Follow Friday - Artisan Ancestors

I don't think I have ever done a posting on Follow Friday so I thought I would today.

The other day I was listening to the Genies Down Under podcast on the ride into work when the hostess, Maria, started talking about other genealogy podcasts that she listens to. Two of the ones she talked about, The Genealogy Guys and Digging up your Roots, I am already subscribed to and listen to on a regular basis. However, the third one, Artisan Ancestors, was a new one for me.

So I thought I would try it out and see if I wanted to add it to my ever growing number of podcasts to which I listen.

Well, I am four episodes in and am very impressed.

Mystery Monday - Who tells the family?

This question was always there, it just had not shown itself to me until now. What is the question you ask?

Well, before I tell you, let me ask you a question.

A person moves away from their family to the other side of the country, settles down but doesn't get married or have children, and lives the rest of their life in this "new" area. When this person dies, who let's the family know that this person has died? You know, the family that they left behind to move out west, back east or just simply away.

So that question sparked the question that I finally asked myself...Who let my Kentucky ancestor know that his brother had died in Genoa, Nevada?

The answer to this question...I don't know. But someone sure as shooting did!

How do I know that my Kentucky ancestor knew about the death of his Nevada living brother? Well, it's right there in the family bible, written in my ancestor's handwriting and everything.

Sorry for the blurry picture. Garland Slemmons, in the left column, age 74 yr. Died Apr 25, 1898

Treasure Chest Thursday -Granny M's Memory Bk pt14

OK, so I accidentally forgot to write a post the last two weeks, but I promise this week's posting will totally makeup for it. These are the newspaper clippings found between pages 41 and 42 of the memory book that was my grand and great-grand mothers. Sorry for the blurry image I must have moved when I scanned it. :P

Treasure Chest Thursday -Granny M's Memory Bk pt13

If you've hung with me this long, I'm guessing that the memory book doesn't need much of an introduction, so here goes.

Mappy Monday - Oh the places he's lived!

When I started doing research, my dad was still alive and wanted to help, so he would do what he felt comfortable doing. Some of which were: visiting with relatives and talking to them about the family, asking around for copies of family pictures, and going with his father to old home places to take pictures.

One time after spending the weekend with his father, dad came back home and showed me the map below.

NGS 2012 - an inaugural attendee's review

One week ago today, I was just getting ready to leave the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was my first time at a major conference.

The first day I was little nervous and wasn't sure what to expect, but soon got into the swing of lectures, vendor's hall and finding my way around Cincinnati.

As I have been reading all of the blog posts that people made during and after the conference I will not try and recover everything. But I will add a couple of thoughts that I had and things that happened to me.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt12

Well, I took off last week because of going to the National Genealogical Society Conference in Cincinnati, Oh.

So now, back to the Memory Book that my grandmother & great-grandmother's created. This week's page is an extra sheet of paper that was stuck between two pages.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt11

Okay, now for all the news that was the news in the microscopic town of Dripping Springs (also known as Wisdom), Metcalfe County, Kentucky on July 7 1960.

Old picture made new

I have a picture that one of my maternal aunts had allowed me to make a copy of years ago. It is of James William Munday, my great-grandfather. When my aunt first allowed me to make a copy of it, I noticed (well how could I not) that the picture had seen better days.

But like any glad to have it type of person I made a copy of it and gave the original back to my aunt and went on my merry way.

So a couple of years ago I scanned many (unfortunately, not all) of my family pictures and added them to my computer, this well traveled picture being one of them. A few times I have opened the picture up in Picasa and worked on it with the retouch tool that Picasa includes. I had slowly noticed a difference but really thought I would never be finished with the retouching giving how worn this picture is.

Well today, I worked on this picture quite a bit more and think that I have finally gotten it to the final stages. I wanted to share it with you guys to see what you think.

I was shocked that when, after all of the scratches were removed, I clicked the "I'm feeling lucky" option that according to Picasa is the "one click fix for lighting and color" to see this image:

Wow! I was totally blown away. I think I will print out a high quality copy of this and mail it to my aunt that allowed me to copy her original so that she can enjoy it as much as I will.

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)
 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt10

Today's entry is going to be a long one because there are four newspaper articles on page 22 of the memory book. So without further adieu here goes:

The first newspaper article on the top left reads:

"Alf Bray Killed as Team runs away near Summer Shade - Alf Bray, 48 year-old farmer and part time minister of the Summer Shad community, was killed instantly on his farm Monday afternoon, May 13, at 3:00 p.m. when a team ran away throwing him from the wagon as he was hauling water. He suffered a broken neck.
The son of the late Jim and Louiza Harlin Bray, both of Monroe County, he was born July 18, 1908 in Barren County.
Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Mahalie Gilley Bray; two sons, Kenneth and Gerald Bray, both at home; four daughters, Mrs. Alma Jane Goode, Summer Shade; Mrs. Wandalane Page, Beaumont; and Brenda Sue and Loretta Gail Bray,, both at home; five brothers, Hobart Bray, Albany; Otha Bray, Glasgow; Walter Bray, Louisville; Bubby Bray, Rt. 3 Glasgow, and Ossie Bray, Rt. 5 Glasgow; a sister, Mrs. Florence Gooden, Randolph.
McMurtrey Funeral Home of Summer Shade has charge of arrangements and service will be held Wednesday at 1:30 at the Dripping Springs Church with interment in the Big Meadow Cemetery. Rev. Joe Richey will conduct services. The body will remain at the funeral home until time for services."

Ah, poor Alf.

Top right newspaper article reads:

"DR. E. S. Duncan, Edmonton Doctore, Dies Suddenly - Edmonton, Ky. - Dr. E. S. Dunham, 55, well known Edmonton physician, died at 11 p.m. Friday at another doctor's office in Nashville of a sudden heart attach. R. had practiced medicine in Edmonton for the past 26 years and was regarded as one of Metcalfe County's leading citizens.
A graduate of Berea College and the University of Louisville Medical School, class of 1931, he was a member of the Southern Medical Association Academy General Practice, Kentucky Medical Association, Kentucky Medical Association, and had been on the advisory committee of the Kentucky Tuberculosis Hospital located in Glasgow.
In addition to his varied medical interests, he was very prominent in civic and community affairs and was active in the Edmonton Lions Club and other community groups. He was also a member of the Masonic Lodge.
Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Dora Dunham, two daughters, Rose Marie Dunham, at home; and Mrs. George Webb, Louisville; his father, W. F. Dunham, Chucky, Tennessee; two brothers, Herbert Dunham, Beaumont, Texas; and Henry Dunham, Chucky, Tennessee; and four sisters, Mrs. Allen Maclead, Mrs. Sam Shanks, and Mrs. Doyle Lawing, all of Chucky, Tennessee; and Mrs. Lewis Chambless, Philadelphia.
Funeral ervices were held at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Butler Funeral Home with burial in the Edmonton Cemetery."

Wow, I don't know that I would take very much from this obituary as correct. I mean, they even got the name of the deceased wrong in the title. Duncan/Dunham. Also have I ever told you all how much I really dislike obituaries with initials for the decedent? I mean why even bother with the obit if you are going to list them this way!

Anyway, the third newspaper article is in the bottom left corner. It reads:

"Overton Funeral Today - Hopkinsville, Ky., Dec. 1 - Frank Overton, 70, a retired State Highway Department employee, died Wednesday at Salubria Springs home for the aged near here. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Clint Hoppers; Princeton; two sons, Paul and Engene Overton, both of Atlanta, Ga.; three sisters, Mrs. Bessie Dulin and Mrs. Leonard Briggs, both of Crofton, and Mrs. Noble Sockett, Michigan, and two brothers, Fred Overton, Crafton, and Tom Overton, Madisonville. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Macedonia Baptist Church. The body is at Thomas Funeral Home, Crofton."

Ok, as I was transcribing this obituary, I was wondering what was the connection to my grandmother or the family. Then half way through I find it. The sister of the descedant, Bessie Dulin, is the mother to my grandmother's daughter-in-law. Huh? Ok, Bessie Dulin's daughter married the newspaper article clipper's son.

Anyway, on to the fourth newspaper article in the bottom right corner. It reads:

"Doctor's Widow Dies - Glasgow, Ky., Dec. 1 - Mrs. Sallie Pursley Edwards, 78, widow of Dr. Fidella Edwards, died Thursday at the home of a daughter, Mrs. Dallas H. Smith, Tunstall, Va. Also surviving is a sister, Mrs. Clay Coleman, Sr., Paris, Ky. The funeral will be at 3 p.m. Saturday at Crow Funeral Home here."

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)
 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt9

Okay, I'm a little late today with the posting but my husband and I came back from vacation and I think I finally know what people mean by jet lag. I have been playing catch up all week long.

Anyway, here is the next installment of my grandmother/great-grandmother's memory book. When last we left my grandmother, in last week's posting found here, she was writing about what Zelma was doing. So this week we find out that....

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt 8

Here is this week's installment of my great-grandmother/grandmother's memory book.

This story is written by my grandmother, Gussie O. DeSpain Munday. Let's see what she has to say:

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt 7

I'm a little late with this posting today. Thanks for waiting.

Today's page has a lot of writing that my grandmother, Gussie O DeSpain Munday, did about a lot of different topics. Here we go:

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Bk pt 6

Here we go with this week's issue of my grandmother & great grandmother's memory book. Today are two obituaries that someone, probably my grandmother, cut out of the newspaper and put in the memory book between pages 14 & 15.

First one reads:

"Greer Child Succumbs
Mr and Mrs Paul Greer, of
Hardyville, have the sympathy
of friends and relatives in the
death of their five year old daugh-
ter, Kathy Gale Greer, who suc-
cumbed last Thursday night at
the home of her grandparents Mr
and Mrs. W. J. Phillips, 210 Cedar
street, after an illness of six
months.
Also surviving are a sister
Paula Fae Greer, at home; and
paternal grandparents, Mr and
Mrs Clyde Greer, Knob Lick.
Funeral services and interment
were conducted Saturday after-
noon at Big Meadow cemetery
under direction of Crow Funeral
Home."

Second one reads:

"Clyde Dillon, 53, was instantly
killed about 5:00 a.m. Thursday
when his car was struck by a pipe
line truck at the Y on Greensburg
road. The heavy fog is thought to
have been the cause of the tragedy.
Lewis Brown who was in the care
with him suffered a broken arm
and collar bone. Mr Dillon was a
son of the late Mr and Mrs John
Dillon, and was at present employed
at Edmonton Farm Center. He is
survived by is wife, Mrs Selma
Dillon 3 sisters, Mrs. Maxie Oakes
Knob Lick, Miss Anna Mae Dillon,
Mrs Leola Gollar, Louisville, one
brother, Lester, Sulphur Well, one
aunt, Mrs. Frank Price, Knob Lick
two uncles, Arthur Thompson, Knob
Lick, Polk Dillon, Louisville, one
half uncle, Jim Dillon, Hiseville
two half sisters Misses Bertie and
Mamie Dillon, Denver, Colo. 1 half
brother, Lee, Winlock, Wash. Fun-
eral services will be conducted by
Rev. J. W. Barton at Butler Funeral
Home Saturday afternoon at 2:00
with burial in Edmonton cemetery.
The entire community is shocked
and grieved and join in deepest
sympathy for the sorrowing family."

According to the Kentucky Death Index 1911-2000, Kathy Greer died in Barren County Kentucky on 11 Jul 1957 and Clyde Dillon died on 18 Jul 1957 in Metcalfe County, Kentucky.

I wonder if that is why my grandmother had them together in between the same pages of the book?

Can't say that I've seen too many obituaries that list 1/2 uncles.

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Book pt 5

This week's installment of my great grandmother & grandmother's memory book is interesting. Here it is:

"Aunt Lou Wilson died February 13, 1936 She is my mother's oldest sister Sallie May Buckners mother. Aunt Lerie Foster Woolridge died 1952 Sept 30"

Interesting because I am getting better at telling which woman wrote which entry by recognizing their handwriting. This entry was written by my grandmother, Gussie O. (DeSpain) Munday, about the oldest sister of her mother, Alice Josephine (Foster) DeSpain. Aunt Lou Wilson was born Lou Alvery Foster and married Joseph Reed Wilson. Lou as she was known by was born Oct 5 1866, to Josiah Foster and Sarah Frances Fulks. Oh, yeah by the way they were 1st cousins!

Aunt Lerie Foster Woolridge was a sister to Lou and Alice Foster. She was born Jun 1 1872, married 1st George Green Walker and 2nd to Frank Woolridge. A transcribed copy of her obituary can be found here.

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)
 

partial Orphan Train newspaper article

I came across this partial page of a newspaper the other day and found this incomplete article very interesting. All I know about the article is that the page is notated as having come from the April 18, 1895 issue of the "The Butler County News" newspaper.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Book pt 4

I know, I know you all are just waiting on pins and needles for the next installment of my great-grandmother & grandmother's memory book....SO, here it is!

Through out this memory book my great-grandmother and grandmother not only wrote about the death of friends, neighbors and relatives they also cut out newspaper clippings about various happenings. Today's postings shows an obituary that was between two pages of the memory book.

The obituary from an unknown paper reads exactly:
"Young Woman Passes
  The commuity was o'ershadow.
ed with sorrow Thursday morning
to learn of the death of Annie Mary
Glass, age 22. Annie Mary died at
the community hospital Thursday
evening at 7 o'clock. She had
been suffering for several weeks
from brain Hemorages and for the
past week had been in the hospital
but her condition was critical and
little could be done for her.
  She is the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Clarence Shockley, and love-
ly young woman. She leaves sur-
viving. her husband Mr. Lonnie
Glass and 2 small sons John Wil-
liammage 5 years and Marshall age
3 years, her mother and father and
one brother Roy Shockley all of
Randolph, Ky. Several uncles
and aunts, to mourn her un-
timely death. Funeral services
were held at Pleasant Hill church
by Rev. Veachel Jones Saturday
afternoon at 2 o'clock. Burial was
in cemetery at that place, midst a
large and sorrowing crowd of rel-
atives and friends."

According to the Kentucky Death Records 1852-1953 found on Ancestry.com Annie Glass died on 15 Oct 1936 at T. J. Samson Community Hospital in Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky. She was born on 23 Sept 1914 to Clarence Shockley and Versie Shirley. She was buried in Pleasant Hill Kentucky.

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)
 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Book part 3

Here's the next page in the Memory Book from my great grandmother.

On to the third page:

"Dr Owens Died Jul 16th 1920

Mrs Owensby Died July 23rd 1920

Mrs Whitlow Died Aug 2nd 1920

Mary Etter Eubank Died Nv 25th 1920

Bernice Dougherty Died Dec 28th 1920

Roy Dillie was killed Dec 31st 1920

Pete Sowers Died Jan 21st 1921

Bertha Hoover Died Jan 18th 1922

Morris Broady was shot F 1st 1922

John Duke was shot 24th of Dec 1922

Aneliza Nickles Died Aug 26th 1923

J R Shirley died Oct 26th 1923

Duey Pedigo died Nov 10th 1923

Mary Yates Died = Feb 5th 1924

Mrs W M Smith died suddenly Feb 29th 1924

Mrs Nona Albright Whitlow Died July 2, 1924

My sister Mary E Williams Died

Aug 20nd 1924

Lizie Sowers Died Sept 23rd 1924

Mrs Dave Eubank Died Oct 22 1924

Mr Watson Died 26th July 1925

Peter Depp died 29th of Dec 1925

Mrs Cafie Nickles Feb 13th 1930

Clay Robert Died Aug 17th 1928"

Again, I searched Kentucky Death Records 1852-1953 on Ancestry.com and found the following information on the people listed above:

• I wasn't able to find Dr Owens, Mrs Owensby, Mrs Whitlow.
• Mrs W. M Smith is actually Harriet Ann Smith, daughter of Thomas Biggs Hunley and Julie Emma Reynolds. Interesting that she died on Leap Day.
• Aneliza Nickles is listed as Annie E Nichols. She was the daughter of Edward W Eubanks and Margaret Crawford and she died in Wisdom, Metcalfe County, Kentucky.
• Mrs Dave Eubank is Catherine Annie Walker Eubank and according to the death certificate she died on 23 Oct 1924.
• Mr Watson is actually Robert Newton Watson and died in Wisdom, Metcalfe County, Kentucky.
• Mrs Cafie Nickles is Captolia Nichols and according to the death certificate is the daughter of Unnamed Moran and Unnamed Vilazant.

See ya next week!
 

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny M's Memory Book pt 2

OK, so here is the next page from the memory book that I started posting last week, found here.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Granny Munday's Memory Book beginning

OK, I guess I have taken a long enough time off from posting. I'm starting back up with another Treasure Chest Thursday series.

This is a book that my maternal aunt has allowed me to scan. I used the Flip-Pal scanner that I received for Christmas from my husband to scan this book turned journal in which her grandmother and my great-grandmother, Emily Calhoun (Slemmons) Munday, kept notes. She died in 1936 in Metcalfe County, Kentucky. The material that is in here after that would have been added by my grandmother and her daughter-in-law, Gussie Otto (DeSpain) Munday.

Stay with Blogger or Move to WordPress? Your opinion matters!

In 4 days this blog will be 2 years old and I am thinking, seriously thinking, about making a major change. While I haven't been blogging a lot lately, I am constantly thinking about new postings. Some of the reasons, but not all, that I do not get them done is the fact of having to create them in Blogger. I use Blogger in draft, but I have never really like the interfacing that Blogger has.

Recently, I exported all of my postings from Blogger into a WordPress account that I had created. Initially, my intention was to keep this new account private, so that it wouldn't get confused with this one and just for backing this one up. The "just in case" scenario, so that I would have this blog backed up, somewhere.

However, now that I have played with the WordPress interface, I like it. Just a few of the things that I have found really cool in WordPress: You can preview a new theme and it will actually show you what your blog would look with this new theme in place. I like the fact that it has not only a spell checker, but a grammar checker and style rules. Because, I know better then anybody how much help my writing needs! ;)

But there are several reasons why I don't want to stop using Blogger. 

1st - because of all of you, my followers.  I really don't want to lose any of you. I know with a move some followers will be lost, that's a normal thing.


2nd - I would have to update everything and everybody. Facebook, Geneabloggers, Google+, LinkedIn, etc, etc.


3rd - It seems to me that I am abandoning something that I started with for the new toy. Plus I really like all of the other Google products that I use on a daily basis. Why should I drop this one? 


4th - The subscribing to a WordPress blog seems to have more steps involved. It could just be me thinking or not remembering what it took to subscribe to a Blogger blog in the beginning.


So, what is my real question here?
What do you all think? 
Should I move the blog? 
Is it easier to subscribe or follow one or the other?


Please let me know what you guys think. I know if I decide to do it, I won't do it overnight it will probably take me a while to work up the nerve or have the wild hair that finally gives me the courage to do it. But I really would like to know what have been your experiences or thoughts on this.


{updated 12 Feb 2012 at 7:49 pm some formatting issues}

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)
 

I just signed the RPAC petition, have you?

I signed the Records Preservation and Access Committee's petition to stop fraudulent tax refund claims. Have you? If you haven't why not? As of this posting there are only 1095 signers. Unfortunately, we need to get 25,000 by March 8th, 2012. You might be asking, Why should you sign this petition?

{climbing up on her soapbox}

I'm not going to pretend that I understand everything about the situation, but what I do understand is this: Some bad people, we'll call them criminals, decided to use a dead person's social security number on their tax return, so that they can claim more dependents on their tax form then they are entitled to. Rather than the government making the IRS use a computer program that would red-flag this tax return as, "Hey, this Social Security number is for a dead person!", they want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and shut down the online index......Brilliant! I mean they make apps for everything, why haven't they made an app for this? Can't someone's 14 year old grandchild come up with the coding to do this?

If we, as concerned citizens and genealogist, don't voice our opinions on this petition, we will sit by as the Government shuts down a perfectly good system rather than fixing the real problem of not making the IRS do its job....the correct way.

{climbing down from her soapbox}

You can find out more about the situation by going to RPAC's website located at http://www.fgs.org/rpac/

How do you sign the petition? Go to the Petition's page on the White House website at http://wh.gov/khE
You will need to create a user in order to sign the petition, which is probably whey there are so few people who have signed so far.

Please take the time to sign this petition and get all of your family members, neighbors, clients, business associates and everyone else you stop on the street to sign it too!

Hope you enjoyed, glad you stopped by and please come back again ;)