Guynes
Freedman’s Bank Records Open New Doors, Reveal Much
The Freedman’s Bank, a distinct entity from the Freedman’s Bureau, was established by Congress on March 3, 1865. The bank’s official name was the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company. The bank’s purpose was to assist African-Americans recently freed from bondage to adjust and thrive economically. It had branches in 16 states and the District of Columbia, where former slaves, black …
September 5, 2009 Saturday at 9:41 am
George Guynes [Gines] Freedman’s Bank Record
George Gines appeared on the 1870 census of Caddo Parish, Louisiana as “George Guion.” In April, 1872, however, the Freedman’s Bank lists him as “George Guynes.” The bank record also lists “Ed” and “Henry” apparently as separate persons. The absence of Ed on the census, combined with known family naming patterns, had led me to surmise that they were the …
September 2, 2009 Wednesday at 8:15 am
Breaking Down A Brick Wall–The Problem with Surnames, Part II
Fifth in a multi-part series I had hypothesized that my Gines people were associated with English-speaking people named Gines who came from the West Midlands area. They came to Virginia and North Carolina and from there moved on to South Carolina and other states of the Deep South, eventually winding up in Louisiana and Texas. That hypothesis was based on …
August 12, 2009 Wednesday at 11:58 pm
Breaking Down A Brick Wall: The Problem With Surnames
Fourth in a multi-part series In the comments to the last post our friend Apple [her blog is Apple's Tree; visit it!] writes: It certainly seems like the right family. I’ve seen some interesting name variations but how did they get Guion from Gines? Or visa versa. I’d be very comfortable going with this. That’s the very question presented for …
August 9, 2009 Sunday at 10:01 pm
“So What Makes You So Sure You’ve Knocked Down a Brick Wall?”
Remember the The Wrong Longs? Third in a multi-part series One of my other great-grandfathers on my mother’s side was named James William Long. As with Richard William Gines, I set out to find the parents of James Long. That search seemed like a stroll in the park compared to this one! I quickly found a James Long in Kansas …
August 7, 2009 Friday at 6:26 pm
The Process of Breaking Down a Brick Wall
Second in a multi-part series Here’s a synopsis of how I achieved my #1 research goal: finding the parents of my great-grandfather, Richard Gines of Shreveport, Louisiana. Bear in mind that eahcof these steps took months or even years to complete and some ran concurrently. Step 1: The Neophyte Phase. I was new to genealogical research and had fairly easily …
August 6, 2009 Thursday at 9:36 pm
Surname Distribution Analyzed
Before we analyze the data to comprehend its meaning, let’s do a bit more research to see if we can validate the existing data. Let’s check in with the United States Census Bureau which has analyzed names by frequency of occurrence from the 1990 census. When we search for Gines and then Guynes, the following values are produced: GINES 0.001 …
February 11, 2009 Wednesday at 9:58 pm
