Blog Relocated

This blog has been relocated to www.toniasroots.net. Please click on the link to join me in the new location.

The Moral of the Story. . .

Since my last post, I’ve decided to completely redo both the genealogy site and the blog and now I’m left with a mess that includes not only a partially functioning database and loss of all my media links, but also a renewed determination to make this thing work like I want it to.

The Backstory

From the beginning, I’ve wanted a website that included a blog as the home page and the genealogy database (referred to hereafter as TNG) as a subfolder, with the two linked together, so that blog posts could be accessed from TNG and the TNG menus could be accessed from the blog. This is not easily accomplished with TNG, because of the way the style sheets are set up (however, it is still the best genealogy website software available; I certainly don’t want to switch). At the time (December 2007), I couldn’t find any examples of TNG websites that worked like I wanted; several people in the TNG forums were working on solutions, but none had achieved the kind of integration that I wanted.

My first priority was the genealogy database, so I decided to focus on that and set up the blog at Blogger, with simple links back to each on their respective homepages. This worked fine for a while, but I soon tired of editing the static html home page on the TNG site and of logging into a separate application to make blog posts (hence the lack of blog activity over the past few months).

The Past Week

I stumbled across a website that integrates Wordpress and TNG exactly the way I want (and also includes some cool TNG mods). What’s more, the owner includes instructions on her site for accomplishing the “mashup,” as she calls it. I can’t really code on my own, but I can certainly follow directions. Oh, if it were only that easy.

So far, I’ve installed and reinstalled Wordpress four times. I’ve edited all the files as directed, but I can’t get the theme to work; it’s just a gray screen. On the TNG side, I’ve tried moving the files into a subfolder, deleting, reinstalling, restoring, repeat, repeat, repeat. Each time, I discovered one thing I wish I had done differently.

However, I made one, almost, fatal flaw. The last time I did a reinstall, I uploaded a gedcom backup. I had exported said gedcom last weekend, before I started the TNG upgrade mentioned in the previous post, so I didn’t think I needed to do another export, as I had made no content changes during the week. In the midst of the upload, I realized that I hadn’t included media links when I exported the gedcom. I’ve tried and tried, but I can’t get them back. I’ve decided I can live with it; I’ll have to manually link all my photos and other media.

The moral of the story? Do a fresh backup of everything, absolutely everything, whether you think you’ll need it or not.

Website Update

This summer, TNG came out with a new version of the software I use to power my genealogy website. I had put off upgrading, because, frankly, I was apprehensive; I was afraid I would "break" the site and I wasn't sure how much time would be required to redo all the modifications I had made. I know just enough about coding to be dangerous.

Since the weather wasn't great yesterday, I decided to bite the bullet. I downloaded the upgrade, transferred all the files to my host, Simply Hosting, using Smart FTP. I followed the instructions step-by-step, until I got to the point where I was supposed to open the instructions from the website, rather than my local computer. I couldn't figure out how to do that. So, I forged on as best I could, but, sure enough, the site was broken. I played around for awhile and finally figured out how to open the file using Legacy File Manager, rather than File Manager in cPanel. This allowed me to click on a link to run a script and voila the site was fixed.

However, as I had suspected, many of my prior mods were gone. Rather than try to fix them, I decided to switch templates to create a new look and feel. I had been thinking about doing this for awhile, so it made sense to spend the time modifying a new template instead of the old one. (TNG users: I switched from template 6 to template 4.) I had always liked the layout of template 6, but I found the brick red color scheme too harsh. I had changed many of the colors in the old template, so I knew I could change this one also.

I'm happy with the new layout, but I still have some work to do. My next post will be about the specific changes I've made and how I did it.

Pre-Civil War Wills

I've just come across the will of an ancestor dated 1831. Each of his sons was bequeathed a male slave and each of his daughters a female slave.

It's like a train wreck - fascinating and appalling, all at the same time.

Columbus Public Library

On a recent business trip, I visited the Columbus Public Library in Columbus, GA. What an amazing genealogy collection! They have as many stacks in the genealogy wing as my local library has in the whole adult section. They also have wi-fi throughout the library, so I was able to post my notes directly to my website, rather than trying take notes for later.

As soon as I walked into the Genealogy wing, I saw several stacks of family histories. A quick perusal and I had in hand The Mackeys and Allied Families by Beatrice Mackey Doughtie. This very large book has a section devoted to my ancestor, Thomas Mackie, who immigrated from Ireland, lived in North Carolina, and died in Georgia. I had always wondered how he ended up in Georgia and now I have the answer. After the Revolutionary War, he drew land in Wilkes County, which later became Elbert County, Georgia.

I didn't have time to look at anything else, but I travel to Columbus several times a year, so I will be making repeat visits for more research. Bravo to the Columbus community for this outstanding library and to the library staff for their wonderful genealogy collection.

Whitener FamilyTreeDNA Project - Family Project Website

Link to the Whitener FamilyTree DNA Project.

Whitener FamilyTreeDNA Project - Family Project Website

Maternal Lineage Updated

In anticipation of receiving my mtDNA test in a few weeks, I've been researching my direct maternal line. When I last posted on this subject, I could only confirm up to Catherine Powell. Today I've added confirmation of Anna Barbara Albright, Anna Maria Keller, and discovered a potentially different mother for Anna Maria Keller.

Starting with my great-grandmother, here is my direct maternal lineage, as far as I can trace it (some are not verified):
Rachel Louisa Johnson
Martha Jane Garrett
Nancy Emeline Brookshire
Elizabeth Tilley
Catherine Powell
Anna Barbara Albright
Anna Maria Keller
(unconfirmed from here down)
Juliana Kleindinst or Catharina Wirth
Anna Maria ?

It is more difficult researching maternal lineage, especially prior to 1850 when all household members were enumerated in the census, but I've found some excellent resources. With diligence and patience, the results can be found.

Zoom. Write and Learn « FamHist Blog

I haven't tried this application of Google Earth, yet, but it sounds very promising and lots of fun. And I have to second his comment regarding researching ancestors using Google Books. I have Google Books on my list of research tasks for every name and have found invaluable resources and data.

Zoom. Write and Learn « FamHist Blog

Wilfong FamilyTree DNA Project Website - Family Project Website

Here is a link to the Wilfong FamilyTree DNA site. The Johannes Wilfong referenced in the project background is my 7x great-grandfather.

Wilfong FamilyTree DNA Project Website - Family Project Website

DNA Testing

I finally bit the bullet and ordered a DNA test this morning.

I chose to use Family Tree DNA, which purports to have 90% of the genealogy DNA market share. I ordered the mtDNAPlus test kit. It's a little more expensive than the basic mtDNA kit, but I knew I wouldn't be satisfied with lesser results and would end up ordering a second test.

The mtDNA tests give results only for the direct female line. I seldom think in terms of the a direct female (or male) line, so I looked up the lineage this morning.

Starting with my great-grandmother, here is my direct maternal lineage, as far as I can trace it (some are not verified):

Rachel Louisa Johnson
Martha Jane Garrett
Nancy Emeline Brookshire
Elizabeth Tilley
Catherine Powell (unconfirmed from here down)
Anna Barbara Albright
Anna Maria Keller
Juliana Kleindinst
Anna Maria ?

I never realized that my direct maternal line was Germanic, but Keller and Kleindinst are certainly Germanic names.

Any cousins reading this who come directly through the maternal line, you don't need to get tested. Your results will be exactly the same as mine and I will be glad to share.

Look for results in about seven weeks.

Revolutionary War Soldiers of Western North Carolina: Burke County, Volume I

I found a great source record last week at the library. It's a book called Revolutionary War Soldiers of Western North Carolina: Burke County, Vol. 1. The author is Emmet R. White and it was published in 1984 by Southern Historical Press, Inc. of Easley, S.C.

It has biographical sketches on many soldiers, including summaries of military service, later life, land holdings, and census locations. Two of my ancestors are included: Captain Thomas Hemphill and Captain Thomas Lytle.

Other soldiers and patriots detailed are:

and:

Biography of Captain Thomas Hemphill

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to attend a ceremony commemorating the service of Captain Thomas Hemphill in the American Revolution. This biography, written by Mrs. Margaret Hemphill Anthony, was included in the program for the service, which was held at Old Siloam Cemetery, near Old Fort, NC, June 13, 1998.

Thomas Hemphill, a son of James and Susannah Patton Hemphill, was born about 1750 in Pennsylvania, and he died May 4, 1826, in Burke County (now McDowell County), North Carolina. During the American Revolution, he lived in Burke County, North Carolina. In 1776, he furnished wagons for the Cross Creek expedition where the Patriots won a decisive victory over the Loyalists. In January 1780, Hemphill enlisted as a lieutenant in a mounted rifle company under the command of Captain Robert Patton. He was in an engagement at Monck's Corner. Patton, Hemphill, and others later joined Colonel William Washington and remained at Camden, South Carolina for some time. Then they marched to Cross Creek where they joined the command of Colonel Charles McDowell.

In 1780, Thomas Hemphill became a captain and led his company in the Battle of Ramsour's Mill, the first Patriot victory after the devastating defeat of the Continental Army at Camden.

After Ramsour's Mill, Thomas Hemphill joined the McDowells and they were engaged in several skirmishes in South Carolina. Captain Thomas Hemphill was part of the force which defeated the British at King's Mountain, a battle which many historians consider the turning point of the American Revolution. While he was on his last tour of duty, his home was visited by some of the British troops under Ferguson's command.

In 1773, Thomas Hemphill married Mary Ann Mackie (Mackey), a daughter of Thomas and Rosannah McEntire Mackie of Burke County, North Carolina. She was born in 1758 and died in September 1804. Both she and Thomas are interred here in the Old Siloam Cemetery, which is approximately three miles east of Old Fort.

Their children include: (1) Martha Hemphill, who married Thomas Young Hemphill McEntire, (2) Mary "Polly" Hemphill, who died young and was never married, (3) James Hemphill, (4) Andrew Hemphill, who married Catherine McDonald, (5) Ann Hemphill, who married Moses Whiteside (some sources say she died young), and (6) Thomas McEntire Hemphill, who first married Malinda Burgin and who secondly married Margaret Hemphill Dysart. Other children may include: (7) Rebecca Hemphill, (8) Rachel Hemphill, who married Foster Whiteside, (9) Ruth Hemphill, who married John Underwood Whiteside, (10) Samuel Hemphill, (11) Rosannah Hemphill, (12) Jane Hemphill, and (13) Thomas Hemphill.

A Gentleman Named "Pioneer Ben"

"Benjamin Burgin, the second child of John & Martha Burgin, was born in Kent County (Shrewsbury Parish) Maryland, November 30,1741 and was christened December 25, 1741. Kent County is on Maryland's Eastern Shore, just across the northern part of the Chesapeake Bay from Baltimore County. Since the seventeenth century it has been the home of a large and important Burgin family, but these were not the only Burgins on the eastern shore of Md. In Somerset County, where the southern end of Maryland's eastern shore borders on Virginia, Daniel Burgin and his wife Mary lived and raised a family on Goose Creek in Somerset Parish.²

Ben moved to North Carolina, sometime between 1765 and 1770. He was last found in Maryland records in 1765. He had worked as a blacksmith and carpenter in Maryland, but in North Carolina, he would operate a tannery. They used the tannin from the bark of the abundant local trees turning the equally abundant animal skins into leather, a commodity much needed on the frontier.

Pioneer Ben (the name most commonly used by most descendants) first appeared in the official records of North Carolina November 18, 1772. It was on a marriage bond in Rowan County, for his marriage to Leah Mann, with Daniel Little as surety and Ad Osborne's signature as a witness.

This bond has been printed repeatedly and many Burgin researchers have assumed that Ben and Leah were married either on or soon after that date. The Family Bible, however reveals that the marriage actually took place three days before the marriage bond, a legal formality, was posted. It states clearly, "Benjamine Burgin & his Wife Leah was Married 15th Nov. 1772."

Records clearly show that Leah was the daughter of John Man(n) who was born c1727. Both he and his brother Robert Mann were dead by 1758. Rowan County records show that both left young orphan children. Under the legal customs of the time, orphans were bound out as apprentices or indentured servants -- boys until their twenty-first birthday, girls until their eighteenth.

The terminology of the indenture order for Leah Mann, dated April 17, 1759 would indicate that Leah's mother was also deceased at the time of the indenture, otherwise the court would not have had to "adjudge" Leah's age. She was adjudged to be five years of age at the time.

Leah was raised as a member of the George Davidson family, a prominent family on the North Carolina frontier. If she was five years of age in 1759, she would have turned eighteen and been released from her indenture in 1772, probably not long before her marriage to Ben.

Benjamin was a prominent citizen of the time. He had close ties to the Carsons, Alexanders, and Davidson families. All of those families held large tracts of land in what is now the McDowell, Buncombe, Burke County area. This is probably responsible for Ben’s move into the same area. He settled on a tract of land just outside of present day Old Fort.

In the Spring of 1774, Samuel Davidson decided to move across the Blue Ridge and build a cabin near what is now Azalea. This was in direct violation of the 1763 treaty between the British and the Cherokee Nation. The agreement was that the British would settle no farther west of Old Fort than the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Indians would later take a bell from Davidson's grazing horse and use it to lure him to his death. His wife, baby, and servant girl fled back across the Continental Divide, down the mountain to Davidson’s Fort and safety.

Pioneer Ben was part of the retaliatory raid that returned to find, and bury, Davidson's scalped body where he had fallen. They overtook the Indians where they were camping on the trail in present Buncombe County and tradition is that the entire party of Indians were either slain or fled to safety in the deep woods.

The extent of Pioneer Ben's participation in the Revolutionary War may never be known. Many of his descendants feel that Ben was one of the "Over-the-Mountain-Men" who marched to defeat the British at the battle of King's Mountain in 1780, but there is no evidence either for or against this supposition. It is certainly possible. No record of any Revolutionary service on his part has survived. Perhaps any such documents were destroyed when the Burke County Court House was burned by Federal Troops in 1865.

Ben was active in local, civic and political affairs. A search of the minutes of Burke County court of pleas and quarter sessions shows that Ben served as deputy sheriff, clerk of the court, and justice of the peace. His office as justice of the peace, to which he was appointed not once but twice (he had resigned in 1788) was a much more important position than it is today. He was actually one of the judges of the court of pleas and quarter sessions. A historian of Burke County describes it:

"The court of pleas and quarter sessions was the accepted governing body in each North Carolina county when the state constitution of 1776 was ratified, and it continued to serve this function until 1868 when a new constitution was adopted. Frequently referred to as the "county court" it was composed of justices of the peace appointed for life by the governor, on the recommendation of the county's representative in the General Assembly. The court's jurisdiction extended to all civil actions at common law and to nonfelonious crimes; the court also had exclusive jurisdiction over the crimes of slaves. Initially, the court appointed all county officers except the clerk of superior courts and wardens (overseers) of the poor. The court also had administrative functions roughly analogous to those of the county commissioners of a later period. It was responsible for assessing and levying taxes; establishing and maintaining roads, bridges and ferries; granting licenses to taverns; controlling prices charged for food; and the erection and regulation of mills. Although the Burke County Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions was not a democratic body elected by the people, the record suggests that it operated wisely, efficiently, and honestly."

In the October 1796 court session, Ben and Joseph Young were appointed "judges of the upper election for elector". Ben Adams and James Fallon were selected. Thus Ben participated in the selection of members of the electoral college which elected the second president of the United States . . . John Adams. Pioneer Ben died April 5, 1823; In the 81st year of his age at his home in what had become the community of Lackey Town, on Crooked Creek, near Old Fort. During one of her conversations, with Emily Burgin, Mary Greenlee stated that Ben was probably buried at the Old Ebenezer Cemetery near Old Fort.

Ben had made a will, which was probated in July, 1823, with his sons John and Benjamin the executors, but the will did not survive the burning of the Burke County courthouse by the Union soldiers in 1865.

The estate was inventoried by John and Ben Jr. September 10, 1823, and Peggy Silvers has preserved the inventory in print (Echoes In The Mist, subtitled The Burgin Family 1677-1989). Among the many items listed were: "One 60 gallon still and 100 gallons of whiskey."

Leah Mann Burgin died August 9, 1837; In the 86th year of her age." Ben's final estate sale was held after her death, November 19, 1837. Most of the remaining items were purchased by members of the family. Ben and Leah had eleven children. Their birth records show that all of them were born in Burke County, NC, but that portion of Burke County is now McDowell County."

Source: http://dburgin.tripod.com/pioneer.html

Esquire

I came across an ancestor (John Burgin, born 1777), who was styled, John Burgan, Esqr., in the 1820 census. One never really knows what is meant by the term in "esquire." I tend to think of lawyers, but apparently it is also used by certain Freemasons. Here is an article that describes usage of the term in more detail.

Esquire - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Butler Ancestors in 1808

Following up on the challenge from Lisa of 100 Years in America, Donna of What’s Past is Prologue has issued a challenge to describe where our ancestors were 200 years ago.

In searching through my database, I've discovered so many people who were alive in 1808 that I've decided to turn this into a series, focusing on one branch of the family in each post. This post will focus on the Butler ancestors, almost all of whom were in the western part of North Carolina, with a few in South Carolina and one in Virginia.

John Butler - He is my 4th great-grandfather. I know almost nothing about him, other than his wife's name was possibly Polly and he died in Hall County, Georgia in 1845. His son, James, my 3rd great-grandfather, was born about 1820 in North Carolina, so John may have been in North Carolina in 1808, but a twelve-year spread of time is too wide to make assumptions, with no other information available.

John Qualls - Another 4th great-grandfather. He was in Spartanburg County, South Carolina at the time of the 1800 census and in Pendleton District, which is part of Spartanburg in 1810.

John's wife , Frances Winters, was also in Pendleton District in 1810, living with her parents, John and Mary Winters. The family lived in Hillsboro, North Carolina in 1800. I don't know when they moved to South Carolina.

Thomas McEntire Hemphill, a 4th great-grandfather on the Butler side (he will make another appearance when I write about the Hemphills) lived his whole life in Old Fort, North Carolina, which was part of Burke County in 1808. In 1808 he was 14 years old. His father was Captain Thomas Hemphill, who fought in the American Revolution and with whom T. M. was living in Old Fort in 1808.

Malinda Burgin was Thomas McEntire Hemphill's first wife and my 4th great-grandmother. She, too, lived her whole life in the Old Fort area. She was seven in 1808. Malinda's parents were John Burgin and Elizabeth Mann, both of whom spent their lives in the Rowan County/Burke County, North Carolina area (Burke County was created out of Rowan County in 1777). They had a son, Robert Pitt Burgin, who was born in 1808 in Burke County. John's father, Benjamin Burgin, was also living in Old Fort in 1808.

Thomas Lytle and Jennie McEntire, another set of 4th great-grandparents also lived their lives in Burke/McDowell county (McDowell County was created from Burke and Rutherford counties in 1842). (I've just noticed that I have the same birthdate for Thomas and Jennie, which seems unlikely.)

Thomas' father was Revolutionary War officer, Captain Thomas Lytle. He and his wife, Susannah Potillo, lived their lives in Rowan/Burke County. In 1808, Thomas was 58 years old and Susannah was 52.

Jennie McEntire's parents were Thomas Young Hemphill McEntire and Martha Hemphill. They were also residents of Old Fort in 1808. Thomas emigrated from Ireland as a young man. Martha lived her whole life in Burke County.

Johannes Wilfong Whitener and his wife Margaret Dellinger, another set of 4th great-grandparents were very likely in Lincoln County, North Carolina (adjacent to Burke County) in 1808. There were both born there, as were all their children. Johannes was 24 and married to Polly Mull in 1808.

Margaret was 15 and probably lived with her mother Katherine Setzer, who was widowed in 1802. Her grandfather, Henry Dellinger, died in Lincoln County in 1820, so was probably there with the rest of the family in 1808. Margaret's maternal grandparents, John Setzer and Catherine Barringer also lived and died in the same region of North Carolina and were both alive in 1808.

Hiram Searcy, the last 4th great-grandfather for whom I have information on the Butler side, was likely in Rutherford County, North Carolina in 1808, as he was born there in 1796 and acquired property in 1824. Hiram's parents, William Searcy and Frances Dalton, were enumerated in Rutherford County in both 1800 and 1810.

Hiram's wife, Anna Debord, was born in Rutherford County in 1804, but may have been living in Wilkes County, North Carolina in 1808, as she had a brother who was born that year. Her parents were John Debord and Martha Edwards. Anna's grandfather, George Debord, probably lived in Virginia in 1808.

The next installment in this series will focus on my Hemphill ancestors. I can't wait to see where they were in 1808. I know that North Carolina will, again, be a popular locale.

Moses Qualls (Quarles) Biographical Sketch

I found an interesting biographical sketch of Moses Qualls in the Rootsweb Qualls-Quarles mailing list archives:

Before the Revolution, Moses moved to the West side of the Broad River near the present Lockhart, SC in Union County. He was a Loyalist during the Revolution, convicted of sedition by the American authorities and exiled to the British base at Orangeburg, SC.

Moses bought land in Union County, SC, 17 December 1785. Union County RMC A, Pages 80-82.Moses was living in Union County at the time of the 1790 Census. His household was listed with two while males 16 and upward, one white male under 16, and 4 white females. SC 1790 Census page94. Thomas Quarles is next door and Elizabeth Quarles is nearby.

After the Revolution, Moses returned to Union County where he lived until the late 1790's when he moved north into Spartanburg County on land he had bought adjacent to his son David.

He bought 100 acres in Spartanburg Co, SC, along the Pacolet River in 1799. Spartanburg Deed, Book F, Page 299. The circumstances of this land purchase and return to its originals owners after Moses died suggested he lease the land for his declining years. The land was almost surrounded by the land of his son David.

Moses' son John and daughter-in-law Elizabeth also owned land within several hundred yards.

In the 1790 Census 96th District p 94 there is a Moses Quails with 2 Free white males over 18, 1 male under 18, and four females listed. living next door to Thomas Quails with 1 free white male over 16(cannot read remainder).

Moses was living in Spartanburg at the time of the 1800 census. His household is listed with one male less than 10, one male 26-45, one male 45 or older, one female 26-45, and one female 45 or older. Spartanburg County 1800 Census, page 173.

Moses died between August 1, 1800 (the date of the 1800 Census) and October 1, 1801 (the date on which the court appointed David Administrator of Moses' estate".

Moses had died before 29 October 1801. Minutes of Spartanburg County Court of the Ordinary, Page 8, contains a citation against the assets of Moses Quarles, deceased. David Quarles, was name Administrator, a chore usually assigned to the oldest son of the decedent. The citation was dropped by the court 9 November 1801."

In the Court of Ordinary 6th Nov 1801 issued a citation on the goods or Chattles of Moses Quarles late of this District decd. Returnabel 6th Nove issuing. In the Court of Ordinary 6th November 1801 the above citation and no opposition made to the admin of David Quarles on said estate David Quarles refused to qualify or take the oath of an admr so the whole business was dropped.

Source: http://archiver/rootsweb.com/th/read/Qualls-Quarles/2005-05/1117075874

Digi-Scrapping Practice

I've been playing with Photoshop Elements (my version of Photoshop was OLD, so I'm trying out the 30-day free trial of PSE) the last couple of days creating web/blog banners as practice projects. It's a lot of fun and the small size makes the project doable in an evening.

I feel like I've learned a lot with each one. In yesterday's banner, I became better at manipulating layers, working with sizes etc. I wanted to add drop-shadows, but I couldn't figure out how to do it.


I liked it a lot.

Until I finished tonight's practice practice project.

I found a beautiful free kit at Memory Makers. The papers are just gorgeous. I learned how to manipulate the elements and, finally, figured out how to do drop shadows. This is something that I might really want to use.

This is so much fun, I just want to keep on playing with images. I must get back to the genealogy this weekend.

Digital Scrapbook Slideshow

This is an absolutely beautiful digital scrapbook that can be viewed as a slideshow. Something to aspire to as I begin to learn digi-scrapping. . .

Picasa Web Albums - TK - Evelyn and Ro...

What's New Last Week

It was a busy week in research, sourcing, and design. I added a photo of my great-grandparents, Newt Ward and Rachel Johnson Ward. I obtained a copy of Rosa Ellis Roberts' death certificate. I added part of an interesting biographical sketch of Monteville Roberts (more to come on this).

But probably the biggest change is the mapping feature added to the website. I discovered that my web software, TNG, offers the ability to link places to Google Maps through GPS coordinates. I spent one day last weekend cleaning up the place names in my database and adding some GPS coordinates. This is a big job and will take a long time to complete, but I'm a visual person and am very excited about being able to see the locations of events on maps.

(Aside: thank goodness Blogger has auto-save, because IE just shut down in the middle of composing this post).

Also new, in the blog, is a list of the top 25 surnames in my database. If you are researching any of these names, please touch base.

That wraps up the week in Tonia's Roots.

Digital Scrapbooking

I've decided to try my hand at digital scrapbooking.

I didn't even know such a thing existed until a couple of weeks ago, when I was scanning genealogy blogs and discovered Creative Genealogy, a blog which promotes combining scrapbooking techniques with genealogy. I was intrigued, but not really interested in doing it myself.

However, I'm not happy with this blog design or the design of my genealogy website and have been pondering what to do. Last night, I did a little browsing on the digital scrapbooking concept and learned that there all kinds of "kits" one can purchase or download for free. The kits contain "papers" (backgrounds), flowers, ribbons, stamps. . .all the things one would use in traditional scrapbooking, but in digital image form. Download the files into Photoshop and you are ready to go.

My Photoshop skills were never better than meager and now are practically non-existent. I've wanted to start using it again, but was too overwhelmed with the thoughts of trying to learn the program again. But I found an easy-to-follow tutorial on "Creating your first layout using Photoshop" at Shabby Princess, one of the digital scrapbooking sites I visited last night.

I played around with a free kit and re-learned the basics of getting around in Photoshop. I ended up with a simple image - just a cropped photo with a label. I ended up not using any of the elements from the digital kit; I liked the image so much that I didn't want to add anything to it.



I can envision so many ways to use digital scrapbooking to spice up my genealogy work. After learning and playing a bit more, I intend to redesign the blog and website layouts, using scrapbooking techniques to create a new masthead and headers. I think it would also be fun to alter my photographs before uploading them to the website. And last, but not least, I see individual pages that combine photos and histories in collage form.

Lots of fun to come!

The Kindness of Strangers

A few weeks ago, I posted about Find a Grave. One of the features they offers is a "Request a Photo" program. Users of the website can volunteer to take headstone photographs and Find a Grave keeps track of their locations. When another user requests a photo from a particular cemetery, the website sends out an automatic email to volunteers in that area, letting them know for which headstone a photo has been requested.

Last weekend, I was researching my g-g-grandmother, Mary Patterson Whitener. Family legend says that she is at least part-Cherokee. After marrying, she and my g-g-grandfather moved to Oklahoma, supposedly to be near her relatives, and they lived there until her death. I knew that she was buried in Wards Grove Cemetery in Foyil, Oklahoma.

I looked up this cemetery and there she was, listed on the interment roll, but alas, no photograph. I decided to give Request a Photo a try. Find a Grave informed me that there were 19 volunteers within 10 miles of the cemetery, so I proceeded with the request.

Yesterday, I received an email saying that my request was successful. I now have headstone photo from a cemetery that I will probably never be able to visit in person and I have confirmation that Mary's maiden name was Patterson.

Thanks again to the kind person who took time out of his day to help a stranger in another state with her research.

SHOESTRING GENEALOGY: Cemetery Research

I found an interesting website with a good article on cemetery research. Based on this article, I'm sure there is more good stuff to be found at this site. . .

SHOESTRING GENEALOGY: Cemetery Research

Genealogy Online for Dummies

A couple of weeks ago, I bought Genealogy Online for Dummies. I love the Dummies books, because they are usually chockful of good information and this one was no disapointment. It has references to tons of potentially useful websites. I haven't started visiting most them yet, because I've been too busy with other forms of research and with working on the website.

But here are some of the sites I've highlighted as being potentially interesting:

www.immigrantships.net - passenger list transcriptions organized by date, ship's name, port of departure, port of arrival, passenger's surname, and captain's name. Searchable.

www.usigs.org/library/military/links/ - has links to other sites that contain military records.

www.archives.gov/research_room/alic/reference_desk/native_american_links.html - information about American Indian resources available from the National Archives and Records administration

www.genealogy.net/gene/genealogy.html - German genealogy pages

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk - the General Register Office for Scotland, which features searchable indexes of births/baptisms and banns/marriages from Old Parish registers dating from 1553 to 1854

There are a lot more, but these are the ones that I want to try first.

Thomas Young Hemphill McEntire

I found an interesting biographical sketch on my 4x great-grandfather (Google search is truly an amazing thing). I knew that he had immigrated from Ireland, but the additional information is where the gold lies. He was the second sheriff in Burke County, North Carolina and was a member of the North Carolina legislature in 1802.

For more biographical sketches related to Burke County, go here.

This particular sketch also connected some other ancestors. I had thought that Thomas Lytle's wife was named Jane McEntyre. It turns out that her name was Jennie McEntire and she is the daughter of Thomas Y. H. McEntire and Martha Hemphill. Jennie's daughter, Martha Lytle married Benjamin Burgin Hemphill, who it turns out was her 1st cousin once removed.

I'm fascinated by all the cousins marrying cousins in my past and, boy, are there a lot. Thomas Y. H. Hemphill is actually related to me through both my parents. He is my 4x great grandfather on one side and 4x great-uncle on the other side. I know this was common in earlier times, but it's just a miracle that I don't have 7 toes.

Happy New Year!