A Genealogical Odyssey
This deed ties together at least three generations of Darnells in Rabun County, from Harrison Darnell to his children to many of his grandchildren.
Source: Rabun County, Georgia, Deed Record B-2: 379-80; Clerk of the Superior Court, Clayton.
Please note that I’ve only transcribed the indenture itself. There were other supporting documents recorded after that, many of which gave the physical localities of Harrison’s descendants.
I absolutely love pictures of old things or old pictures of things. (Either one. I’m not picky.) Brenda Joyce Jerome’s post on the tomb of H. F. Given fits the bill perfectly. Isn’t that a beautiful monument? Brenda’s accompanying explanation is just icing on the cake.
Judy G. Russell explains the term upon the country, which clears up some of the puzzlement I’ve had over the past two years of dealing with Rabun County’s early writs and petitions. Thanks, Judy!
Here’s a neat story about Baxter Reuben Lowe and the Apollo Project, by J. R. Lowe at Genealogist Journal. Helping put men on the moon is the next best thing to being there.
The Archives.com Experts have been busy writing some very interesting articles. Of special note are:
These markers are located next to William and Malissa V. Stonecypher’s graves on the far side of the cemetery from the parking area. For directions and information on William and Malissa’s markes, see Cemetery Sunday: Stonecypher Cemetery, Rabun Co., GA.
These three stones mark the graves of five infants, all children of V. T. and L. J. Stonecypher.
Today for your reading pleasure, we have a cemetery that can be visited in a regular car.
Judy G. Russell, the Legal Genealogist, discusses the expansion of protection for genetic privacy by the federal government. Excellent news for those concerned about non-family members (like employers) gaining access to genetic tests.
Debbie Parker Wayne, at Deb’s Delvings in Genealogy, posted a nice discussion of Useful DNA Tests for Genealogy.
Kerry Scott, of Clue Wagon, describes how DNA testing causes gray hair.
And since we’re on the subject of genetic genealogy: If you’ve ever wanted to take the plunge, Family Tree DNA has a sale on its genetic tests right now. The sale ends tomorrow.
Y’all know how I’m always going on about Society publications? So it follows that I’m pretty interested in finding new ones. Michael Hait, on his blog Planting the Seeds, makes a case for the Pennsylvania Genealogy Magazine, and why it should be considered one of the top-tiered genealogy publications. He makes a good point.
Happy hunting!
My reading material for today’s likely travels (to a yarn store in Franklin, NC, and the Kerby Cemetery in Rabun County) was supposed to be Revenuers & Moonshiners: Enforcing Federal Liquor Law in the Mountain South, 1865 – 1900 by Wilbur R. Miller (UNC Press, 1991). But two surprises were stashed in my mailbox this morning: the March 2013 issue of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, and the Spring 2013 issue of the Georgia Genealogical Society Quarterly. So, of course, Miller’s book was set aside in favor of these new arrivals.
The latest issue of the GGSQ contains four feature articles, including a case study, “Proving the Parentage of Rebecca Hailes,” by Judith Bunn Brock, a certified genealogist; “First Baptist Church of Chamblee, Georgia, Cemetery” by Barbara Dover Brown, which includes a short history of the church and a list of interments; a continuation of transcriptions of Governor D. B. Mitchell’s 1812 letters by editor Elizabeth C. Snow; and this issue’s Technology Talk by Drew Smith, a discussion of Blogger for genealogists.
This issue also contains a review by Elizabeth Reynolds Moye of Rabun County, Georgia, Newspapers, 1894 – 1899. I was very pleased with her assessment, and hope the book lives up to her praise in the minds of others.
The NGSQ contained two welcome surprises in the form of articles by two of my favorite genealogists. Paul K. Graham contributed “A Family for Florence I. (Crouse) Nelson: Unraveling an Informal Adoption in Missouri or Indiana.” Michael Hait authored “The Parents of Thomas Burgen of Baltimore County, Maryland.” The third feature article was by Mara Fein, “Who was the Father of Henry Norton Jaynes of Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Virginia?” Reginald Washington’s article “‘When the Dark Days of War Had Passed’: An AME Church Petitions Congress” rounds out this small treasure trove.1
Both of the Qs were a welcome addition to this fine day.
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1. Addendum: This is an Atlanta-area church, the Payne Chapel AME Church.
Recreating the Battle of Anderson.
The Confederate line.
Federal troops pitch their tents on one side of the battlefield.
On 1 May 1865, Confederate and Union forces met on a small field in Anderson County, South Carolina, three weeks after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox. This obscure skirmish was one of the last to take place east of the Mississippi. Re-enactors meet at a field on the outskirts of Honea Path to recreate the battle for observers over three days each April.
Martha Ledford
June 6, 1850
July 4, 1920
Gone but not forgotten
Martha Ledford was the daughter of David and Sarah Matilda (Ballew) Carpenter and the wife of James Wesley Ledford. She was buried in the Coweeta Baptist Church Cemetery, Macon Co., NC, near her parents and husband.
A huge and hearty thank you to the Genealogical Computer Society of GA, with whom I had the pleasure of speaking today. Y’all were a great group to visit with. Don’t forget to e-mail me if you have any lingering questions.
A special thank you to Don and Pat Thompson, who took me and my crew (Richard) to lunch afterward. We enjoyed speaking with y’all, and appreciated the thoughtful gesture.
There were a few topics we touched on, not part of the lectures but additional queries, that I wanted to follow up on for those of you who are interested.
Educational Opportunities
One subject discussed lightly at lunch concerned educational opportunities for genealogists. A list of many of the opportunities I recommended can be found on the Board for Certification of Genealogists‘ web site under Educational Preparation. I also use the web site Conference Keeper and read the blog Adventures in Genealogy Education to find additional opportunities.
Finding Professional Researchers
Several members asked questions about finding reliable professional genealogists to perform client work. Here are three sites I recommend for doing so: Board for Certification of Genealogists, Association of Professional Genealogists, and ICAPGen. If you need a more personal recommendation, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.
Citing Sources in RootsMagic
While we were discussing source citations and Elizabeth Shown Mills’ excellent work, Evidence Explained: Citing Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, Don mentioned that RootsMagic incorporates EE into its source citation models. Since I don’t use that particular software, I’m not much help, but Randy Seaver regularly posts about citing sources in RootsMagic on his blog, Genea-Musings.
Once again, thank you for having us. I look forward to speaking with y’all again.
What do you do when there are no genealogical societies nearby and local historical societies are less than friendly to genealogists? Why, you start your own society, of course!
We’ve been hard at work over the past few months organizing the Southern Appalachians Genealogical Association (SAGA). I’m pleased to announce that as of April 10, we are officially organized and open to new members.
SAGA is a regional genealogical society, covering those families who lived in Appalachia in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. When most people think of the Appalachians, their mind goes straight to West Virginia and Kentucky, but the Appalachians extend much further south. Researchers whose ancestors lived in the Southern Appalachians face many of the same problems encountered by those researching in the mid- and northern sections, and need the same kind of support.
SAGA aims to provide this support by offering a society specifically geared toward researchers with Southern Appalachian ancestors and by actively encouraging the development of resources for those researchers, while promoting scholarship and high standards of research.
If you have ancestors who lived in the Southern Appalachians and are interested in joining our fledgling Society, please visit our web site. We look forward to hearing from you!
Digging in the Roots 