What I'm up to. . .

Follow me on Twitter

Madness Monday: Finding Jim Butler on the 1910 Census

I cannot find my great-grandfather’s household on the 1910 census.  His name is James Benjamin Butler.  He appears on other censuses as follows:

1900:  James, in his father’s household in the Ball Ground District, Murray County, Georgia.
1920:  “J. B. Butter” in the Ball Ground District, Murray County, Georgia.
1930:  “James B. Butler” in Chatsworth, Murray County, Georgia.

He should . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Monday Madness: Chipping Away at the Baxters, part 2

1850-Census-Baxters-Lowerys

If you missed Part 1 of “Chipping Away at the Baxter Brick Wall,” you can read it here.  To recap, I’ve been searching for the parents of my great-great-grandmother, Barbara Baxter, for several years to no avail.  I’ve looked in local history books, browsed many, many census records, and done more Google searches than I count.  . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Monday Madness: Chipping Away at the Baxter Brick Wall

I’ve written before about my Baxter brick wall. Barbara E. (or possibly A.) Baxter is my great-great-grandmother and the wife of Francis Marion Kendrick.  She probably was born in 18541 and died March 5, 1939.2  She and F. M. were married April 16, 1871.

For a long time, all that I knew about Barbara, . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Dear Genea-Santa

Dear Genea-Santa,

I have three genealogy wishes and if you could help me with any of them, I would really appreciate it.  I promise to be a good genealogist – to make a list of all avenues of research and check it twice, to document my sources, and share my findings.

1.  Barbara Baxter, . . . → : CONTINUE READING

SNGF – Most Recent Unknown Ancestor

Randy Seaver’s latest mission for us is to locate our Most Recent Unknown Ancestor.  The mission instructions are:

1) Who is your MRUA – your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Brickwall Breakthrough with County Death Index

A great advantage to living in the same small town where many of my ancestors have lived for 150 years is that I can do genealogy research during my lunch break.  Every few weeks, I”ll drop by the county probate office and look through one resource.  I knew that county death registers existed, but I didn’t . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Monday Madness: Proof of Margaret Hemphill’s Maiden Name

I recently wrote about my decision to join the DAR.  The application requires evidence for each name, date, and place for each individual in the line from me to my patriot.  I have what I consider to be very good evidence for each fact; however, I am missing one, non-essential piece.  I can apply without this . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Who Were James Butler’s Parents?

James B. Butler is as far back as I can go in the Butler line.  He was my 3x-great-grandfather.

Thanks to his military history, I have quite a lot of information on James’ life as an adult.  He was born sometime between about 1810 and 1824, according to various records.  He was likely born in Virginia and . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Native American Ancestry – An Update

On December 8, 2008, I posted an article regarding a family legend of Native American ancestry.  Here is an update on what I have learned since then.

Several weeks ago, I was looking through the Guion-Miller Rolls for the name “Patterson.”  I found a “Wm. H. Patterson,” who filed an application from Georgia.   I thought that Mary . . . → : CONTINUE READING

Who Were Morning Tabitha Bruer’s Parents?

I have very little information on Morning Tabitha Bruer.  She is the wife of Wyatt Lankford and the mother of my g-g-grandmother, Leaty (Lankford) West.  She was enumerated as “Tobitha Lankford” on the 1850 census in Polk County, Tennessee.  She was enumerated as “Morning T. Lankford” on the 1880 census in Murray County, Georgia.  The only . . . → : CONTINUE READING