Monday Madness and tombstone tuesday

Well I have been very busy so I have been posting in bulk, but posting still.  I'm still in the process of getting everything around to send off for the medical records for Earl Black.  I got all the certificates now, just got to get it all together. 
Tombstone Tuesday...

This tombstone is of an ancestor on one side and he is the furthest back I have so far on that line.  His name is Elisha Martin and he is the father to Margaret Martin Garner.  Her tombstone picture is the first one I put on my blog.  It's in Clear Creek cemetery in Gallatin, Missouri.  There is so much I would love to know about this family.  When did his wife die and where is she buried?  What happened to Margarets husband after she died?  Who is Elisha's parents and family and how did they come to live in Gallatin?  All of these start with just one tombstone.  Maybe someday I will be posting the answers. :-)

Sentimental Sunday

Almost everyone has items that hold sentimetal value.  Today my boyfriend, Adam, realized that some of his video game systems and games have been stolen out of his basement.  It has taken him years to collect all of it and it wasn't as much for money as it was just something he enjoyed.  It is heartbreaking to lose things like that.  In the same sense, this happens with our memories.  It is heartbreaking to realize that your mother or grandfather cannot tell you the stories anymore for one reason or another.  Get them while you can.
I was lucky enough to get to sit and chat with grandma for a few minutes tonight, but I need to go over and just talk with her and grandpa some more.  Note to self: Make an appointment to let them tell their stories!!

Storytelllin Saturday

I went to visit my grandmother, Bernita, tonight and she told me a story about her Grandma Wilson.  Grandma Wilson lived in a house on 3rd street in Maryville, Missouri and grandma remembers her sitting out on the front porch with her corn cob pipe!  The house she was living in had low ceilings.  they are getting ready to demolish the house so the family was able to get some things from it.  It's a short story, but the corn cob pipe always stands out in my head!! :-)

Treasure Trove Thursday and follow Friday

This week has been so hectic for me that I have resorted to blogging in bulk!!  At least I'm blogging though.  This worked out well for Thursday and Friday because I am going to write about the same topic for both.  I am teaching a new class this morning on Basic Military Records and I just was thinking about how lucky I am to have such a "treasure trove" of information at my finger tips.  I am referring to the Midwest Genealogy Center.  Yes I work here, but I started working here because I was here so much that I applied and got a page position.  I worked my way up from there and I absolutely love it.  I NEVER would have thought I would be teaching classes on anything, working so closely with people doing detective work and just overall enjoying my job!  I have learned so much about people and history by researching and it is so wonderful!  If you are researching your genealogy and have never been to MGC, I highly recommend taking a trip.  It is the largest free standing public genealogy library in the nation!  www.mymcpl.org/genealogy

Monday Madness and tombstone Tuesday on Wednesday lol

Well the last two days has been very busy for me so I'm catching up today. 
Monday Madness: I got the letter back from the hospital on how to get the medical records.  I am making the copies of the certificates and getting a court affidavit, so that's on hold until I get all that finished.

Tombstone tuesday:  This past week was an awesome week of discovery in my genealogy and tombstones are no different.  This is a tombstone of my ancestor Asahel Wright and his wife Temperance Jones.  They are on the same stone.  I requested that the pictures be taken and the next day- there they were!! I about cried!  I would love to see this piece of my history in person but for now this is the best I can do.  How wonderful for it to still be standing when it was there during the Civil War era. 

Sentimental Sunday- Just remember....

I went to a retirement party today for a coworker and friend of mine named Maria.  I am sure going to miss her.  She was born in Dublin Ireland and helps people with Irish research among other types of genealogy.  She is going to be greatly missed as a coworker.  Made me think quite a bit though about all the coworkers of mine that have been retiring and just people in general I have had to say goodbye to because of one reason or another.  Made me think that I had better write down memories now because one day I'm gonna wake up and 20 or 40 years have passed and more recent memories have taken precidence in my mind.  I encourage everyone to write memories and stories in a journal while you can.  Think about the future generations.  Would you want to read something that your grandparents or even further back wrote?  Would you want to know their thoughts and what they did?  I sure would.  So read a book on writing and get some ideas and go for it!

Storytellin Saturday- George Wright Jr.

My story to tell today is about a guy named George Wright Jr.  He is one of the new family that I have recently found. :-)  According to the family tree I found online it states that George was a musician in the Revolutionary War.  If you would like, please comment below if you know anything about what a musician in the Revolutionary war did.  So far I have no proof of this but it is something I want to look into.  I may decide to pursue joining the DAR.  The source was listed as a History book for Greene County, New York.  I do know a bit about where information came from for the History books and that is anyone who wanted to pay to put a biography in there and whatever they wanted to put.  There is normally a grain of truth in there somewhere, so off to search I go.

Treasure Trove Thursday- Asahel Wright

Well last night I had a tremendous breakthrough.  A transcription of a bible record is on usgenweb.org that links the Washington Wright I knew of as my ancestor to his parents, Asahel Wright and Temperance Jones.  It also lists dates and siblings.  After that i then found a transcription out of a history book that tells Asahel's parents and where he lived through out his life.  If all that wasn't enough- I found an online tree that someone submitted with that family and traced back to 1610 to a Benjamin Wright born in England!!  Of course I will have to document everything- find all the sources for myself, but it is so exciting to find all that!!!!  It's what i have been working towards for the past 7 years and I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!  I am so excited!  I can't wait to write to the Tioga County Pennsylvania Historical Society and get copies of the ORIGINAL bible pages!!!! :-)

Tombstone Tuesday- Cyrus Maynard Black

Well I am getting ready for the Military Class that I am going to be teaching in a couple weeks and I love to use my family as examples in my classes.  This worked out perfectly for Tombstone Tuesday because of my Civil War ancestory, Cyrus Maynard Black.  A question that is often asked is "How do I know if my ancestor was in the Civil War?"  First you must determine that the person was of the approximate right age to be in War.  Then usually a tombstone is a good tip off.  In this case, this was my first indication that he was in the Civil War.  This is a typical Civil War tombstone and it doesn't give much information.  What it does give me though is that he was in company c, 11th Indiana Cavalry.  Generally when there is a tombstone like this, it had to applied for through the government.  I found the card used for the application using ancestry.com.  The only new information I got from the card was that he was a Private and died the 25th of January 1892.  Using all of this information however, I am able to obtain the service and pension records (at a hefty price), regimental histories and found out that he was a bugler in the Civil War.  He turned out to be a perfect example for my class!! Thanks third great grandpa. :-)

Monday madness- Earl Omar Black update

Well I have a letter typed out for a judge and I'm in the process of making copies of the appropriate certificates to prove I'm related to him.  I also need to find out where to send the request and court order when I get it back.  I am also working on researching the facility for the time period he was in there to include it in the family history.  It could have been something basic and simple, or far out there.  Only time will tell.....  In the meantime I am going to try to track down what happend to the children and why he went to Oklahoma. 

Sentimental Sunday-"Grandma" Louis and Uncle Pete

Today's sentimental Sunday is more of a recent one for me.  The picture I have included is of my "Grandma" Louis, Uncle Pete and mom, Susan.  The Shetland Sheepdog is Fries and the chihuahua is Hercules.  My Uncle Pete and "Grandma" Louis have both passed on now adn I miss them so much.  Louis was one of those women that people will tell you was the nicest they had ever met.  She believed in God and lived her life by His word.  No one is perfect, but at least during the times I knew her, she was awful close.  She was a close friend of the family who was more family to me than some family I already have.  Uncle Pete was truly family to me.  Unfortunately for many years he battled with alcoholism.  When he came to become part of our family he quit drinking and became the best Uncle you could ask for.  Anytime I needed advice or a friend he was there and because of what he had lived through, he was understanding, patient, funny and caring.  He had inherited the chihuahua, Hercules, from or family, by Hercules' choice.  They were inseperable.  Uncle Pete loved everything about motorcycles.  He loved the freedom he felt when riding them.  He was in a bad wreck one day and I rushed to the hospital and stayed with him all day.  It was very hard to see him lying in that bed.  Part of his scalp was pulled back and blood was everywhere, along with broken arms.  By the time I went home there was blood everywhere.  As I sat in that hospital with him I thought back on when I first met him.  He was still an alcoholic and "Grandma" Louis just died.  He was itching to drink but had been staying with us to keep him from it.  It didn't work, he found ways around it.  It came down to the time when i had to take him home and he wanted to stop by the store, to get cigarettes he said.  I went in with him and he got his cigarettes then said he needed to go to the bathroom so I stood there and waited.  He came out and thought he would try to sneak around me to get alcohol.  He picked up the bottle and I took it away from him and put it back.  I told him he didn't need it and I wasn't going to aide him in getting drunk.  We stared each other down right there in the aisle and finally he backed down and went to the car.  Once we got to his house he just got more depressed and wanted to die.  We talked for a long time and I called my step dad to come over.  I left once he got there.  Back to the hospital scene: He had helped me so much after that day.  I learned from him lessons that you can only learn through experience.  He stayed sober for 3 years.  It was the best 3 years I could have asked for in an Uncle.  But then once again, his depression got the better of him and he didn't ask for help.  He went back to alcohol.  One day I was driving to meet a friend to have a fun filled day and my mom called and told me that Uncle Pete had drank himself to death, on purpose.  I about ran off the road.  It's been a little over a year now and I still go through bouts where I am so angry with him, a little guilt that I could have done something and times where I just miss him so much.  His death reminds me of a song sung by Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley, "Whisky Lullaby."  The phrase from the song, "He put that bottle to his head and pulled the trigger..." always comes to mind.  Even in his death he still taught me something.  Life is short- live it to it's fullest.  When it seems like it is crashing in on you, ask for help and pull back from your problems long enough to realize that it will pass.  I realize that this blog is a bit more deep and a bit depressing for a genealogy blog, but it's how I feel and I would have loved to have read things like this from my ancestors.  Maybe one day a descendant of mine will read this and realize that a slice of my zest from life came from these two incredible people who taught me not only through their lives, but through their death.

Storytellin' Saturday

I chose my own blogging heading for Saturdays- Storytellin' Saturday.  This is going to mainly focus on those stories that are handed down from generation to generation.  The first one that pops into my mind is the one I was told from my Great Uncle Richard Wright about my great great grandmother, Ruby Wilson Wright.  Ruby was married to William Arthur Wright and if you read the blog earlier in the week about William, you will remember that it said his wife took their son and left before he came home from war.  It was said that Ruby took Roy to Montana two weeks before William was to come home from war.  Now I can't find why they went to Montana.  Was there family there?  No idea yet.  For a long time I couldn't even find proof that they were in Montana until the nice people at the Cascade County Montana Genealogical Society did a look up for me in the city directories and found him there in the 1940's.  I went on to find a state military card showing that Roy was signed up through Montana and then an obituary.  But I never found any trace of Ruby.  Did she die? Did she give him up to another family?  The rest of the story said that she was an alcoholic and ended up in a facility of some sort, but still no proof.  The genealogy society even said they checked a listing for the sanitariums but her name did not come up.  Did she remarry?  I just dont have any idea at this point what happened, but one day i will. :-) The picture is of Roy Wright.

Treasure Chest Thursday

I chose these silhouettes of my grandma Sally for Treasure Chest Thursday.  I don't see this done much today and didn't know much about it at all until I seen these.  My grandma says she was about 6 when these were done.  Her aunt liked getting them.  I think it's cute that you can see the little bow in the black silhouette.  Luckily I have a lot of pictures of my grandma, but if I didn't i would be thrilled to have even this.

Tombstone tuesday- William Arthur Wright

I am writing about my second great grandfather, William Arthur Wright, and attempting to remember the facts off the top of my head as this is the only time i have to blog today. :-)  He was born in hawleyville, Page County, Iowa in 1896.  I have found him on every census that i am able to find him on- including the state census records- and in 90% of them he is in Montgomery County, Iowa.  His father ran a saw mill and when he was old enough, he ran it and then took it over when his father died.  I found his WWI draft registration card and he did serve in the War.  I don't know much about that part of his life.  I still need to order his records.  What I do know is that he was at War when his son was very young.  I heard from other family members that 2 weeks before he came home from War, his wife took his son and fled to Montana.  He did remarry eventually and have more children.  I hear further that the son came back to visit sometimes in the summer.  William died in 1960 and is buried in the Villisca Cemetery in Villisca, Montgomery County, Iowa.  From the stories and pictures I have gathered, he was a hard working man who loved his family.

Madness Monday

Madness Monday is perfect for me because I will never run out of crazy people or situations in my family to write about. :-)  Today I am going to write about my great great grandfather, Earl Omar Black.  There is a chance that he actually was crazy as he died in the Missouri State Hospital #2 in St. Joseph, Missouri in the 1940's.  There is a possibility of getting the records.  I have to get a court order and find out where to go from there.  I printed out a letter today to a judge, so I will keep you posted on the results.  He had 8 children that I'm aware of and his wife, Iva Belle Garner, died in child birth in 1925.  All of the children went to different homes.  I want to find out why he was in there for 4.5 years until his death.  His death was pneumonia.  There is also some questions about his life such as why was he living in Oklahoma in  the 1930 census?  Who was there and why was he there?  What happened to his tombstone?  My great grandmother insisted one was put there, but it is not there now.  All questions that have a possibility of being answered.  So tune in next week for updates.

Sentimental Sunday

The picture I have posted with this is from Clear Creek Cemetery in Lock Springs, Daviess County, Missouri.  It is not the best picture, but will do for what I want to write about.  I discovered this cemetery early on in my search.  I have family there, but when I first found the cemetery I only knew about one family member, which was Margaret Garner.  I stopped at a couple places and asked for directions to the cemetery.  I finally found someone who knew.  I took the route given to me and thought I had gotten it wrong because of how far out it was (I was new to genealogy).  I found the cemetery and discovered that there was a building on the property.  I found that it use to be a church and now is just fixed up to look nice, but is no longer in use.  I went row by row and when i was almost to the back of the cemetery, I thought for sure I had missed something.  However, just like when you are researching at the library and the books you want are always on the bottom row, there was the tombstone in the back row.  I took pictures with a disposable camera and when i looked up, I saw that I had climbed a hill to reach the back.  The view was breathtaking!  Instantly it became my favorite place to be at peace.  Being a new genealogist I didn't think to look further.  I did find the tombstones directly next to it were her daughters, but i later found that the people next to her in the row were her father, sister and sister's family.  I learned then to take pictures of the tombstones around my families, at least, and all of the same surnames in the family.  This journey was sentimental to me because it was the first time that something was found in person, by me, that was new to our family!