pace this year, it’s quite nice just to be able to read blogs and exchange comments with fellow bloggers for a while. Perhaps around mid-year I’ll try a break like this again.
Follow Friday
Look for a post updating the list of Texas-linked bloggers on the "Texas Team"; there are several new and newly discovered blogs. I hope to resume Follow Friday next Friday, but for this Friday I would like to mention some blogs that I have greatly enjoyed reading but have not had new posts for a while. Since I am well aware that there are many family and work circumstances that can sideline blogging, this is not a whine (I hope) but just a tribute and expression of appreciation:
They That Go Down to the Sea [This just just in: She's baaack! Someone must be listening up there.... But wait a minute. I realized that TTGDTTS was back because it was in my Blogger reader, which uses the follower function... but TTGDTTS is in Wordpress. Well, my daughters and I have been watching Twilight Zone all day. Now I'm in it.]
The Desktop Genealogist Unplugged
Wibbling Jo’s Genealogy Blog
We have also had fellow GeneaBloggers who have lost dear ones this year and have gone through other trials and challenges. To them I offer my prayers, hopes, and best wishes for a New Year full of good health, encouragement, inspiration, and beauty.
Below are some pictures of my cats taken during the holidays. No connection to anything here; I posted them "just because."
Norman
Almost all my genealogy activity (and there has been some!) over the past couple of weeks has been devoted to inputting information on the Norman family. I am still working on the children of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman and Rebecca Monk, specifically J. J. Norman. Not exactly sure what “J. J.” stands for, as I have found varying expansions. Inez Cline has James J. “Jobe” Norman. I have seen “Josephus,” “Jode,” and “Joe” as well. He and Martha King had a large family (12 children, I think), so this will take a while. Right now I’m working on his son Joel T. Norman’s family, also a large family. Joel T. Norman would have been my Grandma Sallie Frances Norman Brinlee’s first cousin.
Smith
When I’m in the family room, I work on my laptop, which does not have my Reunion genealogy program loaded on it, so I tended to do all my Lizzie Smith brick wall research there. I have started a Bonner candidate database based on the 1870 and 1880 censuses (Lizzie Smith’s first husband was reputed to be a Bonner).
Blogs
If you have not already, you absolutely must visit Carol at Reflections from the Fence and see the picture story of a fantastic gift given by her.
Between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve I took a break from the somewhat intensive posting of December and went “visiting” to various blogs to have more leisure in reading them and commenting on them. While I want to keep up a good blog writing pace this year, it’s quite nice just to be able to read blogs and exchange comments with fellow bloggers for a while. Perhaps around mid-year I’ll try a break like this again.
Follow Friday
Look for a post updating the list of Texas-linked bloggers on the "Texas Team"; there are several new and newly discovered blogs. I hope to resume Follow Friday next Friday, but for this Friday I would like to mention some blogs that I have greatly enjoyed reading but have not had new posts for a while. Since I am well aware that there are many family and work circumstances that can sideline blogging, this is not a whine (I hope) but just a tribute and expression of appreciation:
They That Go Down to the Sea [This just just in: She's baaack! Someone must be listening up there.... But wait a minute. I realized that TTGDTTS was back because it was in my Blogger reader, which uses the follower function... but TTGDTTS is in Wordpress. Well, my daughters and I have been watching Twilight Zone all day. Now I'm in it.]
The Desktop Genealogist Unplugged
Wibbling Jo’s Genealogy Blog
We have also had fellow GeneaBloggers who have lost dear ones this year and have gone through other trials and challenges. To them I offer my prayers, hopes, and best wishes for a New Year full of good health, encouragement, inspiration, and beauty.
Below are some pictures of my cats taken during the holidays. No connection to anything here; I posted them "just because."
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