GOLDMINE!!!

If you don't see me again, its because I'm going through all this:



Picked up the 4 boxes from my Aunt today, and holy CRAP! There's so much IN IT! It's all my Grandma Geve's stuff, and there's an abundance of everything! There's certificates, wills, enumeration papers, her notes, articles, and SO MUCH MORE!

I first need to find a way to sort everything. Then I need to go through all the papers, and because of my Grandmother's love affair with the copier, there are more copies of pages than I know what to do with! :D

Right now, I'm practically bouncing up and down! BEST BIRTHDAY GIFT EVER! {besides the Backstreet Boys tickets my hubby got me!}.

I don't even know which box to start with!

Surnames

I figured I'd make a list of the surnames and general locations where I'm looking for them. I'll put in the years once I get all that information. That way, if anyone stumbles across the blog in search of the same people, they'd know what I'm working on. :)

New York
Dopp
Ferguson
Lester
Vrooman
Fitsimons
Burke {Bourke}
Van Alstyne

Alabama
O'Rourke
Craddock
McKeever
Tillman

Pennsylvania
McKeever

Georgia
White
Smith
Cobb

Virginia
White
Smith
Marsh
Davis
Potts

South Carolina
White
Golightly
Seaborn
Osburne
Whitehead

Ireland
Bourke {Burke}
Lester
O'Rourke
Corbett
Moore
Dunseath

Scotland
Smith
Ritichie
Barclay
Crawford

Germany
Dopp {Dopff}

This list is by no means complete, but I hope to add more later.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my Great-Aunt Kathryn's birthday, and she's 90 years young!

Happy Birthday Kathryn!

Confirmation & Pictures

Besides using the internet for research, I've talked to my Great Aunt Kathryn twice about information on the O'Rourke side of the family. I'm a littler further than where I was when I started, but I'm still lacking in the resource department. I finally learned the names of Grandma Geve's siblings and learned that all of my Great Uncles and even Great Aunt Kathryn were all in the military of some form. I had no idea!

Kathryn also confirmed that Mattie Nichols was indeed Lucy's mother, and her name was Martha Jane before either marriage. Nichols was her last name after she remarried. Unfortunately, because she was called Mattie and her last name sounds like a first/middle name, she is listed many different ways on forms and its been difficult looking for her. She's either Martha, Mattie, Mary, or even Jane. Bah! I found them listed on the 1880 Census, but I currently don't have access to that one yet. I'm also having a little trouble with her husband {Lucy's father}, because there are a couple different John Craddock's listed in that specific county of Alabama. If only I had his middle name, it would be much easier. I think it begins with a 'D', but 'D' is easily mistranslated as 'A' and there is a John A Craddock in the exact same county with a very close birth year and he owned slaves. I can't find him on a census, which means I don't know if its the same guy or not. So, I really don't know what to make of it until I get more information on that family. It might even be easier if I had Lucy's birth certificate.

I've also been in contact by emails with my Aunt Mary Ellen, which has been great. She sent me these pictures of Grandma Geve I had never seen before. Let me just say that there is QUITE a family resemblance to her. When looking at most of my family, you can see that we are indeed all related. :)


Grandma Genevieve


James {Bubber}, Frances Anne, Mary Ellen {the young girl}, Grandma Genevieve


Elizabeth {Tootsie}, Kathryn, Ellen, Grandma Genevieve

But what has been the most awesome find I've come across? A box that my Aunt Susan had given my dad with a few of Grandma Thelma's papers in it. Included in the box were her ORIGINAL adoption papers, her original birth and death certificates, and my Grandfather's original birth and death certificates. There's even a little guest book that people signed at my Grandfather's memorial, and it contained articles about his heart attack which I had never seen before.

I skimmed through her adoption papers - its about 10 pages long - and something caught my eye: "his foster mother Ida"! It may not seem like much considering I found the census showing that Walter Ferguson Jr. was apparently adopted, but the census records CAN be wrong {human error and all that}. What made me happy {in a way} was that I had confirmation on the fact that it did seem that Walter Jr. was adopted by Walter and Ida. Though, I'm not really looking forward to trying to sort through adoption papers from the 1880's, at least I've got TWO sources saying the same thing.

I'm just curious though, his birth and death certificates didn't have a whole lot of information. Yes, his death certificate had his name, the date of death, what he died from, and that he was married and how old he was, but it didn't give me anything other than that. It was very short and small, and I was kinda disappointed. I guess in the 1960s there wasn't a lot to share? Or maybe I've just got a little form that has just the basics filled out and its not the original? I have no idea. My Grandma Thelma's, however, had a WHOLE lot of stuff, but then again, she passed in 2007, so its recent. All of the papers are official, so I don't doubt their accuracy, but I'm just confused as to what I've got. Here's a look at it {his SS# is blurred out}.



What do you think?

Birth Certificates

When I get the extra money to order copies of vital records, I already know the first two I'd like to get my hands on: Walter Clinton Ferguson Jr, and Lucy Ellen Craddock.

Walter for the adoption thing {as mentioned in the last post}, and then Lucy {my great-grandmother} because I cannot locate her before she married Frank O'Rourke, and there is a reference to a Mattie Nichols on the 1930's Census record. Aunt Mary Ellen pointed it out to me in a letter she wrote, and its gotten me curious. The Census shows that Mattie's relationship to Frank was mother-in-law, but the last names are different. Lucy was most definitely a Craddock - that much is for certain. We're just not sure who Mattie is.

If only I could get up to Birmingham, AL to peruse the library up there and visit the cemeteries. Why must work get in the way?

Adoption, yet again.

And this is where I bang my head repeatedly on my desk. I think I spoke too soon for the Ferguson's. I'm not changing my mind about the MacVeans'. I'd like to eventually go down that path, but I found something that has might take me off the Ferguson trail as well.



Walter Clinton Ferguson Sr. had two children in the 1900 Census, but note the little 'adt' next to their relation to the head of the house.

Adopted.

And now I have no idea how to precede with this. I've read a little on adoption, and there is a slight chance that there are records accessible to me about this - like a court record or a change on their birth certificates. I think I'm lucky because the late 1800's is when they started tracking adoptions, and they didn't start sealing records until the 1930's. I might be just in that window.

There is a small chance that the situation that occurred in this family is the same as what my grandmother went through. Walter Jr and Eva could be children from another family member that they took on. And if my records are true, then there were a WHOLE LOT of Fergusons working farms in upstate New York. I haven't researched all of Walter Sr.'s siblings {I've only noticed 2 other brothers} but one of them - Silas - doesn't seem to continue past the 1880 Census. Could it have been him? Or is it from a previous marriage or from a premarital relationship? There isn't much to gain from the actual Census, but I just don't have the extra money at the moment to order birth certificates.

Maybe in the next month or two dad and I can plan a trip up to upstate. I'd definitely need more than a weekend though, considering how much history my family has up there. And if I can find who Walter Jr. and Eva's real parents are, I'd most likely go head first into that side of the family.

Benjamin Franklin White

Oh yes, there was an ancestor named Benjamin Franklin White, and his son that we're descended from? Benjamin Franklin White Jr. Isn't that awesome?

Even though the names are fantastic enough on their own, that's not why I'm posting about ol' B.F. White Sr. Nope.

Turns out we've got a semi-famous person in the family tree! I say famous because he is one of the pioneers of Shape Note singing and wrote what their equivalent of a musical Bible would be: The Sacred Harp. And I say 'semi-' cause I have never, ever heard of Shape Note singing before this.

Let's learn something new today!

Shape notes are a music notation designed to facilitate congregational singing. Shape notes of various kinds have been used for over two centuries in a variety of sacred music traditions practiced primarily in the Southern region of the United States.

I'd like to eventually sit down and learn what this type of musical singing involves, but I haven't really. But I'll give you guys a brief synopsis that I read on his Wiki Page. Now, don't take all that to heart, because Wiki is not really...reliable when it comes to facts.

But the fun of Shape Note Singing doesn't stop there! Oh no! Benjamin Franklin White's son James Landrom White re-released The Sacred Harp in 1911 with some newer gospel songs, and his rendition of the book is often called "The White Book".

I'm going to be looking for books on Ben and family and the history of Shape Note singing, so if anyone has any already they'd like to share, I'd love it if you would share!

If you'd like to know a little more about Benjamin Franklin White, I would suggest checking out the link in the sidebar titled "The White Family". Its a page by Mike White, who is a descendant of Benjamin's brother Elias. He's been working on this lineage for a while now - the page was started in 1997, from what he's told me. He even worked with Mary Coppage {nee White} on some aspects - and its her notes where I got most of my information as well. On the site you'll find dates and locations of births and deaths - even a few other tidbits of information. There's a little more than what's on the surface of the site, so I would suggest sending a quick word to him and he'll be happy to send you the password to access the site.

I came into contact with him while I was looking in a genealogy forum over on Genealogy.com, and saw his post about B. F. White that he made in 2000. I took a chance in sending him an e-mail and he was very quick with a response back. :) I really appreciated that.

How They're Related
me > mom > James L. White Jr. > James L White Sr. > Benjamin Franklin White Jr. > Benjamin Franklin White

me > mom > James L. White Jr. >sister> Mary Coppage {nee White}

Ferguson vs MacVean

This sounds like an Irish Pub boxing match. :)

I'm not sure why, but I feel the need to explain why I'm going back on the Ferguson line and not he MacVean. Though it should go without saying why, I feel compelled to.

My Grandma Thelma was born a Ferguson - not a MacVean. Her father was Walter Ferguson Jr, his father was Walter Ferguson Sr, and so on. Where did the MacVean come in? When she was 11, she was adopted by her aunt Perlia MacVean {nee Dopp} and raised in that family. I could go back in the family that raised her, but they are not my relatives by blood besides Perlia's descendants. Which is why I'm going back in the Ferguson line.

In regards to her adoptive family, I am curious as to see if there were any adoption papers drawn up, and if in 1928 there was a record of her taking the name MacVean. I have very little information as to what happened to her biological brother and sisters and who adopted them, and I'd love to find out more about that process. From what I understand, they were all relatively young when their parents died, and only Thelma was taken in by Perlia and Percy.

These is a few questions I would love to have answered.

John H. Dopp

Its amazing what you can find in the course of research. If only I could be this lucky with Grandma Geve's side.

I have mixed feelings about this find, but I figured it was worth sharing and how I got to this point. One one had I'm happy to have found this - which was a wealth of information, but then its sad at the circumstances that gave this to me.

As I was inputting the names and dates into the family tree, I often got sidetracked with Google, trying to find dates for small holes I found. To be honest, I'm not sure why I decided to Google "Vrooman Dopp". Maybe it was because of the odd name that I was hoping I'd come across more information on the Dopp family. I guess it worked. :)

The first thing that I came across was an article {seen left} from the Schenectady Gazette up in New York on 25 February 1961. Click on the article to enlarge it. He isn't directly related to me {being my 1st cousin 2 times removed, aka my great-uncle Vrooman Dopp's son}, but I still felt sad to find out about his death. It makes me wonder what happened in his life that made him so depressed that he felt that was the only way out. Unfortunately these things are going to happen when researching the past.

I read the article, and found out more about him; where he went to school, that he was in the military, and who was living at that moment in time. The Merchant Marines didn't really sound familiar, so I thought I'd take a look and see if I could find some sort of roster or list or anything in relation to John Dopp and the Merchant Marines. To my surprise, I found something!

Someone had taken a yearbook from his graduating class and scanned the book in its entirety and uploaded it to Archive.org. I was completely surprised that someone decided that this book was important enough to scan and share, and I was thrilled to have found something so interesting and unique. I was even able to find out that his middle initial stood for Hergen.

If you would like to see the book, its available to view here. There's no registration needed and there are a couple of different options for viewing.

Starting Out

My first step after getting the box of genealogy stuff from my parents was to enter all the information that was in there and compile it into one family tree. When I was 14 I had used a computer program called Family Tree Maker. I remember exactly what it looked like and it was pretty darn awesome, especially to me at that age. AOL had just been starting up and I was using it to find information about genealogy research, but I don't think I ever thought to use it to look up information on individuals on my tree. Go figure.

Now, I'm using both Family Tree Maker {the newer version, not the old one} and RootsMagic. I'm not sure which one I like better, so I'm using both of them at the moment. The RootsMagic program is the free trial, whereas Family Tree Maker, I have to admit, is not entire kosher. I would like to eventually get a full program for either one of them, but its currently not in the budget.

It took me about a week to manually enter names, dates, and places from outlines and letters that I had. And now I've got a starting point. Its time to prove and correct information that I've been given, and hopefully fill in a lot of the blanks.

Census records seem to be the easiest to access from the internet, and some are even available for free at the moment. Footnote.com has a limited amount of US Census records to view for free for the month of April. It is very limited, but I've been able to get quite a few of the ones I needed. Family Search.org has also been helpful for free access to certain census records and other information. Ancestry.com would be a wealth of information, but I just don't have $150+ to spend for a year subscription. That's just a ridiculous amount of money at this moment.

But what I'm asking for right now is if ANYONE in the family has any kind of information - articles, pictures, obituaries, family trees, books, journals, or even if you happen to know any information off the top of your head, please send it my way. The more information I have the better. :)

First Post - Fresh Start

I'm pretty sure most of the people reading this blog is going to be family, so an introduction in the first post would be a little redundant. If you aren't related, or just want to know more about me click on the 'About Me' page. Go figure. :)

I guess I should begin this blog with a little about what's going to be written about here. I plan on using this to share with people {mainly family} about my findings in my attempt to piece together a family tree. I've never been good at things like this - I could never hold a written journal for more than a week or so. Let's see if a digital journal will work better!

If you click above, there are pages for each of the surnames I plan on researching. On each page you will find the current family tree information that I have, though I would recommend not taking it all for word unless specified it has been proved with documents to back it up. I will mention that I have the documents, but I do not plan on uploading the vital ones {birth certificates, death certificates, etc}. If you are family, you can contact me if you would like a copy {digital or physical}, but I will not post it for public viewing. I also will not be posting anything but names of the people that are to my knowledge still living, as they already know who they are and how they are related.

I don't have much now, but as time goes by, I hope to obtain as much as I possibly can. Family is very important to me, whether they are here today or from the past.