Happy Thanksgiving!

Published 24 Nov 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Interview with Mother

In 1992 and 1993, I did several  oral interviews with my mother, usually as I was driving her back to Kentucky after visiting my family in Indiana.  These tapes laid in a desk drawer until they were recently re-discovered.  They are now a precious reminder to me of my mother, who passed away in 2006. I can press the on button and immediately hear that soft Kentucky accent with the infectious laugh.

Never one to mince words, Mother was "on stage" as soon as that light started to glow on the recorder and she didn't stop until the tape ran out. She remembered and told me about things that happened when she was a young child, including the names of neighbors and exactly where their houses stood.

 Mother was born in 1919 in Western Kentucky where life was hard during the ‘20s and '30s.  Of primary importance was providing for the family and families were usually large. As the second oldest in her family of six children and the oldest daughter, Mother helped care for the younger children.  She learned at an early age to cook, clean and do laundry. Mother's mother was of delicate health and much of the responsibility for running the household fell to Mother and her sister. Play time, or what there was of it, was spent with her brothers and sister or with her many cousins, most of whom lived in the Pleasant Grove Church neighborhood of Crittenden County.

All of her life, Mother called her parents Mama and Daddy. Her voice softened when she talked about them. They were strict disciplinarians, but they were respected always. Anything less would not have been tolerated.

When news of a possible war in Europe began to filter to the United States, my grandfather would go to his brother's home nearby to listen to their radio and then would go home to tell his wife and children what was going on. Mother said the news frightened the children as they thought war was imminent. They got their own radio for Christmas shortly thereafter, but Mother's father was disappointed that there was nothing but seasonal music on Christmas day.

Mother attended Pleasant Grove School through eighth grade and then boarded with her grandfather, Chester Bebout, and his wife Minnie, to attend Salem High School. Mother told how her mother had always said that her daughters could not marry until they were 18 years old so when Mother turned 18, she thought it was time to marry ... and she did on the 25th of July 1937 when she was 18 years and 18 days of age. That marriage lasted until my father's death 39 years later.

There was much more that Mother had to say. She talked about pie suppers at Pleasant Grove, spending the nights with relatives and the childhood antics of my brother and I. There was much that came in Mother's life after these interviews. I wonder what she would have had to say about her re-marriage and the death of her son and second husband.

If I can make one comment about these tapes, it is that I am so very fortunate to have made them over 20 years ago. If you have older relatives living, I strongly recommend that you interview them while it is still possible.

Originally published 12 March 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

To Some Evil -Minded Person

 Some things are just too good not to share, even if they have little genealogical importance. The following advertisement appears in the Henderson Weekly Reporter, Thursday, 19 September 1861. It was first published on this blog on the 8th of April 2009.

To the Public

Some evil-minded person has put in circulation a report concerning me which I desire to be forever set at rest. The person who said that I was a married man, and had two children, is an infamous liar and the one who started it is a d--d rascal. I defy the originator of the lie to come before me and prove it, and from what I can find out, some of you Henderson class has started it. [signed] G.W. Boone. Corydon, August 1, 1861.

Published again 9 Nov 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Children Born Out Of Wedlock

 The following post on bastardy cases was originally published 11 Jul 2017.

What happened when a woman gave birth to a child begotten and born out of wedlock?  Did the mother have any legal recourse?   If she named the child's father, yes, she did have legal recourse.

An unmarried white woman could go before a judge of the county court of the county in which the bastard child was born and accuse a person of being the father of the child. Her statement was then reduced to writing and signed.

If the child appeared to be less than three years of age, a warrant was issued, requiring the accused person to be apprehended and brought before a judge of the county court. He was required to enter into recognizance, with good surety, in the sum of $300, to appear at the county court and abide by the judgment of the court.

If the accused person refused to give recognizance, the judge would commit him to the county jail where he would remain there until he gave recognizance or otherwise be discharged by due course of law. [1] If ordered to pay a sum of money, the father might pay in a lump sum or in installments.

There were cases, however, where the mother of a bastard child never went to court to name the father of her child and it is assumed she and/or her family provided support for the child. The aim of having the father pay for the child was to prevent the child from becoming a charge upon the county.

Bastardy cases are most often found among loose county court papers in the county clerk's office.  Among the information given is the name of the mother and the accused father, the date of the child's birth and whether male or female and sometimes where the child was born. Bastardy cases may also be mentioned in the county court minutes, but with fewer details given.

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[1] The Revised Statutes of Kentucky, Approved and Adopted by the General Assembly, 1851 and 1852, and in force from July 1, 1852, Vol. 1 (Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & co., 1867) Chapter 6, Approved 17 February 1858; accessed through Google Books, 2 February 2016.

Re-published 27 Oct 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Research Tip - Sources and Credit

The following post was originally published on this blog 17 Sep 2019 and is still important today.

To be the best genealogist possible, there are several research guidelines and rules we should follow. To disregard them shows we either do not know how to properly do research or we do not care. The following rules are among those most often disregarded.

1.  Genealogists are taught that every fact not within common knowledge must be substantiated with a source.  Using proper source citations demonstrates your knowledge of what constitutes proof for each fact and where it can be found. Not citing your sources is asking people to read your mind to learn where you found your material. I don't know anyone who has that ability.

2.  "Borrowing" material from other genealogists without giving them credit is not acceptable - anytime. This applies to family group sheets prepared by others, family trees on Ancestry.com, photographs taken by another person, family histories written for family reunions and, yes, blog posts. The rule of thumb is this: If you didn't write it, it isn't yours and you should not use it without permission. If permission is given, be sure to give credit to the person who did write it. 

There are many rules in genealogy, but the two listed above are ones that are consistently disregarded.   Be a responsible genealogist, cite your sources and give credit to others for their work.

Published again 6 Oct 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog.

Left Out of the Will?

The following Research Tip was originally published here on 22 Feb 2018. 

Not being mentioned in a father's will does not mean your ancestor was deceased or disowned by his father. Check the deeds to see if land or other property had been conveyed to your ancestor before his father's death.   Also, a father would often convey property at the time of the child's marriage.  

Published one more time on 30 September 2022, Westeern Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Funeral Customs

The following is a re-print of a post from 10 Dec 2008.

Funeral customs vary from place to place, depending on the era, culture and area. I have always been fascinated by the practices in other states.

One of my earliest funeral memories was being a flower girl at the funeral of a great aunt in southern Illinois. The flower girls were often nieces or great nieces and carried flowers from the church to the burying ground nearby. Dressed in my best dress and Mary Jane shoes, that vase of flowers was clutched tightly to my chest. That must have been sometime in the early 1950s.

Years later while living in Michigan, I mentioned that memory to friends and they had never heard of having flower girls at funerals. I know it was common in western Kentucky as well as southern Illinois, but that custom perhaps did not spread to other parts of the country.

Another custom that has fallen out of favor is having the viewing of the decedent in the home. When my grandmother died in the late 1950s, her casket was placed in a corner of the dining room. A family member sat next to the casket day and night and visitors came and went at will, with the remains not being moved to the funeral home until shortly before the funeral service. The smell of carnations was so strong in that room of my grandfather’s house and it made such an impression on me that, for years later, I could not be in that room without catching the scent of the funeral flowers.

Another thing that has changed in western Kentucky is the use of music at funeral home services. When my father died in 1975, a lady from his church sang his favorite hymns. I can remember her voice just soaring through that room - a truly beautiful version of "How Great Thou Art." Today, recorded music is often used and it doesn't have the same personal touch that a live person provides.

Customs and times change. Were funeral things done differently in your area?

2nd Time Around 15 Sep 2022,  Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/