Hiatus for the Holidays

Due to the hectic nature of the season, I wanted to let everyone know that I will be taking a vacation from blogging.  Look for my return the first week of January.  I hope that everyone enjoys the holiday season with friends and loved ones and I will see you in the New Year!

*Image from the Library of Congress, Happy new year

Next Post at Family Tree Firsts

The next post is up at Family Tree Firsts.  Enjoy!

I am over halfway through the course on source citation that I mention in the article, and I was right...I have to redo all the sources.  That will be a spare time project over several months I am afraid.  Sigh, knew it was going to happen, shouldn't have put it off.

The image from the post is from the Library of congress and named "Female Education."  When I was looking for an image for the article I wanted something that reflected what I was feeling.  The picture jumped out at me and I fell in love with it.  I thought it was the perfect image to represent my love of education.

Leave a comment here or there, let me know what you are thinking of this blog and that one too!

Online Resources

I have started to read a lot of blogs over the last few months.  Mainly to get an idea of what was out there, but also because there are some really good resources in the blogosphere.  I have to admit that until recently, I really didn’t read blogs.  A friend would post an article on Facebook or live journal and I would click on over to read about what they were talking about; but I was not an on line reader.  Hard to believe coming from a 30-something huh?

To be honest, I never listened to podcasts either.  Don’t look at me like that.  The radio was just fine, especially since I have satellite, so I didn’t really see the need or interest in it.  Yes, I heard people going on about this podcast, or that podcast, and wasn’t so-and-so’s really neat…still didn’t get it.  However, when you start out brand new in something, and you are winging your education, blogs and podcasts seem like your new best friends. 

Some of my favorite blogs are listed on the side of this site.  But those are not the only ones I “check-out” by far.  I have been using Google reader to gather them all into one spot and reduce the amount of clicking and page hopping I was doing.  Sometimes I am sure my husband just shakes his head at all these “new” discoveries I am making.  He can’t deny it either, as there is this look he gets in his eye as I am telling him something he has known for ages.

There are also some very good free podcasts out there I encourage anyone interested in genealogy to go and listen to.  They are not all just from genealogists either.  NARA has a good series, as does the British National Archives.  For you history enthusiasts out there, you can’t imagine how many history centered podcasts there are.

So go forth and check out some cool online media.  I am going to hunker down for a few days and do the final holiday prep-work that needs to be done.  Happy Holidays! 

*Image from the Library of Congress, Agnes Lee, standing, with arm around older daughter, (Agnes Lee), seated, reading newspaper(?) on lap

NARA

I am sick…tis the season.

As cold meds aren’t leaving me a clear head, I have been investigating a couple “fun things” on the internet.  I have been really wanting to go to NARA and research; so I have been reading through their website on where things are, how to get there, do’s and don’ts, that type of thing.  Then I found their listings of lectures…

WOW!  There are quite a few lectures in the DC area, not to mention nationwide at their branches.  I encourage you to go check out their calendar because it is chocked full of interesting topics.  For example in DC:

·        The first Wednesday of the month is lecture on a basic genealogy research topic
·        The third Wednesday of the month is a “beyond the basic” archival research skill lecture
·        The third Saturday is a “beyond the basic” archival research skill lecture
·        One Saturday a month it looks like you can sign up for a 20 minute appointment with an archivist who will get you “unstuck” with a relative

Now…if I had unlimited time and babysitters I would be going to many of these!

Believe it or not, my afternoon got even better.  I saw the announcement for the 8thAnnual Genealogy Fair.  This is where I beg my parents to come for a visit in April.  Or promise the world to my friends so that I can go to a 2 day event during the school week.

A Productive Week

What a busy research week I have had!  No really, I am feeling quite accomplished here…

Monday I spent the time getting my car repaired by taking a quick class from Family Tree University.  Well worth it too, as I went home and started putting a lot of their advice into action.  Before I went to bed I had a game plan of how to tear down a brick wall through an adjacent family line.

Tuesday, I spent a couple hours tracing the cousins back up to a potential common ancestor and then back down through each of his children until I found my reclusive 3^rd great grandmother Berthena Cannon Morris.  Mainly through the census and marriage records, as well as taking a few hints from a well sourced family tree.  I contacted the owner to see if she would be willing to share some of her information.  By the way, Berthena’s grandfather just happened to be a Revolutionary War soldier…I found his pension files. Oh, yes I did…James Cannon from the 96^th district of South Carolina.

Yesterday I spent every free moment I had on find a grave.  I have become enamored with this site I have got to tell you.  Now, yes I do realize that not all information is accurate (I even found significant discrepancies between what the some pictures showed and what was typed) but they are good leads.  For those who can’t visit their ancestor’s burial site it is also a wonderful way for us to “see” them.  Well, I discovered yesterday how to do very specific searches on it.  In fact, I looked at ever listed internment at all the cemeteries shown for Martin County Indiana.  Go ahead, you can call me crazy.

From this systematic search I found the burial locations and transcriptions of tombstones for nearly 100 people.  Many in my direct line, but I did include a few cousins, aunts and uncles.  With it came some surprising finds, dates I didn’t have before, and family groups that I will need to return to.  This means I am now trying to carve out time to go through several other counties/states.

*Image from Find a Grave, added by Julia Young on 04/06/2011

The DAR

Some of you may know that I have taken the plunge and I am going to attempt to get all the paperwork in order to make my grandmother’s dream come true by applying to join the Daughters of the American Revolution.  I attended the meeting of the local chapter, Susannah Chandler, on the 10^th.  They are a nice group of ladies and were very welcoming to a prospective member.

I have 4 suspected lines that are in the DAR database; which when I discovered that completely floored me.  Only 4?  Bet you I can find more…go on, bet you.  Now, I was disappointed not to find my suspected Arvin ancestor (still proving that line) or my suspected Combs ancestor (which William Combs) in the database.  That is a personal goal of mine, to find them and bring them to the attention of my living relatives.

The lines that are there and I just need to gather the documents to prove my findings to their satisfaction are:

James Drake (mother’s side)
Rodolphus Norris (mother’s side)
William Hayden (father’s side)
William Price (father’s side)

A few of these lines I am still tracing, well, how about I am double checking the sources on published genealogies to make sure I am satisfied that the person is correct.  One of those very first lessons I had, not all trees that are published are sourced well…never trust an Ancestry.com public tree.

Of course, I also have a new trail to follow.  I was doing random surname searches on the DAR database and I came across a James Cannon who died in Daviess County Indiana 1849.  Looking at some of the information on the available descendants lists it appears that he and his children resided in Martin County Indiana…where my mother’s family is from. 

This is interesting to me as I have a Bethena (Betheny) Cannon on my mother’s side of the family.  She was born in Martin County Indiana 1838, to parents who were from Virginia and Indiana according to the census information given.  Taking the information from the DAR site I am going to go and do some searches for the family using the possible siblings and aunts/uncles listed.  Love it when I get new leads!

*Image from the Library of Congress, "Daughters of the American Revolution. Exterior of Daughters of the American Revolution Building"

Virginia Genealogical Society Conference

I discovered that this coming April the VGS will have their Spring Conference in Richmond focusing on the War of 1812. Yes, I have already asked the hubby if I can go.  As of today I have never attended a genealogical conference and I was thinking that this would be a great way to dip my toes into the water.  It is close to home, inexpensive ($50 for non-members), and looks like they have top rated speakers scheduled. 

Anyone want to join me?

*This image is from the Library of Congress, "The Flag of our Union, a National Song"

Latest Family Tree Firsts post

Here is my latest post for Family Tree Firsts.  Enjoy!

A note on the picture.  It is a small part of a larger picture that includes a boat and my mother.  It was taken while the family was visiting us in Maryland for my mothers graduation from Medical School.  She took my grandmothers (her mom is on the right Maxine Arvin, my dad's mom is on the left Ruth Combs) for a dinner cruise along the Potomac River with other members of her graduation class and their families.  The name of the boat was the "Spirit of Washington" and it was taken in May 1988.  This is the only picture I have with both my grandmothers in it. 

I had tried to locate pictures from my days in Indiana, but it seems that there are only 2 that I could find.  Both blurry and I am at a distance.  Good thing that I became a shutterbug later in life as no one else in the family has the bug it seems.  My kids have thousands of photos to go through....feel sorry for them.

Greeley / Bartlett Family

Here is my reasoning on how I pieced together who Fannie Greeley’s parents were by eliminating all other known possibilities.  So we can put it into perspective she is my husband’s great grandmother, who was born in Maine in 1855 and Died in Washington DC in 1882.

From the letter that Grandmother Bartlett wrote to Frances Maude Greeley (Fannie’s daughter) she states she was almost 85 in April 1906.  That gave me a rough birth year of 1821.  There were 2 families that had Fannie as a child in the same area of Maine within 2 years of each other.  I was able to rule out the other family as the mother’s birth year didn’t match up and that other Fannie did not get married until later in life and stayed in Maine from what I can tell.

Frances Lydia Bartlett (1860 Census) was born in Maine to William and Julia Bartlett in 1855.  They lived in several towns in Waldo County.  She had an older brother Rufus who was born in 1848.  William died between the 1880 and 1900 census (still looking up more info) and Julia died 9 Mar 1915 in Swanville Maine while living with her son and his wife (have Julia’s death certificate). 

From the death certificate I also now know that her parents were names John and Lucy.  John was born in Maine, but she gave various places for her mother’s birth on census and death records (Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine) so I am not sure on her yet.  I found a record for William Bartlett from the Disable veterans national home.  It said he was in the Maine infantry and was wounded in the civil war with multiple gunshot wounds to the leg.  He was discharged from there in June 1879, with his closest relative listed as “Mrs. Julia A Bartlett, residence: Washington DC.” 

A guess at Fannie’s marriage date to Charles, or Chaz, is around 1879.  Phillip C Greeley was born in DC in 1879 and Frances Maude in 1882.

Also from the 1880 Census it has Charles, Fannie, and Phillip living at the reform school where he is the assistant Superintendent. “Reform School of the Dist. Columbia, Bladensburgh Rd.”  Bladensburg is just over the state line into Maryland, and Bladensburg Road starts there and travels west into DC through NE Washington where it becomes US-1 Alt.   The picture Shown is the reform school!

On the 1880 Census for DC I found:
CH Greeley:  26, Apt Sup, Born Maine, father born Maine, mother born Maine
Fannie C:  25, Matron, born Maine, father born Maine, mother born Maine
Phillip:  1, Boarder, born DC, father born Maine, mother born Maine

Then I found Charles and his parents/siblings on the 1860 and 1870 Swanville Maine censuses.  His parents were Phillip and Eliza. 

Richard Bartlett (4^th great grandfather to Frances Lydia Bartlett) was one of the first settlers of Newbury Massachusetts.  There is an image of the plaque at Newbury with the listing of the settlers in several places online.  It is important that when you go out searching for him that you get the right Bartlett line.  There are 3 New England Bartlett trees and they share names back and forth.

 *Image from Library of Congress Brady-Handy Collection

Arvin Family Slides

My goal for this afternoon was to clean my bedroom closet.  I was tired of living out of laundry baskets at the foot of the bed.  Frankly my husband is about ready to kill me as he sits every morning on the floor trying to find a pair of dress socks in the sock basket.  I figured I could make good headway, but most likely not get it all done today…then I found the box.

The box has been sitting in my closet (in 2 states now) for about 10 years.  I knew it had slides in it but didn’t really pay much attention.  Today, the box opened up and spilled a drawer of slides into my lap while I was moving it.  As I picked them up I looked at them through the light.  WOW!!!  These were color slides of what looks like my grandparents duty stations in Alaska and Colorado.  There were even family hiking/camping trips in amazingly good condition.

Now I need to find a way to view them, or possibly even have them converted to digital.  I bet my mom and her brothers would love to these again.

And now....I go back to the cleaning.

*Image from Easy Vectors

Crabb Family

This is my husband’s maternal grandmother’s line.  They start in Indiana and end up in Washington State. 

Lineage:

My husband
His Mom
Elsie Crabb married Howard Mills
John Jeremiah Crabb and Frances Maude Greely
Stephen Crabb and Margaret Brundage
John Crabb and Jane Swan

Stephan Crabb was born in Indiana in 1838 and Margaret Brundage was born in Illinois in 1852.

As of the 1880 census their family and Stephen’s mother Jane were all living in Vancouver City, Clark County, Washington.  According to the census, Jane was born in 1804 in Pennsylvania, her mother was from Virginia and her father was from Maryland.  In the handwritten family history I was given it says that Jane Swan Crabb was born in Cole County Illinois.  However, on every census record she lists her place of birth as Pennsylvania and that her parents are from Virginia and Maryland.

Jane's Husband, according to family history, floated rafts down the Mississipi from Indiana to New Orleans with his brother.  He died from a fall on the docks in New Orleans the same day thier last child was born 27 December 1835.  I would love to be able to prove this...

Margaret was Stephan’s 2^nd wife.  In the 1870 census he is listed living with his mother Jane and Frances Crabb who was 6.  According to the 1880 census the next child was born when she was 9.

The 1860 census has Stephan (aged 22) and Jane living in Ashmore Township, Coles County Illinois.
The 1850 census has Jane (aged 46) living in Clinton Township, Vermillion County, Indiana with 2 daughters. Mary aged 19 and Zantippe aged 14. 

Found John Jeremiah’s Spanish American war enlistment records:

From the Register of Enlistments US Army
Crabb, John J
Enlisted: Aug 12, 1896; Vancouver; by Lt. McCain; for 3 years
Born: Pioneer Washington
Age: 21
Occupation: Barber
Eyes: Brown
Hair: D. Brown
Complexion: dark
Height: 5'10"
Regiment: 14 Inf Company E
Discharged: Aug 11, 1899

Also found his WWI draft card.  It states he was tall with a medium build, brown eyes and hair.  Occupation Farmer, and Married To Maude F Crabb. (Just love how people changed their names on a whim back then.  First to middle, middle to first, spellings….argh).

Bit of family trivia for you:  John Jeremiah’s older brother William enlisted in the army the same time he did.  They both were stationed in Manila together and unfortunately while they were there William died from an illness.  William was originally to marry Frances Maude, but John Jeremiah did instead upon his return.

Daniel Chamberlin and Juliette Hubbell

This family group is a mystery to my mother-in-law that has been an ongoing puzzle to work out.  While I think I have figured out most of it…there are still numerous unknown pieces.  Their son William Holmes Chamberlin Mills is my mother in laws paternal grandfather.  He was adopted by the Mills family in Clarendon NY because is parents died of illness (typhoid?).

Below is the transcription of their marriage certificate (I have a photocopy of the original that my mother in law mailed to me):

This certifies, that I have this day, in accordance with the laws of this state united in marriage Daniel B Chamberlin of New York City, and Juliette Hubbell of Rochester, New York.

 Witness my hand

and seal at Lockport
New York, Apr 4, 1857
Joel Kennedy

Witnesses

Jane E Risner
DB Chamberlin
Juliette Chamberlin

I found the whole family on the 1870 Census from Rochester New York: Daniel (50), Juliette (written as Suliette) (39), Ella (12), Frank (8), and Holmes (4).  It gave me a birth date of 1820 for Daniel. This means that they died sometime between the Census of 1870.

The NY State census for Orleans County in 1875 William Holmes Chamberlin listed with his adoptive parents, the Mills:  William Chamberlin (10) living with Marvin (47) and Anna (42) Mills who is listed as a framer. It lists him as adopted.

My big question is who was Ella and what happened to her?  My mother in laws father said Frank lived in San Antonio, but I have not been able to locate him.

This site has the lineage of Daniel B Chamberlin, father to William Holmes Chamberlin Mills.  Between my verification and a cousin on my mother in law’s side providing verification I am pretty confident in the findings and source material cited.

You need to search to Daniel B Chamberlin.  Then click to the right of the bio for a PDF of each person.  Some are brief, some are extensive.  Of course I have not finished doing all of the verification for my self yet.

The Taylors of Rhode Island

The Taylor Family is my husband’s paternal grandfathers, mother’s line.

The Lineage:

My Husband
His Father
Howard Bennett married to Stella Coad
George Bennett married Ruby Cindonia Taylor
Benjamin Taylor married Anna C
James J Taylor married Nancy Wilbur
John Taylor married Cindonia Yeaw

I discovered a record from a genealogy book of Rhode Island families that lead me to the last name of Yeaw for the matriarch of this family.

Cindonia Yeaw Taylor was the matriarch of a large family.  She and John had 12 children; they also had a constant houseful of people.  Some of those living in her house at various censuses were her children and grandchildren, but there also appears to be boarders.  Everyone worked in the cotton mills; there are even teenagers on the census listed as working the mills.  Cindonia appears to be taking care of her grandkids so that their parents can go work in the later census.

Cindonia seems to be a family name, and I am hoping it will help trace her family back as well.  The Cindonia’s I have found:

Cindonia Yeaw Taylor

Harriett Cindonia Taylor Whipple
Cindonia Taylor (died infancy)
Ruby Cindonia Taylor Bennett

There is a nice trail of the family starting in 1910 and going back.  I do have census records for 1920 and 1930 for some of the family as well.  Thinking about expanding that search a bit as my father in law said that one of Ruby’s relatives took over the family farm in Coventry.  He thought it was Clarence, but knew the name started with a “C”.  Ruby’s father had a brother Charles, but I am trying to see if her brother or sister may have had kids that fit this description as well.  Benjamin and his mom Nancy (Ruby’s father and grandmother) had farms one house apart on the 1900/1910/1920 census.

Interesting thing on the 1920 Census.  Ruby’s brother Alton and Her husband George appear to have been working at the same place.  George was a screw setter and Alton a mechanic at the Underwood Typewriter factory in Hartford.

According to the 1850 Census John Taylor (husband of Cindonia Yeaw) was born in Rhode Island about 1791, with an occupation of Laborer. He is not on the 1860 census and Cindonia is listed as head of the house and a widow so we know he died sometime between 1850-60. There are tons of John Taylor’s in RI so I am trying to piece who is who still.

Posting...part deux

I have written several posts and letters...oh alright, a lot....over the last few months.  Instead of re-typing things I have already said to various people I will be re-posting them here over the next few days.  Sorry for those of you out there that have already seen it, but I need to get this information down in one place.  I will go back to my quirky self shortly.

Charles Robert Arvin

My grandfather was stationed at Corregidor in the Philippians.  On this day in 1941 my grandmother told me he was on a ship crossing the Pacific to come home from his tour of duty.  When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the ship turned around and she did not see him until after the war was over.   All I have are stories of my grandfather as he died from cancer before I was born.

He was captured after the Battle of Corregidor Bay and spent the rest of the war in a Japanese Prisoner of war camp.  At the time of his rescue he was listed among the men on the rolls as Rokuroshi Camp along with 356 other men.  Among the most treasured possession my grandmother kept from his time at the camp was a large dictionary.  In it were the signatures of men at the camp, as well as sketches of daily life.  My mother let the Historian from the ADA at Ft. Bliss see this a few years ago, and because of this several men who were previously known as MIA were found as being with my grandfather as POW’s.

For his actions in battle Charles R Arvin was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

SYNOPSIS: First Lieutenant (Coast Artillery Corps) Charles Robert Arvin (ASN: 0-351611), United States Army, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Battery A, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft), in action against enemy forces on 4 and 6 May 1942, at Corregidor, Philippine Islands. First Lieutenant Arvin's intrepid actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

General Orders: Headquarters, U.S. Forces-Pacific, General Orders No. 223 (1945)

Action Date: May 4 & 6, 1942

Service: Army

Rank: First Lieutenant

Company: Battery A

Regiment: 60th Coast Artillery Regiment (AA)

As we take time to remember all of those who gave their lives and fought for our freedoms in WWII, I want to take a moment to remember a man I never knew, but heard so much about.

 * Image for award is from the Military Times Hall of Valor

A treasure trove of letters

Late last week I received 13 letters from a cousin of my Mother in Law.  They are from 1902-1941 and were correspondence between her grandmother in Washington State and members of the family back in Maine.  Over the next few weeks I am going to transcribe these for the family and see what I can glean of the family history from them.

Last Spring I received 5 letters from my mother in law, which were written to her grandmother.  2 were from her grandmothers, and one from her father’s brother.  These letters proved very useful as they were full of names, dates and places that lead me to find 4 more generations of the family. 

Without these letters I would have been unable to make the leap into the prior generations as I had no idea how/where to look.  I knew Frances Maude Greeley’s grandmothers had the first names of Eliza (Elizabeth?) and Julia, but who were they?  Marriage records didn’t appear; birth records listed no maiden names.  I was stuck.  Then I read, and re-read the letters.  Finally I typed them out, and here are some of the things I found:

Letter from Grandma Greeley Smart to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; Swanville Maine February 20, 1897:
 “But I know you will have charity for your grandmother when I tell you my Father died when I was a little girl, in Havana Cuba leaving my mother with four little girls and we did not have many school privileges.” 

 Letter from Julia Bartlett to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; Swanville Maine April 1906:

 “I think of all my brothers and sisters.  They are all gone.  One brother only left there were 10 of us.  5 girls and 5 boys.  9 of us lived to have families of our own.”

Letter from Philip H. Greeley to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; December 13, 1937:

“The Bartlett family were a strong NE race that were English stock and among the early settlers.  One was once governor of NH many of the them have information psrtim (?) like chaplain Bartlett of the Pearry polar expedition.” 

Letter from Phillip Greeley to Frances Maude Greeley Crabb; Tampa Florida January 19, 1941:

“On mother’s side the Cunninghams, Browns, and Nickersons are in the picture.  Sometime the latter part of the 18^th century John Cunningham went from Edgartown Martha’s Vinyard to Cape Cod and married the daughter of Slathiel Nickerson.  Two sons were all that resulted from this marriage.  William who lived in Belfast Maine.  The two brothers married sisters.  I think they were Scotch and belonged to that gang that England induced to go to Northern Ireland and made great promises for their prosperity and never kept them”

“The other son of John Cunningham was James who was you great grandfather. His home was in Belfast Maine.  [unknown] he reached the age of 10 yr when he went to sea with his mother’s brother, a Nickerson of course.”…“ Aforesaid James went around the world twice before he was 12 and continued to sail the seven seas till his death aged 40.  When he was 18 an uncle fitted out a schooner for him after which time he was Capt. Cunningham.  When about 40 he made a trip to Havana Cuba where he contracted yellow fever recovered started for N.Y. had a relapse died buried at sea.”

I have 13 more letters to read, and I can’t wait to see if they have any more confirmation on what my research has dug up!  Stay tuned…

*The image of Maine is from Classroom Clipart

I Won the Contest

OMG!  I got the gig!

Yes that is right, I have been picked to the next Family Tree Firsts blogger, at Family Tree University.  I will be posting there and here.  This means you all need to keep an eye out for all the cool stuff that will be happening in the next few months on 2 blogs!

I just can’t begin to tell you how exciting this is to me….really there are no words.

Found a grave at findagrave.com

I spent the afternoon (unintentionally) going through the posts at findagrave.com.  It started off simply enough.  I found a record with a conflicting death date for a relative, which lead me to track down my sources for the date I already had.  (See, there is a reason for good book keeping!)  One of the sources was find a grave, so with a click of a button off I went.

If you have never been out to find a grave it is an interesting place.   People, out of the goodness of their hearts, post information and sometimes images, from tombstones at cemeteries all over the world.  You can send in updates, and edit information on there too.  As always, this is a secondary source, but it can give you lots of interesting clues and starting points to finding those long sought after primary docs.

As for my case….someone has done a lot of updating on one cemetery that I have connections too.  Even adding comment notes with corrections that have supporting evidence as to why things should be changed.  Jump up and do the happy dance don’t you know!

This post mainly concerns the Combs family line for me….but never fear, I am sure I will have other lines to update with this site too.  The 21 Interments at the Combs Family Cemetery, Buena Vista, Monroe County, Indiana, USA:

Name                               How related to me

Andrew Brassfiled            4^th great-grand uncle

Ellen S Brassfield               Andrew’s Daughter in law
Jesse Brassfield                 5^th great-grandfather
Lottie D Brassfield            Andrew’s grand-daughter
Mary Parham/Parkham Combs Brassfiled      Andrew’s Wife (could she also be a combs relation??)
Mary Pritchard Reavis Brassfield                 5^th great-grandmother
Susan Hold(?) Brassfiled                 unknown relation
Abigail reavis Brassfield Combs    4^th great-grandmother
Byrd Combs                       4^th great-grand uncle
Chas “Boy” Combs, Jr      3^rd great-grand uncle
Chas Monroe Combs       2^nd  great-grand uncle
Franklin W. Combs           1^st cousin 4xremoved (son of Silas)
Galin Combs                      3^rd great-grand uncle
Infant Combs                     1^st cousin 4x removed
James M Combs                2^nd great-grand uncle
Mary McG(?) Combs        Wife of Silas (pretty sure this is Mary Ann McLaughlin Combs)
Pleasant Combs                1^st cousin 4x removed (Son of Silas)
Robert Combs                   1^st cousin 4x removed (Son of Silas)
Robert Combs                   1^st cousin 4x removed (son of Charles Boy)
Silas Combs                        3^rd great-grand uncle


There are a lot of old cemetaries around me.....I think I may "inventory" a couple and help out some other genealogist out there....but I think I will wait until it is a bit warmer.

*This picture is from Find a Grave of the Combs Family Cemetary in Buena Vista Indiana.  Uploaded to the site by Tony Jefferies on 5 April 2011.

How not to bore you

Trying to decide how to impart information unto all of you has been the HARDEST thing I have had to do.  Yesterday I wrote out 5 partial blog posts.  3 are incomplete “histories” on specific people on my tree.  The other 2 partial pedigree charts.  Then it hit me…..what is the best way to get information out there to everyone, and not bore them to death.

So yep, that would be me asking you.

I’ll wait……

Since this is a new blog I think I will do a few family groups, a couple histories sprinkled in, maybe some pedigree charts.  Then after that I can talk about new finds, how it relates to already known information, and even if it means that everything I thought has changed.

That could be a plan.