Family Affair

Who Do You Think You Are? Well Who?

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:23:15 PST

Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History is a book that I picked up when I attended my first meeting at the Southern California Genealogy Society Library. We just gathered talked and had lunch together. I thought it would be a good way to get to know the people that are involved with this organization. We were graced with the vast knowledge of an archivist and genealogy specialist from the local branch of the National Archives. Kerry recommended a few resource must-haves and made me painfully aware that I have not even scratched the surface with my research, in all that I have done. So I am more than ready to move on to the next phase of this.
I was fortunate enough to get an autograph copy of the book, Who Do You Think You Are?: The Essential Guide to Tracing Your Family History. The Author Megan Smolenyak is chief family historian and spokesperson for
.
She is also a pretty engaging writer.

I am sure many have seen the show with the same name as the book on NBC. It has a great deal of people intrigued and getting serious about finding the history of their own families. This is something that all families should start. If you are not the one to start gathering and researching, then help the one that is. We all know how quickly time goes by, so take time and just write down what you know, and put it in a safe place, so it could be found by another family member.

Living in Savannah

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 15:51:15 PST

Living in Savannah Vol 1 & Vol 2 through Lane Library at Armstrong Atlantic University, formerly Armstrong Junior Collee

I am amazed at the idea that these students would be interested in documenting the life in Savannah for both black and white people in the 1939-40 and 1940-41 Contemporary Georgia Course. I don't think that this was a photography course but the fact that they chose the median of photography was quite interesting. I wanted to share these photos because something her maybe recognized by someone that I know.

Check it out guys.

Seven Essentials of A Census Record

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 12:15:18 PST

Tracking down your family’s history can become overwhelming fast and this is usually when people become frustrated and put the work to the side. When you get to this point, select just one of your ancestors who pique your interest and follow that path. Uncovering this ancestor’s life will rekindle your excitement and you will be longing to share your findings with the rest of the family.
The U.S. Census records are where most family historians begin their research. The excitement felt when discovering your relative's names among the many listed is contagious. Your more ardent genealogist is now waiting for the April release of the 1940 census data. The population records from any given decade can only be made public after 72 years of confidentiality, this in accordance to Title 44 of the U.S. Code.

The U.S Census Bureau is a branch of the U.S. Department of Commerce whose mission is to gather and provide quality data on the nation’s people and its economy. One such data set is that of Population and Housing Census that is collected every 10 years. These data affects how government funding is allocated to communities for things such as education, public transportation, new roads, services for the elderly, among other things. We genealogists find it to be quite an insightful compilation.
If you would like to use US Census Data in your genealogical research, here are seven tips.

Right-click on photo to open in new tab or window, then zoom in

Seven Essentials of a Census Record

Seven Essentials of a Census Record
Here I will be using an example of a 1900 Census Record of my paternal great grandparents and their families. When this data was discovered I was researching information on Street Turner Sapp, my father’s maternal grandfather. I found him in the house with his parents and siblings

1. Other families in the neighborhood
Generally finding Street and his family in the census records would have been enough. But deciding to look at the original document and taking note of the families that reside in close proximity to my Sapps, I noticed that the family of Street's future wife, the Shumakes was listed right after his family.

Now this indicates that they grew up right next door to each other, or at least the next property over, as the houses then were not always as close together as they are today. I also know that the Sapps were big landowners, so it is likely that the Sapp and Shumake properties were adjacent.

Never stop with the families that are in close proximity, I have found other future spouses a couple pages over in other census records. It is understood that during this time, most people only marry as far as they could walk.

2. Spelling of Surname
One of the most common mistakes in these census records is the misspelling of the names, the surname as well as the given name. Most often the census taker would just ask the name and write it the way he believed it to be spelled. Often those being documented could not read or write and therefore not able to provide the correct spelling of their name.
On this record the Shumake name is misspelled. Was it because of the attitude of the census taker or because Henry didn't know how to spell his surname. The fact that the Shumake surname was misspelled could indicate to me another story. It may tell me a bit about the socioeconomic status of Henry and his family.

3. The Profession of the Head of household
The Shumakes could have been working on the Sapp land. This is possible because they are listed next to each other. On this particular record, you will see that Henry (Shewmake)Shumake was a renter and George Sapp was an owner. They are both listed as farmers.
It is known that the Sapps owned a great deal of land in Jenkins and Burke County.

4. Race: White, Black, Mulatto, or India
For African Americans this information seems to be a bit interchangeable, therefore it is not always reliable. On this census George Sapp and his family are listed as Black. On the 1880 census, George is listed as White or Mulatto, it is really hard to read. His wife and children are listed as mulatto. I know that George was White and his wife Mary Perkins was mulatto with a black mother and white father. Most of their children could pass for white, with strong Anglo-saxon features and skin color.

5. Educated or Not?
In my sample here, it says that George and his wife Mary could not read or write but all of their children could both read and write. Now I don't believe that this is a likely situation. First, George was white, and a landowner, so I want to believe that he could read and write. It is also unlikely that all of the children were literate with illiterate parents.
It states that Henry and his wife Priscilla could not read or write and all of their children were the same except his oldest daughter Carrie. This is likely for obvious reasons, but I also know that Henry was a slave, which makes it even more likely.

6. Place of Birth. Parents place of birth.
This information will often give you some insight into the family background of your ancestor. Especially if your ancestors were once slaves and possibly sold from another area or state.
7. Date of Census

This census was taken June 30th, 1900. Most census information is gathered during the summer months. Knowing the date the census was taken will often clear up the ages of those listed, as well as those that are not listed. When a child is not listed and you know that the year the census was taken is the year of their birth, this would indicate that their birth month is after the month the census was taken.

Don’t think that the census is conclusive. Many people make that mistake because they see it as some sort of authoritative documentation. It is an important piece of research but it is in no way conclusive. There are many mistakes made by the census takers and even more when those census details are later transcribed. However, it is a great place to start.

New Addition-Aston Lindberg McRae

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:38:13 PST

On December 22, just in time for Christmas, Aston came on the scene in Atlanta,Georgia. I am sure that his parents Laquita and Alfred McRae, Jr, were happy that he slid in here just in time for a lovely tax write-off.
Patricia and Alfred McRae, Aston's paternal grandparents have been buzzing about their first grand baby for some time now. I and the rest of the world are being bombarded with their bragging rights. I was informed by Al that McRae's love to brag. He is well worth it guys.

He is beautiful and congrats to all. Thanks for sharing with us the newest pull on your heart and purse strings. I know he is going to be well loved and a bit spoiled, but this is the job of grandparents.

Leila McCray Jones will be missed.

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:39:52 PST

Leila McCrae Jones left us behind this year. She lost her battle with breast cancer in December of 2011. Even though I just met her last year, I will definitely miss talking to her. Leila and her family was discovered through ancestry.com along with another cousin who lives right in my hometown, Lydia McRae Harris. Lydia had recently discovered Leila through ancestry.com and she told me about her since Leila and I both lived in California. I was so excited to meet her first because she was the only living grandchild of Mose and Matilda McCray. I was excited to hear her story and how it was even possible that she was around to tell me. I feel blessed that I was able to meet her and spend some time with her listening to the stories of her child hood, and how much she really didn't know about her father's side of the family. Realizing all the time she was living so close to many of them in Lakeland, Georgia, but no knowing any of them. This is something that happens so often in families, and with my and other family members working on the family's history, we are pulling those family members back to the root of it all. It is a wonderful feeling to meet those relatives that you never knew existed. Some you will form bonds with and some you will not. Leila was one that I had formed a bond with. She has been fighting cancer since I met her in the summer of 2010.

You can view her obituary here

Georgia Slave Narratives

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:27:42 PDT

I spent most of my day reading through Georgia Slave Narratives. I have yet to find any that is relative to my known family members, but they were really interesting to read. Many of them had good experiences with their slave masters and was more distraught after the war ended and they were free. Some left the plantation after they were told that they were no longer slaves and free to go where and when they wanted; many would return to work for their former slave masters because they found it harder to make it out there on their own.

There are many such records on Access Genealogy and you are able to research these records absolutely free. There are so many places that charge to research a great deal of data bases and the best I have found thus far is Ancestry.com. I have tried several others but they have given me the same records that I have been able to find through Ancestry.com, but with a little extra help from Ancestry. As a matter of fact I just recently discovered if you are a member you are able to call them and get some help if you feel stuck on a certain relative or a certain fact. Most of them are quite knowledgeable, and many are doing their own research.

Georgia Vault is another place where you are able to search for relatives in Georgia. It is a free site where often times you are able to find the birth and death records of a relative. You may also be able to find if you had a relative that was in the Civil War, because you can find records of pension applications here. It is quite an interesting place, but be careful you could end up spending the day in that chair, on the computer, because this stuff is addictive and the time will fly by, and before you know it, you are having a hard time getting out of that chair and the news is on the television. So this is fair warning.

Spelling of Surname McRae

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:45:16 PST

Taken from Clan Macrae Website

When looking back on Matilda McRae's death certificate I discovered that it was signed by Earnest McRae, her son, and the spelling of the name on that death certificate is McRae and not the way her son Joh Franlin McCray spelled his name. The thing I think most of us don't understand is how is it possible for siblings to spell their surname differently.

Again I was told by Matilda's granddaughter Susie Ryals that her mother Susie McCray, daughter of Matilda McCray spelled her name, 'McCray'. Hopefully one day something or someone will shed light on this for us.
The spelling of McCray in this manner is confirmed by John Franklin McCray's (son of Moses and Matilda McRae) children and grandchildren.
See how confusing it is.
We may never know how it is so often changed even before it was passed on to my ancestors, but I think it would make an interesting story.

Deeply Tangled

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:07:00 PDT

I am just able to sort through how deeply intertwined the marriages were in the small area of Montgomery and Telfair counties. We have always been a bit concerned that maybe there were people who got married and were possibly blood related. My mother and I was just talking about this today, but so far I have not found any proof of that. They seemed to have been really careful in not letting that happen.

It reminds me of a story I heard a couple of years ago about when Catherine Ryals, whose mother was Susie McCray, was going to marry Artis McRae, and they were told to wait a minute, so that the family could make sure that they were not related. Obviously after checking it out, they we given permission to get married.

In my research along with my cousin Jesse McRae who is the grandson of Catherine Ryals and Artis McRae, we discovered that there was a common name in these two families, Moses McRae(McCray). For many years we didn't know enough about Moses McRae(McCray).

Moses McCray

See, Jesse knew that Artis McRae's grandfather was named Andrew McRae who had a brother name Moses McRae, but he did not know anything about this brother. Now on Jesse grandmother Catherine Ryals' side of the family, which is also my side of the family, Catherine's mother was name Susie McCray, and her father's name was Moses McCray.

However Moses McCray was a mystery to us as well. We didn't know his mother's name or if he had any siblings, or if it was possible that Andrew McRae was his brother. Then we heard of the above story of Catherine and Artis' delay in getting married.

We have since discovered that there are definitely two Moses McRae(McCray) with a slightly different spelling of the surname, even though you can't prove that through the census data, which is a topic for another day. This was determined after discovering Antonio McMillian who is a descendant of Moses McRae, who is the brother to Andrew McRae. Thanks again Antonio for relieving us of this anxiety.

Now this brings me to how I discovered this same Moses McRae (brother to Andrew) in my family tree just the same, but on my grandmother's side as oppose to my grandfather's side, which is where Moses McCray is found.

My grandmother Esther (Susie Esker) McMillian marries Maxie Ryals, my grandfather (descendant of Moses McCray). Two of her brothesrs, Henry and Adam McMillian marries two sisters, Ida and Aleph Rogers (daughters of Isabella McAllister and Peter Rogers). One of their sisters Isabell Rogers marries that very same Moses McRae (brother to Andrew McRae). I know you all are ready to exhale now, but not yet, because their mother Isabella also marries Stephen McMillian after her husband Peter passes away. Now get this, Stephen McMillian is the grandfather of Henry and Adam McMillian who is married to two of Isabella McAllister Rogers daughters, Ida and Aleph.

Now you can exhale!

I thought this was quite interesting. We know that African Americans during that time in history only married as far as they could walk, but they seem to have been really careful not to marry anyone that was blood related. At least in the African(American) culture that is not as accepted as it was by other cultures during the same time in history.

Last Five Question to Share You

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 21:47:06 PDT

Here are the last questions of the series. I see that many are not posting their answers on the website, but I hope you are atleast sharing them at home with you parents and your children. I want to at least get the conversation started.
It would be so great if you would share your answers with the family. Knowing the things we have in common as a family would be so exciting.
So looking forward to hearing from you all.

Subscribe to Family Affair to Keep Up with The Conversation

1. When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on your first date?

2. Where was your marriage proposal? Were you the first to know?

3. Where did you get married? What stands out most from your wedding day?

4. How did you find out you were going to be parents for the first time?

5. What is your profession? How and when did you choose that profession?

Bonus Question:

What do you want others to remember most about you?

First Five Questions. Part 1

Next Five Questions. Part 2

My Beautiful Cousin-Rhonda McCray

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:08:49 PDT

I went to Brunswick last year to meet with a newly found cousin and it was great. You would think that we had known each other all of our lives, because our personalities are so similar. As my cousin is a procrastinator, yes Rhonda I am calling you out, with love of course; it took me quite a few months to receive family photos from her to add to the ancestry.com website. Well I can't talk about my cousin too much, as I have said, our personalities are quite similiar; after having these photos in my possession for quite a few months, I am finally adding them not only to the ancestry.com site.
Alright, I too am a procrastinator.

I have decided to show off my beautiful family on the blog. Since I am one for putting the truth out there, yeah, even if it means calling myself out.

Rhonda, (l), mother of the groom

I must say that I fell in love with Rhonda from the moment I talked to her on the phone and even more so when we met. I talk about this in my previous post about my visit, and we still keep in touch. I know she will get a kick out of reading this, while putting us both on blast.

So here's to you my dear.

Connections

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:27:22 PDT

I am starting to realize that this blog is as much about me as it is my ancestors. One day I too will be an ancestor and what will be my story, what will my descendants want to know about me, where will they look, will this blog be archived? These are the questions I ask as I research those that came before me. I just hope that this blog is somehow archived so they can not only learn about me and my family but all that I have learned. All of those that have been connected through this blog as well as my ancestry.com account, is work someone else will not have to do. Yes I do hope to get the entire story of my ancestors in my lifetime, but I do realize that there is a good possibility that I will not. As ambitious as I am, I am also a realist.
I am hoping that more and more of the family will make their voices heard and stories known here on this blog. I am so excited about the connections that are being made via this blog, email, ancestry.com and Facebook. There is still so much more to learn.

I am making more connections with the descendants of John Franklin McCray through Leila McCray, his daughter. John Franklin had three wives, and the grandchildren of the second wife, Hattie. I understand from Leila that Hattie was a well known seamstress in Lakeland, Georgia. She would sew and knit for many in the area especially the white people there. She also would place her stuff in some of the clothing stores there, because she was obviously just that talented, but she was not allowed to attach her name to any of her work, even the things she made for the people outside of the store. Leila says that this was one of her first memories of racism.

The Next Five Questions to Share You.

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:21:46 PDT

I hope that everyone is enjoying the conversation from the series of question in the recent blog posts. It is interesting what you can learn about yourself and about your family when these questions presented and talked about. You will be surprise at how interesting these stories can be to your children, so I hope you a sharing your answers and home. Don't forget to share with us as well.
Post you answers to these questions in the comment section by number it will let the other family members know you better and see what you have in common.

Subscribe to Family Affair to Keep Up with The Conversation

1. Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?

2. Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking?

    What were your favorite foods?

3. Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?

4.   Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?

5.   Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?

First Five Questions. Part 1

Cousins Removed

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:30:20 PDT

For so long I had the cousin relationships all wrong. I had heard of this cousin 1st removed thing, but never really knew what it meant. It is really not a complicated thing, but most people don't use it in general conversation. Since I am working on my family's history and the vast number of people that are connected, it is important for me to understand the exact relationships between them. It is still quite awkward to say, because it doesn't seem to roll off the tongue to easily, but it is what it is and I want everyone to know and understand how these relationships actually work.

First Cousins - are those that have the same grandparents.

Second Cousin - those who have the same great grandparents but not necessarily the same grandparents.

Third, Fourth, Fifth Cousins - 3rd cousins have the same great-great grandparents; 4th cousins have the same great-great-great grandparents,; and so on.

Removed - When the word removed is used to describe a relationship, it indicates that two people are from two different generations. You and your first cousins are in the same generation (two generations younger than your grandparents) so the word removed is not used to described this relationship. The words 'once removed' means that there is a difference of one generation
For example; your mothers first cousin is in the same generation as your mother, but one generation from you, so that means that your mother's first cousin is your first cousin once removed. Your mother's first cousin is your child's first cousin twice removed, because they are two generations from your mother and her first cousin.

Below there is a chart that gives you a better understanding. The instructions for using using this chart is as follows:

Pick two people in your family and figure out wich ancestor they have in common and their relationship each have two that ancestor.
Look across the top of the chart to find the first person's relationship to the common ancestor.
Look at the far left column to find the 2nd person's relationship to the common ancestor.
Going across and down you will find where the two rows meet, this gives you the relationship of these two people.

	Grand- parents	G- Grand- parents	GG- Grand- parents	GGG- Grand- parents	GGGG- Grand- parents
Grand- parents	1st cousins	1st cousins 1x removed	1st cousins 2x removed	1st cousins 3x removed	1st cousins 4x removed
G- Grand- parents	1st cousins 1x removed	2nd cousins	2nd cousins 1x removed	2nd cousins 2x removed	2nd cousins 3x removed
GG- Grand- parents	1st cousins 2x removed	2nd cousins 1x removed	3rd cousins	3rd cousins 1x removed	3rd cousins 2x removed
GGG- Grand- parents	1st cousins 3x removed	2nd cousins 2x removed	3rd cousins 1x removed	4th cousins	4th cousins 1x removed
GGGG- Grand- parents	1st cousins 4x removed	2nd cousins 3x removed	3rd cousins 2x removed	4th cousins 1x removed	5th cousins

How to Interview A Family Elder

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:31:19 PDT

Often times it is not easy to get people to share their stories. You are conducting this interview because you want to know about those people in your family that has paved the way for you. You want to understand their struggles, their pain, and their worries. You also want to know the times in their lives that are closes to their hearts. Those things that brought them peace and those things that brought them joy.

So taking the time to spend with the elders in your family shows them that they matter. Not just on Christmas or their birthday, but everyday. What better way to do that than to get them talking about when they we young, when they were growing up, their first job, and the things that has brought them to this place in their lives. As you hear the stories be patient and embrace all that you learn.

The list below will get you started on this journey and I hope that you will share some of the wonderful things that you learn along the way.

Subscribe to Family Affair to Continue in the Conversation

Schedule a time in advance for about an hour, no more than two hours. It is a chance that they may give you more time, but let it be their decision to talk more.

1. Have a list of question written up and it would be a good idea to give them a copy of the questions before your visit. This way they have had a moment to prepare and think of their memories and what they want to share.

2. Bring a tape record with extra tapes and batteries, and let them know before hand that you would like to tape the interview, so as you don't miss a word of their story. Do Not depend on the recorder, have your pen and paper to take really good notes, just in case something goes wrong.

3. Ask about some of the stories that you have heard in the past that is relative to this person, even if those specific questions are not on the interview questionnaire.

4. Make sure you are asking questions that give you more than a yes or no answer. You want to know how they felt, what they were thinking, and any emotion and reactions that may have taken place surrounding the answer to your question.

5. Most importantly LISTEN. Do not be thinking of your next question as they are talking, be an active listener, and let them do the talking.

6. If they would like to, go through the old photo albums, the pictures on wall or the tables, find out who those photos are taken of and what was going on at the time. When you let them tell you their story they will enjoy the fact that you are interested and will enjoy reliving those special moments. You don't want it to feel like work. Don't interrupt or correct them while they are talking, you want that story to flow. When you interrupt or correct it gives the person the feeling that you are not really interested in them but what you want from them.

7. When you see that they are uncomfortable with a subject, don't push. Give them a moment to regroup or think of how they want to express themselves, but you don't want to push or try to come back to the question as though you are trying to trick them, let it go and move on.
Schedule a time in advance for about an hour, no more than two hours. It is a chance that they may give you more time, but let it be their decision to talk more.

8. Don't forget to thank them for their time and for what they have shared with you, a piece of them.

When you finish and get back to your desk to transcribe the notes from this interview, I suggest print that you print it on some really nice paper, such as the many stationary styles that are made for ink jet printers, and give them a copy.

This is merely a thank you for their time.

Job Well Done!

Who did you Really start with?

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 21:19:41 PDT

We all know that researching African American genealogy is often difficult and there are times when you don't think you will ever find out about that one ancestor that was born in the mid-1800s. The problem is we don't know where to look.

Tony Burroughs outlined some building blocks in researching African American families. These I have found to be very helpful and as we know it all begins with the oral history and family records that we already have. The one place we don't start is with ourselves and with our own parents. Yes, of course we have and start with all of the vital information, like birthday, wedding anniversary, and place of birth; but what about those details that we are now wanting to learn about those that we can no longer ask. Things like when they learned to read, the name of their first grade teacher, when did they know what it was that they wanted to do for the rest of their lives,; real questions about their lives.

Have you even documented this stuff about yourself, so your grands and great grands will know who you were? Well I didn't think of doing this myself at all, and this is the exact information I want to know about my ancestors. I want to know what internal factors shaped their lives.

So I have decided that I am going to start with myself and write these stories about me and my parents and even my one daughter. This should be a really fun project. I am hoping that some of you would join me in doing the same and share some of your stories here. You can either do it through comments or send me an email and I can add it as a post. It would be really exciting.

I will start with five of the Questions in the post 'Stop the Silence' and am looking forward to learning more about my family.

Subscribe to Family Affair to keep up with the conversation:

First Five Questions to Get This Party Started

1. What is your full name and why did your parents choose that name for you?

2. Where were you born and how did your family come to live there?

3.   Did you have family chores growing up and what was your least favorite?

4.   Did you have a family pet? And if so what was your pets name?

5.   What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them
       personally affect your family?

Next Five Question

Family Tree Maker 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:15:33 PDT

I have been using Ancestry. com for a number of years now, and even owned a copy of their software, Family Tree Maker. I was not so happy with the software especially since I had all of the resources online. About a year ago I wanted to put all of the information that I have online in a software so I would be able to maintain a hard copy. With the old software you had to download the text file and import it into the software, but none of the notes, media(photos, videos),or stories were able to be downloaded. Well I was not about to re-enter all of the data on the couple of thousand people I had in the online database, and over a thousand photos and stories, so I didn't bother.

The Family Tree Maker 2012 has this new sync feature for those of us that use Ancestry.com. Now I was a bit sceptical about it syncing all of the media, etc. When I called to ask the questions it actually was not until the second time that I call that I was assured that the new software would do exactly what I wanted it to do. So I order it and it is exceptional. I synced it to my online databases and every bit of information was downloaded and I must say I was a really happy camper, or should I say customer.

What are the frustrations?

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:55:13 PDT

One of the main frustrations with me in genealogy research is getting others excited about it. To realize the value of what you are doing. Not to mention the time it takes to get one small piece of information. Many family members like to hear the stories of their ancestors, and there are even times when some of them do not believe the stories. Then there are those times when some do not want the truth out there. I do understand this feeling, especially when it is someone close to you. Sometimes that truth will give you and others a better understanding of that person in the story. You may determine a force that governed their lives. I will continue to tell the truth from my research, because to me truth brings about understanding and compassion and that is where I want to be.

Another big frustration with genealogy research is getting information or copies of documents and photos from others. Most people don't realize that it is often the smallest detail that can put you on the right path to find out more or keep you from going down the wrong path where you are running into one dead end after another. Or this document could eliminate a few options, and make the right option clearer.

An example of this is with Emerson Sapp, I knew he lived and died here in Los Angeles, California, but for the longest time, I could not find a notification of his death, and I had no idea what year he died. Once I saw an obituary in the Los Angeles Sentinal, the African American newspaper, I discovered the year he died and that his first name was not Emerson, but Walter. The legal name of Walter Emerson Sapp was how his death certificate was filed. No one knew that his first name was Walter. I discovered the first initial was W. while researching the voter registration logs, so I knew that I had to find out what that W. was for in order to continue. Discovering that W. before Emerson was the key.

Many family members have valuable information that they may not believe is significant, but they can't know that for sure, because they are not aware of the information that you already have. It is always a piece of the puzzle, regardless of how small.

What are some of the frustrations you have in genealogical research? How do you overcome these frustrations?

Happy 70th Birthday MOM

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:30:07 PDT

Betty Ryals Keitt "My Momma"

Today is my mother's 70th birthday. I do realize just how blessed I am to still have her in my life. No I wasn't smart enough or mature enough to realize the treasure I had for many years, but am glad that I finally got it. Yes we went through the many years of the 'Mother-Daughter' Dynamics, and we made it through. I never thought that would happen. But as my grandmother always said, 'just keep living'.

As I raised my own daughter I felt that I was going to be different from my own mother, and it worked for awhile. By the time my daughter was a teenager, I started to really understand what it took to be a real mother. Oh yeah, those first 12-14 years were easy, but here comes the friends and the attitudes. That is when I really knew what it meant to be one step ahead of a teenager.

I started to appreciate the patience that my mother had when I would half-wash the dishes when I was a teenager. The strength it took to keep from bashing me in the head when I looked her right in the eye and told her a bold face lie and yes mothers know when you are lying, even if the story you are telling is logical and believable for someone else.

It is about this time, when I was raising my own teenager daughter, that I started to periodically call my mother and apologize for what she had to put up with when I was a teenager. I would ask her how did she stand me, and she would just laugh.

Now, neither I nor my daughter were bad kids, but typical teenagers that thought our parents were born yesterday and we were definitely smarter than they were.

It was not until I got married that I started to understand my mother as a woman, and not just 'my mother'. That was definitely an enlightening time, and when our relationship really started to change.

Then I moved to California where I met so many people that were astonished that I still had both of my parents and that they were healthy and of sound mind. At first I though that it was hilarious when people would ask me if my parents were still of sound mind. The more that I encountered this question along with the sadness in the faces of those who asked, I started to realized that I was extremely blessed to have both of my parents in good health and of sound mind. So many of the people that I had come in contact with had lost their parents many years ago, and wished that they were still with them. I do understand that sadness to be for probably two reasons. First of all they merely wish that their parents were still living and healthy, but what I believe is harder, is that they lost their parents before they themselves were really smart enough and mature enough to really appreciate them.

I know that I have been divinely favored when Betty Ryals was chosen to be My Mother.

I am so grateful that she is still here as I became smart enough and mature enough to honor and cherish her, and to give my mother her flowers while she is living.

Dear Mom, I said a prayer for you
to thank the Lord above
For Blessing me with a lifetime
of your tenderhearted love.

I thanked God for the caring
you've shown me through the years.
For the closeness we've enjoyed
in time of laughter and of tears

And so, I thank you from the heart
for all you've done for me
and I thank the Lord for giving me
the best mother there could be.
-Anonymous

The Written Word

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 13:30:57 PDT

Today technology has taken over and I must admit that I am right in there enjoying it every step of the way. As much as I love to be able to have information at the tip of my fingers, especially when it comes to this genealogy research, I realize that we have lost almost as much as well have gained. One of those losses is the written letter.

When we didn't have cell phones to stay connected to our family and friends as frequently as we do now we wrote letters and made long distance phone calls less frequently. I do miss the letter writing and yes I still do write letters to my family and friends. The only difference now is that I type them on the computer as oppose to longhand and I must admit that typing them is my preference.
Yes I still buy stationary and blank cards. There is something to be said of words written from the heart. I enjoy writing letters, but I remember when I would get tired of writing and the penmanship would get worse and worse and it would be harder for the reader, so typing my letters became the norm even before computers were easily accessible, there was the typewriter and then the word processor.

I remember when I would anticipate replies to letters that I have written to my friends after college. We wrote to each other for years and I still have all of those letters. Even in all the downsizing of stuff, those letters are nothing I will ever part with.

As I continue in this genealogy research I discovered that the letters that many of my relatives wrote many years ago tell you more about who they were than any census data can. The other beauty is more often than not they wrote just the way they talked. I have had the privilege of reading some of these letters or hear some letters read to me from my great grandmother Ella to her sister Julia and they are so funny. The way they wrote and the way they spelled out the words is what strikes me as funny, but you can hear the love and compassion in them just the same. So what is it that we will leave for our descendents to really know who we were? I do encourage you to write more letters, even snail mail is not as slow as it use to be.

I know what you are thinking. Who has time to write letters? I say make the time. I use to fill my days up with lots of activities at one time myself, but the need to do that has long passed. I do enjoy my quiet time. The time I sit down to read old letters or to write new ones. That moment will feel better than you know until you do it. So take the time and see what I am talking about.

We don't even tell the family stories to our children like they did many years ago. How will our great grandchildren know what was important to us? How will they know our worries and concerns? I guess the millions of blogs that are presently online will be something that our descendants will research and yes they will give them some insight, but will they still be around. I get the feeling that they will be destroyed to make room for more, or something that is bigger and better. This I do often wonder about, hopefully they will be archived somewhere for retrieval in the future.

I have been working on this genealogy for a number of years now, but I have it all on the ancestry.com website and I don't have a hard copy of it. Yes I have saved various documents but not all of the information, stories, and photos.
Well the Family Tree Maker 2012 is going to rectify all of that. I had a previous version of this software, but this particular version has a sync feature where you can sync the software with the online ancestry.com and save the information in two formats; GEDCOM AND FTM. Only the FTM format will include all the text as well as the media, but you must have a version of the Family Tree Maker software to open it. I am excited about all of this because if anything happens to me, there will be an exact copy for my family to access.

Right now I don't have any idea who in my family will pick up where I left off, but hopefully by that time there will be someone that is just as passionate about learning of their roots as I am today. I also hope that all that I have learned about my family will propel them. Right now I am concentrating on writing letter, notes, blogs, and social media as a way to leave my mark and pass on what I learn.

After writing this post I looked online to find an appropriate photo or animation to put her and found the one above and also found it attached to this website, that seems to be expressing the same emotional attachment to letter writing. The name of the site is The Art of Manliness, which I found even more interesting.

True Believers

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 16:53:49 PDT

Yesterday I got my first donation and I was jumping up and down. He found the donate button on the top of the website and he used it. It feels great to know that someone out there truly believes in me and all my efforts. I have been doing genealogy research on and off since 1998 and it has been in the last 2-3 years that I have been steadily working to gather information about my family with no end in sight. I have found relatives that I didn't know existed and many were right in my backyard. This research is truly a labor of love and hours upon hours of work. I feel truly blessed to be able to discover my family and learn about those that came before me.

Darrick McRae

Well Darrick McRae is one of those relatives and he has been excited about what I have been doing from the beginning. No, we have not actually met, but we have talked on the phone on many occasions and we have made a great connection. He has a beautiful family in the Maryland/DC area and I do look forward to meeting him soon. Right now, he is my biggest cheerleader, and I love him and want to thank him for his excitement and support.

This is to be my legacy. What I leave behind for the generations to come.

Emerson and Hortense Sapp of Los Angeles

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:34:39 PDT

Christine Sapp, Stanley Macon, Sr., Vivian Sapp Macon, Roscoe Sapp, Unknown, Jennie Sapp Davis, Irene Sapp Keitt, Emerson Sapp, Wardeen Sapp Miller, J.Jasper Sapp, Jr.

I was extremely excited the past couple of days because of the information I was able to find on these two people. I knew only what I had heard about them from other family members. I just recently learned that they even existed here in the past year. Remembering that I had seen pictures of them early in my life, but didn't know who they were. When I got these photos in my hand and was able to ask about them, my grandmother, who owned the photos, was well into Alzheimers, and could not remember. It was not until I moved to California with these photos and showed them to other relatives that I discovered who they were and how they were related. I realized that Emerson and his sister Jennie was at my great-grandfather's funeral in 1962.

As I put their names in my ancestry.com family tree I was able to truly connect them to my family, but there were still so many unanswered questions. I had heard that Emerson was a doctor and had donated his body to UCLA for research, but I had no idea when he died. So I looked high and low for information on these two. I found two other Emerson Sapps that fit the same birth year and was born in Georgia. I knew that he moved quite a bit as a child. From Millen, Jenkins County, Georgia, to Jacksonville, Florida,to Brunswick, Ga. and then to Manhattan, New York. They were apart of the Great Migration in the 1920s to 1940s.
Since the 1930 census is the last that is available to the public, I don't see any reacord of him untl about 1952 in the California Voter Registration records, along with his wife Hortense.
While researching Google Books, I found old versions of the Billboard magazine, dated in the mid-1940s, that showed an Emerson Sapp and Hortense Sapp that were owners of the Florida Blossom Minstrel Show. I was really surprised to see that. Even though he was considered mulatto from mulatto parents, I know the pride that the Sapps had in being African American, but I didn't dismiss it.

Now after the research I was able to do at USC's Doheny Library using their ProQuest database. I located the digitized archives of the Los Angeles Sentinel, an African American newspaper her in Los Angeles. This archives dated back to 1942. Well I hit the jackpot and was able to dismiss the Emerson and Hortense associated with the Florida Blossom Minstrel Show; or should I.

W. Emerson Sapp and Hortense W. Sapp

Walter Emerson Sapp was a well-known Real Estate Broker and a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga. I have no idea when he graduated from Morehouse, but I do know that in 1959 he was the treasurer of Morehouse's Alumni Association.

His wife Hortense was a female golfer and a member of the all female golfer club called the Vernondale Golf Club of Los Angeles. The first record I find of her winning trophies on behalf of the club, which travel all across the country, was in 1952. The club started in 1947.

This was really exciting to me to not only see so many female golfes in the 1950s but all female clubs and better yet, an all female African American Golf Club.

Hortense W. Sapp is bottom Center with wht blouse and wht hat

I discovered that the two attended and was very active in St. Philip Church, where I will continue my research. I have yet to prove that his body was donated to UCLA but I am still working on that. Somehow I get the feeling that there is much more to find out about the lives of this couple.

I did find out that Walter Emerson Sapp passed away on July 17, 1966 after a heart attack. He had lived in Los Angeles for 17 years, therefore he moved here in 1949. He is buried at the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, which was the first cemetery in Los Angeles opened to all races.

Here is a link to the write up in the Los Angeles Sentinel.

This research was great because I found out what the first initial W. was for in Emerson's name, Walter; I found out the name of his church, when he died, how he died, what funeral home was used as well as where he is buried. Not only that I may be able to dismiss the other Emerson who also has the first initial of W., or can I.

Emerson didn't move to California until 1949 and it was the early 40s when Emerson is said to have owned the minstrel show. He did leave New York and go back to Georgia because he went to Morehouse College. So maybe I have to dig a bit deeper to be sure. I will have to update you all on this one.

Genealogy Research at Los Angeles Public Library.

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:50:04 PDT

I went to the Los Angeles Public Library on Saturday, really ready to delve into some research on all the Sapps that moved here from Georgia. Needless to say I was quite disappointed. I started with the city directories, and one relative, Emerson Sapp was not listed in quite a few of them that I looked through. I did find him in the Los Angeles Telephone book for 1955. I was not sure when Emerson moved to Los Angeles, but at the time I knew that he was living here in 1962 when my great grandfather passed because he is in several photos during the funeral services. I could not fin Walter Pendleton Sapp in the San Bernardino city directories either and this man owned lots of land from Victorville to Los Angeles. So I don't what to say about that. I was told that I could possibly go to USC because they have the archives of The Los Angeles Sentinal,which was the African American newspaper here in Los Angeles.

It was told to me that Emerson Sapp donated his body to UCLA and he was possibly a physician, but I could find no record of him there.
When I came home I was able to find Emerson in the 1950 and 1954 California Voter Registration index along with his wife Hortense, both lived at 2550 3rd Ave in Los Angeles and both Registered as Republicans. This I find to be very interesting.

During the time of Reconstruction, from 1863-1877, all of the black politicians were from the Republican Part, which was a representation of Abraham Lincoln and emancipation. The Democratic Party was a representation of southern planters, slavery and secession. Through the Jim Crow era until about the time of the Great Migration, blacks were Republicans. In 1928, the first black congressman was elected, and the last black Republican was put into office.

The election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 led to a shift of black voting loyalties from Republican to Democrat, as Roosevelt's New Deal programs offered economic relief to people suffering from the Great Depression. From 1940 to 1970, nearly five million blacks moved north and also west, especially to California, in the second wave of the Great Migration.

By the 1960s, virtually all black voters were Democrats and most were voting in states outside the former Confederacy.

However, I found my trip to the library to be a bit of a waste of time. Yes I am going to go back to research through some of the databases that they have to see if I can find anything, but I can do that from my local branch and not have to go to the main branch in down town Los Angeles.
I think I am going to make Genealogy one of my volunteer missions, but taking photos of cemeteries and adding to Find A Grave, as well as imputing information into a data base for Family Search Center in Utah. These are two areas where I know I can be of service.

I am going to try to see what I can find from the Historical Society here so USC and the historical society are my next stops.

George Washington Sapp 1834-1914

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:54:18 PDT


George W. Sapp

This is a photo of George Washington Sapp taken postmortem. On the back of the photo it is written that he died at the age of 54 which I truly believe is incorrect. There are a couple of discrepancies around his birth whether it was 1934 or 1844, and these discrepancies are in the 1900 and 1910 census. The first stating DOB as 1834 and the latter stating it as 1844; either way he was still alive in 1910 according to the 1910 census and believed to not have passed away until 1914.
The record that I presently have attached to him as a record of his death, I am not 100% sure about. It says that he died in Jackson, Florida and it that is the case I don't know why he was there. So there is some more research that needs to go into that, but something I can't do until I am in the Jenkins County area.

Lilli, Mary, Minnie Sapp

In the 1910 Census it shows that George was a widow, therefore his wife Mary Perkins had to pass between the 1900 and 910 census. However there were three granddaughters living in the house with him and two of his sons. At this time George was either 66 or 76 years old. The three granddaughters that were in the household with him were the daughters of his son George, Jr., there names were Leila, Beulah, and Eular.

George Washington Sapp, Jr. was also the son that moved to Florida, so it is very possible that George, Sr. died and was buried there.

There are other unknowns when it comes to George Washington Sapp. Was he Caucasian or Mulatto. Well the census states that he was mulatto, but that could because his wife was mulatto and his children were of obvious mix breed. I was told that George was Caucasian and chose to marry this mulatto women. He was a landowner as far back as 1900 and possibly even before that, when those around him were listed as renters.This was not often the case for mulatto or black farmer in 1900 Georgia. All of his children were also landowners, and this was told to me by my grandmother Irene, and proven by the various census records.

Infant Sapp in McCoy Cemetery-George

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:59:04 PDT

While looking through some Georgia documents online, I cam across an African American Cemetery in Jenkins County. As always I decided to look for any Sapp and Perkins, and there were a couple of each, but no names that I recognized, except for Mathew Sapp, but the information didn't match the birth and death date of the Mathew Sapp I knew. I still don't count thing out when there is a date discrepancy. I know Uncle Mac went to live with his daughter in Atlanta after he became really ill. Prior to that he was living with my grandmother Irene, his niece. Even though I can remember the exact date, I know I had to be between 6-10 years old, which would put the date to be between 1967-1970. I remember sitting on the floor at his feet playing jack stones at my grandmother's house. Then I knew he went away, because he was getting sicker. I learned later that he went to live with his only daughter, Norma.

So as I am looking at this McCoy Cemetery document, I am of course making a mental note, and I see where there is an infant Sapp, and I continue down the list. When I look the list over again to make sure that I didn't miss anything, I notice that next to Infant Sapp it said, son of S.T. and Ella Sapp. Well they are my great grandparents. I got extremely excited. There is only one date there instead of two dates of when they were born and when they died. This leads me to believe that this baby was possibly still born or only lived for a few hours. It was at that moment that I remember my grandmother telling me that there was a baby boy that died, and I believe his name was George. This is what my grandmother Irene told me, and now I have proof of him and when he was born and where he is buried.

Search and Contribute

noreply@blogger.com (Tonya Keitt Kalule) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:33:02 PDT

Genealogy as you know is some thing that is very time consuming and takes a great deal of patience. There are so many resources out there that are available online. Some of this information is put there by various historical societies as well as researchers like myself that are volunteering to help get more and more of the information out there so we can all have access to the same information.

Yesterday, I discovered that I can not only use the two websites below as resources but I am able to contribute information as well. I was able to upload a photo that I had taken of my great grandfathers headstone that I had taken last year for my own database. While searching I discovered that the cemetery where he is buried is not listed in the Find a Grave website, so I would never be able to find any of those relatives that are buried there. So uploaded the photo as well as one for the graveyard, and I added it to the list of graveyards in the area.

It is a small graveyard on the grounds of Mt.. Calvary C.M.E. Church and it is an Africa-America cememtery.

It really felt good to make this contribution and once I know that this information has indeed been approved and accepted, I will upload some of the other photos that I have taken of other family headstones there. , and when I return to the cemetery there in Telfair County Georgia, I will take photos of all of the headstones, and take accurate notes so they too can be added. It felt good to be a contributor. I will try to do the same things when I am home in Savannah, Ga. there is so much work to be done, but it is wonderful to know that I am not just taking, I am contributing as well for those that come behind me looking for information.

Both of the links below is a way for us to give back. It doesn't have to be a cemetery where you have family, it could be one that is not listed, and you can add it, so all can see.

Find A Grave

GenRecords/Georgia Files