A little webinar inspiration...

Earlier this month, I attended Gena Philibert-Ortega's  webinar--“Researching Your Female Ancestor by the Company She Kept.” The webinars are one of the perks of being a member of the Virtual Genealogical Association(VGA).    So today I'm making a list of "communities" to research for my not just my female ancestors but my male ancestors as well.  I hope to be adding to this list so this blog post will(I hope) have many updates.

• The Cotton Mill in Madison Co AL 1920-1930(Luna & Acuff)
• Dupont workers during 1923-1952(Papaw Cooke)
• Old Hickory village 1923-1952(Cooke/Jakes)
• Pencil Mill in Chapel Hill TN 1920
• Early schools in Bedford Co. TN
• Christian & Church of Christ Church Warren, White, Van Buren Co TN(Acuff & McElroys)
• Cumberland Presbyterian(King) 
• Baptist Church In Early TN(Y DNA Cook lines)
• Horse Farms in Bell Buckle TN 1890-1912(Jakes & Frizzells)
• Distillers in early Middle Tennessee area(Ogilvies/Allisons)
• Jackson Co AL prior to 1838(Pittman & Hatfields)
• 200 block of North Charlotte St Dickson TN (1969-1975)

Info found in Probate File of my 3rd Great Grandfather

Things I found in a 118 image probate file(At Ancestry.com) of my 3rd Great Grandfather, Lemuel Manier(Manire) who died in the year 1837 in Williamson County, Tennessee.  You really have to take it in the context of the times--before emancipation and women's rights.  Not that that justifies not giving folks rights or limiting them based on the color of their skin, their gender ...or both.  Some of the pages were poorly written.  Thankfully, there were 2 or 3 copes for a number of the documents and at least one was legible.

Information in the probate packet:

• Date on which will was written & residence
• Date on which will was proven
• Listing of children complete with married names of daughters
• Name of widow
• Death info of widow
• Land description(residence)
• Additional land description & who it was purchased from
• Names of neighbors from land description
• Relationship status of daughters(marriage/divorce/widowed)
• Location/Proof of relationship status of daughters or widow
• Name of County Sheriff
• Subpoenas executed.
• Proof of death of estate trustee 
• Estate sale items
• Slave names and ages
• record of slave death including the cost of coffin
• Hiring out of slaves
• 47 persons to add to Lemuel Manire's Genealogy FAN club(term coined by Elisabeth Shown Mills which describes a research method of studying an ancestor's Family, Associates, and Neighbors--also called cluster research)

Who are you and how do you know my Grandmother? --Part 1

The Holidays
As the holidays approached  I found myself as I do every year looking through my wrapping paper, gift bags & cards and trying to determine what I need to buy more of in order to get thru the current season.  Inevitably, I also find the box which contains cards I have received over the years as well as some older cards that people sent to my paternal Grandmother.  One from her sister, Kitty Jakes Bell, another from Cora Jakes Gibson(another of her sisters)...one from her niece Olive Bell Shriver and her husband Sam.  One of the cards was from someone I couldn't place in her family and I thought it might be a neighbor or someone she has rented a house from as they lived in East Nashville rentals a bunch after moving from Old Hickory and before she moved to Dickson.  I looked inside to get the name which I believe I had done before and just  figured that the card was from family.  In addition to the name I also noticed faded ink across the entire card.  At first it looked like a letter had been in the card and faded, but on further examination I can see that the sender, a lady I'll call Flora had written a letter on the folded inside of the card.  The letter told of some hardships she and her family were going thru and made me further curious about how they knew each other.  My curiosity was peaked even further when she asked about my Uncle Morris and sent her regards.

Clues from the Letter
Flora and her husband live in Akron Ohio on Austin Avenue.  She gave vague details of the health problems she and her husband had been facing.  Flora's son was in the hospital in Chillicothe (OH?) and apparently it isn't a minor hospital stay as she mentioned not having written to him in awhile.  This leads me to believe that it may have been a Veteran's hospital so I want to check the census records for this family and see what I can find. Flora's daughter is also having a hard time. Her husband has left her and her children(Flora's Grandchildren) at the holidays.  What little information I do know is pulling at my heartstrings and I want to know how it turned out for these people....and yes...how they know my grandmother.  I note all of the clues to her identity in the letter so that I can use it in my research.

1940 Akron Ohio but not at the address on the card.

• Flora was born about 1902 which puts her at about 11 years younger than my grandmother.
• Her husband works at a Rubber Plant( Goodyear or Firestone?)
• Living at home is a daughter age 17 and a son age 15
• Living at the same house in 1935 (Stanford Ave, Akron, Ohio)

A check of the 1930 reveals a bit more

• Flora and her husband have a son age 11 who isn't in their household in 1940
• Flora's husband was working at the Rubber Shop(maybe the plant hadn't expanded at that time)
• All are Born in Ohio and there parents were also according to this census.
• Flora was 15 when she married and her husband 21.

Checking some of the suggested records that pop up when I view the census records at Ancestry.com lead me to find Flora's marriage record as well as marriage records for her daughter.  The older son was in the Navy as I find his death noted with U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File as well as a FindAGrave listing which shows his Navy marker..  I wonder if this is how the family would know my Uncle Morris.  He was in the Navy briefly in 1945.  Was the older son the one who was in the hospital

More clues....and more questions.

I want to look for a divorce record for the daughter.  That will give me an idea of what time period the letter was written which will tell me how far back their friendship goes.  I wonder if Ohio has the divorce court records and rulings at Ancestry like Michigan does.  

Lots to think about.