Mam-ma's Southern Family

My grandmother's husband, Tom J. Johnston, and his brother, Hal W. Johnston, went into business together in Walnut Creek, California. Their pool hall was located right on Main Street. Pictured is my grandfather behind the bar. The earliest news article I found about the business was an announcement in the Contra Costa Gazette announcing that Grimes & Nottingham Billiard Parlor will now be known as the Johnston's Billiard Parlor, effective November 1, 1944.[1] The previous business had been on Main Street since 1915. Tom and Hal planned to make several changes, including repainting.[2] Here is a shot of the outside of the new billiard parlor. They advertised the establishment as a recreation headquarter where beer, soft drinks, cigars, cigarettes, and candy were sold besides a place to play billiards and pool.[3]  In March 1945, teenagers protested being barred from the poolroom, and new rules were established that those under 16 were still not allowed, but those between 16 ...

The National Genealogical Society’s Family History Conference was held this year in Louisville, Kentucky, and this allowed me to conduct on-site research for my family and my husband’s family. Before going, I studied websites and finding aids, and created my own research goals. My husband’s family was straightforward. I acquired documents from the Indiana State Archives, and we visited two cemeteries in Jeffersonville and Louisville. However, two of my family lines are more complicated. I have the Lancaster and Neal families in Shelby County, Kentucky, and the Polly family in Lewis County. This post will report on my findings in Shelby County. Shelby County I started in Shelby County. The county seat is Shelbyville, and we visited the county museum first. The director informed us that their historic records are in the Kentucky Room at the public library. There was a gold mine there. So often, family files contain no records about my family, but there was a thick folder on the Lanca...

Back in my baby genealogy days, like many newbies, I found books that mentioned my ancestor. I then used the book to record information about that ancestor, their spouse and children, and any parents and grandparents. Even when I first started, I knew to record my sources, so I have the titles and authors of these books found in libraries. I might even have the name of the library that houses the book. For this theme, I will focus on the person who is the furthest back ancestor, my 8th-great-grandfather, John Sellman. He is not an ancestor of my grandmother, Mam-ma, but of her husband, my grandfather, Tom Johnston. I collected this information from two books: John Sellman of Maryland and Descendants by W. Marshall Sellman, Associate Professor of History, University of Cincinnati, published in 1975. The other book is  Over the Mountain: A Narrative History of the Bean, Selman, and Germany Families by Martha L. Crabb, published in 1990. Both these books were found at the FamilySear...

Martha Jane Coor, my 3x-great-grandmother, was the youngest daughter of James Madison “Matt” Coor and Melissa Ann Welch. Her older sister, Sarah Gertrude Coor, was the oldest daughter, born thirteen years earlier in 1860. In total, James and Melissa had ten children, two of whom died in childhood.  Melissa died in 1876, a year after the youngest, Daniel, was born. By then, Sallie was sixteen and likely took on the role of caring for the younger children and the household. The next sister, Irma Anna, was twelve and probably helped, too. Martha and Daniel, the two youngest were three and one. The other older children were likely in school part of the time or helped Matt on the farm. Proof of this was the 1880 census. Matt was a forty-seven-year-old farmer and widowed. Eight children ranging from five to twenty-one lived on the farm. Sallie was keeping house. The four oldest boys were working the farm. [1] Sometime in 1881, the family moved to Erath County, Texas. Sally was the first ...

I am working on a project to learn more about the neighborhood where Robert Lancaster lived in Shelby County, Kentucky.[1]  On 5 December 1821, he purchased 231 plus acres of land from Thomas Hanna and his wife, Mary. This land was located on the waters of Floyd’s Fork and Luteses Run, being a branch of the Bullskin Creek.[2]  The land description named other neighbors: Joseph Williams’s land was on one stretch of the property and he had purchased the land also from Hanna. Samuel Ellis was a neighbor Charles Ellis was a neighbor A Neal was a neighbor (first name not listed) The land platted out looks like this. This plat doesn’t help me locate it on a map. There are too many straight corners but the names of the neighbors will be helpful. I plan to use the full-text search at FamilySearch Labs to locate any deed that names Robert Lancaster as a neighbor. I will also look for the deeds of the neighbors listed in his deed. I have the program DeedMapper that allows me to place mu...

I was surprised that I hadn’t done any research for the sister of my maternal 2x-great-grandfather, Peter H. Hutson. My goal this year is to write more about the southern families of my mother. For this post, I will work with records beginning with her death certificate and work backward, posing questions as I research. These questions will be colored in red, making it easier for them to stand out in the text. Victoria lived most of her life in Hunt County, Texas. Hunt County is located in the northeast portion of Texas, just below Fannin County, which borders Oklahoma. The community where they lived, Wolfe City, is located in the northeastern portion of the county near the Fannin border. To the east are Delta and Hopkins Counties. Death Certificate in Hunt County, Texas According to her death certificate, Mrs. Victoria Williams was born on 7 January 1863 in Georgia. The informant for the personal information was Della Varden, who lived in Wolfe City. She named Victoria’s father Bob Hu...

In order to help the descendants of the enslaved, I try to transcribe and post the names of the enslaved when I find them. This division was posted to the inventories and appraisements in Rankin County by the assigned commissioners.  To John B. Thomas: Susan, William & Sam                          $950.00 To Isaiah Halcomb & Elizabeth his wife: Edmund & Silva      $1000.00 To Redwine Pierce & Mary his wife: Dangerfield                $300.00 To Stephen Thomas: Sally, Chimy, & Alfred                          $1175.00 To Eliza Cook, wife of Alvin Cook: Stepen, Polly & child Nancy      $950.00 To William Thomas: Dave                          ...