Conversations With My Ancestors

Reflecting on the Past and Forging Ahead

2012-01-03T03:55:00.000-08:00

Three years ago, when I returned to my research, I always felt like the ancestors were working as hard as they could and drawing me in 50 zillion directions. I remember commenting on it at the time and thinking it was like they knew time was of the essence. To a certain degree it frightened me because I was always wondering what they knew that I didn't.

But being connected to the ancestors as I am, I now realize that they knew that dad's life was drawing to a close and while they realized that dad could not or perhaps would not impart much information, they also realized that he was also one of their last links and I had to stay at to get as much as I could before it was gone.

And so beginning in 2009, thanks to the digital age coupled with the "archaic" ways, I finally started unearthing a few more bits and pieces of my paternal heritage. And while daddy never fully understood why this was a driving force in my life, he was always commenting how I knew more about his family than he did. And of course, dad's biggest contribution to this effort was his DNA, that the ancestors will forever be alive as a result of.

This past year has been a tough one, but as I stated on Georgia Black Crackers, I am finally feeling like the petals of a flower feeling the warmth of the spring sun and little by little the petals are opening back up and leading me to rejoin this game called life.

So, in addition to the 2012 goals mentioned on Georgia Black Crackers, I also hope to accomplish / complete the goals I set for myself in 2011 for the paternal side of my family. They are as follows:

A research trip to Martin County with 2nd cousin C. Curtis as my trusty assistant.
Finish scanning the pictures in the album I inherited from Aunt Martha and distribute them to my cousins.
Finish transcribing the newspaper articles from another Album I inherited from Aunt Martha.
Blog more!!

Blog Caroling 2011

2011-12-10T15:08:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year for the annual Blog Caroling tradition from footnoteMaven. This is a tradition that definitely lifts the spirits this time of year, and since I've been blogging, I always look forward to it. This year especially it means more than ever.

My carol from this year isn't necessarily a carol but I've always loved it and loved hearing my dad with various choirs sing it. As I was putting up Christmas decorations, I just started singing For Unto Us a Child is Born from Handel's Messiah. The song is based on Isiah 9:6.

The Lyrics are as follows:

For unto us a child is born,
Unto us a Son is given,
And the Government shall be upon His shoulder;
And His Shall be Called
Wonderful,
Counsellor,
The Mighty God,
The Everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.

Video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir was obtained from You Tube.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

2011-11-26T16:21:00.001-08:00

It's Saturday night, which means it's time for Randy Seaver's, Genea-Musings, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

I've not participated in Saturday Night Genealogy Fun in quite awhile.

Tonight's activity is as follows:

1) Go to the Historical U.S. County Maps page on Randy Majors website (http://randymajors.com/p/maps.html ) .Read the whole page for tips on how to use the tool by entering a current geographical place in the United States and a year (from the drop down list) at the top of the page.

2) Pick one place of interest and enter the name of the place (a current town/city or county) and choose a year from the dropdown list. Use the Back < and Forward > arrow links to move forward or backward in time.

3) Note the Historical jurisdiction for the place you selected for each year. Write down the list from 1790 to 1900.

4) Post the place you selected and the historical jurisdictions for that place in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook Status or google Plus Stream post.

5) Think about the jurisdictions that came up - have you looked in those jurisdictions for information about your ancestral families that were in that place?

I chose Williamston, NC. Williamston is located in present day Martin County, North Carolina.

The jurisdictions it's been in over the years are as follows:

1790: Located in Martin County, NC (Martin county was formed in 1774 from Halifax and Tyrrell Counties.)
1800: Located in Martin County, NC (Martin County lost some area to Edgecombe County in in 1794.)
1810: Located in Martin County, NC (Martin County gained some area from Pitt County in 1805.)
1820: Located in Martin County, NC (Martin County gained some area from Beaufort County in 1816.)
1830: Located in Martin County, NC
1840: Located in Martin County, NC
1850: Located in Martin County, NC
1860: Located in Martin County, NC
1870: Located in Martin County, NC
1880: Located in Martin County, NC
1890: Located in Martin County, NC
1900: Located in Martin County, NC

As I continue to try to determine the last slave owner of my paternal ancestors, I may need to venture into Halifax and Tyrrell Counties, also, as well as Pitt and Beaufort.

Sentimental Sunday - Last Game

2011-10-23T21:49:00.000-07:00

Growing up, believe it or not I was the football expert. Dad was always asking me the players names on the various NFL teams. Back then, I usually could rattle them off without batting an eye. Dad was always impressed and would comment that if I knew my studies as well as I knew football, I would be getting somewhere.

However, it was different football remembrances that came to mind when I recently came across tickets from Dad's and my last game together.

For as long as I can remember, one of dad's and my special times was traveling back to the ancestral hometown to attend games at his undergrad Alma Mater, Winston-Salem State (WSSU). From junior high on, probably even prior, I remember going to the games with dad.

Our favorite spot was always by the band. For those of us who grew up in the atmosphere and history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), the game was always a distraction until the real game begin at half time, between the two bands. Daddy, who had been a band director prior to integration, always commented on what he thought the bands were doing right and wrong.

For about 8 years, dad and I missed out on this special time. I decided to move out of state for awhile, almost to the other side of the country, and only saw the folks twice a year. So, for 8 years there were no games, no homecoming parades, no half-time shows.

I moved back home to NC in 1998 and dad and I slowly picked up where we had left off. By this time, dad seemed to be more interested in attending games at his Grad School Alma Mater, North Carolina A&T. I personally, still preferred going to games at WSSU.

As dad's health begin to fail, and he didn't like traveling as much, we begin to attend the games of our local HBCU, Johnson C. Smith (JCSU).

Last years game in Charlotte between dad's undergrad Alma Mater, Winston-Salem State, and the local school Johnson C. Smith would be our last game together. Since this tends to be a big game, the game was held at Memorial Stadium instead of Johnson C. Smith's on-campus stadium.

Unable to find parking near the stadium, I ended up parking a bit away from the stadium. I had asked dad if he wanted me to drop him off while I found parking but he said no that he could make the trek back to the stadium. So, slowly we ventured back down the street toward the stadium, stopping ever so often so that dad could take a break.

We entered the stadium on the home team's side. Daddy would have been fine right there but since we were there to represent WSSU, I insisted that we go to the visitor's side. On the way to the visitor's side of the stadium, we ran into my younger cousin Reggie, who had come down from Winston-Salem with his dad. Since we had no clue they were going to be there, this was a special treat for dad, who always loved being around his nephews and nieces.

During the game, daddy was a little more subdued than usual. I kept asking if he was okay and he kept saying yes.

WSSU won the game and as far as I'm concerned the game within the game (halftime show). We bid the cousins farewell and wished them a safe trip back to Winston-Salem. As we begin the trek back to the car, daddy realized he just couldn't make the trek back no matter how many times we stopped, so he asked if I could go get the car while he waited. So, I left him with a nice police officer while I went to get the car.

Daddy was silent more than usual for the short trip back home. He thanked me like he always did as I dropped him off at the assisted living facility.

Unfortunately, that was the only game we attended last year. From Sept - Dec 2010, dad had doctor's appointments practically every week, so I worked practically every weekend for the remainder of the football season and year so that I could have time off during the week to take dad to appointments. My coworkers loved me for taking all the weekends.

I always thought there would be more games and was so looking forward to attending some games with dad this year but it wasn't meant to be.

And so, I'll treasure these tickets that I hadn't even realized I had kept and include them in that yet to be started scrapbook that I keep hoping to make. And even though the journeys won't be the same without dad, I still plan on attending a couple of those WSSU games each year, because even though I didn't attend the "family" alma mater, deep inside I'm a ram at heart.

Ram logo obtained from the Winston-Salem State University website.

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

2011-10-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

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

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

Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives – Part III

2011-10-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, September 24, 2011, I attended the one-dayworkshop / lecture series entitled, Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives.The Friends of the Archives sponsored the workshop. As mentioned in theprevious two posts in this series, it had been some time since The Friends hadsponsored a workshop.

After the wonderful lectureentitled Tar Heels in the Family Tree? A Genealogical Introduction to NorthCarolina Records, we broke for lunch. As many opted for the box lunch,which could be purchased during the registration process, it provided anopportunity for attendees to mingle and discuss their research with fellowresearchers.

Lunch passed quickly and it wassoon time for the third presentation, Get Excited about Your Pre-1870 N.C.African American Research: the N.C. Archives Can Put Great Resources at YourFingertips!, given by Diane Richard. Diane is the owner and operator ofMosaic Research and Project Management. As indicated in her handout and on herwebsite, Mosiac specializes in Genealogy, Family History and History projectsthat make extensive use of on-the-ground research, web resources, and more.Although she herself is not African American, Diane has a special interest inAfrican American research and has done work in this area in 70 of the 100 NCcounties.

Diane began by reminding us to doour homework before arriving at the Archives. In doing the preliminary work,don’t forget to look at the community in which your ancestors lived.

That out of the way, Diane thentook us, virtually, through the various floors and sections of The Archives anddiscussed materials and records that were available. As Diane provided a lot ofinformation, I will only highlight a few of the materials and records shediscussed.

North Carolina Marriage Registersand Licenses are often a gold mine of genealogical information and typicallyinclude the names of the parents, if known, and whether they are still living,etc. Diane pointed out that if you have ancestors that were from bordercounties, be sure to look in the neighboring state for marriage records even ifother family members were married in North Carolina.

Slaves were often sold instead of bequeathed. These transactions, if recorded, would be found in the Bills of Sale. Bills of Sale can be found in the Deed Indexes. Sometimes Bills of Sale are in the “Loose Collection” of the county records.

American Slavery Petition, whichcan be found on the University of North Carolina at Greensborowebsite, is a database of slavery petitions. Petitions represent disagreementsthat developed over the division of slaves. Once a North Carolina petition is located in the database, it canbe viewed at the North Carolina Archives.

In wrapping up her segment, Dianepointed out that we should not let record categories stop us as many recordscan be located under categories that we may want to dismiss.

This concludes my series onthe workshop, Finding your Ancestors inthe NC Archives. For those with North Carolinaroots, I hope that it was beneficial.

By the way, now that I’ve attendedthe workshop, I’m trying to plan a trip to the NC Archives to get some on theground research done.

Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives – Part II

2011-09-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, September 24, 2011, I attended a one day workshop / lecture seriesabout the records in the North Carolina State Archives. The Friends of theArchives sponsored the workshop, which was the first one they had given in over15 years.

Tar Heels in the Family Tree? A Genealogical Introduction to North Carolina Records

The second lecture of the day was Tar Heels in the FamilyTree? A Genealogical Introduction to North Carolina Records. The speaker was Helen F.M. Leary, CG (Emeritus), FASG, FNGS.

Helen is a noted family historian, lecturer, and author, andthis was the first time I heard her speak. Helen provided a wealth of informationon doing research in NC as well as what seemed like little know facts even forthose of us who are native North Carolinians and have lived here most of ourlives.

Helen began her presentation by discussing the differentgeographical regions of North Carolinaand how North Carolina’sgeography affected the type of economy that developed within the state.

Outer Banks

If you know anything about North Carolina geography, you know we have the outer banks/ barrier islands, which inhibited the development of a deep-water port formoney crop sales and for immigration. So, it was pointless to grow things thatwould be difficult to ship.

Coastal Plains

Slow moving rivers that can takeproduce out to sea define the coastal plains. The biggest farms and plantationswere located in this area of the state.

Piedmont

The piedmont area consistedmostly of clay-type soil. As a result, manufacturing arose in this area of thestate.

Mountains

So, due to its geography, North Carolina’s economy was based mainly on subsistencefarming, land speculation and eventually manufacturing. There were very fewlarge plantations.

Helen pointed out on severaloccasions that North Carolina wasthe daughter to Virginia withregard to laws and immigration patterns.

North Carolinawas separated from Virginia by a1663 charter but the borderer wasn’t surveyed until 1728. When it was surveyed, much of Virginiawas found to be in North Carolina.Therefore, south VA records should be checked for this time period.

Early North Carolina was defined as three settlement areas, Albemarle,which became NC, Clarendon, which failed, and Craven, which became South Carolina.

Helen stated that the mostvaluable North Carolina recordsfor genealogists are Records of the Counties, which were called precincts priorto 1739, Family Bibles and other private manuscripts, and Land Grants.

The Records of the County werecreated in the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions prior to 1868 and by variouscounty officials after this date. The Court of Pleas and Quarter is also knownas the Inferior Court.

Two types of records that Helentalked about and that I found interesting were the Apprenticeship Records andthe Bastardy Bonds, Helen pointed out that Apprenticeship Records oftenprovided a clue as to the identification of a father as an illegitimate boy /man often became an apprentice under his biological father. Bastardy Bonds onthe other hand are for orphans whose parents were legally married.

Helen also pointed out thatMarriage Bonds were filed in the wife’s county of residence and apprenticescould not marry. Something I did not realize or know until then.

Other just general research tipsthat Helen provided are

Even if there was not a will, look at estate records since the property had to be listed and given a value.
Never take the information from one census and declare that’s it.
For “burned” counties, determine what records were not in the courthouse.

However, Helen’s best tip was thefollowing:

Researchis finding out. Never stop looking!

To listen to more of Helen’s wordsof wisdom on genealogical research, be sure to check out some of her videos onthe NGSGenealogy channel on You Tube. Here is one where Helen reflects on whypeople do Genealogy.

Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives – Part I

2011-09-27T19:52:00.000-07:00

After all this time of researching my family, I’ve neverbeen to the NC Archives. For that matter I’ve not even been to the ancestralhomelands of Everetts, Williamston, and Hamilton, NC, which are located in Martin County, either.

But that’s all about to change, hopefully, as this pastSaturday, I ventured toward our state capital for the first time in a long timeto attend a one-day workshop / lecture series on the Old North State’sArchives.

The workshop was a series of 4 lectures and was put on byThe Friends of the Archives. We were informed that it has been over 15 yearssince The Friends have done anything like this due to “competition” from thevarious genealogical societies and other groups sponsoring these types ofevents.

The workshop covered the following topics in the ordergiven:

A Virtual Tour of the North Carolina Archives
Tar Heels in the Family Tree? A Genealogical Introduction to North Carolina Records
Get Excited about your Pre-1870 NC African American Research
Finding Your North Carolina Revolutionary War Solider or Patriot

I attended all 4 sessions, although I must admit that Ireally wasn’t paying attention for the last one, Finding Your North CarolinaRevolutionary War Solider or Patriot.

A Virtual Tour of the North CarolinaArchives

Debbi Blake, the Public Services Branch Head of the NorthCarolina State Archives, presented “A Virtual Tour of the North Carolina Archives.”Debbi began her presentation by stating that any serious researcher will needto visit the archives at some point in their research.

The first and definitely the most valuable piece of advicethat Debbi gave was be prepared when visiting the NC Archives. Know what youare looking and why you are looking for it so that you can make the mostefficient use of your time at the NC Archives. Debbi pointed out that it iseasy to get distracted by all the records. Don’t ignore the other records. Makenote of them so that if time permits you can come back to them afteraccomplishing your goals for the visit.

Debbi also took the time to remind the audience that anArchivist job is to provide documents not make decisions about the relevancy ofthe documents. Understanding this is another reason to be prepared. We, theresearchers, are the only ones who can determine if a document is relevant toour search efforts.

We were also provided with a map that showed which NCcounties had suffered loss of records due to fires or other mishaps.

The map is located in the Guide to County Records in the North Carolina State Archives, whichI finally broke down and purchased during one of the breaks. The Guide providesa county-by-county listing of the records located in the NC Archives.

Debbi also covered some of the basics of doing research atthe NC Archives, which are:

Upon arrival at the Archives, you will need to go through security. Inappropriate materials such as briefcases, large tote bags, maps, manuscripts cannot be taken into the Archives Search Room. If you arrive with these materials, a locker area is provided for storage while you are in the Search Room.

In order to enter the search room, you will need to register at the security desk, providing positive identification after which you will be issued an ID card in order to request material.

Once inside the search room, materials are requested via a call slip. The call slip must contain the patron’s ID number. The patron submits the ID card to the archive staff while records are checked out.

Finally, during the question and answer session, some of thebest ways to search on the Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS) wereaddressed. MARS frustrates many folks. The Archives are looking into moving toanother system but for now have not come across anything else that can handleeverything that MARS does. So, as with most database search systems, the key toworking with MARS is to start broad and then narrow it down. How many timeshave we heard this, regardless of whether we are working with Ancestry’sdatabase, FamilySearch’s database, etc.?

We were also informed that tutorials are available on thewebsite to assist in learning how to use the system.

That concludes the highlights of the first lecture. Theremaining lectures will be addressed in future posts.

Wordy Wednesday - A Name But Still No Clue

2011-08-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you have a name but still have no clue who the person is?

Per the inherited photo album from my Aunt Martha, the man pictured above is William Gaynor and he's one of our cousins.

During my research I've never come across any Gaynors, so I have no clue how he fits in. I'm not even sure where he was born and raised, and I definitely have no clue who his parents were.

Aunt Martha also had pictures of some of Mr. Gaynor's descendants and per conversations with and letters from Aunt Martha during her lifetime, some of the Gaynors settled somewhere in Texas. Yes, when I was a beginning genealogist, I made the cardinal mistake of not being interested in the collateral lines and it's always coming back to haunt me.

Aunt Martha always wanted to know how and where the Gaynors fit it. Perhaps one of these days I can unearth the answer to that question.

Wordless Wednesday - DigitalNC and College Yearbooks

2011-08-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

If you have ancestral roots in NC, be sure to check out DigitalNC. Many of the colleges and universities in the Old North State have posted their yearbooks on "DigitalNC: North Carolina's Digital Heritage." The years covered are 1890 - Present. Of course, not all the schools' yearbooks go back that far and not all years are posted within a given schools set of yearbooks, and sometimes folks just didn't take pictures. But, if your ancestor's decided to have their picture included in the yearsbook, it is invaluable in finding out what ancestors and family members looked like in their younger days. It's also a terrific way to see how styles and fashions have changed over the years.

Among the postings for the The Ram, Winston-Salem State Teachers College / University's Yearbook, I found my two aunts.

Winston Salem State Teacher's College
Class of 1946
Martha Jones "Sister"
Band
URL(s) = http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm4/bookreader.php?CISOROOT=/yearbooks&CISOPTR=3273#page/n0/mode/2up
and
http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm4/bookreader.php?CISOROOT=/yearbooks&CISOPTR=3273#page/22/mode/1up

and from the Class of 1950

Winston Salem State Teacher's College
Emmanuline Jones
URL(s) = http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm4/bookreader.php?CISOROOT=/yearbooks&CISOPTR=3278#page/n0/mode/1up
and
http://library.digitalnc.org/cdm4/bookreader.php?CISOROOT=/yearbooks&CISOPTR=3278#page/13/mode/1up

In some of the more recent yearbooks, I was able to see some pictures of my cousins from back in the day.

And if any relatives or friends get any bright ideas about trying to find me among yearbook listings on DigitalNC, I am one of those wonderful people that never took a picture.

Amanuensis Monday - Tours Planned

2011-08-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I am continuing to work on transcribing the many newspaper clippings contained in an old scrapbook that I inherited from my Aunt Martha after she passed. Many of these old clippings contain references to my paternal grandfather, Rev. H. C. Jones, during his time as Director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association in Winston-Salem, NC.

People and Events
Tours Planned

Rev. H. C. Jones, director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association, requests that all club members interested in attending the tours and the lectures on home decorating, which will be sponsored by the association with the co-operation of Morris Early and Company, Inc., please contact their respective club presidents at their earliest convenient time so that schedules for the tours may be made accordingly.

***

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Amanuensis Monday - Garden Prize to Be Awarded

2011-08-15T04:18:00.000-07:00

Association Will Award Garden Prize

Among the project now under way by the Negro Home andWelfare Association are the Fall vegetable gardens, in which the Garden ClubCouncil of the city will award a prize to the club reporting the largest numberof Fall and Winter gardens planted by the October Council meeting.

As an aid to the gardeners, Rev. H. C. Jones, director ofthe Associations states that some of the vegetables which may be planted noware: carrots, Early Jersey and Charleston Wakesfield cabbage, chard, corn,salad, cress, dandelion, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, martynia, mustard,onion seeds and sets, parsley, radish, sorrel, spinach, turnip greens,horseradish, rhubarb and Florence fenel.

Rev. Jones also said that one of the most important of theproject now under way is the effort to build up rural community centers. Thisneed for the centers has arisen due to the consolidation of many of the ruralschools which were formerly the meeting places for social and communityaffairs.

Upon the request of the Youth Welfare Movement, clubs areasked to furnish fellowship friends for delinquent youths who will attempt togive moral, spiritual and vocational guidance. Several of these clubs havealready been organized in churches under the leadership of Odell Spease,director of recreation of the Youth Welfare Movement. Assisting Mr. Spease areThurmond Greenwood, William J. Johnson and H. W. Sinclair.

***

Amanuensis Monday

2011-08-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Hear Rev. H. C. Jones Easter Sunday

There will be a special Easter Service at Bright Hopewell Baptist Church Easter Sunday Morning.

At eleven o'clock, Rev. H. C. Jones, Pastor, will preach from the subject "The Clarion of the Risen Christ." The Choirs of Bright Hopewell Church and Laurinburg Institute will render special Easter Music.

The public is cordially invited to attend the services. Every member is asked to be present and bring one friend with you.

Deacons
Frank Patterson
D. D. McPhatter
A. M. Barry
Henry Mateerson
E. M. McDuffie

John Bethea

Rev. L. L. King, Church Clerk

Rev. H. C. Jones, Pastor

***

The Everett 1870 Brick Wall - Part III - 1870 Census (X2) vs. 1880 census

2011-05-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

Previous post in this series are Everett Brick Wall Part I and Everett Brick Wall Part II.

The next step in the journey of finding and confirming my Everett ancestors was to find documentation / evidence prior to the 1880 census to indicate that the Frank Hargit and Peter Hargit enumerated in the household of John and Vicy Ann Hargit in 1880 were actually Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett and Great Grandpa Peter Everett.

So, I turned to the 1870 census. For whatever reason, I initially was unable to find my ancestors listed on the 1870 census via Ancestry.com, so I turned to FamilySearch.org. Of late, I’ve obtained many more leads and information using Family Search than I have from Ancestry and depending on the information I’m seeking I prefer it to Ancestry. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Family Search is free.

Okay, back to my findings. The 1870 census as listed on Family Search provides the following enumeration:

Everette, Frank, living in Williamston Township, Martin, NC, Age 72, Male, Black, Farm Hand (Dwelling 530, Family 545)

· Venus, Age 70, Female, Black, Keeping House

· Frank Jr., Age 23, Male, Black, Farm Hand

· Mariah, Age 20, Female, Black, Keeps House

· Nicy A, Age 25, Female, Black, Farm Hand

· Frank, Age 12, Male, Black, Farm Hand

· Peter, Age 4, Male, Black

· Lurenee, Age 2, Female, Black

· Wiley, Age 1, Male, Black

Frank Jr. and everyone that follows him are listed as Family 546. This enumeration was performed on 1 Sept. 1870.

Comparing Nicy Ann, Frank, and Peter Everette to Vicy Ann, Frank, and Peter Hargit / Hargett in the 1880 household of John Hargit / Hargett (refer to previous post) provides strong circumstantial evidence that these are the same persons.

The discovery of my great grandfather, 2^nd great grandmother and great grand uncle on the 1870 census lead to what appears to be the peeling back of another layer of my family. Based on the ages of the household members, 3 generations of Frank Everetts, etc., it appears that Frank and Venus Everett(e) are my 3^rd great grandparents and Frank Everett, Jr. is more than likely their son and Grandma Vicy Ann’s brother.

I would later find Frank Everett, Jr. death certificate on Ancestry, which indicates his parents as Frank and Venus Everett. I’m still hoping for similar evidence for grandma Vicy Ann.

I’m sure you are wondering about the X2 for the 1870 census. Well after finding that initial grouping on Family Search, I eventually found a second 1870 census listing for my Everett ancestors.

The second listing is actually the first as far as chronological order. It was done on 26 Aug, 1870. This enumeration is as follows

Everette, Frank Jr. living in Williamston Township, Martin, NC, Age 22, Male, Black, Farm Hand (Dwelling 350, Family 364)

· Mariah, Age 19, Female, Black, Keeps House

· Wiley, Age 1, Male, Black

· Frank, Sr., Age 77, Male, Black, Farm Hand

· Venus, Age 53, Female, Black, Farm Hand

· Vessy, Age 28, Female, Black, Farm Hand

· Frank, Age 10, Male, Black, At House

· Peter, Age 4, Male, Black

· Lorena, Age 2, Female, Black

Frank, Sr. and everyone that follows him are listed as Family 365.

The first thing I noticed between the two enumerations was the order of names was different and Venus’ age was drastically different, but otherwise, clearly this was the same 1870 family. My family was enumerated not once but twice.

By the way, back in the early 1990’s, during the early days of my research, I had written down the enumeration in which Frank Everette Jr. is listed first. I did something similar with the research on my maternal side but unlike my maternal side, I didn’t know much if anything about any of the collateral relatives on my paternal side. Therefore, there was no gut feeling when I recorded this family way back when but I think deep down, I must have known this had to be them.

Following my Everett / Hargett ancestors has been fun and exciting in getting back to the proverbial 1870 brick wall. I’ve discovered quite a few collateral line along the way, which I hope to pursue further but the time has come to stop procrastinating and attack that 1870 wall with al I’ve got and knock out a few brick or at least chip a few of them. I’m sure the journey from here on will be both exciting and frustrating.

Follow Friday - The USCT Chronicle - Angela Walton-Raji

2011-05-13T19:57:00.000-07:00

April 12, 2011 marked the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. I've never been particularly interested in the Civil War, its battles or its participants but that attitude has been slowly changing over the past couple of years.

Sure, I was interested in the Civil War momentarily when the movie Glory came out in 1989 documenting the Massachusetts 54th Volunteer Infantry, but as the years rolled by that interest waned mightily. So, to what or shall I say whom do I owe this growing interest in the Civil War? Angela Walton Raji and her blog The USCT Chronicle. Through Angela, I've learned a great deal about the United States Colored Troops (USCT) and other aspects of the civil war such as contraband camps. I've also been so inspired by her work in this area that I'm even pursuing my own USCT solider, Simon Everett, who quite possibly could be an ancestor.

While at this time, I don't know if Simon is an ancestor on my Grandmomma Jones' paternal line, I definitely wouldn't have thought of trying to locate a possible ancestor amongst The USCT if it hadn't been for Angela's work in this realm.

While at the 2010 Atlanta Family History Expo, I actually got a chance to meet Angela as well as attend her lecture on Discovering an African American Community's History Through Civil War Research.

So, be sure to check out Angela's blog as well as some of her other work which is listed below

My Ancestor's Name

The African-Native American Genealogy Blog

African Roots Podcast

Beginning Genealogist - Her YouTube Channel

The Everett 1870 Brick Wall - Part II - Death Certificates and Census Records

2011-05-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

This is the second in my ongoing series to explain how I got back to the 1870 Brick Wall on my Everett line, my paternal grandmother's, Iola Everett Jones, paternal line.

1880 Census

In my last post, I concluded with my great grandparents' marriage license / certificate, which indicated that my great grandfather's mother was Vicy Ann Hargett. Therefore, I decided to check the 1880 census for Martin County, NC and came across the following enumeration:

John Hargit living in Cross Roads Township, Martin, NC, Black, Male, Age 50, Farm Laborer

Vicy, Black, Female, Age 30, Wife, Keeping House
Frank, Black, Male, Age 20, Son, Farm Laborer
Peter, Black, Male, Age 14, Son, Farm Laborer
William, Black, Male, Age 8, Son
Loronna, Black, Female, Age 6, Daughter
Joel, Black, Male, Age 3, Son
Harrett E, Black, Female, Age 1, Daughter

I felt I was on the right path when i came across this enumeration. However, I would need further evidence to prove that the Peter enumerated in the Harget household was my great-grandfather. As you will soon see this enumeration totally debunks the theory that you can always assume that the children are the husbands, although not necessarily the wives, unless otherwise indicated.

Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett's Death Certificate

Back in September of 2010, trying to find something to post for Tombstone Tuesday led me to discovering Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett's Death Certificate, which I came across by doing searches on grandma Vicy Ann Hargett. On Frank Everett's Death Certificate, Vicy Ann Hargett, is listed as the his mother.

Back to the 1880 Census

After finding Uncle Frank Everett's death certificate, I went back to the 1880 census. The Frank Hargit enumerated in the 1880 census in the household of John Hargit is the appropriate age to be Uncle Frank. I had initially assumed that Frank was John Hargit's child, Peter was my great grandfather, and the rest of the children were grandma Vicy Ann's and John Hargit's children together. But all indications are now pointing toward both Frank and Peter being Grandma Vicy Ann's children but not John Hargit's children, but I need further evidence to support my theory.

To Be Continued

The Everett 1870 Brick Wall - Part I

2011-04-30T06:51:00.000-07:00

In 2010, one of my goals was to bring down the 1870 Brick Wall for my Ewell Ancestors, my paternal grandmother's maternal line. Try as I might, none of the paths I ventured down trying to find the last slave owner of my Ewell Ancestors panned out. So, this year, I've decided to change gears and explore my grandmother's paternal side. Hopefully, I will be more successful following my Everett line.

Before I actually delve into looking for that elusive last slave owner, I should talk about how I arrived at the 1870 impasse of my Everett ancestors. Over the past two years, I've divulged bits and pieces of the journey in researching my Everett Ancestors but don't think I've painted the complete picture. I will break the journey back to 1870 into several post so as not to be too long. Please note that some of this may be reiterations of previous posts.

Great Grandpa Peter Everett

Peter T. "PT" Everett is my great grandfather, Grandmomma Jones' father. I've previously written about Grandpa Peter's death certificate, which listed his parents as Henry Everett and Vica Ann Everett and stated that Grandpa Peter was born in Pitt County, NC.

John Ewell was the informant and is probably one of my grandmother's relatives on her mother's side. I've yet to purse the connection John Ewell may have to my grandmother but hope to one day determine what if any connection there is as I continue to try to track down other descendants.

The death certificate find steered me in the wrong direction initially as I looked in Pitt County, North Carolina for my great grandfather as well as my 2nd great grandparents and was not coming across any documentation to indicate that they were there. That being said, research in Pitt County may still prove to be beneficial since it neighbors Martin County, North Carolina, which is the ancestral home county.

Starting to Put the Pieces Together

In 2010, I requested and received a copy of my great grandparents' marriage license, which I thought I had requested in my early research days.

Their marriage certificate would prove to be launching pad for me finally following my Everett line back to 1870.

While the given names of Grandpa Peter's parents on his death certificate were correct, my great grandparent's marriage license indicate that my 2nd great grandfather's name was Henry Cherry and that my 2nd great grandmother's name was Vicy Ann Hargett and she was still living when my great grandparents married in 1887.

As noted in my previous post on the Hargett surname, this find confirmed the Hargett surname within our family that Aunt Martha had told me about. So, finally, documentation to support the oral history of my family. Further research would prove that the Hargett surname was not my great grandmother's maiden name.

To be continued

*****
The copy of Peter T. Everett's death certificate was obtained via Ancestry.com. The copy of the marriage certificate for my great grandparents was obtained from the Martin County, North Carolina Register of Deeds.

Amanuensis Monday

2011-04-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

The local Negro Home and Welfare Association announced today project which will be sponsored by adult clubs during the months of January and February in the fields of family relationship, health, gardening, flowers and sewing.

Rev. H. C. Jones, director of the association, stated that “many families have followed devious paths which have resulted in the increase of crime and delinquency because of the lack of the proper training in family relationship.” In order to create interest in this field and to give elementary training to parents and prospective parents, a family relationship project will be sponsored through the adult clubs during the months of January and February by representatives from the Family Service Agency and the County Welfare Department.

It is hoped by the association that this project will lead to establishment of a one-night family relationship institute held periodically in various sections of the city with courses on subjects relation to family life such as pre-marriage, marriage compatibility, family problems, parent-child problems, etc. Such clubs and instates, if made interesting and popular will not only help improve family life and reduce crime but will serve as an asset to the juvenile courts which may recommend parents of the delinquents to attend the courses.

Each club is asked to select the family with the highest percent of its members making a definite contribution to citizenship through leadership in activities in the churches, schools and other agencies. Special honors and prizes will be given to the winning family, it was announced.

The health leader in each club is asked to contact each person in his community and male a list of all who would like a free X-ray examination in February. Time will be allotted in each club for examinations of the group.

Prizes will be given by the Garden Club Council to the person with the highest number of garden units including Winter vegetables planted or growing, compost piles, deep breaking of garden not in use and leaving it in the rough, preparations of seed boxes and hot beds.

Sewing leaders are asked to invite everyone in the neighborhood to bring old clothes made of materials such as rayon faille, bengline, rayon jersey to the next meeting for a contest in making handbags, gloves and scarfs.

This undated article is probably from around 1945 and most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston Salem Journal.

******

Sentimental Sunday: Hallelujah Chorus - Not Just for Christmas

2011-04-24T17:57:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Easter Service this morning, I suddenly started singing The Hallelujah Chorus, and as I did my mind drifted to the memories of Daddy and Aunt Martha singing this along with the other members of the choir at Waddell Chapel.

Wouldn't you know that the Hallelujah Chorus was the closing song for today's Easter service, where I attend church. To all the ancestors watching over me, thanks, I needed that.

Amanuensis Monday

2011-04-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I'm slowly tying to return to some of my hobbies and my loves as it helps with the grieving. So today, I return to transcribing the newspaper clippings contained in the old scrapbook I inherited from Aunt Martha. Many of these old clippings contain references to my paternal grandfather, Rev. H. C. Jones, during his time as Director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association in Winston-Salem, NC.

War Chest Body Approves Negro Home, Welfare Group

The Negro Home and Welfare Association was approved by the Community War Chest Commission yesterday as a member of the Community Council for a demonstration period.

Rev. H. C. Jones is executive secretary of the association. Approval was recommended to the commission by the executive board, after a report by the committee headed by Mrs. Irving Carlyle.

Board members for the association are: J. D. Ashley, D. G. Bennett. Carlysle Bethel, J. E. Gibson, Mrs. Roberta Farmer, Dr. J. D. Quick, Mrs. R. J. Reynolds, Mrs. Berdie Robinson, Mrs. J. D. Spinks, Mrs. Richard Stockton, Mrs. J. R. Summers and Rev. W. S. Witherspoon.

Executive advisory committee for the organization will be composed of Miss Maribelle Guin, Rev. H. C. Jones, Mrs. Noble R. McEwen, and Miss Caroline Wagner.

At the meeting of the commission, it was announced that a tentative program for the organization’s coming year has been worked out.

Based on the notes in the scrapbook, this article appeared in the Winston Salem Journal, August 12, 1945.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Sentimental Sunday - Remembering Daddy

2011-04-10T00:47:00.000-07:00

(Always with me)

Daddy always told mom that she would out live him. It was the one thing he never wavered on no matter how much we tried to tell him that God hadn’t revealed that to us. But, turns out daddy was right. On Saturday, March 26, 2011, the Lord called daddy home.

Dad’s body had been waging a war for years, first the diabetes, then the heart disease and high blood pressure, and finally the kidney damage that resulted from the high blood pressure. I keep thinking anybody else, the battle would have been lost years ago. But daddy was like a prize fighter and kept battling. But this year was an especially tough year for dad. Eventually, his kidneys couldn’t take any more and begin shutting down.

I suppose we could have extended his life through dialysis but daddy was adamant about not going on dialysis and wanted no heroic measures taken to prolong his life. Besides, due to all his other health issues, especially his heart, daddy wasn’t a candidate for dialysis anyway.

Monday, April 4, 2011, was daddy’s going home service. The following is something I wrote and read at the service. I initially was going to have one of my cousins read it for me, because I didn’t think I could get through it. Thankfully, she declined to read it, and told me that I had to be the one to read it.

In my life, there have been two men that were larger than life to me. One of those two men was my maternal grandfather, LC Hosch, who was called home in 1978. The other, of course, was my father.

As it became evident that the Lord was calling dad on home, I reflected on our time together during these past 50 years.

Like practically every little girl from my era growing up in the South, I learned to drive almost as soon as I could walk. Sitting on dad’s lap, barely able to peer over the steering wheel, daddy pressed the gas pedal and brakes while I did the steering or so I thought.

I use to always want a brother or sister but truth is I already had one even though he was dad, too. Like any big brother, dad use to pick at me something fierce. One episode that I recall was when I was trying to get some reading done. When I was young, I loved to read. So, I was trying to read and dad kept flicking the lights on and off. And like any little sister would do, I yelled for mom to make daddy stop.

Daddy could be the ultimate funny man, too. One morning when I was in sixth grade, as mom was preparing breakfast and I was getting ready for school, daddy suddenly started talking about the next thing you know Mavis will have some ‘ole’ guy up in here. As he walked through our living room toward the kitchen mom and I heard “How do you do sir?” I’m thinking who is he talking to when he says “She’ll be right out.” Daddy was practicing for me dating.

Daddy didn’t have a lot of hobbies but whenever he developed a new interest the whole family had to take on this new hobby whether it be chess, ham radio, or whatever. When I say whole family, I’m not just talking about me and mom but his brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces, too. To this day, I can still hear the sounds of Morse Code in my head.

Both of my parents taught me to dream big especially dad. As such, I got to experience places and things that most children from my generation didn’t such as trips to the

Bahamas

and Europe. And no offense to my friends and family who are nurses, but when I thought about being a Nurse, daddy told me that Nurses were a dime a dozen, find something else to do. He never knew how much that mandate truly helped as I learned I really can’t handle the sight of other people’s blood even though daddy’s main reason for telling me that was because Nurses didn’t make enough money.

In the final months of his life, I think dad knew that his life was drawing to a close even if we didn’t always pick up on all the signs. Although dad had many health issues and crises during the years, these last few months were different. In hindsight, I can now see clearly what I only suspected at the time was occurring. Over those last few weeks, daddy reminded me of the importance of church and God, and told me to stay in church, something he had never done before. It was like he was seeing my life too and knew that there were times like many of us that I sometimes struggled in this area of my life and knew that I would need both God and the Church to endure the pain of losing him. He told both mom and me how much he loved us, also telling both me and his caretakers how mom had really stuck by him.

Like any child, especially an only child, I would have loved more time with my dad. Through all of dad’s crises, I use to always tell God that I wasn’t ready to let go just yet because I still needed my daddy. But in those final days and hours of dad’s life, I did one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do which was release daddy back to the one who had given him to me as my father. Even though he was no longer able to respond, I let daddy know that mom and I would be okay and that he would always be with us.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy, Week 8 - Technology

2011-02-22T21:16:00.000-08:00

Week 8: Technology. What are some of the technological advances that happened during your childhood? What types of technology to you enjoy using today, and which do you avoid?

This challenge runs from Saturday, February 19, 2011 through Friday, February 25, 2011.

There have been a lot of technological advances during my time here on this earth and I would end up with a book if I talked about each and everyone of them. Of all the technological advances that have occurred, the one that comes readily to mind is the home computer. And surprisingly or not so surprisingly, daddy led the way in his and my home computing adventures.

Our first computer was the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. The TI-99/4A came out in late 1979 and daddy ended up purchasing one prior to 1983. Our first computer was mainly used for playing games. Daddy and I spent many days and hours playing Munch Man, TI’s equivalent to Pac Man, to see who could get the best score. Did I mention the TV was the monitor?

The TI-99 operated off cartridges. Each game or program required a different cartridge. Daddy always wanted more cartridges but because he’s cheap, oops I mean thrifty, he never purchased any additional cartridges. (The TI came with one or two.) So, after graduating college in ’83 and landing my first job, I some how took it upon myself to keep daddy supplied in cartridges. I had come across a catalog that carried all things TI and was always ordering at least 2 new cartridges for all gift giving and just because occasions. Shortly after I discovered the catalog, TI quit making the cartridges. Eons later, I would discover that by the time I had found the catalog, TI had already exited the home computing arena.

I think the next computer was a Commodore VIC 20 or VIC 64. I don’t remember much about that computer.

Right before I moved to Colorado in 1990, daddy purchased his first “real” computer. This computer would eventually get handed down to me and become my first “real" computer. By this point in life, I was beginning to use computers for more than just games. However, games were still a big part of the equation. Dad had acquired (notice I didn’t say purchased) a program called Battle Chess. Loved the program but it was a definite memory hog. In addition the 286 processor was as slow as molasses. I used to always joke about how I could practically clean my entire house while the computer was thinking.

As processors kept improving and getting faster, both daddy and me kept upgrading to our present computers. I eventually also got a laptop to go with the desktop, and just like in the old days with the cartridges, this past Christmas, I got daddy a laptop.

The picture of the TI-99/4A was obtained via Old Computers.net.

*****

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

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Date You Were Born

2011-01-29T22:13:00.000-08:00

Randy Seavers’, Genea-Musings, challenge for this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is as follows:

1. What day of the week were you born? Tell us how you found out.

2. What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events.

3. What famous people have been born on your birth date? Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

4. Put your responses in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a status or comment on Facebook.

1.

2 January was a Monday. I determined this using the ProGenealogist Tool supplied by Randy.

2.

Historic events that happened on the day I was born include

Fidel Castro demanded that the staff at the US Embassy in Havana be reduced from 87 to 11 and that this be carried out before Wednesday. President Eisenhower ended diplomatic relations with Cub the next day.
In the Rose Bowl, the University of Washington Huskies (6) upset the University of Minnesota Gophers (1). The score was 17-7.

Other historic events that have occurred through the years on my birth date are:

1788 – Georgia becomes the 4th state to ratify the constitution.
1800 - Free black community of Phila petitions Congress to abolish slave.
1947 - Mahatma Gandhi begins march for peace in East-Bengali.
2004 - Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that it will return to Earth two years later.

The information on the above historical events was obtained from Wikipedia and HistoryOrb.

3.

Some famous people who were born on January 2nd

2 January 1920, Isaac Asimov (science fiction writer)
2 January 1968, Cuba Gooding, Jr. (actor – “Show me the Money”)
2 January 1969 Christy Turlington (model)
2 January 1983 Kate Bosworth (actress)

Information for famous birthdays was obtained through Fun4Birthdays .

Amanuensis Monday: Announcement of Granddaddy's Going Home Service

2011-01-24T20:29:00.000-08:00

However, amongst all the clippings, there is one that's just a little different than the rest and it's on the very first page of the scrap book.

Rev. Harry C. Jones To Be Buried Monday

Funeral services for the Rev. Harry Claudius Jones of 2900 Clemmonsville Road will be held at 4 p.m. Monday at the Goler Metropolitan AME Zion Church.

The Rev. A. A. Perry and the Rev. R. E. Blakey will be in charge of the rites, with burial in Evergreen Cemetery.

The body will lie in state at the church for two hours prior to the service.

The Rev. Mr. Jones died shortly after noon Friday at his residence.

My grandfather died on January 21, 1955. This past Friday marked the 56th year of my grandfather's passing and today is the 56th anniversary of his Going Home Service.

I never met my paternal grandfather. He passed 6 years prior to my arrival in this world. Until this year, I've never thought much about my grandfather's death. Maybe it's because his son, my daddy, lies in a hospital bed and the doctors can't seem to figure out what's wrong, but today I find myself shedding a few tears for the only one of my grandparents that I never got a chance to know.

The burial announcement most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston-Salem Journal.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History - Home

2011-01-22T12:31:00.000-08:00

Amy Coffin of the We Tree blog has done it again. For 2011, she's come up with a series of challenges centered around our own personal genealogy.

This is Week 4 in the series and the topic for this week is Home. Describe the house in which you grew up. Was it big or small? What made it unique? Is it still there today?

The challenge runs from Saturday, January 22, 2011 through Friday, January 28, 2011.

My post for this challenge is a repeat of a post from October 5, 2010 that I wrote for the Afrigeneas' Family History Month Challenge.

When talking about the house I grew up in, I always like to point out that the house was build for moi. Before my entry into the world, my parents were boarders in a house that was a few houses away from my maternal grandparents’ house. I’m sure that my parents were probably wishing for a house of their own one day but I don’t know if they had put a plan in place to attain that goal, when they found out they were expecting a little bundle of joy, which would be me.

Even so, I still don’t think it registered with dad that they needed to move. My mother says she had to tell dad that they needed a bigger place if not their own place.

I guess it eventually sunk in because dad applied for a VA loan and plans were soon put in place to build a new home. A lot one street over from my grandparents house was selected (ours would be the second house build on the street) and thus the building of the house for me commenced. I understand during the building phase, mom would often take walks to check on the property and report any happenings to dad.

The house didn’t quite get finished in time for my arrival, so I spent my first 3 months being a boarder with my parents. We eventually moved in and until I went off to college, I spent all of my growing up years in that house.

The house was a typical brick ranch build in the early 1960s and had a full basement, which was often my favorite place to play. The basement was also the social hub of our house and family whether it was hosting birthday parties for me, family dinners, or having friends over (the folks or mine) who wanted to play a little ping pong or shuffle board. (My dad had a shuffleboard lane painted on the floor.)

The back yard was a good size and offered trees that a sometimes tomboy, me again, could climb as well as providing enough land for summer gardens, which my mother loved to do. There were wild bunnies, hoppy toads, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle in the spring time. Even though we were in the “city,” the critters would visit our property and as a result I still have a fondness for them to this day. Yes my hometown and home were the perfect combination of city and country living all rolled into one.

As time marches on, my parents and I must decide what to do with the old homestead. None of us have lived in it since 2005 and yet, neither I nor they are ready to sell it, just yet. For me, the house represents my anchor, my rock, the place I can always go back to if times every really became tough and yet, for a variety of reasons, I don’t think my parents or myself can really envision ever living there, again, although we all contemplate it from time to time.

Finally, as I’ve reflected back on bygone times one more time, it always eventually comes back to the fact that it wasn’t the house that created the memories that I carry in me but the three people who lived inside that house.

This picture of the old homestead is ca 1962. That's me, mom, dad, my first cousin, and my uncle pictured in front.

The above picture is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

*****

This 52-week challenge is hosted by Geneabloggers.

Follow Friday

2011-01-20T22:47:00.000-08:00

Viewing and Reading Inspired by the Ancestors

Several months ago, Dionne Ford, Finding Josephine, mentioned how her journey to trace her family history had broadened her reading tastes.

I agree with her. (Friends and coworkers are always picking at me about the books I read.) For me, in addition to broadening the scope of my reading, it’s also broadening the scope of my viewing pleasure.

The documentary Family Name has been out for a while, but I only recently come across it and decided to purchase it.

Similar to Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball, Family Name documents the journey of a young man, Macky Alston, in exploring his family’s slave owning past. The documentary was the winner of the 1997 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on PBS September 15, 1998. I acquired a copy of the film through Half.com. It can also be purchased via Amazon.

One of the things that drew me to this documentary film was is its ties to North Carolina. Whether book or film, if it documents slave ancestry in North Carolina, I gravitate toward it. I think it is how I make up for the lack of stories on the paternal side of my family.

In the documentary, this seemed to be a spiritual journey as well as a genealogical journey for Macky Alston. Ironically, in the credits at the end of the documentary, it is revealed that Macky really isn’t an Alston at all, since his 3rd great grandfather was illegitimate.

Amanuensis Monday - Parenthood Training Contest

2011-01-10T07:39:00.000-08:00

One of my goals for 2011 is to transcribe the newspapers clippings contained in a scrapbook inherited from my Aunt Martha. Many of these old clippings contain references to my paternal grandfather, Rev. H. C. Jones, during his time as Director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association in Winston-Salem, NC.

Competition For Parents Nears Finish

The Parenthood Training Contest of the Negro Home and Welfare Association will close on Saturday, August 20, when the three winning families will be presented awards at 6:15 p.m. over station WAIR.

Judges for the contest are: Mrs. L. E. Fowler of the Retail Merchants Association; Mr. Lillian Noell of the Department of Public Welfare; Professor George L. Johnson of the Winston-Salem Teachers College; Mrs. Charles W. Ward of the Minister’s Wives Alliance and Mrs. G. W. Rowland of the Negro Home and Welfare Association.

Rev. H. C. Jones, director of the Association, states that the Negro Home and Welfare Association feels very keenly that parenthood training stands first in the educational system. Therefore, it is attempting not only to awaken greater interest in this training, but also to create a greater consciousness on the part of the home and community of their obligation to the child and to society; and to give instructions and suggestions towards the solution of the parent-child problem.

Training Continues

While the parenthood training contest closes within the next week the training offered to parents will continue indefinitely. It is the hope of the organization that all homes will be reached through this program.

During the next year, the organization will give instructions through the Parent-Teachers Associations by radio and through a Family Relations Institute which is now being planned. The Institute will offer courses in courtship, marriage compatibility and parenthood training.

The current contest is being sponsored through the Negro Home and Welfare Association by the Retail Merchants.

This undated article is probably from around 1945 and most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston Salem Journal.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Surname Saturday - Everett

2011-01-08T10:36:00.000-08:00

One of the joys that I experienced during 2010 on my paternal line was finally being able to confirm a 2nd great grandmother on my Everett line. In the process, I also unearthed, by all indications to date, my 3rd great grandparents.

Putting more of the pieces together on my Everett line began when I obtained a copy of my great grandparents’ marriage certificate. Without it, coming across my great grand uncle’s death certificate, and rereading a letter that my aunt had sent me years ago, I would have never arrived at a family I wrote down some 20 years was indeed my ancestors.

I still need to do a series on how I put the pieces together but for this Surname Saturday, I will just introduce more of my Everett line.

My Everett Lineage is as follows:

1. Me

2. Dad

3. Iola Luvenia Everett Jones, born abt May 1895 in the Crossroads section of Everetts, Martin County, NC; died 5 Apr 1969 in Shelby, Cleveland County, NC. Internment Evergreen Cemetery, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, NC

4. Peter T. Everett, born abt. 1863 in Martin County, NC, most likely the Cross Roads area; died 27 Jan 1931 in Cross Roads, Martin, NC; possibly interred in Everetts Cemetery, Everetts, Martin, NC

5. Vicy Ann Everett, born abt. 1845 in North Carolina. Internment and date of death are unknown. The additional information leads me to belive that my 2nd great grandmother's first name is Vicy and not Vica has previously posted. Grandma Vicy Ann married John Hargett between 1870 and 1880 and had more children.

6. Frank Everett, born abt. 1798 in North Carolina. Date of Death – unknown. Internment – unknown.

Venus Everett, born abt. 1800 in North Carolina. Date of Death – unknown. Internment – unknown

Amanuensis Monday - Presenting an Award

2011-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

Part of my inherited artifacts includes an old scrapbook with various newspaper clippings, many of which include my paternal grandfather or references to him. As the pages of this old scrapbook have longed since yellowed and are beginning to crumble, I thought that participation in Amanuensis Monday would help accomplish two goals: 1) provide material for Conversations with my Ancestors and 2) help me to finally transcribe these items.

As provided by Dictonary.com, an Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Based on the other articles in the scrapbook, this undated article is probably from around 1945 and most likely appeared in either the Twin City Sentinel or the Winston Salem Journal.

School Given Funds to Buy New Uniforms

A donation of $288 to be used for glee club uniforms was made to Columbia Height Elementary School last week by the school’s Grade Mothers.

Mrs. Mattie DeBerry made the presentation at the final meeting of the PTA organization.

Mr. and Mrs. Agnell Muldrow received an award from the Negro Home and Welfare Association for having done the most toward curing juvenile delinquency. The award was presented by the Rev. H. C. Jones, director of the association.

Mrs. Margie Ingram Muldrow was elected president of the PTA. Others elected were: Mrs. Ruth Patterson, secretary; Mrs. Julia McCoy, assistant secretary; Mrs. Eva Mae Harris, treasurer; and Mrs. Annie D. Moore, reporter.

G. A. Hall, who retired as president after three years, was presented a gift from the PTA by Mrs. Christine Sawyer, president of the Grade Mothers.

The Re. Jerry Drayton was principal speaker.

The caption under the picture reads A PRIZE for success in helping to build children’s character was presented to Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Muldrow by the Rev. H. C. Jones, left, director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association, during a meeting of the Columbia Heights Elementary School.

Rev. H. C. Jones was my paternal grandfather.

*****

Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.

Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at TransylvanianDutch.

Happy New Year - 2011

2010-12-31T21:26:00.000-08:00

Goals for 2010

2010-12-31T12:21:00.000-08:00

2010 is coming to a close and I must apologize to the readers of Conversations With My Ancestors. I’ve not done nearly enough blogging this year about the research on the paternal side of my family. I even had some successes on the research front. Unfortunately, I never managed to get them posted to the blog.

My plethora of excuses for not blogging include: 1) For whatever reason, I had a problem with a spammer on this blog that sort of deterred me a little but probably the biggest problem is 2) on my paternal side, I simply don’t have the family stories as I do on the maternal side of family. That’s partly due to having grown up around the majority of my maternal aunts, uncles, and cousins while my much smaller paternal side was scattered. It’s also due to the fact that yes, that side of my family simply did not talk about the past. I’ve refused to use that as an excuse in my research, so it definitely will should not be an excuse for my blogging.

With regard to my research for my paternal ancestors, I only have three goals for 2011.

A research trip to Martin, Pitt, and Bertie Counties, NC.
Scan all the pictures I inherited from Aunt Martha and distribute them to my cousins.
Blog more!!!!!

Advent of Christmas Memories, Day 4 - Christmas Cards

2010-12-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

While the maternal side of my family loved to send and receive all sorts of beautiful Christmas cards this time of the year, it was the paternal side of my family, specifically my first cousin LaLeatrice, who introduced us to idea of the annual Christmas letter.

I was so hooked on the annual Christmas letter that the year Cousin LaLeatrice announced that she was discontinuing the annual letter that it didn’t register. When it finally did register, I was a little distraught. But not to fear, her daughter LaZealtrice picked up the torch and we now look forward to her annual Christmas letter. And somewhere along the way, I even started sending out my own letter about the adventures of mom, dad, the granddog, and yours truly.

I had thought that I wouldn’t send out cards / letter this year but in writing this post on Christmas Cards, I find myself getting motivated to do it one more year. However, I have to warn you, it may be a tad late.

The following is the 2005 letter from Cousin LaZealtrice. What a genealogical gem this is and will be.

This 2005 Christmas letter is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Advent of Christmas Memories, Day 1 - The Christmas Tree

2010-12-02T03:28:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot about the Advent of Christmas Memories Series, so I'm a day late for the first Post in the series. My post on The Christmas Tree is a rehash of the one I posted last year for Day 24.

Christmas Tree Buying

Sometime during my tween years, our old silver tinsel tree finally gave up the ghost. From that point until I graduated college, mom, dad, and I decided to ditch the artificial tree in favor of a “real” tree. By the end of this period, the Christmas tree, for me, became the most hilarious part of our Christmas routine. For you see, we never had a Christmas tree before late on Christmas Eve.

Every year, I would begin December 1st, begging dad to go get our tree and every year he either ignored me or stated I’m not paying those outrageous prices for something that’s only going to get used for a few days then thrown away. During the early years of having a real tree, I would sometimes remind dad that we still hadn’t gotten our tree but by the end of this period, I had learned that no tree was coming into the house any sooner than Christmas Eve. So, I waited and waited and waited for December 24th to arrive so that we could go get our tree.

Even after waiting until December 24th, dad would still make me wait until the about the last hour that his favorite tree lot, operated the Boy Scouts, was open. So, while I’m panicking that we aren’t going to have a tree, dad and I finally set out for the tree lot while mom stays home and finally starts hauling the tree decorations out.

We are finally at the tree lot. I’ve already spied the perfect tree as we are pulling up, so I jump out the car and race to it and declare dad it’s this one. I never did learn on this part of our routine. Dad always declared that my perfect tree was too tall, too big, etc. The real reason was that tree is still going to cost more money than I want to spend on this thing. So, we kept hunting until dad found a tree. Of course I usually thought it was the ugliest tree that I had seen but since he was buying it, who was I to argue. But our fun didn’t stop there. Dad always haggled to get an even lower price. My favorite dad line from the haggling was always “It’s Christmas Eve. What are you going to do with this tree tomorrow? We are the only ones here even looking at the trees.” And every year, dad won the battle. But the buying process is still not done. Dad’s final move is to ask if he can write a check. The reply is always yes, so dad writes his check out to the Boy Scouts and our Christmas tree becomes a lovely tax write-off.

We finally have our tree and head home. I spend the rest of the night decorating our tree. And for as ugly as it was on the lot, I always think it the most gorgeous tree decorated. Mom always thinks so too. Dad just cares that he got a write off, a good deal and that his daughter has stopped pestering him about a tree.

I miss those Christmas Eve tree buying trips and think of them often as I see today's sellers break down their lots days before Christmas, which begs the question, what do they do with all those unsold trees?

Wordless Wednesday - An Oldie But Goody

2010-11-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

My first cousin LaLeatrice and her family ca 1982.

The photograph is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Sentimental Sunday - Celebrating another Milestone

2010-10-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Cuz!

I had intended to post this picture of my cousin Valerie and I yesterday for her birthday, but yesterday was one of those crazy sort of days. Well, as always, better late than never. Separated by 2 months and 10 days (I'm the younger), we'll both be celebrating that milestone birthday that begins with a 5 and ends with a 0. Seems like just yesterday we were kids.

The above picture is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Part 2

2010-10-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

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

Instructions are as follows:

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

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

On the paternal side of my family, my response to the first question has to be the fact that growing up, it was almost like we were lead to believe there were no other relatives besides the grandparents, dad / aunts/ uncles, the grand kids, and Cousin Alice whom I was always told was a distant relative and we were her closest kin. Funny thing is that all that all anyone had to do was ask, like I did, and they would have found out that Cousin Alice was my grandmother's first cousin. Not very distant at all.

My response to the second question is the same as on Georgia Black Crackers. No, I did not pick up where a relative left off. In the case of my paternal family, there weren't even any stories handed down.

As stated on Georgia Black Crackers, my interest steamed from my own curiosity about my ancestors and also the mini-series, Roots, which aired during my sophomore / junior year (1977) in high school and by Roots: The Next Generations, which aired during my senior year in high school (1979). However, I didn't really get started on actually attempting to research my family until the late 1980s. My first find on my paternal lineage was my grandparents marriage certificate, which contained my grandfather's biological mother's name.

Tombstone Tuesday

2010-10-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

Picture obtained via photo request at FindaGrave.

Family History Month - Challenge #1

2010-10-05T20:28:00.000-07:00

My Childhood Home

The month of October is Family History Month and in honor of the occasion, AfriGeneas is once again doing their Family History Challenge. I really had fun participating in these last year.

The first challenge for 2010 is as follows:

What are your memories about the house where you grew up?

Interpret that question any way you like. Write as long or short as you like. Feel free to post photos to illustrate the story.

Just a couple of rules:

1. Make our lives easier, please! Post your story as a response to this thread so we can keep track of the stories in each challenge.

2. Challenge #1 begins today, Oct 2nd and ends at 11:59 pm CT on Oct 6th.

When talking about the house I grew up in, I always like to point out that the house was build for moi. Before my entry into the world, my parents were boarders in a house that was a few houses away from my maternal grandparents’ house. I’m sure that my parents were probably wishing for a house of their own one day but I don’t know if they had put a plan in place to attain that goal, when they found out they were expecting a little bundle of joy, which would be me.

Even so, I still don’t think it registered with dad that they needed to move. My mother says she had to tell dad that they needed a bigger place if not their own place.

I guess it eventually sunk in because dad applied for a VA loan and plans were soon put in place to build a new home. A lot one street over from my grandparents house was selected (ours would be the second house build on the street) and thus the building of the house for me commenced. I understand during the building phase, mom would often take walks to check on the property and report any happenings to dad.

The house didn’t quite get finished in time for my arrival, so I spent my first 3 months being a boarder with my parents. We eventually moved in and until I went off to college, I spent all of my growing up years in that house.

The house was a typical brick ranch build in the early 1960s and had a full basement, which was often my favorite place to play. The basement was also the social hub of our house and family whether it was hosting birthday parties for me, family dinners, or having friends over (the folks or mine) who wanted to play a little ping pong or shuffle board. (My dad had a shuffleboard lane painted on the floor.)

The back yard was a good size and offered trees that a sometimes tomboy, me again, could climb as well as providing enough land for summer gardens, which my mother loved to do. There were wild bunnies, hoppy toads, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle in the spring time. Even though we were in the “city,” the critters would visit our property and as a result I still have a fondness for them to this day. Yes my hometown and home were the perfect combination of city and country living all rolled into one.

As time marches on, my parents and I must decide what to do with the old homestead. None of us have lived in it since 2005 and yet, neither I nor they are ready to sell it, just yet. For me, the house represents my anchor, my rock, the place I can always go back to if times every really became tough and yet, for a variety of reasons, I don’t think my parents or myself can really envision ever living there, again, although we all contemplate it from time to time.

Finally, as I’ve reflected back on bygone times one more time, it always eventually comes back to the fact that it wasn’t the house that created the memories that I carry in me but the people who lived inside.

This picture of the old homestead is ca 1962. That's me, mom, dad, my first cousin, and my uncle pictured in front.

The above picture is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

September's in the Rear View Mirror

2010-10-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

As noted on Georgia Black Crackers, I wasn't very productive during the month of September. I didn't even meet my blogging goals on Conversations with my Ancestors.

That being said, I do think I unearthed a set of 3rd great grandparents on my grandmother's line. I just have to do a bit more work, to build a case for that being them.

Hopefully, I can get more accomplished during the month of October.

Tombstone Tuesday - One Thing Leads to Another

2010-09-21T18:42:00.000-07:00

In an effort to catch up on some of my goals for the month of September, I once again found myself going back and forth between Ancestry and FindAGrave in hopes of finding a tombstone of one of my paternal Ancestors or Relatives to post for Tombstone Tuesday. (Yes, I was working toward achieving my blogging goals for the month.)

Instead, what I found was tons better, a Great Grand Uncle's, Frank Everett, death certificate, Great Granddad Peter Everett's brother. While I had clues all around pointing to his existence, I hadn't put it all together before this morning. Of course, as usually is the case, I wasn't even looking for this this AM when I came across it. In fact, I wasn't even searching for Everetts this morning. I was looking for Hargetts, great granddad's mother, hoping that she had lived long enough to have a death certificate to record her death.

I don't know why I never came across my Great Grand Uncle's death certificate before now. I feel like I've searched the Everett surname plenty of times since discovering great great grandma Vica Ann. Either I never made the connection because I was so focused on other information or it simple didn't surface based on the search criteria I was using at the time. But I think the real reason is I came across this today is simply they, the Ancestors, finally figured it was time to reveal this to me. Today, when I did a search for death certificates, Uncle Frank's death certificate was the first to come up and silly me was still thinking why did that come up I was searching for Hargett. Thankfully, I didn't dismiss it.

Below is Great Grand Uncle Frank Everett's death certificate:

The first thing I noticed is that on Uncle Frank's death certificate, the surname is spelled Everetts and not Everett. I'm not sure which way Uncle Frank spelled it but based on other information I had come across, I believe his line spelled the surname the same as our line, without the "S." Given that there is a town in Martin County, NC by the name of Everetts, it would be easy for the recorder of the information to mistakenly to add a "S."
Uncle Frank died on 20 Sept. 1938 from lobar pneumonia.
His occupation was farming.
Uncle Frank's wife, Christina, was the informant for Uncle Franks death certificate.
She provided that he was 75 at the time of death, which means he would have bee born about 1863. Most of the data that I've found on my great granddad indicates he was born abt 1863, also. So is Uncle Frank great granddad's older brother? Younger? Twin?
Uncle Frank is interred in Williamston, NC. As a side note, what's with the bulk of my paternal ancestors' death certificates not listing an actual cemetery for their final resting place.
But the most important piece of genealogical information provided on Uncle Frank's death certificate is that his wife gave his mother's name as Vicy Ann Hargett. Uncle Frank's wife did not know who his father was. My great grandparent's marriage license provides Great Great Grandmom's name as Vicy Ann Hargett.

Finding Uncle Frank's death certificate led me to some other interesting finds including possible confirmation of a family from the 1870 census that I wrote down almost 20 years ago as possibly my family.

I hope to write about the rest of this early morning saga in the very near future but need to do a tad more legwork, but as of this moment, let me just say that I have possibly peeled back another layer of my Everett line as a result.

So, thank you Uncle Frank and the rest of my ancesters. I couldn't have done it without you.

Sentimental Sunday - Singing Grace

2010-09-19T06:57:00.000-07:00

I could be wrong but the paternal side of my family is the only one that I know of that actually sung grace. And during any family singing, of course the two voices that always could be heard above all others was my dad's and Aunt Martha's.

If you are wondering what we sang, here it is:

God is great and God is good,

And we thank him for our food;

By his hand we must be fed,

Give us Lord, our daily bread

Amen

So, how did your family say grace?

Genealogical Goals for the Remainder of September - Paternal Lineage

2010-09-09T00:22:00.000-07:00

September Goals

Hopefully, this month or shall I say what's left of the month, I will do a better job on the goals for the paternal side of the family.

Research

The first goal is one I'm bringing forward from last month. Actually it's been on the to do list for several months. Praying that I finally get it accomplished this month.

One of my geneabuds gave me the name and phone number of one of her husband's friends who happens to be a Ewell. I'm ashamed to admit that I've not called him, yet. So, I plan to call this week. There doesn't appear to be a familial connection but you just never know.
Write Martin County, NC public library for obituaries for Sandy Ewell and William Ewell (great grand uncles), Pennie Ewell Tyner Eley and Mattie Ewell Gorham (3rd cousins twice removed), and Goldie Everett Johnson Hyman (grand aunt).

Blogging / Writing

Not including today's goals post, three posts to the blog, one of which has to be a written one.

Miscellaneous

Listed on September 2010 Genealogical Goals - Maternal Lineage at Georgia Black Crackers.

August Goals Revisited

2010-09-06T21:32:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling like I didn't get as much accomplished on the research on the paternal side as I had planned for. So, let's see.

Research

Request probate records for Jesse M. Ewell, Joshua L. Ewell, and Randol Ewell (Martin County, NC). I believe that one or possibly all 3 of these men (father and 2 sons) might have been my Ewell ancestors slave owner(s). Although two of them died after slavery ended, I'm still hoping that their wills, if available, can provide some clues.
One of my geneabuds gave me the name and phone number of one of her husband's friends who happens to be a Ewell. I'm ashamed to admit that I've not called him, yet. So, I plan to call this week. There doesn't appear to be a familial connection but you just never know.

1.
I did send away for probate records for Jesse M. Ewell and Joshua L. Ewell. I decided I would wait to request probate records for Randol Ewell. Surprisingly, there were no probate records for Joshua L. Ewell. I've not heard back on my reqest for records for Jesse M. Ewell.

2.
Unfortunately, I've still not managed to get a call to my geneabuds friend. When, I have time, I seem to never think about calling and when I don't have time, I do.

Blogging / Writing

Two posts to the blog, one of which has to be a written one.

I did manage to get this accomplished.

Miscellaneous

Declutter Office
Clean and Repaint my "new to me" legal-sized file cabinet. (I got this from the Habitat ReStore a couple of weeks ago, and it's sepcifically for my genealogy research).
Rearrange Office to accommodate said file cabinet

No, I didn't manage to get any of this items accomplished. Hopefully, I'll get more accomplished this month.

Tombstone Tuesday - Everetts Cemetery

2010-08-24T03:04:00.000-07:00

Everetts Cemetery

Everetts North Carolina

In this cemetery, in an unmarked grave, lies my 2nd cousin once removed (my daddy's first cousin), James Henry "Buddy" Johnson, Jr. (1911 - 1971). Cousin Buddy is my Grand Aunt Goldie Everett Johnson Hyman's son. Cousin Buddy never married and was a farmer.

I imagine that I probably met cousin Buddy when he came to my grandmother's funeral but I don't remember anything about him. I was 8 at the time and don't remember a lot about my grandmother's funeral other than it was a whirlwind of events. I remember there being two funerals, one in my hometown where grandmom spent her later years, and one in Winston-Salem, NC, where grandmom resided most of her adult life. I only know Cousin Buddy attended one of the two, maybe both, because my mother, who has a better rememberance of events on daddy's family than daddy does, remembers him being there.

Picture of Everetts Cemetery obtained via FindaGrave.

Autosomal DNA results – Paternal Line

2010-08-13T02:33:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, April to be precise, 23andme, ran a one-day sale in honor of DNA Day. It was one of those things that while it wasn’t in the budget or planned for, the sale price was so phenomenal that I couldn’t afford to not subject my parents to one more ancestral DNA test. 23andme’s $499.00 package which includes ancestral and medical testing was offered for, are you ready for this, $99.00. See what I mean about couldn’t afford to pass it up. Who knew when there would be another opportunity like this?

The main reason I was interested in autosomal testing is due to the stories of Native American ancestry on my maternal grandmother’s line. I figured this would be a way to prove once and for all whether there was any truth to the story. I’ll talk about my mother’s results on Georgia Black Crackers.

Unlike the previous DNA testing I had my parent’s do for yDNA and mtDNA testing, the sampling process for 23andme was different in that you spit into a tube instead of swabbing your cheeks. Daddy, of course did some more complaining. “I thought you had already tested my DNA.” “I can’t spit in that little thing.” and the last one was really funny considering he’s always spitting, “I can’t fill it up to that line.” With much cajoling, I finally got him to collect enough spittle, my opinion only as it was not to the mark, so that we could ship it off.

Due to the high volume of people that managed to catch the one-day sale, it took awhile after shipment back to 23andme for them to acknowledge receipt of the kit. Once receipt has been acknowledged, I always feel like a kid on Christmas Eve, constantly checking to see if results are in.

The month of May came and went and no results. In June, I went on vacation and when I returned part of the trove of genealogical surprises was that the autosomal DNA results were in. Even though I don’t have nearly the stories, etc. on my paternal lineage as I do on my maternal lineage, I had / have formed some hypotheses over the years. One is, there was very little miscegenation going on my father’s side of the family. Granted that hypothesis was developed based purely on the old pictures, etc. that I had seem of my ancestors. Well, daddy’s results tend to support that hypothesis. Dad’s results were 85% African, 8% European, and 7% Asian. Wow dad’s even higher than Emmitt Smith’s 81% African, shown on a recent episode of the American version of WDYTYA. When I told dad the results he just chuckled.

23andme also offers Relative Finder, which is another reason I was interested in the autosomal testing, as I keep hoping to come in contact with another descendant on one of my paternal lines who can perhaps help with filling in some of the details behind the dates and places. I’ve still not had any success in that area of my research. Relative Finder did provide me with possible 4th – 5th cousins but of the people that I’ve had contact with, there aren’t any familial matches that I can confirm / trace. Hopefully, in the future, there will actually be a match.

Goals for the Month of August (Paternal Ancestors) - Week 2

2010-08-08T00:51:00.000-07:00

Nope, you didn't miss Week 1 because there was no Week 1 post. As I'm already into the last third of the year (Where did those first seven months go?), I've decided to revamp my strategies somewhat for hopefully achieving some of my goals for this year. I've seen some of my fellow geneabloggers state their monthly and / or weekly goals on their blogs. I'm not a crowd follower but when I come across a possible great idea, I do run with it.

Earlier in the year, I had been doing monthly and weekly goals, but did not post them to my blogs. Hopefully by stating them here, I will get most accomplished.

There are three full weeks left in the month so I'm hoping to start small and have a head a steam build up by the end of the month to get back into the research and blogging, at least until the next busy season, which should occur some time around Thanksgiving.

So, goals for this week for research, etc. on the paternal side of my family are

Research

Request probate records for Jesse M. Ewell, Joshua L. Ewell, and Randol Ewell (Martin County, NC). I believe that one or possibly all 3 of these men (father and 2 sons) might have been my Ewell ancestors slave owner(s). Although two of them died after slavery ended, I'm still hoping that their wills, if available, can provide some clues.
One of my geneabuds gave me the name and phone number of one of her husband's friends who happens to be a Ewell. I'm ashamed to admit that I've not called him, yet. So, I plan to call this week. There doesn't appear to be a familial connection but you just never know.

Blogging / Writing

Two posts to the blog, one of which has to be a written one.

Miscellaneous

Declutter Office
Clean and Repaint my "new to me" legal-sized file cabinet. (I got this from the Habitat ReStore a couple of weeks ago, and it's sepcifically for my genealogy research).
Rearrange Office to accommodate said file cabinet

SNGF

2010-07-18T17:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. It's Sunday evening, not Saturday night, but I wanted to participate in yesterday's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun since it was one I could easily do. This past Saturday Randy Seaver, Genea-Musings, gave the following assignment.

Find something that you have written that you are really proud of - the best of your work. Do an Edit > Copy of it.
Go to the website http://iwl.me/ and Paste your text into the waiting box.
Tell us which famous author you write like. Write it up in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog, or post it on Facebook. Insert the "badge of honor" in your blog if you can.

For this assignment, I chose my posts on Grand Aunt Goldie, They Served With Honor, and the April 27th Tombstone Tuesday posts and my results were as follows:

James Joyce (1882 - 1941): Joyce was an Irish novelist and was to modern literature what Picasso was to modern art: he scrambled up the old formulas and set the table for the 20th century. He is best known for Ulysses and Finnegan's Wake. He died in 1941 from a perforated ulcer. (1)
Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890 - 1937): Lovecraft was born and raised in Rhode Island. It is said that he was one of the most influential horror writers of the 20th century and is most noted for his stories involving a slimy alien god named Cthulhu. (1)
Dan Brown (1964 - ): Author of The Da Vinici Code, one of the most talked about novels of 2003. Most of his works share his signature mix of secret societies, international intrigue, scholarly puzzles and fast paced action. (1)

(1) All information obtained from Answers.com.

Grand Aunt Goldie Everett

2010-07-16T04:25:00.000-07:00

Seems like life has taken over the past 1 ½ months, and I’ve not spent the time on my research that I would like to.

A couple of week ago I mentioned on Georgia Black Crackers that I had happenings on the paternal side of my research, also. However, I never got around to posting about what was happening on my paternal side.

First, let me provide the background information. My paternal grandmother had one sister, Aunt Goldie. After returning to my research efforts, I’ve often wondered what became of my Grand Aunt. I knew of her children and grandchildren but through the years, there’s not been much contact with them and whenever I asked dad about her I got the usual “I don’t know.”

Based on the 1920 and 1930 Federal Census records, I determined that Great Granddad, Peter Everett, ended up rearing his oldest daughter’s children, cousins Etherlyn “Hun” Johnson Curtis and James Henry “Buddy” Johnson, which probably explains why great granddad remarried after great grandmom died. With great granddad rearing his grandchildren and not being able to locate Aunt Goldie anywhere after the 1910 census, I just assumed that she and her husband J. Henry Johnson had both died sometime between the 1910 and 1920. What other explanation could there be for Grandpa Everett ending up with his grandkids. However, that wasn’t enough for me as I longed to know more about my grandmother’s big sister.

What else? I also knew that Aunt Goldie’s youngest grandson, Cousin Clifford (my second cousin), was residing here in my home state. Of Aunt Goldie’s remaining descendants, Cousin Clifford is pretty much the only one we’ve had contact with, but after dad had to move into Assisted Living, we lost touch with him. So, my first step in trying to learn more about my Grand Aunt was to try to locate and get in touch with Cousin Clifford. Earlier this year, through Google, et al, I found an address and wrote but never heard anything. As weeks passed, I always meant to follow-up but never did and eventually let the whole matter drop.

Well, while I was on vacation last month, Cousin Clifford called. When I got in touch with him, he explained that he had received my letter but accidentally shredded it before he had a chance to call. He had to do a bit of detective work of his own to figure out how to get in touch with me. So, after we got caught up on how everyone was doing, we got down to discussing Aunt Goldie.

Cousin Clifford explained that since he was the youngest of his siblings, he didn’t remember a lot about his grandmother. He told me he was six when she died. He remembered that she had married several times and that she died around 1956. He also confirmed that his mother and uncle were reared by our great grandfather. Cousin Clifford also suggested that I talk to his brother who’s be working on the family research, also, but best of all, Cousin Clifford said whenever I venture to our ancestral home in Martin County, NC that he would like to go too.

Well, since reconnecting with Cousin Clifford, I’ve actually been able to find a few more bits and pieces of Aunt Goldie’s life as a young adult. Thanks to the Pilot Family Search I’ve located information on Aunt Goldie’s marriage to both her first husband, James Henry Johnson, Cousin Clifford’s granddad, and her second husband, James J. Hyman. I tell you it’s almost like Aunt Goldie was waiting for Cousin Clifford and I to reconnect before allowing me to find out about this snippet of her life. Could this be the start of uniting the two branches of descendants of my great grandparents? I’m hopeful.

You see, between my maternal side and paternal side, my paternal side is much smaller (26 grandkids vs. 6 grandkids) and scattered. Just in my grandmother’s branch of the tree, we, her descendants, are in California, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Cancun, Mexico. Growing up, I always wondered why there weren’t the tons of relatives, the big family reunions, etc. on my paternal side like on my maternal side.

There are also a lot of “old” genealogical lessons to be learned from all of this.

Be careful when making assumptions – things aren’t always what they appear (Aunt Goldie was very much alive during the time period I thought she was dead.)
Always follow up on any correspondence. If I had have done this, Cousin Clifford and I could have been in contact so much sooner.
Persistence pays off – Keep at it. Don’t be deterred! (Cousin Clifford was determined to reconnect even after I had dropped the ball.)

Wordless Wednesday - Birthday Wishes

2010-07-14T19:39:00.000-07:00

Birthday wishes to one of my younger cousins.

My first cousin, once removed

One of the best younger relatives a person could have.

This picture is from the personal collection of D. Dawkins.

Tombstone Tuesday

2010-06-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

This picture is part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

2010-05-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

The Time Capsule

It's Saturday night and you know what that means, it's time for the next assignment from Randy Seavers, Genea-Musings.

Tonight's assignment:

Go to the dMarie Time Capsule Website
Select a date in your family history that you want to know about. You might pick a birth date or wedding date of your parents or grandparents.
Enter the date into the search form, and select the news, songs, toys, books and other things that you want to feature.
Share the date, why you picked it, and the results of your Time Capsule study on your own blog, in a comment to this post, or in a comment or post on Facebook.

I chose September 14, 1887, my paternal great grandparents (Peter T. Everett and Edith Ewell) marriage date.

The top News Headlines for this week were:

Sept. 5 - Gas lamp at Theater Royal in Exeter catches fire killing about 200
Sep 15 - Phila celebrates 100th anniversary of US Constitution
Sep 26 - Emile Berliner patents the Gramophone
Sep 28 - Gele River (Huang Ho) in China floods, kills about 1.5 million
Sep 30 - Start of the Sherlock Holmes Adventure "The Five Orange Pips" (BG)
Sep 30 - Volunteer (US) beats Thistle (Scotland) in 8th America's Cup

The President of the United States was Grover Cleveland. There was no Vice President, (Thomas Hendricks died November 25, 1885.)

People Born on that this date include:

1887 - Karl Taylor Compton physicist/atomic bomb scientist
1887 - Stanley "Midnight Assassin" Ketchel HW boxing champ (1908-10)

Hot new toys were Parcheesi, Snakes and Ladders, and Cap Guns.

A loaf of bread was $0.02, milk was $0.17 / gal, a house was $5,600, and average income was $580 / yr.

Some of the hits were:

A Night on Bald Mountain
Minuet in G
Away in the Manger
If You Love Me Darling...
La Cinquantaine
Comrades
Slavonic Dances
Pictures at an Exhibition

Carnival of African-American Genealogy, 3rd edition - They Served With Honor

2010-05-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

The Jones Men Who Served

WWII and Korean Conflict

I originally thought I had nothing to contribute to the 3rd edition of the Carnival of African American Genealogy (CoAAG), They Served with Honor - In Memoriam, African Americans in the Military 1914 - 1953 . Even though I knew dad and two of my uncles had served in the military, I really didn’t know a lot about their service. There is still a lot of knowledge to be gained about their service but as a result of this carnival, I've been able to start working on one of my genealogical goals for the year, which was to sit down and interview / record my parents. Turns out, even though I waited until the last possible second to work on this carnival, I’ve enjoyed doing it and am proud of the contributions my ancestors / relatives gave in service to their country no matter how big or small.

WWII

First, there was Uncle Claudius Jones. Uncle Claudius enlisted in the Army and was part of the Army Band. At this time, I don’t have a lot of details on Uncle Claudius’ service. I contacted my aunt to try to get additional information. Unfortunately, I waited until the last second to call her. She was planning to have her daughter, my first cousin, take her to her house to get Uncle Claudius’ service records. So, I will give more details on Uncle Claudius’ service at a later date.

The picture shows Uncle Claudius, on the left, with one of his army buddies.

Next was Uncle Toussaint Jones. At this moment, I don’t’ have much information on Uncle Toussaint. Uncle Toussaint and Aunt Lil are both deceased. He had no children so there are no descendants to ask. Tried asking his brother, dad, who told me Uncle Toussaint wasn’t in the army.

Uncle Toussaint’s tombstone lists him as a Tec 5 (Technician 5th Grade) during WWII. A brief online research shows that those who held this rank were addressed as corporal. From what I understand, the Technician designation was basically a pay grade designation. In today’s army, I think those with this designation would be called specialist. They were possibly non-combat positions. Specifically, technicians, as the name implies, tended to have a technical skill. Perhaps, one of these days, I will try to get a copy of Uncle Toussaint’s military records so that I can learn more about this part of his life.

Korean Conflict

Finally, there is Daddy. Daddy served in the Army during the Korean conflict. He was part of the Signal Corps, servicing and repairing RADAR and Radio equipment. Daddy tells me that he was drafted for service. As he put it, “I certainly didn’t volunteer to go.” When quizzed about how they decided what he would do, he says that he was given a test to determine where he would fit in. After that determination was made, he was sent off to RADAR school and Radio Repair School for training.

Daddy received his training at Fort Gordon in Augusta Georgia and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. After his training was completed, daddy flew to California then embarked on his voyage to Japan where he was stationed. Knowing nothing about military life, I didn’t understand why he was stationed in Japan if he was part of the Korean conflict. Daddy explained that the broken equipment was sent from Korea to Japan, where it was repaired then returned to Korea.

Daddy went in as Private. There were no promotions although he did make Soldier of the Week. According to him, his Rank was frozen unless he went through the OCS program (Officer Training School). Daddy says he passed the test to be accepted into the program but decided not to go because he had no desire for a career in the Army. So, he came back home to North Carolina and began his teaching career.

As you can see, none of them were in combat. Being college educated men appears to have afforded daddy and my uncles a luxury that few men, white or black, had at that time. For me, this doesn’t minimize their service to their country for their roles were still important.

The pictures of dad and Uncle Claudius are part of the collection of the owner of this blog. The picture of Uncle Toussaint's tombstone was obtained via FindAGrave.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-04-28T04:21:00.000-07:00

The Jones Grandkids

ca 1987

From the personal Collection of the Owner of this Blog.

Tombstone Tuesday

2010-04-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe that until two weeks ago, I had only been to my paternal grandparents’ grave twice. The first time was when my grandmother was interred and the second time was when Aunt Martha was interred.

Unlike the maternal side of my family, when I was growing up, my paternal side never pushed visiting the gravesite of my grandparents and uncle, which now also includes my aunt. Through the years, for as often as we were back in dad’s and the aunt’s and uncle’s hometown, I don’t ever remember anyone saying, let’s go by the gravesite, and while I’ve always wanted to go by the old home site, I don’t ever remember requesting a visit to the cemetery.

Lately though, I’ve felt a need almost a beckoning if you will to go visit the gravesite of my paternal grandparents, aunt, and uncle. So, on Friday, March 16th, having a gorgeous afternoon free, I decided to make the little over an hour drive, from work, to Winston-Salem, NC for a long overdue visit.

I had located the address of the cemetery before I left and plugged it into my trusty GPS unit. While enroute, I called my cousin Valerie, who lives in the Triad area of NC, hoping that she would meet me at the cemetery because even though I had a picture of the tombstone in my mind, I had no clue where in the cemetery the gravesite was located. But Valerie and Cousin Denise, her daughter, both had other plans for the day. After I hung up, I realized that I had forgotten to ask Valerie exactly where in the cemetery our grandparents’ graves were located. As she was in a hurry to get to her destination, I didn’t call back.

Arriving into town, I got off at the exist that usually takes us to dad’s and the aunt’s and uncle’s alma mater, Winston-Salem State, but instead of heading to the left as I’ve done on so many previous trips, I turned right. Before long, I arrived at Walkertown Road, the street the cemetery is located on. I made a right onto Walkertown and was at the cemetery in little or no time. This amazed me as through the years, I had always imagined that Evergreen cemetery, where my grandparents, aunt and uncle are interred, was way out. Why didn’t we ever visit seeing how close it was to the alma mater?

As I turned into the cemetery, I stopped at the front gate and took a picture. If the words gorgeous and beautiful could be used to describe a cemetery, Evergreen, definitely fits the bill. From this point on, it was truly my Ancestors’ guidance that lead me to their graves as I wasn’t seeing any tombstones that matched that picture in my head and of course there were lots of Joneses. I had made almost a complete circle through the cemetery when suddenly I decided to pull over and get out. I parked right beside a Jones family plot that I knew wasn’t it but checked anyway. I then proceeded on to the last row of graves in this section and started walking when suddenly I stopped and looked to my right. Yes, it was their graves. How amazing was that?

I took pictures of the headstone and footstones, and I talked to them, telling them I was sorry that I hadn’t been before now. I promised my grandmother that next time I would bring flowers since I knew how much they had meant to her.

Prior to leaving Winston-Salem, I of course went by the lot one more time where the old ancestral home once stood because no visit is quite complete until I do that.

As I made the journey back home, I would venture by the gravesite of other relatives, those being on my maternal side, and which I will discuss on a future post at Georgia Black Crackers.

Uncle Thomas Langston Jones

As you can see, my grandparents stressed education and were so proud of the accomplishments of their first born, whom preceded them in death, that they had his degrees awarded engraved on his tombstone.

Aunt Martha Jones

Grandparents

All pictures are from the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Surname Saturday

2010-04-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

Hargett

My Aunt Martha indicated in a letter to me, dated 2 July 1991, that we had cousins with the surname Hargett and that the then owners of the Hargett funeral home in Greensboro, NC were our distant cousins. Well, this is one of those so-and –so is our cousin type things that I’m beginning to possibly validate.

Based on information that I have to date, my Hargett Ancestry is as follows:

1. Mavis Jones

2. Earl Jones

3. Iola Everett, born May 1893 in Cross Roads, Martin, NC; died 05 April 1969 in Shelby, Cleveland, NC; interred in Evergreen Cemetery, Winston-Salem, Forsyth, NC

4. Peter Everett, born abt. 1863 in Martin County, NC, most likely the Cross Roads area; died 27 Jan 1931 in Cross Roads, Martin, NC; possibly interred in Everetts Cemetery, Everetts, Martin, NC.

5. Vica Ann Hargett, born abt. 1850 in North Carolina, possibly Pitt County; date of death and interment unknown

While I’ve been at this awhile, for whatever reason, it wasn’t until this year, that I requested a copy of my great grandparents’, Peter Everett and Edith Ewell, marriage license. On the marriage license granddaddy Peter’s parents are listed as Vica Ann Hargett, living, and what appears to be Henry Cherry (name difficult to make out), deceased.

There is a great deal more work to be done of this line, and sometime in the future I will begin more research on it but from my quick assessment of census records, I believe that

My 2nd great grandmother Vica Ann was an Everett when granpa Peter was born.
She later married John Hargett and had several more children.

Once again, this shows that you have to continually look back and go through your notes for missed items or from a different perspective. I think the reasons I had never requested my great-grandparents marriage license is that 1) when I initially begin my research, I had wrongly assumed that it was so far back in time that there wouldn’t be a record of my great grandparents marriage or 2) even though I keep somewhat decent records of my correspondence to various places, I might have thought I had already requested and was told there wasn't a record. Either way, I’m glad I realized that I had never asked as the find puts me back one more generation and more or less confirms the information on great granddad’s death certificate.

More Ancestor Approved Awards

2010-04-11T15:34:00.000-07:00

I’m a little behind on acknowledging the Ancestor Approved Awards that I received for Conversations with My Ancestors. I hope that my presenters didn’t think I didn’t appreciate it. It’s just that it was hard enough to come up with 10 things the first time. In fact I included some of my surprises, thrills, etc. from my paternal side in the 10 things posted on Georgia Black Crackers. So, I’ve been more or less stalling trying to come up with an additional 10 things.

The Ancestor Approved Award for Conversations with my Ancestors was presented to me by Deborah, The Sum of All My Research and Renate, Into the Light.

As a reminder, the rules are the recipient of the Ancestor Approved award lists ten things learned about their ancestors that have surprised, humbled, or enlightened. The recipient then passes the award to ten other bloggers that are doing their Ancestors proud.

Surprises

The realization that my grand aunt Goldie Everett Johnson and her husband James Henry Johnson both appeared to have died young (unconfirmed) and that my great grandfather, Peter Everett, and his second wife, Della, finished rearing two of his grandchildren, Cousin Etherlyn “Hun” Johnson Curtis and Cousin James Henry “Buddy” Johnson.

That for now, neither of the surnames of my great grandfather Peter Everett’s parents matches his surname. Just means there is more research to do, which of course is not a surprise. :)

This one could probably go into all three categories but I’m surprised by how much I matured as a researcher during my ten year hiatus away from my research. Of course I still have a long way to go and will still make mistakes but when a fellow researcher, whose workshop I was taking, asked me if I had ever thought about teaching a class, it definitely was an exclamation point to my research.

Humbled By

The drive and ambition of my great grandfather Peter Everett, who masterfully carried out a plan to be his own man at a time when the deck was stacked against him.

The activism of my grandfather, Harry Claudius Jones, in Winston-Salem, NC through the Forsyth Black Chamber of Commerce and as Director of the Negro Home and Welfare Association in helping to lay the foundation for future generations.

By the fact my father, in order to earn money to pay his way through college, took one of the only jobs available to him, working on the chain gang.

The drive for and attaining of educational goals by my father, aunts and uncles with virtually no financial resources and at a time when society probably thought they were wasting their time in pursuing those goals.

Thrilled By

The Pictures I have of my great grandparents, Peter and Edith Ewell.

The renewal of my voracious appetite for reading which was fueled by the renewal of my research. Granted most of my reading has to do with my research but it’s allowed me a chance to get to know my ancestors in their time and quit trying to interpret their life in my era.

The willingness of some Probate Courts and Register of Deeds to return your funds when there is an unsuccessful search of records. It wasn’t and is not always the case. Every little bit helps, you know.

Passing it on to Another 10

Darlene, My Colored Roots

Elizabeth, Little Bytes of Life

Taneya, Taneya’s Genealogy Blog

Miriam, AnceStories: The Stories of my Ancestors

Elyse, Elyse’s Genealogy Blog

Caroline, Family Stories

Drusilla, Find Your Folks

Ruth, Genealogy is Ruthless Without Me

J, J-Macs Journey

Terri, All Roads Lead to California

Carnival of African-American Genealogy, 2nd edition - Grandma’s Hand

2010-04-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

Grandmomma Jones

Iola Luvenia Everett Jones

Late 1960s

From the personal collection of the owner of this blog

This is my second post for the second edition of the Carnival of African-American Genealogy. As mentioned in my post about my maternal grandmother, this carnival has been a tough one for me. As previously noted, it’s not that I never knew my grandmothers but that I really didn’t get an opportunity to know them.

I was a bit older, 8 to be exact, when my paternal grandmother died. While I had her a bit longer, as fate would have it, father time had mentally taken her away from me a few years before. Even so, while no single moment sticks out for me the way the last visit with my maternal grandmother does, I know that my paternal grandmother and I had our special moments.

For the first few years of my life, Grandmomma Jones stayed in Winston-Salem, NC, where she and granddaddy settled after leaving their home county in the eastern part of the state. While I always seemed to get sick off the fumes that seeped through the floor of daddy’s old Ford, I always enjoyed and looked forward to the trips to my grandmother’s house. However, I must admit that the house itself always seem to terrify me. I always had a problem with basements, so the cellar of the Big House was especially terrifying.

From what I know about my grandmother, she was a resourceful and strong woman who like Jesus fed the masses with very little. Unlike my maternal grandparents who farmed, my paternal grandparents were more city folks. However, that doesn’t mean they struggled any less. In fact, it seems like they may have struggled more. Grandmomma’s small garden provided just enough for her to feed her family. Grandmomma Jones could make practically anything from greens and squash and that’s how she and her family survived.

Grandmomma Jones endured the death of her first born who drowned while away at grad school and her youngest who only lived a few short months. She also survived having cancer in not one but both breast, which was totally unheard of at that time, the survival that is.

Grandmom was definitely proud to be a grandmother and was proud of her grandkids. My mother tells the story of one summer, when most of Grandmomma Jones’ grandkids had descended on her. My cousin Valerie and I were still babies and I think my cousin Lafrieda was there and maybe even cousins Jay and Claudius. We were all outside, and grandmom was holding me. One of her neighbors came by asking where all these babies came from and Grandmom proudly proclaimed these are my grandbabies.

Eventually Grandmomma Jones’ health started to fail. Around this time, her daughter, Aunt Martha, who lived in my hometown, decided to build a house and have grandmom move in with her. So, the last years of her life were spent in my hometown. Given the fact Aunt Martha’s house was < 2 miles from our house, for awhile I had the double pleasure of having both of my grandmother’s near. Even though at this point in time there was little interaction due to her health, I still enjoyed spending time with grandmom and always went bounding into Aunt Martha’s house with a hey grandma and plopping down beside her for a awhile.

Grandmomma Jones departed this world on April 5, 1969. It occurred over Easter break while Cousin Valerie and Aunt Emmanuline were visiting. Grandmom stumbled, lost her balance, and struck her head. Eerily, Aunt Martha’s death, which occurred almost exactly 31 years later, happened in the same manner.

As with my maternal grandmother, I wish we had had more time but I will always be grateful for the time that we did have together. I still feel the pride that she exuded in having me / us as her grandkids and would like to think that if she were here that she would be proud of the work that I’ve done on her ancestral line.

Madness Monday – Slave Owners

2010-03-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

The Hunt Continues

I think I’ve determined why there was no clustering of African-American Ewell families around a former Ewell slave owner on the 1870 and 1880 censuses. He was dead and his son, who also owned slaves, had moved on.

Last week, I looked at the 1860 slave schedules but forgot to check the 1850 slave schedule as well as the regular censuses for 1850 and 1860. So, going back and examining these documents, here is what I discovered.

1. J M Ewell is Jesse M. Ewell.

2. The enumeration for Jesse M. Ewell on the 1860 census is as follows:

The enumeration for Jesse Ewell, age 63, contains a J. L. Ewell, male, age 29. I would venture to say that J. L. Ewell is Jesse’s son. J. L. Ewell is married. Could it be that Jesse gave his son some of his slaves as a wedding present?

3. The 1850 census shows a Joshua Euell, age 19, in the household of Jesse Euell. This points toward J. L. Ewell being Joshua Ewell.

4. Where as the 1860 slave schedule shows Joshua, then 29, and Jesse being the owners of the slaves, the 1850 slave schedule shows Jesse Euell owning 19 slaves and a Randol Euell, who lives next door, owing 6 slaves.

As Randol is 28, I believe he may also be one of Jesse’s children. But what happened to Randol and his family between 1850 and 1860? Did he die? And if so did his brother inherit his slaves?

The Carolina Ewells

Remember that wonderful website, Ewell Family Genealogy and Historical Society, I came across about a moth ago. I decided now was as good a time as any to poke around on it some more and low and behold, I found some of the history of Jesse Ewell’s family, which dates back into the 1700s in my North Carolina research area. You know, that was just too easy.

So here is a brief synopsis of this family. Jesse Ewell was born in neighboring Pitt County in 1798. His father was James Ewell, b 1750 in Pitt County. Jesse had five children, Randall, Jesse James, Joshua Lawrence, Parthenia Olivia and Lillitha.

Randall Ewell was alive in 1855 but has not been able to be traced beyond that. To date, no further information is available on Randall.

Jesse M. Ewell died in 1869. Although his death occurred after emancipation, I still plan to check any available probate records. Maybe he had his will drawn prior to the end of slavery and never changed it. I can hope can’t I?

Joshua Lawrence Ewell died in 1905. It appears that perhaps after the Civil War, Joshua never returned to the life of a farmer. In 1880, he was Clerk of Court and at the time of his death, he was the Justice of the Peace in Williamston, NC and this appears to be what he is best known for. Surely there is more?

My gut tells me that I’ve found my slave owning family but I tread lightly as things may not appear as they seem to be. So, where do I go from here?

• Obtain a copy of Jesse M. Ewell’s probate records.

• Tax Records, if available?

• Deeds? – So wishing that the Register of Deeds was open on the weekend as I would just hop in my car and drive to the eastern part of my home state.

• Other suggestions gladly accepted.

To Be Continued

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of my granddad, Rev. Harry Claudius Jones, and the rest of the men who made of up the Black Forsyth County Chamber of Commerce. I actually think this organization may still be in existince, but with so many genealogical irons in the fire, it's one thing I've not taken the time to do further research on. Perhaps in the next few months. Granddad is on the back row, second from the left.

The picture used in today's post was inherited from the aunt of the owner of this blog.

Madness Monday – Looking for Ewell Slave Owners

2010-03-15T19:44:00.000-07:00

What They Say

They say you shouldn’t try to find more than one slave owner at the same time. They say you should follow one line through to completion. They say. Who is this they? And why do I have to follow what They say?

Conventional Thought - Not

There is nothing conventional about African-American Genealogy. I should follow the rules THEY hand out, but both my ancestors and I say screw it. So it’s that attitude that says, yes, I will follow both my Ewell ancestors and my Pierce Ancestor, Georgia Black Crackers at the same time into slavery.

They don’t realize that my Georgia Ancestors and my North Carolina Ancestors seem to feed off of each other. By researching in two different states, I get ideas from one to facilitate the research of the other and vice versa.

Slam Dunk – I don’t think so

As I’ve matured in my genealogical research, I’ve learned that there is often no rhyme or reason in trying to determine the last slave owner. I learned early on, through reading Black Southerners 1619 – 1869 by John B. Boles that what history had always taught us, that former slaves always took the last owners name, simply was not true. Sometimes, a family’s surname is a clue, especially if former slaves were within a given family throughout slavery, but often times the surname is not a clue at all. Could this possibly be the case with my Ewell ancestors?

1870

In 1870, in Martin County, NC, there were all of 27 people with the surname Ewell. My family accounts for 18.5% of those Ewells. The majority of the Ewells are Black. However, there is no cluster of Black Ewells around a White Ewell. In fact, the Black Ewells are not even clustered around each other. And interestingly enough, it rather seems to be that way with the Black families of Martin County regardless of surname.

Although there is no clustering, the possibility still exists that my Ewell family might have been owned by a Ewell, so I will still check the 1860 slave schedule for slave owners with the last name Ewell.

More so than with my maternal Pierce ancestors, I canvassed the neighborhood looking for someone with enough wealth that may point toward them being a former slave owner. By doing this, I’ve come up with 13 candidates. These candidates will be evaluated in future posts.

Might My Ewell Ancestors Have Been Free?

I first check the 1860 census to determine if there were any free persons of color with the Ewell Surname. In 1860, there are very few White Ewells in Martin County or North Carolina for that matter and no Black Ewells are enumerated.

Ewell Slave Owners

The 1860 slave schedule for Martin County, North Carolina, indicates there were two slave owners with the surname Ewell.

Comparing their slaves against Grandpa Isaac and Grandma Penny’s 1870 enumeration and assuming that both of my 2nd great grandparents were owned by the same person, neither listing provides a good match. J. M. Ewell’s slave holdings show a female that could possibly be Grandma Penny but no male that might be Grandpa Isaac. J. L.’s Ewell’s holdings are just the opposite.

I do wonder if these two Ewell owners might be related. Could it be possible that one owned Grandpa Isaac and the other owned Grandma Penny? Should I do further exploration with these two Ewells, first, or should I finish my evaluation of the other candidates?

To be Continued

Ancestral Homes and Google Maps

2010-02-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

For those of you that have been following Georgia Black Crackers, you know that I'm participating in the Winter 2010 Geneabloggers Games.

One of my goals for today was to learn a new task. So, I decided to take on Google Maps (Task A in the Expand your Knowlede Category). Until I read Google Maps and Carnival Posts at Bootcamp for Genea-bloggers and more!, I actually thought I new all there was to know about using Google Maps. It turns out that while I did some what already have an idea how to use this tool, I had not realized it's potential of incorprating it into my research and geneablogging. So let's get started.

View Jones Ancestral Home in a larger map

The big green house with the basement that terrified me is no longer there but this is where my grandparents settled after leaving their home county of Martin in North Carolina. It’s where dad and all my aunts and uncles grew up.

At a time that I can barely remember, there were frequent trips from the hometown to Winston-Salem to check on Grandma Jones. There are only two things I remember about those trips, the noxious fumes that seeped up through the holes in the floor of daddy’s old Ford and root beer floats. Root beer floats were a special treat I always got whenever we went to grandma’s and the trips to grandma’s was the only time that I ever drank them.

Eventually, grandmom’s health and mind begin to fail her and she was moved to my little home town where she stayed with her daughter, Aunt Martha, until her death in 1969, after which she was returned to Winston-Salem to be interred alongside granddad and Uncle Thomas.

Through the years, trips were made back to Winston-Salem for various reasons and activities but rarely ever included a trip by the ‘ole home place.

Eventually the big green monster that terrified me was torn down. I’m not exactly sure when it was torn down (I think it was after grandmom’s death) but I remember it coming down about the same time the “highway” was being build. The highway came right in front of the house. At the time, I remember being mad at whoever had the audacity to forever change the family home and even though no family home has been there in a long while, it still makes me sad.

For years, Aunt Martha, dad and my other aunt and uncles held onto the property thinking one of us grandkids would want it. By then, most of the Jones clan was far removed from Winston-Salem and had no desire to live there. Although my cousin Valerie lived in Winston-Salem for awhile, neither she nor the rest of us grandkids wanted the property. So, eventually, the property was sold.

The trips back to dad’s hometown aren’t that frequent any more, usually dad’s high school class reunion or an occasional football game at his undergrad alma mater. But whenever we go, time permitting, I usually have but one request, can we go by the lot?

How it looked then (1961)*

Aunt Martha and my grandmother are sitting on the steps. Cousin Lafrieda is holding me and cousin Valerie, who is two months older, and the lady picking up Valerie is her mother, Aunt Emanuline. Notice, I was the good baby!

*From the collection of O. Jones, mother of the owner of this blog.

Until Next Time!

Surname Saturday – Ewell

2010-02-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

I never ever thought of the Ewell surname being unusual until one of my geneabuds, Amy, A_Cain on Twitter, begin asking me about my Ewell line and commented that it was an unusual surname.

Of my paternal lines, my Ewell ancestors are the only line that I’ve been able to trace back to 1870 and yet for some reason it doesn’t fascinate me nearly the way the my other paternal lines do. That is until now. My Ewell line is as follows:

1. Mavis Jones

2. Earl Jones

3. Iola Luvenia Everett Jones, born abt May 1895 in the Crossroads section of Everetts, Martin County, NC; died 5 Apr 1969 in Shelby, Cleveland County, NC. Internment Evergreen Cemetery, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, NC

4. Edith / Eadie Ewell Everett, born abt 20 Nov 1865 in Martin County, North Carolina; died 25 July 1917 in Everetts, Martin County, North Carolina. Internment – unknown.

5. Isaac and Pennie Ewell

Isaac was born abt. 1840 in North Carolina, probably Martin County; died between 1870 and 1880 probably in Martin County, North Carolina. Internment unknown.

Pennie was born abt 1840 in North Carolina. Her date of death and interment are unknown at this time.

In searching online for information on the Ewell surname, it appears that the best online information can be found at Ewell Family History and Genealogical Society. (I just discovered this terrific site today.) A great many sites suggest that the name finds it’s origins in Wales; however, the researcher, Paul Jensen, states that during his research of the Ewell name and its various phonetic spellings he didn’t find a single Ewell in Wales. Further research showed that the name most likely derived from the Wales name Llewellyn. It appears that for whatever reason, that upon arrival to the US, the name was shortened to its various spellings.

I also decided to check out the Ewell surname on Public Profiler. The top country for the Ewell surname is the United States at 17.78 FPM, with Utah being the top state, and Virginia Beach, VA being the top US city for the surname. In fact, three of the top five cities for the Ewell surname are located in Virginia. Brief readings on the history of Martin County as well as the eastern part of my home state, have always lead me to believe that not only does my maternal grandmother’s Everett side go back into VA at some point but her Ewell side probably does so as well.

On my paternal side of the family, I’m just now beginning to push into the slavery era on any line, so I’ve not done a lot. I’ve only briefly looked at candidates who possibly could be the last slave owner. In the coming weeks, I plan to explore these possible candidates more in depth. I hope you’ll join me on the journey.

Until Next Time!

Wordless Wednesday - the Jones Family

2010-01-27T16:58:00.000-08:00

From the collection of Mavis Jones

Believe or not, at the point in time that this picture was taken, abt. 1973, this is almost all of the descendants of my grandparents. The only ones missing are three of my first cousins, and of course my oldest uncle, who was already deceased. When talking descendants, daddy's side of the family (6 grandchildren) stands in stark contrast to my mother's side of the family (26 grandchildren).

Sentimental Sunday - Reel-to-Reel Tape Recordings

2010-01-24T04:44:00.000-08:00

Picture obtained from devicepedia.com

In today’s digital world the reel to reel tape recorder is considered an antiquated piece of technology. But back in the day, that was the way we Joneses kept in touch. More specifically, tape recordings were the way daddy and Aunt Martha stayed in contact with their brother, Uncle Claudius, who lived in Florida.

When I think about all the recordings going back and forth between North Carolina and Florida, the thought of them brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. It always felt like we were right there with Uncle Claudius and my cousins. However, as a shy and sometimes withdrawn child, those reel to reel recordings were pure torture for me, also. Daddy and Aunt Martha always had me talking on them. I can still hear it today, “Come talk to your Uncle.” I never said much, usually only saying “Hi Uncle Claudius. This is Mavis.” Of course daddy and Aunt Martha were always standing there telling me to tell him about this or that (my good grades, playing the piano, whatever else was going on in my young life.) Whatever I said definitely had to be pulled out of me.

Like so many things that would be a treasured piece of the past, I’m afraid that none of those old recordings are left. As we moved from reel-to-reel to cassette tapes, the tapings became less and less frequent. The cassette tapes just weren’t the same and right now, I don’t ever remember us sending any of those back and forth. In addition, we never did keep the recording that was received. It was always taped over when doing the return tape. But wouldn’t it be fun if my cousin LaFrieda and I could figure out who sent the last recording and better yet, discover that it didn’t get taped over.

Until Next Time!

Yele Haiti

2010-01-16T16:35:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week when discussing the tragedy in Haiti, I pointed out that donations could be made through Wyclef Jean's orginazation, Yele. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that since that time, there has been information that has come out with regard to Yele's accounting and financial practices. Like others, I do find the timing of the release of this information questionable given that Yele has been around for 12 years. I will also state that wrong is wrong.

So, as in everything else in life, investigate any organization that you plan to make a donation to and through.

Until Next Time!

The Will and Spirit of a People - Haiti Continued

2010-01-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

Another Not So Wordless Wednesday - Haiti

2010-01-13T16:10:00.000-08:00

Picture from REUTERS

Earthquake, 7.0 on Rector Scale

January 12, 2010

Ever since discovering the significance of my Uncle Toussaint L'Ouverture's name, I've always felt this connection to Haiti. Toussaint L'Ouverture, was the great Haitian revolutionary leader who lead the successful slave revolt, which lead to Haiti becoming a nation. I've often wondered how grandmomma Jones knew about Toussaint L'Ouverture. I've always had this romanticized view that grandmom's line of the family came through Haiti.

As Iyanla Vanzant stated on today's Michael Baisden Show, Haiti has always been treated like the bastard child. I know we are in a recession but I would like to challenge my readers to help in anyway they can, whether prayer, monetarily, or traveling to Haiti to help the victims of this horrific disaster.

For those interested in helping monetarily, you can make contributions through http://www.yele.org/, Yelehaiti, Wyclef Jean's organization. You can also get information by following Wyclef on Twitter.

A Happy 101 Award

2010-01-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

We are already a week into 2010, and I definitely needed a push to shake me out of the winter doldrums and post holiday let down. I had been contemplating what I was going to write on in the year when along came a push I needed to get back on track.

The push that I needed came from fellow bloggers and Geneafriends Sandra, I Never Knew My Father, and Renate, Into the Light, who gifted me with the Happy 101 Award. Sandra gifted me not once be twice for both of my blogs. Both ladies have been the greatest of geneafriends and both write terrific blogs that come from the heart and touch one's soul. If you have not had a chance to read either of their blogs, please take the time to check them out. You won't be disappointed.

As a receipient I have to reveal ten things that make me happy, then select ten other bloggers to receive the award.

Ten Things that make me Happy

Watching sunrises on early spring mornings when there is still a bit of crispness in the morning air.
The smell of honeysuckle
Hearing my dad play Rachmaninoff''s Prelude in C Sharp minor
A good book
Hot showers
My momma's rolls.
My furbaby, Shelby
Birds chirping
The occasional splurge of a massage
Making things for my family (mom, dad, the aunts, cousins, etc.) and for others (Secret Santa, etc.)

Now to pass the baton. I would like to recognize:

Taneya's Genealogy Blog
But Now I'm Found
Reclaiming Kin
My NOLA Heritage: Robertson, Robinson, Bryan, Amos, Ancestors of Webster Parrish, Louisiana!!
Find Your Folks
We Tree
Tangled Trees
TJLGenes: Preserving Our Family History
Begin with Craft
Heritage Happens

Until Next Time!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2009-12-31T21:57:00.001-08:00

Thoughtful Thursday - Watch Night Service

2009-12-31T03:19:00.000-08:00

Watch Night Service

There was a time when I dreaded New Year’s Eve because it meant being drug to church one more time. Don’t get me wrong, I love church and my faith has gotten me through many a difficult times but to be there on New Year’s Eve, uggh!

As a child mom, who was Baptist and who more times than not I went to church with, loaded granddad and me in the car and headed to church. Even in my adult years, mom and / or dad could often guilt me into going with them, especially mom with her “There’s no other place I would rather be to bring in the new year.” Last year, I finally understood what she meant as for the first time in my life I was at Watch Night Service because that is where I wanted and needed to be.

Before moving to Colorado for awhile, I always thought Watch Night Service was something everyone did but during my adult life, I’ve learned that Watch Night service is truly an African-American tradition and perhaps only observed in the southern states.

The tradition of bringing in the year in church appears to have it’s origins in the Moravian community, but the significance in the African-American community can be traced back to December 31, 1862, “Freedom’s Eve.” President Abraham Lincoln in his Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, dated September 22, 1862, had indicated that the slaves would be freed on January 1, 1863.

So with new found vigor both in my research and the reflections on the history of our celebration, tonight when I go to Watch Night Service, I know I’ll think and wonder about them, my ancestors, as I’m already doing now, and about the thoughts that raced through their minds as they anticipated freedom. I’ll think about my 3rd great grandmother, Eliza Stovall, at the age of abt. 50, possibly with her children and grand children by her side, giving praise that she lived long enough to see this day.

So, in remembrance of all my known direct line and collateral ancestors that endured slavery, roll call:

Direct Line of known enslaved ancestors

Paternal Ancestors

Issac Ewell – 2nd great grandfather, 1840 – unk
(date of death bwt 1870 and 1880)
Pennie Ewell – 2nd great grandmother, 1840 – unk

Maternal Ancestors

Eliza Stoval – 3rd great grandmother, abt. 1810 – unk
(date of death bwt. 1880 and 1900)
Wyatt Rome – 2nd great grandfather, 1840 – unk
(date of death after 1910)
Alice Rome – 2nd great grandmother, 1836 – unk
(date of death bwt. 1900 and 1910)
Matilda Hosch – 2nd great grandmother, 1840 – unk
Monroe Barto Hosch – great grandfather, 1862 – unk
(date of death bwt 1890 and 1900)
Jasper Pierce – 2nd great grandfather 1850 - unk
Jane Pierce – 2nd great grandmother, 1844 – unk

Advent Calendar Day 24 - Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T09:23:00.000-08:00

Christmas Tree Buying on Christmas Eve

Every year, I would begin December 1st, begging dad to go get our tree and every year he either ignored me or stated I’m not paying those outrageous prices for something that’s only going to get used for a few days then thrown away. During the early years of having a real tree, I would sometimes remind dad that we still hadn’t gotten our tree but by the end of this period, I had learned that no tree was coming into the house any sooner than Christmas Eve. So, I waited and waited and waited for December 24th to arrive so that we could go get our tree.

Even after waiting until December 24th, dad would still make me wait until the about the last hour that his favorite tree lot, operated the Boy Scouts, was open. So, while I’m panicking that we aren’t going to have a tree, dad and I finally set out for the tree lot while mom stays home and finally starts hauling the tree decorations out.

We are finally at the tree lot. I’ve already spied the perfect tree as we are pulling up, so I jump out the car and race to it and declare dad it’s this one. I never did learn on this part of our routine. Dad always declared that my perfect tree was too tall, too big, etc. The real reason was that tree is still going to cost more money than I want to spend on this thing. So, we kept hunting until dad found a tree. Of course I usually thought it was the ugliest tree that I had seen but since he was buying it, who was I to argue. But our fun didn’t stop there. Dad always haggled to get an even lower price. My favorite dad line from the haggling was always “It’s Christmas Eve. What are you going to do with this tree tomorrow? We are the only ones here even looking at the trees.” And every year, dad won the battle. But the buying process is still not done. Dad’s final move is to ask if he can write a check. The reply is always yes, so dad writes his check out to the Boy Scouts and our Christmas tree becomes a lovely tax write-off.

We finally have our tree and head home. I spend the rest of the night decorating our tree. And for as ugly as it was on the lot, I always think it the most gorgeous tree decorated. Mom always thinks so too. Dad just cares that he got a write off, a good deal and that his daughter has stopped pestering him about a tree.

I miss those Christmas Eve tree buying trips and think of them often as I see today's sellers break down their lots days before Christmas, which begs the question, what do they do with all those unsold trees?

Until Next Time

Wordless Wednesday

2009-12-23T14:57:00.000-08:00

Dad and my Aunts

Blog Caroling - One of my favorite Christmas Carols

2009-12-16T19:56:00.000-08:00

There are just certain Christmas carols and songs when sung immediately bring to mind all the church Christmas programs of years gone by. For me Carol of the Bells is one of those. Just like summer is never summer until I've had Fried Green Tomatoes, the holidays just aren't the holidays until I've heard Carol of the Bells.

I'm not sure when I first fell in love with this song but ever since the first time I heard it, it moves me. Several years ago, I begin playing it on the piano but I never seem to do it justice. And as much as I love hearing it sung, I adore instrumental versions of the song.

Here are the lyrics:

Hark how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say
Throw cares away

Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold
Ding dong ding
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling

One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From everywhere
Filling the air

Oh how they pound
Raising the sound
O'er hill and dale
Telling their tale

Gaily they ring
While people sing
Songs of good cheer
Christmas is here

Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
On on they send
On without end
Their joyful tone to every home
Dong ding dong ding

Instrumental version

Until Next Time!

Free Signature Generator

Wordless Wednesday -

2009-11-25T16:10:00.000-08:00

Morris County's Daily Record (Morristown, NJ)

March 12, 1959

From the Personal Collection of Mavis Jones

It's Saturday Night

2009-11-21T17:43:00.000-08:00

which means it's time for the latest round of Randy Seaver's, Genea-Musings, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

The challenge for this week is as follows:
Your mission, should you decide to accept it (where's my Mission Impossible music...drat, lost it), is:

1) Who is your MRUA - your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name.

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don't you scan it again just to see if there's something you have missed?

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your MRUA?

4) Tell us about him or her, and your answers to 2) and 3) above, in a blog post, in a comment to this post, or a comment on Facebook or some other social networking site.

My Earliest Unknown Ancester (MRUA) comes to me fairly quickly, my paternal granddad's, Harry Claudius Jones, biological father. This is position 8 on the Ahnentafel List (granddad is position 4)

I know nothing about this man that contributed to my genetic makeup. Something tells me that granddad didn't even know who he was. If granddad did have that knowledge he never passed it along.

The 1900, 1920, and 1930 censuses indicate that granddaddy Jones' father was born in North Carolina (silly 1910 enumerator put born in US). I have no clue if this is what he was told or just deductive reasoning on his part. I imagine that if my granddad knew who his father was that he would have given that name to one of his son's in much the same manner that he gave his biological mother's name to his daughter, Martha.

Granddaddy was born in Hamilton, Martin, NC in 1892. Granddad's biological mother was Martha Jones. She is also a mystery but at least I know her name. From what I've been able to gather, my great-grandmother Martha was about 15 when she gave birth to granddad. Through my 21st century eyes, I've imagined every bad scenerio with regard to my granddad's conception. Did my great-grandfather even know about granddaddy?

As I've mentioned in earlier posts, granddaddy was reared by Mary and General Williams, who, as best as I can determine, never had any children of their own. I was always told and there does seem to be a possibility that Mary may have been granddad's maternal aunt. Now I'm not sure about that theory as both the 1900 and 1910 censuses classified granddad as a boarder or lodger. Surely if there were a biological connection it would be indicated.

So far, I've only found one document, granddad and grandmom's marriage license, that list granddaddy's biological mother's name and none that list his biological father. Therefore, I don't think a search of documents will benefit me in locating Mr. Sperm Donor.

Perhaps collateral relatives of General Williams might know what the story is but I'm not counting on that. From my one conversation with the one Williams descendant I came across via Ancestry, she truly believes that Mary and General Williams are granddaddy's parents. In the true sense, yes they were but biologically, no. Also, I've not heard back from her, since pointing out that granddad's biological mother was Martha Jones not Mary Williams.

I think the only way that I will be able to uncover granddad's paternal lineage is through DNA and luck. Since I refuse to believe that granddad was this man's only male child, earlier this year, I decided to have daddy's DNA tested to try to determine if there was a possible match and also to determine Haplogroup, etc. Unfortunately, I went through Ancestry.com's ancestral DNA service / program. For as great as most things are with Ancestry.com, their ancestral DNA program, as far as I'm concerned, is not up to snuff, starting with interpretation of the results. So, after doing additional research on ancestral DNA companies, and ancestral DNA in general, I decided to retest through FamilytreeDNA.com (FTDNA), which I hope to do next month (ordered the kit today).

Praying that results show a close match to someone in their database. Then I can go from there. In the mean time, I'll continue to think of other approaches.

Of course, if anyone has any ideas, please pass them along.

Until Next Time!

The Kreativ Blogger Award #2 - Thank you Renate!

2009-11-14T23:11:00.000-08:00

What an enjoyable week. Not one but two genea-friends presented me with The Kreativ Blogger Award. Earlier in the week, genea-friend Gini at Ginisology presented me with the award. My response to to Gini's presentation can be found on my other blog Georgia Black Crackers.

My second Kreativ Blogger Award was presented to me by Genea-friend and fellow North Carolina researcher Renate of Into the Light. Thank you so much for the award and the recognition. It means a lot! I am honored that you chose me for the award!

The winner of The Kreativ Blogger Award has to list seven things about themselves and then pass the award on to seven other bloggers.

Since this was my second presentation, I wasn't sure if I needed to post seven more things about myself but decided to give it a go anyway.

I'm not sure how many of my Genea-friends know that I have two blogs. This one, Conversations with my Ancestors, details the research of my paternal ancestors which hail from eastern NC (Martin, Bertie, and Pitt couties). The second blog, Georgia Black Crackers is about my maternal lineage, which to date is mostly in Georgia (Green, Jackson, Gwinnett, Oconee, and Walton counties). Conversations was started about a month or more after Georgia Black Crackers and between the two is the one I struggle with the most keeping updated because I just don't have the stores, etc that I do on my maternal side.
Another thing some may or may not know is that I'm an only child. I remember when I was a child, I desperately wanted a brother or sister and asked dad to get me one. I think this shocked my parents, they didn't know how to respond because dad told me to ask mom. Mom asked what did dad say, then told me when she got her car paid off I could have a brother or sister. Yes, I'm still waiting. LOL I must say that as an adult I don't miss some of the issues that come with having siblings and thoroughly enjoy and relish my only child status.
I never knew my paternal grandfather as he had already crossed over by the time my parents met each other and married. For the longest time, I was always happy I never met him because of how he treated grandmom. While I'm not sure if I would have had the same type of relationship with Granddady Jones as I had with my maternal grandfather, lately, I've been wishing that he was here to tell me about my great-grandmother. He obivously wasn't ashamed of her. I've always imagined that as the youngest grandchild I would have had him wrapped tightly around my finger and he would have told me everything.
In elementary school, one of my favorite after school shows was Mid-Atlantic Wrestling. I'm not talking about the crap that's out now but the days of Rufus R. "Freight Train" Jones, Black Jack Mulligan, Andre the Giant, the "Nature Boy" - Rick Flair, Wahoo McDaniels, et. al. Those were the days, when cousin Daryl (yes the one that I was joined at the hip with) and I would try to do all those crazy moves. It's a wonder we didn't kill ourselves.
My 30 year HS reunion is in a couple of weeks and I have no clue what I'm going to wear. Had hope to be down about 10 more pounds but at this point, I don't think it is going to happen. Heck I'm know even sure I'm going to be down 5 more pounds but overall, I am down 16 pounds compared to where I was this time last year and ever little bit helps. I will be at my goal weight this time next year!
This year, I've been on a mini reading binge. Surprisingly I'm even finding myself reading a little sci fi thanks to my cousin LaZealtrice who self-published her first book this year.

As far as I know, I was the first and have been the only black majorette at my HS. Shortly after I graduated and our old band instructor retired, the marching band went with a more military style which totally eliminated the majorettes.

Even though the second presentation gives me the opportunity to pass the award on to an additional seven genea-friends / fellow geneabloggers, it's no easier than it was the first time that I did it. There are so many blogs that I admire and enjoy reading that I don't want to leave anyone out.

Lessons From my Ancestors Sara Beth

But Now I'm Found Jennifer

Family Stories Caroline

I Never Knew My Father Sandra Taliaferro

Find Your Folks Drusilla Pair

Even though he's on an extended hiatus right now I would still like to also recognize Remember Our Names Terrence Garnet

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T03:36:00.000-08:00

http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/poster/09poster_lowres.jpg

Tombstone Tuesday

2009-11-10T14:16:00.000-08:00

Graves of

Toussaint L'Ouverture Jones, my uncle, and his wife, Aunt Lil

I think I can count on one hand the visits Uncle Toot made back to NC during my lifetime. You see, when he and Aunt Lil got married, there was some type of falling out between he and granddad and granddad told Uncle Toot never to bring that woman in his house, again. While I don't know if this is the reason Uncle Toot and Aunt Lil moved to TN, I think this probably played a big part in their decision to get away from the family. On occasion Uncle Toot would come for a visit but I don't ever remember seeing Aunt Lil until I was l in my mid 20s.

Through the years, I've often tried to find out exactly what happened between Uncle Toot, Aunt Lil and granddad, but those darn aunts, uncles, and even dad were and are a tight lipped bunch on this one. I suspect we nieces and nephews will never know since all the major players in this family secret are gone. I did hear that when granddad was on his death bed, he told grandmom to tell Aunt Lil to forgive him.

Whatever the battle was, it's over now. So, may you both rest in peace.

Until Next Time!

Surname Saturday + Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

2009-11-08T04:29:00.000-08:00

Jones

Randy Seaver's, Genea-Musings, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge, offered a perfect opportunity to combine Surname Saturday and SGNF.

Surname Saturday

The Jones name comes from my paternal grandfather. While it seems to be a very common name, for me it represents my line I know the least about.

According to Wikipeida, it's region of origin is England and Wales. The english usuage of the name comes from term Son of John, similar in usage / meaning to the surname Johnson. And in Wales, it derives from the corruption of loan, Sion or leuan, which is the Welsh version of John. (1)

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge

The instructions for this week were as follows:

Find out the geographical distribution of your surname - in the world, in your state or province, in your county or parish. I suggest that you use the Public Profiler site at http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/, which seems to work quickly and easily. However, you cannot capture the image as a photo file - you have to capture the screen shot, save it and edit it.
Tell us about your surname distribution in a blog post of your own (with a screen shot if possible), in comments to this post, or in comments on a social networking site like Facebook and Twitter.

I went to the Public Profiler Website and entered "Jones" in the surname box and here is the result for Jones.

The Top Five Countries for the Jones surname are UNITED KINGDOM (9298.36 FPM), AUSTRALIA (6132.79 FPM), UNITED STATES (4954.1 FPM), NEW-ZEALAND (4002.11 FPM), and CANADA (1668.05 FPM).

Wales is the overall top region where the Jones surname is found and the top US region is Mississippi.

No cities in the US are among the top ten cities where the Jones surname is found.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_(surname)

Until next time!

Wordless Wednesday - Here's to our Future

2009-11-04T16:29:00.000-08:00

The next Generation

Original held by L. H. A.

Your Most Unique Ancestral Name - SNGF Challenge

2009-10-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Both last week and this, I've been a day late in participating in Randy Seaver's, Genea-Musings, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge.

This weeks challenge reads

Hey, genealogy fans - it's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

In honor of Surname Saturday (the new, official genealogy blogging prompt for Saturdays), let's consider this, assuming you accept the challenge to play along (is it Mission Impossible?):

1) What is the most unique, strangest or funniest combination of given name and last name in your ancestry? Not in your database - in your ancestry.

2) Tell us about this person in a blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook.

3) Okay, if you don't have a really good one - how about a sibling of your direct ancestors?

Mine would have to be my uncle Corn Sill Jones. Yes, you saw that right, Corn Sill. At least until I started doing my research, that's what I always was told, by Aunt Martha, his name was.

Uncle Corn Sill didn't have a very long life. He only lived 6 months. As the story was relayed to me, he was named after Mr. Corn and Mr. Sill who both had some type of interaction / dealings with my grandfather and impressed him enough that granddad named his baby boy after both men. I'me always telling my cousins that our uncle didn't want to be saddled with the name so he decided to check out a bit early.

A few months ago, I came across my uncle's death certificate which shows his name as being Coan Sills not Corn Sill. Either way it's still a most unusal name.

Until next time!

Challenge #4

2009-10-11T01:58:00.000-07:00

Family History Month Challenge #4 from Afrigeneas reads as follows:

OK, everybody, get ready for CHALLENGE #4 this weekend. You have through Sunday to post your entry on one of these themes: 1. Memories of your father at work or at play, or 2. Write about a milestone in you life. That's it! Have fun with it.

These days my dad always jokes about how much time I spend on the computer / internet but I recall when he had a similar hobby / passion. He seens to forget that to a certain degree this passion / obsession comes from him.You see for most of my adolescent and adult life, dad was really into ham radio.

For dad, what started out as a small passing interest, soon came to be an obession. I don't remember how old I was when daddy decided that he wanted to get into ham radio. He had a CB radio for a short time but at some point during the early to mid 1970s he switched to ham radio. Daddy spent endless nights in our kitchen listening to records of morse code and studying for the next exam. As a side note, morse code was the only "foreign language" that I never had difficulty learning which I think, at least for me, proves that children should learn foreign languages, etc. down in the grades and not when they are almost grown (HS) and it should be a natural learning experience but I digress.

While daddy had a true passion for his hobby, I must say that his motivating force for always seeking the next level of licensure came from a fellow teacher who was also a ham radio operator and told daddy he wasn't capable of learning morse code, etc. At least that's daddy's version of what was said. Ahh, I digress again.

After daddy got his license, I use to always love hearing him talk to folks half-way around the world, or so it seemed, and listening to the seemingly constant stream of morse code that came across depending on what band he was operating on. And I'll never forget the trip to parts unkown for daddy to haul back the clunky WWI or II era teletype machine that never worked and still sits in the basement of the old homestead. And oddly, although I was bored at the time, I even enjoyed going to all the hamfests (big swap meets for ham radio operators).

Eventually, daddy was trying to yank the rest of the family into his new hobby because that's daddy. If he's doing something we all had to do it. Daddy pulled two of his older brother's in although Uncle Johnnyson was the only one that really got into it. Daddy even tried to bribe me to take up the hobby. Don't get me wrong, I eventually got my Technician license but the carrot he dangled was not the motivating force. You see that carrot was I'll give you a CD (certificate of deposit) and not actual money being deposited into my hands so for me it was like big deal, what am I going to do with a CD. The reason I eventually got my license was so daddy would quit bugging me about it but it turns out that while I never did develop a passion for the hobby, I enjoyed talking on the little 2-meter radio that he gave me after I got my license even though for the most part the only person I talked to was daddy.

By the mid 1990's, daddy had essentially given up his beloved hobby. I had moved out of state by then and my little 2-meter radio was not going to reach from Colorado to North Carolina. Daddy tried to get me to upgrade my license but I never did because when it got down to it ham radio was truly his passion and not mine. Uncle Johnnyson, as some know from a previous post, moved out of state to be closer to my cousins and his grandchildren, so I think the only time he was on anymore was whenever he came back to NC.

When I moved back home in 1998, daddy was no longer doing ham radio but still stayed some what active in the local ham radio club and we would still try to get to the Shelby Hamfest, which was held in my hometown, and is considered the granddaddy of the hamfest in our area but I think for both of us we eventually even lost the bit of interest we both still had.

So, for all you Hams out there

·-·-·

Celebrating Family History Month - Challenge #2

2009-10-03T08:32:00.000-07:00

Afrigeneas is celebrating Family History month.

The instructions for Challenge #2 are as follows:

On Saturday or Sunday, October 3 and 4, post a photo and/or write about either:
1. Memories of Mom in the kitchen or 2. Sunday memories

I decided to write about Sunday memories

Most of my Sunday memories are good memories. However, at least once a year my Jones cousins and I had to suffer through the most excrutiating time of our young lives (sorry don't have a picture of this).

During the summer months when all my cousins minus one (the oldest), aunt, and uncles descended upon my hometown, my Aunt Martha's house was the meeting place because that's where everyone, except for me, was. So on Sunday after church, we would take off our Sunday best, put on our play clothes, and be ready to go. But there was one little problem, when at Aunt Martha's house, Sundays were for reverence. We weren't allowed to watch TV, we weren't allowed to pull out any toys, we weren't allowed to well ...be kids. This Sunday tradition started with my grandmother and perhaps her mother before her. The irony is that except for Aunt Martha, nobody else in the family seem to follow this tradition. I know my parents didn't and neither did my cousins' parents, so that's why it was like torture for us to sit quitely and do nothing.

Later in life, when we were older and all had driving privileges, everyone figured out they could escape over to my house. And as an adult, I even helped my younger cousin Denise escape, which was really funny. When her mom, who is my first cousin, found out, I remember her mom telling her if we had to suffer through it, you can, too.

As an adult, I sometimes find myself longing for those torturous Sunday afternoons. With the Jones side of my family being so small (especially compared to my maternal side) and spread from east coast to west coast, I don't see my cousins nearly often enough. So strange as it may sound, I do miss those days.

Until Next Time!

Madness Monday

2009-09-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

Following the high of Thursday, I have to report that I've not heard back from Isabella. What's even more frustrating is that after the initial contact, I saw where she saved more information from my tree, including pictures, to her "private" tree. This certainly creates a dilemma now doesn't it.

There is the side of me that wants to keep my tree public because I have had some good experiences. After all I did meet two almost cousins (we share a branch of our trees) on my maternal side, and mom and I have even been invited to go on their family reunion cruise next year. We've even shared pictures of our common line and both of us have had contact with newly found cousins from the shared line. And thus it's the mutual sharing of information that says leave it public.

But then there is the other side of me that thinks I should tightly guard everything for a host a reasons.

Decisions, decisions.

Geneafamily, what's your thoughts?

Until next time!

The Unexpected - Ancestry.com Recent Member Connect Activity

2009-09-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today started off like any other genealogical day. Where and what avenue next to try to break through the brick wall of my ggrandmother Martha Jones. So, I was on Ancestry, bright and early this AM when I noticed that someone had added my grandparents and my uncle Claudius to their "private" tree. To tell you the truth, I actually found this to be a bit unsettling. My paternal side of the family is the much smaller of my two lines and no known relatives on my paternal grandfather's line outside of course my aunts, uncles, etc., so you can see why this would be a bit unsettling. Who was this person? Why is their tree private? And most importantly, why are they adding my grandparents and family members to their tree. Well, I decided that the only way to get to the bottom of this was to just ask the person. So, I sent a message via ancestry. For some reason, I wasn't expecting a response. Maybe it was due to the whole tree being private, nothing in their profile, etc.

Well, I did get a response and the gut tells me that I've possibly found relatives I never knew existed. So, let's see if I can lay out the details as quickly as possible. My General Williams, who along with Mary Elizabeth Jones (Jones surname not documented, yet) Williams, reared my grandfather is Isabella's great uncle and get this, Isabella's grandmother's name on her paternal side is Isabella Jones.

Is it possible that Isabella, Mary, and my Martha were sisters? This is not just a coincident. There is something here, I can just feel it. So, return e-mail has been sent and I try to patiently wait for a response from hopefully a new cousin and for a new lead to the mystery of my ggrandmother Martha.

Until Next Time!

Wordless Wednesday - The Uncle I Never Met

2009-09-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

I never met my uncle T. Langston , as everyone in the family called him. In my adult life, I determined that the T stood for Thomas and so now when I talk about him, I always call him Thomas Langston. Uncle Thomas' grad school student ID is one of only two pictures that I have of him and I just recently discovered the student ID (it was tucked behind his Masters diploma). Uncle Thomas drowned, along with his girlfriend, while attending grad school at the University of Michigan. Dad and my aunts and uncles always relayed that Uncle Thomas, who couldn't swim, and his girlfriend were on an outing on the Huron river when their boat capsized ,and both Uncle Thomas and his girlfriend drowned. Now his youngest niece, that would be me, always thought there was foul play but I've been able to finally put that thought to rest. You see along with the student ID was a clipping of his girlfriend's memorial / funeral service, which stated she drowned trying to save him after their canoe overturned.

Until Next Time!

Wordless Wednesday - Aunt Mable Berry

2009-09-16T04:26:00.000-07:00

According to cousin Alice Berry's letter to me (1991), Aunt Mable, cousin Alice's mom, was my great-grandmother's, Edith Ewell, younger sister. Cousin Alice said great grandmom finished rearing her mother after the death of my 2ggrandmother. Maybe it's just me but I've always thought it strange that she never showed up on any of the censuses but I have to admit that I've not really looked that hard for her. The other strangeness was that given the closness of cousin Alice and her mom to dad and my aunt's and uncles, they always talked about Cousin Alice being a distant cousin and we were the only family she had. Hearing that for so long, I was really shocked when cousin Alice revealed that she and my grandmother were first cousins and that Aunt Mabel was grandmom's aunt. Sigh, my paternal side, what can I say.

Until Next Time!

Happy Birthday to My First Love, My Dad

2009-09-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

I remember like it was yesterday, when I declared to mom I was going to marry daddy when I grew up. She kept trying to explain to me why that was impossible. She didn't even try to explain based on that you were dad, but that you were already married, to her. My however young self just didn't get it because I remember declaring that I didn't care because you were the man for me and dangit we were going to be married. I did eventually figure out why this couldn't be.

We've had our ups and downs through the years but at the end of it all you're still dad, my first love. So Happy 81st Birthday, and may you be able to celebrate so many more.

Your Daughter

The Story of Two Aunts and One Man

2009-09-06T09:59:00.000-07:00

Martha E. Jones and Genva C. Hosch Jackson

To date, I’ve not come across any true black sheep in my family. There are probably those that present and deceased family consider / considered black sheep but in the true sense of black sheep are not. As a result, I never have had anything to contribute to Black Sheep Sunday and even this is not about Black Sheep but the funny story of two aunts, my dad’s big sis, Martha, my mother’s baby sister, Geneva, and one man, Cleveland. I thought that Black Sheep Sunday was the perfect day to remember it.

Now I don’t think I was born when this story took place (if I was I don’t remember any of it) and to tell you the truth, I’m not even sure my parents were married at the time. So, it’s another story that was relayed to me by my mother and it’s one I laugh at every time my mother tells it because having known both aunts, I know all of this took place in exactly the manner as my mother tells it.

Until I find out differently, let’s just assume that my parents were married at the time this story takes place. My two aunts, Martha and Geneva, were both dating Cleveland at the same time. Now my mother knew they were both seeing the same man. Dad on the other hand didn’t. So, as time went by whenever Aunt Martha saw Cleveland’s mother, she would say there goes my mother-in-law, etc., etc., etc. Now momma could have told Aunt Martha that Cleveland was seeing someone else but mom never said a word. Momma, you know you were wrong for that.

I’m sure by now you can guess where this story is heading. Yes, it was soon announced that Aunt Geneva and Cleveland were getting married. Reportedly dad says to mom, “I didn’t know your sister was seeing Sister’s boyfriend.” Mom always thought it was more that Aunt Martha was seeing her sister’s boyfriend.

One day, after she and Cleveland were married Aunt Geneva, I imagine with her usual cackle, asked her hubby why he decided to marry her instead of Aunt Martha given the fact that Aunt Martha was a school teacher and all and she was just a country girl who longed for the action of the big city. Uncle Cleveland liked Aunt Martha but thought she was just a little too bossy.

Aunt Martha never married. She doted on her 6 nieces and nephews. She never forgot our birthdays. To a certain degree, she was the preserver of the bit of family history that I do have on the paternal side of my family. The older pictures that I have of my Jones, Ewell, and Everett ancestors were Aunt Martha’s. She’s the only person I personally know that has been back to the motherland, Africa. She did a couple of trips bringing goodies back each time. (I have some of her artifacts.) Aunt Martha died in 2000. I get constant reminders of her presence, whether it is looking after her house, which she left to my dad, rummaging through the pictures for something to post for Wordless Wednesday, or just staring at the masks and sculptures that she brought back from Africa and that now have a place of honor in my own home.

Aunt Geneva, my cousin Leon (Aunt Geneva’s son) and Uncle Cleveland moved to Detroit. Aunt Geneva and Uncle Cleveland eventually added my cousin Maynard to their family. Aunt Geneva was always sending us packages from the big city. One of my favorite dolls and one of my favorite elementary school outfits came from Aunt Geneva. Aunt Geneva died in August 1995. My last remembrance of seeing Aunt Geneva is May of 1995 when she came to North Carolina to attend Uncle John’s funeral. She stayed with Aunt Marie. Aunt Marie didn’t have a microwave. Aunt Geneva upon realizing that Aunt Marie lacked this vital appliance declared in true Aunt Geneva fashion, “Awww Marie, everyone needs a microwave. When I get back to Detroit, I’m going to send you a microwave.” And she did.

So, there you have it, the story of two aunts and one man.

Until Next Time!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

Granddaddy Jones and Mrs. Mary Williams