This Week On My Family History Calendar

April 28-May 4

April 28~
  Arthur Wellington Baker (1857-1940), my paternal great great grandfather, was born on this day 162 years ago. He was born in Sumter County, South Carolina and was the son of Alpheus J. Baker (1824-1917) and Mary Ellen (Jones) Baker (1826-1865).

Arthur Wellington Baker
(1857-1940)

 My maternal great grandmother, Beulah Mae (Price) Roberts (1897-1980) would have been celebrating her 122nd birthday on this day. Beulah was born in Bath, Aiken, South Carolina. She was the daughter of Bertrand Campbell Price (1876-after 1922) and Bessie Mae (Eargle) Price (1878-1943).

Beulah Mae (Price) Roberts
(1897-1980)
57th Birthday-1954
©Cheri Hudson Passey

April 28~
 Gilbert Ernest Roberts, Jr. (1944-1999), my maternal uncle died 20 years ago on this day. He is buried in Quaker Cemetery in Camden, Kershaw, South Carolina.

Gil Roberts, Jr.
1962
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Interesting how events coincide with one another. Not only did these three happen on one day, but Gil Roberts died on his grandmother Beulah Mae (Price) Robert's birthday.


April 30~
 This day is the 270th birthday of my 5th great grandfather, John Dargan (1749-1817). He was most likely born in Sumter District, South Carolina. John's parents were John Dargan (1726-1766) and Catherine Ann (Singleton) Dargan (1729-abt. 1808).



May 3~
 The 105th anniversary of the marriage of my paternal great grandparents, John McSwain Hudson (1880-1961) and Louvinia Blanche (Thames) Hudson (1886-1918). John was 34 and Blanche was 28 when they married in Manning, Clarendon, South Carolina.

Marriage Announcement
John and Blanche Hudson
Manning Times (Manning, SC)
9 May 1914 

Who are you remembering this week?
Thanks for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,

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. 
Share by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section or you may also put a link to a blog post telling about what had you dancing this week.

My Happy Dance Moment for this week: 
While researching for information on my great-great grandfather Bertrand Campbell Price, I discovered an announcement in the newspaper about a court case filed by his wife Bessie Mae (Eargle) Price. You see, Bessie's husband "Cam" had left home in September of 1922 with the family money and never returned. Ten years later,  she petitioned to have him cleared legally dead in order to obtain the money from his life insurance policy.
Many variations of what may have happened to Cam have circulated throughout the years, so I was excited to see if I could find a copy of the court record.
 There also was a question as to which of two brothers was Cam's father.  I had evidence of one, but a family narrative named another.

My happy dance this week was the delivery of the court file! 
The transcription of the testimony of both Bessie and her son George was included. 
Both claimed that Cam had left with $500 for the purpose of buying land in the country and never returned.  George said he saw his father get in a buggy to leave. 
When questioned about where Cam was to stay the night after he left, Bessie told the court he said if he didn't make it home that night he would stay in the home of his uncle.
The name of the uncle? Adam Price.  Adam is the man named in the family narrative as the father of Cam. Here we learn from Bessie that Adam was his uncle! 
Would Bessie know? Yes, he was alive and well at the time and Bessie knew him. 
She knew their relationship.   Adam was his uncle, not his father.
My suspicions of an error because of other documents found was correct!

What is your happy dance moment for this week?
  

                                                                               

                                                                                              Share your discovery!

                                                                                  
                                                                                         Let the dancing commence!

Share the fun! Click below to tweet this post! 

Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,

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. 
Share by scrolling down and adding your story to the comments section or you may also put a link to a blog post telling about what had you dancing this week.

Dad and grandson Josh

My Happy Dance Moment for this week: 
It's been a couple of weeks since I have shared a Happy Dance moment. It's been a tough few weeks with my dad in the ICU and now in rehab. He is doing so much better but needs a few more weeks on an intravenous antibiotic before returning home.  My Happy Dance?
Living in a world with miraculous medical interventions and loving, supportive friends and family. 
I may not have had much time for research and writing.
My clients have been understanding of my needing to take some family time.
Deadlines and other commitments have been extended and completed when I had a few moments of downtime.
The time I have spent with my parents through this trial has been emotional and strengthened an already strong bond.
Sometimes our best learning and growth opportunities come through trials. 
Sometimes our happy dance moments are from making it through one more day.

What is your happy dance moment for this week?
  

                                                                               

                                                                                              Share your discovery!

                                                                                  
                                                                                         Let the dancing commence!

Share the fun! Click below to tweet this post! 

Looking forward to reading about your Happy Dance moment!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,

Book Review-Tracing Their Steps: A Memoir by Bernice Alexander Bennett

In Tracing Their Steps: A Memoir written by Bernice Alexander Bennett, the author shares her journey to discover the truthfulness of a family story told by her grandmother MaBecky.

At the age of 100, memories of hearing about land owned by her grandfather, Peter Clark, MaBecky  Peter, and his family with Bernice. The information she provided lit a spark that took her on a 15-year search to discover if the land was actually owned by Peter Clark and if so where it was located.

This easy and quick read shares the research plan, repositories consulted and results found.
Not only does Bernice show the way the looked for the property, but shares her emotions as each new piece was found, analyzed and conclusions reached.

From her discovery in the Family Bible to the that which was found in by using the Friends, Associates, and Neighbors (FAN) Club principle, Tracing Their Steps: A Memoir by Bernice Alexander Bennett shows research methodologies in practice and keeps the reader entertained by her talks and travels with her mother as she weaves the tale of finding her ancestor's land. 

Especially poignant is the arrival of Hurrican Katrina in New Orleans and it's impact on her story and
as we often find while researching, there are surprises and unexpected discoveries along the way.

Photos, copies of the documents, and newspaper articles are included to help visualize how Bernice worked to solve her research question to discover the truth about the land once owned by her ancestor.

A great read not only for family history enthusiasts but for those who enjoy a good story!

To learn more about Bernice's book watch my interview with her on GenFriends by clicking this link. She talks to me and shares some of her experiences after we discuss an episode of Relative Race. 

Disclaimer: No financial incentive was given to write this review. A free pdf version was provided for review purposes.