52 Ancestors 2021: Week 41: Changes

When I think about living through a lot changes - I think about my Great-Grandmother, Anna Elizabeth (Thompson) Sandefur. Nana was born out in the Smith Mills area of Henderson County on August 18th, 1916, and she passed away in Henderson on October 2nd, 2001. She lived a lot of life in those 85 years, let me tell you. 

When Nana was young, she went to school on a wagon led by horses. In the 1920's, my Great-Great-Grandfather, John R. Thompson bought a Model T and I have no doubt that my Nana was amazed at the vehicle. These were the days of no indoor plumbing -- Nana grew up with an outhouse. 

In the late 1940's, Nana had one of the first types of microwaves invented -- Radarange. Imagine going from cooking a TV dinner for an hour and a half in the oven to just a few minutes in a microwave. Well, even in the first microwaves, it probably still took several minutes but less time than the conventional oven. 

Nana lived through the first black and white televisions in the 1930's. She lived through the first color televisions in the 1950's. Nana saw the popularity of the telephone - to the point every house had a corded phone. She lived through party lines, where you'd share the line with six, eight, or ten people. She even eventually saw cordless phones in the 1990's. She also would have seen the invention of the 'car phone' or a 'bag phone' or a 'to go phone.' A predecessor to today's cell phone. 

Nana went from the days of automobiles being scarce to owning an Oldsmobile and driving a school bus for a living. She went from the days where women wore dresses and nothing else to finally owning a pantsuit in the 1980's. 

Nana went from the days that no woman had piercings to seeing women pierce their ears - even getting hers pierced. She went from the days where a woman's place was in the kitchen, that the wife had no job above the satisfaction of her husband and the care of her children.... to women becoming the primary breadwinners in the household. 

My Nana undoubtedly saw the changes in Henderson. She was born during the time of our original L&N train bridge which was in use between 1885-1931. She saw the building of the brand new L&N bridge which was finished May 1931. The old one demolished in 1933. 

My Great-Grandmother would have seen the expansion of roads. She saw the building of the original bridge going to Evansville in 1932. She saw the new bridge, now dubbed the southbound bridge, built in 1965. My Nana saw the days of everyone taking a train or ferry to Evansville slowly come to an end and the motor car became ever more popular. She saw the expansion of some roads going from dirt paths to paved asphalt, from two lanes, to four lanes or more. Nana would have seen the difference between cars being strictly manual transmission to the invention of an automatic. 

Nana would have seen the coming of fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, Hardee's and more. She would have witnessed some amazing price increases. Milk being roughly 36 cents a gallon in 1916, 48 cents in 1936, 97 cents in 1956, $1.68 in 1976, $2.62 in 1996.. I could go on and on. A gallon of gas in 1916 was 21 cents, down to 19 cents in 1936, up to 29 cents in 1956, 59 cents in 1976, and $1.23 in 1996. 

Nana would have lived through times of "going to town" was a treat and you'd only travel "into town" maybe once a week, sometimes every other week, usually on the weekend.. to literally living in town. She got to see the days of every neighborhood being their own town pretty much. Each neighborhood had their own school, their own corner market, their own hair salon, etc. 

My Nana saw the end of segregation in the mid 1950's. When she began driving a school bus, she was driving kids of all colors and nationalities. It was primarily a rural route, farming community kids. Nana saw Roe vs. Wade in 1973. She would remember Hoffa being the major news case in 1975 when he disappeared. She would remember the JonBenét Ramsey case of the 1990's.

Nana lived through America's involvement in WW1 (1917-1918) and our involvement in WW2 (1941-1945). Her husband, Henry Lloyd Sandefur, served in the Navy in WW2. Nana's brother, Jake, served in the Air Force in WW2. The Cold War -- 1947-1989. Nana lived through the Korean War -- 1950-1953. Vietnam -- 1955-1975. Desert Storm or the Gulf War in 1991. 

And even though she had Alzheimer's and probably couldn't have told you anything about what was going on... she was alive on September 11th, 2001, when the Trade Centers went down. 

She definitely saw a lot of change between the year she was born, 1916, and the year she died, 2001. I can only imagine how baffled she would be at some of the inventions between 2001 and 2021. Imagine having a computer the size of your hand and internet everywhere you go. I'm sure Nana would be floored at the prospect of FaceTime. Tiny vehicles would be another big adjustment for her... back in her day, cars were huge. 

I'm sure I could go on and on for several hours more about the things that changed in her life time, and now since her passing... but I'll go ahead and wrap this blog up. If you're able to -- leave a comment and let me know some of the things you've lived to see invented or the changes you've seen in your lifetime. 

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 40: Preservation

It's no secret to anyone that I've been working on my own family tree since the age of seven years old. In the going on twenty-two years since the year 2000 (when I was 7), I've worked tirelessly on my own family history and not just trying to fill out branches but also preserve the branches and priceless information. 

A few years back, I put together a Mefford/Bastin family binder. I had the thought of doing a binder for each of my Grandparents - so Mefford/Bastin, Jones/White, Blanford/Nally, Sandefur/Thompson... but... I have too much information. Even now, about three years after putting the Mefford/Bastin binder together - I've now disproved some of my information (through DNA testing and whatnot) so the job is never finished. My binders will never be 'perfect.' 

I house my tree currently on Ancestry and I pay for a monthly subscription (World Explorer.) I also use Newspapers.com and GenealogyBank.com. It's very rare that I utilize FamilySearch or any other archival website. I do utilize our local library's obituary collection and Browning in Evansville.

Of course, I have my DNA on every website (or just about every website). Ancestry, 23andme, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, GEDMatch, LivingDNA, etc. I've got both of my parents on Ancestry and my Dad's tested at 23andme (still trying to get Mom to spit in her kit I bought, ugh.) 

My paid work has really slowed down the work I do on my own tree. In a way, that breaks my heart... sometimes genealogy starts to feel so much like a job, and not a job that I love and enjoy, that I have to step away and work on my own stuff or else I burn completely out and can't do a lick of genealogy at all. 

I'd say my best way of 'preservation' has been extensively researching each and every small cemetery in Henderson County - of course my most in-depth work has been on the Gibson cemeteries in Corydon, KY. Find-a-Grave has really helped me to preserve that information for generations that will come after me. 

My genealogy blog is another great way to help preserve my family history and my families legacy. I get behind in these writing prompts/challenges but, going at my own pace... it really gives me time to think out exactly what I want to write about for that particular prompt. Sometimes I write about the same thing for a second, or even a third time... but I always go more and more in-depth with new details I've found each time. 

I've been trying to get all of my old photographs digitized onto the laptop or my iPhone. I love playing with my old black and white photographs on Remini or MyHeritage. I've had a lot of success with them, to be honest, and couldn't be happier with the results. I've even started sharing some of my photographs to Instagram and TikTok to build a bit of a 'fanbase' for my genealogy, if you will. 

It is my hope that someday I will have a family history book in our local library talking about all the Henderson families of today and their roots to the original settlers. So many of my friends have roots going back in this county to within ten years of its inception but they have no idea. It always hurts me to know that someone doesn't know where or who they came from. 

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 18: Crime & Punishment

I, like everyone else, probably have more than one ancestor I could write about for "crime and punishment." My paternal Grandmother went to jail a time or two, but, I don't like to muddy her name more than its already been muddy. Even my parents have been to jail for a weekend in their younger years for this and that. 

One interesting story I stumbled upon back when I first was playing with newspapers.com back in 2018...

This appeared in the Mt. Sterling Advocate newspaper on September 29th, 1891. Frank Bastin, or rather, Franklin Payton Bastin, was my Great-Great-Grandfather. 

Frank was born on August 5th, 1878, in Lincoln County, Kentucky, to Martin Stimmons Bastin and Sarah Jane Brown. The post says Frank Bastin was twelve years old -- but he had actually already had his thirteenth birthday by September 29th. 

I believe Frank left Lincoln County and never looked back. By October 17th, 1895, he married in Campbell County, TN, to Miss Ilena "Lena" Singleton. In the 1900 census, they're living in Laurel County, KY. Then they make the move in about 1905 or 1906 to Muhlenberg County, KY, where my Great-Grandmother, Edith, was born in 1908. 

I'm not sure if Frank Bastin left Lincoln County before he could ever go to court -- or perhaps because Joe Henry lived, they told him to just "get the hell out of dodge," if you will. Joe Henry, according to death certificates, lived to be 69 years old -- dying in 1941. Cause of death appears to be diabetes. 

Regardless, had Frank not left Lincoln County, KY... I may not be here today had this incident not occurred. Surely this incident and his leaving Lincoln County is how he met Ilena Singleton -- as she hailed from Rockcastle County, KY. Perhaps Rockcastle County is where Frank ended up after leaving Lincoln.. Then they married in TN and set up their first house in Laurel County.. but then continued heading west to Muhlenberg. 

Frank and Lena had eleven children together -- four that died as young infants. Frank was the first to pass away on January 15th, 1954, in Central City, KY. He was 75 years old and succumbed to diabetes. Lena followed him in death on May 18th, 1958, in Central City. She was 78 years old and succumbed to pancreatic cancer (or rather, on the death cert. "probable carcinoma of the head of pancreas.")

One thing is for sure.. Frank Bastin lived an exciting life; one that I wish I could hear more stories about, but unfortunately it seems, he took most of his stories to his grave with him. My Granddad (his grandson) didn't even know about him stabbing someone at thirteen years old, so it's obviously something Frank didn't like to talk about. Aren't those always the best stories for us genealogists? The juicy gossip kind. 

If you ever get down to Central City, KY; stop by Rose Hill Cemetery and pay him and Ilena a visit, will you? Maybe he'll be willing to share a story or two from his childhood or early teen years with you. 

Arthur Leslie Murphy dies in a tragic accidental shooting on Thanksgiving Day 1949.

I came across another sad obituary and death certificate while working on the Murphy/Thomas family tree. 

I know it may seem odd to only share the sad things or the unusual things that I find, but those are usually the events that are most often overlooked and dare I even say "forgotten about" with time. As a genealogist, it's our job to make sure no one is forgotten, and that the tragic events are noted. 

Arthur Leslie Murphy, and his Uncle, John Henry Thurby (only two years older than Arthur) went hunting together on Thanksgiving Day in 1949.. after they came home, tragedy struck. 

Ten year old Arthur was laid to rest at Fairmont Cemetery in Henderson, Henderson County, Kentucky. 

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 2: Family Legend

I think every American has a story of "my some-odd great-grandparent was Native American." For me, it's my 2x Great-Grandmother, Icy Lucretia "Credie" (Bowers) Wilson White. 

Now, I've heard that she was full blooded Cherokee. I've heard she was full blooded Shawnee. Cree. Sioux. You name it, she's been called it. My whole life, I was told that's where our coal black hair and chocolate brown eyes come from. High cheek bones, super tan complexion, etc, etc. 

So upon doing my DNA in February of 2018, and getting the results in April of 2018, I expected having at least anywhere from about 3% to 9% of Native American ancestry -- or at least something that Native American could pop on a DNA test. A lot of times it'll show as Indigenous America or even Eastern Asian. 

But hmm. Instead, I received 1% African. So then my Great-Aunt tested.. Credie would have been her Grandmother. My Great-Aunt should have about 20-30% Native American in her ethnicity results........ nope. 1% African. 

Then my Dad takes a DNA test and guess what? 1% African. All of my other White/Bowers cousins? 1-2% African. Consistently. The biggest story floating around is that Sally & Credie (sisters) were born and raised in Oklahoma and were full blooded Cree Indians. But let's face the facts: they weren't born in Oklahoma and as far as I can tell, they were never ever IN Oklahoma. There is also a family story of a photograph of Credie in full Indian head-dress... I've never seen such a photo, nobody has put it on Ancestry or FamilySearch, so I doubt its authenticity. 

Let us start looking at the actual facts about Icy Lucretia "Credie". In the picture below -- Sally is standing and Credie is sitting.

Icy Lucretia "Credie" Bowers was born October 21st, 1886, in Sullivan County, Tennessee, to Abraham "Abe" Bowers and Eliza Catherine "Cynthia" "Lidie" Wilder. In 1889, her sister Sara Lucinda "Sally" Bowers was born. The area of Sullivan County, TN, is known for its Melungeon people. 

Because of the 1890 census burning, we never see the family together with Abe Bowers as the head of household. It is reported that Abe died on September 12th, 1890, in Sullivan County, Tennessee. 

After Abe's death, Lidie (Wilder) Bowers went on to marry Daniel "Dan" Carrier on December 23rd, 1890, in Sullivan County, TN, and have a passel more children including: Robert, Nancy, Elcana, Isaac, Gertrude, Iva, Daniel, and Herman. 

By 1900, Dan & Lidie Carrier, along with her Bowers daughters, and her new Carrier children, are living in Clay County, Arkansas. In the 1930's, Lidie and Dan made the journey up to Portland, Oregon. Lidie died there in 1938. 

There is a photograph of Lidie in 1935 in Portland... she is pale white, she does have some high cheekbones, but.. she absolutely is not Native American. Lidie's parents Ike Wilder & Betsy Leonard were born in Tennessee & Virginia respectively. The Wilder & Leonard lines, I do believe, are English. 

Now, going back to Abraham "Abe" Bowers -- there are a couple different Abe Bowers running around Sullivan County, TN. I am NOT disputing that there is a Native American Bowers line but MY Bowers line is NOT it. I do believe some of our family has found an Abraham Bowers who moved to Oregon and signed the Dawes rolls. That is NOT!!!!!!!!!!!! and I repeat this again, that is NOT!!!!!!!!! our Abraham "Abe" Bowers. 

My Abraham "Abe" Bowers was born in 1866 in Sullivan County, TN, to Allen Bowers & Lizzie Alfred (Alford). Now here is where I believe our 1% African might be coming from on this line. Bear with me, please. 

In the 1850 census, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Alfred (or Alford) is listed as MULATTO with her mother, Sarah Alfred/Alford. Her husband, Peter Alford/Alfred must have died prior to 1850. Sarah, too, is listed as mulatto. Sarah's maiden name is reported as Sawyers.

By the 1870 census, where Abe is listed with his parents, Allen & Elizabeth -- the family is listed as white. Allen's death, I haven't been able to find, but Elizabeth passed in 1879, as Allen is a widower by the 1880 census.  

Allen Bowers' biological father remains a mystery. It is said he is the son of Nancy Anna Bowers, who had Allen, possibly out of wedlock, and then married she John Hays in 1849. She is consistently listed as white in census. Nancy was a daughter of Leonard Bowers & Rebecca Nave, who are ancestors of none other than country singer, Tim McGraw. 

It's entirely possible there could be some African ancestry through Allen's biological father, too. Perhaps that's why he took his mother's last name.. perhaps whoever the biological father was, it was a shameful family secret? Who knows.

Ultimately, I believe this "mulatto" is where our African (as tiny as 1% to 2%) is coming from in the Bowers line -- Lizzie Alfred/Alford Bowers and her side of the family. It is entirely possible that Peter Alford/Alfred was a white man and that Sarah Sawyers was a mulatto due to being the daughter of a slave and a slave master. Peter Alford could have also been mulatto or perhaps he was full African, but since he died before the 1850 census, I can't find his ethnicity. 

We know Sarah reports her birth place as Virginia and Virginia was quite a large slave state in her life time.. she was born 1809 and died 1896. She would be my 5x Grandmother. 

For Credie Bowers, the rest of the FACTS about her.. she married for the first time to O.G. Wilson in Datto, Clay Co, Arkansas on August 9th, 1903. The marriage was short lived because on February 11th, 1905, in Datto, she married William Joseph "Bill" White. 

Bill & Credie had five children: Homer, Christeen, Lorene, Thelma, and Wilma. 

They family lived in Clay Co, Arkansas in the 1910 census, and then the Ripley County, Missouri census in 1920. 

Credie died March 4th, 1921, in Ripley County, Missouri. Her death certificate names her "Lucrissia White". It lists her as WHITE, MARRIED, 35 years, 4 months, and 10 days old. 

It says she is the daughter of Abe Bowers and Lydia Wilders of Tennessee. The informant is her husband, Will White. She was buried in Black Cemetery according to the death certificate but a marker has been found for her (it's a new marker, probably placed by a descendant) in Richwoods Cemetery in Corning, Clay Co, Arkansas. 

More than likely, Black Cemetery was in Ripley County and is actually where Credie is buried. Likely, her tombstone in Corning is a cenotaph. 

So... fact: Credie was a white woman from Sullivan County, TN, who never was in Oklahoma a day in her life. Fact: She had no Native American blood (unless it was really far back). Fact: She likely had African ancestry and that's why her descendants are receiving African in their DNA results, not Native American. Fact: She passed away of pulmonary tuberculosis and died way too young. Fact: She left behind young children, one of them being my great-Grandmother, Lorene (White) Jones. 

I'm sure Credie was a fascinating woman.. her mother, Lidie, as well. I wish I could have met both of them. As a genealogist and family historian, all I can do now is follow the paper trail history has left me and the clues found in my DNA. 

Young Deaths of the Past, and Getting Today's Kids Interested in Genealogy

[[This is "Chapter 2" if you will, of my NaNoWriMo 2019 family history narrative.]]

How do you begin to get a kid interested in their family history? Well, it’s no easy task. I was one of the lucky ones in the fact that I got into it by having a burning question needing to be asked. Other kids — they aren’t that lucky. Most kids don’t show an interest whatsoever in knowing where they come from, let alone who they come from. A lot of kids aren’t even fortunate enough to know a parent, let alone a Grandparent, or more-so a Great-Grandparent. I’ve found a good amount of success in talking a lot about your family history and stories from the past. Growing up, I was always interested in what Grandpa had to say about his childhood, about his parents and Grandparents, and this was long before I had the burning question of “Nana, did you know any of your Great-Grandparents?” 

I grew up listening to my Mom talking about her Great-Grandmother Thompson and her Great-Grandfather LaRue. I think of some of these stories on the daily still and it’s almost been twenty years since I first started hearing them. I talk about my own Great-Grandmother almost daily and she’s been gone for eighteen years now. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, almost feels like it’s impossible that it’s been that long but… it has been. Soon enough, it’ll be twenty years, and then forty, and so on. Eventually, I might be one of the only ones to remember my Nana S. And just that thought alone makes me want to research as much as I can on my family history. Some of the names of ancestors I find… I might be the first person who’s thought of them in generations. Especially the young children that passed away that were older or younger siblings to one of my ancestors. 

Like my Great-Grandmother’s older sister, for example. Vannie Louise Thompson was born November 24th, 1911, and died on November 19th, 1915, short of her fourth birthday. If it wasn’t for a simple tombstone for Vannie in the Gibson Family Cemetery out in Corydon, which is one of my favorite places in the world, then poor little Vannie may have never been remembered by anyone ever again. Her parents are gone now, and her siblings are long gone. There’s nobody alive that remembers Vannie except for those of us who do family history. There are no pictures of her. All that we know of Vannie is what is on her death certificate that was filled out by her Uncle, Sam Thompson. He listed Vannie’s birth year as about 1910 — she was really born in 1911. 

The date of death was November 19th, 1915. The death occurred in the Smith Mills precinct of the county and that makes sense as that’s where the family had lived for quite sometime. Little Vannie died of membranous croup that lasted for two days before she succumbed to the illness. Her parents were listed as Johnnie Thompson and Jan Ella Nally (actually Janella). She was buried on the very same day she died… probably in hopes that the quick burial would stop the croup from spreading to the other children. 

In the Gibson Cemetery is a small tombstone for Vannie that only states — VANNIE. DAU OF JOHN & JANELLA THOMPSON. 1911-1915.

Vannie’s life was summed up in the space of a dash between 1911 and 1915. It makes me wonder what type of a child was Vannie? Did she have any hobbies at almost four years old? Was she looking forward to her fourth birthday on November 24th? Did she have any favorite toys? Did she have a favorite sibling? At that point she had three brothers and two sisters. What was her relationship like with them? What color hair did she have? What color eyes? Death certificates don’t divulge as much information as I wish they would. There aren’t cemetery records, either, with this type of information, not for a death occurring so long ago and especially not for a small family cemetery out in the rural part of the county. If it wasn’t for family historians like myself, Vannie would have been long forgotten years ago. But thanks to websites like Ancestry and Find-a-Grave, hopefully the memory of Vannie will live on. Albeit I never met her, she will never be forgotten. 

What’s even worse are the infants that never even stood a fighting chance. My Grandpa Jady had two siblings that died at birth — an older sister and a younger brother. The first child of Dick and Lorene Blanford was a stillborn baby in December of 1931. Nobody had known more than that, really, until I ordered off for what is called a stillbirth certificate. My whole life, I grew up hearing Grandpa talk about his eldest sibling having been stillborn and they buried the baby in a shoe box in the Smith Mills Cemetery underneath a large tree. I’ve been to Smith Mills Cemetery numerous times and I have my suspicions which tree he’s talking about, but we’ll never know for sure. I feel like there should be some sort of tombstones or plaque marking her final resting place but, there probably never will be unless I take the initiative to put it there. 

Anyway — when I ordered off for the stillbirth certificate, I learned a lot more about Baby Blanford. She was born and deceased on December 14th, 1931. The certificate states that the mother was about six months along — so the baby was without a doubt premature and died because of this. We’re unsure as to what caused the early birth, it could have just been something as simple as it was her first pregnancy. Perhaps her body just didn’t cooperate with the pregnancy. Most importantly, we learned it was a baby girl. Not much more information was provided. No burial location, but we had already acquired that from family stories. Grandpa said his mother really hated talking about the pregnancies she lost. Especially the first baby girl. 

In 1950, Lorene became pregnant again. By this time, this would have been her tenth pregnancy. On June 16th, 1950, Lorene gave birth to a stillborn baby boy and he was promptly buried at the back of the Saint Louis Catholic Cemetery here in Henderson. Upon the death of Lorene and Dick in 1991 and 1995 respectively, the baby boy was exhumed from the back of the cemetery and moved to the front to be re-interred by his parents. I wish they could have done that with the baby girl they lost in 1931 but, I’m sure they had their reasons as to why they couldn’t. I believe the baby born in 1950 was a full-term birth but, the funny thing is, none of us can find a death or stillbirth certificate for him. There isn’t even a birth index listing for him. It’s like he never existed at all and was a figment of someone’s imagination but — all of the siblings (older than the deceased baby boy) remember their Mom being pregnant. 

The infant boy has a simple tombstone that reads — INFANT SON OF R.J. & LORENE BLANFORD. JUNE 16 1950. 

The life of the stillborn baby boy is summed up in just those few words. But I’m sure his impact was much greater than that. But without family historians like myself, he would be long forgotten about by now as a lot of Grandpa’s siblings have passed, including him. 

52 Ancestors 2021: Week 1: Beginnings

[[ This is the introduction part of my 2019 NaNoWriMo project. I thought I'd share here with everyone. ]]

((This post is also being used for "Beginnings" challenge in the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks -- Week one, 2021))

Getting Started

Genealogy, for me, started at a happenchance. I was seven years old, the year was 2000, and I had the brilliant question of, “Nana — did you know any of your Great-Grandparents?” You see, my Nana was my Great-Grandmother…and from what I had gathered at that young age, a general consensus was that not many people were fortunate enough to meet their Great-Grandparents. It was "kind of rarity," as my Mom would put it.

I had known another Great-Grandparent when I was very little but by the time I was seven, I didn’t have many vivid memories of him left. My Mom was fortunate enough to meet three of her Great-Grandparents and even a step-Great-Grandmother. She had very vivid memories of two of her Great-Grandparents, especially. My Dad… he hadn’t known any of his Great-Grandparents. He was lucky to just know his Grandparents considering he was always being bounced around, living city to city as he grew up. 

So the burning question of — Nana, did you know any of your Great-Grandparents — my Nana, unfortunately, couldn’t answer the question. She’d been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s just a few years previous and it was definitely taking a toll on her mental state (or rather, whatever it was, was taking a toll on her mental state). So I asked my Grandma, my Nana’s daughter, if she knew if Nana had known any Great-Grandparents… well, she didn’t know. So I asked her, how could we answer the question? Who could we ask who would know? 

Well, I’m not sure who told my Grandma about genealogy - I have the suspicion that it was probably my Great-Uncle Charles, but I could be wrong. My Great-Uncle had done a lot of the Blanford family tree probably twenty years previous so that’s why he comes to mind but it could have been anyone, truthfully. But genealogy is exactly what we took to, to figure out the answer to the question.

We made trips almost everyday to the Henderson County Public Library, up to their genealogy department. The room quickly became one of my favorite places in the world — the smell became one of my favorite smells — the sounds of people shuffling through books, a definite favorite sound. 

We took to census records, birth indexes, marriages, and deaths as well. It didn’t take us too long, maybe a year or so, to figure out that…no, my Great-Grandmother had never met any of her Great-Grandparents. They all died long before she was born. My Grandma even realized she’d known one of her Great-Grandmother’s…but really didn’t have any vivid memories of her, hence why she’d forgotten really ever meeting her.

By this point, though, a year had gone by and my Nana had passed away on October 2nd, 2001, at the age of 85. She was predeceased by her parents, husband, a daughter, and two sons. She left behind three daughters and a passel of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Still living was her elder sister and her younger brother. Numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins too.

I have no doubt that my Grandmother conferred with my Nana's eldest sister about genealogy - but how much information she was able to glean beats me. My Nana's eldest sister was Mary Lilly, and Mary only had one daughter - Noretta. I do believe Grandma was able to get some good family tree information from her. 

Even though Nana was gone, the genealogy bug had without a doubt sunk its teeth deep into me. I was absolutely obsessed with working on my family tree and learning anything and everything I could about each and every ancestor. I worked mainly on my Mom’s side for the first several years because my Dad really didn’t know much about his side of the family and there weren’t many people willing to talk to me about it. Whereas my Mom’s side of the family was very close-knit and my Grandparents knew lots of stuff about their family. Also a plus side— my mother’s father’s side was Catholic and I would soon learn that Catholic’s keep AMAZING records. 

My Dad’s side I was able to piece a little bit together when I was around ten or so years old. My Dad called his Dad’s oldest living sibling - my Great-Aunt Mary - and we were able to go visit her and she gave me some great information on their side of the family. We went out to a couple cemeteries and I got to see the graves of my Great-Grandfather Clint, my Great-Great-Grandparents, French & Lillie, and even my Great-Great-Great-Grandparents, Phylander & Lucy. I felt like a little kid in a candy store… or in a Toys r’ Us at Christmastime. 

Genealogy got a little easier as I got a bit older. I was able to get a paid subscription to Ancestry in 2013 and that unlocked a world of documents and records that my library didn’t have — as Aladdin would say, it was a whole new world…and trust me, I was enamored with genealogy all over again. Thanks to having Missouri records at my fingertips, I was able to get further back on my paternal Grandmother’s line. I broke down a lot of brick-walls, but slowly and surely, things simmered down. 

Until I did my DNA in April of 2018. Doing my DNA helped me breakdown even more brick-walls that I never thought I’d get past. I am definitely going to talk about those over the course of this narrative and the process of how DNA did break those walls down, not just the end results. I plan to also talk more about those initial genealogy hunts in the library, about my success stories in my own family tree, and also my friends’ family trees. I’ve also had a lot of success in working with their DNA and even found some biological family members they didn’t know about along the way. 

So hopefully you all will follow along in my journey and perhaps you’ll end up with the genealogy bug when this is all said and done. One can only hope, ;).