Monday, December 8, 2014

How to prioritize your 2015 research. From FamilyTree Magazine

I haven't been able to post for a while due to some medical issues with my husband but I wanted to share this:
From FamilyTree magazine promoting their upcoming class.
1. Keeping track of everything in your head.
    There's a story about Albert Einstein not being able to remember his own phone number. When asked about it, he said there was no point in remembering something you could look up in a book.
Although Einstein wasn't talking about time management, he was talking about cluttering up the mind. Keeping track of everything in your head produces stress and anxiety. And it reduces your effective use of time because invariably you'll forget something you're supposed to do, an appointment, a call you should have made, or a high-priority action item.
Using a day planner, online calendar or phone app to help you keep track of all the things in your life isn't cheating-it's good time management.
2. Poor planning.
    Have you ever gone to the grocery store, come home and unloaded the groceries, only to then remember you were supposed to pick up dry cleaning at the shop right next to the grocers?
Or do you get overwhelmed because you don't have a clear plan (or any plan at all) for organizing your genealogy photos, documents and research? Maybe you switch from plan to plan in small fits and starts, never really getting anything done.
Poor planning (or no planning) results in missed deadlines, ineffective use of time and perpetually running late.
3. Always saying "yes."
    Many genealogists are people-pleasers by nature, making it difficult for us to say "no"-this applies to everything from chauffeuring the soccer team to volunteering at the hospital.
Being a good friend is laudable-no one will argue that. But when you say "yes" to everyone all the time, you end up saying "no" to yourself.
4. Perfectionism.
    Perfectionism is a plague in our culture.
When I was in junior high school, we had to take a sewing class, which I truly detested because I had no interest in sewing. Our semester project was to sew an apron and embroider our names on the waistband. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the apron to be perfect, so I kept ripping it apart and starting from scratch-again and again. In the end I finished the project, but it was a mess.
In looking back, I have to ask myself why being perfect was so important. I hated the class! In the long run, was sewing an area I needed to spend so much effort on? The answer was "no."
I'm not saying you should do a shoddy job to get through a task faster, but I am saying that every single task you have on your plate doesn't have to be perfect. Prioritize.
5. Attempting to do too much.
    This is the bane of our modern lives, isn't it? If your schedule is so crammed full of activities that you don't have any time to breathe, it's safe to say you're taking on too much.
The question to ask is this: Are all of those activities a priority or are you being derailed by things that don't really matter? Or worse, are your priorities put aside because your time is spent on crisis management-putting out every one else's fires?
Do you see some of yourself in any of these descriptions? When you're in a state of constant stress and anxiety, the things you truly enjoy-genealogy, scrapbooking, collecting or any other pleasurable pastime-get the a back seat.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Before you can start changing your habits, take a few minutes to think about where you are with time management today.

~Trish~

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Migration to America in the 1700s

    As you work backwards in your tree, do you find that the trail seems to go cold in the 1700s? Lack of census records and passenger lists can leave you scratching your head and wondering how exactly they suddenly appeared in Pennsylvania, New England, and Virginia. The answer may be in some of the major migrations of settlers to the colonies in the 1700s.
    Two major groups that arrived during that time were the Germans and the Scots-Irish. (Mine were from Germany at this time and came to Pennsylvania).
    Around 1670 the first significant group of Germans came to the colonies, mostly settling in Pennsylvania and New York. In 1709 a group known as the Palatines (mine) made the journey from the Palatinate region of Germany. Many died on the way over on crowded ships, but around 2,100 survived and settled in New York.
    Soon after that, multiple waves of Germans arrived in the Southeast and settled in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia. Another wave came and settled in New England.
    Between 1725 and 1775 many Germans arrived and settled in Pennsylvania. By the beginning of the Revolutionary War, about 1/3 of the state was Germans.

Major Settlements, Immigration, and Naturalization in the 1700s

  • 1707: A new era of Scottish migration began as a result of the Act of Union between England and Scotland. Scots settled in colonial seaports. Lowland artisans and laborers left Glasgow to become indentured servants in tobacco colonies and New York.
  • 1709: In the wake of devastation caused by wars of Louis XIV, German Palatines settled in the Hudson Valley and Pennsylvania.
  • 1717: The English Parliament legalized transportation to American colonies as punishment; contractors began regular shipments from jails, mostly to Virginia and Maryland.
  • 1718: Discontent with the land system: absentee landlords, high rents, and short leases in the homeland motivated large numbers of Scotch-Irish to emigrate. Most settled first in New England, then in Maryland and Pennsylvania.
  • 1730: Germans and Scotch Irish from Pennsylvania colonized Virginia valley and the Carolina back country.
  • 1732: James Oglethorpe settled Georgia as a buffer against Spanish and French attack, as a producer of raw silk, and as a haven for imprisoned debtors.
  • 1740: The English Parliament enacted the Naturalization Act, which conferred British citizenship on alien colonial immigrants in an attempt to encourage Jewish immigration.
  • 1745: Scottish rebels were transported to America after a Jacobite attempt to put Stuarts back on the throne failed.
  • 1755: French Acadians were expelled from Nova Scotia on suspicion of disloyalty. The survivors settled in Louisiana.
  • 1771–73: Severe crop failure and depression in the Ulster linen trade brought a new influx of Scotch-Irish to the American colonies.
  • 1775: The outbreak of hostilities in American colonies caused the British government to suspend emigration.
  • 1783: The revolutionary war ended with the Treaty of Paris. Immigration to America resumed, with especially large numbers of Scotch-Irish.
  • 1789: The outbreak of the French Revolution prompted the emigration of aristocrats and royalist sympathizers.
  • 1790: The first federal activity in an area previously under the control of the individual colonies: An act of 26 March
  • 1790 attempted to establish a uniform rule for naturalization by setting the residence requirement at two years. Children of naturalized citizens were considered to be citizens (1 Stat. 103).
  • 1791: After a slave revolt in Santo Domingo, 10,000 to 20,000 French exiles took refuge in the United States, principally in towns on the Atlantic seaboard.
  • 1793: As a result of the French Revolution, Girondists and Jacobins threatened by guillotine fled to the United States.
  • 1795: Provisions of a naturalization act of 29 January 1795 included the following: free white persons of good moral character; five-year residency with one year in state; declaration of intention had to be filed three years prior to filing of the petition.(1 Stat. 414).
  • 1798: An unsuccessful Irish rebellion sent rebels to the United States. Distressed artisans, yeoman farmers, and agricultural laborers affected by bad harvests and low prices joined the rebels in emigrating. U.S. Alien and Sedition Acts gave the president powers to seize and expel resident aliens suspected of engaging in subversive activities.
This list originally appeared in “Immigration Records” by Loretto Dennis Szucs, FUGA, Kory L. Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA, and Marian L. Smith in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy.

~Trish~

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Federal Road (Creek lands)

This was a project that started in 1805 for a more efficient mail delivery between Washington City & New Orleans. The Creek Indians gave permission to start a "horse path" through their nation, stretching from middle Georgia to coastal Alabama. Do you know the path your ancestors took traveling to Alabama? By 1805 my gggg grandfather, Isaac Funderburg, was traveling this section as the land was distributed by the 1805 Land Lottery and 1807 Lottery.  I can place him in Milledgeville, Baldwin, Georgia at this time. I believe some of his children were born  in Milledgeville. He quite possibly may have participated in the Creek Indian War of 1812. This is a map showing the the states "first interstate".


~Trish~
“first interstate”

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Baldwin County Georgia Wills

Baldwin County was created in in 1803 by Creek cessions of June 1802. Three years later, the land was distributed by the 1805 Georgia Land Lottery. After the second lottery (1807),five new counties were created from parts of Baldwin and Wilkinson Counties: Morgan, Randolph (later Jasper), Jones, Putnam, Telfair. In 1806, 1807, 1856 and 1872 portions of Wilkinson County were added; in 1807 portions of Hancock and in 1807, 1812 and 1826 portions of Washington; with some of Jones County added in 1856. The court house burned in 1861. The county was named after Abraham Baldwin; Milledgeville was named after George's first governor, John Milledge.

 Records Available to Members of Georgia Pioneers

Baldwin County Wills
  • Will Book A 1806-1829 (abstracts)
  • Wills 1829-1854 (abstracts)
Marriages
  • Marriage Book A 1806-1820
  • Marriages 1806-1851
  • Marriages from newspapers 1885-1886
Indexes to Probate Records
  • Will Book B 1829-1868
  • Will Book C 1868-1936
  • Annual Returns, Book A 1813-1820
  • Baldwin County Annual Returns, Book B 1820-1824
  • Annual Returns, Book C 1824-1831
  • Annual Returns, Book D 1831-1842
  • Baldwin County Annual Returns, Book E 1839-1856
Digitized Records
  • 1819 County Order Book; applicants of Widows of late war, orphans of Britton and Indians, Revolutionary War Officers and soldiers and persons who served in the Seminole War.
  • 1820 Land Lottery (Those who were eligable to draw) (digital images)
  • 1820 Tax Digest
  • 1820 Baldwin County Land Lottery
Baldwin County Residents (Memoirs of Georgia)

~Trish~

Some of Georgia Earliest Land Owners-

Tips for finding old home sites***
 
The first land grants in Georgia did not reveal much information for the genealogist. If you have found an old land grant and wish to go hunting for the homesite, the best thing to do is to observe adjoining neighbors (although "vacant" was used for the first grants in a new county). So, begin with the first deed book in the parent county and read every deed! Yes, that is the way to find any clues as to whom the land passed to next. Pay particular attention to the number of acres. For example, 287-1/2 acres was a typical land grant to a revolutionary war veteran. 202-1/4 and 202-1/2 is an indicator for the acreage granted in lotteries (1805, 1807, 1820, 1821, 1827, 1832). Washington County was the parent county for Hancock, etc. You can trace the land as it transferred ownership simply by paying particular attention to the legal description, limiting as it may be. Look for s. These are found with the deed books. If they exist for the county in which you are searching, you will see "drawn dimensions". Compare this with your (drawn) land grant. Once you have located the land lot number and district, you can obtain a county map and zero in on the homeplace. Search all the cemeteries in that district. Somewhere in there you will find recognizable names. People were normally buried in churchyards near their home, or on the plantation itself. You will notice from the map's "legend" the difference between a churchyard burial and a private cemetery. This information came from topical maps, so is quite accurate.
~Trish~

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Do You Have Alabama Ancestors? A post from “Alabama Pioneers” By Donna R Causey



By Donna R Causey on January 4, 2014



(I wanted to post this as my Funderburg(h) and connecting families through marriage were in these parts of Alabama in the very early 1800’s. My 4th great grandfather, Isaac  Funderburgh was in the area and some of his children were born in this area and then married and stayed in these parts. These were the Foreman’s, Oden’s, Pace’s,  Moore’s,  Crumpler’s, Hamilton’s, Lanning’s, McGee’s)

  “The Old Federal Road” successfully connected Fort Stoddert to the Chattahoochee River. At that point, the Federal Road merged with the earlier postal riders’ horse path that linked Athens, Georgia, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Unlike the old horse path, the Federal Road went eastward making a connection with lands ripe for the recruitment of soldiers and obtaining supplies for the military. This path quickly became a major travel route for pioneers to the area once known as the Old Southwest.

  From its start as a narrow horse path used to carry the mails, the Old Federal Road underwent great development and became a major military road connecting early American forts in the Creek Lands and the Mississippi Territory. Acting as the interstate highway of its day, when “Alabama Fever” raged through the Carolinas and Georgia, the Old Federal Road carried thousands of pioneers to the Old Southwest. As such, the Federal Road directly contributed to the dramatic increase in Alabama’s population between 1810 and 1820 – with Alabama’s population growing far faster than that of either Mississippi or Louisiana during this time. Alabama continued out-distancing both Mississippi and Louisiana in population growth through 1850.” (from  History of the Old Federal Road in Alabama.)

  Families tended to be quite large. Early settlers often had a large number of children born in the new state of Alabama, sometimes the number of children from one man was 20 or 30 by several wives. The large families settled on land and frequently raised “white gold”:— cotton. The population of Alabama increased again with the Indian Removal Act in 1830 that opened vast areas of the interior of Alabama for settlement.

  However, in 1837, cotton prices declined sharply and a collapsing land bubble created by restrictive lending policies in Great Britain caused an economic panic. A severe recession gripped the United States, especially in the south, which forced many people in Alabama to move further west to improve their fortunes. Parents and grandparents often remained behind in Alabama and the Mississippi Territory while their children settled in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the new republic of Texas. (My 3dr great grandfather, Henry M Funderburgh was one of the families who left for Texas pre 1850.) Some followed their children to the new land but many are buried across the state of Alabama. The migration continued for the years 1837 to 1844 as banks collapsed, businesses failed and prices declined. Sometimes, whole communities moved to a new locality often led by a minister or leading citizen. Many large farms and plantations were thrown out of cultivation in Alabama and never recovered.

  Around the time of the time of the Civil War, another major shift in population occurred. Prior to the Civil War, settlers moved west to get away from the fighting. After the war, many returned home to destroyed farms, plantations and a dismal life during reconstruction in Alabama so they left for the west and a better future. Some traveled as far away as California and Alaska, in a search of gold.

~Trish~
 

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Remembering Robin Williams

  "All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. It’s hard to describe what I felt like then. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don’t even know you’re walking in circles. The heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be. Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. And the storm? The storm was all in my mind. Or as the poet Dante put it: In the middle of the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood, for I had lost the right path. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place".

Hunter – Patch Adams

~Trish~

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

McCarty/McCarthy Leads

I have been absent for a while due to some medical issues on my husband. Nothing serious, just some tests he needed.

 I have been contacted by a man who is from the James H McCarty family who married Elizabeth Funderburgh in Edgefield South Carolina. James was his 3rd great grandfather and Elizabeth was a daughter of my Isaac Funderburgh, my 4th great grandfather. That would make Elizabeth my 3rd great grand aunt. They had a daughter named Lucinda "Lucy" who married Charles Carson. This was his great great grandparents.
 This Elizabeth Funderburgh is a sister to my 3rd great grandfather, Henry M Funderburg(h) and both of them married in Clarke County, Georgia in the early 1800's. So definitely, their father, Isaac Funderburgh was in this county.
 The McCarty's have been a mystery from the beginning so I am intrigued to help him, not only to try and help him find the father of his James H McCarty but to help in the search for Irish McCarty/McCarthy line.
 I have found quite a few documents yesterday while searching Military and Land Records for the McCarty men who were in the Edgefield District of South Carolina at the same time as my Funderburgh's, so now it is just a matter of tying it all together.

Excited......

~Trish~

Monday, July 14, 2014

**Pages**

I have been adding some of the search pages I have used on the right side of the blog, under "pages" so click on one to help search some of my favorite sites. 

This one is my family from Germany. Peter is my 6th great grandfather

 Under the Pennsylvania German Pioneers Lists, German Ships to Philadelphia 1727-1739 under the date 19 September 1738, "Thistle" can be found the two von der Burg/Funderburg(h) men Peter & Walther. 

Captain: John Wilson
From: Rotterdam
By Way of: Plymouth, England Arrival: Philadelphia, 19 Sep 1738

 95 [qualified men]

Listed as:

Peter Von der Borg Founderburgh
Walter Von der Borg Founderburgh

 I have other documentation to show that they both took the "Oath" to become citizens on the above date.

 

~Trish~

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

"""Can you tell how addicted to Ancestry.com I am, well, I have started to limit my genealogy time to only when it rains, when it snows, when it sleets, when it hails, when it is too hot out, when it is too cold out, when it is dark out, when it is too bright out, when there is too much pollen out, when there is too little pollen out, when the bugs are out, and when the loud birds are out, I am going outside away from my computer 5 minutes a day to get the mail... baby steps baby steps...."""

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Paul Barker & Marinda Vicars

  Doing some digging through Fold3 for military records for the parents of Emily Rebecca Barker, my GG Grandmother on my Smith Family side. She is the mother of my James Harve Smith. This is the Widow's Pension for Paul Barker, my GGG Grandfather (Rebecca's father) who was born about 1818 in Virginia. He died in the hospital in Gallatin, Tennessee after contracting a disease during the Civil War. He was a private in Company "D" of the 6th Tennessee Volunteers. He was a resident of Knox County.
   According to this page, his Captain "swears the disease of which he died was contracted in the service and in the line of duty and that he was a stout able man prior to entering the service".

  The date of his marriage to Marinda Vicars is given as the 3rd of Aug, 1848 by the Clerk, William Rule of Knox County Tennessee. Thomas & Mary Dowell were there to witness the wedding performed by Parson McAnnally, Minister of the Gospel.
  Gives the names and dates of their seven children, the last child being born just two months after the death of his father, Paul Barker Sr. I have found several pages for this Pension Record to verify the names, dates of his wife and children and the dates of his service and what he died from, including a page from his Captain, Marcus D. Bearden/Beraden

~Trish~

Thursday, July 3, 2014

DNA Tests

For many that want to order the DNA tests. I had my brother do the Ancestry DNA test but I am considering doing one for myself. I am the one in my immediate family who does genealogy but you can have many tests attached to yours.  If you are the one that orders the test you will have access to the results. If they want access as well, they can open guest accounts and you can have the results copied to them as well. A question was asked about why have sibling doing tests. In answer to those saying the brothers results will be the same as hers, that is not true. One inherits 50% of their DNA from each parent but each sibling inherits different DNA. It's like serving a fruit salad. Even if you serve the same size proportions the fruit mix will vary in each serving. I like that fruit salad analogy.

As of right now, autosomal raw data from all three major companies (23andMe, FTDNA, Ancestry) can be uploaded to GEDMATCH.com (a free site). FTDNA is the only paid site that accepts transfers from other companies although they currently do not accept transfers from 23andMe's new chip (V4). If you tested with 23andMe within the past six months, it will be on this new chip which is incompatible with FTDNA. All AncestryDNA tests can still be transferred.

~Trish~ 

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Following Mary Angeline Ramsey

Is this her real name? I know that she exists because I know her sons and daughters existed. And that she married my GG Grandfather, William Henry Funderburg in Palo Pinto Texas in 1863. So what do I know about Mary Ann/Mary Angeline? She is one of my biggest brick walls. She is a mystery, hidden because there is no 1890 census, lost in time because she died in Oklahoma Territory, before Oklahoma became a state.

 *****My records for her are mostly death certificates for several of her children.*****
      I show she was born in Illinois.  I am not 100% positive that her parents were John and Jane (Bohannon) as others show in family trees. The 1850 census shows a Mary Angelina in Navarro, Texas with a John Ramsey, age 52, born 1798 in North Carolina and a Jane, age 45, born 1805 in Georgia. According to the 1880 census, says both her parents were born in Illinois. I find several marriage records in Calloway County, Kentucky for Ramsey's and Bohannon's. From the book, Marriage Records  Calloway Co., Kentucky 1823 through 1846. Listed is this marriage date for John Ramsey and Jane B. Bohannon, December 15, 1831. Found On Family Search and it gives Jane's father as Edward.  So far, this it a good lead and most likely this is the parents of Mary Angeline.                                                           
Compared to that 1850 census and the first born daughter named Elizabeth, age 18, born 1832 in Kentucky, this would work. No records for John Ramsey after the 1850 census so did he die in the 1850's?

Will have to just keep digging. So I will follow the Georgia records for Jane Bohannon and the North Carolina records for the Ramsey's, along with the leads from the other Ramsey/Bohannon marriage records.

~Trish~

                *****FOLLOW UP FOR THE BOHANNAN'S *****
 I have been following this line and have done more research for Oglethorpe County, Georgia and have linked more of the Bohannan Family with a Marriage Record, 26 Dec 1797, for Edward W Bohannon & Celia (Peacock), parents of Jane B. Tax Records from the Georgia Tax Index, 1789-1799, Census for 1800, Tax List for 1801 & 1804,  Land Lottery Draw for 1807. I have not determined yet if Jane B, born 1805, was actually born in this county. There are also Ramsey's in this area at the same time so will do more research.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

While doing a little research this morning on what all the numbers in those columns at the top of the page in the 1790 census means, I discovered this little gem about the 1820 census. I did not know this!!!!
 _________    A note about the 1820 census____________

The 1820 Census has caused many a family historian to spend a considerable amount of time hunting a male that didn't exist or to follow the wrong family because of the age breakdown columns. The 1820 census added a column for Males 16-18 years of age.
*****What is not readily apparent to the family historian is that any males listed in this column are also listed in the 16-26 column.**** The government wanted an idea of the number of males that could qualify for military duty so the additional column for males 16-18 was included on the census form.
The instructions for the US Marshals for the 1820 census says: "It will be necessary to remember, that the numbers in the columns of free white males between 16 and 18 ... must not be added to the general aggregates ... the number will be repeated in the column of those between 16-26"

~Trish~

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Finding the Maiden names of Women

I just watched Christa Cowan's video on You Tube about Finding the Maiden Names of  Women in Your Family Tree, a 20 minute video and well worth watching. This is the 10 things she says to look in when searching for those maiden names.

  1. Marriage Records:  (license, certificates, announcements, banns, bonds, divorce records)
  2.Cemeteries: (burial records, tombstones, adjacent plots with other name in it)
  3.Census: (Federal and State)
  4. Land Records: (deeds and transfers within the families)
  5.Church Records: (memberships, christenings, and surnames)
  6. Probate Records & Wills
  7.  Newspapers: (Her words, "better than FB", articles that list Mr. & Mrs. that give names of in laws and such)
  8. Birth & Death Records: (look for her name and all of her children)
  9.  Military Records: (widow's pension's sometimes gives her maiden name if she has to give an affidavit because she has no marriage record) Let me add that I have personally found some great info in Revolutionary War Files where the widow gives not only her maiden name but the marriage dates, marriage place and sometimes even a brothers's name.
 10. Naming Patterns: (son's are sometimes given the mother's maiden name, or given a neighbors name or maybe named after the Dr.)

Here's the link for her video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv6BQ1vsRng...

John Thomas Hudson

John Thomas, from my mother's side, my GG Grandfather, born December 9, 1850 in Union Parish, Louisiana. Not sure what happened to his parents but at an early age he was left to live with an aunt, Lucinda Crow and her son. Listed as Farm Laborer. Age 19. This is his mother’s sister. Not sure when this photo was taken.


*OBIT* Farmerville Gazette8 Oct 1924
“MR. JOHN T. HUDSON DEAD. After an affliction that ran back into the years with that
dreadful malady – Cancer, Mr. John T. Hudson, one of the oldest and best citizens of
this Ward, passed away at his home near here on last Monday, Oct. 6th, at 1 o’clock
A.M. Mr. Hudson was well advanced in years and had lived in Union all his life. About
1873 he married Miss Susan Goyne. To this union a large family of sons and daughters
were born. He has lived all his married life at his present home, having settled the
place in the year 1874. Interment took place in the Taylor cemetery Monday afternoon
at 4 o’clock, the service being conducted by the Rev. W. K. Smith, Pastor of Liberty
Hill Primitive Baptist Church of which the deceased was a lifelong and faithful member.

[Note: John Thomas Hudson (1850-1924) was the son of Joseph C. Hudson (c1800 - 1852) and Susan Acree (c1822 - 1850s).]

Susannah Jane Goyne

  Susan is my GG Grandmother who married John Thomas Hudson (my mother's line) on Feb 7, 1873 in Farmerville, Union Parish, Louisiana. The had 10 children, eight sons and two daughters. John Thomas being the son of Joseph C Hudson and Susan Acree. Susan is the daughter of H. T. Goyne, an early resident of the county and Mary Ann Taylor. This photo probably taken before her marriage. She was a very pretty lady.


*OBIT* Farmerville Gazette27 Oct 1937
“MRS. SUSAN HUDSON. Mrs. Susan Goyne Hudson, widow of the late John T. Hudson, died at the home of her son, C. H. Hudson, near here on Tuesday, October 19th at 3 o’clock p.m., following an illness of several days duration. She was well advanced in her eighty-seventh year. She lived her entire life in the neighborhood in which she died, having been born two miles northeast of Farmerville. She was a daughter of Henry B. T. Goyne, one of the first settlers of this community and Mary Ann Murray. The deceased is survived by four sons, Charles Henry Hudson,  John William Hudson of Farmerville, Robert Lee Hudson and Elgin Dean Hudson of Monroe. Funeral services were held at Liberty Hill church six miles northeast of Farmerville, Wednesday afternoon at 2 o’clock, conducted by the Rev. R. W. Rhodes of
Farmerville. interment was made in the Taylor cemetery under the direction of the Kilpatrick funeral home.


~Trish~

ARE YOU RELATED TO YOURSELF?

** Originally posted on my website on May 30, 2014**

From “Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness – RAOGK USA”- a facebook page. Thomas Keil posted this: I wanted to share it.
“Of course, each of us are to varying degrees are our own cousin because our ancestry is composed of two parents, four grandparents, 8 great-grandparents and so forth increasing by doubling each generation.
Establishing our first self cousin relationship can be challenging or simple depending on our tracing our ancestry. For example, my great-grandfather’s father was his own cousin because two of his great- grandmothers were sisters. But going further back, there are at least four other instances where his ancestors intermarried due to their all being descendants of one man who had three wives and numerous children from each wife.
The likelihood of finding intermarriage of related persons increases when families remained in an area for several generations. For a person to find their future mate and still be close to home, they must select someone residing nearby. If one feels the duty to marry someone of their own faith, potential mates might be found in church. After an epidemic passes through a location, the number of survivors may include relatives who knowing or not include relatives.
We have probably all heard of Mormons, Quakers or Mennonites who chose marriage partners only within their communities or congregations. So too, are communities which are somehow isolated from others by rivers, mountains or even language”.
So are you your own cousin?

~Trish~

Old Agriculture Census

**This post and many others I am adding today are from older post on my website  originally dated  Mar 30, 2014**

  Last night I was working on some of the older Agriculture census for 4 of my relatives. Agricultural censuses, sometimes referred to as “farm schedules,” are an enumeration of U.S. farms and ranches and the farmers who owned and operated them. These census are pretty cool for showing the amount of land a person had. How the land was used. The census looked at land use and ownership.  Operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures and many other areas. It required all those who receive a census report form to respond – even if they did not operate a farm or ranch during the census year.
The first Census of Agriculture was taken in 1840. For census purposes, a farm is defined as “a place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year”.
Last night, I was working on turning four of the  1860 Agriculture census into a stories to show what kind of a farm life they would have had. For instance,  one Dennis N Finn who was the husband of my 1st cousin 4x removed and was living  in Talladega County, Alabama, He owned 55 acres of improved land and 175 acres of unimproved land. The cash value of his farm was 1000 with a value of 40 for his farming implements and machinery. He apparently owned no horses but owned two asses or mules. He also was the proud owner of 3 milk cows, 2 working oxen, 6 other cattle, no sheep and 20 swine. The value of his livestock was 275. He had 800 bushels of Indian Corn and no Oats.
U.S. agricultural schedules are most widely available for research for the years 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880.  A number of agricultural schedules for this time period are available online.  Ancestry.com, offers selected agricultural census schedules for this period for states including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Search Google and relevant state repositories as well, to locate possible digitized agricultural schedules.
So while researching your ancestors, don’t forget this part because it may or may not be important to you. But it does tel an important part of the story of what kind of farm life my ancestors lived.

 ~Trish~

Breaking Thru My Brick “Walls”

** This post from my website posted originally on Mar 31, 2014**

 I have just had a huge break thru on my great grandfather, James Harve Smith…aka, Harve.  For several years I have had the wrong parents for him. I have had his death certificate. It gave his name as James Harve Smith born in Tennessee and it gave his parents names as George Smith and Emily Barker. I could never place grandpa Harve Smith with them in the correct census after his birth year, I had found another George with a James Smith and “placed” him there. However, the dates just didn’t match. Boy, that is the wrong thing to do and I know better. I always tell people, follow the clues such as birth, death, marriage certificates….etc. I stress to people , NEVER copy what someone else has in their family trees, which I do NOT. So Today, BAM, a light goes off…. I went back and looked over grandpa Harve’s (that’s what my dad always called him) death certificate and followed the clues. I started a new tree on ancestry and added what the death certificate says and “whoaaaa” it is all clicking into place. I have found the correct census and his parents marriage record.
So, just to make sure, ALWAYS check your records and follow the trail of the census, birth, death and marriage records. And don’t forget wills and land records. Now I need to get back on it because I will not be able to leave my laptop today!!!
~Trish~

Taking The Back Roads

** Originally posted on my website on Apr 9, 2014**

 We have done this and love it.  We have taken a few short trips in and around Wise County, Tarrant County, Erath and Eastland Counties. I volunteer to do photos on Find A Grave.  I like doing that for families who don’t live here in the area.  But I love the drive.  The other day we drove to Desdemona, once know as Hogtown. I have the deed records that my great great grandfather and his brother owned the land where this town now stand back in 1871/1875. He and his brother homesteaded 160 acres each for a period of three years. They had an uncle who also homesteaded there. It was pretty awesome for me to go there and walk on the land they once owned . We talked to an older man who now owns all of the Funderburg land and a lot more that his grandfather bought from the Funderburg brothers and other land owners that had homesteaded. The Desdemona Cemetery is on the land that was part of the Funderburg land.
The town of Desdemona is in the southeastern corner of Eastland County, is one of the oldest extant Texas settlements west of the Brazos River. Sometime around 1857 a group of settlers built a family fort for protection from the Indians on land owned by C. C. Blair. In 1873 the oldest organization of any kind in Eastland County, the Rockdale Baptist Church, was built nearby. Two years later William and Ben Funderburg acquired the old Fort Blair land, and a town began to develop. By 1877 the town had a post office. This town is now a ghost town, There is still the post office and a small cafe. We looked around, visited the old First Baptist Church there. As of 2013 three businesses remain in the town
We have gone to Breckenridge in Eastland County for genealogy research on Funderburg and Schoolcraft family.  We met a Funderburg there who is a fourth cousin to me, he is the Manager at Eastland Chamber of Commerce. We also took a trip to Palo Pinto for marriage records. Went to Stephenville for records.

~Trish~

German Ancestor Roots

** Originally posted on my website on May 4, 2014**

I am researching records for my von der Burg ancestors. It can be traced back to this record:  ”Pennsylvania German Pioneers Passenger Lists” Palatine German Immigrant Ships to Philadelphia 1742-1752: NAME: “The Thistle”. Our name was suppose to have come from the Berg and the Schloss Burg Castle. But I cannot find documentation from Germany. Peter, my 6th great grandfather, and his brother Walther Valentin (last name spelled Founderburgh on the passenger list), came over and took the oath on Sept 19, 1738. The ship sailed from Rotterdam to Plymouth England and then to Philadelphia. Sometime along the way they were said to have stopped in Ireland for a while.”I think that is why I am having so much trouble finding records. I can trace to the time they came here and “Americanized” their names, but I can’t find their German records”. Our family name was von der Burg and “Americanized” to Funderburgh/ Funderburk and other variant spellings but this is NOT a common name. The father of the two men was Adolf (possibly) but no one has documented proof.

~Trish~

Visiting The Krum Jackson Cemetery in Ponder Texas

 ** Originally posted on my website on Aprl 22, 2014**

I have been tracing and finding new records for my great grandfather, Harve  Smith’s family.  He has been a brick wall for so many years after he and Josie split up. I should say here, great grandpa Harve and my great grandmother, Josie, married in 1994, at the age of 15 or 16,  and  divorced after having 4 children, the oldest being my grandma Virgia Bell Smith who married Jesse Lee Funderburg.  Josie divorced Harve because he was said to be a mean and jealous man.  Josie feared him and thought he might do harm to her or the children after waking one night to find him standing over them on the bed in which they all slept, holding a knife and sharpening it on a razor strap. She divorced him between 1900 and 1910 and in 1911, Josie married Jesse Funderburg’s oldest brother, John Isaac. Fast forward……On April 21, 2014, my husband and I took a trip to the Kern Jackson Cemetery in Denton County Texas to check out the headstone of Harve’s parents and some of his siblings. We found many headstones. Both his parents, George Washington and Emily Rebecca (Barker) Smith and also several of the children of George and Emily. I took many photos so I could place them into my Smith/Funderburg Family and finally get the Smith family recorded and into a binder.
Grandpa Harve was born in 1879 in Tenneessee and can be found with his parents in Knox County, Tennessee in 1880. By 1900, he and Josie are living in Justice Precinct 5, Grayson, Texas, with Grandma Virgia and Cordelia. James Harve has a cousin living with them, also named James Smith. James later married Blanche, maiden name unknown at this time.  In 1930, 1935 and 1940 he and Blanche are living in Clarendon, Donley, Texas where they both died.
James Harve Smith is a work in progress and will take more researching to finish. But the trip to the cemetery helped me tremendously in find more details about his family
~Trish~

Seraching for the Ramsey’s

** Originally posted on my website on Apr 14, 2014**

Brick walls are the parts of your family tree that you have not been able to push further back in that line. One of mine is the Ramsey Family in Texas. Their daughter, Mary Angeline,  my great grandmother, married William Henry Funderburg in Palo Pinto Texas in 1863. I have set up  posts dedicated to each of the surnames I am researching, with details on some of the more important members of the family hoping others with the same surname will get in touch with me.
In the 1880 census, her name is Mary Ann in this one. it gives her Birth Year: about 1844 and born in Illinois with her father’s birthplace: Illinois and her mother’s birthplace: Illinois.
Texas Marriages, 1814-1909 shows Angeline Ramsey married Wm H. Funderburgh 8 Mar 1863 in Palo Pinto, Texas. I have searched for Ramsey’s in the Palo Pinto area before and after the 1860 census with no luck. I was hoping to find something in that time frame.  I have some death certificates for her children and only one gives the full name for her as Mary Angeline, and the rest either Angeline Ramsey or just Ramsey.
So I will keep digging and trying to break through this brick wall.

~Trish~

Grand vs Great Aunt’s & Uncle’s

 ** Originally posted on my website on May 27, 2014**

    *What do you call you grandparents siblings. The siblings of your parents are your aunts/uncles. The siblings of your grandparents were originally termed grandaunts/uncles and the siblings of your great-grand parents were great-grandaunts/uncles. But over the years those terms have gradually been replaced by the less descriptive great-aunt/uncle for grandaunt/uncle and great-great-aunt/uncle for great-grandaunt/uncle. Because it is more logical, many modern genealogists may prefer to use the older terms. Either is correct. Officially it IS “Grand”. If they are your “grandparents” then their siblings ARE your grand aunt & uncle. It shows that they are in the same generation as your grandparents. I, like so many, do call them great aunt and uncle. In fact, I still have a great aunt Dorothy alive, age 94, and that is what I call her. She  is so awesome and I am so proud to have met her still get with her and her daughter for lunches and her birthday partiy

~Trish~