My 2024 Research Year In Review

Image Created using ChatGPT

January
I'd found a cancelled land transaction for land in Lawrence Co Arkansas of a Wm C Cook in December. My order from the document retrieval service arrived. I transcribed the Homestead Application and started my timeline research on the Wm. C Cook family 1858-1888. I also found that Elisha Luna's widow had filed for his bounty land on his War of 1812 service. This was great because it helped to add to the evidence of proof of her maiden name. I subbed to Ancestry's ProTools and reviewed them.

February
This month's focus was on Jefferson Gideon Cook. I identified his wives and which one was the mother of each of his children. Obtained a copy of the deed for the house which George Solifelt left Tennie Hill. Found that Tennie's husband, Henry F Hill had been previously married and identified his wife. Still looking for that divorce. Worked on my daughter's paternal lines--her recent English immigrant(1880s) and her Germans who settled in Franklin County Indiana. Had hoped AncestryDNA would show them in communities since many have tested but that hasn't happened. RootsTech 2024 started.

March
Reviewed RootsTech 2024 Highlights. The research focus of this month was deeds. Found a lot about the area where Wm C Cook would have been at the time of the Williams vs Putman state supreme court case. (TN) This included mentioning William Harrison and Elizabeth Cook and identifying neighbors to add to the FAN. Found a Pope Family Probate file which identified by name and age those enslaved by the Pope family of Bedford & Williamson Co TN and Granville NC.

April
Another month of Deed research. I found so much more information about Wm C Cook and his children by reading those deeds. FamilySearch's Full Text Search is such a great help. Narrowed down the possible time frame of Anna Putman's death and also found Adkin Upshaw's Estate return in the Elbert Co GA records. Celebrated 20 years of blogging about my genealogy research this month.

May

This month was filled with Tax List research. I discovered that a page had been missed during the microfilming of the Bedford Co TN tax lists and was able to get a copy of the missing page from the clerk's office. Found that there was an outbreak of Cholera in Shelbyville in the year 1833. Posted a Quicklinks of the Bedford Co TN Newspapers available to view on FamilySearch.

June

Published the Wm Clifford Cook Family Timeline 1858-1888. Corrected an error I found in an obituary where the paper had confused the father and the son of a Cannon family. Located documents from Wm G Hight's estate in Franklin Co Arkansas.

July

Ordered a Kindle and published an article on how I use it to help with my genealogy research. Blogged about a DNA Cluster which links to a Jones & Williams family. Found Wm C Cook and son J.P Cook as witnesses on a Pope deed.

August

More William Harrison deeds. Bounty land records of Nancy Harrison Hight Culverhouse. Found the Cook brothers listed among those who owed money to J P Taylor. Really enjoyed reading through the listing of items that my great-uncle Will B Jakes put as security for a loan.

September

More on the Hight, Putman, and Harrison Deeds. Sorted through the records of my maternal great-aunt, Ovena Acuff

October

This month's focus was finding more records using the FamilySearch Full Text Search. They had started adding a lot more and I was finding items in the Court Minutes--Road Work Orders, Poll Tax Exemptions, and Jury Duty. Also wrote about our Cook(e) Y DNA project.

November

Found a Brandon & Williams Deed in Bedford Co TN records involving the Kings. Blogged about another error that was made during the microfilming which could cause confusion about the content of this particular film.

December

I wrote about another of my Granny's Charlotte Street neighbors and found a court minute entry registering the stock mark of the Ogilvies. Found several more Bedford Co TN deeds of the Cook family.  

While I still have many research questions, I've answered some and made progress toward answering others. I look forward to making many more discoveries in 2025.  I can't end this year in review without acknowledging The Best of Elizabeth Shown Mills series hosted by Legacy Family Tree Webinars.  The webinars are a members-only exclusive and so worth it.  I review them often.  They are very helpful when I am stuck in a rut and need motivation or a change of perspective on how to approach my research opportunity.  I am forever grateful to Elizabeth and Legacy Family Tree Webinars for making this educational opportunity available.

Bedford Co TN Deeds Burned Volume Index: W.C. Cook from Rowland Landers (1 Nov 1853)

I found another of WC Cook's deeds mentioned in the Bedford Co TN Deeds Burned Volumes Index. The entry doesn't describe the property, but if I can find out what lands Rowland Landers had before that date, I could possibly narrow it down.

1853 Nov 1 5pm Cook W.C.(Bargainee) Rowland Landers(Bargainor) Deed

Source
Bedford County Tennessee Deeds, Index to Burned Volumes 1851-1861, W C Cook from Rowland Landers, Deed 1 Nov 1853; image, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKX-93LT-C?i=24&cat=298281: accessed 24 December 2024), Bedford County Tennessee Index to Burned Deed Volumes, IGN 8150806, Item 1, Image 25 of 481.

J P Taylor to Minerva Boyce(1873, recorded 1877)

Beginning on page 266

J. P. Taylor Deed to Minerva Boyce

for a valuable consideration, I have this day bargained and sold and do hereby convey to Minerva Boyce all my right title claim and interest in and to a tract of Land in District No 10 Bedford County Tennessee, bounded on the North by the lands of J. A. Boyce, East by John King and South and west by William Jackson being the tract of land conveyed to me by James Russ to have and to hold the same to the said Minerva Boyce wife of W. M. Boyce her heirs and assigns forever. I covenant with the said Minerva Boyce that I am lawfully seized of said land and have a good right to convey the same and convey and warrant to her such title as I have acquired by the Deed above recited, and will defend only such title. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this Nov 27th, 1873
J. P. Taylor

Test
W. C. Cook
Joseph K Cook

State of Tennessee 

Bedford County

Personally appeared before me R. L. Singleton Singleton Clerk of the County Court of said County W.C. Cook and J K Cook subscribing to the attached Deed who being first duly sworn deposed and says that they are personally acquainted with the above named J. P. Taylor, the bargainor and that he acknowledged the same in their presence to be his act and deed for the purposes therein contained Witness my hand at Office this 5th day of April 1877 

R L Singleton Clerk
by A.A. Cooper DC

Source
Bedford County, Tennessee, Deeds, Vol. NNN, pp. 266–7, J. P. Taylor to Minerva Boyce; Register of Deeds, Bedford County Courthouse, Shelbyville, Tennessee; digital image, Bedford County, Tennessee, Deeds, vol. NNN–OOO, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QY-K9NN-K : accessed 24 December 2024), IGN 8567899, image 161 of 638.

Ogilvie: A crop in the left ear and an under keel in the right

Williamson Co TN Court Minutes Vol. 1 page 45
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSKX-K94P-Q
IGN 008150670 Image 20 of 475

William Ogilvie & Richard Ogilvie recorded their stock marks:  
A crop in the left ear and an under keel in the right

The date was not given on this entry but given those in surrounding records, likely May 1802.

Is this Richard and his father, or his brother? The elder William Ogilvie did leave his stock to his son, Richard in his will(written in 1811 and proved in 1813) which mentions that his cattle are in the care of Henry Arthur in Rutherford Co TN.

The Ogilvies are thought to have been part of the Degraffenried immigration and settlement at New Bern, NC. But I have not yet dug into that research.  

The 1710 Von Graffenried Settlement Of New Bern, North Carolina
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol39/iss2/3/

History of the Presbyterian Church in New Bern, N.C
https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/16864

Granny's Charlotte Street Neighbor: Miss Bessie

During the early 1970s, my grandmother lived at 203 North Charlotte Street in Dickson. The home, which was originally a duplex, was owned by the Shelton family. One of my grandmother's neighbors was Miss Bessie. I'd written about several other of the Charlotte Street neighbors' families, and I'd intended to write about her at some point, but I had to wait until I could find out her surname.  

The Tax Books for Dickson County(TN) are online at FamilySearch and cover the years 1831-1965. My plan was to use the tax book and the 1950 Census together to see if I could locate anyone on Cullum. 

In the 1950 Census, the entry for 100 Cullum(Dickson TN) was that of Ben F Mason, a 74-year-old widower.  The only other person enumerated with him was his niece, Bessie Holt, a 37-year-old divorcee. That entry and the 1965 tax entry for Bessie Holt showing that Charlotte Street bordered her property on the north gives me enough confidence to conclude that she is the same lady who was my grandmother's neighbor.

I found several other records in the Dickson Co TN records at FamilySearch that contained information about Bessie's life.  In December 1962, she took out a loan and used her household furniture for collateral.  The loans from the finance company were recorded in the county books which give a detailed list of the furniture.

• 1-4 pc. Living Room Suite
• 1-17" Philco Television Set
• 1-5 pc. Dinette Suite
• 1-G.E. Refrigerator
• 1-Gas Kenmore Stove
• 1-Speed Queen Washing Machine
• 1-Mahogany Hollywood Bed
• 1-Lt. Mahogany Chest of Drawers
• 1-Lt. Mahogany Dresser

While researching Bessie's life, I found that she had folks from her Holt and Mason sides who went to Indiana(Marion and Vigo Counties) between 1920 and 1930. Bessie must have visited her family there, as I found a marriage record for her there to Harley Hardiman, an older widower, in December 1930.  There is also some question about whether or not she married a Davis man in the 1960s as her Social Security Information records indicated a name change during that period.  By Bessie's passing, Granny had been gone from the Charlotte Street area for over 15 years and I had moved out of state.  I was heartbroken to learn that she had died as a result of a housefire at her residence. How very sad.  She was laid to rest in the East Dickson Cemetery.

Sources:

Dickson County Tax Records, 1962-1965, Tax year 1965, p 38, entry of Bessie Holt; browsable image, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39N-C4YQ?cat=93578&i=782 : accessed 20 November 2024), IGN 8474065, 783 of 906.

1950 US Federal Census, Dickson Co. TN, Enumeration District 22-7, Household #269, sheet 23, Lines 5-6(Ben F Mason & Bessie Holt) 100 Cullum St; FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FSQ-ZTCN : accessed 20 November 2024), Entry for Ben F Mason and Bessie Holt, 1 May 1950.

Dickson Co. Tennessee, Trust Deeds Vols 86-88(1961-1963), Vol 88, p 343, Chattel Mortgage of Bessie Holt to Hickory Finance of Dickson; images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C39N-8BPR : accessed Nov 21, 2024) IGN 8475046, image 818 of 958.

"Home fires in Montgomery, Dickson fatal to father and son, elderly woman," The Tennessean, Fri 6 Jan 1989, p B-1, col 1; digital images, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-home-fires-in-montgomery/159449321/ : accessed 20 Nov 2024).

Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/215756933/bessie-holt: accessed November 21, 2024), memorial for Bessie Holt (12 Feb 1904–5 Jan 1989), Memorial ID 215756933, citing East Dickson Cemetery, Dickson, Dickson County, Tennessee, USA.