discovering your family history through cluster genealogy
My niece, Rachel, and I went on an epic research trip in Virginia in July. We hit 5 courthouses, untold cemeteries, tromped around all sorts of weed filled fields and made a local unhappy when we photographed a deer head suspended from a telephone pole. (That's a different story.) We photocopied and photographed countless documents. ... Continue Reading →
So why would you need to write a summary of the basic vital facts about a person? Case in point, Laura Cecile Donald Gillespie: Laura Cecile Donald was born on 13 February 1877 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and died 23 August 1864 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.1 On 24 January, 1894 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, Laura... Continue Reading →
I’m currently working on being a Certified Genealogist (CG). There are 7 parts, and the one I’m currently working on is the KDP or Kinship Determination Project. I can’t publish my work as I go along, but I thought if I did a parallel project and published the process it might help me figure out... Continue Reading →
I've been on Vacation, a girl's weekend in New Orleans. So I've been away from my blog. Good weekend! New Orleans is an amazing town. So I've been working on my Sources. I really thought this was going to be tiresome, but it's not. I'm actually slowing down and looking at the images. And rethinking... Continue Reading →
Wyatt Paul Gillespie, son of Jeremiah Gillespie and Mary E Gillespie, was born on July 15, 1865 in Amherst County, Virginia. Laura Cecil Donald, daughter of James Calvin Donald and Elizabeth Jane Wallace, was born on February 13, 1877 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. They were married January 24, 1894 in Rockbridge County, Virginia. How they... Continue Reading →
Some documents are like a really great Christmas, they just have everything in them that you need. This Deed of Conveyance 1 defines quite nicely Wyatt Paul and Laura Donald Gillespie's children, their children's spouses and Wyatt and Laura's death. In Wyatt's will he left the house at 108 Houston Street to his wife, and... Continue Reading →
I could not remember where I had stashed these. Eureka they have been found! These are the tombstones for my previous entries on my Maiden Aunts: Harriet Ann Gillespie, daughter of Jeremiah Gillespie and Mary E Gillespie, born Jun 14, 1853, Amherst, Virgina, died October 5, 1920, Lexington, Virginia. Minnie Maud Gillespie, daughter of Wyatt... Continue Reading →
I posted James C Donald's obituary yesterday. This is the settlement of his estate. James C Donald's Appraisement (Ex'd) An Inventory and appraisement of the Personal Estate of James C Donald dec'd made November 20th 1900, by John T L Preston, L M Leibig and Greenlee Farrow in pursuance of an order of Rockbridge County... Continue Reading →
In my post Sorting Saturday: Starting a Narrative Lineage, I stated that my grandfather was the descendant of a Civil War Veteran, specifically, the a member of the Stonewall Brigade. And I left the proof for later. Here are the statements I need to prove: Gilbert McClung GILLESPIE was the son of Laura Cecile DONALD.... Continue Reading →