Mimi's Yearbook~Photos, Friends and a Prophecy!

This week's blog prompt from the series 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks by Amy Johnson Crow is "Back to School".

 So many records, photos and other items that can help us learn more about our ancestors are being digitized and placed online every day.

Have you looked to see if there are yearbooks available to help you in your research?
Many have been placed on the site Edmunds High School for Edmunds/Sumter High Schools in Sumter, South Carolina.

I have my maternal grandmother's original book from her senior year but had never seen my paternal grandmother's.
Mary (Baker) Hudson (1920-2010), whom I lovingly called Mimi graduated in 1937.
I took a look to see if the book from her year is included in the collection.

And it is!

Cover of Sumter High School 1937
Image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool, com

 Looking through the pages was so much fun! What did I learn about Mimi?

Mary Baker Hudson on Bottom Left
1937 Sumter High School Yearbook
Image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool.com

Although I had seen her graduation photo before, I had not seen it on the page of the yearbook.
I learned the quote used to describe her and the clubs and activities she was involved in.

Enlarged quote and clubs and activities for Mary Baker
Image cropped from 1937 Sumter High School Yearbook
 Original image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool.com

The yearbook included a page called "Baby Brawl" where there are baby and childhood photos for the graduating seniors.
There was one for Mimi! One I not seen before.

Image cropped from 1937 Sumter High School Yearbook
Original image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool.com

Another photo new to me is this photo of Mary Hudson with some friends.

Mary (Baker) Hudson - in the middle with High School Friends
Image cropped from 1937 Sumter High Yearbook
Original image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool.com

There is the class prophecy mentioning Mary Baker:

1937 Class Prophecy
Image cropped from 1937 Sumter High School Yearbook
 Original image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool.com

And in the class will:

1937 Class Will
Image cropped from 1937 Sumter High School Yearbook
 Original image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool.com

The signatures of friends who signed this particular book included Mary Baker at the bottom!!

Signature Page
Image courtesy of EdmundsHighSchool, com

Thanks so much, EdmundsHighSchool.com for those who have worked hard digitizing and putting the yearbooks and other information about Sumter County, South Carolina online.
Because of your efforts, I have learned more about my Mimi!

Have you looked for yearbooks or other school information about your ancestors? What have you discovered?

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

This Week On My Family HIstory Calendar

August 27-September 2

Only one birthday on the calendar this week.

August 28~
 My maternal great-grandmother, Emma Ruth (Baker) Early (1901-1993), was born in Sumter County, South Carolina 117 years ago. Ruth was the daughter of Arthur Wellington Baker (1857-1940) and Martha Victoria (Bradford) Baker (1852-947). 
Happy Birthday, Mama!

Emma Ruth (Baker) Early
1980s
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Who's on your calendar this week?
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.

My Happy Dance this week:

Interior photo of the French Huguenot Church, Charleston, SC
©Cheri Hudson Passey

For those of you who follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you saw the photo I posted last week of my genealogy serendipity moment! I discovered a client's ancestor was a French Huguenot and may have a plaque to honor him in the French  Huguenot Church in Charleston, South Carolina. 
A few months ago I visited that church. I was there to be in a spot where some of my ancestors worshiped long ago. Several pictures were taken of the interior.
I suddenly realized I may have captured the plaque honoring my client's ancestor in one of my photos! Quickly pulling up the photos from that day on my phone I discovered I had done just that!
There on the wall under a beautiful window was the plaque of Jacob Forney! 
It was so much fun to send her the picture and explained the "coincidence"
Genealogy serendipity strikes again causing a big happy dance for both of us!

Enlarged photo showing plaque of Jacob Forney
©Cheri Hudson Passey

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,

Genea-Musings :Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Earliest Known Birth Date in Your Family Tree

Once again, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings had issued a challenge 
This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is to look for the earliest known birth date in your family tree.
For this challenge, we are to show who it is and how we found out.
He also says we get bonus points for finding the birth date for the earliest ancestor to be born in the Northern Hemisphere.


My earliest birth date is for my 11th great grandfather Richard Taylor born about 1574 in Kent County, England. From my notes section for Richard in Legacy, I  have recorded that Richard is said to have arrived in Virginia in 1608 on the Mary Margaret and settled at the neck of land in Charles City. He was classified as an "Ancient Planter" A muster roll from January 1624 shows Richard, a wife, and a three-month-old daughter. Son Robert, my 10th great grandfather who is said to have been born about 1624 may be my first ancestor born in North America.

There is much to do on all my lines, and this is most likely to change as I gain more information.

How did I find out which ancestor?
I located the information by pulling up my Legacy Family Tree software and going to the search form.
In it, I clicked "Individual" with the conditions "Birth Date" and "Before"  and "1600". 
The name with the earlies birthdate found was Richard Taylor. 


Take the challenge! Who in your family tree has the earliest birth date? What about North American births? Who was the first?

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

Friend of Friends Friday~Releasing the Names from John Milton Dargan's Estate

Friend of Friends Friday is a blog prompt found on GeneabloggersTribe.com that encourages extracting the names of the enslaved found in documents while researching. 

By extracting and sharing the names we hope to enable their descendants to find them. 

The probate packet of John  Milton Dargan (1799-1847) of Sumter District, South Carolina names those who were enslaved on his property.

Will of John Milton Dargan pg. 1

On the first page, John wills that his slaves are to be kept together and worked on his plantation for the use and support of his wife and children. He also states his wishes that they then be divided among his children upon the death of his wife,
 One "negro girl Betty" is mentioned as already being in the possession of his daughter Leonora.

Will of John Milton Dargan, pg. 2

Again on the second page, John refers to his "slaves" and says they are not to be sold to pay for any debts. No others are mentioned by name.

Inventory of the Estate of John Milton Dargan

The names of the enslaved do appear in the inventory of his estate. They are:
Gilbert
Claiborn
Peggy 
Dinah
Mariah
Bob
May
Legrande
Jesse

May they be remembered and reuinited with their family's.
This post will be added to the Slave Name Roll Project.


Thank you for stopping by!
Helping you climb your family tree,

This Week on My Family History Calendar

August 19-August 26

Aug. 20~

 Mary Jane Brown McRady (1821-1894), my maternal 3rd great-grandmother,  would have been 197 years old on this day. Jane was from the Sumter County, South Carolina area and may have been born there. 

Martha Jane Brown McRady
Headstone
Pisgah Baptist Church Cemetery
Pisgah Crossroads, Sumter, South Carolina
Photo Credit: Remember Me-Findagrave.com
Used with permission

Also on this day~

My paternal 3rd great grandmother, Matilda C. (_____) Martin (1812-1876), was born, possibly in the Iredell County area of North Carolina, 206 years ago.
Matilda's maiden name is unknown to me at this time.

Matilda C. Martin
Headstone
Bethesda Presbyterian Cemetery
Statesville, Iredell, North Carolina
Photo Credit: Joy Steele-Findagrave.com
Used with permission

  


August 24~
 My maternal grandfather, Gilbert Ernest Roberts, Sr. (1920-1944) would be 98 years old on this day. He was born in Columbia, Richland, South Carolina to parents William Treadford Roberts (1894-1959) and Beulah Mae (Price) (1897-1980).

Gilbert Ernest Roberts, Sr.
1943
©Cheri Hudson Passey

Who's on your calendar this week?
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.

My Happy Dance this week:
Reading about YOUR happy dance moments! This week there were more people than usual adding comments to my question about what you were celebrating this week. Brick walls were broken, photos found,  family lines extended and more! It truly is fun to read your comments!
hanks so much for taking the time to share your excitement with your genealogy journey! 

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,





dance

Family Legends-Do You Have These?

This post was written for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks a series of blog prompts by Amy Johnson Crow

Photo Credit: Pixsbay.com CC0 Licensed

Most families have a legend. A story that has been passed down from generation to generation.
Many a family tale has been proven untrue, while some are lucky to be based on a particle of truth.

Such is the tale of Indian princesses, links to royalty, famous people, and war heroes, and the popular theme of three brothers coming to America-one stayed in the area of arrival, one went south and the other to the west.



Do you have these stories in your family tree? I do!

George and Hattie Brazell Roberts Family
Hattie's Brazell line is said to include a Native American
Copy owned by Cheri Hudson Passey-original whereabouts unknown

First is the Indian Princess.
My mom's paternal grandfather. William Treadford Roberts ( 1894-1958) used to tell her he had a grandmother who was a full blood Cherokee, No documentation has been found to prove any in his paternal Roberts line or maternal Brazell line. There are questions about and narratives written mentioning a native American somewhere in the line that appear in some research done by other Brazell family members. No one seems to know who or what generation this was supposed to have occurred. If it is the case, it was most likely several generations further then my great grandfather believed.
Testing shows a small amount of Native American DNA in my mom's admixture from more than one testing companies. Is this "white noise" meaning a fluke in the results, or was there indeed someone of Native American heritage in my family tree?

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Public Domain 

Second, the famous relative.
When I first began researching, I was told I was a descendant of Francis Marion "The Swamp Fox" Being a South Carolina girl, this sounded so exciting! There was only one problem, a very big problem - Francis Marion had no children. Turns out, I am related to the Swamp Fox but because my ancestor and his were brothers.

In addition to one of the biggest heroes of the Revolutionary War, I recently ran across an interesting claim from someone researching one of my paternal lines. The assertion is that an ancestor was the biological father of Abraham Lincoln! According to this researcher, the biological father is in question, and our ancestor was known to have had a "relationship" with Abe's mother,  Hmmmm,,,, now that is an interesting story. Is it true? I have no idea, No documentation other than them living in the same area at the same time as conception is offered. Maybe DNA could answer the question!

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com CC0-licensed

Third, the three brothers story-
Several of my lines have a version. Many others I have researched for clients do too. Perhaps it was the deal before three brothers could enter the county, Yes, you may come but one of you can stay near the area you arrive, but one has to go South and one West. And? The one that goes West will most likely never be heard from again. Ha! Who knows why this story is so prevalent in genealogy research and maybe it did happen, but in my family, it has not been proven the case. I have found those 'brothers" who went other places usually were either from a different line or generation or not related at all!

Family stories and legends should be recorded and passed down through the generations, but we need to be careful with our claims,
Are our legends fact or fiction?
Or are they myths to enjoy and share with the understanding they can not be proven?


I may not have an Indian Princess, a famous person, or be able to confirm the story of the three brothers in my tree, but I can use these stories as a way to entertain, create interest and explain the problem with each legend to my family,

What legends do you have in your family tree? Have you been able to prove their authenticity?
We'd love to hear about it!

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.

My Happy Dance this week:
Finishing a client report on time with hours to spare!! Whew! 
That may sound like a silly thing to be celebrating, but for me, it was almost a miracle due to some unexpected family things that needed to take my time for most of the week.
The writing flowed, citations crafted quickly and documents uploaded and added in the appendix with no trouble.  A Happy Dance moment for sure!!!

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.

Graphic created by Valerie Elkins
Used with permission

My Happy Dance this week:
On the heels of getting notified I was accepted as a RootsTech Ambassador came the email letting me know one of my lecture proposals for the 2019 conference had been accepted! 
To be in the lineup of classes offered by so many of my favorite speakers is exciting and humbling.
My topic is "Discovering Slave Owners in the Family Tree". In it, I will be talking about what to do when you make the discovery and what you should do with the records pertaining to the enslaved,
I hope you will come join me!

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,