Mam-ma's Southern Family

I am fortunate that my Mam-ma first tested her DNA with Family Tree DNA and at the time it was only mtDNA that was available for her. This DNA covers the ancestors of our mother’s mother’s mother, etc. So far, the matches haven’t help much but who knows that someday there might be the right match. Our mtDNA line begins with my daughters. Next is me. My mother Lela Nell Johnston was born 21 Aug 1934 in Erath County, Texas. She married William J Hork 19 Apr 1953 in Concord, Contra Costa County, California. Lela's mother was Pansy Louise Lancaster (my Mam-ma), who was born 19 Nov 1913 in Erath County, Texas. She married Tom J. Johnston 15 Dec 1933 in Comanche County, Texas. Pansy’s mother was Lela Ann Loveless was born 2 Apr 1896 in Faulkner County, Arkansas. She married George Warren Lancaster 15 Dec 1912 in Erath County, Texas. Lela’s mother was Eliza A Rogers was born May 1854 in South Carolina. She married Ebenezer Loveless 19 Mar 1871 in Chattooga County...

Last week I took care of making a list of addresses and enumeration districts (EDs) for my paternal family. This week, I'm focusing on the maternal side. The 1950 federal census records will be released on April 1, but there will be no indexes yet. I need to know the address of each person in order to locate them in specific enumeration districts, where I will browse for their households. To find their address, I used city directories, voter registrations, newspaper articles, and other records that give addresses. To find their enumeration district, I used the One-Step Unified Census ED Finder at Stevemorse.org. These are the direct ancestors who I expect to find on my mother’s side of the family. Pleasant Hill, California Tom J. and Pansy Johnston were living at 307 Nancy Lane . [1] Tom would be 37 and Pansy 36. I don’t know what his job was. He could be working at the pool hall. She may have been working as a seamstress for a dress or clothing store. Their daughter, Lela Ne...

These themes are sometimes difficult to formulate a specific story about someone in the family. I often search for the word in my genealogy software and see what comes up. It is hit and miss whether that works. Today, I searched for “branch.” I found two people who have deed descriptions that mention “branch.” Land Description Knowing the name of a branch of a creek or river, can be helpful in place a piece of property that is only described as “north ten degrees west forty-three rods to an oak” etc. Having the name of a branch, creek, river, or other watershed type can help place that property, if not exactly, at least close to where it was located. To place it more precisely, locating the deed descriptions of all of his neighbors could be all that is needed. For example, Arthur Core of North Carolina received a patent from the Royal Governor, William Tryon on 4 May 1769 for 54 acres. [1] The description in the land patent book stated: “54 acres Dobbs the north side of Nuce [N...

This is is a photo of my great-grandfather, George Warren Lancaster, my Mam-ma's father. On the front is written "Bud" at the top and "George Warren My bud" at the bottom. He looks pretty dashing standing in the yard with his bow tie and hat.  This photo is a photo postcard and has been trimmed. I I cannot read completely what was originally written on the back in pencil, however, my grandmother wrote in dark ink "George Warren Lancaster. Dorothy sent this to me 10-8-2005. She found it in some of her mother's pictures. My father. Pansy L. Johnston." I recognize my grandmother's handwriting. There are clues in this written description. Dorothy is Pansy's double cousin, Dorothy Loveless. Her parents were William Hutson Loveless and Josephine Hazel Lancaster. Pansy's father was George Warren Lancaster, Josephine's brother and her mother was Lela Ann Loveless, William Hutson's sister, thus making Dorothy and Pansy double cousins. Th...

Eleven years ago, I attended a class at California Genealogical Society on starting a blog. This is the blog I started about my grandmother, Pansy Louise Lancaster Johnston's ancestors.  It is such a narrow theme that I don't often write in this blog. Most of the posts in the last few years have been stories to fit the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks themes. This is my first post of the 2022 calendar year. I do hope to write more 52 Ancestors stories. Next week is favorite photo. I bet I can find a favorite photo of my grandmother. Copyright © 2022 by Lisa S. Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family, All rights reserved.

I thought this week I would show photos of my grandparents celebrating Christmas. This might have been set up as a Christmas card but I'm not sure. Mam-ma is on the left and Tom-Tom on the right, with Thunder in the center. They had a very small tree. And look at that crazy pattern on their drapes. Clearly this is the 50s. My grandparents always came to our house for Christmas and Thanksgiving because it was easier since we had the large family of six kids. My mother did most of the cooking but Mam-ma brought some dishes to share. Tom-Tom's sister, Beryl, always brought pies: pumpkin, pecan, and mincemeat. My dad and I loved the mincemeat. Here is one from 1975 with my whole family and Tom's sister, Beryl is seated on the left. We had lost Tom-Tom two years previously. Merry Christmas! Copyright © 2021 by Lisa S. Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family, All rights reserved.

My grandmother, Pansy Louise Lancaster Johnston, the one we all called Mam-ma, was very crafty. She was a very talented seamstress and made many of her own clothes. She even worked for clothing stores taking in alterations. Here is an example of a dress she made. Here is another, showing my mother, Lela and her with matching dresses. Later in life, when she stopped sewing, she would crochet and made many blankets. You can see an example on the chair to the right of Mam-ma. When she moved to the assisted living place, she liked to sit and embroider. She bought T-shirts and embroidered flowers, crosses, and other symbols on them in a decorative way. It sure kept her busy and she enjoyed giving the shirts to people she cared about. Here is an example of one she made for herself. I think as she got older and it was easier wearing sweat clothes, she wanted to decorate them up. This is my fourth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week...