Tuesday’s Tip

Online Family Trees as Proof

Family history research has been a fascinating and rewarding journey and a fun filled hobby that has kept me involved since I retired several years ago. Since I began researching family over fifteen years ago there have been new records, tools and research methods made available for researchers. Research methods that have been tested and tried by others are valuable for anyone who is researching family. Family history is about sharing, connections and collaboration. Where would family history research be if we didn’t share with others making those important family connections? However, as it is with any project there are those who take the short cut in researching family. It is easy to grab information from others family trees and claim it as our own. We must be cautious in using information from online family trees.

There is nothing, in genealogical research, more frustrating than to search for an ancestor and then the search result comes up and the source is an online family tree. Then to top that off there are numerous family trees with the same information in their tree with no sources to back up the information. I have found while looking through my DNA match list the same method is used in those family trees when there is a tree available. Recently I had a match on my Burnett line and was excited to see that match. When I looked at the family tree it was exactly like all the other family trees online. A very frustrating discovery. Also, the DNA circles with the same information that others have in their family trees. It is a cycle that continues to be repeated. It would be a very exciting to discovery to find a match that would have one record that will link Jordan Lee to his parents, and have the probate record or any record as proof of the parentage.

There are family trees that have parents too young to have children, and children attached to parents where there is no proof of the parentage. There are family trees with people married to the incorrect spouse, and they use a marriage record of a child to prove the marriage of their parents. Also, there are some parents who have sixteen children and some with the same names. Will this trend of errors, inconsistencies or copying of trees ever end? Probably not! It is much easier to copy the information and claim it as your own than to take the time to research your ancestors and prove they are your ancestors.

One important thing that a good family historian will do is be sure that the ancestor researched is their ancestor and there is proof of it. You do that by research and proof of accuracy.

Research your ancestor and find all available records for the period in which you are researching. Make sure the information is accurate. An online family tree isn’t a record; however, those trees may be used as a guide in finding records to prove your ancestry.

When I began researching over fifteen years ago I had very little information on my Lee family. I didn’t know my grandmother’s name, other than she was Granny Eley. My sister who is ten years older than me knew she was Alice Lee married to a Jack Eley. She knew that Granny was born in Alabama. She also knew Granny’s mother’s name and where she was married. With that information I began my journey into genealogical research.

I visited Daddy’s only living sibling, Gladys, to gather information from her, only to find out she didn’t know anything other than Granddaddy Eley had a brother who lived in Rayville in Richland Parish. Which proved to be inaccurate information. The brother was Granddaddy Eley’s uncle, his father’s brother. Aunt Gladys also told me that families didn’t talk and share information. That was a disappointing visit and I wasn’t sure that my aunt was being honest with me and she didn’t want to give out information. About a year later I made another visit to see if I could get her to talk any more about our family, but that visit didn’t produce any more information. She died a few months later so all that history is gone forever. My quest continued in the search to learn about the Lee family.

I turned to online family trees and looked through the family trees that had records such as census, marriage, death, cemetery, land records, and any other records that would help prove this to be my family line. Those online family trees helped in locating records in proving the family link. This was a project that took time and energy. I carefully examined the records making sure this was my ancestor’s record. Those were the days before the mass collection of online data bases. This was during the era of courthouse trips, walking cemeteries, and going to repositories where your ancestor lived. However, the rules for using reliable and accurate information in your research are the same regardless of the period in which you are researching.

Family history research has been a journey where I have not been satisfied until I know I have exhausted all searches for information on my family lines. I have used all available resources to research family, connected with new cousins and reconnected with long ago cousins. Connecting with new cousins and reconnecting with cousins have helped in getting their family’s stories, photos, and records. They have provided valuable information for their families.

My desire is that my family tree is as accurate as any family historian can be when using the standards of research in proving their ancestry.

Pleas Rodden, a farmer plowing with his mule team in 

West Carroll Parish, Louisiana early 1900s.

Ronnie Ainsworth shared it in

You Know You Grew Up in West Carroll Parish if... 

This Genealogist's Christmas Wish

My Christmas Wish

Written by Esther Eley Jones

12 Dec 2013

Dear Santa,

Genealogists have unusual wishes,

As you will see.

But this is my Christmas list,

With this year’s new gist.

I am searching for my Lee ancestor,

And have not found him still.

He moved from place to place and didn’t leave a trail,

So, Santa I think this ancestor must have been very frail,

Because he left no will,

If only he had left a will,

And had not been such a pill.

He seemed to evade the census takers,

And was not a mover and shaker,

Although he was a farmer,

He didn’t own any land,

So, Santa, please help me out here

By finding this elusive man.

Others are searching for him,

So, I ask you Santa, to find him if you can.

Santa, I know you can find him,

Because you travel throughout this land.

All I want for Christmas is the father of Jordan Lee,

I have searched and searched and searched and he is hard see.

And he has been alluding me,

For, for too long.

So, come on Santa bring this man home.

If only I could have him, I would feel very strong.

Another desire of life

Is to find him and his wife.

But, I will need their birthdates

Also, where they were born.

Because if I don’t get that wish, I may become forlorn.

Santa, my heart is yearning

For all this family history learning.

Too know my 4th great grandparents,

Will fill my heart with joy,

So please Santa,

Fulfill a genealogist’s dream,

By completing my Lee team.

Then I will be content for Christmas

And can begin another quest.

For that is no gest.

Merry Christmas to all

And Happy Ancestor Hunting!

Harvesting Oats in Oak Grove in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Photo from Ronnie Ainsworth from the group, You Knew You Grew Up in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana

Remembering the Moment

Silent Thoughts

No farewell words were spoken,

I only knew my heart was broken,

As there was no time to hold her hand,

No time to comfort her as she was rolled away,

Although I knew she was in GOD’s hands,

And only HE knew HIS plans.

Our prayers and comfort for her continued,

And I knew that HE would hear,

My soft-spoken words for this one so dear.

Our hearts are heavy now,

And our tears will flow,

Saying goodbye to my beloved one,

Is more difficult than anyone will know…

_______________________________________________________________

In Memory of Mary Ann McKinnie Eley, My Sister-in-law

By Esther Eley Jones

December 11, 2017

Sunday's Hints

Connecting with Our Ancestors Who Left a Little Paper Trail

A family without a paper trail is difficult to research, to prove, and to make sure we have the correct ancestor in our family tree. The Lee family from South Carolina has proven to be a family who left a minuscule of a paper trail as they journeyed from South Carolina to Alabama. One might say,” be thankful for the censuses and land record that the family left;” however, proving them to be my ancestors have been a monumental task.

Some of my ancestors, such as the paternal Meadows line, left a paper trail and are easily researched. But as most family historians know not every ancestor leaves a large trail of records leading to them. Some ancestors may only have census entries and land records. An ancestor may be one who was listed on a census one year, missing on the next census, or may have disappeared altogether. There may be a land record for a given year then after that the ancestor is nowhere to found. Such is the case with my second great grandfather Benjamin Lee.

On rare occasions our ancestors may have lived in counties where the courthouse burned, and the records burned with the courthouse. Perhaps your ancestors were mysterious people and lived to themselves and didn’t interact in a community; or just wanted to be left alone. Whatever the reasons, for our ancestors being difficult to locate, researching them is a possibility. There are a few hints that may help in finding our ancestors. I have found that DNA testing, connecting with cousins, looking at naming patterns, and researching collateral kin help in identifying our ancestors and proving they are the correct ancestor.

DNA testing is a tool that is used to prove family lines, and a way to connect with living cousins. Using DNA testing with genealogical paper trail I have proven surname lines. I have also found there are some family secrets that are uncovered using the DNA test results. So, be aware of that when DNA testing. For whatever reason, families did not discuss openly or publicly family events or problems as they are in the twenty-first century. Keep in mind there may be a NPE or misattributed birth in your family. I found out from the YDNA test results that the person who I thought was his father wasn’t his father. This is also true when I found a marriage record for my father’s sister. To my surprise, the prospective groom had been married before marrying my aunt. That was a well-kept secret that was uncovered by getting a copy of their marriage record, so their marriage date could be verified. The great thing when you connect with living cousins they may have pictures, family stories, or documents to share with you. DNA testing may put those family stories to rest that have been shared from generation to generation.

Primogeniture applied only to real property, not to personal property. Throughout the colonial period, all of the land of an intestate person in the southern colonies passed directly to an heir in a specific line of succession completely outside any probate process. That is, the title passed “automatically”, requiring no action on the part of any person or court. Likewise, if a will failed to devise a piece of land, the line of succession determined who inherited. And any real property acquired after a will was written was subject, not to the will’s provisions, but to the law of succession. The southern colonies followed English common law in this regard until after the Revolution, when each state introduced its own succession statutes.

In the early colonies, the law of primogeniture (the state of being the firstborn child), was in effect. Primogeniture refers to land inheritance, all the land of an intestate person in the southern colonies passed directly to an heir in a specific line of succession. The law was the system of inheritance or succession by the firstborn, specifically the eldest son. It was an exclusive right of the eldest son to inherit the father's estate. To us living in this era, that hardly seems a fair way of distributing the inheritance. Thankfully, the laws have changed since colonial days. One of the ways for the family to ensure that the eldest son inherited, in the event the father died without a will (not making a will before a death is intestate), the eldest son was often given the same name as his father. The second son was often given the first name of one of his uncles, generally the father's oldest brother. Later, families devised their own system to ensure that their offspring inherited. This was done by giving all children the same middle name, denoting the fact that all with that name could inherit, and not just the oldest son.

In some cultures, children were named for grandparents and parents. Being familiar with these patterns will allow you to make genealogical inferences, identify potential new avenues of research and reveal all sorts of clues about the lives of your ancestors. Just be careful when researching more recent ancestors when using this method. An example of this traditional pattern used was the first son would be named after the father’s father. The second son would be named after the mother’s father. The third son would be named after the father. If the couple had a daughter the first daughter was named after the mother’s mother, the second daughter was named after the father’s mother, and the third daughter named after the mother. These are a few of the patterns the Scots used in naming their children. Also, remember our ancestors might have given their child the mother or grandmother’s maiden name. This pattern of naming a child has been found in my Lee paternal line. These patterns should only be used as a guide when the paper trail is scarce or no paper trail. In some families there will not be a pattern to the names chosen for your ancestors. There were plenty of families who named their child for a friend or a public figure such as Robert E. Lee. The mother might have named the child for her father as the case of Lidia (Hodge) Lee. A more recent great uncle was named for Robert E. Lee. He doesn’t have a middle name, just the initial E.

One pattern that I have found in my paternal lines is that many families were very large. Collateral kin may be an important part in finding your elusive ancestor. Identify the collateral kin, look at the names of your ancestors’ siblings. You can often make connections by studying the collateral kin, and family connections help in proving an ancestor.

There are some key principles to remember when researching collateral lines. One is that names may change, particularly with women, but the relationships will remain, no matter how often the name changes. The strongest ties appear between mother and daughter. This bond between mother and daughter last even after the daughter marries. What this means for the family historian is that you may find the daughter is married with a different surname. Researching that surname may yield more information than the direct line you are researching. The wife's ties to her family are generally stronger than those to her husband's, unless there are ties to the husband's occupation. The Lee paternal line ancestors were farmers and their sons were farmers, as were their in-laws. Lidia Hodge Lee’s bond to her Hodge family was strong. She was named in her father’s will as was her deceased husband Jordan. Her mother received a Revolutionary War pension after Benjamin Hodge died, and Lidia is mentioned in that pension application as an heir. And her first son Benjamin was named after Lidia’s father. This pattern for names is one that I am using to link Jordan Lee to his parents.

Shreveport Municipal Auditorium 

Connecting with Lee Cousins

Thomas Jordan Lee son of Benjamin from Alabama

Thomas Jordan Lee, the second child of Benjamin and Drucilla, was born on 3 September 1839, in Talladega, Alabama. His parents, Benjamin and Drucilla, had not lived in Alabama long when Thomas Jordan was born. The Lee family migrated from Richland District, South Carolina sometime after the 1830 census, and by 1840 they were in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Benjamin, would have been about thirty-three years old and  Drucilla, would have been about twenty-nine years old. 

Thomas Jordan married first Mary Holdridge 09 December 1865. Mary died about 1867, and he then married Mary’s sister, Martha Ann Holdridge, 15 December 1867 in Tallapoosa, Alabama. Martha Ann was born 05 June 1850 in Alexander City, Tallapoosa County, Alabama. It wasn’t uncommon for men to marry a sister of the deceased spouse.

His brother Benjamin William Henry was born on September 27, 1841, in Tallapoosa, Alabama, when Thomas Jordan was 2 years old. His sister Letty Jane was born in 1843 in Tallapoosa, Alabama, when Thomas Jordan was 4 years old. His brother William Alfred was born on October 6, 1847, in Tecumseh, Alabama, when Thomas Jordan was 8 years old. His sister Charlotte Sophronia was born on May 3, 1849, in Tallapoosa, Alabama, when Thomas Jordan was 9 years old. His sister Frances Drucilla Emmaliza was born on September 22, 1859, in Tallapoosa, Alabama, when Thomas Jordan was 20 years old.

Thomas Jordan Lee lived in Tallapoosa, Alabama, in 1850 in Township 24, Tallapoosa, Alabama.

Thomas Jordan Lee served in the military in 1860 in Alabama when he was 21 years old. His father Benjamin passed away in 1860 in Tallapoosa, Alabama, at the age of 53.

Thomas Jordan Lee served in the 14th Alabama Inf. Co. G along with John Holdridge, James Holdridge, John H. Holdridge and other Lee family, friends and relatives from the Hackneyville, Alabama area. At the close of the War Between the States, most of these men were at the Appomattox Courthouse at the time of surrender. Thomas Jordon Lee married first Mary Holdridge and then Martha Holdridge, daughters of John Holdridge, and sisters of James and John H. Holdrige.

Thomas Jordan Lee lived in Chinabee, Talladega County, Alabama, in 1880. His mother Drucilla passed away on September 27, 1895, in Childersburg, Alabama, at the age of 84.

Thomas Jordan Lee lived in District 9, Wilsonville, Shelby County, Alabama, in 1900. His wife Martha of thirty-six years is still living in 1900. Thomas and Martha married in 1867 so the years are an error by the transcriptionist.  Jordan is head of the household and living with him and Martha are sons James T. twenty-one years old, George H. nineteen, Beverly A. thirteen, and  William A. eleven years old. Martha was the mother of eleven children and eight of them living.

In 1910 Thomas Jordan (T.J.) is seventy years old and his second wife Martha was still living, and they reside in District 11, Spearman, Shelby County, Alabama. His fifty-nine-year old wife Martha and he have been married forty -two years is living there with him and one son Arthur age twenty-one and four grandsons. He is married and his relation to head of house was head. Thomas Jordan Lee died September 15, 1916 in Wilsonville, Alabama at the age of seventy-seven years. The grandsons Joe fourteen, Arthur twelve, Otis ten, and Edmond five are probably another of Thomas and Martha’s children’s children. If you consider the age of twenty-one year old Arthur he would have been eight when the Joe was born.

Thomas Jourdin enlisted in the Confederate Army at Hackneyville, Alabama. The muster in roll was dated 5 September 1861 at Camp Johnston. He was a private. He served his country well when he served in the Civil War. Thomas was in Co. G 14th Alabama Regiment. He was captured at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. He was wounded at Williamsburg, Virginia. He suffered from those injuries the rest of his life. He was paroled on 9 April 1865 at Appomattox Court House Virginia.

Thomas Jourdin Lee died 15 September 1916 in Wilsonville, Shelby County, Alabama. He is interred in the Union Methodist Cemetery in Wilsonville. His beloved Martha Ann Holdridge lived 07 January 1929 in Arkwright, Shelby County, Alabama.

Photo added by Kitty Walker Lennard  

Connecting with Lee Cousins

Frances "Fannie" Drucilla Emmaliza Lee

Researching family is a fun hobby, especially when connecting with living cousins. Connecting with living cousins is possible by using all available resources such as social media, blogging, and DNA testing.

Social media is a great tool for family historians and researchers. Facebook Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinerest, and Linkedin are a few of the social media sites. These web-based technologies allow users to connect with others and share information.

Recently I connected with a descendant-in-law of Frances “Fannie” Drucilla Emmaliza Lee. Fannie married Clem Thompson. The living cousin is connected by marriage through this family line. 

Connecting with this living cousin was made possible by this online site, my blog, using Google Blogger. My living cousin came upon my blog in a search and found the contact information and contacted me. We then corresponded to determine the connection. We are related on my paternal line. Then we connected on a social media site and are sharing information. It has been a fun journey researching and connecting with living cousins.  

Mrs Frances Drucilla Emmaliza Lee Thompson

BIRTH 22 Sep 1859 Tallapoosa County, Alabama, USA

DEATH 5 Dec 1918 Talladega County, Alabama, USA
BURIAL Vincent Cemetery, Vincent, Shelby County, Alabama, USA

Family Members
Parents
Father: Benjamin Lee born – 1807–1859
Mother: Drucilla Lee – 1811–1895

Spouse

Clem Thompson –1839 – 1901

Married:  14 July 1877, Clay County, Alabama

Siblings
Elizabeth “Betsy” Lee 1838 – 1850/1860
Thomas Jordan Lee 1839–1916
Benjamin William Henry Lee 1841–1882
Lettie Jane Lee Patterson 1844–1914
William Alfred Lee 1847–1917
Charlotte Saphronia Lee Sharbutt 1849–1935
George Washington Lafayette Lee 1855–1932

Children
Alace Stella Thompson Edwards 1877–1966
Sarah D. Thompson Dewberry 1878–1939

Zackeriah B. Thompson (died young)        

Albert L. Thompson 1883–1935
Grover Cleveland Thompson 1885–1970
John Harlan Thompson 1889–1973
Mallory S. Thompson 1893–1937

Life's Earthly Journey is Complete

The Last Chapter of History

Another chapter of history was completed on December 7, 2017. What is history anyhow? According to the dictionary.com, history is a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account. Do you think of the death of a person or a loved one as the completion of history? There are a series of events in our lives as we journey through life. These events happen in chronological order. They end at the time of death.

Mary Ann McKinney, my brother’s wife, completed her journey through life December 7, 2017, and the last chapter was complete. She was sixty-eight years old at the time of her death. She was a lady who touched and changed many lives. You may be asking what lives did she touch and how did she do that? Mary Ann taught school for thirty-four years. Those who are not teacher/educators may not be aware of the impact that a teacher/educator has on the lives of the students who are assigned to their classrooms.

There were a lot of children who came through her fourth-grade classroom over those thirty-four years. The students she taught were of average and low ability levels, middle income families and low-income families, but to Mary Ann they were all the same. She loved teaching, her love for her students were evident in the stories she shared of them, and the years that she spent in the classroom. Teaching is a tough profession; however, the reward is knowing that you have touched a life and put a glow of hope into a life.

Family was an important part of Mary Ann’s life. Her immediate family was her husband, two children, and five grandchildren. Then, there was her only sibling, a brother who was special to her. He didn’t live his life as his sister would have chosen for him; however, she loved him because he was “her brother.”

She was a talented lady and was as some folks would call it, a traditionalist. “Things need to stay as they are, they work well, and no one should change them,” she would say. When computers were being introduced into the classrooms, she was happy with things as they were and wasn’t interested in learning to use one, and she managed her classroom without a computer. She loved decorating in themes which was a skill she used in her teaching as well as her home.

One might say that family themes are events in a person’s life and covers many aspects. There are celebrations such as births and deaths, holidays, education, occupation, traditions, spiritual, and social. Mary Ann wanted things to be decorated according to the event that was taking place at that time.

Once she retired from teaching, she took on the challenge of leading the senior adult group in her church. She worked with the “Joy” group in the church and prepared their events, such as the speakers and the meals. She saved the decorations from her years of classroom teaching and used those to decorate the dinner tables in the Family Life Center, the meeting place for the senior adult group. She was creative in many ways due to her education and training as a teacher/educator.

Mary Ann doesn’t know how many lives she touched and changed; but she loved the journey she took along the way. As we journey through life we don’t know how many lives we touch. The same is true about our ancestors as they journeyed through life. They didn’t know they would have descendants who would be looking at their lives and mapping their journey. Some of those ancestors’ lives are easy to map and others are a bit more difficult for whatever reason. However, we continue to look for ways to identify them and map their lives so that we can be assured we have the correct ancestor.

One day Mary Ann will be someone’s ancestor who will be researching and mapping her life. Her descendants will research her life and map it as we do ours. It will be an easy task for her descendants since she lived and died in the area where she was born. She lived and died in the house she grew up in, taught at the same elementary school she attended as a student, attended the same church as a child and adult, married in the same church, attended college in her hometown, and was well educated with a plus thirty in education. Her journey through life from birth up to the time of her death was an interesting venture. She worked to improve the quality of life for others.

Mary Ann’s death came suddenly and unexpectedly. Humans are not assured of tomorrow, so are you living each day more consciously. Or, are you sleepwalking through life? Life is full of experiences while making the journey. Are those experiences ones that your descendants will be proud of and be happy to say, "this is my ancestor."

As we journey through life our descendants will we proud to call us their ancestors or they will be saddened by the life we lived? What will they be able to say about us? For each of us our final chapter will come, and we will be someone’s ancestor. How will our final chapter read?

A peach orchard near Ruston, Louisiana
Photograph courtesy of Office of Louisiana Tourism