Birdsong
My Great-Grandmother Moves to Texas
I suppose I may have taken some liberties with this month’s Carnival theme of “What if . . . ” I don’t know exactly what happened when my great-great- grandmother and the son of a former slave owner who lived next door absconded to Texas from Georgia in 1884. But what if it happened like this: Sitting and sipping tea …
April 1, 2009 Wednesday at 7:49 pm
Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces
I started this with a note on Facebook and it was suggested that it would make a good meme for bloggers. The idea is to publicize your surnames and locales to see if anyone elseknows something about them. For me on Facebook, I got several research-helpful replies. So how much better to take it to a wider audience. List the …
February 26, 2009 Thursday at 8:29 pm
Georgia Confederate Pensions: Follow-up
After returning home to Upson County, Georgia, after 17 years in Texas, George Preston (“Pres”) Birdsong applied for, and was denied, a pension for his four years of service in the Confederate Army. His brother, Albert Hamill Birdsong, who had gone to Texas with Pres in 1884, returned to Upson County in 1903. Albert had served two years in the …
February 18, 2009 Wednesday at 5:30 pm
Georgia Confederate Pensions on Ancestry Put to Use
George Preston Birdsong (1841-1905), known as “Pres” to family and friends, is my presumptive great-great-grandfather. He was the scion of a prominent Upson County, Georgia, family. Pres’s father, George Lawrence Forsyth Birdsong (“Larry”), was a sportsman and land owner. Larry also served for a time as Upson County Sheriff. When the Civil War began, Pres enlisted in Company K, 5th …
February 16, 2009 Monday at 6:39 pm
Ancestry.com Adds Lincoln & Civil War Docs
This announcement on the 24/7 Family History Circle blog today: PROVO, UTAH – Feb. 12, 2009 – Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online resource for family history, announced today it will commemorate the 200th birthday of one of the nation’s greatest Presidents – Abraham Lincoln – with the addition of five new databases to its Civil War Collection. This historically significant …
February 12, 2009 Thursday at 6:40 pm
A Memorable Visit
In my Jamboree posts the week before last, I alluded to a special mission I had attended to as part of my trip to Southern California. I took part of the time I was there to meet my father’s step-mother. I never knew that my father had a step-mother, as such, until the last few years, or so it seems …
July 12, 2008 Saturday at 11:30 pm
Decoration Day Roll Call
Today, we honor our war dead. If I could, I would be placing decorations on the following family veterans gravesites: Charles Troy Bowie (1915-1945), U.S. Army, Epinal American Cemetery, Epinal, France. Rene C. Mischeaux (1948-1969), U.S. Army, Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, California They both gave “the last full measure of devotion” in service to our nation. While we’re …
May 26, 2008 Monday at 1:32 pm
History Comes to Dinner
Actually I’m going to dinner at the home of my great-great grandmother, Matilda Manson, in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas, on a day in 1900. Grandma Mattie has been kind enough, at my suggestion, to invite her son Otis, and his wife Bettie Sanford, as well as Bettie’s 90 year old father, Billie Sanford. Bettie is pregnant with their fourth child, …
February 2, 2008 Saturday at 4:55 am
Where Were They in 1808?
Awhile ago, the challenge issued by Lisa was to describe where one’s ancestors were in 1908. I blogged about that here. Now the topic is where one’s ancestors were in 1808. Many bloggers have written about this already; I’m just getting caught up. 1808 was a signal year for some of my families. That was the year that Congress banned …
January 28, 2008 Monday at 3:51 am
Debunking A Family Myth
I’ve written about this before, but it fits this topic exactly, so I’ve reached into the archives and dusted this one off. Matilda Manson is listed in the 1850 census of Talbot County, Georgia, with her mother, Jane Manson and her sister, Mary Manson. Matilda’s age is given as 6 years old; Mary is reported to be 4, and their …
September 1, 2007 Saturday at 10:35 pm
