All My Ancestors

Today we had a group of Seminole elders come in to work on their family history.

I have not worked much in the Seminole records–even on the Dawes Rolls, and we work in the Dawes Rolls all the time.

But I learned a lot working with these people.  I knew that most of the Creek packets are missing.  For those of you new to this type of research, the packets are the transcript (and more) of the interview done by the Dawes Commission with the persons who came in to enroll in one of the Five Civilized Tribes–Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole.  This enrollment transpired between 1898 and Oklahoma statehood in 1907.

Today I learned that many of the Seminole packets appear to be also missing.  Not as many as the Creek, but many of the ones we wanted to look at today were empty–perhaps only the jacket cover with the census card number and name on it, and sometimes one typed sheet of a letter from the Dawes Commission requesting documentation of a marriage, birth, etc.

The other issue I encountered was that neither the packets nor the census cards were indexed at Footnote.com.  If I looked by the census card number, I could find the them.  But often the name said [Blank] [Blank].  I don’t know if this is because they have not been indexed yet or if the indexer could not read the writing.  I found myself relying on the Dawes Index at the OHS website.

But one packet I saw for a newborn Seminole had an affidavit in it for a child.  This was requested by the Dawes Commission when the mother went in to enroll her child born in 1905.  The Commission wanted a notarized statement from a person who delivered the baby.  Here’s the letter with the names concealed (click to enlarge):

What we found what the statement of the midwife that she’d delivered the mother of a male child on the date in question.

But what was really wonderful about the document was that the midwife was the child’s grandmother.  The affidavit did not say that, but the person sitting next to me, the daughter of that male child, recognized the name.

What a great find.  Three generations of her family on one sheet of paper at a time when records in this part of the country can be scarce.

Tomorrow, more info about finding the same person on two different census cards.

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These are the flowers a co-worker brought me when my blog was nominated for one of Family Tree Magazine’s Top 40 Genealogy Blogs.  How nice was that?  I feel like I’ve already won–flowers AND being nominated with some really terrific blogs.

Thanks to all.

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Not a family pic, but some pictures from my collection I thought appropriate for the new year.  Newgrange, a “Megalithic Passage Tomb” I visited in Ireland in September 2007.  Its interior chamber is only lit for about 15 minutes at the winter solstice.  I feel privileged to have gotten to go inside and experience this place.

The nearby River Boyne

Entrance to the chamber

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Tombstone for Joseph L. Webb (1792 NY -1829 OH)& his wife Isabella Ball Webb Pickett (1798 NY-1874 OH)

Oak Grove Cemetery, Delaware, Delaware County, Ohio

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I’m back.

Just because I haven’t been posting doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking about it.  Should I or shouldn’t I?  Have I lost all 2 of my regular readers?  What else is left to say?

But here I am.

In my time off, I’ve been to Detroit where I spent 16 days in a hotel room.  Even in a luxurious hotel, which it was, that’s too long.  However, it was the place to be given what we were doing there.  (We saw the King of Sweden and the Tampa Rays while we were there.)

In September, my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer.  I’ve always considered prostate cancer to be the type to have if you’re going to have to have cancer.  But then when it showed up on my door-step, I felt completely different.  And that feeling was made even stronger when we found out he had very high Gleason scores (that’s the strength of the cancer, for the uninitiated).  Doctors kept telling us that it was unusual for him to have prostate cancer at his age, and it was particularly unusual for it to be that aggressive.  Somehow, not all that comforting.

Prostate cancer is one type of disease that requires lots of research and decision-making on the part of the patient.  (I tend to be a researcher for all types of problems–an occupational hazard for a librarian and incurably curious person, I suppose)  But there really were a lot of decisions to make.  I won’t bore you with all the options–

My husband is king-size.  Some is basic build and some is being overweight.  This complicates the surgical options, which was the option that was recommend given the strength of the tumors.  Robotic surgery seemed the best choice, but not all robots could handle a patient of Hubbo’s size.

We were fortunate to have a well-connected retired head of urology from the state medical school advocating for us.  Hubbo’s urologist had been this man’s student, and the urologist and Hubbo had grown up together, both in somewhat disadvantaged circumstances, so there were all sorts of connections going on.  We could not have been more fortunate to have these two men on our side.

The final decision was to go to the Henry Ford Hospital‘s Vattikuti Urology Institute.

It could not have been a better experience.  The personnel were competent and caring.  The entire program, from the phone calls and information we got before we left home, the actual surgery, to their availability after we got home is unparalleled in my experience.  (and, unfortunately, I do have some experience in this arena).  The surgeon came out to talk to me during the surgery when it was delayed a bit, assuring me right up front that nothing was wrong.  After the surgery, the surgeon (!) walked us (#1 son and minister) over to the chapel and then back to the center for a chair massage.  The hotel worked with the hospital to make the entire stay comfortable and comforting.

So, that’s where I’ve been.  Life is sort of starting to return to normal.  Except for the fact that Hubbo is still on medical sabbatical and his response to having a moment of spare time seems to be to start re-decorating the house.  So far we have a loveseat and two chairs (his mother’s) recovered, a recliner purchased, 2 bookcases in place, and another chair at the upholsterer.  Not to mention blinds ordered for the front room and the painter contracted to do some work before Thanksgiving.  whew

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I’m temporarily not blogging.  I’ve been known to have long absences in between posts, bu this time I have a good reason. 

I’m in Detroit with my husband on a medical mission.  I hope to be back mid-to-late October.

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One of the first things I saw in Ireland was this:

Who knew there were palm trees in Ireland? I certainly didn’t.

And then one of our side trips took us to Newgrange. What a wonderful site. I’m so glad my traveling companions made arrangements for this excursion.  This mound is older than the pyramids and I got to go inside!

On the way to Newgrange, our terrific tour guide Mary read us an article from the Irish Times entitled “No Petty People, the Ulster Presbyterians,” published 15 May 2007. She read it to us as we traveled through the Boyne Valley, beside and across the River Boyne, scene of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. One of those battles I’d probably read about in some history class, but it only came alive to me when I was there and hearing about the Ulster Presbyterians, aka the Scots-Irish, in the article.

These folks came to America in the early 1700s, were largely Protestant, particularly Presbyterian, and worked the land. I’ve come to believe that Christopher Osborne was probably Scots-Irish–he’s found in western North Carolina before 1750, he’s Presbyterian, and he worked hard to acquire land. That, of course, does not prove the issue, but it does provide some clues. I think I remember my dad saying some of his family were Scots (he said “Scotch”) Irish–honestly, I don’t know if he was talking about his father’s Osborne line or his mother’s Cooper and Landrum lines. I do believe the Landrums were from Scotland, however, not necessarily via Ireland, according to the research of others that I’ve read. The earliest Coopers we’ve found in our line were in Hampshire County, WV and Maryland.

I have read both James Leyburn’s The Scotch Irish: A Social History (1962) and David Hackett Fischer’s Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America (America: a cultural history). The latter uses the term “borderers” rather an “Scots Irish,” and notes that these folks have substantial Anglo-Saxon and Viking and/or Scandinavian heritage–again, this matches what the Christopher Osborne DNA test reveals. Fischer says,

Some historians describe these immigrants as “Ulster Irish” or “Northern Irish.” It is true that many sailed from the province of Ulster… part of much larger flow which drew from the lowlands of Scotland, the north of England, and every side of the Irish Sea. Many scholars call these people “Scotch-Irish.” That expression is an Americanism, rarely used in Britain and much resented by the people to whom it was attached. …”

So I have more work to do–learning more about the “borderers,” the Scots Irish, and determining what, if any records exist of their migration. The better I understand the people and their history, the more clues I’ll find in the pitifully small amount of information known about Christopher.

Despite finding palm trees in Ireland and learning more about what I don’t know, I think I can move on.

I know enough about the nature of information to know that the more you know, the more you want to know–sort of a variation on the genealogist’s old saw, “You get one question answered and then you have at least 2 more.”

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I’m off to Ireland for almost 2 weeks.

My only other out of country experience was 3 weeks in the USSR in 1991–when Yeltsin was being elected.  Hopefully, Ireland won’t be changing governments or anything that drastic on this trip.

I’d like to say I’m doing genealogical research, because that would mean I’d been able to jump the pond.  But I know I’ll enjoy being there–my forebearers who were Vikings were there a few times, so maybe that counts. 

Talk amongst yourselves.

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It almost never happens, and I can’t explain it this time–that I get something done early, that is.  Yesterday’s post should have been posted today!!  On the 19th.  I’m pretty sure this isn’t an indication of my age, even though it’s all about birthdays.  Happy birthday to all.

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