Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Where Were They in 1863?

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has challenged us to find where our ancestors were living on 1 Jun 1863.  This was very challenging but lots of fun.  I found that I need to do land research to learn more about exactly where my ancestors were living!  I have no photos of their residences.  Here are my mother's side of the family:

• My third great-grandmother, Elizabeth (McCormack) Johnston (1814-1891) was living in either in Oakland, Yalobusha Co, Mississippi (where they were living in 1860) or in Mount Pleasant, Titus County, Texas (where they were living in 1870).  Her husband, Samuel Johnston died sometime between 1860 & 1870, location unknown.  My second great-grandfather, Rueben Mack Johnston (1841-1924) was living in the household.

• My third great-grandparents, Benjamin W. (1822-??) & Amanda A. (Haley) Jones (1827-1904) was living somewhere in Rankin County, Mississippi. The story told about Benjamin was he died from an illness in the Civil War.  His date or place of death has not yet been determined.  My second great-grandmother, Olivia Jane Jones (1859-1914) was living in this household.

• My third great-grandparents, Robert (1821-??) & Amanda (Davis) Hutson (1826-??) were perhaps living in Cherokee county, Georgia, or had moved to Texas.  Since I have no death dates for either, I am uncertain as to where they were living in 1863 or if they were living.  My second great-grandfather, Peter Hayden Hutson (1853-1930) was living in the household.

• My fourth great-grandparents, Benjamin F. (1795-1873) & Sara (Bean) Selman (1798-1868) were living in Cherokee County, Texas.  He was a farmer.

• My third great-grandparents, Greenlee Bean (1820-1888) & Amanda Deborah (Oldham) Selman (1820-1880) were living in Cherokee County, Texas.  He was a farmer.  My second great-grandmother, Sarah Helena Selman (1858-1916) was living in the household.  She would later marry Peter Hayden Hutson.

This was a good exercise.  I have learned that I have several ancestors for whom I don't have death dates.  I also need to do more land research to find where they lived exactly.  I have no photos of their homes.

Copyright © 2013 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

On This Day -- 60th Anniversary of the Wedding of Lela Nell Johnston & William J Hork

    Today would have been the 60th anniversary of the my parents wedding.  Lela Nell Johnston and William Joseph Hork were married on 19 April 1953 in Concord, Contra Costa County, California at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church.

    The accounting of the wedding was in the Contra Costa Times on 23 April 1953.  Lela wore

"a street-length dress of antique white taffeta with unpressed pleats fashioned in the full skirt. The bodice was designed with three-quarter-length dolman sleeves, Peter Pan collar and self-covered buttons. She chose an ice-blue lace picture hat with open crown and matching silk gloves. Her white shantung slippers were adorned with tiny flower sprays on the toes."

    She also "borrowed" pearl earrings belonging to her aunt, Mrs. Hal Johnston.  Her maid of honor was Barbara Boyenger, a friend who lived in Concord.  Barbara wore "a dusty pink silk shantung dress and white linen slippers. Her corsage was white carnations."  Bill's brother-in-law, Eugene F. Soares, was the best man.

    After the double-ring ceremony that was attended by close friends and family, a reception was held at the home of her parents, Pansy L and Tom J Johnston in Pleasant Hill, California.

Bill & Lea Hork, cutting cake with Gene Soares & Barbara Boyenger looking on

    However, Lea passed away 2 Feb 1992 and Bill 13 Oct 2007.  Still, I'd like to wish my parents "Happy Anniversary!"

Copyright © 2013 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Wordless Wednesday - Mam-ma's Grandchildren

Six grandchildren, c. Summer 1967

Copyright © 2013 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Saturday Night Fun -- Where My Mother's Family Was a Hundred Years Ago

Randy Seaver, a blogger at Genea-Musing, has created a wonderful blog theme called Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  Here is today’s mission:

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:
1) Determine where your ancestral families were on 1 January 1913 - 100 years ago.
2) List them, their family members, their birth years, and their residence location (as close as possible). Do you have a photograph of their residence from about that time, and does the residence still exist?
3) Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

______________________________________________

Here is the location of my family in 1913.  This is my mother's side of the family.  I have no photos of their homes.  Most of the sources are from the 1910 census.

• My grandfather, Tom Johnston was living with his parents, Thomas Newton Johnston and Nell L Hutson in Comanche Co, Texas.  He was just a few months old.  They lived on Gustine & Swan Hill Road in the 1910 census.[1]

• My great-great-grandfather, Ruben Mack Johnston and his wife, Olivia Jane Jones, were living also on Gustine & Swan Hill Road near Thomas Newton Johnston (according to the 1910 census).[2]

• My great-great grandparents, Peter H Hutson and Sarah Helena Selman, were living on a general farm in Gustine Precinct 2 in Comanche Co, Texas.[3]

• My great grandparents, Warren Lancaster and Lela Ann Loveless were living on the farm outside of Stephenville, Erath Co, Texas.  They had been married just 15 days earlier.[4]

• My great-great grandparents, William Carl Lancaster and Martha Jane “Doll” Coor, were living in Stephenville, Erath Co, Texas.  My great-great-great grandfather, George W. Lancaster Sr was living with them.[5]  

• My great-great-great grandmother, Martha Jane Polly was living in Imperial, Imperial Co, California with her second husband, Noah Flood Parks.[6]

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[1] Texas, Comanche, 1900 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T623, roll 1541, Justice Precinct 3 (part of), enumeration district (ED) 7, sheet 1a, p. 168a, dwelling 8, family 8, Thomas N. Johnston, accessed 23 Nov 2011.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Texas, Comanche, 1910 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T624, roll 1541, Justice Prec 1, enumeration district (ED) 5, family 357, Pret K Hutson, accessed 4 Apr 2011.

[4] Marriage Record, Erath Co, TX, Book M, pg 278, Lancaster-Coor, 1912, FHL film #1428410.

[5] Texas, Erath, 1910 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T624, roll 1550, Stephenville, enumeration district (ED) 19, sheet 225, dwelling 225, family 225, William C. Lancaster, accessed 13 Mar 2011.

[6] California, Imperial, 1910 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), T624, Imperial Twp, enumeration district (ED) 13, sheet 7b, Noah F. Park.

Copyright © 2013 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

On This Day – Tom Johnston Jr (1912-1973)

My grandfather, Tom J. Johnston Jr was born one hundred years ago on 7 October 1912 in Gustine, a town in Comanche County, Texas.[1]  His parents were Thomas Newton Johnston and Nell L. Hutson.  He was the third child of five, having two older sisters, Beryl and Mildred, and two younger brothers, Hal and Luther.  His mother, Nell died 14 Jul 1919 at the young age of 31.  Tom was only six and half years old and his youngest brother, Luther, was only eighteen months old.  It must have been very hard on his father to raise five children without a mother.

He married my grandmother, Pansy Louise Lancaster, on 15 December 1933 by the Justice of the Peace in Gustine, Comanche County, Texas.[2]  They had one child, Lela Nell Johnston.

He served a short time in the United States Navy, leaving after four months with a medical discharge due to an ulcer.[3]  The family was living in Idaho at the US Naval Training Center, Farragut, Idaho.  They spent the rest of the war in construction work on other military bases.

Tom with daughter, Lela Nell

After the war, they moved to California, living in Walnut Creek out in “the country” at Mr. Ford’s property.  I don’t know who this Mr. Ford is (time to do some research).  Tom had a business in town with his brother, Hal.  They owned a pool hall and taxi service.[4]

Tom manning the Billiards Hall

Tom loved working with his hands and with wood.  He worked as a carpenter for many businesses, his last job as carpenter for the Contra Costa Community College District at Diablo Valley College.  He liked to build furniture and some of his pieces are now cared for by his grandchildren.

Tables & lamp made by Tom

Tom died 11 July 1973 in Pleasant Hill, Contra Costa County and was buried at the Oakmont Park Cemetery in Lafayette.[5]  I was only 18 years old when he died and his was the first funeral I had been to.  Tom was a quiet man, never one of those fun grandpas.  When we were small, we called him Tom-Tom, instead of Grandpa.  When we got older, it was much easier talking to him, I think, because we were not so rambunctious and loud.  Tom gave me my first tennis racket, a wooden one with a wooden press.  I used it all though college.

Happy 100^th Birthday, Tom-Tom!

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[1] Bureau of Vital Statistics, Comanche County, Birth Record of Tom J Johnston Jr, Vol 8 (or 80--the eight is dark, the zero is very light), pg 553, 1941, affidavit signed by J.P. Brown, MD.

[2] State of Texas, County of Hood, Marriage Record of Tom Johnston and Pansy Louise Lancaster (certificate copy), recorded in Vol I, p 161 Marriage License Records.

[3] Naval Record for Tom Johnston Jr, 938 69 00, United States Navy, National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri.

[4] Business Card for Johnston Bros Taxi, Photo with caption on back stating “Johnston Brothers Billiards,” author’s personal collection.

[5] State of California, Dept of Health Services, Death Certificate of Tom J. Johnston Jr (73-087531).

Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - What is Your Matrilineal Line?

Randy Seaver's "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" is always a blast to read and do.  Today's post is about listing your Matrilineal Lines.  This is my mother, my mother's mother, her mother's mother, etc.  When one has their mtDNA tested, this is the line that is tested and whose genes are passed down to me.

Me: Lisa Suzanne Hork
My mother: Lea Nell Johnston (1934-1992)
My grandmother: Pansy Louise Lancaster - Living
My great-grandmother: Lela Ann Loveless (1896-1951)
My gg-grandmother: Eliza A. Ro(d)gers (1854-1907)

I had my grandmother tested and her halpogroup is U5.

My mother's father's matrilineal line is:
My grandfather: Tom Johnston Jr (1912-1973)
His mother: Nell Hutson (1888-1919)
His grandmother: Sarah Helena Selman (1858-1916)
His great-grandmother: Amanda Deborah Oldham (1822-1880)

I have not had this line tested.  My mother had no brothers, so I need to have one of her male cousins do the y-DNA test.

My father's mother's matrilineal line is:
My father:  William J. Hork (1930-2007)
His mother: Anna Marie Sullivan (1892-1979)
His grandmother: Anna Marie Gleeson (1860-1912)
His great-grandmother: Margaret Tierney (1835-1920)
His gg-grandmother: Ann Murray (1813-1899)
His ggg-grandmother: Jane ?? (??-1874)

This line has not been tested.  I do have two brothers who could be tested for the y-DNA.

My father's father's matrilineal line is:
My grandfather:  William Cyril Hork (1899-1967)
His mother: Julia Ann Sievert (1854-1928)
His grandmother: Susana Raduntz (1832-1911)

My grandfather had sisters who had daughters so I might be able to find candidates for mtDNA tests for the Sievert/Raduntz lines.


Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

On This Day – Sarah Helena (Selman) Hutson (27 Sep 1858 – 26 Sep 1916)

     I could title this post, “On These Days,” and try to post it halfway between the 26^th of September for the anniversary of her death and the 27^th of September for the anniversary of her birth. 

     Sarah Helena Selman was born on 27 Sep 1858 in Cherokee County, Texas[1], probably somewhere near Rusk[2].  Cherokee County is in eastern Texas, two counties away from the Louisiana border.  Her parents were Greenlee Bean Selman and Amanda Deborah Oldham.  She was the youngest of the three children of Greenlee and Amanda.  Both Amanda and Greenlee had previous marriages, resulting in Sarah having four half-siblings.

     She married Peter Hayden Hutson in Hood County, Texas on 11 Sep 1879.[3]  They had 8 children, seven girls and one boy.  My great-grandmother, Nell Hutson, was number 4.  Three of her daughters, Lillie Violet, Myrtle, and Winnie Oda, died before reaching adulthood.  They are buried in Union Cemetery in Comanche County, where the family was now living.[4] 

Union Cemetery, Gustine, Texas;
photo courtesy of  Ken Jones, used with permission

     Sarah was called Sallie.  I don’t know very much about her.  She died 26 September 1916[5] and is buried in Union Cemetery with her three daughters and husband.[6]  She was only 60 years old.  It is difficult to read the cause of death.  It was interesting that she died in Throckmorten County, and her nephew, Noah Edwin Palmer, was the informant, not her husband, Pete.  Now there might be a story there….

     Happy 154^th Birthday, Sarah Helena Selman Hutson!

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[1] Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics, Digital Images of Death Certificates, FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org :n.d.), no. 17663, Mrs Sallie H. Hutson, 1916.
[2] Texas, Cherokee, 1860 U.S. census, Ancestry.com, Digital images (http://www.ancestry.com: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), M653, roll 1290, Beat No. 1 (Rusk), p. 417b, dwelling 106, family 106, Green Selman, accessed 27 Nov 2011.
[3] Hood County Texas Genealogical Society, Marriage Index, viewed 6 May 2009, http://www.granburydepot.org/home/HCGShomePage.htm,  "HUDSON, P. H. Selman, S. H."
[4] Find-A-Grave, www.findagrave.com, memorials 64910654 (Lillie V. Hutson), 64910655 (Myrtle Hutson), and 64910658 (Tennie O Hutson).
[5] Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics, Death Certificates, FamilySearch, no. 17663, Mrs Sallie H. Hutson, 1916.
[6] Find-A-Grave, www.findagrave.com, memorial 64910657 (Sarah Hellena Hutson)

Copyright © 2012 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family