Do you have memories of visiting the cemetery as a child on Memorial Day or other special days? My maternal grandparents are both buried in my hometown, and we decorated their graves every Memorial Day without fail. We would pick the May flowers and make beautiful baskets of iris and lilacs to fasten to the ground in front of the headstones. This tradition cemented in my child’s mind the importance of remembering those who...
We all have brick-wall ancestors, and often they are the women in our family tree. In this 52 ancestors post, I share more about Clemsy Cline, one of my third great-grandmothers without a well-documented trail leading to her parents. When I first started researching Clemsy, other researchers attributed John Cline and Mrs. John Cline as her parents, so I added them to my tree. I’ve looked at Clemsy through the years but not known exactly...
What memories stand out about your parent or grandparent? As we think about their childhood and adult years, there may be common themes that run through their lives. Fun memories that I have center around my mother’s love of animals and her pets, especially her little dogs, who were such companions in her widowhood. Anna Mae Kelsey was born in mid-winter on 20 January 1928 to Florence (Creer) and Ed Kelsey at Burley, Cassia County,...
What would you do if your aunt gave you the charge never to forget your family’s history and then gave you a book about the family but forbade you to read it? For years, author, Meryl Frank, kept her promise to her aunt but did start researching the events during World War II in Lithuania that resulted in the death of her Jewish family. Eventually, her research led to uncovering the stories and finally to...
Do you have an individual you’ve researched and have many pieces of indirect evidence pointing to him as your ancestor? Perhaps you’re unsure of the connection though, and wondering what to do next. With DNA now giving us a way to prove biological relationships, we can use this new tool to add evidence to our conclusions. Years ago, I hypothesized Benjamin Cox as the father of my third great-grandmother, Rachel Cox. Records in Texas in...
When we read the stories of our ancestors, certain memorable instances can stay with us. One such instance from my own family history centers on my 2nd great-grandmother, Mariah (Brockhouse) Beddoes. I’ve always wondered at the story of how Mariah’s parents were so upset at her emigrating from their England home to the Utah Territory that they hid her little girl, Selina, in hopes that it would prevent the journey. I pictured myself as Selina...
Ancestor surnames can be a challenge in research – especially when they begin with a vowel! Take, for instance, my Eisenhaur/Isenhour ancestors. My earliest ancestors emigrated from the German region of Europe in the 1700s and retained the spelling Eisenhauer until my ancestor, John, anglicized the spelling to Isenhour. Some branches of the family still use the Eisenhower spelling – such as President Dwight D. Eisenhower, my 4th cousin, 5 times removed. Nicole wrote about...
Do you have an ancestor who died fairly young? Have you discovered their story? My great-grandmother, Mary Margaret (Peterson) Creer, died in her mid-50s. Her daughter, Florence Matilda (Creer) Kelsey, my grandmother, was expecting her fifth child when the family gathered and took their last photo together in 1925. Mary would miss meeting most of her grandchildren and seeing her youngest children grow up. Although I never met Mary Margaret, stories and photos shed...
Do you have any ancestors who were lucky? Perhaps things always seemed to go their way or perhaps they really did win the lottery. Such was the case with John Royston’s orphan. Not only was this individual lucky in the land draw, but I was also lucky that this record was created because it became a key piece of evidence in linking generations. The Georgia 1827 Land Lottery Georgia is a state-land state meaning that...
We often think of our ancestors in isolation – focusing on just their immediate or extended family. But our ancestors were members of a broader community. They could have belonged to a church, a club, a fraternal organization, a service group, or a military unit. When we explore their membership in that group we gain more understanding of their lives. In this 52 ancestor’s post, I’ll highlight the life of Daniel Henrie, a member...
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