discovering your family history through cluster genealogy
This is a cautionary tale about reading what is there and not making assumptions. Fortunately, in this case, I didn't lose years of research or spend time randomly driving around York County, South Carolina. Here is my confession: My Martin's are buried in Martin Cemetery in Cherokee County, South Carolina. I like to pinpoint the... Continue Reading →
There was a lot of sadness in Eva Georgia “Georgie” Baxter Payne’s 47 years. Her mother died when she was 4.[1] Georgie died 5 years after her husband when she was 47 leaving behind 8 children, the youngest who was 8. And she had a really inconvenient birthday. The 1880 census recorded everyone who was... Continue Reading →
When I first starting looking at what knew about my great grandmother Sudie Sarah Hamrick Turner, I thought I didn’t know much about her. But once I started digging into her life and the life of her family I found something different. She appears to have been part of a creative and ambitious group. Sarah... Continue Reading →
I've talked about my grandmother, Jennie Elizabeth Payne in past posts: How Eight Children Ended Up Living Alone in 1930 and The Questions a Record Begs Us to Ask I've always had trouble with the conflicting evidence around the birth of her youngest brother Otto. Otto Baxter Payne is believed to be the youngest child... Continue Reading →
I am a perpetual student because the world is a limitless place. -- Elissa Scalise Powell I had the honor of being in Elissa's class when I was a student in the Boston University Online Certificate program. She was inspiring then, and in a recent post on APG mailing list, she delivered the above gem. ... Continue Reading →
My Uncle Paul loved Andy Griffith, especially the Andy Griffith show. He says all of life lessons could be learned from the show. It seemed to be a simpler time back then didn't it? When we look back, life made more sense, people were more pleasant, life was easier. At least in our memories. My... Continue Reading →
I was asked a couple of days ago, “Why are city directories interesting?” It is a fair question. You find them, you attach them to your online tree or software program, and then you have a list of them. A list of them? Dreadfully boring . This is not interesting. It doesn’t tell me anything... Continue Reading →
I never knew my maternal grandfather, Howard Arthur Turner, as I lost contact with my mother and her side of the family when I was very young. One day I discovered his obituary on GenealogyBank.com and became intrigued with knowing more about him. From his obituary I learned he died on June 26, 1992 and... Continue Reading →
Life in the 1920 is not life in the 2010's. I went searching for information in the 1920's, specifically about North Carolina, to try and gather some perspective about the life of Jennie Elizabeth Payne and how her life was different than mine. I know that prohibition began in the 1920's and women were given... Continue Reading →