Fearless Females: Names

Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

I do not share a first name with any female ancestors.  In fact, I am so far the only Shannon there is.  My middle name and my maternal grandmother’s middle name are the same however, Dea.  Unusual isn’t it?  It is Latin for Goddess.  My great grandfather was a school teacher and several of his children had names with classical leanings.

As for unique or unusual first names, it seems that all my direct line lucked out.  Most of them have regular, ordinary names, such as Mary, Elizabeth, Katherine, pick a form of Anne, and of there are a plethora of biblical names.  The most interesting one I found was my 2^nd great grandmother Alta Eldora Davison.  In Latin Alta means high or elevated and Eldora seems to be of Spanish origin meaning gold, as in El Dorado.  I don't know why she was given this name, but it does roll of the tongue, doesn’t it?

Siblings and nieces of my ancestors didn’t fare so well in the normal names category.  Some of the more intersting ones were: 

Bathsheba

Bibiana
Emeretta
Flossie
Jemima
Lavina
Lettice
Libena
Lucretia
Minerva
Permelia
Philadelphia
Seynylla
Sophronia
Versa
Vinea
Zorah

Of course, being the geek I am, I LOVE the classical and historical names.  If had a girl I would be seriously be tempted to name her after one of the ladies!

*Image: Funky Shapes via photopin cc

New Post at Family Tree Firsts

My next post at FTF Blog is up!  You can go check it out here.

It is a synopsis of the work and classes I took back in January.  I have to say, those classes were well worth it.  Little did I know exactly how much I would learn.  Almost too much information at one point, so I have a feeling I will be revisiting those notes and articles frequently.

I have actually put a few feelers out this past week in regards to locating Mary Jane Hayden's family bible.  Even had an email from a distant cousin who found my old tree over on Ancestry.com.  She is descended through a daughter of James and Mary Jane Combs, who moved to Illinois in the 1880s.  We are both tracing lines and are looking forward to working together.

*Image: Given to me by Cousin Debby, Mary Jane Hayden and her youngest child, Mary Cordelia, in the mid-1870s. (Cordelia was born in 1871)

WDYTYA Reba and the Brassfields

I saw this clip the other day while reading up on tonight's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? and got very excited.  You see, I have Brassfields in my family who are also from this area of North Carolina.  It will be interesting to see if there are any names, or places, in common!

My nearest ancestor with the Brassfield name is my 4th great grandmother, Abigail Reavis Brassfield.  She was born 13 August, 1806 in Surry County North Carolina and died 16 May, 1859 in Monroe County, Indiana.  Her father, Jesse Brassfield (1778-1826) and her grandfather John Brassfield (1732-1778) were born in Wake County, North Carolina.  Where, it is revealed in the clip above, Reba's Brassfield line is from. 

Here is a lineage for my Brassfield line.  Please note: I have not personally verified the sources, and I am waiting for correspondence from the author on his research.  Fingers crossed for another cousin connection.


*Image from wikimedia: Allison DeMarcus interviews Reba McEntire at the Academy of Country Music 2010.  Allison DeMarcus interviews Reba McEntire

Fearless Females: Photograph

 Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

This is my grandmother, Ruth Brennan Combs.  It was taken in Washington, Indiana.  We are pretty sure it was taken to commemorate her first communion, in the late 1920s, but there is no information on the back of the picture.  I have very few images in my possession that are just my female ancestors.  However, I have several of Ruth from infancy to her later years. This is one of my favorites.

I found this picture in December 2011.  My dad has it, and showed it to me during my massive scan fest of the family pictures and documents.  I wish I had found it while she was still alive, there are so many questions I would have asked her about it.

Her picture is so beautiful; the white dress, hat, stockings and shoes are all perfect. Yet, nothing like I ever saw her wearing, or would have imagined her wearing.  She was always mucking around the farm, playing in the dirt, in her stories.  Getting her like this  must have been a real challenge for her parents.

Fearless Females: Favorite Female Ancestor

Do you have a favorite female ancestor? One you are drawn to or want to learn more about? Write down some key facts you have already learned or what you would like to learn and outline your goals and potential sources you plan to check.

William Brennan, Timothy, Mary, William Jr
About 1898

I have several female ancestors that I would like to learn more about, mainly because I don’t know much about them.  Recently I have been thinking about my 2^nd great grandmother Mary Frances Bline a bit more than the others.

Mary was born 28 September, 1869 in Harrison County, Indiana.  Her father, Francis Marion Bline, was a civil war veteran who rode with the Harrison Cavalry Mounted Hoosiers.  He moved his family to Washington, Indiana sometime in the 1870’s and set-up a boarding house on the corner of Van Trees and Second Streets.  My father remembers stories about the dining room of the boarding house and the fantastic meals her mother Sarah would make.  In fact, there is a recipe for fish sandwiches that is famous all over the area.  Few know that it is the Bline family recipe!

Curiosity about this woman peaked when I found a typed out extract from the Daviess County Democrat, “The Wedding Didn’t Go Off” dated Saturday Mar. 26, 1887.  In it is the love story of poor Mary Bline, left at the alter by her fiancé William Brennan.  It was to be a simple civil service, in the parlor of her parent’s boarding house.  When without warning William skipped town for Minnesota the morning of the wedding, where the paper reports he had an uncle.  To say that her parents were upset is an understatement.  Her mother tells the reporter “I am glad it turned out as it did, as far as I am concerned, and I always opposed the match, because I thought my daughter was too young to marry--she is not eighteen yet.” 

William and Mary mid 1920s

William did come back to town, and they married sometime that fall.  They had four children together, two who survived childhood, and from what I understand lived a full and happy life.  Mary Frances Bline Brennan died 05 February, 1939 in Washington, Indiana.  Just a few months before my father was born. 

I would love to know what made her take him back.  Even better, I would love to get my hands on a copy of this article!  What a find, and what a soap-opera.  Sometimes real life is better than TV.

Other things I would like to know about are the boarding house.  I think that means I need to do some scouring in the local histories of Daviess County and the City of Washington.  Maybe even look in newspapers for advertisements!  I called a local cousin to see if she can find out for me where the newspapers keep their archives, if any.

Women's History Month: Fearless Females

Blogging prompts seem to be the only way I can carve out time to write any more.  The repairs on my house have finally been completed (painting, drywall work, and new hardwood floors), but there is a lot left to do to get it back in order.  That leaves a return to my research at least a week or so off.  However, since I do the computer / email / social media thing over my cup of tea every morning, that is a perfect opportunity to write!

For the third year Lisa Alzo, The Accidental Genealogist, has created 31 blog prompts for the month of March in honor of National Women's History Month.  This is a great way for me to explore my female ancestors and get some family history writing done all in one go.  I have read over all the prompts, and I know right now there will be some tough ones to answer.  It may end up that I have to put those topics off to the end of the month after I do some digging and phone calling.

So, once again, sit back and enjoy the read!  My first post on this subject will be up after bed time tonight.  (i.e. the next opportunity that I will have to sit and put my feet up.)

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

Week 9 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 9 – Cemeteries: Genealogists understand the full value of cemeteries and appreciate them in ways most others can’t see. Share a cemetery or cemetery experience for which you are most thankful. What makes this place special? What does it mean to you and your family history?

There are 2 cemeteries that my grandmothers took me to as a child.  One held the ancestors on my father’s side, the other my mother’s side.  For my father, most of his direct family can be found at Oak Lawn in Washington, Daviess County, Indiana.  My mother’s family is at Truelove in Rutherford Township, Loogootee, Martin County, Indiana. While I do remember making a few visits with my Grandmother Combs to various plots, it is my visits with my Grandmother Arvin that I have the most memorable experiences.  I wrote about one of these in my Family TreeFirst Blog.

Besides Berthena Cannon Morris’s grave, I have to say I learned to be comfortable around headstones in that cemetery.  A trait that not many people have and one I have not succeeded in instilling in my oldest son.  I guess when a graveyard is your play area for many years, you don’t think much about it.  That may seem like an odd statement to make, but I have several friends who have the same memories.

For them it was holding family reunions at the family church and playing the church yard with their cousins.  My experience was with the 4-H.  My local club met in the basement of Truelove church, and after snack we would have a break to run off energy.  The older kids would play ball, the younger kids playing tag, with the adults yelling at us not to climb so roughly on the old stones. 

I can also remember attending more than a handful of burials there.  At Oak Lawn, there was only my grandmother’s burial that I can remember attending. It may sound strange, maybe even a bit odd, but those times were more like homecomings in my head.  Those that I had lost were now resting with those they had loved and lost too.  A circle was complete, every beginning must have an ending, and witnessing them was always profoundly moving to me.  I can remember each burial I attended, what the weather was like, what I wore, who was with me, and what I felt.  There are only so many days in my life that I can say that about.

Walking through these gardens of stone I feel a connection to my past, and enjoy looking ahead to my future.

*Image: faithmonsoon via photopin cc