Mam-ma's Southern Family

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. I’ve written about Nathan H.O. Polly, my four times great-grandfather, who was a circuit riding minister in Texas here and here . He also owned land and farmed. He was enumerated in two agricultural censuses: 1870 in Kaufman County [1] and 1880 in Rockwall County. [2] Now Rockwall County was formed from Kaufman County, so he probably did not move, just the county name changed. I need to verify that! 1870 Agricultural Schedule 1870 Ag Sched - Kaufman Co, Texas for NHO Polly (see line 11) I will discuss each of the columns here. I used a blank census sheet for the headings [3] : He had 25 improved acres and an additional 260 that were not. The cash value of land was $1300. The cash value of the far...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. When we first find our ancestors in a census record, we tend to just focus on that one family on the page. We carefully record the head of household, his wife, and children into our genealogy program or into a word processing document. There might be others in the household such as one of the parents or in-laws, or perhaps a sibling or servant. It is a good practice to at least look at the census entries before and after the targeted family. I try to look a page or two before and after the family and record the head of household’s first and last names. At first glance, we may not know whether any of these people are kin, especially if they are not of the same surname. I have a family on a page in Comanch...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by  Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either   Mam-ma’s Southern Family  or at  My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. In 1840, Ellis W. Lancaster was heading his own household in Lewis County, Missouri. [1] He had three young sons under five years old, one daughter over five but under ten, and his wife, Elizabeth who was between twenty and thirty. 1840 Lewis Co, Missouri, p. 186 These children would have been: Sarah A. Lancaster , born 11 Apr 1832, so she was about 8. James R. Lancaster , born Sep 1835, so he was about 5. William T. Lancaster , born 1 Sep 1837, so he was about 3. George Wilson Lancaster , born 3 Apr 1839, so he was about 1. This census also shows neighbors. Above Ellis, we can see Joseph Bourne . His son, Reuben Bourne would marry Ellis’ daughter, Sarah some...