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

Tombstone Tuesday-Silas & Electa Beckwith

Sticking with the memes and trying out Tombstone Tuesday.

Almost all of my tombstone pictures come from findagrave.com. What a wonderful site. I am so appreciative of all the volunteers who take the time to contribute.

This is the tombstone of my third great grandparents, Silas Beckwith and Electa Reed Beckwith. Electa has always been one of my "favorite" ancestors, so I literally cried when I saw this picture for the first time. At first I wondered why I hadn't seen this photo before, but then I realized that it had recently been posted. Another reminder to continue to check back for un-found (is that a word?) relatives.

Another reason for the excitement (or "high" according to this post by Dick Eastman) was that I found it by accident. I was actually searching the cemetery for another ancestor and clicked to view all interments. Lo and behold . . .Silas and Electa. Score!!





Silas Beckwith
b: 11 Apr 1816 Lempster, Sullivan Co, New Hampshire
d: 8 Jan 1890 Dodge Co, Minnesota

Electa Reed
b: 8 Jul 1816 Langdon, Sullivan Co, New Hampshire
d: 18 Nov 1896 Dodge Co, Minnesota


Thank you to Jill G. and Wally Smith who were the contributors to this page on findagrave.com.

Madness Monday-Katherine McCorkel

My first Madness Monday (or is it Monday Madness?). Either way, I'm here to vent some frustration. One of the twigs on my tree which has been driving me "mad" is my second-great grandmother. (I'll admit, I did a relationship calculator search on Roots Magic 4 to make sure I worded that correctly.)

Katherine McCorkel (McCorkle)
b: unknown possibly in Georgia
d: unknown

spouse: James Lewis Holloman
b: 11 Feb 1859 in Benton Co, Arkansas
d: 22 Apr 1939 in Stonewall Co, Texas

possible children:

Pearl
Pinkey
Jim
Charles
Ellie
Edna


Their daughter, Ellie Beatrice Holloman (1894-1972), was my great-grandmother. She is listed on the 1920 census with her husband, John William Hatley. This census lists her mother's birthplace as Georgia.

I have no source information for Katherine. Some of the possibilities I have came from information passed down from my Mom. Other pieces came from an unsourced tree on Ancestry with no contact info.

I've mostly tried searches on Ancestry and Google. I have James Lewis Holloman on two census records. The first is the 1920 Federal Census in Quay, New Mexico. He is listed as a widow and Edna is listed as his daughter.

I would love to find birth, marriage, and death information for Katherine, which would aid me in finding her parents. I would love to find this family on census records prior to 1920.

Honestly, any information I could find for her would thrill me. She is the only great-grandmother for whom I don't have at least some info on the parents. One little twig and a source of "madness".

One Lovely Blog

I returned back to the geneablogging world to a wonderful surprise. I was hesitant to post since it was so long ago, but I wanted Linda to know how much I appreciated it.

Linda from Flipside awarded me the One Lovely Blog award.

I was so touched and honored. I appreciate the patience and kindness of the genealogy community as I try to get my blog going. My 'across the ocean' move kind of put a monkey wrench into what I had going, but I was welcomed back with open arms. You all are the best, and thank you again, Linda!

15 Aug Saturday Night Fun

After reading Randy Seaver's excellent questions for tonight's version of Saturday Night Fun, I couldn't wait to jump in.

After my genealogical hiatus (say that fast 10 times) I'm finding myself faced with some issues. I call myself an intermediate beginner. I'm not a total newbie, but I still feel very much a beginner. One problem I'm facing right now is trying to follow too many lines at one time. So tonight's SNGF came along at just the right time. I needed to evaluate what I was doing and where I was going.

So. . . here goes.

* What is your UGG - your "Ultimate Genealogy Goal" for the genealogy research that you wish to leave to your heirs, descendants and the genealogy community?

I think my UGG is to trace as much as my (and my husband's) family tree as I can. Since I'm trying to learn how to do things "right", that would mean having as much supporting documentation as possible.

* How long do you think you have have left to fulfill this ultimate goal?

Well, since I'm only in my early 30s, I hope I have decades left to enjoy this work.

* Are you prioritizing your time adequately in order to achieve this goal?

Um, . . . no. I homeschool our four children, and my husband is preparing to deploy. Things can be busy around here. The problem isn't as much a lack of time, but what I do with that time. After reading Randy's answers, I understand what he's saying about the time spent online, but I appreciate his conclusion. For me, the time I spend on blogs and Twitter and other online sites are part of my genealogical education. I'm here to learn.

Well, actually, I'm here to share too. It's fun to share with people who understand how absolutely THRILLED I can be at finding a death record. Or why I get tears in my eyes when I see a picture of the tombstone of one of my "favorite" ancestors for the first time.

* If not, what should you do to achieve the goal?

I need to prioritize my research. I can't just totally abandon other lines while I research a specific line, but prioritizing would go a long way towards my progress.

* Will you do what you need to do?

I hope so! What a wonderful problem to have that I have such a surplus of findings that I'm overwhelmed with where to start. It's a problem I'll take :)

Thanks, Randy for some great questions. I've missed SNGF. It's great to jump in.

Wordless Wednesday

Whew! I forgot how much fun AND addicting genealogy is. I'm trying to jump back into this genea-blogging thing, and what better way than a Wordless Wednesday? Since it's supposed to be wordless I thought I'd post a picture of a family I had already written about.



This is my grandfather, Wallace Beautrow, his older brother, Frank Sidney, and their parents, William Beautrow and Winnie Chapman Beautrow (Yakima, Washington).

I'm Back!!

I'm finally finding time to get back to my genealogy. I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed it. The move was stressful, but now we are loving Hawai'i. I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things, and I'm anxious to jump back into the geneabloggers' community.