Mam-ma's Southern Family

Elizabeth S. (Neel) Lancaster 1811-1881 Elizabeth S. (Neel) Lancaster is my 5th great grandmother.  She was born 22 Mar 1911 [1] in Kentucky to James Neel and Polly Martin.  She married Ellis Wilson Lancaster on 10 Jun 1831 in Shelby County, Kentucky.  Ellis and Elizabeth had 8 children.  The family moved to Kaufman County, Texas sometime between 1850 and 1860. There is not a lot to know about Elizabeth except through her probate record.  Ellis had died sometime in 1866 and she died Jul 30, 1881.  The total of the estate was $344.82. [2]  Each heir received either $49.26 or a portion thereof (some of her children had died and the grandchildren were to receive a shared portion). Elizabeth is buried in Rockwall Memorial Cemetery [3] .  Here is the link to the Find-a-Grave page for her tombstone. [1] Sandra Haney Tedford, Cemetery Inscriptions of Rockwall Co, Texas (N.p.: n.p., n.d.), 47 [2] Rockwall Co (Texas) Probate Reco...

1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Texas - Erath County - ED 72-1 - ED 72-20 National Archives I was looking at photos about baseball on the National Archives site when I thought to search for photos about Erath County, Texas, where my grandmother is from.  Up popped maps depicting the 1940 Enumeration Districts.  Wow, that will be helpful when the 1940 U.S. Federal Census comes out in 2012.  There will be no index immediately, so having a map to narrow down which ED to search page by page will cut my searching time down to a manageable level. I believe my grandparents (Tom J & Pansy Johnston) and mother (Lela Nell Johnston) were living in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas in 1940.  The war hadn't started yet, so my grandfather was not yet in the U.S. Navy.  He would be working in some carpentry trade. ED 72-1 to 72-4 There was also a description of these EDs: My grandmother's parents, George Warren & Lela Ann Lancaster, were loca...

Randy Seaver of  Genea-Musings  asked us for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun to: 1) List your matrilineal line - your mother, her mother, etc. back to the first identifiable mother. Note: this line is how your mitochondrial DNA was passed to you! 2) Tell us if you have had your mitochondrial DNA tested, and if so, which Haplogroup you are in. My matrilineal line is: Lisa Gorrell Lela Nell Johnston (1934 Stephenville, Texas - 1992 Walnut Creek, California) married William J Hork Pansy Louise Lancaster (1913 Stephenville, Texas - ) married Tom J Johnston Lela Ann Loveless (1896 Conway, Arkansas - 1951 Stephenville, Texas) married George Warren Lancaster Eliza A Rogers (1854 South Carolina - 1907 Faulkner Co, Arkansas) married Ebenezer Loveless I had the mitochondrial DNA test done on my grandmother.  The Haplogroup is U5 which show Northern Europe.  This was not the result I expected.  Family stories always were we have Native ...

Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun has us first figure out how old our great grandfather would be now if he had lived.  Then divide that number by 4 to get our “roulette number.”  With this number, I find the ancestor with that number in my ahnentafel (ancestor) list.  Then we are to write 3 facts we know about that person.  Here’s mine: My great grandfather is George Warren Lancaster , born 19 Jan 1893.  He would be 118 years old today if he still was living.  Divide that age by 4 and I get 29.5.  I’ll round that to 29 making my “roulette number” 29.  No. 29 in my ancestor list is Martha Jane Coor (1873-1942). Here are 3 facts I know about Martha Jane “Doll” Coor:  1.        Martha Jane was born 10 May 1873 in Crystal Springs, Copiah Co, Mississippi to James Madison Coor (1833-1890) and Melissa Ann Welch (1840-1976).  She was the ninth child of ten and was only three years old when he...

Here is the obituary for Lela Ann Loveless.  Actually it is a write-up about the funeral for Lela Ann.  Here is the transcription: Obituary for Lela Ann Lancaster "Attend Funeral for Mrs. W. G. Lancaster" [1]       Several out-of-town friends and friends of Mrs. Warren G. Lancaster, who died last week, were in Stephenville Sunday for the funeral services.       They were:  A daughter, Mrs. Tom Johnson, husband and daughter of Walnut Creek, Calif.; two brothers, W.F. Lancaster and wife, and Earl, both of Slaton;  three sisters and their husbands, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Self and Mr. and Mrs. W.H. Loveless of Fort Worth, and Mr. and Mrs. Walt Fraley of Ropesville.       Other relatives were Mr. and Mrs. Jack Lancaster of Seagraves, Mr. and Mrs. Weldon Tudor of Ropesville, and Bill Martin Hester of Midland.       Out-of-town friends attending were:  Mr...

E. Loveless Death Certificate, 1929, Rotan Co, Texas The last known information about Ebenezer Loveless, the father of Lela Ann Loveless (my great grandmother & Mam-ma’s mother), he was living on a farm in Precinct 1 of Erath County, Texas in 1920 with his second wife named, Malissa. [2]   I began by searching the 1930 census for his children, thinking he could be enumerated with them.  No luck.  So my initial assumption was he died before the 1930 census.  I could not find Ebenezer in Erath county death records.  Where had he gone?  It was a mystery. When the "Texas Deaths 1890-1976" database was put online at FamilySearch , I was in seventh heaven.  This database includes images of the death certificates.  Most of my mother’s family lived in Texas for a few generations so I was able to find a lot of records.  Finding Ebenezer in this state-wide database saved me a lot of time.  Do you know how many counties are in Texas?...

Mam-ma with my mother 1934 Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Margurite Luella Polly (1857-1904) Mam-ma's great grandmother's sister Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

This is my Face of Genealogy.  Lela Ann Loveless is the mother of my grandmother, Pansy Louise Johnston.  This photo was taken about 1904.  Lela Ann's parents were Ebenezer Loveless and Eliza Ann Rogers.  They lived in Faulkner County, Arkansas before moving to Erath County, Texas. Ebenezer Loveless, Lela Ann, & Eliza Ann (Rogers) Loveless **This post is in response to the photograph posted by the LA Weekly for the Southern California Jamboree that was in poor taste.  This is the true Faces of Genealogy. ++ Post corrected 6 Sept 2013, replacing Nixon with Rogers. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Pansy Louise Lancaster's father on a visit to Walnut Creek, California, c. late 1940's Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Upper Green's Creek Cemetery, Erath Co, Texas        Martha Jane Coor was born May 10, 1873 in Copiah County, Mississippi to James Madison Coor and Melissa Ann Welch. She was the ninth child of ten and the fourth and last daughter.  She was called “Doll” because she was very beautiful. [1]   Her mother died in 1876 and the family moved to Erath County, Texas sometime in the early 1880's. [2]          Not much is known about her early years and she was just 16 when her father died.  When her and her brother, Daniel K, estate was probated, their estate was worth about $400 consisting of land and cattle. [3]   Her brother-in-law, Samuel O. Durham was the executor of the estate and made guardian to her brother, Daniel. Carl & Doll Lancaster with Lela Nell Johnston in the center,  Pansy Johnston on the floor, and Carl's son, George Warren  & Maggie Self to the rear.   ...

J. M. Coor, Probate #241, Erath Co, Texas Book G, p 458, FHL film 1428413  Today I found the probate record for James M. Coor, my 3rd great grandfather.  He was born in Crystal Springs, Copiah County, Mississippi in 18 Oct 1833 and he died 26 Mar 1890 in Erath County, Texas.  March 26 is my birthday, though many decades later.  I don't know when he came with his family to Texas.  His wife, Melissa Ann Welch, died 20 Sep 1876 in Coor Springs, Mississippi, leaving him nine children to raise alone.  He and his family are in Copiah County, Mississippi for the 1880 census.  He purchased land in Erath County, Texas on 6 Mar 1885.  I am not sure if this is the first purchase.  I need to make a spreadsheet of all of the land purchases to sort them out. By 1890, however, most of his children have married and two are left as minors: my great-great grandmother Martha J. Coor, better known as Doll (even in the probate record), an...

     I don't know much about Daniel K. Coor, and only just learned about him this week.  It all started with a probate record for his father, James Madison Coor [i] [1833-1890] (James M. Coor is the great-grandfather of Mam-ma, my grandmother).  In the probate were guardianship records for "Doll" Coor and "D.K." Coor.  I knew from my grandmother that Martha J. Coor [1873-1942] was called "Doll".  She would have been 17 years old at the time of her father's death and would need guardianship.  However, I didn't know who this "D.K." Coor was.  His age was stated as 15.  The 1880 census showed a younger sister, named Anna, born 1875. [ii]         So I transcribed the entire Probate and Guardianship and learned that the estate listed the following as: “persons entitled to receive said Estate as follows to wit:  D.P. Coor, Sallie G. Sones, Anna B. Durham, J.E. Coor, May Carr, J.R. Coor, Dollie La...

Lela Nell Johnston, Lela Ann (Loveless) Lancaster, Pansy Louise (Lancaster) Johnston c. 1940's Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

 Upper Greens Creek Cemetery, Erath Co, Texas George W. (Warren) Lancaster (1893-1964) George W. Lancaster was my great-grandfather, the father of Mam-ma.  He was born in Johnson Community, Erath County, Texas on 19 Jan 1893 to William Carl Lancaster & Martha Jane Coor.  He married Lela Ann Loveless 15 Dec 1912 in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas. He worked as a farmer, was a good mechanic and loved working on cars on Sunday.  Friends would come with food and have their cars worked on.  Later he worked as shop foreman for the old Reid Sales Company and then had a shop of his own. [1]   He died 8 Nov 1964 in Stephenville, leaving two sons and one daughter.  His wife and one son had died previously. He is buried in the Upper Greens Creek Cemetery.  I took this photo 7 Oct 1995 when I visited Stephenville with Mam-ma.  Upper Greens Creek Cemetery is located south of Stephenville off Hwy 377 in the Green’s Creek community. [2]  ...

 

 James Madison Coor Lower Greens Creek Cemetery, Erath Co, Texas James Madison Coor (1833-1890) James Madison Coor was born in Crystal Springs, Copiah Co, Mississippi 18 Oct 1833 to John Coor and Ann Kethley.  He married Melissa Ann Welch Pittman 9 Oct 1856.  This is the second marriage for Melissa.  They had 10 children.  After his wife died, he moved with his younger children to Stephenville, Erath county, Texas, where he died 26 Mar 1890.  He was buried in Lower Greens Creek Cemetery.  He was my ggg-grandfather. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

This assignment has me taking a grandfather and determining his age today, dividing by 4, then finding the ancestor in my family tree with the ahnentafel number, and writing 3 facts about that ancestor.  My ahnentafel number came up as 28 which would be Thomas Newton Johnston, my great grandfather.  Tom Johnston with granddaughters, Lea & Sandra Thomas Newton Johnston was born 25 Jul 1885 in Edna Hill, Comanche County, Texas to Ruben Mack Johnston and Olivia Jane Jones .  He died 20 Feb 1951 in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas. He married Nell L. Hutson on 6 Jun 1907 in Comanche County, Texas. Three facts I know: Listed as a farmer living on Gustine & Swan Hill Road in 1910 with his wife, Lea N. and daughter, Beryl M. Worked many years at the Higgenbotham's Lumber Yard in Stephenville, Texas, lastly as manager. Was called "Daddy Tom" by his grandchildren. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family

Tom-Tom, Lisa, & Mam-ma These are my grandparents, Tom J. Johnston and Pansy Louise Lancaster.  I am standing between them and am probably less than a year old.  I think this because I am not standing up straight. My grandfather was called Tom-Tom by his grandchildren and my grandmother was called Mam-ma.  They were in their late thirties when I was born, as their first grandchild, and felt they were too young to be grandparents.  So we did not call them "grandma" or "grandpa."  Also, in Texas, where my grandparents were born, a common name for grandmother was "Mam-ma."  My mother called her grandmother "Mam-ma," too. Tom-Tom was a carpenter and worked at Diablo Valley College until his death.  Mam-ma worked outside the home in clothing stores.  She also made her own clothes, probably the dress she is shown wearing here. Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family