Goodbyes Are Hard: My Last Family Tree Firsts Post

Goodbyes are always hard, but I knew that I only had one year as a newbie genealogist with Family Tree.  Well, as of today, my journey with them as the Family Tree Firsts Blogger has come to an end.  You can read my final post here.

It has been an amazing year, as I am sure you all are aware.  If you aren’t acquainted with the posts, well, go back and read them.  I’ll wait.  Seriously, they were cool, you’ll enjoy them.  Best of all, you can see how I evolved as timid newbie to what you have today: a slightly less timid, but still fresh faced and new, genealogist.

However, with endings come beginnings and I am anxious to see what doors open to me in the future.  I am excited and energized more than ever with thought of what lies in front of me.  Research has always been my passion and I want to start doing more of that with original records and in the places my ancestors lived.  Writing has become a near obsession and I want to write on more topics than my family.  There are stories to tell and information to share.

I hope that you will stick around and see what else I discover and get up to.  The ride isn’t over yet, in fact, I think it is just revving up.

Next FTF post is up: Slavery in the family

A wheat field in Virginia, taken by

photographer Dorothea Lange in

1936. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

My latest post from Family Tree Firsts is up, and you can read it here.

As I stated in the opening paragraph, when you are researching Virginia Colonial roots, there is a good chance you are going to come across slave listings.  I don’t have anything new to say, but I do want to share with you names on it.  Perhaps, someone out there can use this information in their research.

However, there is a term I don’t understand, and if you do, please let me know.  What does “Salve Vix” mean?  It is the heading for the listing of those James owned, and I have not had a lot of luck finding the definition of it.  I have found several references to “vix” in newspapers of the day, but nothing that would lead me to understanding the term.

The full inventory can be found at the Library of Virginia on microfilm reel 1 of the Powhatan County Deeds.  (Part of the index to Powhatan County Wills and Administrations (1777-1800), pages 375-377, Inv. & appr. rec. 20 Sept. 1797; Drake, James; Deed Book No. 2, 1792-1800 (reel 1))

 

Agreeable to an order of Powhatan Court which is hereunto assured we whose names are subscribed below being first sworn did appraise such of the estate of James Drake deceased as was shown to us Sept. 20^th 1797
 

	Slaves Vix	£	S	D
Shadrach	a man	100	~	~
Morocco	Do	100	~	~
George	Do	100	~	~
Stephen	a Lad	90	~	~
Charles	Do	95	~	~
Margaret	a Child	20	~	~
Pheba	a Woman	50	~	~
Charlotte	Do	50	~	~
Phillis	Do	90	~	~
Maria	a Girl	30	~	~
Harry	a Man	70	~	~
Pat	a Woman Slave	50	~	~

 

Next FTF Post is up: fun in a cemetery

Fresh on the heels of my cemetery escapade yesterday comes my latest Family Tree Firsts post.  You can read all about a recent trip to a nearby cemetery here. 

I was a bit disappointed that the cemetery was locked, after the ranger told me it was open, but I enjoyed myself anyway.  My husband was very happy that I did not go ahead with my first inclination of scaling the brick wall.  Having to rescue your wife from a locked cemetery, or worse yet explain to an ER doctor why your wife broke her leg, did not sound like a fun idea to him.

Besides the large center stone I did take quite a few other photographs.  These were all taken at the main gate peering through with my zoom lens.  So, without further ado, here are the results from my first cemetery visit!

 

The Chancellorsville Family Cemetery

The front gate

 



 

Here are interred
George Chancellor, Esquire. (1785-1836)
of Chancellorsville
Son of John and Elizabeth (Edwards) Chancellor and
Grandson of John Chancellor (1726 – 1815) and his wife
Nee Jane Monroe. Aunt of President James Monroe.
In 1814 He Married
Ann (Lyon) Pound (1783-1860)
Only Daughter of James Lyon (1755-1836) of Falmouth, VA.
And his wife Nee Mary Longwill (1748-1794) of Cecil Co., MD.
Ann was the widow of Captain Richard Pound of Fairview who
Is also interred here. As a Wedding Gift her only Half
Brother, William Lorman, ESQ. (1764-1841) of Baltimore,
Erected the mansion called Chancellorsville in 1815-1816

Mary Edwards Chancellor

Wife of

John Thomas Frazer

Daughter of Major Sanford Chancellor

Born May 7, 1827

Died at Coventry

Spotsylvania County, VA

Oct 22 ?

 Rev. M.S.Chancellor

June 29. 1815,

Feb. 20. 1895.

 

"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,

neither have entered into the heart

of man, the things which God hath

prepared for them that love Him."

 



(On Left)

Thomas Chancellor  

TR E

9 VA Cav

C.S.A.

1846-1864

 

(In Center)

In Memory of

My Mother

Lucie F. Chancellor

Wife of Rev. M.S.Chancellor

Died

Sept. 5, 1834

In The 37th Year of

Her Age

VES

 



 (In Foreground)

William R. Crady

TR. E

9 VA. Cav

C.S.A

 

(In Background)

On the left side:

George Edwards

1842-1887

Major of Cavalry

C.S.A

 

On the right side:

Melzi Sanford

1860-1925

At Rest

 

 



 Susan Margaret Chancellor

Wife of

Vespasian Chancellor

Born at Forest Hall Feb 19 1847

Daughter of

Major Sanford Chancellor

And His Wife

Frances Longwill Pound

Died at Fredericksburg VA.

Dec 28 1935

 

 

Giving Thanks at FTF

Signing of the Mayflower Compact
from the Library of Congress

My next post is up at Family Tree Firsts. All about….wait for it…. The Mayflower!  You know I couldn’t resist.  It is that time of the year after all.

I have written several times about learning from my grandmother that we were from “those Pilgrims.”  Several times I have even told you about my application process with the GSMD.  Well, this week is when those stories and dreams are realized.  I have the last pieces of documentation in my hand to prove her tales and hopefully by this time next week it will all be in the mail.  Then I can concentrate on my husband’s multiple lines.  I only have the one line since my family left Massachusetts by the 3^rd generation after settling here, my husband’s family on the other hand stuck around for a while.  300 years  in New England is a while right?  He has 4 potential lines if I can prove them beyond a doubt.

What makes me even more excited is that members of my family are excited too.  I even have cousins of my mother-in-law helping me with their family lines.  Collaboration at its best!  Without their help this would have been a longer process with more costs for me.  Since we are sharing documents, records, and sources with each other we all benefit from on another’s resources. 

Best of all, my oldest got on the bus this morning with his Mayflower ancestors extra credit report.  We had the best time putting it all together.  He looked up their names on the internet, wrote a ½ page about each of them, added some pictures from wikicommons, and by the end of it had a basic understanding of a pedigree chart.  He was so excited to take it to school and show everyone.  In particular to show it to the kids who didn’t believe him.

 

 

Yes, there was some teasing.  Kids are kids right?  My son is very sensitive to others and I was happy the teasing from unbelieving children made him more resolved to prove them wrong.  That would be the desire to become a historian showing through I think.  Now, it would be great if I could get him to have the same drive when it comes to studying math.

Having this last document also proves my first ancestor for the DAR.  I am up over a dozen patriots on both sides of my family.  My mom and dad are tied with patriot ancestors, and at times I wonder if there is a bit of competition between the two of them.  I sometimes wonder if when I call do they get all excited about another one being found to pull them in the lead for the ancestor count?

As I stated in the post at FTF I am submitting William Hayden as my first patriot.  I can also put in for his son Noah as he fought along with his father in the war.  In fact, 5 of William’s sons fought in the Revolution:  John, Stephen, Enoch, Noah, and Hosea.  Enoch and Noah were twins too, but I haven’t figured out if they were identical or not.  In an out of print Magazine called  The Hayden Family I found an interesting description of what William did during the Revolution in Volume 1, No. 3, page 102:

 

 

We also know he died after working on his farm one afternoon in July of 1823 thanks to a poem written after his death.  I have not found a pension record for him or his son Noah; I hope to uncover more about their family’s service in the Revolution.  Oh, and find out where the Fredericksburg Magazine was.  That would be a worthy field trip to take.  Maybe on my next run to the grocery store.

Entries for FTF Blogger Contest due FRIDAY!

Hey guys!  One more little plug for the Family Tree Firsts Blogger position…. If you know anyone who is a newbie genealogist that would love an opportunity at amazing products and resources have them go check out the Family Tree Magazine/University contest for my replacement!

Entries are due THIS FRIDAY November 16th!!!

It has been the most amazing experience and I have learned so much by being their blogger.  In fact, I can safely say, that without their help I would not be as far along today.  The last year has been an amazing ride and I am so glad many of you have decided to stick it out with me to see where I went next. 

Have questions?  Let me know and I will do my best to give you my perspective.  Also, go check out my predecessors posts.  Nancy Shively was the first FTF Blogger, and she had a very different style than mine.  Don’t let style, words, and ideas, stand in your way!  Get out there and tell someone you know about this amazing opportunity.

photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via photopin cc

Next FTF Article is up: My genes

My continuing fascination with genetic genealogy was explored a bit more in this week’s post at Family Tree Firsts.  Check out the post here.

 

You may remember a few weeks back I posted about receiving my AncestryDNA test in the mail.  It was different that the FTDNA test that my dad was shipped.  For FTDNA you do a cheek swab, with Ancestry you spit in a vial.  I think, personally, I prefer the check swab.  Less chance for spit to go everywhere, and as the mother of 2 boys I have enough of that in my life already.

 

It was interesting to read their ethnicity break down on me.  Yes, I am a white girl.  Just in case there was no doubt in anyone’s mind.  There is no way to deny it as they tell me I am from… Europe.  As a visual person I liked that they gave you a graph for the percentage breakdown as well as a highlighted map of where you come from; more visuals for every learning type.  Uh-oh, the education classes are coming through.

 

If you are not familiar with the history, culture, or the basics for the regions Ancestry says you come from there is a summary page on each ethnicity that you can read.  I didn’t learn anything ground breaking because growing up with a history teacher for a father, loving museums, traveling, and reading odd books I know a little bit about a lot of subjects. 

 

Most exciting for me is connecting with cousins through their matching system.  So far a half a dozen people have contacted me after I emailed nearly twenty about our families.  Who knows that I can learn, what we can learn, by having this contact.  Of course I am secretly hoping for story and picture sharing.  I love having the images to place in the tree, making the entry a person and not just a bunch of names and dates. 

 

Now there is another test on the way.  This time it is for my husband and I am just as excited about it!  This is going to be SO MUCH FUN!!!

*Map image from the Library of Congress
*Ethnicity Breakdown is a screenshot from my results on Ancestry.com
 

Nearly a year later...

A year ago last month I applied to be Family Tree University's Family Tree Firsts Blogger.  What a year it has been!  The latest blog post over at FTF is about my journey thus far as a newbie genealogist.  You can read it here.

I really don’t have much to add to my post this time, except if you know of anyone who may want to be the 3^rd FTF Blogger you should send them over to Family Tree University to see if it is something they may be interested in.  It has been the most amazing experience and I know that I could not have got this far in my research without the classes and materials from FTU. 

You can find more information on the contest here.  Hurry, you only have until November 16^th to get your applications in!

Local relatives at FTF!

If you couldn’t tell from the post at Family Tree Firsts, I loved being able to go to a local library and gather information on my family.  It was so much fun!  Granted, it is a bit of a drive if I want to visit the nearly 1,000 acres this man owned, or to see his headstone, but I think that may be worth it.

I haven’t gathered a lot, but what I have found has been amazing.  Samuel Givens was born about 1693 in Antrim, Ireland where he married his wife Sarah Cathey, born about 1697, also in Antrim.  They had all but their last child while living in Ireland.  Lucky for me, they were all listed on his oath of allegiance to the King that allowed him to own land in Virginia.

Samuel and Sarah’s children were: James (b. 1719), John (b. 1720), Samuel (b.1721), Martha (b. 1725), Elizabeth (b. 1728), William (b. 1729), Margaret (b. 1731), Sarah (b. 1733), Jane (b. 1735) and finally George who was born a few weeks after his father’s death in December 1740 here in Virginia.  After he came to Virginia I know he began acquiring land in earnest thanks to his will and the one deed that has been found in the Orange County, Virginia deed books.

On 28 September 1738 he purchased 311 acres of Beverly Manor from William Beverly of Essex County, Virginia.  I looked up William Beverly and found an interesting website about the Ulster-Scots of Virginia.  It really shed some light on the why they came here, and also insight into my family from the northern part of the Shenandoah Valley (the Germans).

Samuel then took his oath of allegiance (listing him, his wife, and children) the following 28 February 1739.  Deed Book III, p. 13, is the following order:

Deed (or release) dated Sept. 28, 1738, William Beverly of Essex county, Virginia, Gentleman of the first part, and Samuel Givens, of Orange County, farmer, of the other part, - for and in consideration of seven pounds, ten shillings, and six pence, - deeds 311 acres of land known as Beverly Manor." This was signed by William Beverly.

When I read his will, there was the distinct impression he amassed quite a bit more land over the few years he lived in Virginia.  Samuel left his wife 350 acres, unless she remarries, at which time it goes to his youngest son William.  His other sons John, Samuel, and James also receive 350 acres of land.  That adds up to 1,400 acres of land.  Not bad for a few years in the colonies. 

At the local library I found that in 1736 Samuel Givens was a “gentleman justice”, or justice of the peace, for the Orange County court.  He was listed with all the other men who served as a justice of the peace from 1735-1749.  To me this information appears to make him to be a well-respected man of the community. 

My next step:  going to find more in person records on the rest of the family. I hope that the Orange County Historical Society will be able to help me.  However, this website on the founding families of Augusta County may also come in handy.

Image from wikimedia

Next FTF post is up: death in the family

Mrs. Nellie Grant Sartoris with baby.

This baby–Princess Cantacuzene–

unveiled the Grant Memorial in the Mall,

Wash. DC in April 1922.

This baby’s daughter, “Princess Ida,”

assisted her mother in the unveiling.

Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Prints and Photographs Division.

My next post at Family Tree Firsts is up, and you can read it here.

I wanted to do a different type post for Family History Month, and in my mind merging 2 observances that are related was the perfect way to do that.  Remembering all of your family, even the littlest ones who were never known, seemed appropriate.

My story is very personal, but like I said in my post, I needed to include our daughter and my medical history in my tree.  Hopefully, one day, someone will understand the causes of my medical problems and will be able to act in time to save the lives of a child and mother.

Briefly, I suffer from an unknown blood clotting disorder.  Unknown in that medical science doesn’t know what it is, I don’t test positive for any of the known diseases, but I present when pregnant like I have a clotting disorder.  Makes trying to treat you difficult to say the least.  We are lucky, and thankful, to have the 2 wonderful children that we do have.  This is all we will have, and we have come to terms with that since there are so many out there who don’t even have the chance to have one.

With my first child I fell extremely ill at 25 weeks and thought it was the flu.  No, it wasn’t.    I had developed HELLP Syndrome, class I under the old classification system, and was lucky that I made it through.  In the US the maternal mortality rate from HELLP Syndrome is roughly 1%, but the infant rate is 10-60% depending on gestational age and other factors.  You can read more at the Preeclampsia Foundation.

We decided to try again, and while I didn’t get as sick there were still complications.   After the stillbirth of our daughter we went about with all the paperwork that comes with a death.  I remember sitting on my bed when we got home and looking at the death certificate.  I thought to myself that this was unusual wasn’t it?  Was she really born?  Some didn’t think so, some did, some wanted me to stop dwelling and get on with my life.  But here I had this piece of paper from the government, so it did happen.

I wanted to write about it because these certificates can be useful for future researchers.  In 2003 the CDC redid their requirements for death and birth certificates which included more information and provisions for fetal death.  You can see their standards here. 

Mine is a treasure trove of genealogical information for future researchers.  It lists:

·         Name of fetus, sex, date of delivery, facility, city, county, and state
·         Complete name of mother, date of birth, state born, current address
·         Complete name of father, date of birth, and state born
·         Cause of death
·         Age of gestation, weight, and length
·         Doctors information
·         Burial information and funeral home
·         Education level of parents, occupation, race, number of prenatal visits, history of other pregnancies, and if parents are married

So much to learn from one piece of paper that is tucked away.

But that is not all.  In the last decade more and more states are now issuing Certificates of Birth Resulting in Stillbirth.  You can read this New York Times article on it from May 22, 2007.  Another piece of genealogical information to add to you list.

Next FTF Post is up: is your heraldry correct?

Ahnentafel von Herzog Ludwig
(1568-1593) Holzschnitt
Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart
wikimedia

This post will most likely not make me any friends, but I had to put it out there none the less.  It is all about heraldry and you can read it here.

The problem of people slapping up coats of arms all over their tress is, well, everywhere.  Now, I will admit, that if the researcher has done the proper leg work and knows for certain that what they have posted is the correct arms then kudos to them!  Most people, however, don’t.

Heraldic display is awesome.  I love the banners, wood carving, stained glass, and well… everything about a good heraldic display.  I have read books, taken classes, and studied heraldry in person all over the place.  A highlight of mine was going to The Institute of Heraldry a few years ago.  I didn’t want to leave their research library and was amazed by what I saw.

For several months I have been thinking about putting together a heraldic primer for genealogists.  With descriptions of how arms were used, why they were used, who could use them, how they were passed down and etc.  Perhaps I should put pen to paper and get cracking on that.

What we did on my sons birthday: The next FTF post is up!

My next post is up at Family Tree, and you can read it here.

To say that we had an exciting birthday trip is an understatement.  2 hours of “Are we there yet?” from the back seat plus the bouncing in said seats as we crossed into Maryland would never have given it away.  No… never. 

Of course the funniest thing was when we asked the boys if they recognized the narrator’s voice on the movie.  One said Mufasa (from Lion King) and the other said Darth Vader.  Oh my!  Can you guess their ages?  It was a very well done movie and my oldest sat in rapt attention.  It was great because as we took the tour he would retell parts of the movie to us, and then supplement it with things he had read. 

On the battlefield there is a family cemetery next to the Mumma farm, which, for you history buffs out there, was the only farm to have been burned that day.  It was a quiet little place with very old and new headstones.  I have a thing for cemeteries (I know which of you don’t?) and I just had to see it.  Good thing my husband thinks it is interesting looking around them too.  There were some very beautiful ones, including one that had a weeping willow on it.

There were several other major stops we made that day.  The Observation tower was a wonderful place to look out over the battlefield.  It was very tall, and steep, but well worth the trip up.  You could see a majority of the battlefield from there, which really gives you a scope of how it all played out.  I also loved the Burnside Bridge.  It was a hike to get to it, but it was so amazing to stand there and just hear nature around you.  We also took a stroll through the National Cemetery in Sharpsburg.  Those are always amazing places, and they always take my breath away.

Below are a few of the pictures I took.  Hope you enjoy them!

 

Top of the Maryland Memorial

Top of the NY Memorial



Dunker Church

Indiana Memorial

The Bloody Cornfield

Burnside Bridge and the
Witness Tree

How to stay busy for a conference: Next FTF post is up!

My next post for Family Tree Firsts is up!  Hope you all enjoy it!!

I really do overschedule, overstretch, and overreach at times in my life.  My simple weekend of staying at home looking at a computer screen filled very quickly.  Obligations, opportunities, and a need to be helpful do it to me every time.

Besides the Family Tree University Virtual Conference, the one thing that I had to do (no matter what) was meet my new-to-me cousin Bob.  We have been corresponding for several months and I was not going to miss the opportunity to meet up with him and his wonderful wife while they were in town.  All I have to say… I sure do see the Arvin family resemblance!  My husband commented on it as well.  Hopefully we will get to meet up again in the future.

Yes, I am still pouring through all the lectures from the conference.  I know I will watch a couple of them several times just to make sure that I didn’t miss any of the information.  This is such a good conference and I have a feeling that I will be attending them in the future as well.  One day I think I would like to attend a brick and mortar conference, but it may be a while off.  Like when the boys can fend for themselves and it is okay to leave them alone…when will that be…really? 

 

 

Friends are the best research partners: Next FTF post is up!

 

My next post at Family Tree Firsts is up!  You can read it here.

A few weeks back a group of my friends, who all have a passion for genealogy, got together to share and learn.  We had a great time and it made me think about genealogy societies.  I know, odd train of thought, but bear with me a minute.

Genealogy societies form as a place where people in an area, or with a specific research slant, can come together to learn.  Or at least that is the way I tend to define them.  There was one in the nearest big town to me, about 20 minutes from my house.  However, their meetings have, in the past, been on the same night as meetings for another group I am involved with.  I was a ceremonial officer in the other group for the last 4 years and I needed to be at those meetings.  Unfortunatly the genealogy society appeared to met at no other times.  Yes, I was bummed, but I figured that I would pick it up after my term of office was over.  Well, good intentions and all, I can no longer find working contact information for them and have a sinking feeling that they may no longer be a functioning group.

That is why I was so excited to find like minded people in my other hobby who invited me to come up to the NOVA area and share in a day of genalogical fun!  We did have a great time, and with an amazing set of cooks a great pot luck too.  Yummmm..... fooooooooddddddd.  We just sorta formed our own impromtu informal group.  Those sometimes are the best kind.

We decidedly to meet quarterly and our next meeting is in November.  I seriously can't wait.

Image from the Library of Congress

Oral History to the rescue: Next FTF post is up!

My next Family Tree Firsts post is up, so run on over there and check it out.

This was such a neat experience for me.  I have begun to fall in love with personal accounts, stories, and biographies as a window into the lives of my family.  This was one of those moments that I will never forget; reading the life story of my dad’s great aunt to him over the phone.  It was almost surreal at points when he would fill in information for me about where places were and other people mentioned in the manuscript. 

As a recap, Eliza Jane Combs was the baby sister to my great-grandfather, Everett Combs.  Their parents were Willis Franklin “Frank” Combs and Mary Margaret Hall.  Frank and Mary had 9 children who were: Ira, Jennie, Homer, Ada, Everett, John, Margaret, George, and Eliza.  Frank's parents were James Combs and Mary Jane Hayden.  Eliza married first Everett Emmons and second Otis Kinnman.  By the time she gave the interview in 1973 she had done genealogy research for about 20 years the best I can tell.

I have to give my heartfelt thanks to Jill Larson who is a librarian and archivist at the Lewis Historical Library in Vincennes, Indiana.  She was great to work with while I was locating this document.  The staff and the library is a real gem with so much to offer historians and genealogists who want more information on southern Indiana.  Oh, and cheap too!  They only charge cost of paper for copies ($0.10 a page!) and mailed it to me with no problems.  Check them out!

Finally, I wanted to share with a couple passages from this interview.  They really struck me, and made me feel like I was right there with her and my family. 

In the summertime and in the fall we would go to fairs and things, but they didn’t have too much going on.  We used to get out with our brothers and pitch horse shoes.  I still love to pitch horse shoes.  It was regular boys’ activites, bit I was a regular tom boy.  My brother was four years my senior and we used to just love to climb trees.  In the tall cherry trees we had these old fashioned black cherries.  I would climb to the top of the tree with him and pick cherries to eat.

When we lived up in the hills – that was when I was a smaller kid of course – it was before I was ten years old.  We had an orchard and he only owned 80 acres, but we romped all over that.  We made our own sorgum.  We had mulberries, chinquapins, beechnuts, and everything else on that old hill.

 

We didn’t suffer, but I thought that we were dog poor.  We didn’t have much money.  We raised our own beans and potatoes and dad kept a pretty good herd of calves and cows and he always had a lot of hog running around through the woods.  They ate a lot of acorns from the oak trees.  My older brother wasn’t married until he was 28 and he had a great big bunch of calves and cows running around there.  They didn’t have too much farm ground.  I forget just how much my dad did have cleared.

My dad and his dad were mean horse shoe players too.  I guess I now know that it is a family obsession!  She talked for almost 10 pages about growing up on farms and the life that she had as a child in the country.  Priceless information to me.

 

Image from the Library of Congress

Oral History to the rescue: Next FTF post is up!

My next Family Tree Firsts post is up, so run on over there and check it out.

This was such a neat experience for me.  I have begun to fall in love with personal accounts, stories, and biographies as a window into the lives of my family.  This was one of those moments that I will never forget; reading the life story of my dad’s great aunt to him over the phone.  It was almost surreal at points when he would fill in information for me about where places were and other people mentioned in the manuscript. 

As a recap, Eliza Jane Combs was the baby sister to my great-grandfather, Everett Combs.  Their parents were Willis Franklin “Frank” Combs and Mary Margaret Hall.  Frank and Mary had 9 children who were: Ira, Jennie, Homer, Ada, Everett, John, Margaret, George, and Eliza.  Eliza married first Everett Emmons and second Otis Kinnman.  By the time she gave the interview in 1973 she had done genealogy research for about 20 years the best I can tell.

I have to give my heartfelt thanks to Jill Larson who is a librarian and archivist at the Lewis Historical Library in Vincennes, Indiana.  She was great to work with while I was locating this document.  The staff and the library is a real gem with so much to offer historians and genealogists who want more information on southern Indiana.  Oh, and cheap too!  They only charge cost of paper for copies ($0.10 a page!) and mailed it to me with no problems.  Check them out!

Finally, I wanted to share with a couple passages from this interview.  They really struck me, and made me feel like I was right there with her and my family. 

In the summertime and in the fall we would go to fairs and things, but they didn’t have too much going on.  We used to get out with our brothers and pitch horse shoes.  I still love to pitch horse shoes.  It was regular boys’ activites, bit I was a regular tom boy.  My brother was four years my senior and we used to just love to climb trees.  In the tall cherry trees we had these old fashioned black cherries.  I would climb to the top of the tree with him and pick cherries to eat.

When we lived up in the hills – that was when I was a smaller kid of course – it was before I was ten years old.  We had an orchard and he only owned 80 acres, but we romped all over that.  We made our own sorgum.  We had mulberries, chinquapins, beechnuts, and everything else on that old hill.

We didn’t suffer, but I thought that we were dog poor.  We didn’t have much money.  We raised our own beans and potatoes and dad kept a pretty good herd of calves and cows and he always had a lot of hog running around through the woods.  They ate a lot of acorns from the oak trees.  My older brother wasn’t married until he was 28 and he had a great big bunch of calves and cows running around there.  They didn’t have too much farm ground.  I forget just how much my dad did have cleared.

My dad and his dad were mean horse shoe players too.  I guess I now know that it is a family obsession!  She talked for almost 10 pages about growing up on farms and the life that she had as a child in the country.  Priceless information to me.

 

Image from the Library of Congress