Always Bring Bug Spray

Today was my first adventure into the land of cemeteries with this blog in mind. I wasn't as prepared as I should have been.

Here are some tips from my adventure today.

Tip #1: Research is key.

I used CemeteryCensus' map feature for Wake County (found here) to find local cemeteries that lay along my route. I chose three to focus on-- Epheseus Baptist Church Cemetery (6767 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh) , Macedonia Church Cemetery (2500 Mid Pines Road, Raleigh), and the King Family Cemetery (just past 3008 Mid Pines Road, Raleigh), but I didn't have time to read all about these cemeteries on CemeteryCensus.com or Internment.net. That came back to bite me when I couldn't find the King Family Cemetery-- I would have known it no longer exists if I had studied up on Internment.com.


Tip #2: Bring extra batteries for cameras. (Or in my case bring extra cameras)
My first stop was at Epheseus Baptist Church. I brought two digital cameras with me and extra batteries. But with my luck neither of the cameras wanted to work. Thanks cameras! Luckily my phone takes pictures and so it had to do.


Tip #3: Bring a notebook, some water (for yourself & for the tombstones), & writing utensils.
I did manage to bring a notebook and pen to keep up with my transcriptions, drawings, and other notes. I failed to bring water (spray bottle or otherwise) which made reading some of the stones impossible.

Tip #4: Bring closed toed shoes (& long pants).
Epheseus is still in use and well kept (although some stones have been covered by grass), but my next stop Macedonia Church was a more rural cemetery with grass as high as my knees. This is when I switched from my trusty Chaco's to my trusty tennis shoes. Boy was I glad those were in the car. Long pants would have been helpful too because I would not have had to worry as much about picking up ticks or stepping on deadly things. Oh yeah, and those tennis shoes, they are also good if a dog decides to chase after you.

Tip #5: Always Bring Bug Spray!!!!                  

I may not have needed it at Epheseus, but bug spray would have been a welcome item at Macedonia cemetery. The forested cemetery harbored many mosquitoes...and is now the inspiration for the title of my blog.

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.