Wedding Wednesday - Simon and Wag

This is a picture of my great-grandparents, Simon Peter Tharp and Rhoda Wagner "Wag" Self. I have been told that this is their wedding picture. There is two things that I have always noticed while looking at this picture.

Another conversation with an elderly cousin

Some of you may remember a posting I did back on the 1st of May about my recent phone conversation with Junior Hutcherson, an elderly cousin of mine, and our catching up of family news. That posting is located here for your reading pleasure.

Anyway, the reason I mention this is because Jr called me the other day just to check in again. Well, as always we had a really enjoyable conversation. But again I am amazed at what a wealth of knowledge he is. I casually mentioned something that I noticed on the 1930 census. Well, that led to him telling me how my paternal grandparents meet.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Picture of Littleberry Self, Jr

I thought I would follow last thursday's posting of the LittleBerry Self Jr bible with another posting on LB.

Have you ever had this happen to you? You go to an elderly cousin's house, ask them if they have any pictures of their ancestors, they say "Sure I'll be right back." They're gone into another room for a little bit and then come back with a TREASURE ! That's what happened to me with the above picture.

Sentimental Sunday - My Ancestors Approved Award !

Have you ever had one of those moments when you are reading something and in one part of your brain it is being understood and you are continuing to read like normal, but the other part of your brain is having a hard time registering what you just read because surely you misread a word that would have changed the whole meaning of the sentence? I find that it usually happens to me when I am reading something that catches me so off guard with its information that I have to read it about 3 or 4 more times to really digest what is being stated.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Self Family Bible from Kentucky

The item that I picked for today's treasure chest is a copy of a page from a family bible. What genealogist doesn't just love those old family bibles!

In a previous posting I spoke about my father's enthusiasm to help with researching the family (see posting titled: Treasure Chest Thursday - The Tharp Memorial). In the spring of 1992 my parents decided to visit dad's cousin Deloris Bloxam, who I have written about previously as having given me a dress from my great-grandmother. When they came back from their visit, dad was very proud that he was the one that had been able to get a copy of a family bible page that would help in researching the family. 

The bible has the family information of LittleBerry Self, Jr and both of his wives recorded in it. LittleBerry was my great-great grandfather and his daughter (listed as Lone Wagner Self on the page below) was the great-grandmother that I wrote about in the Not just a dress posting.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Augustine Warder Royalty

As genealogists we have many "new" relatives that come in and out of our lives as we research. Cousins from different branches of the family and different parts of the country that we connect with through out our years of digging up ancestors. Some you may only contact once, while others may stay in contact off and on for the next couple of years or even decades. This was my cousin Augie.

I found Augie in my early years of researching my father's side of the family in Hart County, Kentucky. The Hart County, Kentucky Historical Society had information that Augie had submitted to a family file on one of my families. I noticed she lived in Louisville, so I contacted her. In our first meeting she was so welcoming, sharing and happy to find another long lost cousin. In addition to all of the cousinly (I just made that word up ;p )love she gave me, she also gave me what has since become one of my prized possessions, a picture of my great-great grandmother, Josephine O'Neal Self. I'm talking about her giving me the original picture, you know the one on the cardboard! Not just a copy of the picture. WOW!

This is the picture she gave me. It is of Josephine O'Neal Self and her son William Younger, called Bulgar, and his family. From left to right, Josephine, Hattie, William Younger "Bulgar", Floyd, Ollie Jaggers Self (Bulgar's wife) and Howard.

As so often happens, life interrupts our best laid plans. I had life changes that caused me to not be a full-time mom and researcher anymore so I lost touch with Augie. But ever so often I would call Augie to find out how she was doing and as before she was always so thoughtful and sweet when we talked. Even though we didn't talk on a regular basis I still thought of her frequently.


On Tuesday I found out that Augie passed away in January of this year. I will miss my cousin. Her obituary can be found at: Augustine Royalty’s Obituary by the The Courier-Journal.

I just thought I would share with you, my new "new" family, information about another one of my Treasure Chests.

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

Treasure Chest Thursday - Not just a dress

Back in the 1990's, after I had a couple of years experience at doing research, my father, mother, son and I went to visit my father's 1st cousin, Deloris Tharp Bloxam, who lived in Grove City, Ohio. While there the topic of family research came up and Deloris, who was born in 1929, told me family information that she had heard and remembered. As always, I was extremely thankful to get more first hand knowledge on the family.

While we were talking Deloris asked me if I had anything from my great-grandmother, Rhoda Wagner Self Tharp. I told her no, that nothing had come down to me from that side of the family. She told me to come with her and proceeded to walk to another room in her house. After arriving in the room and several minutes of her getting stuff out of the closet, she hands me this dress.

She then tells me that it was a dress that Rhoda Wagner, "Wag" as she is known in our family, made this dress. Deloris' father, Royce Tharp, had bought and given Wag the material so that she could make a dress for herself.

Well of course I oohed and aahed over it and said how cool it was that she had something from her grandmother....she then tells me that I can have it.

"What? Stop the bus! You are letting me have it. Oh Deloris, I could never have this."

Or something like that was my response. But she insisted on me having it. She said that she had memories that would last her a lifetime of her grandmother but she wanted someone to have it that understood how special it was.

So now, thanks to my wonderful cousin, I am the owner of the dress that my great-grandmother made with own two hands and even wore.

Finding them and their family on the census....great
Knowing where they are buried or having a picture of them.....wonderful
Having something that they owned, made or used......Priceless.

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