My 7th great-grandmother, Catharina (Schneider) Weidner, moved to the community at the Ephrata Cloister, along with her young children, after the death of her husband.

The Ephrata Cloister, in what is now Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1732.  It was a religious community, founded by German immigrants.  They were semi-monastic, with a monastery and convent, as well as a congregation of families.  They were very strict in their beliefs and practices, sleeping on small wooden benches with wooden blocks as “pillows.”

In 1736, Catharina bought 100 acres adjacent to the Cloister on Cocalico Creek.¹ She died in 1742 ² and is buried in the Cloister cemetery.

The post Catharina Weidner at the Ephrata Cloister appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

Blount County, Tennessee County Court Minutes Book 2 1814-1817

Robert Kendrick, my fourth great-grandfather, led me to this book.  He and Franky Rudd were married in Blount County, Tennessee on 20 Jan 1812.¹ This is the earliest source I have for Robert Kendrick.  Most online trees that I have viewed have identified Robert as being born about 1747 in Hanover County, Virginia (or even Hanover Parish, Jamaica).  I have always suspected that the Robert Kendrick born about 1747 is not the same one who married Franky Rudd; she was born about 1790 and that’s quite an age difference.  Not impossible, but certainly suspicious.  It’s also quite a leap to go from a marriage in Tennessee to a birth in Virginia more than fifty years earlier, with no supporting documentation in between.

So, following the principle of “start with what you know,” I decided to research Blount County records in the 1812 time frame for other references to Robert Kendrick.  I was thrilled when I found several transcriptions of Blount County Court records, and this book, in particular.  Court minutes can provide details found nowhere else and help solve thorny problems.

Source Analysis

This is a published WPA transcription of the Blount County, Tennessee County Court Minutes for the years 1814-1817.  As with most WPA transcriptions, there are errors in the body, as well as in the index.  Nonetheless, it is an invaluable resource. Page numbers in the index refer to the original page numbers in the minute books.  The book is organized in chronological order, starting with the September Term 1814 and runs through the December Term 1817.  Since it is a transcription, it is a derivative source. I don’t know yet if the original minute books are available; if so, I will certainly want to access them.

I may need to read through the book page by page, rather than relying on solely on the index.  Also, the court dates are often recorded several pages before the relevant entries and I knew there was a good chance I would miss at least one date page.  These are two reasons why I decided to buy the book, rather than make copies at the library.  Based on the index, I know that there are entries for Kendrick, Rudd, and Lowery.  I have hopes that this book will help me identify the families of both Robert Kendrick and Betsy Lowery.  I’ve already traced the Rudd family back a few more generations and into Virginia, so the entries for them will flesh out their lives.

Future posts will detail what I learn from this source.

The post Blount County, Tennessee Court Minutes appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

W

I took photos of all pages with surnames of interest to me.  Page 1 includes Alexanders.²  (Quotations from page 1 are in bold below.)

Source Analysis

This is an excellent resource, organized alphabetically and easy to read.  The book was compiled from microfilm, so any findings here should be located in the microfilm.

James Alexander Deed Extracts

“Alexander, James T. see Givens, William.”

To do: check to see if I copied the Givens page.  If not, check the book on next visit to the FHL.

“Alexander, James to Arthur Erwin for 300 acres dated 15 December 1808 proved by Alexander Erwin; October Sessions 1809”

Comment:  A search on Ancestry.com of census and voter lists for the surname Alexander in Burke County and adjacent counties between 1805 and 1815 yielded only one James.  I’m confident that this entry is for my James Alexander who married Rhoda Cunningham.

To do: Obtain microfilm copy of full entry in court minutes.

“Alexander, James to James Marler for 100 acres dated 19 November 1806 proved by oath of William Penland; April Sessions 1811”

Comment: See above comment for deed dated 15 December 1808.

To do: Obtain microfilm copy of full entry in court minutes.

“Alexander, James to John Spear Jr. bill of sale for Negro Woman & Child dated 11 August 1810 proved by oath of Albert Corpening; October Sessions 1811”

Comment: See above comment for deed dated 15 December 1808.  This Albert Corpening is probably not the son of Elizabeth Whitener and Jacob Corpening, as that Albert would not have been an adult in 1811.

To do: Obtain microfilm copy of full entry in court minutes.

Work Plan

• View microfilm when I go back to the Family History Library in 2015.  Minutes of County Court, 1791-1868:  There are four rolls.  For these records, I need roll 370128, Minutes 1799-1818.

The post James Alexander Deeds in Burke Co NC appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

This is part of an occasional series in which  I process information from a book called Marriage and Death Notices from Extant Asheville, N. C. Newspapers 1840-1870 An Index. I consulted this book  last year at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  I have lots of people from in and around Asheville, so I was able to get copies of 24 pages that had surnames of interest to me. Today’s installment is from the “Death Notices” section of the book and includes on the surnames Greenlee, Hemphill, McEntire, and McKee.

Extracts

“GREENLEE, Adelia August, infant daughter of Samuel and Minerva K. Greenlee, aged 2 years and 6 months, Nov. 3, 1841, at Morganton (H. M., Dec. 3, 1841).” ¹

Comment: Samuel is the brother of David Washington Greenlee who married Mary Howard McEntire.  This puts him outside the scope of my research.

“HEMPHILL, A. M. C.,  Jan. 1, 1851, in McDowell County (A. M., Jan. 8, 1851).²

Comment:  This is Archibald McEntire Hemphill, son of Andrew Hemphill and Catherine McDonald. “A.M.” refers to the Asheville Messenger, the successor paper to the Highland Messenger.  It was “published from the 1848-1849 period noted above until at least as late as January, 1853.”³

“HEMPHILL, J. L., of Company G, 16^th Regt. N. C. Troops, killed in a June 26, 1862, engagement (A. N., July 24, 1862).

Comment:  This is actually Israel Leander Hemphill,⁴ son of John Hosea Hemphill and Lydia Louise Simmons. “A. N.” refers to the Asheville News which “was founded in June, 1849, and published (with periodic interruptions during and after the Civil War) until at least as late as March 28, 1883.”⁵

“McEntire, William, aged 76, a native of Ireland who emigrated to Buncombe County when about 10 and later settled in Burke County, where he resided ever since, July 14, 1851, at his residence in Morganton (A. M., Aug. 6, 1851).⁶

Comment: I don’t know the relationship of William to my McEntires, but I’m sure he will end being kin to Thomas Young Hemphill McEntire, who also immigrated from Ireland and settled in Burke County.

“McKEE, Mrs. Margaret, relict of John McKee, aged 95, Oct. 17, 1843, at the residence of George Thompson in Iredell County (H. M., Nov. 24, 1843). ⁷

Comment: I don’t know the identity of these folks at this time, but they could be related to my Mackie family.

“McKEE, Thomas, infant son of James L. McKee, March 25, 1855, in Asheville (A. N., March 29, 1855).⁸

Comment:  See above comment for Mrs. Margaret McKee.

The post Some Buncombe County Death Notices appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

While I have several lines who were in Tennessee by 1796 (the criterion for First Families membership), some had not been established as First Families and others’ files did not yield any new information. With one, however, I hit the mother lode.

The file for my fifth-great-grandfather, William Lawson, yielded census information, an 1812 pension file, abstracts from an account book, a court case, and deed abstracts. Lots of deed abstracts.

I made notes regarding sources that I could access online, such as the censuses and the 1812 pension file (Fold 3 is digitizing these files in alphabetical order and is almost up to the Ls – they are free to the public, by the way). I made copies of the other items and have been adding the information to my genealogy database. Here is a selection of what I found:

Thomas Amis Account Book Entries

“Microfilm at McClung Gen. Library
Thomas Amis First Account Book, Big Creek, Hawkins Co. Tn.
William Hinton 1783       also Capt. Samuel Smith 1788
David Hinton 1782                  Samuel Smith, Sr. 1782 note Wm Lawson deed
William Lawson 1785
Reuben Lawson 1786
Peter Lawson 1787                 William Lawson 1794
Isham Reynalds 1786             Isham Reynolds 1794”

My comments:

• This shows that William Hinton and William Lawson were in Hawkins County by 1783.
• I don’t know the identity of David Hinton or the Smiths, but they must be relevant to have been included in this abstract.

To do: Obtain original image from microfilm.

Land grant

“Buncombe Co. N. C. June 20, 1796 Land from state of N. C.
David Hinton 100A
William Robert Hinton 100A”

To do: obtain original land grants.

Deed Abstract

“Pittsylvania Co. Va.
January 30, 1779 Book 5 Page 126
William and Sarah Lawson sold to David Ross of Dinwiddie Co.
land N. Side Pigg River.
witness: George Herndon
David Wall
Patrick Morrison”

To do: obtain original deed.

Deed Abstract

“10-123, 9 Mar 1819 (Reg. 4 Apr 1821) Stephen LAWSON of Hawkins Co.,
to Caleb J. Parker of Greene Co., for $1000., all the undivided right
and title of Isham LAWSON, Elijah LAWSON, Stephen LAWSON, William
LAWSON, Elisha LAWSON, and George LAWSON, heirs of Wm. LAWSON, dec’d.
to 200 acres in Hawkins Co., south side of Holston River, adj. James
Breeden, where the widow LAWSON now lives. Wm. Smith, Henry Chesnutt,
wit”

My comments: This deed names several children of William Lawson, including my ancestor Stephen.

To do:

• obtain original deed
• look for estate records for William Lawson (I looked in the Tennessee Probate Court files at FamilySearch, but did not find anything).

Promissory Note

“McClung Library
March 25, 1788 Hawkins Co. Tenn. Page 1
I, William Hinton, do promise to pay or cause to be paid to Mr. Joseph
Rogers on order 38 wight of goods-merchantable ginsing the sang? at
2 shillings per lb. or furrs at market price hear to that amount or
bear skins to be paid at or upon the 15th of July 1788 as witness my
hand this 25th day of March 1788.      his
his                                     Wm X Hinton
Test:  William X Lawson                         mark
mark
on reverse side:
Sept. 18th Rec. from Mr. Isham Rannells (Reynalds) 22 lbs. e ozs sang?
at 1/8 per lb. I say rec’d by me
Joseph Rogers
Wm. Hinton
note” ¹

To do: obtain copy of original note.

This is just a snippet of the information I found in one First Families file. If you have ancestors who were early residents of Tennessee, then I highly recommend a visit to the East Tennessee Historical Society to check out these files. I know that I’ll be going back.

The post Researching in First Families of Tennessee Files appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

Burke’s Garden

“Known for its fertility and great natural beauty, the bowl-shaped Burke’s Garden is the highest valley in Virginia.  James Burke discovered it during the 1740s while hunting and settled here about 1754. After four years Burke and his family moved to North Carolina, where he died in 1783. The threat of Indian attack and the remoteness of the area discouraged permanent white settlement until the early 19th century.”

James Burke was my seventh great-grandfather.

The post Burke’s Garden Historical Marker appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

Connect

The first genealogy conference I attended was FGS 2010 in Knoxville, Tennessee. This is where I found my tribe. People who were not only “interested” in genealogy, but who were serious about it. People who wanted to  learn about methodology, record groups, and, generally, take it to the next level.

I had made quite a few genea-friends through social media and FGS 2010 is where I met many of them in person for the first time. I also met people in classes, in the hallways, at lunches and dinners. And, of course, the bar.

This experience has been repeated at every conference I’ve attended, whether it was SCGS Jamboree, NGS, or subsequent FGS conferences. FGS 2015 is a chance to connect and re-connect with my tribe.

Explore

Since the 2015 conference is in Salt Lake City, that means I will be exploring the Family History Library. My first visit to the library was in 2013 and, even though I spent every available moment there, I still only scratched the surface of the research possibilities. Until you’ve been there, you can’t even imagine how much they have. When people say that it is the largest collection of genealogical materials in the world, they are not kidding. I haven’t started thinking about my research plan yet, but whichever lines I decide to focus on, the FHL will have sources to further my research.

I’m adding a few extra days to my trip before and after the conference, so that I can have dedicated time to explore the Family History Library. Moreover, the library is in walking distance of the conference center and my hotel, so I will squeeze in some library time in between conference sessions, as well.

Refresh

I think others will nod their heads in agreement when I say that sometimes my research gets stale and my interest in genealogy wanes. And that’s okay, because sometimes I need to back off and spend time on other things. Genealogy conferences always (and I really mean always) refresh my interest, give me new perspective, and get me back on track. I’m at the point in my genealogy life-cycle where I spend less time in classes about “how to do” genealogy. I’m attracted to case-study lectures, because they remind me of what I know and how I should be approaching my research. Hearing about others’ challenges and successes refreshes my desire to come home and attack my own research.

Are you going?

If you are thinking about attending FGS 2015, then I hope I’ve given you some reasons that will tip your scale toward yes. Early registration pricing is available through January 23, but I would encourage you to make your decision before the deadline. Hotel rooms in Salt Lake City will fill up quickly and tickets to special events may sell out.

If you are planning to attend, please drop me a comment here or on one my social media channels (links at the top of the page or bottom of this post). And if you see me in Salt Lake City, please say “Hello!”

The post Connect. Explore. Refresh. FGS 2015 appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

Using a Tax List as a Census Substitute

I have at least three lines who were in Hawkins County, Tennessee in the early 1800s.  The 1810 census for Tennessee, unfortunately, has been lost, ¹ so tax lists serve as a census substitute, at least for males age 21 and over.

Transcription

Hawkins County

Loudebacks Company 1810

[Numbers refer to 1) land, 2) white polls, 3) black polls. Dashes indicate blanks. Kin are bolded]

Bright, William – 1 –

Barnett, John – 1 –

Beal, George – 1 –

Barrott, Stepen – 1 –

Breaden, James 1000 1 1

Cox, James – 1 –

Coward, James – 1 –

Coward, Joel Jnr – 1 –

Cyster, Daniel 150 – –

Chesnut, Henry – 1 4

Counsel, Cyrus – 1 –

Cox, Tabitha 300 – 2

Dodson, John 350 – –

Day, William – 1 –

Everhart, Jacob 300 1 –

Everhart, Christley – 1 –

Finney, William 160 1 –

Farmer, James – 1 –

George, Harbert 150  1 –

Gollihorn, John – 1 –

Grigsby, John Snr 550 – 6

Henton, William – – 2

Haskins, John – 1 –

Hoard, William Snr 270 1 –

Hoofmaster, Goodlef 200 1 –

Haynes, Thomas – 1 1

—————————-

3420 20 16

Jeffres, William – 1 –

Kite, John 180 1 –

Kite, George Snr 320 – 2

Kite, William – 1 –

Kite, George Junr 200 1 –

King Andrew 600 1 –

Kenner, Winder 370 1 –

Lawson, Jacob 290 1 1

Lea, Samuel – 1 –

Lawson, Elijah – 1 –

Loudeback, Isaac 124 1 –

Lawson, Isham 100 1 –

Lawson, Peter 100 1 –

Lawson, William 200 – –

Long, Nicholas – 1 –

Loudeback, Henry 166 1 –

Manes, Daniel 50 1 –

Manes, Bartlett 150 1 –

Maples, William – 1 1

Manes, Seth – 1 –

Manes William – 1 –

Manes, George 50 – –

Manes, Ephraim 150 1 –

Pain, William Junr 250 1 –

Paine, Charles – 1 –

Parton, Charles – 1 –

Pope, Adkin – 1 –

—————————-

3300 24 4

Right, Hance 270 24 4

Rork, John – 1 –

Rork, Michael Snr 290 1 –

Rutherford, John – 1 –

Reynolds, Isham 300 – –

Reynolds, William Snr 180 – –

Reynolds, George – 1 –

Reynolds, Henry – 1 –

Robertson, Hezekiah 400 1 –

Smith, Anthony G. 50 1 –

Smith, John – 1 –

Short, Henry – 1 –

Self, Thomas 200 – –

Smith, Samuel – 1 1

Smith, Joshua – 1 1

Stewart, Elisha – 1 –

Smith, Lauther 44 – –

Smith, James – 1 1

Henry & Lindenberger 397 – –

Smith, Robert 100 – –

Willis, John 100 1 –

———————————-

2331 14 3

3300 24 4

3430 20 16

———————————-

9061 58 23 ²

Analysis

• Tax rates were set at “100 acres of land 12 1/2 cents. . .on each free poll and male servant 12 1/2 cents; on each slave 25 cents.” ³
• William Henton, no land, no white polls, two black polls. That means William was age 50+, born before 1761, and had two slaves. He was the only William Hinton in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 50 cents.
• John Haskins, no land, one white poll, no black polls. John was between 21 and 50, and therefore born between 1761 and 1789. He was the only John Haskins in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 12 1/2 cents.
• Jacob Lawson, 290 acres, one white poll, one black poll. Jacob was born between 1761 and 1789 and had one slave. He was the only Jacob Lawson in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 73 3/4 cents.
• Elijah Lawson, no land, one white poll, no black polls. Elijah was born between 1761 and 1789. He was the only Elijah Lawson in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 12 1/2 cents.
• Isham Lawson, 100 acres, one white poll, no black polls. Isham was born between 1761 and 1789. He was the only Isham Lawson in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 25 cents.
• Peter Lawson, 100 acres, one white poll, no black polls. Peter was born between 1761 and 1789. He was the only Peter Lawson in Hawkins County in 1810. The tax on this would have been 25 cents.
• William Lawson, 200 acres no white polls, no black polls. Therefore, he was 50 or older and was born before 1761. He was the only William Lawson in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 25 cents.
• Isham Reynolds (husband of William Hinton’s daughter, Anne), 300 acres, no white polls, no black polls.  Therefore, he was 50 or older and was born before 1761. He was the only Isham Reynolds in Hawkins County. The tax on this would have been 37.5 cents.

Next Steps

Look for Haskins, Hinton, Lawson, and Reynolds surnames on tax lists for other years in Hawkins County.

The post Hawkins County, Tennessee 1810 Tax List appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

The FGS 2014 Conference in San Antonio is approaching fast. For those unfamiliar, this is the national genealogy conference put on by the Federation of Genealogical Societies. You don’t have to be a member of FGS or a member of any genealogical society to attend; it is open to anyone interested in genealogical research. The conference begins on August 27, so I wanted to go ahead and start planning my schedule. I’m doing this in Evernote, so that I will have access to it on my tablet, phone, or laptop. I could use the conference app, but that only lets me make one choice per time slot and I like to have a backup, in case I change my mind at the last minute.

Create a table in Evernote

I start by creating a new note in Evernote with a simple table that has the following headings:

• Time
• Choice
• Speaker
• Title
• Description

Look for “Must-See” Program Speakers

Next, I look at the list of program speakers to see which of my “must-see” speakers are presenting at this conference.  For me, those speakers are Elizabeth Shown Mills, Tom Jones, Mark Lowe, Judy Russell, Josh Taylor, and Curt Witcher.  I won’t necessarily attend every session they present, but I do want to make sure they get slotted in first.  Looking at speakers, I found 11 sessions that I might want to attend.

• Elizabeth Shown Mills – Poor? Black? Female? Southern Research Strategies
• Elizabeth Shown Mills – Finding Origins & Birth Families: Methods that Work
• Elizabeth Shown Mills – Okay I “Got the Neighbors” – Now What Do I Do With Them?
• Tom Jones – Inferential Genealogy
• Tom Jones – Can a Complex Problem be Solved Solely Online?
• Mark Lowe – Finding Hidden Manuscripts Throughout the Trans-Mississippi South
• Mark Lowe – Home Guards, Confederate Soldiers, and Galvanized Yankees
• Mark Lowe – Davy Crockett: Following the Trail from Limestone to Texas
• Judy Russell – A Family for Isabella: Indirect Evidence from Texas back to Mississippi
• Judy Russell – That Scoundrel George: Tracking a Black Sheep Texas Ancestor
• Josh Taylor – Embracing Technology: Tools You Can Use Today to Move Your Society into Virtual Space
• Josh Taylor – Diving Into Archives: Uncovering ArchiveFinder and ArchiveGrid
• Curt Witcher – From Bayonets to Bombshells: Often Forgotten Online Sources for Documenting the Military Service of our Families

Check out the conference tracks

Next I look at the tracks offered for the conference.  FGS 2014 has 26 tracks.  The classes I most enjoy tend to fall into these categories:  Methodology, Research Strategies, DNA, Southern Strategies, Writing/Publishing.  Looking at the these tracks, I found four more classes.

• Methodology – Making Sense of it All: Critical Thinking for Genealogists
• Technology Genetics/DNA – DNA Case Studies: Analyzing Test Results
• Technology Genetics/DNA – Using Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and XDNA
• Writing/Publishing – Social History and Genealogy: Writing Family Narrative

Fill in remaining time slots

Lastly, I go through the schedule day-by-day and look at the options for any time slots I have remaining.

• Friday 10:15 – After Mustering Out: Researching Civil War Veterans
• Friday 1:15 – Guardianship: Look Closer at the Documents
• Saturday 8:30 – Epidemics and Pandemics: Their Impact on our Research
• Saturday 3:00 – Research Gems: Southern and Western Historical and Sociological Journals
• Saturday 3:00 – Digital Storytelling for Genealogists
• Saturday 4:15 – Huguenots: Migration, Emigration, Location, and Contribution

So, that’s a first and second choice for most time slots.  I’ll make final decisions about which sessions to attend when the syllabi are available.  I always make a few last-minute changes and end up attending something that wasn’t even on my list.  Plans are made to be changed.

The post Planning My FGS 2014 Conference Schedule appeared first on Tonia's Roots.

This is part of an occasional series in which  I process information from a book called Marriage and Death Notices from Extant Asheville, N. C. Newspapers 1840-1870 An Index. I consulted this book  last year at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.  I have lots of people from in and around Asheville, so I was able to get copies of 24 pages that had surnames of interest to me. Today’s installment begins the “Death Notices” section of the book and focuses on the surname Alexander (all extracts below are from p. 58).

Extracts

“ALEXANDER, Alfred William, only son of A. M. and Susan C. Alexander and brother of Emma and Minnie Alexander, deceased, aged 7 years and 21 days, Oct. 29, 1862 (A. N., Nov. 6, 1862).”¹

Comment: “A.N.” refers to the Asheville News, “founded in June, 1849, and published (with periodic interruptions during and after the Civil War) until at least as late as March 28, 1883, the date of its last-known extant copy. In 1868 and 1869 this journal was published as the Asheville News and Western Farmer and the Asheville News and Mountain Farmer, respectively.” ² Alfred is a 4^th-generation descendant of my ancestors, James Alexander and Rhoda Cunningham, so I won’t add him to RootsMagic (I generally limit myself to three generations).  However, I do want to make a note regarding his sisters, Emma and Minnie; Emma is the next entry and Minnie is listed a few entries down on this page.  This family lost three young children in the space of a few weeks.

“ALEXANDER, Emma F., daughter of A. M. and Susan C. Alexander of Buncombe County (born May 29, 1853), Oct. 4 1862 (A. N., Oct. 16, 1862).”

Comment: See previous comment.

“ALEXANDER, James, Sr., aged 88, a veteran of King’s Mountain, June 29, 1844, on Swannanoa, Buncombe County, (H. M., July 5, 1844).”

Comment: “H. M.”refers to the Highland Messenger: Extant and almost entirely complete from June 5, 1840, until some point between August 17, 1848, and September 27, 1849.” ³

This is the James Alexander who married Rhoda Cunningham.

To Do:  look for original image copy of death notice & probate records, if any.

“ALEXANDER, James Washington, aged about 40, June 27, 1859, at his residence on Swannanoa (A. N., June 30, 1859).

Comment:  At this time, he is unknown to me, but since he’s an Alexander who lived on Swannanoa, I bet he’s kinfolk.

To Do:  determine the identity of James Washington Alexander.

“ALEXANDER, John, one of the oldest citizens of Buncombe County, n.d., at his residence on Swannanoa (A. N., Feb. 5, 1857).”

Comment:  This is John C. Alexander, son of James Alexander and Rhoda Cunningham.

To Do:  look for probate records, if any.

“ALEXANDER, Mrs. Leah, wife of William D. Alexander, March 18, 1842, on Swannano, Buncombe County (H. M., March 25, 1842).”

Comment:  This is Leah Burgin, daughter of John Burgin and Elizabeth Mann.

To Do:  look for original image copy of death notice & probate records, if any.

“ALEXANDER, Minnie, daughter of A. M. and Susan C. Alexander of Buncombe County, n.d. (A. N., Oct. 16, 1862).”

Comment: See above comment under Alfred William.

“ALEXANDER, Mrs. Nancy, relict of the late Col. J.M. Alexander, Jan. 14, 1862, at her residence 8 miles north of Asheville (A.N., Jan. 16, 1862).

Comment: This is Nancy Foster, wife of James Mitchell Alexander.

To do: look for probate records.

Clues to be Pursued

Some issues of the Highland Messenger are available online as part of the Digital North Carolina Collection, so seek image copies of the death notices from that publication.

Work Plan

• Look for images from the original papers at the North Carolina Digital Collection.  http://digitalnc.org/collections/newspapers

o   James Alexander, Sr.

o   Mrs. Leah Alexander

• Then look in the North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970 and/or North Carolina, Estate Files, 1663-1979 .

o   James Alexander, Sr.

o   Mrs. Leah Alexander

o   Mrs. Nancy Alexander

The post Some Alexander Death Notices appeared first on Tonia's Roots.