Nameless Negatives: Post #2 Two Boys

Photo of two boys taken in Oxford, North Carolina (Granville county) by J.D. Brinkley. A list of North Carolina Photographers through 1910 shows that J.D. Brinkley was in operation in Oxford in the late 1800s.

Thankful Thursday: Census Images on Heritage Quest

I'm thankful for several things today--

#1 Census Images--because they allow you to see a spatial relationship between two or more families

#2 Heritage Quest-- I love Ancestry.com, but I don't have a subscription right now, so instead I use my local libraries access for Heritage Quest. Having more than one place to find census images is also useful because transcriptions are different on the two sites, so a road block on one might not be present on the other.

I was especially thankful earlier this week while I was writing & "updating" Matrilineal Monday: The Daughters of Frances Buffaloe & Larkin Wood. I hated connecting the daughters to their husbands based off of the single marriage records I found on FamilySearch.org.

What if there was more than one Fannie Wood and I was chasing after the wrong one?!?! But lo and behold, I found an image that subsided some of my fears--one that had several of the families I was researching all on one page.

There are at least FOUR connected families on this one page (and possibly more just from my cursory glance at the other surnames on the page):

Image of Ervin Mann & Hattie Wood Mann (daughter of Fannie Wood).

Image of William Castleberry & his children. Two months after the census is recorded he will go on to marry Minnie Wood (shown in image below).

Image of Fannie Wood and several of her unmarried children: Minnie, Rena, Lena, and Kelso. 

Image of William Hunter, his wife Fannie Wood Hunter (daughter of Fannie Wood), their children, and William's mother & sister. 

These images come from the
1900 United States Census; Series: T623, Roll: 1221, Page: 284
White Oak Township, Wake County, North Carolina
Enumeration District: 153, Sheet No. 22B

Wordless Wednesday: 96 years old

Grandma Edna: "Can we just say I'm 100 today?"

Tombstone Tuesday: Kelso K. & Burlena M. Wood

My Great-Great- Grandparents:


Kelso Kedron WOOD 
b. 7 Mar 1882
d. 10 Nov 1931
Parents: Larkin H. WOOD & Frances BUFFALOE

Burlena "Lena" MURRAY
b.5 Dec 1880
d.15 Jul 1961)
Parents: James H. MURRAY & Sarah Ann HUNTER

Married on 25 Dec 1904 in Wake County, North Carolina


Tombstone Location: Swift Creek Baptist Church Cemetery in Wake County, North Carolina

Matrilineal Monday: The Daughters of Frances Buffaloe & Larkin Wood

Larkin WOOD & Frances Buffaloe (Crocker) WOOD were blessed with taking care of thirteen children in the mid- to late- 1800s. What was special about this family? Twelve of these children were females, the very last kid was the lone boy. While researching Larkin's daughters I have had both ups & downs- for some of them it has been easy to find marriages and census records, for others it hasn't. 

I am going to use this post as a sort of goal to find out more about these ladies. Throughout tonight I will add updates of what I have found using the internet. 

Louisa CROCKER (16 Sep 1856- 16 Jun 1917) married William Burton WILDER

Evira CROCKER (1858- ?) possibly died before 1870 census

Thersann WOOD (1862-?) 

Calie V. WOOD (27 Sep 1864- 11 Jan 1928) married Unknown WILDER Samuel WILDER

Ella F. WOOD (30 Dec 1865- 21 Sep 1940) married S. A. MEDLIN Sidney A. MEDLIN

Francis WOOD (1868- 3 Feb 1950) married Unknown HUNTER William C. HUNTER

Anna C. WOOD (31 Jul 1871- 22 Apr 1917) married Unknown Joseph M. LUTHER

Minie WOOD (May 1873- ?) married to Unknown W. F. CASTLEBERRY

Hattie WOOD (1876- ?) married to Unknown Irvin MANN

Nelly G. WOOD (1878-?)

Tena May WOOD (15 Jun 1879- ?)

Rena Rey WOOD (15 Jun 1879- 20 Aug 1916) married George F. LUTER LEWTER

Read more for Updates

Surname Saturday: A Week of Celebrating the Wood Family

Today I am celebrating my great-grandmother's 96th birthday with family. To honor her, my oldest living relative, I will dedicate this weeks posts all to her ancestry.

Wood

mainly a topographic name for someone who lived in or by a wood or a metonymic occupational name for a woodcutter or forester, from Middle English wode ‘wood’ (Old English wudu).

nickname for a mad, eccentric, or violent person, from Middle English wod ‘mad’, ‘frenzied’ (Old English wad), as in Adam le Wode, Worcestershire 1221.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

James Wood (4th Great-Grandfather)

b. abt. 1800 in North Carolina 

m. 19 Feb 1822 to Thursey/Thiresy/Theresy in Wake County, NC

children: 

1. James Wood (abt. 1828) 
2. Mars Wood (abt 1831)
3. Larkin H. Wood (abt 1833)
4. Archibald Wood (abt 1836)
5. Mary Wood (abt 1839)

Larkin Henry Wood (3rd Great-Grandfather)

b. 1833 in North Carolina

m. 26 Feb 1861 to Frances Buffaloe in Wake County, NC

d. between 1882-1900

children: 

1. Thursey A. Wood (abt 1862)
2. Calie V. Wood (27 Sept 1864- 11 Jan 1928)
3. Ella F. Wood (30 Dec 1865-21 Sept 1940)
4. Francis Wood (abt 1868- 3 Feb 1950)
5. Anna C. Wood (31 Jul 1871-22 Apr 1917)
6. Minie Wood (May 1873)
7. Hattie Wood (abt 1876)
8. Nelly G. Wood (abt 1878)
9. Tena May Wood (15 Jun 1879)
10. Rena Rey Wood (15 Jun 1879- 20 Aug 1916)
11. Kelso Kedron Wood (7 Mar 1882-10 Nov 1931)

Kelso Kedron "K K" Wood (2nd Great-Grandfather) 

b. 7 Mar 1882 in North Carolina

m. to Burlena Murray

d. 10 Nov 1931

children:

1. Murry Wood (abt. 1906)
2. Cullen Wood (abt 1907)
3. Elberta Wood (abt 1908 4 Dec 1907- 19 Nov 1986)
4. Jackson Wood (8 Mar 1909- 18 Apr 1989)
5. Allen Wood (abt 1911)
6. Exum Wood (abt 1912 26 Sep 1912- 30 May 1991)
7. Evelyn Wood (abt 1913)
8. Ruth Wood (1 Nov 1913-28 Dec 1968)
9. Edna Wood (13 Aug 1915)
10. Larkin Henry Wood (11 Dec 1916- 9 Jan 1993)
11. Francis Wood (abt 1918)
12. Kelso Kedron Wood Jr (14 Apr 1921- 17 Mar 1994)
13. Arline Wood (abt 1925)

Edna Wood (Great-Grandmother)

b. 13 Aug 1915

m. 13 Feb 1937 to Marvin Edwards

children:

• 7 living
• 2 deceased

Thrifty Thursday: North Carolina Digital Collections

NC Digital Collection screen shot

One of my favorite ways of researching my ancestors online is to find free resources online. Not only does this save me a trip to the local library (& the gas money), but it also provides faster digital searches and an opportunity to save digital copies for later use. Here are just a few of my favorites....more to be added later of course!



North Carolina Digital Collections
By the Archives & Library of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources.

The NC Digital Collections offers up great free digital resources like

• NC Family Records

One of the more popular collections, the NC Family Records provides bible records, marriage & death notices from NC newspapers, and cemetery photos all searchable by family name and recently updated as of June 13, 2011

• NC Maps

 This collection offers historic maps from the late 1500s to 2000. It can be searched by location, date and subject; and their is an interactive historic map overlay which compares historic maps with current road maps. 

• NC Newspaper Digitization Project

 This collection provides select digitalized newspapers that date from 1751-1890s, mainly from the cities of Edenton, Fayetteville, Hillsboro, New Bern, Salisbury, & Wilmington. 

Those Places Thursday: The Straubs Long Journey

A few years back I wrote a term paper on the migration of the Straub/Stroup family. This Google Earth video shows the many kilometers the Straub/Stroup family traveled to go from the Rhine to North Carolina in just a couple of generations. Here is the simple version of what went on:

The Straub family (Pieter Straub, Anna Maria Straub, & children Jacob & Pieter Straub) traveled from:

• Großgartach to the nearby Heilbronn (approx. 6 km)
• Heilbronn to Rotterdam, Holland (on a ship up the Rhine River, probably took 4 to 6 weeks)
• Rotterdam (stayed for a few weeks and left 24 June 1733) to Plymouth, England (arrived 12 July 1733)
• Plymouth to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (arrived 18th OR 29th Sept 1733)
• Lived in various places including Freeburg (originally "Straubstown") and New Hanover, PA. 

Jacob Straub

• by 1746 migrated to Maryland
• by 1772 migrated with his family (including son Philip Stroup) to Tryon County, North Carolina (now Lincoln County, NC)

Nameless Negatives: Post #1 My Favorite Unknown

As the first post in my "Nameless Negatives" collection I believe my title may need to be explained.
I have many photographs (not actually in negative form of course) from an unknown time, unknown place, and of unknown people. Hopefully sharing these photos online will either help connect me with others who can place names with the faces, or motivate me to do more digging.

Nameless Negatives: Post #1 "My Favorite Unknown"

This is one of my favorite photographs from my nameless pile. I have no clue who these people are but every time I look at the picture I feel connected. They look young, happy, and almost playful with their slight-smiled smirks. 

Possible location: Halifax County, North Carolina or somewhere in Virginia
Possible relatives (Surnames): Allen, Cawthorn, Montague (I found this in Uriel's collection which contained photographs mainly from these families)
Possible time period: don't have the slightest idea

Below is the original condition of the photograph with scratches and holes. The above image has been edited.

Ambrotype of John Cawthorn

In a previous post about John W. Cawthorn (found here) I posted an "enhanced version" of an ambrotype picturing John in his Confederate uniform. At first I couldn't figure out whether this old picture I have which is still housed in its original case was an ambrotype or daguerreotype. Luckily I found a website called Tips... for Dating Old Photo's... and boy was it helpful. I now know that what is in my possession is an ambrotype because the picture needs a dark background to show the photo in positive form.

Here is the original photo I scanned into the computer:

This picture shows the frame, and faded condition of the photo.

My "Heritage Pie Chart"

I first stumbled upon the "Heritage Pie Chart" idea on Are You My Cousin?... and found further information on the premises at My Tapley Tree... and its Branches: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. So I thought I would give it a try- first with my 16-great-great-grandparents. I do want to note that because of "bad sentiments" towards two of my great-great-grandparents, no one in the family will tell me their names, but I have been working on my grandmother to get her brother to tell me...so hopefully someday I'll be able to add them in.

First I looked at origin by country

HA! No surprise here... thoroughly American.

So I wanted to see if there was any variety in origin by State:

Family Recipe Friday: Chocolate Chess Pie

This is Uriel Powell's favorite recipe...one for Chocolate chess pie. This recipe was provided by Mary Frances Ellington and if I ever get a chance to make this, I'll add a picture or two.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick Margarine
• 4 tbsp. cocoa
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 small can evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix sugar and cocoa, add to melted margarine. Stir thoroughly and add other ingredients. Pour into an unbaked pie shell. Cook at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Enjoy!

Keeper of history: Uriel Orin Powell

One of the best things about someone who keeps everything... you get to understand them just a little after they have died. My great-grand uncle, Uriel Powell, is a perfect example. Even though he died in 1989, my grandmother still has some things that Uriel kept, pictures and news articles, and just a few years ago I got the opportunity to scan these things to have digital copies. 

Several of the pictures in the slideshow below show Uriel with his sister, Mary Lois Powell (my great grandmother), and with Mary F. Ellington (my grandmother). The newspaper articles show Uriel's intense devotion to stamp collecting, participation in the Halifax-North Hampton American Association of Retired Persons, and 50th-year reunion gathering of the 1931 graduating class of Roanoke Rapids High School. The only thing missing is a picture or two of the African Violets Uriel raised. 

The We Tree Genealogy Blog: Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog. 52 ideas. 52 weeks...

I find that I have worked on this blog for just a few days a month since I began it in May and I have decided to up my posts by using these ideas!

The We Tree Genealogy Blog: Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog. 52 ideas. 52 weeks...: "As quick review of genealogy blogs shows that many bloggers have made resolutions to write more about genealogy in 2009. Yes, you should blo..."

Uriel Orin Powell

One of the reasons I started this blog is because I wanted to make all the old photos, documents, and bible records I had available to others who might be interested. This blog wouldn't have been possible without my great grand uncle, Uriel Orin Powell's collection of records, research, and family photographs. Uriel died about 7 months after I was born, but I've enjoyed looking at everything he collected over the years since I was 15. A lot of what I know about Uriel comes from my grandmother. Uriel was my grandmother's uncle, but he raised her and was more like a father.

Uriel was born 4 Oct 1910 in Rosemary, Halifax Co., North Carolina. At the age of 13 (May 1924) he was baptized at Rosemary Baptist Church. He graduated from Roanoke Rapids High School in 1931. After high school Uriel worked in the Cotton Mill until his house was built, and then he worked in the US Post Office (for 32 and 1/2 years) as a clerk and for 5 years as a substitute carrier.

Uriel's parents were Burton Alexander Powell and Mary Ellen Cawthorn; his siblings were Robert Alexander Powell, Rodney Ray Powell, Mary Lois Powell, and Fannie Paige Powell.

Uriel died of a heart attack 2 July 1989, was cremated, and placed in the back wall of Rosemary Baptist Church.