Sanford
Genealogical Reconnaisance in Central Texas
Last month, being Family History Month, seemed like a good time to head for the ancestral homelands in central Texas. The fact that I was speaking at an American Bar Association thingie in Austin was completely coincidental. Longtime readers of this journal (if there are any out there!) will recall that in 1884, my great-great-grandmother and her son Otis went …
November 16, 2012 Friday at 2:16 pm
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
“Restore My Name:” The First Edition of the Carnival of African-American Genealogy
Luckie Daniels, proprietor of Our Georgia Roots, a tenacious researcher and tech expert, has taken on the hosting of the first edition of the Carnival of African-American Genealogy. The theme for the first edition concerns slave research. Participants are asked to answer one or more of the following questions: What responsibilities are involved on the part of the researcher when …
March 18, 2010 Thursday at 10:54 am
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
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
Vote!
I first voted in the 1972 elections; as far as I know, my parents have voted in every election since 1954. But, of course, not all of my ancestors had the right to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870, provides: Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied …
November 1, 2008 Saturday at 6:43 pm
Carnival of Genealogy: 106 Years in America–And More!
One ancestor I’m really trying to learn more about is my great-great-grandfather William (“Billie”) Sanford. He was born in 1809 in Virginia and died in 1916 in Texas at the age of 106! A book I read says that he is the oldest person buried in the “colored” section of the Old City Cemetery in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. (170 …
July 16, 2008 Wednesday at 4:24 am
Juneteenth
At the time of this order, my BRYANT family lived in Nueces and Refugio Counties, Texas, and my SANFORD families were both slaves and slaveholders in Milam County, Texas.
June 19, 2008 Thursday at 6:58 pm
Attention Sanford Researchers: Tennessee State Marriages Now on Ancestry.com
Another of the new databases on Ancestry.com is the Tennessee State Marriages database. This is great for researching my Sanford family research. It’s got a lot of images; sometimes there are several different records for a single marriage. This is a good addition.
May 3, 2008 Saturday at 12:07 am
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
