Celebration Sunday-Genealogy Happy Dance! Finding Land Records

 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 that you found the document, contacted a cousin with the family Bible, made a DNA connection, or found a 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 weekly series enables everyone to tell about their Genealogy Happy Dance moment. 

Share by scrolling 

down and add 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.

Map of Chambersburg Township
Iredell County, NC
Photo-Wikipedia.com

My Happy Dance Moment for this week: 

Taking what I learned at SLIG last week, I looked for more information on my Early families land in Iredell County, NC. Remembering that there was mention of Dower Lands in an 1899 probate package, I went back to look at it again.

It made so much more sense coupled with the land record I discovered.

Now, I can plat the land given to my great great grandmother after the death of her husband that contained "the home dwelling and out buildings".

A reminder that it's always good to go back and look at records you  already have. 

Now to figure out what happened to that property after she moved in with her son when she was too old to live by herself. 

What's your Happy Dance Moment?

 Please share, and let's celebrate together!

                                                                      

                                                                                              

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. 

Tombstone Tuesday-Revolutionary War Patriot

William Vaughn, my paternal 5th great grandfather was born in May of 1764 in North Hampton County North Carolina.

He served as a private in the Calvary from Sumter District, S.C. during the Revolutionary War.

 From "The South Carolina Pension Report of Sumter District Residents, 1835", William is recorded as aged 80 with an annual allowance of $83.33. The pension began on 24, January 1834 and he had received a total amount of  $249.99.

A Bounty Land Application was filled out by William Vaughn on 2 April 1855 in Sumter District at the age of 90. 

William Vaughn
1855 Bounty Land Grant Application
Fold3.com

It's not known at this time if the land was granted to William. He did on 23 September 1857 and is buried in the Dargan Cemetery in Sumter, South Carolina.

William Vaughn Headstone
Dargan Cemetery
Sumter, South Carolina 

Obituary

“Death of a Revolutionary Soldier” Yorkville Enquirer, (South Carolina), 1 Oct. 1857, p. 2, col. 7, digital images, Chronicling America (https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov: accessed 04 May 2015)

A wonderful description of the life of my 5th great grandfather. He was admired as a great patriot:

"It is said that his hatred for the tories was proverbial, and the the mention of them in his presence, even during the last years of this life, wold always draw from him some expression of this feelings toward them."

Do you have Revolutionary War soldiers in your family history?
We'd love to hear about them!
Thanks for stopping by!

Helping you climb your family tree,