Saturday, December 31, 2016

Thomas Adcock's 1860 Agricultural Schedule Entry

Friday's #genchat has me examining an 1860 Agricultural Schedule

I try to catch #genchat on Twitter when I can.  This past Friday(Dec 30) was a #genchat night and the topic was non-population schedules.  I haven't really worked with those a great deal so I went looking thru some of them today.  I found my 3rd Great Grandfather Thomas Adcock in the 1860 Agricultural Schedule for Dekalb County Tennessee.It really does give you some idea of your ancestors position in the community and what life must have been like for them.  As expected my Thomas didn't have much. Thomas Adcock's entry recorded:  3 improved acres, 30 unimproved acres,  His farm value was listed as $300. The value of his farm tools and machinery was listed at $10.  He didn't own any horses but had 1 milch cow and 3 other cows, 9 sheep and 9 pigs.  The total value of his livestock was listed at $100.  He did have 1000 bushels of Indian corn though and 12 lbs of wool.   Other items were 2 bushels of peas or beans, 10 bushels of Irish Potatoes and 200 lbs of butter.Thomas was already poor before the Civil War.

The information from the Federal Population census for the same year shows that he was 43 years old with his wife and 6 of their children still living at home. I hope they had some chickens. Thomas would enlist in the Confederate Army's 1st Infantry Battalion Tennessee Company C. He was captured and taken to Camp Morton Indiana. More information can be found in his Confederate Pension Application and at my webpage which lists his answers from his application and also some of the other applications from that area including his Widow's Confederate Pension Application.




This is the front section of the entry which is found on the right side of the  page.  Addition information is located on the back of that page shown below.  I included a few neighbors on each side of him in order to give an idea of where he ranked





I have listed the headings for the columns of the 1860 Agriculture census schedule below to give you some idea of what information was gathered.  It is kind of hard to tell from the record itself so I had to get some of the headings by looking thru a few pages and finding the least blurred.


1860 Agriculture Census Column Headers

  1. Owner, Agent or Manager of Farm
  2. Acres  Improved
  3. Acres Unimproved.
  4. Cash Value of Farm
  5. Value of farming implements & machinery
  6. Livestock:  Horses
  7. Livestock:  Asses & Mules
  8. Livestock:  Milch Cows
  9. Livestock:  Working Oxen
  10. Livestock:  Other Cattle
  11. Livestock:  Sheep
  12. Livestock:  Swine
  13. Value of Livestock
  14. Wheat, Bushels of
  15. Rye, Bushels of
  16. Indian Corn, Bushels of
  17. Oats, Bushels of
  18. Rice, lbs of
  19. Tobacco, lbs of
  20. Ginned Cotton bales of 400 lbs
  21. Wool lbs of
  22. Peas & Beans, Bushels of
  23. Irish Potatoes, Bushels of
  24. Sweet Potatoes, Bushels of
  25. Barley, Bushels of
  26. Buckwheat, Bushels of
  27. Value of Orchard Produce $
  28. Wine, Gallons of
  29. Value of Produce of Market Goods
  30. Butter, lbs of
  31. Cheese lbs of
  32. Hay, Tons of
  33. Clover seed, Bushels of
  34. Grass Seed, Bushels of
  35. Hops lbs of
  36. Hemp, Dew Rotted Tons of
  37. Hemp, Water Rotted Tons of
  38. Other Prepared Hemp
  39. Flax, lbs of
  40. Flax seed, bushel of
  41. Silk Cocoon, lbs of
  42. Maple Sugar, lbs of
  43. Cane Sugar, hhds of 1000 lbs
  44. Molasses gallons & from what made
  45. Beeswax lbs of
  46. Honey, lbs of
  47. Value of Homemade Manufactures
  48. Value of Animals Slaughtered

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Bazell Riddle --Warren Co Tennessee




"Tennessee Probate Court Books, 1795-1927," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:2:77TV-BV3R?cc=1909088&wc=M6Q7-YNG%3A179838801%2C180033501 : 22 May 2014), Warren > image 112 of 488; county courthouses, Tennessee.

The following is the text from the first page of the project containing the information about what was included, how the project is identified and those involved with the project.

Tennessee  Records of Warren County
Inventories, Sale Bills, Statements, etc.
Book 1 1827-1844
Part 1
Historical Records Project
Official Project No 465-44-3-115
Copied under Works Progress Administration

Mrs. John Trotwood Moore, State Librarian and Archivist, Sponsor
Elizabeth D. Coppedge,  State Director of Women's and Professional Project
Penelope Johnson Allen, State Supervisor
Caroline Small Kelso, Supervisor
Mary Cantrell, Copyist
Mary Cantrell and May Manning, Typist
April 13, 1938


So I went in search of the microfilm of the book from which the WPA made the transcription.


"Tennessee Probate Court Books, 1795-1927," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S7WF-SJQC-S9?cc=1909088&wc=M6QW-MMS%3A179838801%2C180050501 : 22 May 2014), Warren > image 74 of 328; county courthouses, Tennessee.

Not a lot of difference Indexed as Brazell Riddle pg 96 by the WPA project I was unsuccessful searching for him in the two indexes that were in the book.
From the Inventories, Sales, Wills, 1827-1844, Vol. 01 portion of the records.Between Document dated Jan 2nd 1834 and A will published April 2nd 1835

I have two questions.  Were there 3 items(Horse, bridle, and saddle) for sale or 2(Horse bridle, and saddle).  I know nothing about horses horseback riding or their value today or in that time period.  $31 seems rather low.

Also I'd like to know who are the 5 heirs?


This Bazell is likely the Bazil Riddle that I believe was either the father of Amelia "Milly" Riddle Hitchcock or an older brother.  I find him first receiving land in Warren Co TN 

Entered a claim on Aug 24th 1807
Surveyed May 21st 1808
State Granted March 1st 1809
Recorded May 5th 1809
Total Land in Grant:  93 and 1/2 acres off of Collins River
Sold:  April 10th 1810   9 1/2 acres to  John Helms $40

Land Surveyed:  May 12th 1825  Blue Springs Creek
Sold 28 acres to Wm Edde(likely father to Joseph Edde son-in-law of  Millie Riddle Hitchcock)

Bazil is indexed as Bogle Riddle in the 1805 Roane Co. Tennessee Tax list.  Milly Riddle would marry in Roane Co. TN on March 11th 1806 to George Hitchcock.

On the 1836 tax list and 1840 Federal Census, there is a Britton Riddle living in Warren County.  Could he be kin to Bazil or Milly?





Monday, December 19, 2016

Why I have not tested my mtDNA path

After reading Roberta Estes' blog post about mtDNA The Forgotten Test, I thought about the reasons why I haven't mtDNA tested.  Let's face it....I'm cheap.  I repurpose many fabrics and mend clothes til they are thread bare.  I save seeds and divide plants and bulbs every chance I get.  So my reason would be a financial one in that I can't justify the amount of money spent on a mtDNA test because it doesn't answer as many questions for me as an autosomal test.  If I did do the mtDNA testing I would want to do more than the minimal test and I don't have that kind of extra money available. The atDNA testing is all I have had and all I have bought for several others while they were on sale.  Thinking about this also made me want to recognize the ancestors who are responsible for passing me my mtDNA

Until then I remain a mtDNA carrying descendant of:
Beatrice Luna Cooke
Minnie Acuff Luna
Emma Frances Hale Acuff
Nancy Arminda Hitchcock Hale
Charlotta "Lottie" Fleming Hitchcock
Nancy Combs Fleming
Wife of Mason Combs Jr.

How to send a Share link of your DNA results from your AncestryDNA test

I've found it useful to send share links to some of my closer matches so they can see who matches my test. The top question after I do that has always been "How did you do that?"
I thought it might be useful to post about the process and include some other information from that page as well.  Hope that anyone wanting to know how to do this or explain it to others will find this helpful.

In order to send a share link you need to be viewing the DNA Insight page for the kit which you want to share.

It should look something like the above image across the top.  You will want to click on the button with the Gear logo and the word Settings.  That will take you to a page which has several different options: Email Settings, Privacy, Family Tree Linking,  Research Content, Sharing DNA results and Sharing Ethnicity Results.  Below I have two images showing how how the page should look at the top and as you scroll down to the section where you can send invites to view your DNA results.  I did edit out the names of people that have a share link TO my DNA results in the example.



Scroll down to the section called Sharing DNA results


If you had sent DNA share invites prior to this there would be a listing of users that were allowed to view your results as well as their permissions/role and the REMOVE buttons which you could use to "unshare" at any time.

Once you click on the Invite Others to Access DNA Results you will have a window pop up which looks like this.  From here you can add emails or usernames of people whom you want to have access to the DNA test.  Choose Roles for that person(typically Guest unless you want them to be able to change trees to which your DNA is linked.)  Click on Send Invitation and you should get a notification when they accept your share link.


Column along the Right side of Webpage
Please note in the column along the right side of this page you will find the links to Download Your Raw Data or to Delete Your Test(This requires that you enter your password--This can not be undone) 

Friday, December 16, 2016

Who are you and how do you know my Grandmother? --Part 3


Another clue found

I was searching through a manila envelope that contained letters which my Grandmother had saved from the veteran's administration and from the company from which my Grandfather retired.  As I was pulling out the papers I notice a tattered empty envelope. (shown below)

I believe this is the envelope in which the Christmas card that Flora sent to my Grandmother was mailed.  I laid the card on the envelope and it is the perfect size for the card.
That combined with the Postmarked date &  place and the partial name and address of the sender on the back are certainly making it look like that is the case  The handwriting on the envelope also matches that in the card.  Sure it could be from one sent at a different time but given the details mentioned in the letter inside of the card I have very little doubt.

So how close did I come using the directories to find the likely time that the letter could have been sent?  I said  "some time in the period from the publication of the 1954 and the 1956. Compare that to what the post mark says Dec 21st 1955 at 10:30am.

If I'd found this envelope when I found the card I probably would have never discovered the City Directories at the Akron- Summit Library"s website

New Address

About 10 years back I had looked at all the crumbling envelopes in my Grandmother's collection and noted the postmark and address(the when and where) of where she was.living. She had lived at many different rental homes in East Nashville after they moved from Old Hickory Tennessee.  This address is one that was not on any other envelope I had found.  So now I knew WHEN the letter was sent.  Still gathering more clues on how she might have known my Grandmother.  

Thursday, December 15, 2016

City Directories contain much more information than you might expect



Just a few of the many bits of information you can find in a City Directory


  • Guide to the Abbreviations
  • Alphabetical List of Names  Example:  From the Smith entries of the Akron 1968-69 Directory.


  • Street Directory
  • Numerical Telephone List
  • Apartment Buildings .
  • Associations and Clubs
  • Business Directory
  • Buyers' Guide
  • Church Directory
  • City & County Officials
  • State & Federal Officials/Government
  • Fire Department
  • Parks.
  • Schools:  Public and Private
  • Postal Information
  • Public Buildings and Halls
Full Directories listings for Akron OH can be found at the Akron Summit library's website on the Historic City Directories page.

An added bonus is that you can use all this information to find other information.  For example you might look up someone's place of employment in the Business Directory section after viewing their Name Entry which lists where they worked.  In some directories companies will list employees.  Of particular importance to me are the years after 1940.  I'd like to fill in some blanks on my family during that time period.  Find out if there are directories covering the area where your ancestors lived.