July, 2009
We’ve Got a New Look!
And soon there will be new pages rich in information. Stand by!
July 27, 2009 Monday at 3:54 pm
Another Texas School Record–With an Ironic Twist
I posted this one at GenealogyWise: This record is for my grand-uncles Carl Manson and Otis Preston Manson (who was known as Preston.) It’s signed by my great-grandfather, Otis Manson (1871-1950). The historical ironies reflected here is that the school trustee who also signed the card, Daniel Henry Sanford, was the grandson of Reuben Sanford (1796-1846), whose family owned as …
July 24, 2009 Friday at 8:17 pm
Texas School Census Records
Over at GenealogyWise, in the Texas History Hunters Group, Barbara Cunningham pointed out that Texas school census records can be a 1890 census substitute. “In some counties, the County Clerk keeps and maintains the records. In other counties, they are kept by the County Judge,” Barbara said. [Note for non-Texans: the “County Judge” is not a judicial officer–at least not …
July 23, 2009 Thursday at 6:59 pm
Now Let Us Move On . . .
With malice toward none and charity for all . . . .we learn that there are gentlemen of the first degree in this century. Look here.
July 20, 2009 Monday at 11:53 pm
A Baby Boomer Remembers the Man Who Came to Dinner… Every Night
Starting the year after we come back to the United States from Germany, this man came to dinner almost every night. He never ate anything, but he did regale us with tales of the twentieth century’s most important events. He kept me caught up with the last doings of my first heroes whose names were Shepard and Schirra, Carpenter and …
July 19, 2009 Sunday at 4:21 pm
FamilyLink Mis-Cues Mar GW Debut; “H*ll” Breaks Loose at Site
I had written some fairly positive things about FamilyLink’s new social network, GenealogyWise, whose official debut is supposed to be today. The company had a “soft” opening a week ago and within two days had garnered thousands of members with hundreds of specialty groups and discussions. Many highly influential names in the genealogy world joined up. It seemed as if …
July 17, 2009 Friday at 9:01 pm
How Grandpa Zeke Collected a Bounty on Himself
My great-great-grandfather Ezekiel Johnson collected a bounty for turning himself into the federal government in 1864. Actually, so did a lot of other folks earn such bounties. Zeke Johnson was held as a slave in Clay County, Missouri, fro the day he was born in 1847 until one day in May, 1864, when he was 17 years old. That day …
July 14, 2009 Tuesday at 8:44 pm
A Unique Story of Ancestors: Spirit of a Choctaw Freedwoman
Our Genealogywise friend, Angela Walton-Raji, has produced and narrated a video entitled Spirit of a Choctaw Freedwoman, which tells a very unique story. The story is that of her great-grandmother, Sallie Walton, who was among a great number of African-Americans enslaved by American Indians. This is an important and poignant story, well produced. If you want to understand a difficult …
July 11, 2009 Saturday at 8:00 pm
French Genealogy: The Blog
I have several reasons to engage in research in France. Of course, I’ve written a fair amount about “The French Negroes of Illinois.” And one of the Louisiana lines I work on is the LEJAY (or LEGER/LEGIRE) family, who may be tied to descendants of French Huguenots who landed in South Carolina in the late 17th Century. These folks in …
July 10, 2009 Friday at 1:30 pm
Cyber-Stampede: Genealogywise.com Makes Spectacular Debut
It looked a bit like the land rush when Oklahoma was opened to settlers as new social network Genealogywise.com made its appearance earlier today. The FamilyLink property had a “soft” opening–no flashy press conferences or celebratory speeches marked the launch. A simple unembargoed notice to several influential bloggers seemed to be all that was necessary to set the ‘Net on …
July 8, 2009 Wednesday at 8:42 pm
