Mystery Monday: So That's How it Happened!

photo source : A Journal of the American Civil War, vol. five, no. 1.

Raleigh Camp taught at the Georgia Military Institute.  He served as a Captain in the 7th Texas Infantry, CSA.  Later Camp become a Major in the 40th Georgia Infantry, CSA.  These three basic facts had been part of the story for my 3Great Uncle, Raleigh Spinks Camp, but I had questions as I tried to connect these events.  Hence, my mystery.  And the answer came through a variety of resources.

Raleigh Camp was a graduate of the Georgia Military Institute.  Following his graduation he taught math at the Institute and was a charter member of the school's chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.(1)

On 15 Dec 1859, Raleigh married Miss Laura Clifford Jones of Liberty County, Georgia.  Soon the young couple moved to Gilmer, Texas where Raleigh set up his law practice.  According to the 1860 census Raleigh and Laura have two bachelor lawyers and a young physician boarding with them in Gilmer, Texas.  Why Raleigh decided to practice law in Texas is still a bit of a mystery although there were several Camp relatives living in that area of Texas in the 1860s and earlier.

From reading the Camp Family Papers of Emory University, Raleigh Camp initially hoped for peace as the slavery issue began to divide the North and the South.(2)  By 2 Oct 1861, Raleigh was supporting the Confederate cause, joining the 7th Regiment of the Texas Infantry, and being elected Captain of Company B.(3)  The 7th Texas became part of the Army of Tennessee and saw action at the fall of Fort Donalson in Tennessee.  Raleigh, however, had been furloughed due to illness and was apparently with family in Georgia at the time the rest of the 7th Texas was captured by Union forces.  Among those captured was his younger brother Josiah Gresham Camp about whom I had written in a a previous post.  This meant that in February of 1862 Capt. Raleigh Camp had been separated from his regiment.

Letter to Gov. Joe Brown from Raleigh S Camp
source: Ancestry.com (4)

It look reading a letter Raleigh Camp had written to Governor Joe Brown of Georgia to understand his move to the 40th Georgia Infantry.(4)  In the letter dated 18 Feb 1862, Raleigh made two important points.  First, he spoke of being unable to return to the remnants of his troops now in Kentucky due to medical reasons.  Then Raleigh offered to be an instructor in military tactics at one of the training camps for the additional companies being raised in Georgia to fight for the Confederacy.

Things moved quickly following this letter.  Within a month, by 19 March 1862, Raleigh has been transferred from the 7th Texas to the 40th Georgia Infantry.  Two days later, he was elected Major in the regiment.(5)

Raleigh Camp remained with the 40th Georgia, serving as its Acting Inspector General as well as in other staff positions.(6)  Along with thousands of other Confederate soldiers, Raleigh was captured at the Battle of Vicksburg and later paroled.  Later, Raleigh would write of his experiences in the Battle of Vicksburg in his personal memoir What I Know, I Know, and I Dare Express It.(7)

From reading family letters to examining military records on fold3.com and additional records on Ancestry.com to books accessed online as well as held in my hand, a lot of resources played a part in connecting the Georgia - Texas - Georgia dots.  Sometimes, we find an answer in one wonderful resource.  Other times, as with Raleigh Spinks Camp, it takes a variety of resources across time to get to that A-Ha moment.  

Now, if I could just learn why Raleigh and his wife Laura headed to Texas rather than settling somewhere in Georgia ...

(1) Nash, Howard.  Sixth General Catalogue of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (1904); accessed through Google Books.
(2) "Camp Family Papers, 1858-1877"; Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library (MARBL) of Emory University in Decatur, Georgia. 
(3) "R S Camp", Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served from Organizations in the State of Texas, accessed fold3.com 
(4) "R S Camp to Joseph E Brown, 18 Feb 1862",  Georgia Civil War Correspondence, 1847-1865, www.ancestry.com
(5) "R S Camp", Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served from Organizations in the State of Georgia, accessed fold3.com 
(6) Henderson, Lillian.  Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia, v.4. Hapeville, GA : Longrine & Porter, 1959-1864. 
(7) "Major Raleigh S Camp's History of the 40th Georgia Infantry in the Vicksburg Campaign", A Journal of the American Civil War, vol. five, no. 1.

Mystery Monday ... But Where Is She Buried?

As I have been researching the Smiley family, I'm been taking the time to see that I have sources and citations for the facts I have recorded.  Things were going smoothly until I tried to verify the death date and burial information for my 4GGrandmother Nancy Tucker Smiley.

First stop was findagrave.com to see if anyone had photographed her grave marker.  Imagine the shock to find two different grave markers.  In two different cemeteries.   In two different states.

Exhibit A:  findagrave.com actually had two memorials for Nancy Tucker Smiley which referred to a burial in the Wesley Chapel Cemetery in Hilliard, Franklin County, Ohio.  One of the memorials was for a Nancy Smiley who was born in 1761 and who died 30 Nov 1856.  The second memorial listed the name of Nancy Tucker Smiley, born 22 Jan 1762, died 10 Nov 1856.  Fortunately both memorials included a picture of the same gravestone.  The stone pictured below is inscribed "Nancy, wife of the Late Rev. Thomas Smiley, died Nov 30 1856, aged 95 years."

Grave marker, "Nancy Smiley"
findagrave memorial #26406212, photo by dave

The information on the grave marker pointed to this being the burial location of my 4GGrandmother Smiley, the wife of my 4GGrandfather Thomas Smiley.  Thomas Smiley had died in 1832 so it was possible that Nancy Tucker Smiley had moved from Pennsylvania to live in Ohio.  But did she, and if so when?  Where?  And why?

It took looking for information about all of Thomas and Nancy Smiley's children to come up with a possible answer.  Ancestry.com had a digitized copy of one of those interesting community history books, Pioneer and Patriot Families of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 1770-1800.(1)  Included in the brief biographical sketches was one for Thomas and Nancy Smiley which listed the names, birth dates, some death dates, and marriage information for their eight children.  According to the book, son David Smiley "removed to Ohio".

The 1850 census listed a David Smiley living in Norwich, Franklin County, Ohio, but there was no mention of Nancy Smiley living with his family.  Instead Nancy was listing as living in Norwich, Franklin County, Ohio but with her daughter Harriet Smiley Laird, Harriet's husband, and their seven children.  At least, Nancy being buried in Franklin County, Ohio had started to make some sense.

Exhibit B:  findagrave.com had one more memorial for a Nancy Smiley, death date 1856, this one in a Pennsylvania cemetery.  The Pennsylvania memorial indicated a burial at White Deer Baptist Church in Allenwood, Union County, Pennsylvania.  White Deer Baptist Church just happened to be the church where Thomas Smiley had been the minister for a number of years.  In addition, the grave marker for Thomas Smiley, or "Elder Thomas Smiley" as inscribed on his marker, is located in the White Deer Baptist Church Cemetery.  The marker for Nancy is inscribed "Nancy, wife of Elder Thomas Smiley, died Nov 30, 1856, aged 95 years".

Grave marker, "Nancy Tucker Smiley"
photo by  miranda, findagrave memorial #36898736, 

Two grave markers in two different cemeteries in two different states with essentially the same inscription.  Surely, one is just a memorial marker while the other actually marks Nancy's grave.  But which?

The White Deer Baptist Church still is an active church in Allenwood, Pennsylvania, celebrating its bicentennial in 2008.  An article in the Williamsport Sun Gazette told of plans to celebrate the historic event, but there was no mention of anyone placing a memorial stone in the cemetery in memory of Nancy Smiley, wife of the founding pastor.  Nor was there mention of a memorial stone in details of their White Deer Baptist Church Cemetery tour.

There are several plausible explanations for Nancy's two grave markers.  Perhaps after her death in Ohio, she was buried in Ohio but her remains were later moved to Pennsylvania.  Or maybe the Pennsylvania marker was added at a later date near that of her husband's grave marker as a memorial to this early husband and wife.  Or possibly someone (family, the church perhaps) added the Pennsylvania marker at a later date, thinking that Nancy had been buried there in an unmarked grave.  I'm sure there are other suppositions that haven't crossed my mind yet.

So for now, Nancy Tucker Smiley's actual final resting place remains a mystery.  Until I actually know the burial site, I'll have to contend with having two different Burial "facts" listed for Nancy Tucker Smiley in Family Tree Maker.  Maybe I should just call them Burial "possibilities".

(1)  Heverly, Clement Ferdinand.  Pioneer and Patriot Families of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, 1770-1800, Towanda, PA : Bradford Star Print, 1913-1915; accessed www.ancestry.com

Mystery Monday: Answers ... and More Questions about Samuel C Dean

Rev. Sam C. Dean
[Atlanta] The Constitution, 3 May 1897
source: fold3.com

After posting about the wedding plans for my aunt Leila Perkinson, I decided it was about time I looked into the family relationship with Rev. Sam C Dean.  It has been an interesting journey, one that isn't over yet.

According to that wedding plans article, Sam Dean was the uncle of my aunt (and my grandfather), so he presumably would have been a brother of my aunt and grandfather's father, William Hiram Dean.  Looking at the family information I have gathered over the years, I knew that William Hiram Dean was one of eleven children born to Lemuel Dean and his wife Elizabeth Howard Dean.  Lemuel and Elizabeth even had a son named Samuel Howard Dean, but this Samuel was not the preacher Sam C Dean.  Samuel Howard Dean had died in 1862.  I had previously written a post about Samuel and his death in Richmond.  So, could Lemuel or another family member have had a son and named him in memory of the deceased Samuel Howard Dean?

I started by looking back at census records for Lemuel Dean, my 3GGrandfather.  Lemuel had died in January 1880, but I still checked the census for that year.  There in the 1880 census was a widow named Nannie Dean, two married daughters and their families, a son last name Jones, a son Lemuel Dean, and a son Samuel Dean, all living at 348 Marietta Street, Atlanta.(1)  This was the same address where Lemuel Dean had lived for a number of years, and it suggests that Nannie Dean might have been the widow of Lemuel Dean  The questions started because Lemuel Dean's (first) wife, Elizabeth Howard, had died in 1864, and I had never found anything to suggest that 3GGrandfather Lemuel had remarried and raised a second family.

Looking at the other sons of Lemuel Dean and Elizabeth Howard Dean, this Nannie Dean did not seem to be a widowed daughter-in-law now under Lemuel's care nor was Nannie the name of any of his daughters, back home to live with her children.  Perhaps Nannie Dean was a second wife.

Going back to the 1870 census, I saw that Lemuel Dean had a Nannie Dean in the household, along with young Lemuel Dean and the children with different surnames found in the household in the 1880 census.(2)  It was beginning to look like a second family for my previously widowed 3GGrandfather Lemuel Dean.

Meanwhile, I started a separate family tree for Samuel C Dean, listing the various census records and other personal information I found about him.  Fortunately, I found many references to Samuel in archive issues of The (Atlanta) Constitution.  I was able to track his record as an outstanding orator at Boys' High School in Atlanta and as a law student at the University of Georgia, and then the public announcement of his plan to leave the law for the ministry.  The sketch above accompanied the article about Samuel's decision and told of his plans to tour the state preaching in a large tent.(3)   

Further help came when I started a spreadsheet so that I can establish a timeline for information I had gather about Lemuel Dean, Nannie Dean, and Samuel C Dean.  As I added more information about these people, the spreadsheet pointed to the big questions:

• When did Lemuel Dean and Nannie Jones marry?
• Was Lemuel the father of Samuel?
• What else happened to Samuel?

Date	Person	Event	Source
5/5/1864	Howard, Elizabeth	death of Lemuel's first wife	cemetery transcription
???		marriage of Lemuel Dean and Nannie (Jones)
1870	Dean, Lemuel	residing in ATL, Nannie in household	1870 census
1870	Dean, Nannie	residing in ATL, in household of Lemuel Dean	1870 census
1873	Dean, Samuel C	approx birth year	1880 census
1877	Dean, Lemuel	348 Marietta ST, ATL	Sholes City Directory
1/11/1880	Dean, Lemuel	died	cemetery transcription
6/8/1880	Dean, Nannie	348 Marietta St, ATL, listed as widower	1880 census
6/8/1880	Dean, Samuel C	348 Marietta St, ATL	1880 census
1893	Dean, Samuel C	graduated from UGA
1894	Dean, Samuel C	in ATL, practicing law, Withrow & Dean
May 1897	Dean, Samuel C	announcement of entering ministry	AJC 3 May 1897
1898	Dean, Samuel C	marriage to Allie P	1900 census
1900	Dean, Samuel C	minister in Americus, GA	1900 census
1903	Dean, Nannie	died, listed as Nannie Dean Mitchell	AJC 5 Feb 1903
Apr 1908	Dean, Samuel C	minister in Philadelphia, PA	AJC 25 Apr 1908
abt 1910		death of Allie P Dean	AJC 20 Jun 1910
1910	Dean, Samuel C	minister in Cartersville, GA, listed as widower	1910 census
1911	Dean, Samuel C	marriage to Ida B D'armond	AJC 19 Mar 1911
1912	Dean, Samuel C	minister in Elberton, GA	AJC 13 Jun 1912

So far I am not been able to locate a marriage record for Lemuel and Nannie either using Ancestry or through Georgia's Virtual Vault.  I'm still looking for answers to my questions about Samuel.  The Atlanta Constitution had numerous legal notices in which William H Dean, my 2GGrandfather, was listed as guardian of Samuel Dean and executor of Lemuel Dean's estate.  There were sales of property by the executor, some sales specifically noted to care for the care and education of Samuel Dean.  What I wouldn't give to see Lemuel Dean's actual will!  There are so many hints pointing to Lemuel being Samuel's father, but I really wanted to see something definitely documenting this before I could accept it as fact.

After writing the first draft of this post, I was straightening up my desk and saw the original file I had made for Lemuel Dean.  In Lemuel's file was a newspaper printout that mentioned a Sam Dean.  I had made several questions marks on that printout because I had been researching Lemuel Dean when I printed the article and had been puzzled by one sentence, "Rev. Sam C Dean ... was born in Atlanta, a son of Lemuel Dean."(4)  Now I have more certainly that Lemuel Dean is the father of Sam C Dean.  Certain enough to post this, certain enough to merge the Sam Dean tree into my family.

Samuel's life continued to take a lot of unexpected turns, first as a young man about Atlanta in the mid-1890s, then as a minister in Philadelphia, Newark, and in several towns in Georgia.  His first wife died, leaving him a widower with three small children.  He later remarried, then ... That's where the rest of my questions lie.

Lessons learned:

• A spreadsheet can be invaluable for combining information about several different people.  It helps to point out the holes or missing pieces.
• Keeping data on a new person in a separate family tree lets me dig and search, recording a variety of information until I know people are identical and I can combine the two family trees.
• It pays to look back at documents with fresh eyes.

(1)  Georgia. Fulton County. 1880 U.S. census. Population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2014.

(2)   Georgia. Fulton County. 1870 U.S. census. Population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com : 2014

(3)  The Atlanta Constitution, 3 May 1897. content source: Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN; accessed through http://www.fold3.com : 2014.

(4) Atlanta Georgian and News, 13 Feb 1909. http://atlnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu.

Mystery Monday: What Happened to Hiram Pinkney Duck?

"Question Man" source www.mrmediatraining.com

Sometimes a name or circumstance just keeps nagging for research.  That has been the case for me concerning Pinkney Duck.  You have to admit, he doesn't have a very common name, so he should be easy to research.  Think again.

I first stumbled upon Pinkney Duck when looking at the 1880 census records for Thomas and Hannah Nelson, residents of Fair Play, District 1028 of Cherokee County, Georgia.  It seems that Pinkney was living with the Nelsons as a boarder who worked on the farm when the census was enumerated on the 9th or 10th of Jun 1880.  Pinkney caught my attention because he was listed as having diphtheria.

A second check of census records showed Pinkney  as living with his mother, Jane Duck, in the Jerusalem District of Pickens County, Georgia in a 15 Jun 1880 enumeration.  Pinkney is listed as working on his mother's farm with no illness or disability mentioned in column 15.

Then I found Pinkney listed a third time on a 16 Jun 1880 census enumeration.  For the 16 Jun counting, Pinkney is still living with Thomas and Hannah Nelson although the residence is listed as District 1008 of Cherokee County, Georgia.  Two items caught my eye.  This time Pinkney is listed as a nephew, and his illness was recorded as typhoid fever on the day of the census visit.

I can see possible explanations for the three census entries.  The two Cherokee County entries can be the result of the Thomas Nelson family living on the border of two different militia districts, District 1028 and District 1008.  A number of people show up on both districts in the same order, so apparently they were counted as being in two different districts.  As for the listing with his mother in neighboring Pickens County, Georgia, Pinkney's time with the Nelson could have been a short term stay.  His mother could have considered him to still be a member of her family and just told the census enumerator about her son.  After all, people didn't have to be physically before the enumerator when the information was recorded.  This isn't the nagging question about Pinkney.

After 1880, what did happen to Hiram Pinkney Duck?  Did he die of diphtheria?  Was he in poor health due to typhoid fever?  Did he live a long, healthy, and productive life?  I have no idea.  That's my big question, especially since he might have been a relative (if he were Thomas and Hannah Nelson's nephew).

I first started the draft for this post about two months ago.  I felt certain that I could easily learn more about Pinkney due to his unusual name.  Even using variations of his name (Hiram / Hyram / Pinkney / Pickney / H P Duck) I have nothing more to add.  So far my research log shows only where I've looked and not found any additional information, including 

• 1900 or later census records - no mention in any state
• FindAGrave and BillionGraves - no mention
• Cemetery registers found on USGenWeb sites for the state of Georgia, specifically the counties of Cherokee, Gordon, and Pickens - no mention
• Military registers listing soldiers in the Spanish-American War - no mention
• County Marriage Books as well as Death Certificates available online through the Georgia Archives
• General searches on Ancestry, FamilySearch, and Mocavo

Maybe this post will someday be read by someone who does know more about Pinkney, and I'll get some answers.  Until then I feel like a child, playing hide and seek, calling out "Pinkney, come out, come out, wherever you are".

Mystery Monday - The Case of the Changing Children

1860 population schedule, Georgia, Gordon, Freemans
source: Ancestry.com

We all are accustomed to seeing changes in the spelling of a person's name, variations in ages, or different birth places as we trace a family through the years using census information.  While looking at census records concerning my husband's Great Grand Aunt, Sarah A. Dillard Smith, I've come across a mystery concerning her children.  The puzzling information is highlighted below; my notes are in brackets [  ].

In the 1850 census, Sarah and her husband P. L. Smith were living in Murray County, Georgia, and had two children listed in their census enumeration:
          Lodeske J Smith, male, age 2 [born ca 1848]
          Mary E Smith, female, age 1 [born ca 1849]

By 1860 the Smith family was listed as living in Freemans, Gordon County, Georgia, this time with four children:
          Pemelia J Smith, female, age 12 [born ca 1848]
          Mary E Smith, female, age 10 [born ca 1850]
          Hendrix L Smith, male, age 8 [born ca 1852]
          China A Smith, female, age 4 [born ca 1856]

Moving to 1870, the Smiths and their five children were now in Calhoun, Gordon County, Georgia:
          Loduskey Smith, male, age 22 [born ca 1848]
          Mary E Smith, female, age 20 [born ca 1850]
          Hendrix L Smith, male, age 18 [born ca 1852]
          Chinna Smith, female 13 [born ca 1857]
          John D Smith, male, age 9 [born ca 1861]

By 1880 we find the Smith family now enumerated as living in Coosawatee, Gordon County, Georgia, son Henry [Hendrix] is now married and living near by, and only two children are still at home with Prior and Sarah:
          Jane Smith, female, age 22 [born ca 1858]
          John D Smith, male, age 18 [born ca 1862]

Sarah and Prior are finally empty nesters by 1900 where the census records that of her five children, three are living.  Son Hendrix is living near by.

Widow Sarah Smith is living with her son Hendrix in 1910 and is still recorded as having three of five children living at that time.

Here's part of the mystery.  What are the actual names of the children highlighted?  If I trace the children according to their approximate birth years, it looks as if the same child is recorded as Lodeske J Smith, male in 1850, and Pemelia J Smith, female in 1860, a dramatic change in both name and sex.  China Smith may also be the same person as Jane Smith, a decidedly less drastic change than Lodeske / Pemelia.  Maybe the China A in 1860 was really China J who later was recorded as Jane.

I also wonder what happened to Lodeske / Pemelia after 1870.  Was this one of Sarah's children who had died before 1900?

As for the whereabouts of Mary, Jane, and John Smith after 1880, it is like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack with that combination of common names!   I continue to search marriage records, cemetery records, census records and even online family trees to no avail.  Maybe someday I'll stumble upon a few answers.   Until then "The Case of the Changing Children" goes unsolved.

Mystery Monday - A New Home For Calder Baynard Willingham

Calder Baynard Willingham

With some inspiration I've received after reading posts from The Organized Genealogist Discussion Group (OGDG) on facebook, I finally started to scan a folder of photos that had found their way to me after a family member had died.  I scanned each picture, cleaning it up as necessary in Photoshop, then saved each photo in the appropriate family group surname folder on my laptop, listing the photo by last name, first name, and any date or place information.

Things were going well until I came across this picture.  Thankfully, someone had written the name of the individual on the back and a note that my Great Uncle Calder Vaughan had been named for Calder Willingham, the gentleman in the picture.  It was all great information except that Calder Willingham was not a relative of mine although he might have been a cousin of Calder Vaughan's mother.  The picture was in fairly good condition, and I knew I wanted to try and pass it on to a Willingham relative.

My first stop was to check for Ancestry.com family trees that listed Calder Willingham.  I did find several trees listing a Calder Baynard Willingham who had lived in Macon, Georgia, the town where the photographer was located.  Unfortunately none of the owners of the trees had any type of profile information so there was no way to contact the owners to see if s/he wanted the photograph.

I then posted a request for suggestions as to how to get this photo to a suitable owner, using the OGDG facebook page.  Within an hour I had several helpful suggestions including checking findagrave.com for an obituary, uploading the picture to deadfred.com, and checking message boards on rootsweb.com.

FindAGrave.com, interestingly enough, lists six people named Calder Willingham, two of whom are buried in Macon, Georgia.    I've posted a message to the person who created the memorial page for the Calder Willingham of Macon, Georgia, who seemed to have been alive during the time the picture was taken.  

As for message boards, I found a number of family trees with a Calder Baynard Willingham on both rootsweb.com and Ancestry.com.  Following a suggestion from a OGDG post, I've added a "post-em note" to the five rootsweb.com trees, asking if the tree owner would like the photo.  I've also started a new thread on Ancestry's Willingham message board, asking if someone would like the photo.  

Finally, I've been trying to upload a copy of the photo to several sites mentioned in Cyndi's List.

To date, I've had two responses to all my feelers, one from a person no more related to Calder Willingham than I am, the other from someone who felt he could get the photo to some Willingham relatives though I haven't received a mailing address so that I can relay the photograph.  Perhaps this post will bring a response from a person who would like this photo.

Maybe before too long Mr. Willingham's photo will find a new home.  This whole experience has really been, to paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, about the journey rather than the destination. as I've learned some new ways to think outside the box.

UPDATE: In November of 2014, I received a response from a direct descendant of Calder Willingham. Finally that old phone has a new home.

Mystery Monday - Two Places at One Time?

Is it possible for one person to be in two totally different places at one time?  According to the 1930 census records, it looks as if my father, Oscar Dean Perkinson, was able to accomplish this.

1930 census, Woodstock, Cherokee County, Georgia (1)

Accorded to the 1930 census record enumerated on 24 April 1930, my father was listed as residing in the family home, living with his parents, two younger sisters, with an uncle and grandmother also listed as part of the family.  Dad is listed as being 22, single, born in Georgia, and employed as a bookkeeper on the railroad.  I know that the age, marital status, and birthplace are correct, and I remember hearing stories of how he worked for a time on the railroad.  This was in the early days of the Depression, and Dad spoke of having a lot of different jobs, sometimes working several places during a period and other times being unable to find work.  Everything seemed to fit with what I know about my dad and stories he had told.

1930 census, Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia (2)

Looking for other information about my dad, I stumbled upon a second 1930 census listing for him, this time living in the Atlanta YMCA along with about 80 other men.  The census information from the YMCA was recorded earlier in April, appearing to be submitted by mail April 14-16, ten days before the census information had been recorded in Woodstock.

The enumeration for the YMCA recorded that Dad was 21, single, born in Georgia, and working as a sales clerk in a shoe store.  If the information concerning age, etc. was given to the census enumerator by perhaps a clerk at the YMCA, this might explain why Dad's age was incorrectly listed as being 21.  After all, all the names for the YMCA are listed in alphabetical order suggesting that it was taken from another list of residents rather than being recorded from information given to the enumerator by each individual.  I cannot recall if my dad talked about living at the Atlanta Y, but he did mention living at a number of different boarding houses in Atlanta and surrounding areas while he worked various jobs and attended business school.  He also had a different occupation on this record, shoe clerk.  This job was one I remember hearing him talk about and one which seemed to cause Dad to always be the one to take me to buy new shoes, even as I became a teen (how embarrassing!).

So, could my father have been two places at one time for the 1930 census?  It is quite possible, especially since the enumeration dates for the two places were actually 10 days apart.  Plus, Atlanta and Woodstock Georgia are only 20 miles and a short bus or train ride apart.  Family stories support both jobs, and his name, Oscar D. Perkinson, isn't exactly in the common category.  Perhaps he was actually working both jobs, part-time shoe clerk and part-time on the railroad; he certainly wasn't lazy.  

Maybe someday I'll come across a letter written by or about my dad, perhaps written in April 1930, that will shed addition light on this matter.  Until then, I'm willing to say, yes, sometimes a person might be two places at one time.

(1) 1930 U.S. Census, population schedule, Georgia, Cherokee, Woodstock Town, ED 29-5, p.3-B [written],household 61, family 70, Oscar Perkinson [and family]; Ancestry.com : accessed 30 Jun 2013, citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 346.

(2) 1930 U.S. Census, population schedule, Georgia, Fulton, Atlanta, ED 61-80, p.12-B [written],household 51, family 70, Oscar D Perkinson; Ancestry.com : 30 Jun 2013, citing NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 362.

Mystery Monday - Still Looking For Louie

In previous posts about Louie Love Padgett, I have written about Louie's passport, his years teaching in China, and his college days.  I really had planned on this being a "Military Monday" post about Louie Love Padgett, but instead, it ends up pointing to more mysteries.

Mystery #1 - Louie's military papers

Because Louie joined the Army rather than being drafted, his military records are taking longer to locate than I had expected.  We have written the National Archives to obtain copies, and perhaps once they finally arrive, I should be able to write that "Military Monday" post.  If Louie had filled out a Draft Registration Card, I would have already learned more details about his life.  He is among those listed in The History of Gordon County Georgia as being an officer in World War I.(1)  However, the listing doesn't include the unit, type of military service, or additional information about him.  At least his tombstone does provide his military rank for us.

Marker for Maj. Louie L. Padgett
Pleasant Hill Cemetery, Oakman, Georgia, photo by Mary Perkinson Nelson

Mystery #2 - Louie's life after China

Louie returned from his three years of teaching in China in 1924.  Family stories and a newspaper article written by a college friend of Louie's suggest that Louie taught French at Emory University.(2)  An dated letter to his father indicated that he was teaching at Emory's Chandler School of Theology.  Looking through copies of the 1924-1930 Emory yearbooks neither confirm nor disclaim these stories, especially if Louie were only teaching part-time or working as a graduate assistant.(3)  By 1930 Louie was listed in census records as living in Tallahassee, Florida, where he was employed as a commercial traveling salesman.(4)  This change in Louie's area of employment is definitely a mystery, one that may never be explained.

Mystery #3 - Louie's land

We had always heard that Louie owned a farm in Leon County, Florida, but so far we haven't been able to document this story.  Maybe a trip to Florida (preferably when it is winter and nasty up here in East Tennessee) might help us track down information about his possible land holdings.

Until them, we'll continue looking for more information about Louie, an uncle who has always been spoken of with love and respect.

(1) Pitts, Lulie.  History of Gordon County Georgia. Calhoun, Georgia: The Press of the Calhoun Times, 1933. Digital images. Ancestry.com,  http://www.search.ancestry.com : 2013.
(2) Harris Pierce. "The Rube From Ranger." Atlanta Journal (date unknown): page unknown.

(3)  The Campus  (Decatur, Georgia: Emory University, [various years]), digital images, Emory Libraries MARBL, http:marbl.library.emory.edu/yearbooks: 2013.

(4)  "U.S. Federal Census Population Schedule 1930." database and images. Ancestry.com. http://www.search.ancestry.com : 2013

Mystery Monday : Where's Kari?

photo by Steve Justonly on flickr

Ever since I found the path my Great Grandfather Peter Peterson Myren followed from Norway to North Dakota, I've been anxious to see how my Great Grandmother Kari Belle Myren arrived also.  I thought it would be so simple, just use the same search strategies and web sites that had worked with Peter.   Here is the link to Peter's story and the sites that were so helpful in learning about him.

It was simple to bracket a time for Kari's emigration from Norway.  She was present on her dad's farm in the 1875 Census of Norway.  According to information recorded on the 1900 and 1910 US Federal Census records, Kari immigrated to the United States in 1878 or 1880.  Final known date was the birth of her first son, Paul Myren, 1881 in North Dakota.  You'd think within a six year time period I should be able to find something helpful.  Welcome to the story of my current brick wall.  

For starters, I checked all the parish record books available on The Digital Archives of Norway using all the various name combinations, hoping to find that Kari had registered her intent to emigrate with the parish church.  I found absolutely nothing.  I had even less success using the Emigrants section of The Digital Archives of Norway.  Strike one.

Next plan was trying to figure out if Kari arrived in the US through Castle Garden, Ellis Island, or via landing first in Canada, again using the same web sites that had been so helpful with Peter.  Again nothing, even using wild card searches like "s*ver*" to search for any version of her original last name.  Strike two, nothing through these three web sites.

Then I decided to try looking for the emigration of any other family members.  The Overli-Belle-Siem book provided some information about Kari's father, Syver Hanson Belle Siem.  Her father came to American in 1882 together with wife Marit, his son Sivert, daughter-in-law Marit and grandson Sigurd after the Siem farm in Norway was sold.  Syver Hanson Belle (as he was now know) and his group joined another daughter Gunda and her family already living in Wisconsin.  Unfortunately the book has no mention of Kari's immigration.  Strike three.

At this point, I'd struck out, but I now focused on her older sister, Gunda, wondering if I could find Kari staying with Gunda at any time.  By 1880 Gunda was married to Erick Pedersen and was living in Jackson County, Wisconsin, but the census had no mention of a sister, sister-in-law, or anyone named Kari living with them or even nearby.

My Great Grandfather Peter is listed as a single farmer in the 1880 US Federal Census for Traill County, North Dakota, and their marriage apparently occurred shortly after the census .  The search through the entire 1880 census for Traill County, North Dakota,  revealed only Peter in that area, but no Kari.

That's my story for now.  My research record was lots of information as to where I didn't find anything.  I won't forget about Kari, I'll keep looking, and hopefully someday I will find her.  Until then, I'll remember this quote mentioned in Genealogy in Time Magazine.

"I have not failed.  I've just found ten thousand ways that won't work." --- Thomas Edison