Saturday, October 25, 2014

SNGF: Photographs Through The Generations

This week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge posted by Randy Seaver on his Genea-Musings blog asks us to document and picture one of our ancestral lines.
 
Unfortunately, my family photos are not very well organized.
I think the longest line I can document photographically is my mother's Swicegood/Coffey line.
 
1. My great-great-grandparents were Squire COFFEY (1828-1912) and Drusilla PARKER (1833-1901), pictured here:
 
 
2-3. Their daughter, Martha Elizabeth COFFEY (1867-1947) married John Hiram Richmon Sharp SWICEGOOD (1858-1936), and had 4 children, one dying in infancy. The photo at right shows John and Mattie with their three surviving children circa late 1897. From left to right are Bonnie Pearl (aka "Pearl"), Beulah Bliss (baby on lap), John Hiram, Martha Elizabeth (aka "Mattie"), and my grandfather, William Earl (aka "Earl").
4. William Earl SWICEGOOD (1893-1979) married Mollie Fay BROOKSHIRE (1894-1966) and they had six children. My mother, Nancy Leah SWICEGOOD (1917-1996) (aka "Leah" to her family) was their second child. At left is a photo of my mother on leave from the Army ca. 1943. She was the first of her siblings to serve in World War II.
5-6. Me--Virginia Leah SHARP (1948-?)..... in 1951 and 2013 (with son and husband).
 
 
So, just 6 generations. Though now that I've done this, I realize that I have photos of my third great grandmother, Susannah BARTSHE COLLINS FREEMAN CARTER (1829-1912), so I really could go 7 generations.
 
Either way, it's embarrassing how few family photos I have on my computer from the last two generations.





Saturday, October 11, 2014

SNGF: Exploring Your Grandfather's Birthdate

Tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge posted by Randy Seaver at the GeneaMusings blog is to:
1. Find the Day of the Week one of your Grandfathers was born;
2. List five events that occurred on the day and month of your Grandfather's birth;
3. List five famous people who were born on the same day as your Grandfather;
4. Give your answers in a blog post.

My paternal grandfather, Harold Herbert SHARP, was born in Oquawka, Henderson County, Illinois on 21 May 1893. I never met the man and didn't even know his name until a number of years after my father, his second son, had died.

21 May 1893 was a Sunday (according to http://www.infoplease.com/calendar ). I guess that means that Harold should have been "full of grace," but he died from alcoholism, so either the date or poem is wrong.

According to http://historyorb.com, the following events occurred on May 21st:
  • 1602    Martha's Vineyard was first sighted by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold
  • 1804    Lewis and Clark expedition began
  • 1832    first Democratic National Convention was held in Baltimore
  • 1846    first steamship arrived in Hawaii
  • 1881    American Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton
Famous people who were born on 21 May include (according to historyorb.com):
  • 1527    Phillip II, King of Spain (1556-98) & Portugal (1580-98)
  • 1780    Elizabeth Fry, Quaker minister/prison reformer/nurse
  • 1843    Charles-Albert Gobat, Tramelan, Switzerland, Swiss politician, recipient of the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize
  • 1843    Louis Renault, French lawyer  [namesake of my first car???]
  • 1917    Dennis Day, Irish tenor/comedian/Jack Benny Show guest
I have to admit that I recognized very few of the names of people born on May 21st. There were also several Civil War generals on both sides and many inventors and artists that I've never heard of.