Mom the Dancer

Here is my first preservation of a family heirloom.  My mother loved to dance.  When she was a young girl she took lessons and had many recitals.  Her claim to fame was that she was asked to audition for the role that eventually given to Shirley Temple; but, her mother said no.  Of course this could be a family myth, a false memory on her part, but what gives the story some credulity is that my mother's uncle was Guinn "Big Boy" Williams.  He performed in numerous movies and was a great friend of Will Rogers.  With that said, there probably was some dancing part that Guinn suggested my mother could audition for but, as to whether there is a Shirley Temple connection, who knows.

This photo is from one of her recitals and she is about 5-8 years old.  She is no longer with us and I can't remember what she told me.  This is a 3 dimensional photo in that it is adhered to a piece of wood and cut to shape with a slotted stand.  We have had this on display for over 30 years in various places in the house.  Currently, I have wrapped it in acid-free tissue and placed in an archival box.

The next two photos are of a slip that she used to wear with one of her costumes. This is one of those discoveries that you forgot you knew about.  When my mother passed away, I cleaned out her (crowded) craft room and there it was on the stand tucked in a corner.  There is nothing else I can recall about this (which makes me sad).  With the slip, I have wrapped it in the same type of tissue as the photo; and, have stored it in the same box.

One of her last (non-lucid) moments was remembering a dance she went to with my father.  She was in bed but she had her arms up (as if waltzing) and I could all but hear the music. Her face was lit up and she was very happy lost in the dance.

New Direction

Waaaaay back in August 2014, I read some other blogs that mentioned 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks.  So I revived my old FWPL blog to do that with a focus on ancestors that have had short histories that may not be heard otherwise - those who died young, never married, etc

Well I wasn't able to keep that up because I got a little depressed with that; and, more importantly it was becoming too stressful.  I was starting to miss posting because I was caught up in working on another aspect of my tree and family research then needing to stop to think of a post.  I was also having trouble picking an ancestor because I wanted to share from all sides of my family; and, I didn't have 'a grip' on my ancestors which was due to poor organization.  So, I started to read genealogy blogs and forums that led to my organizing system which is working great (but also took my focus away from blogging).  Then, on Friday, I watched a google hangout presentation, that DearMyrtle hosted (I watched via a Genea-musings post), about Organizing in 12 weeks.

In her presentation, one of her points was that we often forget to document ourselves.  For the new focus of my blog I thought I would document myself and share part of my system.  Another point she made was that we often spend time looking for records and documents of past generations and forget to document the ones closest to us.  So the new direction will be include my preservation/memorial efforts; documenting myself (a little); and showcasing my ancestors through photographs and broader topics than 1 person at a time.

Preservation/Memorial

I use findagrave.com as a great research tool and source for clues.  Amazingly, I never thought to make a memorial page for my own parents and brother.  Who better to do this than me?  Why did it take so long to think of it?  Thank you DearMyrtle.  Here is my first memorial and it is for my mother, Dixie Harris Heath.

Dixie Heath

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=138509957

Documenting Myself

For my filing management, trying to get a grip on my ancestors, I have chosen to use OneNote and, like I said, started looking on the web for ideas.  There are lots of ideas for organizing genealogy; lots for using Evernote; but hardly anything for OneNote - other than use it like a notebook.  Duh.  But every family researcher has a system that is as different as it is the same as everyone else.   I had seen some of DearMrytle's organizing information before which helped a lot with my system.  Below are my the The most important thing they did was get me to stop and think what I really wanted to do.

First, I want to be as digital with my information as possible.  Second, I use my flash drive a lot, and as a back up, so it needs to be mirrored with OneNote.  Third, and finally, I am not a certified genealogist - I want my research to be available for my family and accurate but I  to take the pressure off from having research logs, document numbers and the like.  So the most important thing I did was the one formal thing that every professional recommended - I made a numbered list of my family tree (ahnentafel).  The second was to create a master index of my system which OneNote lets me create link to the section from it.  So here is part one -

OneNote

One binder, named History of Family, which has five notebooks that have a varied number of section groups and each has sections that are broken into pages.

The notebooks are:

0 Start Here

1 Paternal

2 Maternal

3 DNA

4 Ancestry working files/trees

So here is the first part of the index-

0 Start Here Section

Purpose is to be point from which research is decided; it is to have the Ahnentafel in groups and generations to help guide research; it is, also, to have basic tools, ideas, notes and resources

Section 1: Start Here - End Here

Page 1:  Master Index

Page 2:  To Do

Page 3:  Instructions - how I set up something so I don't re-invent wheels

Page 4:  Simple Ahnentafel - just the numbers and names

Page 5:  Ahnentafel + Family Groups - Generations 1-3

subpage 1:  Generation 4

subpage 2:  Generation 5

subpage 3:  Generation 6 - Paternal

subpage 4:  Generation 7 - Maternal

Page 6:  familysearch.org Numbers

Page 7:  Completed To Do - not everyday things but large project to have for review

Page 8:  Jottings

Section 2: Timelines

Page 1:  How To make timeline using Microsoft Excel

Page 2:  Kathleen Heath timeline

Section 3:  Basic Tools

Page 1: First Steps

Page 2: Organization

Page 3: Source Documentation

Page 4: Toolbox

Page 5: Tree Template

Page 6: Family Template

Page 7: Checklist Template

Section 4:  Geographic

Page 1: Gibson county, TN

Page 2: Rutherford county, TN

Page 3: County Maps

Section 5:  Sources

Page 1: Notes

Page 2: Gibson, TN Census

Section 6: Working Ideas

Section 7: Blog:

Section 8: Preservation-Memorial

Group 2: Heather's Tree

As you can see the last sections still need some work but good filing system is able to be flexible.

Thanks for listening!

http://www.geneamusings.com/2014/11/dearmyrtles-3-months-to-better.html

http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2009/01/finally-get-organized-jan-2009.html

http://paperlessgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/11/well-ive-started-using-microsofts.html

http://janasgenealogyandfamilyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/01/tech-tuesday-onenote-for-genealogy.html

http://www.toniasroots.net/2012/03/02/why-i-sometimes-like-onenote-better-than-evernote/

Four Tried and True Systems for Organizing Genealogy Research

Pasted from <http://www.thefamilycurator.com/home/2010/7/9/four-tried-and-true-systems-for-organizing-genealogy-researc.html#.VF_GEcmwWOR>

Remembrance of Those Who Died too Soon

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is a day of remembrance for pregnancy loss and infant death. It is observed annually in the United States and Canada and, in recent years, in the United Kingdom and in the Australian States of Western Australia and New South Wales, and in Italy on behalf of a charity named Piccoli Angeli on October 15.

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy_and_Infant_Loss_Remembrance_Day>

They say that anything you put on the internet is there forever.  Here's to my cousins that died at an early age at a time when conditions were hard and medical attention was scarce.  You were born to loving families and you are still thought of today, decades after you graced us.

1844

Died on August 23, North Carolina - Robert Erskine Potts was born about September 14 1843 to Ann Rebecca (Cureton) and Robert Crockett Potts.  This child was my great grand uncle

Died on September 20, North Carolina - William T C Potts was born about January 19 1839 to Ann Rebecca (Cureton) and Robert Crockett Potts.  This child was my great grand uncle

Died on October 04, Tennessee - "Infant" Heath was born June 29 to Elizabeth (Cole) and Richard Heath. This child was my first cousin 3x removed.

1846

Died on March 17, Tennessee -  Angeline E Heath was born November 16 1845 to Elizabeth (Cole) and Richard Heath. This child was my first cousin 3x removed.

1852

Died on August 17, Tennessee - William Heath was born December 17 1851 to Elizabeth (Cole) and Richard Heath. This child was my first cousin 3x removed.

1856

Died on March 16, Tennessee - Julia T Heath was born February 18 1856 to Elizabeth (Cole) and Richard Heath. This child was my first cousin 3x removed.

1872

Died on August 27, South Carolina - Annie Jane Barnett was born November 21 1868 to Dorcas Lucinda (Potts) and David Franklin Barnett.  This child was my 2nd cousin 2x removed

Died on December 11, Tennessee - Son of BA and MD Taylor was born December 11 1872 to Mary Dionetia (Jones) and Banks A Taylor. This child was my 1st cousin 2x removed

1874

Died on March 27, Tennessee - Cassie I Taylor was born September 28 1871 to Mary Dionetia (Jones) and Banks A Taylor. This child was my 1st cousin 2x removed

1877

Died on February 03, Tennessee - Ruth E Taylor was born February 19 1874 to Mary Dionetia (Jones) and Banks A Taylor. This child was my 1st cousin 2x removed

1878

Died on September 12,Tennessee - John Henry Holt was born April 13 1878 to Louranie Adkins (Heath) and Ezekial Hutson Holt.  This child was my 1st cousin 1x removed

Died on November 06, Tennessee - Maggie S Taylor was born August 14 1876 to Mary Dionetia (Jones) and Banks A Taylor. This child was my 1st cousin 2x removed

1879

Died on October 05, Texas - William David Williams was born November 10 1873 to Minerva Jane (Thompson) and William Washington Williams.  This child is my great grand uncle

1882

Died on May 19, South Carolina - Allie Louise Potts was born on November 28 1880 to Eva M (?) and Oscar Wrenn Potts.  This child was my 1st cousin 2x removed

Died on September 11, North Carolina - John Douglas Potts was born on August 19 1879 to Elizabeth Jane (Reid) and James Walter Potts.  This child was my 2nd cousin 2x removed

1900

Died on June 18, Arkansas  - Nannie M Caviness was born June 9 1895 to Elizabeth Dora (Campbell) and William Thomas Caviness.  This child was my 2nd cousin 1x removed

1906

Died on February 20, Tennessee - Kranford Blackmon Grace was born to Mary Helen (Cowan) and Thomas Murphy Grace.  This child was my 2nd cousin 2x removed

1918

Died on August 22, South Carolina - William Wesley Rearden was born April 10 1855 to Aileen (Harris) and William Lawrence Rearden.  This child was my 1st cousin 1x removed

Unfortunately there are many more but their grave sites or death records have not been found, yet.  I suspect many were buried in small family plots on private land and, over the years, those places have been forgotten.  There are many children who appear on one census and are gone on the next one.  For some that do not appear on any documents the only clue we have is on the 1900 census where the mother was asked how many children were born to her and how many are presently living.  Often you will find a discrepancy with the known children and what she said.  For example:  My mother's grandmother by birth, Mabel Derrick, has indicated on the 1900 census that she has given birth to 3 children however only 2 of the children can be found.

Robert D. Campbell

(Sorry for not posting last week, I got embroiled in trying to figure out possible DNA matching -- slow process but some progress.)

He was born in 1842 in Gibson County, Tennessee, USA as the fifth child of Robert C Campbell Sr and Sarah T Lyon (or Lyons). He had six siblings, namely: Mary L, Sarah Elizabeth, Susan Adline, Almarinda Etna, Eliza Jane, and John Andrew. He died on 08 Jun 1862 at the age of 20.  He is my Great Grand Uncle on my father's side, brother to my great grandmother Eliza Jane Campbell.

There is little, actual, documentation for Robert.
     He appears on the 1850 census, age 8, with his family in Gibson county, Tennessee

     Then on the 1860 census, age 18, with his younger brother (John Andrew Campbell) and next door is his 2nd oldest sister (Sarah Elizabeth Lyons) in Magazine, Yell county, Arkansas.   These are the only two documents that I can tie directly to him because of his age and family group.

His parents are not showing up in the 1860 census - either by themselves or with family members. I presume that they have died, yet grave sites can not be located. The last record I have of his father, Robert C Campbell, is a land grant of 34 acres in Gibson, Tennessee on 1 January 1856.  And the last record of his mother is the 1850 census. So something happened between 1856 Tennessee and 1860 Arkansas that caused young Robert to take his 12 year old brother and move with, or take to, his sister in Arkansas.  And as I write this, I am reviewing the 1860 census and something is a little off.

On a census there is a column to number the family visited.  The next column lists the names of that family. Generally speaking, the head of the family is listed first followed by the spouse, their children and then any other family members, boarders or servants.  Now, census' are great documents but sometimes the enumerators were tired, bad spellers or just slack(ish) plus the head of the family may not want to be bothered with the time to do the census.  So sometimes the ages or names of the family members are off from census to census.  Then you have the indexers - a WONDERFUL bunch of volunteers through the years that have worked tirelessly to interpret the names and information on documents that were not kept in the best conditions and so on.  But there are errors and it takes looking at the specific census in the light of the whole family. And, many times, going back and looking at the census again.

Back to the 1860 census in Arkansas - I just noticed that Sarah's family is listed as family #341 with her husband's occupation as a Farmer with real estate valued at $1700.  Robert D (and John Andrew) is listed as family #342 whose occupation is Farm Laborer but with no real estate; and, with them is a family named Jones whose occupation is a Farmer with real estate valued at $2000.  That doesn't make sense for family #342 to have a property-less 18 year old listed first and then the landowner and his family.  I believe that Robert D Campbell and John Andrew are not next door but in the household with his sister, Sarah, who is taking care of them until they reach the age of majority.

Sadly, that is not going to be the case for Robert.  The only other mentions I found for him have to do with the Civil War.  As you can imagine the given name Robert and the surname Campbell are pretty common.  There is a young man, named Robert D, Campbell, that served in the Confederate Army, 1st Regiment, Arkansas Mounted Rifles, Company H (Yell county) as a Private who enlisted in 1861, this is more than likely him but there is not an age or birth date.  There is a grave marker for a young man named Robert Campbell who died 8th of June 1862, inscribed aged 20 years, in the Union Cemetery, Forest City, Missouri.

Looking at the history of 1st Regiment, they first saw battle in August 1861 at the Battle of Wilson's Creek near Springfield, Missouri and then moved northwestward to the Missouri border to help fight the pro-Union Cherokee soldiers, September through October 1861.  And then back to northwest Arkansas for the Battle of Pea Ridge in March of 1862.  I will have to do more research into the regiment but it looks like Robert may have been wounded or captured at one of these battles and then, consequently, died.

Interesting side note - I was born 100 years (and 1 day) after he died.

Etta Mae Derrick

Ancestor # 5

     Etta Mae Derrick was born in Nov 1890 in Texas, USA as the second child of John B. Derrick and Mabell Derrick. Her parents were first cousins. She had one sibling, John Cleo Derrick.

     She lived in Knox, Texas, USA on 01 Jun 1900.

     She lived in Austin, Travis, Texas, USA on 15 Apr 1910

     She lived in Harmony, Lea, New Mexico, USA on 01 Jan 1920.

     She died on 15 May 1924 in Tatum, Lea County, New Mexico, USA.


     The first 4 ancestor's of this blog, have been from each side of my lineage, two from mom and two from dad. Today's ancestor is from a third side of my lineage, my mother's biological mother. Etta Mae is my biological grandmother.

     If you're curious, the two from my mom's side were: Edward Franklin Harris, my mother's cousin, her adopted father's nephew; and, Junius Leatherwood, her grand uncle, her adopted mother's uncle.

     This is the story of how my brother and I pieced together who my mother's biological mother was. First a little history, obviously my mother was adopted but she was adopted to the same family with her fraternal twin brother (our uncle Ted), clue #1. In 2010, when my brother first started his tree he found a note from that twin that was written, on behalf of my mother, when she needed to obtain a birth certificate and passport for travel overseas.

     In the note, my uncle stated that mom's birth name was Betty Derrick, and that adoption papers had been lost in a fire at the courthouse in Wichita county where the adopted family lived and raised the twins, clue #2. My brother went online to several genealogy forums and asked for help. A fellow researcher finally replied that they had found an entry in the Texas Birth Index for an Etta Derrick that gave birth to twins on the date of my mom's birth, certificates 6495 and 6496, clue #3. Doing some research, my brother found the above Etta Mae Derrick. He also found that her grandparents (our alleged great grandparents) were, George Washington Derrick and Talitha Alabama Fry, clue #4.

     At this point, everything is still conjecture because there is nothing concrete - my mother and her twin brother adopted in Dallas county and born in January 1924 and having the alleged birth surname of Derrick; an Etta Derrick giving birth to twins on the same date but in Tarrant County (and no births on that date in Dallas to that surname). And now, this is when I come on the scene.

     Watching my brother have all this fun, I wanted to join in the hunt. No sibling rivalry here, but he took a Y-DNA test so I needed to take a DNA test also. I chose autosomnal testing through Ancestry because that is where my online tree is. Dramatic pause, cue music and lights - my first match on the list and, to date, my closest relative match on the list is a 3rd cousin whose great grandparents are.......George Washington Derrick and Talitha Alabama Fry. Gasp!!!! Could this be true????? I/We have to find more documentation...more clues. We have to have a better link between my mother and the above, Etta Mae Derrick

     From the time that my brother started looking into this line and I got the results of my test, Texas had digitized birth certificates and made them available online. So using many out of the box variations of given names, surnames, birth dates and locations, I stumbled across actual birth certificates for a girl and boy infant twins born to Etta Derrick (no father listed) in Tarrant county with the birth order of girl first then the boy, clue #5. I immediately saved the images to my computer and sent them off to my brother. He responded that's great but I sent him two copies of the same certificate, #6495.

     Oh...so I opened the one I labeled #6496 and it was the same image as 6495. So the index that showed infant girl of Etta Derrick and infant boy of Etta Derrick were linked to the same image? Hmmmm. That caused me to retrace my steps (and of course I had not written down which combination had worked) to find them so that I could see if it truly showed results for two infants or if I made assumptions. Nope, there were two listings - one girl, one boy - but one image. Clue #6, and final clue: I brought up the image for the girl infant, #6495, and asked what would happen if, instead returning to the results page and following the link for infant boy, I stayed in the viewer actually clicked the arrow to show me the next image which should be certificate #6496....... what happened is I found my uncle's adopted information on that image, Texas birth certificate #6496 - his adopted name, being a twin and second born, his adopted parent's name and their address with the information of the correct county of the previous image.

Without actual adoption papers, I do not see how my brother and I can find further assurances that this is our biological line. With my DNA matches, the Derrick line continues to outweigh my matches to my father's side by almost 3 to 1.  Etta Mae is my biological grandmother.

Edward Franklin Harris

I chose Edward because of my brother, Ted Heath, and my mother's father, Theodore Harris. Ted first started researching the family about 2010 and, of course, started with his immediate family.  He found our mother on the 1920 and 1930 census in Texas with her parents and brothers.  Brothers?  She only had one brother, Ted Guinn Harris.  So....who was Edd Harris, age 21 and born in South Carolina?  My mother passed away in 2005 and there was no one else to ask.  Hmmmmmm?

My brother, being male and having y-DNA, got involved in tracing our father's line, Heath, as far back as he can.  He did work on the Harris side but basically names and dates of the primary ancestors.  Then here comes me and I realize how much fun this stuff is.  Ted points out the 1930 census to me and we decide that my grandfather, Theodore, couldn't be bothered with census takers and answered questions with the least resistance.  Edd? Son! Why not?  Since Ted was involved on the Heath side, I decided to concentrate my first efforts on the Harris side.  It took me months to work my way through but I finally found about Edd Harris.  He is my first cousin, once removed.

Edward Franklin Harris was born about 1908 in South Carolina, USA as the first child of Frederick Harris and Agnes M Taylor. He had three siblings, namely: Mary Brennan, Nancy C, and W Frederick. When he was 26, he married Dorothy May Kinnebrew, daughter of Thomas C Kinnebrew and Ethel S (maiden name unknown), on 02 Nov 1934 in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, USA.  He died sometime after 1955 but whether it was in Texas or Oklahoma I'm not sure.

Edward Franklin Harris lived in Fort Mill, York, South Carolina, USA on 18 Apr 1910, he was 2. His father is the manager of a hotel on Confederate Street in Fort Mill, SC; and his mother, Agnes, and baby sister, Mary . Sadly, his father dies 5 years later in 1915 of tuberculosis.

He lived in Fort Mill, York, South Carolina, USA on 07 Jan 1920, he was 11. Around 1918, his mother must have decided that she could not keep her children with her while providing an income.  She heads to Charlotte NC and gets a job as a clerk at Belk Bros and is living in rooms at the YWCA.  Her children are living with her in-laws, William Franklin Harris and Dixie Lillian Potts.

He lived in Wichita Falls, Wichita, Texas, USA on 11 Apr 1930 and he was 21. It is here that he is living with his uncle (my grandfather), Theodore Harris and family.  They have never appeared in the same document or household until this one and never do again.  I do not, nor does my brother, remember any talk of a brother-nephew-cousin Edd (though he was still alive when my brother was born).  My grandfather was an oilman and perhaps that is what enticed Edd to head west and leave his family in SC.

According to the 1940 census, he lived in Henderson, Rusk County, Texas in 1935 with his new wife, Dorothy May. In 1936, his daughter Charlotte Brennan was born and in 1937 his son, Edward Franklin, Jr was born.  Again, the 1940 census shows he was now 31 and lived in Altus, Jackson County, Oklahoma, USA on 01 Apr 1940.
Last time I find him is in a city directory and it shows he lived in Abilene, Texas, USA in 1955.

Edward Franklin Harris and Dorothy May Kinnebrew had the following children:

Charlotte Brennan Harris was born on 02 Feb 1936 in Rusk County, Texas, USA.
     She died on 08 Mar 1974 in Houston, Harris County, Texas, USA.
     She married James Bradley about 1955 in Texas, USA.
     It is unknown if they had any children

Edward Franklin Harris Jr was born on 01 Dec 1937 in Rusk County, Texas, USA.
     He died on 18 Dec 2008 in Coleman, Coleman County, Texas.
     He married Elma J Harris on 07 Jun 1958.
     He married Sharon K Berryhill on 26 Apr 1990 in Lee County, Texas, USA.
     He married Kerry R Hart on 01 Oct 1994 in Dallas County, Texas, USA.
     He had no children according to the divorce papers.

Willie A Parrish

When Willie A. Parrish was born on December 13, 1889, in Tennessee, her father, William, was 37 and her mother, Jennie, was 40. She had two brothers (Benjamin Herbert and Daniel Wilkes) and three sisters (Amanda M, Mary Tom, and Nancy Ruth) with her being the youngest of the six.  Mary Tom was my grandmother on my father's side which makes Willie A my grand aunt.  Willie had a short life and is on only one document that I can find.

The folklore of why this family of Parrishs left Tennessee has to do with false accusations of adultery and secret assignations involving her parents.  The damages to their trust and emotions was done so Willie's parents packed up and headed to Texas.  I do not have any dates for this story but the Texas Parrishs never went back to visit the Tennessee family. With the destruction of the 1890 census by fire there is no way of telling where Willie's father and mother, William and Jennie, took everyone.  There is a 1891 land grant in Arkansas of a William Parrish in Benton, AR; but, is this the correct William?  With land grants there are no ages or birth years, and this William Parrish did not use a middle name or initial. In Texas, our William rents his land, which means this is the wrong William or something happened, again, that sent the family further west with the loss of property and means.

In 1900, Willie A. Parish was 10 years old and lived  with her father, mother, 2 brothers, and 3 sisters.  The family is in Texas in the census district for the combined towns of Brookston and Ambia in Lamar County which borders Oklahoma across the Red River.  This census was taken in June and shows that the family rents a farm being worked by her father and older brother, Herbert.  Willie, Daniel and Nancy attended 4 months of school that year while Amanda and Mary Tom only attended for 3 months.  Perhaps this is a clue as to the family's arrival in this county, specifically, if not in Texas, generally.  Her parents have been married only once, to each other, for 25 years.  Her mother has had 7 children but only the 6 are sill living.

Having just turned 15, she died as a teenager on January 18, 1905, in Paris, Texas, and was buried there in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery.  The US Census had stopped the mortality schedules in 1890 and Texas had not required death certificates until 1906.  There is no record of any epidemics or attacks (Oklahoma was still Indian territory) at that time for Lamar County so there's no way of saying what contributed to her death.  If I had to hazard a guess, since it is in the winter time perhaps she caught an infection, which was common,such as bronchopheumonia, that she couldn't shake off.

She lived during some interesting times though - the Spanish-America War in 1898; President William McKinley was assassinated in New York on September 6, 1901; and the Wright Brothers had taken the first flight in North Carolina on September 17, 1903.  I hope word of the Wright brothers had reached her small farm in Texas; and, she had the chance to think about the amazement of airplanes and travel by air.

There's nothing more to say, but I wanted her story to be told.  Hopefully, I will find further records or stories in the future and can fill in her life.

Junius Walker Leatherwood

1882, 11 April        Born Junius Walker Leatherwood to William Marion Leatherwood (Rev) and Sarah Morrison in Danville, Tennessee.  Today there is no Danville but there is still a Danville Post Office and a Danville Wharf/Ferry on google maps.

 1890                        No Census Records

 1900, 2 June        Kaufman, Texas        enumerated as Walker; being 18; and  born in April 1882  in Tennessee.  He is listed with both parents, William M and Sarah M (both of Mississippi - Jan 1850 and May 1852 respectively) and his younger sister, Annie R who is 15 having been born in May 1885 in Tennessee.  Walker and Annie are listed as being At School with the ability to read, write and speak English.  His father's occupation is Preacher.  His parents have been married for 26 years by this time and his mother has given birth to 6 children but only 5 are still living.  The family is living in Forney, Kaufman County, TX but no street address is given.

 1910, 19 April        Corpus Christi, Nueces, Texas        enumerated as Walker (27) and is now married to Erin (19); they have been married for 3 years with no children.  His occupation is listed as salesman in a department store and he went without work for 3 weeks in 1909. They are living in the home of his widowed mother, Sarah (who has shaved a few years off her age - 54 vs 58), at 721 Staples Street in Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX.  His wife, Erin, and her parents, were born in Texas.  Also in the house is he younger sister, Annie and her family.  Annie is now 23 and married to W. T. Williams, also 23 (born in TX with parents born in  MS), and their young son Lowell (2, born in NM).  This is a sad period, his father had died 10 days before the census was taken which could explain why so many were in the house.  As a side note, their older sister, Minnie Lee (my great grandmother) is living in New Mexico in 1910 with her husband, Guinn Terrell Williams.  Guinn Terrell Williams is the brother of  W. T. Williams.  So our 2nd great Uncle, Walter T Williams, and our 2nd great Aunt, Annie R Leatherwood, are relatives by birth and by marriage.

1918                     Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       City Directory for Fort Worth records him living in rooms at 1417 E 20th and that his occupation is a Motorman

1918, 12 September       Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       Registration for World War I.  He has registered in Fort Worth, Tarrant County, TX.  He is described as as white, native born, tall, slender, brown hair and brown eyes.  His draft serial number is 474 and his order number A2835.  He gives his full name as Junius Walker Leatherwood; residing at 1410 E 19th Street, Fort Worth, TX; I cannot make out his occupation title but he works at the North Texas Tractor Company; and, from his listing in the city directory, previously, I would guess it is motorman.  Here's were it gets interesting as he lists his mother, Mrs Wm Leatherwood, as his nearest relative and at the same address.  Where is Erin?

1920, 17 January              Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas        enumerated as Junius W Leatherwood, age 37, married, residing at 1401 E 19th Street (rental) and working as a motorman for the Street Railway.  His wife is listed as Lillian (27) and they have a 7 year old daughter (abt 1913, born in Texas) named Marie.  Could Lillian and Erin (from 1910 census) be the same?  The ages have a 2 year difference and, since the census was taken at different times of the year which might account for one year, it seems logical.  I cannot locate his mother on a 1920 census at this time but she dies in 1923 in Decatur, TX so she could be with or travelling to another family member's home.

1924                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as Walker, living in rooms at 916 S Henderson with his wife, Lillie, and, he is a driver.

1925                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as J Walker, living at 923 S Henderson (rental) wife his wife, Lillian, and, he is a salesman with Texas Ice and Refrigerator Co

1926                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as J Walker, living at 1125 S Henderson (rental) with his wife, Lillian, but there is no occupation listed.  His brother, Jesse Olin, and family have moved to Fort Worth and are living nearby.

1930, 7 April             Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       enumerated as J.W., age 48, widowed and the brother of the HoH;  It shows that he was 24 at the age of his first marriage and he is currently a construction worker in the steel industry.  He is living with his brother and sister-in-law, Jesse Olin and Effie, and the family have a radio.  Also living with them is their widowed niece, Lucille (Williams) Andrews, and her 4 children.  J.W is listed as widowed but there is a Lillian Leatherwood, about the right age, with a daughter Marie in another district of Fort Worth on this census.  The Lillian Leatherwood I have did not pass away until 1960.  This could mean several things - that I have the wrong Lillian/Marie combination; or, JW and the family is trying to save face.  But I think I will go into those details when I write about her, at another time.

1936                        City Directory for Fort Worth records him as J Walker, living at 318 Bryan Avenue; renting a room in his brother's house, Jesse Olin.  (his daughter, her husband and his wife are living at 3413 Townsend)

1937, 24 January             Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas   His only child, Ruth Marie Westland, dies of broncho-pneumonia.

1940, 01 April              Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       enumerated as Walker; age 58; widowed; His address is 312 Kentucky and this is the same address he lived at in 1935. He completed the 9th grade;  he pays $15 a month in room rental; and, it looks like he had no work or income in 1939.

1942, April              Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas       "Old Man" registration card; Junius Walker Leatherwood; lists Dansville, TN as his birthplace. Very shaky signature; Mailing Address: 312 Kentucky; Description: 6'3", 173 lbs, brown eyes; brown/gray hair; light complexion; no scars.  Lists 815 E Denney as his address but his mailing address is 312 Kentucky. Currently there is no Denny/Denney street in Fort Worth (2014).  He also lists a Mrs Arthur Brady (courthouse) as someone who will always know his address.

1954, 06 Mar             Fort Worth, Tarrant, Texas        He dies as a result of a homicide.  His death certificate shows that he has lived in Fort Worth for 45 years; the last address was 1004 E Belknap; he was a retired night watchman; he was born in Tennessee; his father is William Marion Leatherwood and his mother is Sarah Morrison; and the informant is Mary Louise Leatherwood (his niece the daughter of Jesse Olin and Effie Leatherwood).  Mary Louise records him as never being married and he was being listed as widowed since she was 7 or younger.  The medical information shows that he was killed by a gunshot wound in the mouth; it happened in the evening hours; and there is a check in the box showing that it happened while at work.  Even though retired perhaps he was working part-time.  A newspaper article from Abilene reports that the incidence occured outside a liquor store.  The body was removed to Itasca but I am unable to find a marker or grave listing for him.

On Ancestry, I share a DNA connection with 14 people that have a known relative named Leatherwood; but there are no connections between our trees- so far.

Ex-Watchman Shot

Junius Walker Leatherwood, 71,

retired Fort Worth night watch-

man, was killed by a single bullet

Saturday night in front of a down-

town Fort Worth liquor store.  Po-

lice Sunday arrested two brothers

who they said had fired a shot in-

to the floor of a café next door

and then felled Leatherwood with

one shot when he ran out of the

liquor store.

Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Texas) 

1954 March 8

Eli Wilkes Heath

Why have I chosen Eli for this blog?  And why for the first blog?

First, it is his name.  I like names with vowels and ones that seem to be biblical and Eli is just fantastic (my favorite name is Ishmael).  Another reason is the middle name Wilkes - in my school days, there was the usual family tree project.  I was told that in our ancestry was John Wilkes Booth and Robert E Lee.  Now, my maternal grandparents were southerners with deep roots but there isn't a Booth or Lee among them (so far); and, I never knew my paternal grandparents.  So, I guess, I'm just drawn to Wilkes because there is a sense of familiarity.

Second, there is little information about him; and, he is from a period in which we lose my father's family.    Eli is my grand uncle from that side of the family.  It was persistent work chasing down rabbit holes and then there he was, like magic.  Also, in that effort to get more information about him, I visited his grave site this past week.

Eli Wilkes Heath was born on 21 February 1879 in Tennessee.  Our first record of him is the 1880 census when he was 1 year old and he listed as Eli.  He is on line 5 of page 7 of enumeration district 32; and recorded with family 52.  Living with them is his Aunt Catherine Heath and her daughter, his cousin, Annie Heath.  There is also a hireling, Nancy Heath - I haven't found whether she was a family member or just coincidentally had the same surname.  It is on this census that we get the confirmation that he was born in Tennessee.  As a side note, family 56, on the same page, are the Parrishs (sound familiar?).

Another tidbit - the census location is The Heaths, Gibson County, Tennessee when you do a search, even though the pages are marked 1st Civil District, Gibson, Tennessee.  In the past years, the census was often taken at a central location like the Post Office and that may be the case here.  I haven't found the family's property of that time, but perhaps the land was situated at a crossroads for the district.

Because of a fire in Washington, there a few surviving pages of the 1890 Census and where he was recorded was not one of them. 

The next time we see Eli is in Sherman, Grayson County, Texas on the 1900 Census.  He is now listed as Eli W, 21 years old and single.  He is a boarder with the Bradley family; works as a farm laborer, and went without work for 4 months of the past year. It is on this census that we get the confirmation that he was born in February 1879  His younger brother, Norman Hudson (my grandfather), is in another household just above him; and his older brother, Richard, is on a previous page.  There is no record of his parents on the 1900 Census.

Then, the last place we see him is at the cemetery in Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas.  I don't know if he died in Ladonia or that is just his burial site. He died on 8 May 1902.  He would have been 23 years old.  There is no record of him ever marrying or having children.  He is resting in Ladonia Cemetery, Lot 138, Sect 2-A of the IOOF graveyard.

I decided to visit his grave to see if there were any further clues about his life. His marker is a carved tree stump on a short plinth of logs covered in flowering vines.  There is a crest at the top engraved with Woodmen of the World (there is more but I am too short and there is quite a bit of erosion).  The inscription is

Dalhart Camp No 1214

Eli W

Heath

Born

Feb. 21, 1879

Died

May 8, 1902

My Brother,

Thou art gone,

But not forgotten

A couple of things about his burial place and marker.  IOOF stands for Independent Order of Odd Fellows which is an organization founded on the principles of Friendship, Love and Truth; and, to give aid to needy families and neighbors.  There are quite a few cemeteries in Ladonia and Fannin County and Eli is buried in the one maintained by the OddFellows.  Woodmen of the World (WOW) was/is a fraternal benefit society which provides life insurance to its members. Many of those policies included a fixed grave marker. WOW is a lodge type fraternity and they can be broken into chapters or lodges. Dalhart Camp No 1214 could, and probably does, refer to his membership in WOW.

That fraternal society coupled with him being buried in the IOOF cemetery and a farm laborer, leads me to believe that Eli Wilkes Heath was a strong but gentle man.  The inscription added by his brother(s), and the fact that his grave is next to sister-in-law, tells me that he was much loved.

Family Stories

Well, it has been awhile since I used this account.  In fact the only reason I had the account was a challenge that the library I worked at issued.  The title of my blog was my hint of derision towards Admin (dunh dunh DUNH - that's evil music in the background).  I am long retired from there but now I have an actual use for this account so here goes.......

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

In January 2014, I issued the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge. The premise: write once a week about a specific ancestor. It could be a story, a biography, a photograph, a research problem — any that focuses on that one ancestor. The next week, write about a different ancestor. In 52 weeks, you’ll have taken a closer look at 52 people in your family tree… and maybe learned a little bit more about them in the process. (Oh, yeah, and hopefully develop a regular writing habit in the process!)

How can you participate? Easy:

1. If I included you in the Week 1 recap, I have you in Feedly (my current favorite blog reader). If  I didn’t list you, leave your blog in the comments below.

2. Blog about a specific ancestor. If you want that post to be included in the weekly recap (published on Wednesdays), be sure to include “52 Ancestors” in the title, such as “52 Ancestors: #1 Adah Young Johnson.”

3. The weekly recap is published on Wednesday. If you want the post to be in that week’s recap, please publish before Tuesday at 8:00pm (Eastern). And by “publish before Tuesday at 8:00pm Eastern,” I mean “Please feel free to publish long before Tuesday night at 8:00. Try Tuesday at 8:00am…  or Monday… or the Friday before…” ;)

4. If you happen to be on Twitter or Google Plus, please use the #52ancestors hashtag.

5. Enjoy :)

From http://www.nostorytoosmall.com/

Thanks to my brother, Ted, for getting me started in genealogy.  I love puzzles and mysteries; and, now I have all the puzzles and mysteries I want!  Each week, hopefully, I will write about one of my ancestors or one of their family members.  It will probably be someone I have 'crush' on; or, someone whose story is so small that they get lost in the larger drama of life.  Mostly, for now, this blog will be for my family so that the current generations will have some insights into their history without all the charting and record keeping.

First ancestor will be Eli Wilkes Heath; and I will write about him by Monday.

If you subscribed from the old library days, feel free to stay around.