Posts Tagged ‘family history’

by Sherry Stocking Kline
01 August 2010

Off and on for several years, I’ve tried to get started scrapbooking and journaling my photographs.  But it takes a lot of room to gather it all up, and spread it all out.

And I seem to be one of those people who have to change background papers and photographs over and over (and over) till I finally find the combination that I like.  Takes hours. (And usually two more trips to the scrapbook store!)

Then I found digital scrapbooking with a Twitter friend on-line.

So, instead of cutting up my photographs, and then wishing they were a different shape and size, or worse yet, wishing I had never cut them up at all,  now I can digitize photos, crop, re-size, and re-shape to my heart’s content, leaving the originals alone.

I love it!

Below are some of the 12 x 12 scrapbook pages for my family history book that I’ve created.  First, is the page for my great-grandparents, Roderick Remine and Frances “Fanny” (Hitchcock) Stocking and their four sons.

My grandfather is standing on the far right, Elmer Leverett. He passed away before I was born, and I never got to meet him.  (I sooo wish that I had been able to get to know him.)

The Roderick Remine and Frances (Hitchcock) Stocking Family

The photo below here is my great-grandmother, Maggie (Corson) McGinnis and her daughter and son-in-law, Maud and Elmer Stocking.

It looks to me like they are sitting on the east side of  Maud and Elmer’s home near Mayfield, Kansas.  Maud and Elmer’s home was on their farm on the NW 1/4 of 18-32-2W, where they had a quarter section of land. (160 acres).  Later, my parents bought this farm from Maud and Elmer and I grew up here as well.  The house burned down several years ago.

Maggie McGinnis with daughter Maud Stocking & husband Elmer Stocking

The photograph below is of my dad’s parents and his siblings.  What a great photograph! (I wish I knew when it was taken!!)  I really like the burnt sienna colored paper below with it’s hints of other shades, and I added just a few “starbursts” to it to ‘gussy’ it up a little.

My grandfather is seated on the left and my grandmother is seated on the right. My father, Harold Stocking, Sr., is standing on the back row, third from the left.

The Elmer Leverett and Maud (McGinnis) Stocking Family. Standing: Frank, Carl, Harold, Sr., and Alma; Seated, Father Elmer Leverett, Herbert, Frances, Peggy, Mary, and Mother Maud.

While researching and preserving history is very important to me, my scrapbooking is not all about preserving the past, it’s also about preserving and enjoying the present, too, and being able to enjoy it again and again for the future.

Below is the cover from “Giggles”, an 8 x 8 scrapbook that I created this summer for my two darling little granddaughters.  There are several of my favorite photos and fun times that we’ve had in the past few years, and the book is a favorite with the girls as well.  I also think it will help them remember all the fun times that we’ve had!

Jordyn Savannah "Savvy" & Chloy Celyse star in their own Book created especially for them.

Below is a photo of the girls reading their very own Storybook Scrapbook!

Jordyn reads their Storybook to her younger sister, Chloy.

Currently I am using a Family Photo Tree template at www.TurnMemoriesIntoBooks.com to create a 12 x 12 scrapbook page of our family tree. I am  also working on a Storybook for my mother, who is nearly 99 years old, so I’m working with some really neat old photographs, and preserving some fun stories!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
4 May 2010

This eight and 1/2 month old child’s stone, located in the Osborne Cemetery, Sumner County, Kansas, about 10 miles west of Wellington, Kansas, and about 1/2 mile East of Mayfield on West 20th Street  is another mystery that I would very much like to solve.

Myrtle B. Jones - Osborne Cemetery

Kinfolk?  Or Just a Lot of Coincidences?

On the Stone:

Myrtle B. Jones
Dau of W.  & M. E. Jones
Died July 5, 1890
Aged 8 Mos 18 Days
(I was not able to read the inscription below the name and date, and as I had my granddaughters with me, and no safe way to clean the stone with me, I didn’t try to clean and read it while there and am not able to in the photograph.)

Is Myrtle part of my family?   I think so, actually.  Myrtle’s parents are W. and M. E. Jones, and just two stones over is a stone for Evan Jones, and Evan’s parents were Willis and Martha Ellen (Smith) Jones, originally from the Hart & Barren County, Kentucky area.

So Who was Ten-Year-Old George T. Hill?

In between Myrtle and Evan is a ten-year-old boy named George T. Hill (photo coming soon) and while so far the Hill name is not one that has shown up in our family tree, my mother feels that he is related, but she does not know how, and both Myrtle and George died thirty-some years before my mother was born.  My family lived next door to a Hill family for (at least) two generations in both families, but the Hill child next to Myrtle does not appear (according to census, etc) to belong to any of those Hills.

Is Myrtle my great-great aunt?  I think so.  In this small cemetery, buried so closely together, and within a few stones of my father that would be a lot of coincidences for there not to be a kinship.  But before I add Myrtle to our family tree as a lost child of Willis and Martha, I’m going to be looking in area newspapers for obituaries and making sure there weren’t any other W. & M. E. Jones in this area.  And then I may just use a pencil when I add her in…

by Sherry Stocking Kline
29 April 2010

I missed out on the first few weeks of 52 Weeks To Better Genealogy (check out this week’s challenge on www.geneabloggers.com)  began by Amy Coffin of We Tree, but there are such great weekly challenges there that I’m trying to join in all the fun!

I have to confess to something.  I’ve not really researched online library catalogs very much before.  I know that’s terrible,  because I could be missing so many great sources.  (I do check library catalogs IN the libraries). So,  it seemed like a great idea to use this blog challenge to ‘get my feet wet’ so to speak.

I began with the online catalog of the library at Kansas State University, my alma mater.  I thought that I might find histories, genealogies, and diaries.  So remember that I’m not real knowledgeable about searching the online catalogs, but anyhow, I didn’t find anything under the “Genealogy” search there.

I did find a link to a magazine database that I would absolutely LOVE to have access to. ProQuest.  ProQuest not only owns the Heritage Quest database that we all love to search, they also have copies of all types of magazine articles.  Type in Vitamin D, and you’ve got beau coup articles to read about the new discoveries science has made that Vitamin D plays in our health.

But I digress.  Anyhow, ProQuest magazines isn’t available to non-students.  So I pick up the phone, call the librarian, and ask if I can get a library card that will let me access ProQuest through the university website.  Alumni should have privileges, right?

Too expensive, the librarian said…

Apparently not. ProQuest is not available to non-students.  Too expensive, the librarian said.  But the very nice librarian sends me to the State of Kansas library website, goes there on her own computer and points out a free database that is similar to the ProQuest, called the Expanded Academic, and that shows promise for some of the non-genealogy research that I want to do.

Going on down the list of fun research tools available on State of Kansas library website, I find the Heritage Quest link!  Woo Hoo!  And I don’t have to in-put my library card number or pin number.  Better and better.

I Put in My Great-Grandmother’s Name…

I go to Heritage Quest and in the census, put in my great-grandmother’s maiden name, Martha Ellen Jones for 1910.  And got nothing.  Must have done something wrong. Usually there are hundreds if not thousands of Martha Ellen Joneses.  I’m just trying to figure out, if I can, what happened to her after the 1880 census.

All along I’ve been running under the assumption that she died, and that I just didn’t know where she died and was buried, but that may not be true.  She and great-grandfather may have ‘split the blanket’ and gone their separate ways.  Anyhow, I’m not finding her this morning.

So, on to the PERSI index at Heritage Quest, where I check out the name Stocking in the Revolutionary War database.  None of my ancestors are listed in this database.  But some other Stocking’s are, including Lemuel and his wife Ruth. Lemuel fought in the Continental Army from Massachusetts, and then there was Moses and his wife Elizabeth.  Moses was in the Navy.  While these folks are not my ancestors, there is a nearly 100% chance they are relatives, as so far, I’ve not connected with anyone with the Stocking name who is not related to me.

I Found the Original Stocking Ancestry…

Next, I search for books with the Stocking name, and find “The family of George Stocking”, Boston::  D. Clapp & Son, printers, 1896, 8 pgs.  How cool is that. This man is my first American ancestor.  A few years after he arrived, he was with Thomas Hooker’s party and helped found Hartford, Connecticut.   The information here is included, perhaps in its entirety, in the Stocking Ancestry updated and compiled by Hobart Stocking, but it was awesome to see an old copy of the original book.

George Stocking Family Book - Page One

I am Deacon Samuel’s descendant.

On the last page of this book, Page 8, that is on-line, it lists the Revolutionary War soldiers in the family, and there are more than were listed on the PERSI Revolutionary War database.  Hmm, maybe the George listed is one of my ancestors.

Stocking Family Book - Page 8

So here is another clue for future research!  And if this George is ‘my’ George, then I can join the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) in two different lines.

While searching, I also found three other books located in Kansas that may be available by library inter-loan.  Awesome!  Thank you Amy and Thomas for the inspiration!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
21 April 2010

Berniece Breneman Thomas - Mayfield, Kansas

Berniece’s parents were Otto and Nancy Breneman. Ott was the Mayfield blacksmith, along with his father, Constantine “Tom” Breneman, and Nancy taught piano lessons.

What an adorable photograph this is of my mom’s first cousin, Berniece Breneman, who married a Thomas.  The two little girls played together whenever my mom went to Mayfield to take her piano lesson from Berniece’s mother, Nancy Breneman.

Other Related Posts:

Berniec’s Grandfather Constantine Breneman photographed with family members

Otto and Nancy’s Tombstone in the Milan Cemetery

Berniece’s Grandfather Breneman’s Buggy Horse

Berniece’s Grandfather Breneman and His Buggy Horse

Berniece’s Grandmother Salinda Breneman & her Tombstone

Photograph of Berniece’s Father, Otto, with His Brother and Sisters and his brother Albert’s tombstone.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
19 April 2010

I recently learned from my Aunt Mary that her grandfather Thomas J. McGinnis died in Emporia, Kansas!  That was very beneficial info, as he is buried in the same small cemetery, Osborn Cemetery, Mayfield, Sumner County, Kansas as two of his children, many of his grandchildren, and a few of his great-grandchildren.

And since I’ve learned one of the fastest ways to ask a question is by telephone, I picked up the phone, found out the Emporia Library’s phone number, and found out who to e-mail with my information request.  My request letter below:

Hello Ms Sundberg,

I was given your name on Saturday, and so am writing to ask if you can help me locate some information about my great-grandfather.

His name is Thomas J (I believe this is Jefferson) McGinnis, and he and his wife, Margaret Corson McGinnis lived in the Emporia area for a time, and that is where he is supposed to have passed away.

What I am hoping to find is his obituary, especially if it tells who his parents are, but I will be very happy to learn all that I can about he and his wife Maggie.

If they lived in the town of Emporia, then perhaps they will show up in a city directory with their address, etc.,

And if you have any way of learning if he had a will or probate record in the court there, that would be helpful also.

Here is some of the info I have for him. I also have the 1880 and 1900 Federal Census and the 1905 Kansas Census.  I do not have the 1850, 60, or 70 census, yet.

Thomas Jefferson McGinnis
birth: Aug 17, 1842 – Ohio (or Illinois according to one census)
death:. May 12, 1911 – Emporia, KS

Married: 1872 – according to Ancestry.com

Margaret Corson

Thomas & Maggie are both buried in the Osborne Cemetery, Sumner County, Mayfield, Kansas

1910 U. S. Federal Census

Thomas J McGinnis
Age: 67
Est birth year: abt 1843
Birthplace: Ohio
Spouse’s Name: Maggie E
Home in 1910: Emporia Ward 1, Lyon, Kansas
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Gender: Male

Household Members:

Thomas J McGinnis   67
Maggie E McGinnis   61
Mertie E. McGinnis   18
Joseph L Davis         26
George Hetzel            31
Lee J Taylor              23
Daniel Pederson      22
John O’ Brien           24

I understand that there is a $10 charge per hour, so please let me know what I owe you and how best to pay.

Thank you very much,
Sherry Kline
www.TurnMemoriesIntoBooks.com

Ah, the speed of e-mail!  At 6:48 a.m. this morning, I typed my request to the librarian’s genealogist, and by mid-afternoon, I had my answer!

Other Related McGinnis Posts

My Maggie Corson/McGinnis Happy Dance!

Three Hundred Years With the Corson Families in America

Carnival of Genealogy – My Poem to My Ancestors

Christmas Advent Calendar Grab Bag – My Gift from my Grandma Maud McGinnis Stocking

Wordless Wednesday – Margaret Corson McGinnis’ 100th Birthday

by Sherry Stocking Kline
14 April 2010

I love this wonderful old photograph of the family, and am so glad that someone snapped a photo of their get-together.

And like many photographs, I wonder, was this just an ordinary family gathering?  A funeral?  Someone’s wedding?

I may never know, but the question itself reminds me to make an extra note on the back of my photos or in my scrapbooks!

L – R: Ira, baby Paul, & Dee (Hoover) Breneman, Constantine Breneman, Carrie (Breneman) Jones & Children, Rose, Daryl, and toddler Dorothy.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
13 April 2010

I snapped this Tombstone for a couple of reasons. One, I hoped he was family, and Two, it just caught my eye.  It stood there, and though it said  “Gone, but not forgotten,” it seemed, well, lonely.

And like some tombstones that you see, it just made me wonder, who was he?  Why is he buried there all by himself?  What did he  do for a living? What did he die of?

All those questions ran through my mind, but I guess first and foremost, was the question, is he part of my family?

Julian Jones - Caney Fork Baptist Cemetery

On the Stone:

Julian Jones
1863 – 1932
Gone But Not Forgotten

Today I don’t have those answers, and even though he is buried near my Smith family stones, I don’t have the answer to the  “is he family” question.

But it’s a puzzle that I plan to solve!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
11 April 2010

Just over a year ago, I picked up a box of photographs at a yard sale.  (they did not belong to the family who was selling them)

Off and on, I’ve worked on trying to locate information about the ‘inhabitants’ of this box, researching the census, etc., but lately I’ve just not taken/made/had the time to do much with it.

So I’ve decided to start posting some of the photographs and other info here, on the off chance that someone will find the posts and I can at last re-unite at least some of the memories with the family who will love to have them.

The names in the box include Wimp and Newland, and the towns include Blackwell, Oklahoma, Wellington, Kansas, and Eads, Colorado.

Wilma Erma Ford Marries Fred Walter Newland

And yes, if we are able to re-unite these family treasures with their family, I’ll be posting about it right here!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
10 April 2010

Here is this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge from Randy Seaver!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) Tell us: Which ancestor or relative do you readily identify with? Which one do you admire? Which one are you most like, or wish that you were most like? Which one would you really like to sit down and have a heart-to-heart conversation with?

2) Write your response in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or response to this post, or in a comment on this post.

Oh my, which ancestor or relative do I most identify with?  I think my ancestors, especially the women, were brave and courageous, so in some ways I wish I were more like them.  My great-grandmother Frances Hitchcock Stocking picked up her life, packed up their belongings, and followed the man she loved, Roderick Remine Stocking, here to Kansas, a flat prairie with tall grass and no trees for firewood (read they used buffalo chips to heat their homestead with) or they drove their wagon about 15 miles south into Oklahoma’s Indian Territory (which was illegal, mind you) to pick up firewood.  They also lived within a few miles of the Chisholm Trail, and those who still traveled up and down it, even after the cattle drives ended.

And then there is my other great-grandmother on my mother’s side, Salinda Rose Breneman, who lived out on the prairie in Nebraska, where Indians might (and did) poke their heads in the window wanting food.  And Indians wouldn’t have been their only danger.  They would have lived in fear of prairie fires as well as rattle snakes, and her children, even at a young age, were sent out on horseback, sometimes with their lunch in a pail to herd the cattle, often being out of site of the homestead for the whole day.

Could I do what they did?  I don’t think so.

Who would I most want to sit down with?  My great-great grandmother, Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb!

I would ask her what her first husband’s name was and thereby break down that brick wall!  I would learn first-hand from her what her husband died from (or if they were divorced!) and I would ask her what brought them here to Kansas, and did they miss their home state of Kentucky and their daughter who stayed there?

And maybe I would just ask them how they ‘managed?’  How did they cope with the hardships, water that came from a well and wasn’t the clear liquid that we’re used to today, growing and canning and preserving much of their food, and sewing many of their clothes?

And particularly, where did they find the courage to go on when they had to bury their young children because their lives were cut short from disease and farm accidents?

So many questions that I would ask these courageous women!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
07 April 2010

I love this cool photograph of one of my mother’s favorite cousins, Kenneth Jones, fishing!   It looks like he is fishing on a fairly large lake, perhaps even Lake Superior itself.

He also fished and hunted for agates (he was an avid and knowledgeable rock hound!) on many of the lakes in Minnesota near their home in the outskirts of Duluth, Minnesota.

Kenneth Jones - Fishing

Thanks to Kenneth, and those fun vacation days of hunting agates along the shores of Lake Superior and another beautiful Minnesota lake, I’m still a bit of a rock hound!

We’ve lost touch with Kenneth and Lois’s children, and would love to re-connect with them, so if by chance one of them (or their children) find this blog, I hope you will stop and say ‘hello’ and leave your e-mail address!

Other Related Posts:

Kenneth’s Mother – May Breneman Jones

Kenneth Jones Toddler photo taken in Wichita, Kansas.

Kenneth Jones in front of his Kingman Kansas High School.

Kenneth’s Grandfather, Constantine “Tom” Breneman and his buggy horse photograph.

Kenneth’s Grandmother, Salinda E. (Rose) Breneman, photo and tombstone photo.