Walking Among the Ancestors - My 2014 Research Trip

Yes, it's almost been a year since I took the long overdue trip to the ancestral home county and with this post, I'm finally talking about it to someone else besides my family.

You would think that as long as I've been researching and as long as I've lived in North Carolina (most of my life) that I would have made a trip to the ancestral home county eons ago. But through the years I've learned that the ancestors call you back to the research and where you need to be on their time frame, not necessarily yours. And I'm glad I was finally able to heed the call to head to Eastern North Carolina.

In reflecting back on my trip, it was probably best that I waited all these years, because while I didn't really learn a lot of new details on the paternal side of my family, I probably wouldn't have gotten to visit the ancestral cemetery, see land that my great grandfather owned and that still remains in the hands of my Grand Aunt Goldie's descendants. I owe those discoveries to my second cousin Clifford Curtis, Grand Aunt Goldie Everett Johnson Hyman Benton's grandson, who accompanied me on this trip. In turn, I was able to enlighten him about some of our ancestors.

So, let's begin. After work, on Thursday, Sept. 11th, I made the trek to my cousin's house in Raleigh. We would get up early the next morning to begin our journey to Martin County, NC.

We first ventured to the county seat, Williamston, where we went by the courthouse and the Martin County Library.

I didn't find any new information at either place. Most of the records that I was looking for had been sent to the state archives and there were no copies on site. I spent the majority of my time trying to educate cousin Clifford about our heritage and also trying to obtaining clearer copies of documents I had downloaded online.

After leaving Williamston, we stopped in Everetts, the ancestral town.

For me, this was the highlight of the entire trip.

First cousin Clifford took me by the family property, which was owned by our great grandfather and which Cousin Clifford's line of the family still owns.

Clifford said that our old family home was just on the other side of those trees to the left in the second picture. None of the direct descendants of my great grandfather, Peter T. Everett, have lived here in over 40 years, so Clifford and his brothers rent the land out. It is currently planted in soybeans.

It was kind of surreal standing in that grove between the fields of soybeans and feeling the presence of the ancestors all around me.

Clifford then took me a little further down Goldie Road, named after his Grandmother, where we decided to get out and do an up close and personal inspection of the cotton. Note: this land is not our family's land.

After we finished our off road adventure viewing the family land, we stopped by this little cemetery, where Clifford said is grandmother, grandfather, and uncle were buried. Little did I know I was about to discover the final resting place of a few other ancestors, too.

Sadly, I still have no clue as to the name of this cemetery. I thought it was named Everetts but when ever I made a request on Find-a-Grave for photos, I was always told that there wasn't a marker and yet, I found all but one of the requests I've made through the years.

First there is Grand Aunt Goldie, my grandmother's big sister, and Cousin Clifford's grandmother.

Cousin Clifford's grandfather and Aunt Goldie's first husband, Rev J. Henry Johnson.

Right next to Rev. Johnson, was my Great Grandmother. The discovery of my Great Grandmother's grave brought me great joy as I didn't even have a clue where she might be interred as that part of her death certificate wasn't completed. The other weird thing about Grandmomma Edith's death certificate is that the state has a copy of it (I got my copy through Ancestry) but the county doesn't have a copy of it.

And right beside Great Grandmother was Great Granddad's second wife Della, who died 7 years after Great Grandmother. I imagine that had to be hard on Great Granddad, losing not one but 2 wives in less than 10 years, all while raising your grandchildren and working your own business. Great Granddad was a merchant (he owned a store) at this point in his life.

Other relatives buried in this cemetery were Cousin James Henry "Buddy" Johnson, who was cousin Clifford's uncle.

Rev. William Alonzo Everett, Clifford's and my 1st cousin 2x removed.

But there was one grave missing that would have made this journey complete, that of my Great Grandfather. Cousin Clifford and I scoured every inch of that cemetery looking for him and we had these stickies all over our clothes to prove it.

But Peter T. Everett is either not interred in this cemetery or if he is there he doesn't have a stone. There is one other possibility, too, the grave might be damaged.

There was this grave, beside Aunt Goldie's that for some reason my gut tells me it's my great grandfathers but it's cracked and caving in and there's very little left of the inscription on it to be able to make out anything.

All in all though, it was a wonderful trip, and I thank Cousin Clifford for going along with me and being my guide.

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All of the pictures in this post are a part of the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Madness Monday - Getting Ready for a Research Trip

This week, I'll be going on my second research trip, ever. And it looks like I will not be any better prepared for this research trip than I was for the first one I did a few years ago. But the ancestors are telling me that I need to go and who am I to argue with the ancestors.

So, before going, I'm trying to make a quick check list of things I want to do and hope to get accomplished. One thing that makes this trip different from my first research trip is my trusty side kick, mom, won't be going with me. Instead, my second cousin, Clifford, will be going with me on this trip. While I'm glad to have the company, part of me wants to go it alone since I feel like we will have different goals, which will ultimately hinder both of us.

So for me here are some things I hope to do during my one day trip to ancestral home county.

1. Pick up a clearer copy of the Probate Proceedings for my Great Grandfather's, Peter T. Everett, estate. A few years ago, I had written the Register of Deeds for Martin County, NC to see if there was a will for my Great Grandfather, and there wasn't one. This past week while putzing around on Family Search, I came across the probate proceedings for my Great Grandfather, who died without a will. However, I wasn't able to print out a clear copy, so I wrote down all the details, in order that I can pick up a clearer copy while there.
2. I would also like to try to locate my Great Grandfather's grave. I have a copy of his death certificate which seems to indicate he may be interred in Everetts Cemetery in Everetts, NC. This is one area where my cousin should be able to collaborate with each other. Cousin Clifford wants  to see his Uncle Buddy's grave. His uncle / my cousin appears to be be buried in the same cemetery as great granddad. After all these years, I still haven't figured out who operates this cemetery. I would like to write ahead of time to find out the exact location of the graves.

I'm sure I'll be adding to this list between now and Friday.

Checklist of things I know I will need to take with me.

1. Camera
2. Portable Scanner
3. Notebook
4. Pens and Pencils
5. Kindle and / or Laptop
6. Water and Snacks

The other thing I need to do is get prepared for the conversation that I'm sure will come up with Clifford about me converting to a vegetarian / vegan diet. Cousin Clifford is a doctor and I've already noticed that he and I don't always see eye to eye on some things.

Motivation Monday - September 2014 Goals

Since my father died in 2011, I've really struggled to get back to the research and the blogging. In the past 3+ years, I've declared on several occasions that I was ready to get back to the research / blogging only to disappear, again. I won't make any promises that this time will be different but I do find myself doing things that hopefully mean I'm finally finding my way back.

So, once again, I find myself writing a list of monthly goals to get me started. Since my research trip to my paternal ancestors home county is coming up next week (no I'm not ready), I'm thinking I'll get a few of these goals accomplished and hopefully before the trip. So here goes

Blogging

1. Write a minimum of 2 posts for the month of September. I hope to be able to do more than that but I'm also trying to be a bit realistic also.

Organization

1. Most of the goals in this area are the same as those found on Georgia Black Crackers. The only additional goal is before the research trip to make sure the information I have for paternal grandmother's side of the family is organized and properly cited.

Research

1. Make a list of the goals I hope to accomplish during my research trip and what records I plan to view in an attempt to reach the goal. Goal Date: September 6, 2014

Research Trip in the Works

After researching my family off and on for the past 20 years, I'm finally going to make a trip to my paternal ancestors home county.

The goal is to do this trip on September 12th. Yes this first trip will only be a one day trip, so between now and then, I will need to get back on top of things since I've not really done any research this year or for that matter in the last 3 years.

I would like to spend more time in the ancestral home county but one of my 2nd cousins, my grand Aunt Goldie's grandson, will be going with me, so time will be limited. Cousin Clifford can only expend one day and Friday's and Monday's are the best for him. I'm still contemplating going ahead of him and spending a day there just by myself.

I'm sure I'll be consulting a few of my genealogy buds, who research nearby areas, so I can decide what is the best use of my time during my second research trip ever but my first trip on the paternal side of my family.

So, over the next month, I'll be formulating and laying out my plan of attack. I'm excited to finally be taking this journey.

Who Tries to Plan a Research Trip in Winter?

In the midst of the Holiday Season no less? Me, that's who.

I've got 5 vacation days that I need to use between now and the end of the year. So, I came up with the brilliant idea to finally do a trek to the Ancestral Homelands (Martin County, NC) or to the North Carolina State Archives, which, believe it or not, I've still not ventured to even after all these years of on and off research.

I can't decide which one to do or whether I should try to do both.

Traveling to Raleigh to the State Archives would only be about a 3 hour drive and if I wanted to do more than one day, I could probably overnight with relatives.

Traveling to Williamston, NC would be a 4 to 4 1/2 hour drive and if I decided to do more than one day, I will need to make lodging arrangements.

As far as the actual research part of the trip, if there is anything to be found, I could probably find it in the State Archives and would only have to venture to one location. On the other hand, venturing to the ancestral homelands would give me an opportunity to finally see the area where at least 4 generations of my ancestors lived, toiled, struggled, and preserved, and right now there's a big part of me that needs that connection. In addition, should I need to try to venture to an old forgotten cemetery, this is actually the perfect time of year to try to do that as the foliage and weeds are dying in preparation for the winter months.

One thing is for sure, should I decide to go ahead and do one and maybe two research trips in the next few weeks, I need to put a plan together for what I want to look at, documents I hope to find, etc.

Would you try to plan a research trip at this time of the year? I would love to hear your thoughts, pros and cons for attempting to do a research trip at this time of the year.

2013 AAHGS Conference - Saturday, October 12, 2013

Another fun-filled, jam packed day here at the AAHGS conference.

I begin the day by working in a bit of much needed exercise.

After having a filling lunch of salmon on orzo, it was off to session II, Unlocking Our Southern Mosaic: Examining a Family's Life Near It's Slavery Origins, by Dwight Fryer. Mr. Fryer's work as a minister was evident in the way he told the story of his family's origins in Grand Junction, TN.

I have to be honest, when Mr. Fryer began his presentation, I thought he was referring to Grand Junction, CO, a locale where I resided for a few years during my adult life. It was a little confusing at first, because his description of Grand Junction of course wasn't matching up with the Grand Junction I knew. After realizing there was another Grand Junction, the presentation began to make sense.

Wonderful points of interest from Mr. Fryer's presentation include:

• A Union Army Contraband Camp was formed in Grand Junction, TN.
• Western Tennessee, where Grand Junction is located, had the same culture and politics as Mississippi. In fact, Mr. Fryer referred to it as Tennessipi.

For the next session (III), I attended Understanding African American Genealogical Patterns as Remnants of Slave Culture: Demographics, Family Dynamics and Religious Practices. The presenters were Rev. Dr. Richard Gardiner and Ceteria Richey.

Ceteria, realized like many African-American families that she knew more about her mother's side of the family that she did her father's side of the family. She also realized that her mother's family was a strongly matriarchal family.

Using the principles of Cognitive Therapy, Ceteria tries to understands the whys of her family? Cognitive Therapy seeks the patient overcome difficulties by  identifying and changing dysfunctional thinking, behavior, and emotional responses. These principles can be applied to society as a whole.

The roots of the matrifocal society in the African-American community finds it's roots in slavery. During slavery, African-American women's value was their womb. Slavery was perpetuated because the status of any children born into slavery was through the mother. When women were sold it was always due to her potential increase to the owner. Women and their young children were often sold together.

Mean while, men were often used as studs, in other words, humans were breed like cattle and horses. Often if the men and women refused each other, they might be whipped.

In my younger days, I use to argue against this notion, that 100+ years removed from slavery that the effects of slavery were still manifest. But, as I've gotten older and looked through the more mature eyes, it seems that families that came through slavery intact do not seem to have as many of the problems as those who were ripped apart.

For the final session of the day, I attended Shelly Murphy's (aka familytreegirl on Twitter) Hitting the Genealogy Brick Walls & Challenges: The Search for Information about Joseph Brand Davis.

Shelly hates using the term Brick Walls because she believes there are no such thing as Brick Walls only Challenges. 

Highlights from Shelly's presentation are as follows:

• All research should focus on asking questions
• Know what laws were in place during a particular time frame.
• Records generate other records

The day was wrapped up with dinner, a little entertainment by two young local talents, and the awards ceremony. Sandwiched between the entertainment and the awards presentation, we listened to the keynote speaker, Thomas Cain talk about the Nashville connection to the music industry. Can you say Little Richard.

And with that it's a wrap folks as my time here at the 2013 AAHGS conference comes to a close. Mom and I will be heading home in the AM. I've had a wonderful time meeting new people, finally meeting those I've known online for a few years now, and just being able to get away for a few days.

Hopefully, this is finally the beginning of me returning to the research and blogging. I hear the ancestors telling me to get back with it. 

Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives – Part III

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

After the wonderful lecture entitled Tar Heels in the Family Tree? A Genealogical Introduction to North Carolina Records, we broke for lunch. As many opted for the box lunch, which could be purchased during the registration process, it provided an opportunity for attendees to mingle and discuss their research with fellow researchers.

Lunch passed quickly and it was soon 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 Your Fingertips!, given by Diane Richard. Diane is the owner and operator of Mosaic Research and Project Management. As indicated in her handout and on her website, Mosiac specializes in Genealogy, Family History and History projects that make extensive use of on-the-ground research, web resources, and more. Although she herself is not African American, Diane has a special interest in African American research and has done work in this area in 70 of the 100 NC counties.

Diane began by reminding us to do our 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 then took us, virtually, through the various floors and sections of The Archives and discussed materials and records that were available. As Diane provided a lot of information, I will only highlight a few of the materials and records she discussed.

North Carolina Marriage Registers and Licenses are often a gold mine of genealogical information and typically include 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 border counties, be sure to look in the neighboring state for marriage records even if other 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, which can be found on the University of North Carolina at Greensboro website, is a database of slavery petitions. Petitions represent disagreements that developed over the division of slaves. Once a North Carolina petition is located in the database, it can be viewed at the North Carolina Archives.

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

This concludes my series on the workshop, Finding your Ancestors in the NC Archives. For those with North Carolina roots, I hope that it was beneficial.

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

Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives – Part II

This past Saturday, September 24, 2011, I attended a one day workshop / lecture series about the records in the North Carolina State Archives. The Friends of the Archives sponsored the workshop, which was the first one they had given in over 15 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 Family Tree? 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, and this was the first time I heard her speak. Helen provided a wealth of information on doing research in NC as well as what seemed like little know facts even for those of us who are native North Carolinians and have lived here most of our lives.

Helen began her presentation by discussing the different geographical regions of North Carolina and how North Carolina’s geography 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 for money crop sales and for immigration. So, it was pointless to grow things that would be difficult to ship.

Coastal Plains

Slow moving rivers that can take produce out to sea define the coastal plains. The biggest farms and plantations were located in this area of the state.

Piedmont

The piedmont area consisted mostly of clay-type soil. As a result, manufacturing arose in this area of the state.

Mountains

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

Helen pointed out on several occasions that North Carolina was the daughter to Virginia with regard to laws and immigration patterns.

North Carolina was separated from Virginia by a 1663 charter but the borderer wasn’t surveyed until 1728. When it was surveyed, much of Virginia was 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 most valuable North Carolina records for genealogists are Records of the Counties, which were called precincts prior to 1739, Family Bibles and other private manuscripts, and Land Grants.

The Records of the County were created in the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions prior to 1868 and by various county officials after this date. The Court of Pleas and Quarter is also known as the Inferior Court.

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

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

Other just general research tips that Helen provided are

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

However, Helen’s best tip was the following:

Research is finding out. Never stop looking!

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

Finding Your Ancestors in the NC Archives – Part I

After all this time of researching my family, I’ve never been to the NC Archives. For that matter I’ve not even been to the ancestral homelands of Everetts, Williamston, and Hamilton, NC, which are located in Martin County, either.

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

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

The workshop covered the following topics in the order given:

• 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 I really wasn’t paying attention for the last one, Finding Your North Carolina Revolutionary War Solider or Patriot.

 A Virtual Tour of the North Carolina Archives

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

The first and definitely the most valuable piece of advice that Debbi gave was be prepared when visiting the NC Archives. Know what you are looking and why you are looking for it so that you can make the most efficient use of your time at the NC Archives. Debbi pointed out that it is easy to get distracted by all the records. Don’t ignore the other records. Make note of them so that if time permits you can come back to them after accomplishing your goals for the visit.

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

We were also provided with a map that showed which NC counties 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, which I finally broke down and purchased during one of the breaks. The Guide provides a county-by-county listing of the records located in the NC Archives.

Debbi also covered some of the basics of doing research at the 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 the best ways to search on the Manuscript and Archives Reference System (MARS) were addressed. MARS frustrates many folks. The Archives are looking into moving to another system but for now have not come across anything else that can handle everything that MARS does. So, as with most database search systems, the key to working with MARS is to start broad and then narrow it down. How many times have we heard this, regardless of whether we are working with Ancestry’s database, FamilySearch’s database, etc.?

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

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

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

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. 

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

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

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.

Follow Friday

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.

Surname Saturday - Everett

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

September's in the Rear View Mirror

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

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.

Genealogical Goals for the Remainder of September - Paternal Lineage

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.

1. 
   
   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.
2. 
   
   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

1. 
   
   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.

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

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

1. 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.
2. 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

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

Miscellaneous

1. Declutter Office
2. 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).
3. Rearrange Office to accommodate said file cabinet

Grand Aunt Goldie Everett

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.

1. 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.)
2. Always follow up on any correspondence. If I had have done this, Cousin Clifford and I could have been in contact so much sooner.
3. Persistence pays off – Keep at it. Don’t be deterred! (Cousin Clifford was determined to reconnect even after I had dropped the ball.)

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

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.