All My Ancestors

I’m finally home from my Spring Break trek.  Last January my brother and I went to Shelby County Court House.

This year, we spent some time in La Grange in Fayette County, Texas, looking for our great-great grandmother Mary Mitchell Cooper.  She supposedly died there shortly after the Civil War, leaving her two children George C. and Rebekkah Ann, known as Annie, orphans.

I didn’t really expect to find anything about her there, but I had to try.  I’d found some court records regarding the guardianship of the children back in Johnson County, Texas, where their grandparents lived.  The family story is the children were surreptitiously taken from La Grange by their Uncle Job Cooper–the “escape” had been planned earlier in the day when Job had found young George and talked to him about the arrangements.  Because of the children leaving under these circumstances, I didn’t expect to find anything “official.”

And finding a marked place of Mary’s burial is probably hopeless.

However, as I said, I had to try.  I don’t count trips like these as a waste.  I always enjoy being where my ancestors lived–something about just being in that place provides me with some sense of being in touch.  It was a beautiful day–I was hoping to see more bluebonnets but I was a little early, according to the locals.  My brother and I had a good time traveling through the countryside and visiting about our families, past and present.

The county courthouse in Fayette County was remarkable–it had evidently been remodeled a few years earlier.  Restored might be a better word.  There was a beautiful atrium inside so it was not one of those dark places that late 19th century county courthouses often are. Wooden shutters were on all the windows and the floor inside was beautiful black and white marble tiles.

Here’s what I found on top of a small table in the ladies’ room:

I love Texas.

And I loved the old original wooden doors.  The door sills were wonderful–here’s one of the side doors.  See the worn limestone on the right?  The one on the front door was even more worn.

The people at the Museum and Archives were very helpful–they even remembered a letter I’d written earlier in the year.  They said they kept those types of requests on file in the event someone else wrote on the same subject.  Here’s hoping.

When I posted about my quest in La Grange, I did hear from two folks who know people in the area and they said they too would keep an eye out.  So maybe some seeds were planted that will produce something in the future.

My brother and I are already planning our next year’s Spring Break Court House tour.

2 Comments »

I got to watch the second episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Emmitt Smith last night on television.  It’s much more powerful than on the small screen of my computer, though the small screen is definitely better than not seeing the episodes at all.

I’ve seen some people saying they liked the Smith story so much better than the first story with Sarah Jessica Parker, but in some ways, that is like comparing apples to oranges.  I learned from both of them–SJP had no idea she had other than German ancestry from her growing up in Cincinnati, and it was fascinating to see her journey unfold as she learned about the gold miner 49′er in her family on the west  coast and the great-grandmother who was accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts in the 1600s, on the east.

Former Cowboy football superstar Emmitt Smith’s trip was emotional.  He understood going in that his family had probably come from slaves but when he was actually in front of the records, it opened another whole dimension.  I wrote about the discovery of slave documents in my husband’s family and how powerful that was–how much more potent that experience would have been had it been my family who were the enslaved.  It felt like a privilege to go with Smith on his journey.  Listening to the experts talk about the meaning of his enslaved family being kept together and the strength and savvy of his 4th great-grandmother Mariah was both heart-wrenching and captivating.

There is much to learn about records generated at these difficult times in our history, when we mistreated persons–the court document accusing Parker’s great-grandmother of witchcraft and knowing that it could mean the end of her life is almost not believable.  The documents listing persons by only first names with monetary values are difficult to even look at, much less contemplate the impact.  The reality of slaves being bred and then families separated and sold is cruel beyond belief.  But as Emmitt Smith graciously notes, “I’m glad I’m not like him”–even though he is referencing his 5th great-grandfather.

Fascinating stories.  Educational experts.  Illuminating records.

You can catch up and read more at the NBC website.

No Comments »

At my place of work, the library in the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Division, we have just finished re-scanning and re-indexing the 1890 Oklahoma Territorial Census.  The new index is available online at the OHS website, and the cd with the census (and more) will soon be available for purchase.

As you probably know, most of the 1890 federal census was destroyed, leaving a huge gap in searching families as they began moving west as the lands started opening up.

On the eve of preparing for statehood in 1907, a census was taken of Oklahoma Territory.  At the time, this included 7 counties, though that number is deceiving.  For example, what was then called Beaver County encompassed all of the panhandle and what was then called “No Man’s Land”–much more than the current Beaver County.

For some unknown reason, this census was never sent to Washington, DC.  We have the original sheets at the Historical Society.  Within the last year or so, this census became available on Ancestry.com, though it is not included in the search when “U.S. Census” is chosen.  It was badly scanned and badly indexed, both originally and then at Ancestry.

The new scans are much clearer.  And the new index is much better.  “We” probably still have mistakes.  Some of the handwriting is incredibly bad and by census takers who obviously could not follow directions and may have been only minimally literate in the English language.  But those of us who have worked with census records know this is the way it works.  This time, however, the index was done by genealogists–persons who are used to working with these sorts of records.

Later I will post about a project I’ve pulled from this census.  I’m still mulling it around in my head, but it took initial shape as I was indexing page after page of the digitized scans.

3 Comments »

March is Women’s History Month and Lisa Alzo at The Accidental Genealogist has posted 31 prompts for celebrating the women in our lives.  I, of course, am late getting started, but here’s today’s prompt.

March 7 — Share a favorite recipe from your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Why is this dish your favorite? If you don’t have one that’s been passed down, describe a favorite holiday or other meal you shared with your family.

Cooking was not my mother’s joy or strength.

She did it and she did it fairly well–especially since her boundaries were fairly fixed.  We lived in a rural area where it was almost too hot to have a garden–at least for my red-haired, fair-skinned mother.  And we always had beef in the locker in town, and later, in our home freezer.  I was shocked once to hear a friend’s mother talk about how tired she was as a child of eating lobster.  But she was a child of maritime Canada–I was a child of the Texas plains, and we ate beef.  My mom was known to sneak in a package of bologna or liverwurst occasionally, but it was never put on the table as the main dish.  She did pass to me her skill at making gravy–one of the secrets is letting the flour cook a bit first–I later learned this was called “making a roux” in official cooking terminology.  The other secret is having the right utensil to stir to keep from having lumpy gravy as the liquid (usually milk in our case) is added.  Mom’s utensil of choice was some sort of coiled, springy metal thing probably originally intended to beat egg whites or somesuch.

But at some point she had a great recipe for a dessert that has been lost.  She got it from her best friend Phyllis, and when I moved to the same city Phyllis left our small town for, I called her, but she couldn’t remember the recipe.  I can see it written on a scrap of paper and stuffed in the recipe drawer, but I cannot re-create it nor can I find one despite handy sites like AllRecipes that let you type in the ingredients and provide you with a recipe using those foods.

It started with graham cracker crumbs.  I think it probably had sugar and seems like some whipped egg whites folded in.  These, along with some undoubtedly additional forgotten ingredients, were patted down into a 9 x 13 pan and baked for a bit.  Then, what made it truly amazing, a boiling mixture of crushed pineapple and I can’t remember what else poured over it right as it came out of the oven.  This resulted in a yummy gooey bar that was so good, at least as I remember it.

And maybe it’s the best kind of recipe.  I certainly don’t need the calories, but I relish the memory of cooking in my mother’s kitchen, from recipes she’d scrawled on scraps of paper, making food that had come from her shared friendship with other women at the church.  I was able to locate her “quick” fruit-cake recipe after many years through the magic of the Internet, so perhaps the pineapple, graham-cracker bars will eventually appear as well.

No Comments »

Today I am mailing in my husband’s SAR application.

I am both thrilled to be sending it in and chagrined that it has taken me so long.

When we first started researching his family, we discovered there were no Spindles registered as Patriots in the National Society for the Sons of the American Revolution.

My husband is not a joiner. Those of you who know him know that is probably the understatement of the century.

But he has wanted to be an SAR member for a very long time. I have worked through three different chapter registrars–one of them is now deceased. Sad, but true.

But through my work at the library at the Oklahoma Historical Society I met the most helpful man who was willing to do the bit of hand-holding that I needed.

And it was so much easier than I ever imagined. (Of course it’s not accepted yet but I’ve been given hope.)

I had the line back to John Spindle, Jr. who furnished beef and brandy to the Continental Army. What I did not have was a piece of documentation for each date and line on the application.  Documentation of John Jr’s marriage to Mary Barbee Sears has taunted researchers for years, for example.

Turns out, I may not need it. The application for SAR says very clearly, “Proof is needed only for individuals in the bloodline.” Between birth and death records, wills and census records and probates for each of the 7 Spindle generations back to John, Jr., it’s not difficult at all to document.

Another SAR member filed a Supplemental Application back in 1997, so while we aren’t the first to get John Spindle, Jr. on file as a patriot, here’s hoping what I’m sending in will work for Hubbo to finally get his wish.

3 Comments »