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

Comments

Post a Comment

All comments on this blog will be previewed by the author to prevent spammers and unkind visitors to the site. The blog is open to other-than-just family members particularly those interested in family history and genealogy.

Popular posts from this blog

Last One Standing: Reginald F. Lancaster

Image
It is important to document the lives of those who left no descendants. I have been researching and writing as much as I can about family members who either never married or who married but had no children. They have no descendants who will do the research or even take DNA tests. But they will not be forgotten. Reginald F. Lancaster, my second great-uncle, was the son of George Wilson Lancaster and Martha Jane Polly. He was born 22 July 1887 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona, the fifth child of six. [1] His parents divorced when he was five. [2] His father moved back to Texas and Reggie probably never saw his father again. Reggie’s mother married Noah Flood Parks in 1893 and he grew up with two younger half-sisters. Sometime in the early 1900s, the family moved to Imperial County, California, to do farming. When Reggie registered for the draft, he was working at ranching. At age 29, he was of medium height and weight and had blue eyes and brown hair. He was still single. [3] I have
Read more

John Coor of Copiah County Made an Agreement with Joel Hoggatt

Image
This week at RootsTech 2024, FamilySearch announced a new feature that an every-word search was available for U.S. deeds and probates. It is still in the trial mode and can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/en/labs/ . This is the search screen. It clearly states it is for US land and probate records and Mexico notary records. You can do a keyword search or if you click on the “more options” you can add a name. My Find I immediately gave it a try and searched first for records of the COOR family using the keyword search. Up first came deeds from Wayne County, North Carolina.  At the top, you can filter using record year, record type, record place, and collection. For the past few days, I have mainly filtered by record place. I filtered down to Mississippi. You can even filter to the county. The first entry was a document I had not seen before. It was an 1826 agreement between John Coor and Joel Hoggatt to build a set of grist and sawmills. John Coor is my 4x-great-grandfath
Read more

Locating the Comic Book that Named My Great-Uncle

Image
Have you ever thought to look for an ancestor in a comic book? Many years ago, while speaking with my grandmother, she told me that a comic book had been written about her brother, Rayburn D. (R.D.) Lancaster while he was serving in the Army Air Forces in World War II. I thought that interesting and tried several times to locate this comic book in comic book stores. However, none of the proprietors knew what I was talking about. These stores were more focused on superhero comics. R. D. Lancaster enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 14 January 1942 as an aviation cadet. He was twenty-one years old. [1] He trained in Chickasha, Oklahoma. When he wrote home, he said he had acquired the nickname “Rip.” During his first solo flight, in checking his parachute, he noticed a string and upon pulling on the errant string, caused him to be lifted several feet off the ground. [2] Fast forward in time, a fellow volunteer at the History Center where I volunteer is an avid fan of comic books, so
Read more