Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Tuesday's Tip~Gettin' By With Help From Our Friends-Magda Miller




This week's Tuesday's Tips come from our friend Magda Miller of GenealogyWorks.com


How I solved my JONES family Brick Wall
Do you have a very common ancestral surname like Jones? This is a portrait of my great- grandmother, Annie Jones.  She was buried under the name of Ann Mahony in the cemetery records. Her marriage record in Buffalo in 1883 listed her parents’ names as Michael Jones and Helen Sullivan. Thirty years ago, I was able to locate this family in Spring Creek, Pennsylvania in the 1870 census with six years old “Hannah Jones”. They were all born in Ireland. Down the road from them was a Lopus family that caught my eye. I knew that the Mahony side had a fireman cousin named James Lopus. Inquiries with my great Aunt Mae in Buffalo revealed that they were cousins but she did not know specifics.
How do I find Annie Jones’s roots in Ireland? With a surname like Jones, it seemed daunting, almost hopeless.
TIP no. 1 – What genealogists promote heavily in family studies is the FAN principal[1], otherwise known as cluster genealogy.  Yes, it is not a quick solution to the problem but years of focus with this technique is sometimes the only way to break a brick wall.
TIP no. 2 - I only wish I had done this more with my elderly relatives but ask them if they have newspaper clippings, memorial cards, obituaries, pictures with dates, old letters.  Annie Jones was my Aunt Mae’s mother and she died when Aunt Mae was nine years old.  Aunt Mae recalled that she was sent with her siblings the summer after her mother died to an Aunt “Bessie” and “Aunt Nora” in Corry who had a farm for a long visit. She was able to reveal some great stories with names of cousins. It was my job to draw a “conjectural” family tree based on her stories.
TIP no. 3 - I began to uncover all the evidence I could locate about Annie Jones, her parents, and her brothers. I amassed a huge JONES folder with lots of paper trails. After collecting everything I could find in Buffalo, I snail mailed every church in the Corry, Pennsylvania region as well as their local library and cemetery office until I found results. All negative and positive conclusions were logged into a research sheet in the JONES folder. Evidence started pouring in with records on the Lopus family so eventually I proved their tie to the Jones family[2].
TIP no. 4 – I accessed all copies of everyone’s obituary. In this same Tuesday Tips blog series, Dawn Williams-Kogutkiewicz wrote about how to find newspapers in her “Newspaper Research Tips “.[3] I also wrote to local libraries or viewed newspapers on microfilm for obituaries. You never know when that birthplace location is mentioned!
TIP No. 5 – Notice that all my research started thirty years ago. There was very little online. In the case of my Jones family, most of the conclusive information I have is still not online.  However, the first goldmine tip that first pointed to their place of origin was from Google Books in an obituary published by a Railroad Journal. That score was followed by wildcard searches in the Ireland Government Genealogy website where I finally found my Jones family in church records in Ireland. I found Annie’s baptismal record as well as many of her siblings that died before the family immigrated in famine times. There was one great HAPPY DANCE for my Jones research when I saw that she was born on the same day as one of my children.
What’s next?  I am doing a heavy JONES One Name Study in Listowel to go back another generation of my Jones family by researching records there[4]. I even joined a JONES DNA[5] study group.



[1] Highly recommend her pamphlet “The Historical Biographer’s Guide to Cluster Research (The FAN Principle): Quicksheet (Evidence)” by Elizabeth Shown Mill.
[2] They were related from Helen Sullivan Jones sister, Elizabeth Sullivan Hannon and a niece named Norah Lopus.
[3] I would like to add to her splendid article the free newspaper website Fulton History, especially for Pennsylvania and New York State.
[4] I am using online resources entirely for this step of the study. My resources are listed here at http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Project:County_Kerry


Bio-
I started genealogy while a photography student rambling through old cemeteries in Vermont and rural New York. My children grew up having picnics in graveyards and scrolling through microfilm readers with me in libraries. I am a WikiTree leader and I co-admin at the Hungary Exchange genealogy group with Nick Gombash. I also conduct a registered One Name Study, plus a One Place Study of an extinct village in Hungary. The fun never ends.  
Magda Miller of GenealogyWorks


Thanks for the tips, Magna! Congratulations on solving your brick wall!

What has helped you break through a problem area in your research? Share your tips in the comments below.


Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.
Thanks so much for stopping by!



Sunday, September 25, 2016

This Week On My Family History Calendar~

September 15-October 1


September. 27~
  Matilda C. Martin (?-1876), my paternal 3rd Great Grandmother died 140 years ago in Iredell County, North Carolina. She is buried in the Bethesda Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Statesville, Iredell, North Carolina.



Matilda C. Martin
Headstone
Bethesda Presbyterian Cemetery
Statesville, Iredell, North Carolina
 September 29~
 My maternal Grandfather, Gilbert Ernest Roberts, Sr. died 71 years ago. He was killed in action on the island of Peleliu while serving in the Marines during WWII.  He is buried in Quaker Cemetery, Kershaw, Camden, South Carolina. 

Gilbert Ernest Roberts (1920-1944)
  Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
 Together we can find our people.

 Thanks so much for stopping by!


                                

                                

Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!



You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.



                                                                 
My Happy Dance This Week: The genealogy community never ceases to amaze me. They love and support one another and rally when one of our own needs help. This past week genfriend Robin Foster from the blogs Saving Stories and Genealogy is a Trip and one of the administrators of the facebook group Genealogy! Just Ask! was hospitalized due to a sudden stroke that left her paralyzed on her right side and unable to speak. Hundreds of fellow genealogists when hearing about Robin sent love, thoughts, and prayers through social media and in person to her family. They wanted to give back to someone who has lovingly done so much for them.  The response was so huge that it has been hard keeping up with the enormous outpouring of likes and comments as I have tried to keep everyone up to date with her progress. As of today, she has been moved out of ICU and transferred to a Rehab Center. She has movement in her right leg. My Happy Dance this week? In a world increasingly violent, with bad news reported almost every day, this week has shown that there is still love for one another. People still come together and help out in times of need. Thank you for your loving words, offers of prayers and positive thoughts. My heart has been touched and Robin and her family have been uplifted and strengthened by each of you. What's more? Robin is recovering. I am jumping for joy.

                                                                                           Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!



Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!
Thanks so much for stopping by!









Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Wordless Wednesday~Turbeville Parsonage

Well, almost wordless...

 My paternal Grandparents, Benjamin Allen Hudson (1918-1976) and Mary (Baker) Hudson (1920-2010) were married here in 1938. 

Baptist Parsonage, Turbeville, Clarendon, South Carolina
Mid 1990's

©Cheri Hudson Passey

Would love to locate an earlier picture taken of the Parsonage before it was abandoned. It has now been torn down.

Do you have a picture of a place where your ancestors were married? I would love to see it! 


Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!



Wordless Wednesday~Turbeville Parsonage

Well, almost wordless...

 My maternal Grandparents, Benjamin Allen Hudson (1918-1976) and Mary (Baker) Hudson (1920-2010) were married here in 1938. 

Baptist Parsonage, Turbeville, Clarendon, South Carolina
Mid 1990's

©Cheri Hudson Passey

Would love to locate an earlier picture taken of the Parsonage before it was abandoned. It has now been torn down.

Do you have a picture of a place where your ancestors were married? I would love to see it! 


Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!



Monday, September 19, 2016

This Week On My Family History Calendar

September 18-September 24~


Sept. 24
 Manning David Daughrity, Sr., my 2nd Maternal Great- Grandfather, would be 172 years old on this day. He was born in Sumter County, South Carolina in 1844 to William J. Dorrity (abt. 1829-before 1897) and Martha Mathis (1820-1905).



Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!







Sunday, September 18, 2016

Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!



You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.




                                                                 
My Happy Dance This Week: My Progen Certificate came in the mail! For those who might not know, Progen is an 18-month course based on the book Professional Genealogy by Elizabeth Shown Mills. It's hard work, but in the end, skills are sharpened and friendships are forged. Will be doing that dance for a while!!!

                                                                                           Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!




Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!
Thanks so much for stopping by!








Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Tombstone Tuesday~Thomas Jasper Williams-Leading Me To Family


 My Step-Grandfather Francis "Frank" Emerson Sullivan, Jr. (1923-2004) never knew much about his family since both of his parents died when he was a child. He was raised by his mother's Father and Step-Mother. By the time Frank was 19 they had also passed away. 
  Frank's parents are buried in Quaker Cemetery, Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina. His father's military headstone is on the right, not too far from the front gate, his mother's next to his in an unmarked grave. His Grandparents and other family members were not buried there, or so he believed.

 Visiting Quaker Cemetery is something done quite often as there are many of my family members buried there. On one visit, I again walked over to Frank's parents graves. Reflecting on the fact that I still hadn't found much about their ancestors, I silently said a prayer and out loud explained to them that they needed to help me find their people! The thought occurred to me that I had never walked around to see who was buried near them. 
Wouldn't you know, right in front of the Sullivan graves was the headstone for a Thomas J. Williams (1858-1938) and his wife Ella Taylor Williams (1867-1930). 


Thomas Jasper Williams
Headstone
Quaker Cemetery, Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina
@Cheri Hudson Passey

Williams. Frank's mother's maiden name was Williams! Was there a connection?

After a few weeks of searching for information on this newly found couple I discovered that yes, Thomas Jasper Williams was in fact the son of Frank's 3rd Great Grandfather!  The jury is still out as to whether Frank's Great Great Grandmother had his Grandfather out of wedlock or if she was a widow and the name of his Williams Great Great Grandfather is unknown. Either way, Thomas is related to Frank via his maternal Williams line. This information lead me back several generations to find a Civil War Hero and a new surname, Young, to research. 

I needed a little shove that day. I needed to be reminded of something I already knew. When doing cemetery research, always look for and record the information on the surrounding headstones.There may not seem to be a connection at the time, but cemeteries are like little communities. Often family, friends, and neighbors are buried close by.
 Was it Frank, his parents or Thomas himself? I'll never know, but I know that our ancestors want to be found and if we will let them, they will help us!

Have you discovered unknown ancestors while visiting a cemetery? Did you feel like you were being lead to them? I would love to hear your story!

Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!


  


Sunday, September 11, 2016

This Week On My Family History Calendar

September 11-September 17




September 13~
 My maternal Great Great Grandfather, William A. McManus (1854-1914), died 102 years ago in Bishopville, Lee County, South Carolina. He is buried in Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery, Pisgah Crossroads, Sumter County, South Carolina. 


William A. McManus
Headstone
Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery
Pisgah Crossroads, Sumter, South Carolina



Are we kin? Please contact me. Together we can find our people.
Thanks so much for stopping by!



Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!



You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.




                                                                 
My Happy Dance This Week: A whole two days to do nothing but genealogy! Did a little organization, research, and analysis with no interruptions. Fun!

                                                                                           Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!




Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!
Thanks so much for stopping by!








Thursday, September 8, 2016

Book Review~Genealogy Basics in 30 Minutes-Shannon Combs-Bennett




New to the In 30 Minutes Guides is Shannon Combs-Bennett's Genealogy Basics in 30 Minutes.
 Written for the beginner and experienced alike, Shannon explains the how to's and gives tips on basic genealogy principles in an easy to read format.
 Starting with an introduction that explains why people are interested in genealogy she moves on to several important research topics.
 The chapters in Genealogy in 30 Minutes include:
1-Starting With Your Family Tree with topics on record types and dealing with brick walls.
2-Genealogy Road Trips explains how to use repositories to look for family documents and what to include in a portable genealogy kit.
3-Oneline Research, Genetic Genealogy, and other Resources discusses where to begin online, learning from the genealogy community, and a basic guide to genetic genealogy.
4-Tracking and Sharing Your Research gives important information on using forms and charts to keep you organized and walks you through writing source citations. Shannon also shares how to write about your family history in order to share it with others.
5-How to Tame Sprawling Records goes over organization methods, including using computer programs. An important discussion on disaster prevention in order to preserve and safe keep all of your research, documents, and pictures is also part of this closing chapter.

Shannon has included Case Studies for each of the chapters to explain and help readers to understand the various topics included in the book. She also provides ProTips and Pitfall warnings throughout.

An Appendix includes a Pedigree and Cousin Charts and a list of 20 questions to ask relatives to help kids get involved.

This basic genealogy book is a fast, informative read that will get you on your way if you are ready to begin your genealogy journey or are looking for tips to jump start or push past a problem area.

Disclaimer:  A free copy of the book was provided for reviewing.



Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Wedding Wednesday~Walter and Mary

My maternal Great-Great Uncle, Walter Crawford Roberts (1896-1983) and Mary Pauline (Bundrick) Roberts (1896-1955) were married in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina 7 December 1914. They were both 18 years old.

Walter and Mary
Wedding Day
7 December 1914
Walter and Mary raised 12 children in the Olympia Mill Village in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina. Walter worked in the Cotton Mills while Mary took care of the home. As her children got older, Mary also began working in the Mill.
Mary and Walter

   They were married for nearly 41 years when Mary died suddenly in Jacksonville, Duval, Florida. Her body was brought back to South Carolina where she was buried in Olympia Cemetery in Columbia.


Walter and Florence
 Walter married widow Florence (Graham) Reddick (1905-2002) two years later. They were married for 26 years before he died in 1983.










Do you have any wedding photos of your ancestors? 

Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!



Sunday, September 4, 2016

This Week On My Family History Calendar

September 4-September 10


Sept. 4~
   My maternal 4th Great Grandfather, Phillip Roberts III (1798-1852), died 164 years ago in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina at the age of 54.  He is buried in St. Wesberry High Hill Cemetery, Richland, Columbia, South Carolina. 


Phillip Roberts    Westbury High Hill Cemetery
Phillip Roberts, III
Headstone
Wesberry High Hill Cemetery
Richland County, Columbia, South Carolina
Picture Courtesy: Jim Hepler


Sept. 9 ~

      Thomas J. McRady (1821-1896), my maternal 3rd Great Grandfather was born 195 years ago in South Carolina. He lived many years in the Sumter County area and may have been born there. 

Thomas J. McRady
Headstone
Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery
Pisgah Crossroads, Sumter, South Carolina
Who are you remembering this week?


Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.

Thanks so much for stopping by!



Celebration Sunday~Genealogy Happy Dance!



You know the dance. You know you've done it. The one every researcher does after finding something new. The one where you want to jump up and down and shout to everyone around that you found the document, contacted a cousin who has the family Bible, made a DNA connection or found a whole new branch to your tree. The one that is met with glazed stares and eye rolls.
                                                          Celebration Sunday is a place to share your discoveries. 
This is a weekly series to enable everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. This can be done by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section. You may also put a link to a blog post.




                                                                 
My Happy Dance This Week: An email from a cousin helped me add a new person to my tree. The information lead to adding a whole new branch!

                                                                                           Share your discovery!
                                                                                   Let the dancing commence!






Need help having a Genealogy Happy Dance moment?Please contact me. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!








Thursday, September 1, 2016

Treasure Chest Thursday~Etta's Comb

Items once used by an ancestor are truly treasures. My maternal Grandmother, Azile Juanita (Daughrity) Roberts Sullivan (1921-1009) gave me the comb that her mother, Loretta (McManus) Daughrity (1894-1936) used to wear in her hair. Etta died when my Grandmother was 14. Did she have memories of her mother wearing this comb or was she told that it belonged to her?  A question that I wish I had thought to ask before Grandmom's passing.

Hair Comb belonging to Etta McManus Daughrity
©Cheri Hudson Passey

 Etta's comb was a popular style for the early 20th Century. Made of faux turtle, it was placed in the back of the head to hold up the hair. 

Etta Daughrity and daughter Azile
About 1922
©Cheri Hudson Passey


Do you have any hair accessories belonging to one of your ancestors? Please tell me about it in the comments below. I'd love to hear about your treasure!


Are we kin? Need help with your research? Please contact me.
Together we can find our people.
Thanks so much for stopping by!