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/

Clues in Epitaphs

The following post was first published 19 May 2017.

Have you wondered about the origin of an epitaph on a tombstone? Did it have special meaning to the deceased or the family?  One of the easiest ways to check on the epitaph is to ask our friend, Mr. Google. That's what I did with the epitaph on the tombstone of Martha A. Perkins, who is buried in Leeper Cemetery in Livingston County.

 Martha A.

Wife of

J.D. Perkins

Born

Sept. 24, 1827

Died

Apr. 3, 1876

Aged

48 yrs. 6 mo's, 9 da's

"Hard is it from thee to part

Tho it rend my aching heart

Since an heir to glory's gone

Let the will of God be done."

The epitaph is taken from "Psalms and Hymns Adapted to Social, Private and Public Worship of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church."  Could this be a clue to Martha A.'s religious affiliation? Or was this epitaph ordered from a tombstone catalog with little thought given as to whether it was appropriate for the decedent? If charges were made for each letter, an epitaph of four lines would have been fairly costly and certainly more expensive than a simple epitaph like Gone Home or Farewell or Gone But Not Forgotten.

To be most helpful, transcribe every word on the tombstone.

Second Time Around 23 Aug 2022, Western Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Military Draft - Civil War

The following post was first published  on the Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog on  5 May 2011. 

Both the Confederate and Federal  governments relied  on a military draft to obtain men to serve during the Civil War. The Confederate Conscription Act was the first to enact an American military draft on 16 April 1862. It called for healthy white men between the ages of 18 and 35 to serve for a term of three years. The upper age limit was raised to age 45 in February 1864. A bit later the age limits were expanded to men between the ages of 17 and 50.

The Federal government had a similar draft law, but it didn't take effect until 3 March 1863. The Federal draft covered men between the ages of 18 and 45.

Exemptions occurred on both sides for men in certain occupations. These included river and railroad workers, miners, teachers, telegraph operators and civil officials. In addition, men of draft age for the Union army were exempt if they had physical or mental disabilities. They were also excused from service if they were the only son of a widow, the son of infirm parents or a widower with dependent children. Men of draft age living in the South were excused from service if they owned 20 or more slaves.

The Enrollment Act of 1863 allowed Union soldiers to obtain an exemption from service by paying $300 or by finding a substitute. 

The military draft was not popular and the law was often abused  in the North as well as in the South. 

Published again  12 Aug 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Happy Anniversary Reddick and Mary Ann!

I have published a couple of posts about the wedding anniversary of Reddick Smith and Mary Ann Wolstenholme in this blog. This post combines previously published material plus additional data. Both families have presented research challenges, but they remain among my favorite ancestors. Mary Ann's grandfather, the Rev. Hugh Wolstenholme, came to America from England before 1820 as a result of his political views. Reddick Smith's grandfather was John Smith, but which one? Wythe County, Virginia is thought to have been  his home. Until I find out for sure, I will continue to dig and dig and dig. In the meantime, here is my 2022 anniversary post on Reddick and Mary Ann.

Today is the 156th anniversary of the marriage of my great-grandparents, Reddick Smith and Mary Ann Wolstenholme. On the 2nd of August 1866, they stood before Henry Holt, justice of the peace in Davidson County, Tennessee, and promised to “love, honor and obey” each other for the rest of their lives.

I don’t know if they were able to fulfill that promise, but I do know they lived together until Reddick passed away in Hardin County, Illinois. Reddick and Mary Ann must have met during the Civil War when he was stationed in Tennessee. He stayed there when the war ended, they married, and had two children before moving to his family home in Hardin County about 1870.

Reddick and Mary Ann had 14 children, with only about half living to adulthood. My grandmother, Beatrice Mary, was born in 1877 and lived until 1968. When I was a child, she told me that one of her younger brothers, I believe it was Earl (1883-1896), became ill suddenly and his footsteps remained in the dusty field after his death. Several others of the children died as infants.

In 1902, my grandmother married Lycurgus Mino Joyce and had given birth to two sons when they, along with her parents and her brother Ed. decided to move to the state of Washington. Selling everything they owned, they boarded a train to an area where they hoped life would be easier. According to a story told by my father, Reddick hurt his back, didn’t like Washington, so everyone boarded the train and returned to southern Illinois. Reddick died in Hardin County in 1913 and Mary Ann in 1933. Both are buried in Central Cemetery.

Oh, the stories they could tell! I would like to know about Reddick leaving the army each spring to go home to plant crops. I would like to know about the months he spent in Libby Prison before being exchanged. I would like to ask Mary Ann what her life was like in Davidson County. Why did she not keep in touch with her family after she moved to Illinois? Family legend has it that Mary Ann’s father, Hugh Wolstenholme, died on the road between her old home in Tennessee and her new home in Illinois. I've tried for years to find out where and when he died, but I bet she could tell me exactly what I want to know.

Reddick and Mary Ann witnessed many changes during their lives. They saw the birth of the telephone and automobiles and electricity became common. My dad used to relate the story told to him by Mary Ann about the first time Reddick heard a phonograph record, which was played on a wind-up apparatus and was part of a large cabinet. Reddick circled round and round the cabinet then tried to open the back to learn who was sitting inside singing.

Mary Ann was a tall, angular woman with red hair and who smoked a pipe, using Star brand tobacco, according to my father. After Reddick's death, she stayed with her children, rotating from one to the next  until her death. 

All I have of Reddick and Mary Ann are stories originating from Mary Ann, a few documents, pictures and my prize possession, the wedding ring Reddick made for Mary Ann. A jeweler told me a silver coin was placed on a rod and hammered until a circle of the right size appeared. Apparently, this was a common way to fashion a ring when money was scarce. I wear this ring today.

On this anniversary of their marriage, I am thankful for the memories they made for their descendants.

Published 2 Aug 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

The James Pinkney Joyce Family

 

My great-grandparents, James Pinkney Joyce and Martha Minerva Womack, were married in Hardin County, Illinois 149 years ago in 1873.  James Pinkney, a Civil War veteran,  was 38 years old and his bride, Martha, was 31. Together they had two sons, John Abner, and Lycurgus Mino, also called L. Mino or Mino. L. Mino was my grandfather. James Pinkney had other children from the marriage to his first wife, Martha Ann Williams. These children were William, Sarah, Andrew Jackson, JoAnna, George Washington, Columbus Franklin, Thomas Henry and Eliza.  The only children who did not live to adulthood were Sarah, Columbus and Eliza. James P. was a farmer in Monroe Precinct.

The marriage of this couple was short with Martha M. passing away from consumption in January 1880. She was only 37.  James P. died in December 1881 at the age of 46 so, in less than two years the children lost both parents.   JoAnna, who was born of the first marriage,  was only 16 years old when her father died, but she stepped in and cared for younger half brothers, John Abner and L. Mino. 

Published 31 July 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

 

Legends, Traditions and Stories

 The following was first published here 17 Oct 2013.

Grandma said Grandpa was part Native American. He must have been, she said, as he looked Native American. Auntie said Grandpa's ancestor was Cherokee, after all Grandma said he was Indian and the Cherokees came through this area of Kentucky on the Trail of Tears. Uncle said Grandpa "fell away" from the Trail of Tears and stayed in Kentucky. Otherwise he would have gone on with the rest of the Cherokees. Dad said he didn't care if Grandpa was Indian or not. He was tired of hearing about it and changed the subject.

So, was Grandpa of Native American descent or not? How much faith do you put in family stories? What do you believe and what do you discard? And finally, where do you look for Native American records in Kentucky? 

Family legends, traditions and stories are fun, but they don't have to be true to be fun. Sometimes they are so preposterous that we are sure they are not true. But what about the stories that could be true.

One way to find out if those stories are true is to have your DNA tested and follow that with searching records going backwards from what is known to what is not known. These records should include census, vital records, deeds, mortgages, church records and anything else available for the appropriate time period.  Don't forget to ask yourself if the record you are  using makes sense to have been your ancestor.                          

I've been researching Kentucky records for a long time and have never seen  a single document or a big book marked "Native American Records" in the courthouse. Except for separate books for African American marriages, all other records are found together with no label indicating color or ethnicity.

So, record those legends, traditions and family stories and be sure to write down the date you heard them and the name of the storyteller. Then get busy researching to determine if they are true or not.

Happy researching!

Published again 13 July 2022, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/