Family History and Genealogy
James B. Butler, my great-grandfather, enlisted in the United States Army on 10 November 1901 in Ellijay, Georgia for a period of three years. At the time of his enlistment, he was a 21-year-old farmer, described as being 6 feet tall, with blue eyes, light brown hair, and a ruddy complexion. 1 Two months […]
“William D. Kendrick, S 1/c, USNR, son of Adolph C. Kendrick, of Chatsworth, has returned to the States from Tokyo Bay on the Battleship, USS Wisconsin for the 45,000-ton ship’s participation in the observance of Navy Day on October 27. The Wisconsin figured prominently in action during the final eight months of the war, supporting […]
This is one of 17 pages of William West’s application for an Indigent Pension from the state of Georgia for his service in the Civil War. Questions for Applicant Transcript [boilerplate is in regular font; written answers are italicized] State of Georgia Murray County } William West of said State and County, desiring to […]
This week’s Treasure Chest Thursday entry is another World War I Draft Registration Card. This time the registrant is my great-grandfather, James Alexander Hemphill. So What Does This Record Tell Us? Name: I think this is the only official document I have that spells out his complete name – James Alexander Hemphill. Residence: Ramhurst, Georgia. […]
James B. Butler, my great-grandfather, was a foot soldier in the Philippine Insurrection from 1901 to 1904. This card shows that he filed for an invalid pension on 26 Jul 1921. I tried to use this information to order a copy of his pension file from NARA, but received the following message: Please correct the […]
Today’s Treasure Chest Thursday entry is the World War I Draft Registration Card for my great-grandfather, Francis Taylor Kendrick. I love draft registration cards, because you never really know what you are going to learn, but there is almost always some good information. Plus, they include physical descriptions, so you can start to get an […]
A few weeks ago while working on SSDI mining, a 1920 census record for one of my cousins caught my eye (thank you Ancestry shaky leaves!). I was trying really hard to stay on task and not get distracted by all the shiny new records I encountered, but this one was unusual. The location was […]
A few days ago, my dad called wanting to know if I could find his grandfather‘s military records so that he could order a marker to be placed at the new Murray County Veterans Memorial Park. Specifically, he needs Jim’s service dates, latest rank, and any medals he may have been awarded. I immediately logged […]
I’m catching up on some prior 52 Week Challenges that I had missed along the way. Challenge #19 was to: Examine the “Genealogy and Military Records” page on the National Archives page (http://www.archives.gov/veterans/research/genealogy.html). (Non-U.S. folks: examine the military records information from your country’s national archives.) Click the links and read everything you can. If you’ve […]
This week’s challenge from Amy at WeTree is to play with Google Maps, a “a helpful tool for determining the locations of addresses in your family history.” My genealogy software uses Google Maps to map all the locations for each individual within the database, so I’ve never gone straight to Google Maps and used it […]
Now we are well into the 21st-century and every day brings a new genealogy adventure, whether it is a new record group to explore online or a visit to a cemetery, courthouse, or other repository. It all comes together here. Read more about Tonia's Roots or contact Tonia. Read More…