We Can Do It

We can do it. That is my family's motto for the year. It doesn't feel like it now, but we can do it. We've sent my husband off to war. The road ahead feels daunting. My heart is broken and I miss him so much it hurts. I can't explain the agony of saying goodbye to him, and honestly, I don't think you can begin to imagine it. I can't explain the pain our children feel knowing that Daddy isn't coming home tonight. We can do it though. He will come home, and we will make it through.

The pain that I'm feeling has caused me to reflect on our ancestors and their military service. What I take as a fruitful search, more sources to verify the information I have, is so much more than black and white letters on a page. Behind those words you find the story of a family who had to say goodbye to a loved one. Who didn't know when they would see them again or what lay ahead. Who had to live their day to day life without him and do their best to cope in his absence. How grateful I am to these families and their sacrifices. In today's modern world, my road is not nearly as bumpy.

As I'm sure our ancestors did, we find ourselves praying for our soldier's protection -- missing him and loving him and hoping the time passes quickly until we are reunited. I couldn't be prouder of my husband for his courage, valor, bravery and his willingness to serve our country. He is my hero. We're in this together, and we can do it.

Family Tree Magazine Cover

I found this in my inbox this morning. I'm sure most (all) of you have already seen it, but I'm posting it anyway. Your ancestral photo could be on the cover of Family Tree Magazine. Details here.

I love this. Whenever I see photos in genealogical material, I always wonder who they were and where they came from. The various Family Search websites always have interesting photos. There is something so amazing about actually seeing these people that we work so hard to find.

So send in your photos, and if you're picked, please tell me. I'd love to hear about who they were.

Surnames & Places

So, as usual, life seems crazy, and there are so many great genealogy-related finds to share. It's frustrating. I'm literally forcing myself to walk away from the computer because I have so many other things to do. So, in the future I'll be sharing some exciting connections I've been making, but for now it'll have to wait. I have something like over 150 posts waiting to be read in my google reader. So much fun, so little time!

For now, I'll have to be content with something new I decided to start. I keep finding myself scanning through my tree to remind myself which surnames were in which places. To make it easier, I'm going to be posting my surnames with the counties and states where I've found them. Hopefully it will help me organize and possibly help me find some connections.

So when you see Surnames & Places in the title, it's just me trying to keep all these great branches, twigs and leaves straight.

Tombstone Tuesday-Sarah Lafield

This week's edition of Tombstone Tuesday is Sarah Lafield (Layfield), my third great grandmother.

Sarah Elizabeth Williams
b. abt. 1848 in Louisiana
d. 15 Apr 1930 Bastrop Co, Texas
buried in Oliver-Powell Cemetery in Allum Creek, Bastrop Co, Texas

She was the wife of Ferryall (Feriol) Layfield. Married on 26 Apr 1879 in Point Coupee Parish, Louisiana.

Their children were:

Francis
Mary
William
Amos
Daisy Alice (my direct line)
Hetty
Lydia
James

What I would love to find now is where her husband is buried.


Thank you to Tammy Owen for posting the picture.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=lafield&GSfn=sarah&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=38173554&

22 Aug Saturday Night Fun

It's Saturday, so Randy Seaver has posted another great Saturday Night Genealogy Fun assignment. This time he's sent us on a scavenger hunt.

"1) Is there someone on your list of 16-great-great-grandparents that you don't have a census record for, and for which one should be available? If you have all of your great-great-grands (or they are not on the census records), what about your great-grands, your grands, or your parents? What about siblings of your great-grands? What about your spouse's family lines? Go find at least one!

2) Tell us about it in your blog, comments to this post, or comments in Facebook. While you're at it, give us a source citation for your census finding too (you do make source citations, don't you?)."


Looking through my great grands, I found that my great, great grandfather's family had the 1900 Federal Census and the 1920 Federal Census listed, but no 1910.

Grien (Green) Thomas Hatley
b. 23 Jan 1866
d. 5 July 1947

married 23 Aug 1887 to

Louisa Clementine Guinaty
b. 31 Dec 1869
d. 20 Jan 1971

To start my hunt, I went to ancestry.com and did a search in the 1910 Federal Census. I only typed in Hatley for the surname and 1866 as the birth year. I left all other info blank. Boom! First name listed is a match.

Green T Halley [Hatley] b. abt 1866
Lue (wife) b. abt 1870
Alie (daughter)
Ohie (daughter)

Score!

Now, for the citation . . .I'm really not sure, still learning all of that fun stuff.

Ancestry.com, 1910 United States Federal Census (Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.) Justice Precinct 1, Stonewall, Texas; Roll T624_1590; Page: 7B; Enumeration District: 255; Image: 16.

Whew, thanks, Randy. Now I have one more source for my family tree.

Member Connect

I enjoyed this post by Randy Seaver on Ancestry.com's new Member Connect service. Unlike Randy, I do find that the recent activity has been updated each time I return.

My question regarding this service is trying to understand its usefulness. At first I was frustrated because it wasn't indicated whether or not a record had already been added to my own tree. For example, if I see that Mrs. Genealogy added a particular Millennium File Record for John Genealogy II, I wanted an indication that I too had already added that record to my tree. Now I'm realizing that if it shows in my Member Connect list, then that item has already been added to my tree. In other words, if it's in the list, it's already in my tree. Am I wrong on that assumption?

What would be nice is to see such a list relating to the members in my tree, but with a notation that this item is not already an attached source document for that person. Is this there and I'm missing it? I don't really understand how a huge list of things I already have in my tree is helpful for me. I do understand the member connect part, as in finding people who are also researching the same names.

What would be even more helpful is the listing of pieces I am missing. As I write this, I'm realizing that's basically what the little leaves are for. That brings me back to my original thought. . . what purpose is the list of recent activity for things I already have? I'd much rather just see a list of members who are also researching my names.

Is it just me? Do you find this service helpful? Please enlighten me!

(Due apologies for the excessive use of italics, but hey, I only used one exclamation point.)

Wordless Wednesday