A "Genie" In Arizona

Surname Saturday: CATLETT

2012-01-14T17:11:00.002-07:00

One of the surnames in my tree that I will be focusing on researching further in the coming year is CATLETT. Mary Jane Catlett (1738-1812) was one of my 4x-great-grandmothers. She married Moses Aaron Coppedge (1735-1801), on 26 July 1764 in Fauquier County, Virginia. Around 1780, they went to live in Kentucky, traveling in a party led by Daniel Boone (according to the book written by Arthur

Wednesday's Child- Remembering Elizabeth Octavia Harrison, 1858- 1876

2011-11-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

"Plucked By God To Bloom In Heaven" E. Octavia- Daughter of John M and Mary J Harrison Born Dec'r 10, 1858 - Died August 15, 1876 "No Sin Could Blight Or Sorrow Fade. Death Came With Friendly Care." "The Opening Bud To Heaven Conveyed, And Bade It Blossom There." So reads the original inscription on the headstone of my grand-aunt Elizabeth Octavia Harrison, who passed away barely past her 18th

"Common Myths About The Purple Heart Medal"- Some Surprising Facts and Misconceptions

2011-11-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

SOURCE: http://www.americanwarlibrary.com/theheart.htm . The American War Library- Purple Heart References.The following information in this article is taken directly from the above-referenced website. Information on the above-referenced American War Library website is in the public domain. No permission is required to quote, use, distribute or republish, as stated on the said website. "

FRISCO Train Wrecks in Missouri in 1905 and 1922- John P. Harrison, Engineer

2011-11-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

I love genealogy Webinars, especially the free ones, such as those offered by Legacy Family Tree. Invariably I do learn lots of new stuff from these, and am always inspired by what I learn to go digging into new sources for information on my ancestors. It is nice to get to genealogy conferences in person once or twice a year and mingle face-to-face with some of the various genealogy friends I

Organizing My Genealogy

2011-11-06T16:01:00.000-07:00

I have not written in this genealogy Blog much lately, but have been busily continuing my research into my roots and branches. Most of us who do genealogy research are constantly faced with the challenge of keeping our data organized and accessible. Even in this computerized age of digitized images and books, with lots of nifty mobile scanning devices even on our cell phones now; many of us

11th Missouri Infantry in the Civil War- Great-Grandpa's Regiment

2011-10-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Book Review: 11TH MISSOURI INFANTRY IN THE CIVIL WAR- The Unit of my Great-Grandfather John Milton Harrison, Company H, Union Veteran, Civil War. Recently I obtained a copy of a book detailing the history of my Great-Grandfather John M. Harrison’s military regiment during the Civil War. I will post a brief book review here, and some of what I found interesting about the book. The book is

MILITARY MONDAY: CIVIL WAR IN MISSOURI- GUERRILLAS AND BUSHWACKERS

2011-10-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

My ancestral roots in Missouri and Kentucky during the Civil War years saw many of my kin fighting in the war, sometimes on opposing sides, brother against brother and cousin against cousin. In Missouri in particular, another problem was the Bushwackers and Guerrillas. A previous blog post I wrote dealt with the half-brother of my great-grandfather Valentine Allen, who shared the same mother

SURNAME SATURDAY: LEE (LEA)

2011-10-01T12:59:00.001-07:00

Today is SURNAME SATURDAY in GeneaBloggers time zone. One of the sunrames in my ancestral tree that I will be exploring next (soon) is LEE (also spelled LEA and LEIGH). I have found some famous, not so famous, and infamous LEE ancestors in my tree. Those individuals will make fun subjects for future blog posts. The name LEE surname in my tree has origins in England and Ireland. The

PENN ANCESTRY: MASSACHUSETTS AND PENNSYLVANIA ROOTS- and allied lines of Lee, Tucker, Allen, Hudgens

2011-09-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

MASSACHUSETTS ROOTS: DISCOVERING MY PENN ANCESTRY – And connections to two famous Penn historical figures: the Founder of Pennsylvania and a Signer of the Declaration of Independence. This weekend I am looking more closely at my Penn, Lee, Tucker, Allen and Hudgens inter-connected ancestry on the paternal side of my tree, specifically the Penn lineage with roots in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania

OKTOBERFEST: CELEBRATING MY GERMAN AND SWISS ANCESTRY - KREIDER

2011-09-28T04:58:00.001-07:00

Fall weather brings with it sights and sounds that I enjoy, including Oktoberfest ethnic festivals to celebrate our Germanic heritage and share it with others. On my list for “fun” activities in the coming month will be to attend at least one local Oktoberfest in my area. I’m looking forward to sampling some grilled bratwurst with mustard and kraut, munching on a huge soft pretzel washed

Military Monday Musings: William Wofford Tucker, Revolutiomary War Patriot

2011-09-26T06:19:00.000-07:00

Military Monday: A Look at Revolutionary War Veteran Ancestor William Wofford Tucker; and Other Genealogy Monday Morning Musings I opened my email this morning and discovered a message from a new “cousin”, who is descended from a shared ancestor: William Wofford Tucker, born 1752 in Amherst County, Virginia and died 1829 in Casey County, Kentucky. This genea-cousin noticed my memorial page on

Sentimental Sunday: Remembering Minnie Allen 1871- 1878

2011-09-25T04:48:00.000-07:00

This Sentimental Sunday morning, I am remembering a discovery I made a while back when searching through Find A Grave records online, for headstone photos and burial locations on some of my ancestors. I came across the gravesite for little Minnie Allen, daughter of my great-grandparents Valentine Allen and Catherine Ellen (Fore) Allen. Here is a photo of Minnie's headstone, born 1871- died

Great-Grandpa's Link to the Legendary Bushwacker Bill WIlson

2011-09-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

The Life and Times of Valentine "Tine" Allen Valentine Allen was born 9 Nov 1843 in Newburg, Phelps County, Missouri. He was the son of Samuel T. Allen and Frances Hudgens (Wilson)(Malone). Great-Grandpa "Tine" Allen ran a country store, and also served as the town postmaster. He was the father of many children by his first wife, my great-grandmother

Love it Or Hate It, But Can't Live Without It: Don't Be Messing With MY Facebook!

2011-09-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

That should be an interesting headline for my descendants to read, when they are one day tracing their own family tree roots and decide to look up their Great-Great-Great-Granny-Bev and find out what her world may have been like in September of the year 2011. What an "earthshaking event" that was, when Facebook rolled out major changes that hit most of our Facebooks over a two day period

Advent Christmas Calendar- Remembering Christmases Past: Christmas Stockings, And Other Things

2010-12-18T04:53:00.000-07:00

Today's prompt on genealogist Thomas MacEntee's Advent Christmas Calendar blog, is to share our memories involving the tradition of Christmas Stockings. "Did you have one? Where did you hang it? What did you get in it?" I do have a special memory involving Christmas stockings, but it was not from my childhood. I will get to that later. The house I grew up in, in Southern California, did not

DNA "Newbie": A New Genealogy Research Tool For An Old Researcher

2010-10-11T21:50:00.000-07:00

Today I received my Ancestry Family-Finder Autosomal DNA test results and report via email, along with my MtDNA (maternal) results and report. The reports arrived several weeks earlier than anticipated. I checked email this morning, thinking I would spend 15 minutes reading and deleting messages, replying to a couple, and move on to other business. Instead, I have spent the better part of a

Remembering 09/11/2001- A Time Of Reflection

2010-09-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

This morning I am thinking of the Americans and visitors who lost their lives on that terrible day the towers fell, 9/11/2001, and of family members and loved ones who were left behind to cope. The images remain etched in the minds and hearts of all of us, of the carnage and horror of that day. There are times when mere words fail. We see it all replayed on television, on the internet, and

"Divorce Wars" In The Early 1800's- War Of The Roses Style

2010-09-11T00:50:00.000-07:00

In reviewing some divorce records published in an old issue of my collection of the North Carolina Genealogical Society's Journal, I came across some rather interesting and humorous transcripts of divorce cases in North Carolina in 1805. Though the named parties are not ancestors of mine, I thought I would share one amusing account with my readers anyway. It seems that reasons for divorce have

"Only The Men Had Babies": By Dr. Dorothy Branson

2010-09-10T21:33:00.000-07:00

One of our challenges when searching for our female ancestors, especially in the American frontier days and prior, is that we often find the records appear only under her married name as an adult, and under her father's household name in census records as a child. She was often considered a mere extension of her father and then her husband, with no identity of her own...treated in the records

The FRISCO : St Louis-San Francisco Railway, A Look Back In Time

2010-09-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

The following is a great source for photos and information on the FRISCO Railway, from which my grandfather John P Harrison retired in 1935 at age 70, after 45 years of service, as a lineman and engineer based out of St. Louis. http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/frisco/frisco.cfm

"Weigh Genealogical Evidence As Judge Would"- Be the Judge In Your Genealogy Court !

2010-09-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

The following is from an article in the Tampa Tribune, circa 1995, author Ceta Armitage. The author wrote a genealogy column for the local newspaper. With the multitude of online family trees and genealogy databases available today, this article concerning citing sources and weighing sometimes too-easily-found "evidence" of our ancestry is even more relevant today. Unfortunately, when I hastily

Alexander Clarke- Immigrant Ancestor: Highlanders in North Carolina

2010-09-05T03:26:00.000-07:00

Reason For Genealogy Happy Dance: Discovery of a "new" immigrant ancestor of Scotch-Irish origin, while researching my maternal ancestry. The following article is about the early Clarke families of North Carolina, and my maternal 5th-great-grandfather Alexander Clarke. Source: Excerpts from "The Settlement of the Scotch on The River Cape Fear; Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and

Remembering John David Harrison, Dec 13, 1947- Dec 3, 2009

2010-01-08T17:11:00.000-07:00

Following are some of the memories of my brother, John David Harrison, that I shared at his memorial service in December: My brother, John David Harrison, was many things to many people. To me, he was simply my big brother, “Dave”. You see, for the first half of his life, he went by his middle name. I grew up knowing him as Dave, and he will always be Dave to me. But whether you knew him as

Veteran's Day: A Military Wife's Rememberance from the Viet Nam era

2009-11-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

To commemorate Veteran's Day 2009, I asked my cousin JoAnn to write a brief account of her experiences as a young newlywed Air Force wife back in the 1960's. Following is her unedited account, in her own words. She requested that I delete her full name and names of her family, because she is a bit paranoid about their names appearing on the internet (I understand her concern to some degree,

July 4th 2009, and The Passing of Icons of Our Generation

2009-07-08T02:40:00.000-07:00

We just celebrated Independence Day 2009 a few days ago, a joyous occassion for all Americans. Many of us celebrated with food and fireworks at local community events or backyard Bar-B-Ques. Most of us also watched (or recorded and re-played) the fireworks and musical events from Washington DC and Boston on TV. Both shows were spectacular. My husband and I went to a local festival near where we