Mam-ma's Southern Family

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 ...

Two photos in my grandmother’s photo collection were taken on the same day and they are some of my favorite photos. The first one has a bit of humor in it. My mother, Lela, is the child in the middle and my grandmother is the woman on the right. To the left is Maggie Self, my grandmother’s aunt, and her father’s younger sister. It’s humorous that they are lying on the floor and perhaps Lela couldn’t hold her laughter and that is why she is a bit blurry in the photo. The second photo taken the same day and in front of the same door has four generations. You can see that Maggie, Pansy, and Lela are wearing the same outfits. In the rear are Maggie Lancaster Self and her brother, Warren Lancaster. Seated are Carl and Doll Lancaster, Maggie and Warren’s parents with their great-granddaughter, Lela, between them. On the floor is Pansy Johnston, Warren’s daughter. Four generations of Lancasters: Lela > Pansy > Warren > Carl & Doll. I just noticed the treadle sewing machine in t...

Thirteen years ago, I attended a California Genealogical Society class on creating a blog which was taught by member, Craig Siulinski. Fellow blogger, Janice Sellers, was also in the class and we started our blogs on the same day. Since that time, I have written 226 blog posts. I do not write as many for this blog as the topic is finely defined. Mam-ma’s southern families comprise just one portion of my children’s ancestry, which is what I currently research. Last year, I wrote 15 posts: 8 posts were for 52 Ancestors 3 posts were holiday greetings 1 post for Women’s History Month 3 posts for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun The most viewed posts were: Last One Standing: Reginald F. Lancaster Mam-ma and Tom-Tom Gone Fishing! This post was highlighted on 52 Ancestors' weekly blog Last One Standing: Reginald F. Lancaster This year, I’m working to write more bios and research reports for my lines and these will include my grandmother’s ancestry. I will share some of...

Stories are passed down from generation to generation, and like the game of telephone, something can be lost or changed in each retelling of a story. We are told that family stories have a kernel of truth, but we have to sift through all the husks to discover that kernel. When I first began my quest to find out about my mother’s southern family, I had already heard that we had Native American ancestry. It was used to explain why I had darker skin and hair than my siblings (though my German/Irish ancestry father had dark hair, too). My mother wrote her family’s racial origins as Irish, Scots, Indian, and English. She had done no family research, so this was probably just what had been told to her. I dutifully researched the family backward in time and got to my fourth-great-grandparents, and still no sign of any Native American ancestry. All census records stated these sixteen ancestors were white. My grandmother, Pansy Lancaster, thought her side of the family carried it. Then one da...