Posts Tagged ‘genealogy’

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
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
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
06 April 2010

This week’s Tombstone Tuesday is my Mom’s Great-Aunt Bettie Crabb.

Bettie Crabb's Stone - Glasgow Cemetery, Barren County, Kentucky

On The Stone:

Bettie Crabb
Oct 15, 1866
Oct 31, 1932

What you can’t see in the photograph here is that Bettie is buried next to her father, J. R. U. Crabb who died 11 years before she did.  (Bettie never married.)

For a few years, J. R. U. and Bettie’s mother, Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb lived on a farm in Sumner County, Kansas, just east of Milan, Kansas.

Bettie’s mother Elizabeth, died and is buried there, far away in the Milan Cemetery, Sumner County, Kansas.  You can see her tombstone here.

Sometime after Elizabeth died, J. R. U. and Bettie returned to Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky, to be near Bettie’s sister, Sally Crabb Mayfield, wife of George. Sally and George are buried in the Glasgow Cemetery, Glasgow, Kentucky, also.

The photograph below shows Bettie and J. R. U.’s  place in the cemetery next to each other:

L - R: Bettie Crabb and father J. R. U. Crabb Stone - Glasgow Cemetery, Barren County, Kentucky

Our new-found cousins, Dennis and Nancy (Bertram) Bush who so kindly showed us around Barren County, told us that just a couple of years earlier, some man picked this spot, and this tree, to hang himself…  Gave me shivers then.  (Still does.)

Related Posts (also included in the Text):

J. R. U. Crabb’s Tombstone

Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb Tombstone

Milan Cemetery Listings, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas

by Sherry Stocking Kline
06 April 2010

Thanks to so many who have sent e-mails and left comments.  I hadn’t thought to keep updating this site on Dottie, but I thank you for those suggestions, and I will do that!

It is amazing to think that as I tuck into bed with night-time prayers, sit here at the computer, do everyday stuff, that Dottie and her fellow astronauts are far above the earth circling us and working.  Hard to imagine!

Here is a link to a nice article from ABC News about Dottie, “Discovery Teacher Breaks the Mold” and a short lift-off video that they call “the picture perfect” lift off!  For those of us who remember when  the lift off ended quickly with an explosion, “picture perfect” are great words!

You can see the latest news about the STS-131 mission here at the NASA.gov website, as well as an awesome lift-off photograph taken by NASA personnel.

And you can see more great STS-131 Mission Photographs here!

Here you can see a great photograph of the space station, and read about what the mission will be doing, how many space walks it will do, etc.  Dottie told me what her job will be, and you can read about that in my first post here.

God Bless, Dottie!

Other Related Posts:

Follow the STS-131 Astronauts on Facebook

What’s Going Up in Space with Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger

Astronaut Cousin Makes History Today!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
05 April 2010

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger and fellow educator astronauts, Richard Arnold and Joseph Acaba - NASA photo

Usually when our ancestors, or even ourselves become a bigger part of history we’re just not aware of it at the time.   It’s when the history books write the story and we read it later that we know, even if they did not, that they helped shape the events of that time.

But today, my cousin’s daughter, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, went up in space and for all time she became one of those whose names go down in history books, one of those brave and courageous ones who went into outer space and helped shape history.

Dorothy is one of three educator astronauts, and she will see our world, our earth, in a perspective we can only try to imagine!  Just think of what she can share with her students, and those she will speak to in the future.

Dorothy told me that her job will be on the flight deck as the flight engineer for ascent and entry, and she will be flying the Shuttle’s robotic arm, helping move 18,000 pounds of science and engineering equipment.

Dottie said that during the spacewalks, she will be inside as the crew member leading them through the spacewalk.

The launch this morning (Praise the Lord!) was picture perfect, and for the next 13 days, Dottie will be doing what she’s trained for the past several years to do, and those of us here, friends and family will pray for her safety and watch their mission on www.NASA.gov and our local television channels!

Other Related Links:

Denver Channel News – Dottie’s parent’s interview from Ft. Collins, CO
Video:  http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/22747395/index.html

Article:  http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/22746823/detail.html

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Metcalf-Lindenburger

Runner’s World Article: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/1,7124,s6-243-410–13448-0,00.html#

Wellington Daily News: http://www.wellingtondailynews.com/features/x1336921704/Astronaut-has-Sumner-County-ties

Other Related Posts:

Follow the STS-131 Astronauts on Facebook

What’s Going Up in Space with Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger

April 5th ABC News Launch Video

by Sherry Stocking Kline
03 April 2010

This week has been a busy week, so I’m late posting again!  Maybe next week will be more on time, but spring is here, and my green thumb is itching like crazy, so we’ll see!

Kenneth Jones Baby Photo - Taken in Wichita, Kansas

This is a neat photo of one of Mom’s favorite cousins, Kenneth Jones.  The first time I remember meeting Kenneth, it was at their home on Morris Thomas Road in Duluth, MN when my folks took us all for a visit.

Kenneth was a ‘rock hound,’ something he and my mom had in common, and we enjoyed looking for agates along Lake Superior and another lake.  We also had great fun swatting mosquitoes while picking wild strawberries, riding the neighbors little pony, and picnicking.

We’ve lost connections with Kenneth’s children, and I hope that somehow, someway, we can re-connect, and that if they find this website, they’ll take a minute to say “Hello! “

Related Posts:

Kenneth Jones – in front of his high school in Kingman, Kansas.

Kenneth’s Mother – May Breneman Jones Willey in front of the Jones’ home on Morris Thomas Road in Duluth.

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