Genealogy Goals

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 52 (Dec 24-31)
Prompt: Me, Myself, and I
#52ancestors

  This past year I only had one post. I was concentrating on other things and made some progress in those areas. This final prompt for this year is Me, Myself, and I.  Taking that prompt in a different direction, I am starting this year with genealogy goals.  I thought I would share with you those goals. Some are carry over goals from last year and others are new.

 1.      Complete 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks.  That doesn’t mean that I will complete every prompt. I found at the beginning of last year that the prompts didn’t inspire me.  Probably because I couldn’t think of anything new to write about for those prompts. I just didn’t have the time or energy for creative thought. This year, when a prompt doesn’t bring anything to mind, I will write something else and/or do some very specific research that I can share.

 2.      Work on the McCarley Genealogy Book.  I have a basic layout for it and will work on a chapter specifically when I can think of nothing for the 52 Ancestors prompt. Maybe even share that chapter on the blog. 

 3.      Complete another DAR supplement.  I have one that was submitted in August 2022 that hasn’t been reviewed yet. I’m hoping to hear about it soon since DAR has instituted new processes that they are hoping will speed things along.

 4.      Finish putting together a new program for genealogy societies.  I can’t wait to share this one as it is new and unique. However, I still need just a little more research for it to be truly helpful for genealogists.

  Creating goals helps me focus and accomplish more.  Have you set your genealogy goals for this year?

DNA

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week   (April 23-29)

Prompt: DNA

#52ancestors

During the COVID shutdown, I decided to see if DNA could help me get past the "brick wall" in my husband's family history.  He used FTdna (FamilyTree) as it is the only genealogical DNA company that tests the Ydna.   Unfortunately, it hasn't helped so far.  It does seem to indicate that he is related to an Evans line in America but the documentation research is fairly iffy.  I suspect the connection is further back than what is listed in the ancestry trees.

 Even more disappointing is that when I tested, there is no Native American ethnicity in my DNA. I have documented Chickasaw ancestry, well sort of. My Uncle and Aunt have been tested now and no Native American ancestry for them either.  As you can read in one of my previous posts, the "sort of documentation" indicates my Native American ancestor would be either my 4th or 5th great grandmother. The court records are a little fuzzy and it is possible that one generation was left out in the case trying to prove Chickasaw ancestry.  If Nancy Frasier was my 4th Great Grandmother, I should be 1/32th Chickasaw. If she was my 5th Great Grandmother, I would be 1/64th Chickasaw.  Since DNA is not handed down 50/50, then it is possible that I didn't receive any of the dna from so far back.  Plus, my understanding is that ancestry.com nor any other dna company tests your complete dna. They only test parts of your dna.  It could still be hidden in me somewhere.

 I've seen a new company that is advertising that they can do a more complete dna analysis than 23andMe, ancestry.com, and FTdna.  However, I haven't seen any reviews or other information about their reliability.  More research is needed into this new company. Meanwhile, I still have hope, fading but still hope.

 

Tombstones

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 46  (Nov 15-21)
Prompt: Tombstones
#52ancestors

Time takes its toll on tombstones.  About thirty years ago, I was researching Charles M. McCurley and his family in Smith County, Texas. A visit to the local library led me to Dean Baptist Cemetery where Charles and his wife, Ann Matilda Hines were buried.

 This was before GPS, but I was lucky enough to find a librarian who knew where the cemetery was located.  She gave me detailed instructions. Even with the instructions, I felt lost before we finally arrived at the small country church with the cemetery. It was on a Saturday so there was no one at the church. We carefully opened the gate and begin to look for their tombstones.  As we went down each row, occasionally a car would slow down and check to see what we were doing. I’m sure the locals were looking out for vandals.

 In the very last row, near the back fence we found their tombstones. They were made from what looked like sandstone or some other soft rock. The names were hand chiseled and were very sparing of letters. There were no dates.  Just C McCurley on one stone, and A McCurley on the other stone.  They both had footstones that had no legible information if there was any at one time. The next grave over was J M which I assume was James McCarley their son. 

Photo on the right taken by David Cook.

I haven’t been back to the cemetery in a long time, but a more recent picture taken by David Cook has been posted on FindAGrave.  The picture below shows that time has eroded the stone even more. The stone is laying on the ground either due to vandalism or weather.

Ghost Story

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 45  (Nov 8-14 )
Prompt: Ghost Story
#52ancestors

 My paternal great great grandparents were John Golightley and Elizabeth Caroline Johnston. John immigrated from Sedgefield, County Durham, England and Elizabeth came from Canada.  They had two sons, worked hard, and became successful in Wellington, Kansas. They raised my grandfather, Johnnie.

 It is well known in my family that Johnnie was afraid of ghosts his entire life. I don’t know why or how that started but it played a part in his life’s story. 

 John and Elizabeth owned two houses in Wellington and the farm with the farmhouse between Wellington and Belle Plaine at the end of their lives. One of the houses was a two-story brick home with a basement in a nice part of town. The other house was a small wood frame house at the edge of town which included a gravel pit behind it.

 After his Grandfather’s death, Johnnie was in the basement of the brick home working on the furnace.He heard his grandfather call his name.He tried to ignore it but being skittish about ghosts to begin with he became more frightened as his Grandfather continued to call his name.He bolted from the basement and refused to ever go in the basement again.

After his Grandmother’s death, Johnnie was given a choice of the two houses in Wellington as well as inheriting a part of the farm.   Since he was sure that the brick home was haunted, he chose the smaller less affluent house on the edge of town.

 There is a rumor in the family that John had some oil and/or silver certificates hidden away. Speculation is that they were hidden in the basement of the brick house and that he was trying to tell Johnnie where they were located. 

Lost Bible of Charles M. McCurley

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 42  (Oct 18-24)
Prompt: Lost
#52ancestors

 The time to do genealogy is now. As time goes by clues, stories, and even artifacts are lost.  Thirty some odd years ago, I was researching Charles M McCurley trying to find definitive proof that he was the son of Ezekiel McCarley. I still haven’t found that definitive proof although I have enough circumstantial evidence to feel comfortable in declaring Ezekiel his father.

 However, those thirty years ago, I was trying to track down a family Bible that showed that direct link.  I researched each of Charles M’s twelve children trying to find a descendent who might have a family Bible with the information I needed. Instead I found a family story of loss.

 Sometime after Charles M. and his wife Ann Matilda Hines McCurley died, the children living near them in Smith County, Texas decided to bulldoze their house. It was not in very good shape and not worth saving at that point in time.  According to the story, everything that no one wanted was left in the house to be destroyed with the house including pictures on the walls.  Supposedly there was one of the old antique dome type pictures of family members and possibly the family Bible.

 I don’t know if the story is true or if the Bible that I would have treasured was in the house or even who were in the picture.  I do know that it still makes me sad to think a Bible with the definitive proof I needed was destroyed.

If anyone has any additional information about this, please let me know. 

Belonging to Sarah Violet

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 41  (Oct 11-17)

Prompt: Passed Down

#52ancestors

 I’ve written about Sarah Violet Herndon before because she was difficult to find. She died young at age 34 and my Grandmother loved and missed her mother, Sarah Violet, even after my grandmother became a great-grandmother. It was through her treasures and researching her life that I came to love her. 

 Sarah died when my Grandmother was only 15 years old, but she still left an imprint on the family. She also left several items that my Grandmother passed down. I don’t know what else other members of the family have but I have a quilt and a bowl.

 Grandmother, Gladys, passed the bowl down to my mother, Gwonda, because she looked like her Grandmother, Sarah Violet.  It eventually came to live with me.  Gladys handwrote a note when she passed down the bowl. It states, "Gwonda, This bowl was my Mother's - your Grandmother whom you look a lot like.  Mother"

It is uranium glass and glows under a black light.  Uranium glass can have up to 25% uranium, although most were much less than that. According to Wikipedia uranium glass “fell out of widespread use when the availability of uranium … was sharply curtailed during the Cold War in the 1940s to 1990s. Most are now considered antiques or retro-era collectibles”.

 In doing research on it, several websites indicated that most uranium glass only has trace amounts of uranium and are not more hazardous to use than lead glass. Of course, one website states that leaded glass is not dangerous unless you eat or drink from it.  Others indicated that cutting the glass and sending fine particles in the air would be a very bad idea for both uranium glass and leaded glass. 

 I plan on keeping this beautiful passed down bowl as a display piece and not eat or drink anything from it.

Flower Girl

 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 40 (Oct 4-10)

Prompt: Preservation

#52ancestors

 In 1959, I was 5 years old and a flower girl.  My Dad’s brother, Earl, married my wonderful aunt, Elaine, on December 27^th, 1959. I don’t remember a lot about it other than the dress was kind of itchy and I was not comfortable walking down the aisle by myself. Although I did like throwing out the flower pedals.

 About 3 weeks after their wedding, I was a flower girl for my Aunt Vadie on my Mom’s side of the family.  It was much easier walking down the aisle in that wedding because my cousin, DeWayne, held my hand and walked with me. DeWayne was only 6 years old, but he seemed to know what to do.

 Aunt Elaine’s Mother made her wedding dress, and she made me a dress that matched the bride’s dress.  It was white with lots of lace. About 15 years ago, my mother gave me the dress. She had taken care of it all those years and for several years it hung in my closet. 

 In 2013, I earned a graduate certificate in Archival Administration at the University of Texas. I put what I learned to use by “archiving” several family heirlooms as well as using it at my job. The dress is now protected with archival tissue in an archival box. The box that I bought was really bigger than it needed to be, but it worked out okay. I added the Kimono that my father-in-law brought back from Japan for one of his little sisters later.

 My next preservation project is to make archival boxes or envelopes to preserve the handkerchiefs that belonged to both my Grandmothers and my Mother.