Mam-ma's Southern Family

I have been working on probated estates of farmers who died in mid-century 1800. One of the items that was in the estate inventories was a “wheat fan.” [1] In Robert Lancaster’s estate in 1840, there was a wheat fan that was valued at $5.00 and sold for $6.87 in the estate sale. I imagined a wheat fan as something made from wheat stalks shaped in a fan to be used when the weather was a bit warm to help cool you down. A search for a definition of a wheat fan brought up photos of winnowing baskets. These large baskets were used to separate the wheat grain from its chaff by tossing the wheat into the air and allowing the chaff to blow away in the wind.  Later, winnowing machines were invented and were in use by the time of Robert’s death. It is quite possible that he owned a machine that had either been purchased or hand-made. He must have grown some wheat as he had 40 bushels worth $20 at the time of his death. Although we cannot know for sure how Robert raised an...

   Fannie Bertha Johnston was the sister of my great grandfather, Thomas Newton Johnston.  She was born one hundred and sixteen years ago today in Gustine, Comanche county, Texas to Ruben Mack Johnston and Olivia Jane Jones.  Fannie was the tenth child of thirteen and the fifth daughter.  Here you can see her listed in the 1900 census in Gustine: Texas, Comanche Co, 1900 Federal Census, ED 30, Justice Precinct 3, Page: 1B, Ruben Johnson,  digital image,  Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Jul 2012) I don't have a photo of Fannie B. and would love to see one. She did not live past her 14th birthday, dying February 22, 1912 of pneumonia. Texas Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics, Digital Images of Death Certificates,  FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org :n.d.), 3491, Comanche Co, Bertie Johnston, 1912. Tragedy had happened to the family earlier in 1903 when her younger brother, Loyce Smith die...

I have been discussing in the last four blogs about the estate inventory of my 5 times Great-grandfather, Robert Lancaster, who died in 1840 in Shelby County, Kentucky. When I discovered that he had two copper stills and seventy-two barrels of whiskey, I became very curious about whiskey-making. I began my research on the making of whiskey in the 19th century via the Internet. I learned some basics from the “Bourbon Whiskey” article on Wikipedia . But I wanted to learn more. Two books that I received through inter-library loan were very helpful: The Social History of Bourbon,   by Gerald Carson and published by The University Press of Kentucky in 1963, and Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey, an American Heritage by Michael R. Veach, and also published by The University Press of Kentucky in 2013. Because these two books were published by an academic press, they were well documented. I was never a drinker of hard spirits, so I didn’t know much about whiskey. Since read...

Robert Lancaster of Shelby County, Kentucky, died in 1840, and his estate was probated by his youngest son, Josiah Lancaster, as administrator. [1] His estate was ordered to be inventoried and this is the fourth post about that inventory. This being Kentucky, I should not be surprised to find whiskey making items in the inventory. 66 mash tubs, 2 copper stills &                 still house apparatus            80   00 45 acres of corn                                  300  00 40 bushels of wheat                             20   00 2 Bee s...

I am continuing the discussion about my 5th Great-grandfather, Robert Lancaster, of Shelby County, Kentucky and his estate. Previously I have discussed the bond and naming of Josiah Lancaster as administrator, about the farm animals and equipment, and about the household goods. Now my attention is on the twelve slaves that were listed. In the inventory conducted for the estate of Robert Lancaster, these slaves were listed with their values: The slaves listed in the Robert Lancaster estate inventory 1 negro man naimed Henry                          800      00 1 negro man naimed Edmund                    800     00 I negro man naimed Charles             ...

Recap: Robert Lancaster was my fifth great-grandfather and he died shortly before 12 October 1840, when his youngest son, Josiah Lancaster, began the probate process in Shelby County, Kentucky. In the previous two posts, I wrote about the very large bond and the farming equipment in the inventory. In the continuation on the inventory, there were a lot of household items, ranging from bedding to kitchen items. [1] Below is a listing of these items in the order listed. Notice the creative spelling on several of the items: Some of the inventory of household goods 1 set of dining tables                             20 00 1 Beauro & dining table                        13 00 1 clock & case                                       ...

This is a series of blog posts about my fifth great-grandfather, Robert Lancaster. In this previous post , I wrote about the bond of $20,000. His youngest son, Josiah Lancaster was appointed administrator and ordered to conduct an inventory of the goods, chattels, and debts of Robert Lancaster. From the Shelby County (Kentucky) Superior Court, October 1840 Term, James Neal, William A. Hamblin, and Arthur Chambers were ordered to  appraise the slaves if any and personal estate of Robert Lancaster, deceased, and then return an appraisement to the court. [1] They appeared in court and returned a “true and just inventory and appraisement of all the personal estate of Robert Lancaster” which was “produced to us by Josiah Lancaster his administrator.” The appraisement went on for four pages and totaled $10,638.53 ¾. Some items were difficult to determine because of the “creative” spelling.  There were farming equipment, household items, furniture, food and drink stuff...

Robert Lancaster died sometime before 12 October 1840 when Josiah Lancaster, John Lancaster, Creath Neel, Robert Myers, Wm Lancaster, & Wm Price were held to the Commonwealth of Kentucky for $20,000 of current money at the Shelby County Superior Court. [1] This very high bond amount signaled that the estate was considered valuable. Josiah Lancaster, John Lancaster, and William Lancaster were Robert’s sons. Creath Neel and Robert Myers were Robert’s sons-in-law. But who was William Price? Perhaps he was a neighbor, someone outside of the family to be part of the surety for the bond. More research is needed to determine how William Price fits in. Josiah Lancaster was appointed administrator. There was no will. Josiah was to make a “true inventory of the goods, chattels and credits of Robert Lancaster” and to ”make a just and true account of his actings and doings” to the court. 1840 Bond for Robert Lancaster's Estate There was no mention of when Robert died on...

* This is a correction to the original post. The photo was misidentified. Corrections are in red below: I have received digital copies of some photos from a cousin, Judy Magee, who is my first cousin, twice removed. Our common ancestor is Abner Ebenezer Loveless (1851-1929). [1] These photos are a part of her mother, Marvelle Dunn’s collection. The best of the bunch was the photo of my grandmother, Pansy Louise ( Lancaster ) Johnston with her mother, Lela Ann (Loveless) Lancaster,   daughter, Lela Nell Johnston . Lela Ann Loveless Lancaster with daughter Pansy Louise, c. 1914/15 Lela Nell Johnston with mother, Pansy Louise (Lancaster) Johnston, c. 1935/36 From Marvelle Dunn Collection; used with permission We have so few early photos in  our collection, so it was pretty exciting to receive this photo. I had never seen this photo, nor any photo of Pansy as a child and her mother as a young woman. Now I’m glad to share it with the rest of my family. ...