tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21504481325391099242024-03-28T16:37:16.603-04:00Celebrating Family StoriesA genealogy blog sharing basic information about genealogical research, tips on organizing and processing what you find, and ways of sharing this information with others. Come along and start celebrating your family stories.Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.comBlogger260125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-79649847212299518982024-03-15T18:43:00.002-04:002024-03-15T18:45:26.277-04:00Falling, Falling, Falling Down That Rabbit Hole!"Looking top an elegant spiral" is marked with CC0 1.0.It was one of those days when I had a hint pop up on Ancestry.com, something about Tomlinson McCarty, the husband of my Third Great Aunt, Mary Ann Elizabeth Slade. So, I click on it, and I found myself spiraling down that research rabbit hole. I clicked on the hint because I hoped to learn when Elizabeth (her preferred name) Slade Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-87388668717408912502022-05-31T16:50:00.000-04:002022-06-01T18:25:29.968-04:00Stories from a Bible
It all started when a friend dropped by my house to show me
an old Bible she had picked up at a thrift store. She carefully handled the small
leather bound book as she showed it to me. The leather binding was intact, and
all of the pages seemed to be there. The Bible itself was small, approximately
3 and 4 ½ inches, and it contained just the New Testament and the Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-19564695621775228222021-08-08T16:38:00.000-04:002021-08-08T16:38:26.722-04:00Coming to America: Cyprian and Margaret Prou, Indentured ServantsSample Indenture Contractsource: http://www.virtualjamestown.org/indentures/sample_indentureSeveral years ago I came across an interesting book on FamilySearch.org, Anderson, Cockrill, Moffett, Smith & Allied Families of Northern Virginia. I was actually looking for another ancestor when I stumbled across a chapter about Cyprian/Cyprien Prou, my 7th GreatGrandfather. For once, I actually Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-18254612926947976772021-06-26T16:20:00.007-04:002021-06-29T09:29:46.865-04:00Thoughts From Ferabrew Cemetery It was great to finally be out on a cool summer day with a hiking group on a trek into the North Georgia Mountains. Our guide mentioned that we'd be walking through part of a national forest for a while then heading to see two different waterfalls (which was the reason I signed up for this hike in the first place).The four mile hike on an unpaved, forest service road lead us to Ferabrew Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-2471377797397546152020-05-06T16:16:00.002-04:002020-05-06T16:16:58.568-04:00Getting From HERE to THERE In Quarantine TimeAfter seven weeks of self-imposed quarantine and state mandated "shelter-in-place" during the Spring of 2020, I had put a big dent in my pile of research documents that had needed to be filed. I was actually studying, documenting, labeling, and filing almost every other day. But then one day, I came across a land record that had been in my pile for almost three years. I was ready to do a "Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-67366456526700932692019-07-17T21:08:00.001-04:002019-07-18T09:54:27.228-04:00Who Was Joshua Stevens and What Were He and Solomon Kemp Doing in My Files?
It all started as I was going through things in the attic, doing the "50 Year Purge", trying to get years of files, folders, and contents of forgotten boxes under control. While going through a folder with my father's name on it, I found several things I remembered my mother giving to me years ago, but then I find a surprise. There, in the folder, along with my dad's military papers and a Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-3025079633727483072019-06-10T15:10:00.002-04:002020-06-05T09:48:35.236-04:00It Never Hurts to Go Looking : Taking Time to Visit Enon
Enon Cemetery, Woodstock, Georgia, 4 June 2019personal photograph
It was one of those perfect days for a cemetery visit, not yet Georgia summer hot, cloudy but not rainy, and an uncrowded midweek morning. I had visited several times over the past 20 years to take pictures, but this time I had another purpose. I knew that my relatives were buried in a family plot, but I wanted to record Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-31111560592208364762019-01-08T11:11:00.000-05:002019-01-08T11:11:01.185-05:00Getting This Party Started
This year is going to be a special one in my hometown of Johnson City, Tennessee. Our town, being 150 years old, will celebrate its sesquicentennial in 2019, and the party has begun.
So much to see, hear, and do at this party.
On Saturday, Jan. 5, several hundred citizens, along with local politicians, a beauty queen, and a member of Congress all gathered in downtown Johnson City to get Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-53400122273358667622018-10-16T16:13:00.000-04:002018-10-16T16:13:11.446-04:00The Delight Is In the Details!
Will of Capt. William Richardson (1)
It was a chilly, dreary fall day, one just made for spending time online, searching for new family information. I decided to start by checking on some Ancestry hints mentioned in a weekly email. Not expecting to find anything of great note, I ended up being transported back to colonial days and learning a lot of information about my 8th Great-Uncle, Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-61169098215545273002018-07-13T15:00:00.001-04:002018-07-13T16:06:31.248-04:00Remembering Our Ancestors
Sometimes we accidentally stumble onto something special. That was certainly the case with this book, Passed and Present by Allison Gilbert. Frankly, I checked it out relating more to memories of my late husband, but I found a lot of ideas that connected with sharing memories of anyone we cherish. I wanted to share a few ideas Gilbert presented that spoke to me as unique or Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-28493913114528003972018-06-14T16:13:00.000-04:002018-06-14T16:17:37.298-04:00The Slave Name Roll Project* : Estate of John Ballenger, Spartanburg District, South Carolina, 1848
"Power of Words" by Antonio Litterio,
via Wikimedia.org
Details found in the Estate of John Ballenger, Spartanburg District, South Carolina, petition for probate filed 18 Dec 1848.1 Included in the listing of bills of sale for this estate were a number of records of the sale of slaves from Ballenger's estate. These individuals are listed below.
[sold] to B. F. Montgomery, a boy Clark, [Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-34314639096510926542018-03-03T13:56:00.000-05:002018-03-03T13:56:09.834-05:00Taking a Closer Look ... at Ruth Edith Smiley
Ruth Edith Smiley Andrewsfrom personal collection of Mary P Nelson
March, being Women's History Month, seemed like a good time to look more closely at the lives of some of my female ancestors. And in looking, I learned a few things that have somehow never registered with me as I focused on learning more about my Great Grandmother Ruth Edith Smiley Andrews and my 2Great Grandmother Minerva Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-55172471710512809952018-01-31T09:14:00.000-05:002018-01-31T09:14:41.943-05:00(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Who ARE these people?
This picture is a real family treasure. That is, except for one thing. I don't know who everyone in the photograph is or even might be. I recognize my Great Grandmother Kari Syverdatter Myren (#3 front row) from the different pictures I have of her. As for the other eight ladies, I have no idea who they might be.
On the back of the picture, my mother had carefully written the Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-38315724329379067072018-01-01T17:33:00.000-05:002018-01-06T10:08:59.751-05:00My Genealogy Bullet Journal, One Year Later
What a different a year makes! My first entry in my new Genealogy Bullet Journal was made on January 1, 2017. In it, I recorded information about the family I had been researching in some JSTOR journals and that I had (finally) spent 15 minutes filing some of my pile of documents. But then, life happens.
For our family, 2017 left us pummelled by the unexpected. We were faced with the Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-76184091985692507312017-10-12T12:30:00.000-04:002018-01-05T09:39:01.483-05:00... and now I am 5!
"On my way", personal photo
Five years ago I nervously pushed the "Publish" button on Blogger and quickly saw my first post appear on this blog. I wasn't exactly sure what I expected to come from blogging, but 244 posts later, I am glad I decided to start writing this blog. Here are a few of my reasons.
COUSINS: I've made contacts with distant cousins whom I had previously not even Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-22157876132206213342017-09-24T20:19:00.002-04:002018-02-12T10:08:27.104-05:00Bridget Richardson Fletcher: "She being dead yet speaketh"
Old North Church, Boston
source: Wikimedia Commons
I have been accustomed to finding ministers, tavern keepers, teachers, and farmers scattered all over the branches of my family tree. But a poet and hymn writer, that was someone new to find! The bits I have gathered about my seventh GreatAunt, Bridget Richardson Fletcher, have blended into a story of a woman, her family, and life in Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-64610557878809471252017-08-24T17:54:00.001-04:002018-01-05T09:41:07.425-05:00It Never Hurts To Go Looking: Courthouse Treasures
Courthouse, Cobb County, Georgia;
By HowardSF at English Wikipedia (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Smartphones. Tablets. Internet. Scanners. There is so much technology that enhances our ability to research and learn more about our ancestors. It took a recent trip to a county courthouse to remind me that old courthouse records can be just as important and meaningful to our Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-74912008424989577192017-07-29T10:39:00.001-04:002018-01-05T09:42:14.684-05:00It Never Hurts to Go Looking: Civil War Records
"Binoculars"; source Pixabay
Last week I finally updated to Family Tree Maker 2017. The process went smoothly, and I was anxious to try out some of its new features. I also started reading with renewed interest Russ Worthington's blog posts on FTM2017, especially his post on Color Coding and Civil War Soldiers. This post inspired me to follow his steps in a search for Civil War records for myMary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-1832458532537100912017-06-27T13:56:00.000-04:002018-01-05T09:43:02.906-05:00The Tale of the Timeline : Sarah Good of the Salem Witch Trials
Salem Witch Trial Engraving, unknown artist;
source: Wikimedia Commons
Sometimes it is rather exciting to discover that an ancestor or relative had a brush with history. Other times, it can cause sadness, discontent, and questioning. The latter has been the case for me as I have learned more about the life and death of my 8th Great Aunt, Sarah Solart, for she was one of those Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-19414949574934539042017-05-25T14:18:00.000-04:002018-01-05T09:44:18.877-05:00My Genealogy Bullet Journal, Month 5
Winner from pixabay
Sometimes you just end up amazed at what a positive change something has caused. That's the way I feel about my genealogy bullet journal after five months. And here are three reasons why.
ACCOUNTABILITY: Virtually all of my genealogy research is done solo. By myself. At my own pace. When I decide to do it. The simple act of writing down one or two weekly genealogy Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-66846193743879629122017-04-22T17:35:00.001-04:002018-01-05T09:45:08.761-05:00Amazing What You Find When You Do a Little Spring Cleaning!
Spring Cleaning in the Vondelpark; source Wikimedia Commons.
Like so many, I have been anxiously awaiting the upcoming release of Family Tree Maker 2017. Having been a Beta tester for several library software products and revisions, I know that it can take time for all aspects of new or revised software to work consistently and in the intended manner so I don't mind waiting until FTM 2017 isMary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-49668892626041379432017-04-03T17:47:00.000-04:002018-01-05T09:46:27.023-05:00The Slave Name Roll Project* : Estate of William Brooks Willingham, Walton County, Georgia
"Power of Words" b y Antonio Litterio,
via Wikimedia.org
Each will or probate record of an ancestor who owned slaved provides the opportunity to learn the names of enslaved individuals. This was definitely true when examining the records for William Brooks Willingham who died in 1838 in Walton County, Georgia.
William's will is not presented in the online records, but the probate records forMary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-50256463256391527522017-03-22T20:16:00.000-04:002018-01-05T09:47:16.149-05:00The Tale of the Timeline: the Solarts of Massachusetts
The Solomon Kimball House, Wenham, Massachusetts
By John Phelan (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)],
via Wikimedia Commons
Sometimes, it takes something as simple as a timeline to make sense of the stuff going on in a family. That was certainly the case when I started researching the family of my 8th Great Grandfather, John Solart of Massachusetts. I kept Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-66176269971099926362017-02-28T16:07:00.000-05:002018-01-05T09:47:56.166-05:00Step by Step, Bit by Bit, Learning More About Hannah Larcom
"Step By Step" MPN photos
Hannah Larcom, my 6th Great Grandmother, wasn't exactly a brick wall, but she has been one lady for whom each answer tended to bring more questions.
It all started several months ago when I found the marriage record for Hannah Larcom and my 6th Great Grandfather Stephen Fairfield.(1) The record was simple to find on a page of marriage records from Wenham, Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2150448132539109924.post-75097966336788758432017-02-02T08:48:00.001-05:002018-01-05T09:48:47.943-05:00My Genealogy Bullet Journal, Month 2
Public Domain Photo via Wikimedia Commons
Some say that doing something daily for 30 days is enough time and opportunity to establish a habit. After using my Genealogy Bullet Journal for the month of January, I can state that I have established a new habit. A habit that enhances the way I research. A habit I feel will stay with me into the future.
Last month I posted about starting my Mary Perkinson Nelsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08296269311675434531noreply@blogger.com2