Sunday, March 27, 2011
"Darrah's Genealogical Seminar at Willard Library"
' Yesterday, I attended a genealogical seminar at Willard Library where a fellow Indiana Society SAR member, Ron Darrah, presented two programs on immigration routes into the Midwest & Indiana. He mentioned "National Roads" that made migration easier. He suggested reading William Dollarhide's "Map Guide to American Routes, 1735-1815" (published in 1997). Afterwards, I decided to check out this book of Dollarhide's (I have his U.S. Census book for 1790 to 1920 showing county changes). This is what I learned about one road that clearly links a strong probability of how my WEST family came to Granville Co., NC. During the decade of the 1740's, the water transportation routes were no longer adequate to gain access to new farming areas. The upgrading of trading trails to full-fledged roads for wagon traffic was necessary. Filling this need was the Upper Road which began at Fredericksburg, VA (on the King's Highway that continued along the coast line) and continued across Virginia to North Carolina, but lying west of the Fall Line Road. In the mid-1740's, the propriety governor of the Granville District began issuing land grants to Quakers, Scotch-Irish and others from the tidewater counties of NC & VA. From Fredericksburg, the general route of the Upper Road was west of present day Interstate 85... and then at the state line the road followed closely to Interstate 85 southwesterly to Charlotte, NC & into Spartanburg & Greenville, SC. In VA this road went through current counties of Caroline, Louisa, Amelia, Lunenburg & others right into Granville County, NC. For those of us who claim Thomas West, Sr. to be their ancestor (or apparent ancestor), all of the above just might be extremely important. Thomas West, Sr. born before 1718 and died in Chatham Co., NC in 1808 can first be found in Granville Co., NC in 1750 when his son, Ignatius, claims to be born there in 1750. There is no earlier record of Thomas prior to this date. There exists tax lists & deed records that establish Thomas in Granville Co. during the 1750's with several of his sons. At least some of this line of the WEST have connections to Quakers. Migration routes from VA would bring many farmers from the Louisa Co. area directly to Granville Co. Three children of William Meacham from VA. married offspring of Thomas West, Sr. including Ignatius and two daughters of Thomas West, Jr. Another family inter-marrying West family members was the Buckners who also migrated from Caroline Co., VA where the Meachams were from. Caroline County was south of Fredericksburg adjoining Hanover County which adjoins Louisa Co., VA. This all suggests that (possibly) Thomas West, Sr. migrated along the Upper Road from the Caroline/Hanover/Louisa County area of VA to Granville Co., NC between the 1740's to just before 1750! From y-DNA, we have learned that we have West family connections to Hanover & Louisa County areas. Further, it would seem that Thomas West, Sr. should be found in this Caroline/Hanover/Louisa County area of VA in the time frame of the 1730's thru 1740's. Sometime before 1739, Thomas became an adult; and, we know he was in Granville Co., NC by 1750 making a window of time of about 10 to 20 years! This information may be very helpful to many who might read this since this is how many that ended in Kentucky, Tennessee or Georgia migrated from Maryland,Virginia & the Carolinas. - Compiled by JGWest
Friday, March 18, 2011
"We Can Not Be Related - Our Name Has 2 "p's"
'
Genealogy is such a fascinating hobby to pursue. We are interested in learning all sorts of things about our ancestors and where we came from. As we start researching some basic truths soon stand out, like: the last names (surnames) are not always spelled the same in records and sometimes the name has been shortened or otherwise changed. Names like "Woodis" might be spelled ~ Woodas, Woodus, Woudes, Wooddis or Woodiss... you can fill in the other 30 or 40 variations! Then you have simple names like Phipps spelled "Fips!" Names that are "Anglicized" makes up a lot of these name changes. One of my ancestors is John Kimble that I finally learned was Anglicized in Virginia in Colonial days from Johann Kimmel. Simpler changes are dropping extra repeated letters: Hermann becomes Herman. Another example might be Westmoreland becomes simply West. Many American families of German descent during the World Wars decided to change their traditional German names to a common English name to avoid others having mixed opinions concerning their home country. Schmidt became Smith, Kliene became Cline, Kasper became Casper, etc.
Besides all of these name problems, you also have people who can not spell: Weatlee = Wheatley; Night = Knight; Mathney = Mattingly. Then, of course, you have "typo" or careless errors in copying names for indexes or transcriptions of documents.
You would think that would be the end of it, but not yet... one of the worst problems is having common names to research like Brown, Smith, Jones, Wood/Woods, or even West. Just think of researching the family of John Smith who married a Mary or Elizabeth (last name unknown) in a county saturated with Smiths! When I was a kid, Dad took me to Christian County, Kentucky and as we were traveling he asked me to count the mail boxes with the name John West (my name)... in about 30 minutes of going down this one road, I counted 12 with my name and saw at least 20 more boxes with the surname of WEST!!!
Bear in mind that location and time might alter how common some names might be. My cousin sent me this message yesterday (that prompted this blog) concerning a reservation for a party room at a local restaurant for us to have an informal LONG family get-together:
"I did put the reservations in my name. I should have used a less common one. We have been in restaurants with reservations that were given to another Jones party. So, we started using our oldest daughter's married name, Elpers. (Our youngest daughter's married name is Smith. Yes, it really is. And, then, of course, our son's name is Jones). The lady at the Log Inn laughed when we said Elpers. That's as common as Jones up that way. The owners are actually named Elpers." - Beverly Justus Jones
The above quote is an excellent example of location affecting how common names might surprise you when you are researching!
Genealogy can be a great hobby, but to avoid some unnecessary headaches try to remember that our family's surnames are not carved in stone (and even if it is, like in a tombstone... it may not be correct or the same). One branch of the family may spell the name one way with the brother's line spelling it differently. If your family "always" spelled it "Woodis" and some other family "always" spelled it "Woodduss" ~ suspect that the two families are probably related!
- Written by JGWest
Genealogy is such a fascinating hobby to pursue. We are interested in learning all sorts of things about our ancestors and where we came from. As we start researching some basic truths soon stand out, like: the last names (surnames) are not always spelled the same in records and sometimes the name has been shortened or otherwise changed. Names like "Woodis" might be spelled ~ Woodas, Woodus, Woudes, Wooddis or Woodiss... you can fill in the other 30 or 40 variations! Then you have simple names like Phipps spelled "Fips!" Names that are "Anglicized" makes up a lot of these name changes. One of my ancestors is John Kimble that I finally learned was Anglicized in Virginia in Colonial days from Johann Kimmel. Simpler changes are dropping extra repeated letters: Hermann becomes Herman. Another example might be Westmoreland becomes simply West. Many American families of German descent during the World Wars decided to change their traditional German names to a common English name to avoid others having mixed opinions concerning their home country. Schmidt became Smith, Kliene became Cline, Kasper became Casper, etc.
Besides all of these name problems, you also have people who can not spell: Weatlee = Wheatley; Night = Knight; Mathney = Mattingly. Then, of course, you have "typo" or careless errors in copying names for indexes or transcriptions of documents.
You would think that would be the end of it, but not yet... one of the worst problems is having common names to research like Brown, Smith, Jones, Wood/Woods, or even West. Just think of researching the family of John Smith who married a Mary or Elizabeth (last name unknown) in a county saturated with Smiths! When I was a kid, Dad took me to Christian County, Kentucky and as we were traveling he asked me to count the mail boxes with the name John West (my name)... in about 30 minutes of going down this one road, I counted 12 with my name and saw at least 20 more boxes with the surname of WEST!!!
Bear in mind that location and time might alter how common some names might be. My cousin sent me this message yesterday (that prompted this blog) concerning a reservation for a party room at a local restaurant for us to have an informal LONG family get-together:
"I did put the reservations in my name. I should have used a less common one. We have been in restaurants with reservations that were given to another Jones party. So, we started using our oldest daughter's married name, Elpers. (Our youngest daughter's married name is Smith. Yes, it really is. And, then, of course, our son's name is Jones). The lady at the Log Inn laughed when we said Elpers. That's as common as Jones up that way. The owners are actually named Elpers." - Beverly Justus Jones
The above quote is an excellent example of location affecting how common names might surprise you when you are researching!
Genealogy can be a great hobby, but to avoid some unnecessary headaches try to remember that our family's surnames are not carved in stone (and even if it is, like in a tombstone... it may not be correct or the same). One branch of the family may spell the name one way with the brother's line spelling it differently. If your family "always" spelled it "Woodis" and some other family "always" spelled it "Woodduss" ~ suspect that the two families are probably related!
- Written by JGWest
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
"TSGS Meeting Tonight"
'
Invitation to hear...
Larry & Rena Goss present
"Old Family Love Letters!"
TSGS Meeting Notice!
When: 08 Mar 2011 Tuesday Night
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Willard Library - 2nd. Floor
What: Monthly Meeting
A drawing for an attendance prize
will be awarded at close of meeting...
you must be present to win.
The Tri-State Genealogical Society
will have a brief business meeting
followed by the program.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
THE CAPTAIN'S LOG –
TSGS News
'
TSGS Meeting Notice!
When: 08 Mar 2011 Tuesday Night
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Willard Library - 2nd. Floor
What: Monthly Meeting
A drawing for an attendance prize will be awarded at close of meeting... you must be present to win.
The Tri-State Genealogical Society will have a brief business meeting followed by a presentation by Rena & Larry Goss "Old Family Love Letters." Anyone interested in genealogy is invited... you do not need to be a member to attend the society's monthly meetings.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: This time of the year, weather conditions may cause the society to cancel meetings... the decision to cancel usually is determined the day of the meeting, providing short notice. We will use a policy for automatic cancellation if the Evansville Vanderburgh County School Corporation cancels school the morning of the meeting. Since a bad weather system may develop later in the day (or that night), check this blog for cancellation notice or call Willard Library.
John G. West, TSGS President
TSGS Meeting Notice!
When: 08 Mar 2011 Tuesday Night
Time: 7:00 PM
Where: Willard Library - 2nd. Floor
What: Monthly Meeting
A drawing for an attendance prize will be awarded at close of meeting... you must be present to win.
The Tri-State Genealogical Society will have a brief business meeting followed by a presentation by Rena & Larry Goss "Old Family Love Letters." Anyone interested in genealogy is invited... you do not need to be a member to attend the society's monthly meetings.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: This time of the year, weather conditions may cause the society to cancel meetings... the decision to cancel usually is determined the day of the meeting, providing short notice. We will use a policy for automatic cancellation if the Evansville Vanderburgh County School Corporation cancels school the morning of the meeting. Since a bad weather system may develop later in the day (or that night), check this blog for cancellation notice or call Willard Library.
John G. West, TSGS President
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
"Just For Fun!"
'
The Mirror
After living in the remote wilderness of Kentucky all his life, an old man decided it was time to visit the big city.In one of the stores he picks up a mirror and looks in it. Not ever having seen one before, he remarked at the image staring back at him, "How about that! Here's a picture of my daddy."
He bought the 'picture', but on the way home he remembered his wife, didn't like his father. So he hung it in the barn, and every morning before leaving for the fields, he would go there and look at it. His wife began to get suspicious of these many trips to the barn.
One day after her husband left, she searched the barn and found the mirror. As she looked into the glass, she fumed, "So that's the ugly woman he's runnin' around with."
- Diana Marshall posted this on MyFamily.com for Grayson County, Kentucky. Some genealogy related humor.
The Mirror
After living in the remote wilderness of Kentucky all his life, an old man decided it was time to visit the big city.In one of the stores he picks up a mirror and looks in it. Not ever having seen one before, he remarked at the image staring back at him, "How about that! Here's a picture of my daddy."
He bought the 'picture', but on the way home he remembered his wife, didn't like his father. So he hung it in the barn, and every morning before leaving for the fields, he would go there and look at it. His wife began to get suspicious of these many trips to the barn.
One day after her husband left, she searched the barn and found the mirror. As she looked into the glass, she fumed, "So that's the ugly woman he's runnin' around with."
- Diana Marshall posted this on MyFamily.com for Grayson County, Kentucky. Some genealogy related humor.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
"Who Do You Think You Are? - Review"
'
Kim Cattrall is like many people who may not be interested in following their ancestry back to the Civil War or Revolutionary War, but rather want to know about one person in the family. Usually it is a mystery or has been a family secret. In Kim's case it was a mystery of 70 years ago when her grandfather abandoned his wife & three daughters. Kim's mother was the oldest daughter at age 8. They never saw or heard of him again. They did not even really know what he looked like. The 25 Feb 2011 episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" NBC TV show was one of the best in my opinion and Kim used a lot of genealogical methods to track down her missing grandfather.
Kim found that her grandfather married another woman less than one year after he had left his family. From this she was able to use city directories and church records to find where he had gone & to track down some living children of the second marriage. This was a very sad story as Kim's family lived a very rough childhood, while her grandfather & his second family lived quite well.
My wife had a mystery that plagued her all of her life, but when she was 42 years of age, we found her birth parents' names and found them in Evansville city directories the year of her birth. Then we simply followed them back until her father was living without his wife. Then we looked for a marriage application and found it that provided her maiden name with his & her parents' names. Then we checked the Browning Obituary microfilm for deaths and found both of her parents listing their surviving children. Back to the city directories tracking down my wife's siblings... then we made a phone call and connected with all of her sisters & brothers. From her siblings (all older than her, she was the baby of 7 kids) she learned of the circumstances of her adoption! What she wanted to know her entire life was now known.
If you missed this episode or any of the others of season one or two, go to NBC.com to view the entire episodes.
- Review written by JGWest
Kim Cattrall is like many people who may not be interested in following their ancestry back to the Civil War or Revolutionary War, but rather want to know about one person in the family. Usually it is a mystery or has been a family secret. In Kim's case it was a mystery of 70 years ago when her grandfather abandoned his wife & three daughters. Kim's mother was the oldest daughter at age 8. They never saw or heard of him again. They did not even really know what he looked like. The 25 Feb 2011 episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" NBC TV show was one of the best in my opinion and Kim used a lot of genealogical methods to track down her missing grandfather.
Kim found that her grandfather married another woman less than one year after he had left his family. From this she was able to use city directories and church records to find where he had gone & to track down some living children of the second marriage. This was a very sad story as Kim's family lived a very rough childhood, while her grandfather & his second family lived quite well.
My wife had a mystery that plagued her all of her life, but when she was 42 years of age, we found her birth parents' names and found them in Evansville city directories the year of her birth. Then we simply followed them back until her father was living without his wife. Then we looked for a marriage application and found it that provided her maiden name with his & her parents' names. Then we checked the Browning Obituary microfilm for deaths and found both of her parents listing their surviving children. Back to the city directories tracking down my wife's siblings... then we made a phone call and connected with all of her sisters & brothers. From her siblings (all older than her, she was the baby of 7 kids) she learned of the circumstances of her adoption! What she wanted to know her entire life was now known.
If you missed this episode or any of the others of season one or two, go to NBC.com to view the entire episodes.
- Review written by JGWest
Friday, February 25, 2011
"Kim Cattrall - Who Do You Think You Are? TV Show"
'
Tonight... Kim Cattrall stars
in "Who Do You Think You Are" NBC TV Show 8/7C.
Kim unlocks the 70-year-old mystery behind her grandfather's abandonment of his young family. This should be another interesting episode. These shows are great genealogical adventures, that shows a little of how to research and how the information is gathered. If you miss an episode, you can go to NBC.com to see full episodes for this season, as well as, season one.
Tonight... Kim Cattrall stars
in "Who Do You Think You Are" NBC TV Show 8/7C.
Kim unlocks the 70-year-old mystery behind her grandfather's abandonment of his young family. This should be another interesting episode. These shows are great genealogical adventures, that shows a little of how to research and how the information is gathered. If you miss an episode, you can go to NBC.com to see full episodes for this season, as well as, season one.
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