SNGF: Database Stats

This week Randy Seavers of the Geneamusings blog has challenged us with the following tasks:

1)If you have your family tree research in a Genealogy Management Program (GMP), whether a computer software program or an online family tree, figure out how many persons, places, sources, etc. are in your database (hint:  the Help button is your friend!)
2)  Tell us which GMP you use, and how many persons, places, sources, etc. are in your database(s) today in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook status or Google+ stream comment.

This was more easily said than done for me, since (1) I don't have all of my families in a single tree and (2) I'm still using an older version of Family Tree Maker (2009). I could not find the number of places (just the number of unresolved places) nor the number of sources (just the number of source groups).

What I was able to generate for my THREE family files is shown below.

                                 SWICEGOOD                  SHARP              SOMMARSTROM
                           (my maternal lines)   (my paternal lines)    (husband's lines)
People                       14,684                           2,014                    1,855
Marriages                     4,868                             734                       558
Generations                      14                               14                        11
Surnames                     2,485                             593                       417
Source groups                 596                             156                           9 (?)  

Is there any doubt as to where I spend my research time?
It could have something to do with the fact that I have NEVER met ANYONE on my father's side of the family and that nobody in my husband's family has shown any interest in family history. On the other hand, I regularly correspond with a number of cousins on my mother's side (from 1st to 5th!) and several of them keep asking me questions about truly tangential lines (for me).

SNGF: Remembering Dad on Fathers' Day

Randy at Genea-Musings has given us this challenge this Father's Day weekend ================================================================
Your mission this week, should you decide to accept it, is to:
1)  Sunday, 16 June, is Father's Day.  Let's celebrate by writing a blog post about our Father, or another significant male ancestor (e.g., a grandfather).
2)  What are three things about your father (or significant male ancestor) that you vividly remember about him?
3)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook Status or Google+ Stream post.

================================================================

Curt and Nancy Sharp ca. 1977

This is my Dad as I remember him, except for the suit and tie! I only remember seeing him in a tie ONE time after he retired from the Army in 1957.

Alva Curtis Sharp was born on Halloween in 1917 and died in September 1978, seven weeks short of his 61st birthday. One of the most important things about my Dad is that he never had any contact with his family after he ran off and joined the Army in 1925. And he was adamant that he didn't want any of his kids (meaning me) researching his family history. After his early death from cardiac arrest, my Mother continued that policy and would not listen to any of my findings about his family. In fact, it wasn't until after she died in 1996 that I learned his family had been in contact in 1979 and a brother had even come to meet her. Ah, the secrets we hide.....




My Dad was incredibly smart and, when he decided to take up a new hobby, did it whole-heartedly. In the early 1950s that hobby was photography. In the later 1950s and 60s, it was woodworking. He built much of our family's furniture. In the late 1960s he got into golf. In the 1970s he took up needlepoint. Thankfully, we have many mementos from his various hobbies.

My Dad was also very athletic. Neither of his sons had any interest in sports, but I did. He taught me how to pitch and hit and tried to sneak me into Little League as a kid (girls weren't allowed then). He was a semi-pro bowler at one time and supposedly made quite a lot of money hustling bowlers. He'd bowl right-handed until he hooked some poor guy, then switch to his natural left-handed style. He taught me to bowl starting when I was about 8 or 9 and insisted that I do it "right." That instruction finally paid off when we got Wii Bowling a few years ago; impressed the heck out of our kids that I could pick up spares! I spent hundreds of hours with my Dad at the local bowling alley, either be instructed, bowling in youth leagues that he ran, or keeping score for him, sometimes even in league play.


SNGF: Genealogy fun this week?

Since Randy Seaver, the originator of Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, is having too much fun at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree this week, he posed the simple question in the title of this post as this week's SNGF challenge. Given how much truly useful and informative genealogy-related information Randy posts each week, I'm not complaining.
But as for genealogy fun this week, I don't have much to report.
As I write this I'm listening to the start of Jean Wilcox Hibben's presentation on "Creating Stories from Stats" at Jamboree via LiveStream. I can't thank SCGS enough for making some of their live presentations available to those of us who couldn't make it to Jamboree this year. I also watched/listened to Judy Russell yesterday and Craig Scott this morning. Both were great presentations and I'm hoping Jean's is equally as good.
Other than listening to these presentations, I haven't done much genealogy this week. I had a good time volunteering as the desk volunteer at the Seattle Genealogical Society Library yesterday. Several people came in (thank Goodness!) and I was able to steer them to some potential resources. Amazingly, the first person who came in--purportedly to renew his SGS membership--had Danish ancestors who settled in Hudson, Wisconsin. This was a Hank Jones serendipity moment. Our good friends from Hudson are arriving here on Tuesday for a short visit. Anyway, I was able to read some of his Danish and suggest some resources he hadn't tried to find out more about them. I also offered to check for records the next time we're in Hudson, probably this fall.
Unfortunately, I haven't made any progress on my own research this week. I did some dabbling in my COLLINS line and requested help from a friend, but that's about it.
Time to concentrate on Jean's talk.

SNGF: Locations of My Ancestors on 1 June 1863

Randy Seaver's challenge for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun is to identify WHERE our ancestors were living 150 years ago--on 1 June 1863--and to post photos of those homes.

Hah! It's taken me several hours just to identify which of my ancestors were living in June 1863 and where they were living. I have no photos of houses before about 1900. None of my ancestors lived in cities, so locations are pretty nebulous.

That said, here's what I came up with:

My Dad’s side:

Morris T. SHARP (b. 1834 in NJ), my 2ggf (father’s father’s father’s father), was living in South Henderson Township, Henderson Co., IL, according to the 1863 Civil War Draft Registration taken in June/July 1863. His future wife (married in 1868), Mary [McFarland] DREW (b. 1836 in OH), was at that time married to her first husband, George DREW, and living in the town of Oquawka, Henderson Co., IL, with George and 3 young children.

I don’t know if Morris’ father was still alive or not. His mother died in 1851, but I don’t know when his father died. Mary’s parents, William (b. 1793 in PA) and Nancy [STILLEY] McFARLAND (b. abt. 1804 in PA), were also living in Oquawka in 1863. Their two youngest sons, Absolom and Benjamin, may still have been living with them, as the 1863 Civil War Draft Registration of June/July 1863 lists them as both still single, working as shoemakers, and living in Oquawka town.
Levi RYASON (b. 1834 in OH), another 2ggf (father’s father’s mother’s father) and his wife, Susanna SULTS (b. 1837 in OH), were apparently still living in Clay township, La Grange County, Indiana in June 1863. According to Levi’s obituary, they moved to Illinois nine years after their marriage in April 1856. Levi’s parents, Isaac RYASON (b. 1808 in OH) and Susanna BUSCARK (b. 1811 in PA) were also living in La Grange County, Indiana in June 1863, in the same area as their son’s family. Susanna’s parents, Michael SULTS (b. 1805, PA) and Sophia HOWELL (b. 1812, PA) were both still alive and living in Steuben County, Indiana, apparently on a farm.
On my father’s maternal side, my 2ggf James Braithwaite MELDRUM (b. 1840 in England) was on the lam. On 16 Sept 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company A of the 47^th PA Infantry. According to the “Register of Deserters” for that company, James B. Meldrum deserted on 24 Jan 1863 at Key West, Florida. The next record I have for him is his marriage in August 1866 at Easton, Northumberland Co., PA, so no telling where he was in June 1863. James’ future wife, Nancy Maria STARK (b. 1845, NJ) was probably still living with her parents, William and Jane STARK, in Northampton Co., PA, in June 1863. I know nothing about this line and haven’t focused any research efforts on them. James’ parents, David MELDRUM (b. 1819, England) and Emma BRAITHWAITE (b. 1815, England) were probably still living in Phillipsburgh township, Warren County, NJ in 1863. They don’t appear in the Pittsburgh city directories until 1865.
Also on my father’s maternal side, my 2ggf, Herman SONNEN (b. 1833, Germany) and his wife, Elizabeth MOHR (b. 1838, Germany) were living in New Orleans, LA, with their son Louis (age 3). Their second child was born later in June 1863. Herman was conscripted into Company F of the 5^th Louisiana Infantry on 22 July 1863 for a term of 60 days. I suspect that he had served in the Confederate Army before, but don’t know the exact dates, so he may have been off soldiering on 1 June 1863. I know nothing about the parents of either Herman on Elizabeth.

My Mother’s side:

My 3ggf, Phillip SWICEGOOD (b. 1784, NC) would have been living with his 4^th wife, Mary HUNT, in Davidson County, NC.  I don’t know if any of his 16 children were still living with him. His last child, Alice Elizabeth SWICEGOOD (b. 1849), died 20 July 1863, and is buried at Tyro, Davidson Co., NC, so I assume the family was still living in that area. My 2ggf, Andrew SWICEGOOD (b. 1811, NC to Phillip and his first wife, Magadalena NUNLEY, who died in 1818) moved to northern Georgia before 1850 and didn’t move to Hickory County, Missouri until after 1865. In 1863 Andrew and his wife, Sabray OWENS (b. 1819, TN) had 5 or 6 of their 10 children, including my ggf, John Hiram Richmond Sharpe SWICEGOOD (b. 1858),  still living with them. I don’t know if Sabray’s parents were still living or not.
In June 1863 my mother’s father’s mother’s father, Squire COFFEY (b. 1828, TN) was back with his wife, Drusilla PARKER (b.1833, TN) and 4 surviving children in Maries County, Missouri, living near his mother, Rachel {Boone] COFFEY (b. 1794, NC) and several of his siblings. Squire was between enlistments in the Union Army. He served from 13 July until 9 Nov 1862 in Co. A, Maries County Enrolled Missouri Militia (EMM) and from 21 Aug until 30 Nov 1863 in Co. K, 9^th Provisional EMM.
On my mother’s mother’s side, my 3ggf, William L. BROOKSHIRE (b.1796, VA) had just died on 16 March 1863 in Hickory County, Missouri. His widow, Sarah A. (VARNELL) BROOKSHIRE stayed in Hickory County the rest of her life, until her death in 1885. Their youngest son, my 2ggf, Henry Clay BROOKSHIRE (b. 1848, Missouri) was probably still living with his mother in June 1863. One source says that “...after her husband’s death in 1862, Sarah moved the family to Cooper County, Missouri.”
Neither of my 3ggps on my mother’s mother’s father’s mother’s side were still living in 1863. Ironically, my 4ggf, Stephen WOOLERY (b. 1799, KY) and his wife, Hannah Woods BRISCOE (b. 1808, KY) were both still living near Mount Nebo, Cooper County, Missouri. Their granddaughter, Mildred Melvina WOOLERY (b. 1850, MO) was living with her parents and siblings near Spring Fork, Pettis County, Missouri in October 1860, but I don’t know who took the kids after both parents died within 13 months of the census date.
On my mother’s mother’s mother’s side, my 3ggf, Henry W. COLLINS (b. 1802, VA) had already been dead over ten years by June 1863 and his widow, Susannah BARTSHE (b. 1829, OH) was 10 years into her second marriage. I suspect that Susannah and Silas FREEMAN were living in Texas in 1863. They moved to Benton County, Arkansas before October 1860 and their fifth child was born in Collin County, Texas in October 1862. My 2ggf, Robert Henry COLLINS (b. 1849, MO) was living with his mother and step-family at the time of the 1860 census, but I don’t know if he was still with them in June 1863 or not. He could well have been living with some other relative by then. Susannah BARTSHE’s father, my 4ggf, Jacob BARTSHE (b. 1801, PA) was still alive in 1863 and living in or near Quincy, Hickory County, Missouri, with his second wife and a bunch of kids.

Robert Collins’ wife, Rebecca Jane CAMPBELL (b. 1842, MO) was married to her first husband, Daniel W. MILLER (b. 1839, MO) in July 1859 and already had two children by June 1863. They were living on the border of Benton and Hickory counties in mid-1863, just before Daniel enlisted in the Missouri State Militia and went off to fight the rebels. Jane’s father, Nicholas CAMPBELL (b. 1808, VA) was still alive in 1863, married to his second wife and living in Alexander township, Benton County, Missouri. Jane’s mother, Sarah Anne CRABTREE (b. 1817, TN) died in 1856 and both her parents were dead long before 1863.

If anyone can connect to any of these lines, please contact me using the Comment link below. 

A Weekend with Judy Russell

Wow! What a great weekend I've had. 
 
Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist, was here in Seattle as the featured speaker at the Seattle Genealogical Society's annual Spring Seminar. What a treat for all who attended!

Don't let the photo on her website scare you. Judy is nowhere near as formal and serious as that photo would suggest. She's a surprisingly dynamic speaker with a great sense of humor. Who would guess that a lawyer could be funny?

I've attended a LOT of genealogy presentations over the years, including at multiple national conferences. Judy Russell is definitely in the top handful of genealogy speakers I've heard.

Back to Saturday--4 great presentations on topics related to using legal records for genealogy. I think most of us figured we'd gotten our money's worth after the first two presentations; the afternoon was gravy! I left with a long list of "To Dos" scribbled on the back of my syllabus. And, of course, stayed up until well after midnight searching some of the websites Judy suggested, because I kept finding things I'd never seen before about every ancestor I chose. Amazing!

To top off the weekend, Judy presented a special two-hour advanced case study workshop at SGS this morning. Attendance was limited to 25. Judy's presentation was an excellent example of the Genealogical Proof standard: conducting a "reasonably exhaustive search", "evaluating the records" and "analyzing your findings" to overcome a seemingly impossible brick wall. It makes me want to dive back into ALL of the records I've collected over the last 30+ years, organize them so I can actually see what I have, and work through the process of evaluating and analyzing all the information contained in them.

But the sun's shining in Seattle this afternoon, so obviously that's not going to happen today!

Really--if you have a chance to attend a Judy Russell talk, GO!

Remembering My Mom on Mother's Day

My mother, Nancy Leah [Swicegood] Sharp, died over 16 years ago. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday. Other times it seems like a lifetime since she left us.

I found this photo in a box of old glass slides a couple of years ago and scanned it. It was apparently taken on the day of my third birthday party in Grant Heights, Tokyo, Japan. I don't remember my Mom ever being so skinny or so relaxed, but then again I don't remember her before she had 4 kids! She would have been 34 in this photo and it is probably my favorite photo of her. Wish I'd found it sooner!

I also wish I'd pushed my mother to answer more questions about HER life. We worked on researching her family history together for many years, but I could never get her to talk about her own life. She was quite miffed when her favorite aunt told me about her first baby who died at about 10 days old and a little about her first marriage. She had never admitted either to any of her surviving children.

As I've been attempting to piece together both of my parents' lives, it's astounding how much I don't know about them....and how each of us four kids have different perceptions about when and where they met, what their early married life and childhoods were like, etc. My Dad never talked about his family; didn't even know his mother's maiden name. He left home at a young age and never looked back...and absolutely would not talk about his childhood.

I am happy to say that I have mostly positive memories of my parents. Yes, my Dad was pretty tough on us, but what else what you expect of an Army captain? And both Mom and Dad were outrageously intelligent and instilled a love of learning in all of us. Now if I could just learn more about THEIR lives....

SNGF: Looking for Y-DNA Sources

As usual, Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings has posted an interesting topic for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. And even though it's a beautiful summer day in Seattle (more like late July than May!), I'm responding because it's something I really need to do.

This week's challenge:

Find a living male person in your database from your maternal grandmother's patrilineal line who could take a Y-chromosome DNA test. Answer these questions:

1) What was your mother's mother's name?

2) What is your mother's mother's patrilineal line? That is, her father's father's father's ... back to the most distant male ancestor in that line?

3) Can you identify male sibling(s) of your mother's mother, and any living male descendants from those male sibling(s)? If so, you have a candidate to do a Y-DNA test on that patrilineal line. If not, you may have to find male siblings, and their descendants, of the next generation back, or even further.

4)  Tell us about it in your own blog post, or in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or Google Plus post.

My responses:

1. mother’s mother’s maiden name = Molly Fay BROOKSHIRE (1894-1966), daughter of Charles Christopher BROOKSHIRE (1872-1947) and Nancy Jane COLLINS (1873-1966).

 

2. mother’s mother’s patrilineal line =

               Charles Christopher BROOKSHIRE (1872-1947)

 

               Henry Clay BROOKSHIRE (1848-1928)

               William L BROOKSHIRE (1796-1863)

               Joseph BROOKSHIRE (1764?- ? ) “a gentleman from Virginia”

3. My maternal grandmother had one brother, Henry Lee BROOKSHIRE (1900-1963)

               Lee only had one daughter, so no Y-DNA there DEAD END

    Charlie BROOKSHIRE (my maternal grandmother’s father) was one of 3 sons born to Henry Clay BROOKSHIRE and his first wife, Mildren Melvina WOOLERY. Charlie’s brothers were:

         A.   Joseph A. BROOKSHIRE (1871-1902) had two sons:

                        1.   Cecil C. BROOKSHIRE (1892-1953; obit says “two grandchildren”) had two sons:

                               i.   Cecil K. BROOKSHIRE (1916-2006) –only a death notice found; did not         mention surviving family members   I need to research this line more!

                               ii.  Joseph R. BROOKSHIRE (1918-1991?) –no marriage record found; last known location from father’s obit—Whittier, CA in 1953     I need to research this line more!

                        2.   Joseph Glen BROOKSHIRE (1900-1921) never married

        B.    William Henry BROOKSHIRE (1874-1952) had 3 sons by his first wife, none by second

                        1.  William Henry BROOKSHIRE Jr (1908-1913) died in early childhood

                        2.  Robert Rex BROOKSHIRE (1917-1975)  wife’s 2005 obit says: She is survived by a son, Col. (Ret.) Robert R. Brookshire II and his wife, Marijo; daughter, Mary Sharon Carmichael; grandchildren, Elizabeth and David Brookshire, and Brad and Serena Dehoney ....   No MALE descendants. I had contacted Robert Rex II some years ago and he was totally NOT interested in his family history.

But that's not all....my grandmother's father also a step-brother, Roy L. BROOKSHIRE, son of Henry Clay BROOKSHIRE and his second wife, Mollie DODSON. Unfortunately, Roy only had a daughter, so no Y-DNA there.

I may need to go back another generation. Henry Clay BROOKSHIRE had 4 brothers, one of whom never married. The other three all had children, including at least one son in each line who lived to adulthood.

Conclusion: There's hope of finding a Y-DNA source for the BROOKSHIRE line, which would really be helpful, since nobody seems to know who Joseph's father was.