Genealogy
Rockdale, Texas
If it seems like years pass between my journeys into the ancestral homelands, well, that’s because it’s true. My first trip “back home” was in 2005 when I went to Upson County, Georgia. My second trip was in 2007 to Kansas City. Now, I’m headed for Rockdale, Texas! I leave tomorrow at noon. Rockdale is a town in Milam …
October 6, 2012 Saturday at 7:31 pm
Georgia to Restrict Access to State Archives
Less than a week ago, I was advising someone that her next research activity should be to visit the Georgia State Archives. Well, now, she’d better get there in a hurry since the state has announced the closure of the Archives to most public visitors effective 1 November 2012. In a statement on Tuesday, 11 September 2012, Georgia’s Secretary of …
September 14, 2012 Friday at 12:54 pm
My Families in the 1940 Census, Part II
Once the indexing was completed I set about trying to find my families by name in the 1940 census. I concentrated on what I consider to be my four main lines: Manson, Gines, Bowie, and Bryant. My results were somewhat underwhelming. Gines family: I’ve already mentioned that I found my maternal grandmother and some of her children but that their …
September 8, 2012 Saturday at 5:42 pm
My Families in the 1940 Census
I was excited as anyone when the 1940 census was released. I immediately went to work trying to find my families. I was a volunteer indexer through FamilySearch.org and I enjoyed that experience immensely. It was great to be part of a worldwide network of people working towards the same goal. During the period of time before the indexing was …
August 18, 2012 Saturday at 8:10 pm
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
I had constructed a scenario in my head whereby Monroe Bryant of Rockport, Texas, petty criminal and draft delinquent, had gone to Louisiana and acquired another man’s draft registration card. I based this scenario on the fact that in the same batch of FBI reports that I had received concerning my great uncle Monroe Bryant of Rockport, there was another …
August 8, 2012 Wednesday at 7:59 pm
A Second Monroe Bryant Potentially Opens A Nasty Door
Second of three parts When last we met we learned from Monroe Bryant how not to volunteer for military service. Around the same time that Monroe Bryant had stolen money from the Navy recruiting office in Corpus Christi, Texas, the FBI (then known as the Bureau of Investigation) conducted a sweep of so-called “draft delinquents” in San Antonio. Among the …
July 29, 2012 Sunday at 9:00 pm
Monroe Bryant, 1901-1953, Would-be Soldier
First of two three parts I’ve written in the past about my great-uncle, Monroe Bryant, born in Rockport, Texas, in 1901. Monroe was an alcoholic drifter, who traveled around the United States, taking odd jobs here and there, occasionally returning to Rockport with tales of his adventures. One day, my father asked, almost rhetorically, “I wonder whatever happened to Monroe?” …
July 28, 2012 Saturday at 3:36 pm
Two Genealogical DNA Entities Exit the Stage
It’s not exactly breaking news that Ancestry.com has acquired GeneTree.com and the assets of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. See here. But it was curious to me that yesterday within 45 minutes I received ending reports from both Sorenson and GeneTree. In my early dabblings in online DNA research, I had used both Sorenson and GeneTree. I was more attracted to …
July 12, 2012 Thursday at 10:33 pm
Once Again, There are No Easy Cases in Genealogy
As I’ve reviewed my recent research efforts, I found that I’ve got bits and pieces of things everywhere. So the goal for the rest of the year is to bring those bits and pieces together, organize them, and see what we’ve really got. To do that I’m going to concentrate on the two “core” families, the Mansons and the Gines …
July 9, 2012 Monday at 7:00 pm
Kudos: Albuquerque Public Schools
As you all know, one of our GeneaBlogie values is “Give credit where credit is due.” So we always like to recognize excellence. Today we thank and recognize the Albuquerque Public Schools and, particularly, Kathleen Nelson of the APS Digital Imaging and Archives Center. I called Ms. Nelson late on a Friday afternoon to inquire about the availability of some …
July 3, 2012 Tuesday at 8:21 pm
