Sunday, April 29, 2018

Eliza Frances Jakes Burks--my 1C3R

Cousin:  Jakes/Harger 1st Cousin 3 times(generations) removed
Eliza Frances Jakes Burks(1853-1947)
Eliza F. Jakes was the daughter of John "Jack" Jakes and his 2nd wife Nancy Eoff Jakes.  She was born in Bedford County, Tennessee where she married on 24 July 1872 to Robert Lee Burks.  She and Robert had 3 children and were in Texas in October of 1880 when their middle child and only daughter, Ida Frances Burks was born.  The returned to Tennessee around 1885 according to the article about Robert Lee Burks' death(see below)  I have not found them in the 1880 census yet but hope to soon.  I know they were in TX by October but don't know if they were there earlier in the year.  They returned to Tennessee and lived in Livingston(Overton Co TN) from what I can tell.  That is where Eliza lived out the remainder of her life. Eliza's daughter died several years after Eliza's husband passed.  My own Jakes kin live a long life and Eliza is no exception.  She died 15 November 1947 from complications of pneumonia and a fractured left hip at the age of 94 and is buried in Breeding Cemetery in Overton County, Tennessee, USA.  The Breeding cemetery is likely the family graveyard of Eliza's son-in-law Dr. William Martin Breeding, husband of her daughter Ida Frances Burks Breeding.

Eliza Frances Jakes Burks at FindaGrave

Regarding Eliza's year of birth, 
1860 Census lists her in her parents household age 8(1852)
1870 Census lists her in her parents household age 14(1856)
1900 Census lists her with her husband  at age 45 (1855 July)
1910 Census lists her with her husband at age 54(1856)
1920 Census lists her with her husband at age 65 (1855)
1930 Census lists her as a boarder at age 75 (1855)
1940 Census lists her as a boarder at age 86 (1854)
Death Certificate listed her DOB on 26 July 1853(her youngest son R. R. Burks is the informant)
On Robert Ray Burks' SAR application papers(from 1922) her year of birth is given as 1854
The year of birth on her gravestone is 1853



The Tennessean(Nashville, Tennessee)   
Fri, Dec 4, 1925 pg 28
www.newspapers.com

This family is interesting and has several doctors and pharmacists.   I hope to do profiles on the families of each of their 3 children.

Questions:   
Where was the family in the 1880 census?  I know they should be in Texas somewhere unless they were missed.
There were many Tennesseans who went to TX during the period from 1880-1900 but I'd like to know why they went?  Also, what brought them back?

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

MarieB's Genealogy Blog Turns 14!


Today marks this blog's 14th year.  In keeping with my purpose of the blog, I'm listing in no particular order my 14 favorites databases, tools, websites etc. that I find helpful in my research.  I've written a description of how each of them can be used but please check out the link for more info on each of the resources. Please remember to check with and support your local libraries, county archives, and area genealogy & historical societies.  They have many items you won't find online and they need your help to thrive.

14 of My Favorite Databases, Tools, and Websites

1.  U.S. Special Census on Deaf Family Marriages and Hearing Relatives, 1888-1895
https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1582
You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  I have found a wealth of information on collateral lines in this database which has led me to other records for my direct lines.

2.  U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995
https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2469
You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.  Often overlooked by many, City Directories offer an insight into the lives of townspeople.  See my previous blog post--In Praise of City Directories.

3.  U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
https://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=6482
You will need to be subscribed to Ancestry's US Records or access from a library which has a subscription.

4.  Famly Search Catalog Search for Area of Interest  County Records available online
Make sure you are logged on to the FamilySearch website.  Enter your Location(Country, State, County--for the US) in Place Search and select Online Availability option.

5.  AncestryDNA--the largest autosomal DNA database.  Once you receive your results, you can download your raw data and upload to other sites such as MyHeritage, FTDNA, and GEDmatch to compare with others who have uploaded or tested there.  Be sure to read each site's User Policy/Terms of Service.  AncestryDNA is the site I recommend testing at especially if you are an adoptee or have unknown direct ancestors at the parent or grandparent level.   

6.  GEDmatch-Free to use site with an upload.  Is not a testing site but rather a site where results can be uploaded and compared to others who have tested at any of the major DNA testing sites and uploaded to GEDmatch. Tier 1 DNA analysis tools available at $10 a month but subscribing is not necessary for use of the majority of the tools.

7.  DNAgedcom-- available as a client software for retrieval of match info from the other testing sites and also web-based analysis. See the website for more info on its current offerings and price.

8.  Interactive Shared cM Project with Relationship Probabilities--the latest version of a helpful interactive tool by Jonny Perl using Blaine Bettinger's Shared cM Project info and the probability chart by TheDNAGeek.

9.  DNA Painter--Jonny Perl's tool for Chromosome Painting.

10. & 11.  Chrome Browser Extensions--There are two browser extensions for Chrome Browser that I use to help sort and identify my AncestryDNA matches:  AncestryDNA Helper and MedBetterDNA. You can find those at Google Chrome's Webstore using the search option.

12.  Visual Phasing Spreadsheet--Visual Phasing an autosomal DNA analysis technique where you use chromosome comparison of 3 full siblings' atDNA results to find which segments came from each of their 4 grandparents  This is particularly helpful when trying to determine which lines you share with a DNA match.  You can find the Visual Phasing Spreadsheet by Steven Fox in the Files section of the Visual Phasing Working Group at Facebook. Members of that group are very helpful. Also more information about visual phasing in the series Visual Phasing: An Example(part 1 of 5) on Blaine Bettinger's blog.

13. Legacy Family Tree Webinars--educational webinars covering a wide variety of research topics and techniques.  You can register to attend webinars which are free for a limited time after broadcast or you can subscribe to have access to the entire webinar library. This is an EXTREMELY valuable resource.

14.  Google Docs/Sheets/Slides--The Google office products which help me to organize share and make notes and charts of my research analysis.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Happy Birthday to Who?


My paternal grandparents and their children are mentioned in the Tennesseans' Old Hickory News column a number of times during the 25+ years in which they lived in Old Hickory Tennessee.  While searching at Newspapers.com for my aunt Viola Cook, I noticed a paper from the day my Dad, her youngest brother, was born.  The search result from that edition pointed to a notice of members of the Sunset Club who were having birthdays on that day.  Among those listed was a Viola Cook of Old Hickory who was celebrating her 16th birthday.  Wait a minute... My Aunt Viola would turn 15 in 1930, not 16.  Not only that, but her birthday was on June 12th.  Could this be my Aunt Vi or another Viola Cook?  I've searched the census records for 1930 to try and locate another Viola Cook in Old Hickory Tennessee who was that age.  I did find one in Davidson County but not in Old Hickory community.  A check of that Viola's records revealed that while she was born in the right year to be the one mentioned in the article, her birth month was February.  I may never know why her name is listed or if that is MY Viola Cook.  If it is Aunt Vi, I'm sure there is a very interesting story behind all of this.


www.newspapers.com
The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee)
Sunday 05 Oct 1930
Page 6 Column 2
"Twins in Sunset List of 66 Have Birthday Today"

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Changes to Account Settings & Preferences at FamilyTreeDNA

Earlier today I received notification via email that FamilyTreeDNA has made some changes that will bring them in compliance with the new European data protection law known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  If you have an account or accounts with them you should have received this notice.  Check your Spam folder or filters if you haven't received a copy.

Changes to these settings will take effect May 28, 2018.  

Includes Changes to the Following:
  • Privacy & Sharing--The ability to opt out of match email notification but still participate in matching.
  • Project Preferences--The ability to select an access level for each individual Group Administrator.
  • Email Notifications--Same as mentioned under Privacy & Sharing
  • Updates to Account Information, and Genealogy sections of the My Profile page.
While you are logged on checking out the settings, you might as well make sure you have assigned a beneficiary for your account.  Also, please fill in the info for your earliest known ancestor if you can and make sure you are using the correct ancestors.  See my previous blog post on this topic.  






Wednesday, April 04, 2018

A match with Shared Matches from both sides of my family.

When sorting thru DNA matches at AncestryDNA, I like to note the connection for each of my matches as being thru the ancestors of one of my four Grandparents.  Both my parents have ancestors who were in Tennessee in the early 1800s. Most of the time I will only be connected to the match on one side.  There a few times when I will have multiple connections.  See the example below with Bill who shares matches with me who are from my PGF's Mom(King/Manire) and my MGF's Mom(Pittman/Adcock)  He has no tree and trying to figure this one out will take seeing the segments in a chromosome browser. 



Thru my admin and shared links, I can tell how much DNA Bill shares with Me, my sister, and my mother.  Unfortunately, we did not begin DNA testing until after my Dad had passed so he was never tested.

Bill's match with Me
Shared matches only show those in common who share at a 4th cousin level(Ancestry's minimum for 4th cousins is 20 cMs)  I noticed that my Mom isn't listed as a shared match.

Bill's match with my Mom
After looking at Mom's amount of shared DNA with Bill, I'm really hoping I will be able to check this match in a chromosome browser so I can identify the grandparent(s) who passed on the 2 segments I received.  On checking Bill's match with my sister's test it appears they do not share any DNA within the range that Ancestry would report.  This is a good example of randomness of DNA inheritance.   I've written to Bill and asked if he was planning on uploading to GEDmatch, MyHeritage or FTDNA.  Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to view the segments in a chromosome browser and see what occurred.  
Bill's match(or lack of) with my Sister