Reflections From the Fence

Carnival of African-American Genealogy, Restore My Name

2010-03-10T08:53:00.001-05:00

It seems that I have hit a gold mine of slave names in Virginia Chancery Cases. As time permits I will be sharing these, giving names I find in hopes that slave descendants will benefit from my digging in the Chancery. I have set up a special page where I will list the links to these posts as they appear, “Slave Names Virginia Chancery, Friend of Friends” (See the right hand column of my blog)

Today’s offering is from the Chancery Cases of Isle of Wight County, Virginia, the Library of Virginia has them digitized.

Plaintiff(s) EVERIT MORRISS BY ETC
MARGARET MORRISS BY ETC
Defendant(s) EXR OF NANCY MORRISS
NATHANIEL YOUNG EXR
Index # 1814-013 (9 pages)

Those interested in this case should pay close attention to pages 4, 5, 7, and 9.

The slave owners in this case are the Morris family. The slaves named are Tom and Milly. The following graphic is part of page 9, the Will of Nancy Morris. I am still working on tying Nancy into my linege/data base. It appears that Nancy Morris is the sister of Hezekiah Morris. See below for additional information on his family.

(Click image to enlarge, click back button to return to

Reflections From the Fence.)

This is my entry to the 1st Carnival of African-American Genealogy, Restore My Name

The challange follows:

Restore My Name – Slave Records and Genealogy Research, will kick-off this African-American themed carnival intended to be a gathering place for the community to share and learn about African-American genealogy.

This first CoAAG theme will deal with how records of slave ownership are handled by the genealogy researcher. Contributors will be asked to write a blog post (at their own blogs) on one or more of the following aspects (my answers follow each question):

What responsibilities are involved on the part of the researcher when locating names of slaves in a record? Find a way to get those names and information out in the public, blog em, find a depository, on line or otherwise and SHARE! This is about human and family history kindness. Do the right thing, share what you find.

Does it matter if the record(s) are related to your ancestral lines or not? NO

As a descendant of slave owners, have you ever been pressured by family not to discuss or post about records containing slave names? NO

As a descendant of slaves, have you been able to work with or even meet other researchers who are descendants of slave owners? Not applicable.

Have you ever performed a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness involving slave ownership records? Or were you on the receiving end of such kindness? See my post Relatively Speaking, Slave Names & Chancery Cases

* Hezekiah Morris married Amelia Battin. They had two children Everitt and Margaret (Peggy). After Hezekiah's death, Amelia, also known as Permilia, Pamilia and Melia, marries William Seeds. Amelia and William have 5 known children, Mary Ann, Edmund ,Nancy, Permilia and William. Slave descendant researchers should look at Chancery cases involving the Seeds clan as well. Future posts will include additional cases I have found, and the seach has just begun.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Spring Break Has Officially Begun

2010-03-09T20:09:00.002-05:00

Yesterday led us back to the beach, we were at the Gulf Shores City beach. We spied:

Awaiting the crowds and the life guard.

Awaiting the sun worshippers.

The Hangout, awaiting the partiers.

Testing out the water

(believe the water temperature is between 55 and 60 degrees F.

Air temperture at this time was not quite 70 degrees F.)

Not sure where they found enough sun,

but here ya are, beef cake sun burned.

Spring break in Gulf Shores Alabama has begun!

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Reflections and Prayers

2010-03-09T11:27:00.000-05:00

Heavy in my heart, strong in my mind, fully in my prayers:

Cousin Connie and her husband Thomas, he is fighting the "C" monster, hospice is on the horizon, pray for their strength.
Cousin Nolan, born months prematurely, a little bump in the road for him, may he continue to grow and come home to his adoring parents very soon.
Friend Glenn, who is also fighting the "C" monster, status unclear, we are very concerned
Man's mother, who has had a bit of a set back, hopefully the new meds will kick this buggar out, we are all ready for this issue to be history.
Friend George, who is fighting the "C" monster.
Friend Marge, who is having issues with wrists, may the doctors ease her discomfort.
Prayers of thanks for friend John, whose last "C" checkup was CLEAN! Can we say,WAHHOOOO!
Fellow blogger, Linda, from Flipside, whose son undergoes some very serious surgery tomorrow, may the surgeon's skills be top notch.
Cousin Marilyn, one of the most energetic ladies I know, down for a while, rest is paramount right now for her.
Friend Patty, who really could use some windows and doors delivered to her building site that come in the "unshattered"condition. After 3 failed deliveries, and even though this is not a serious health issue, I am sure she would welcome any positive vibes you could send her way.

I am pretty sure I have missed some of my dear ones that could use the power of prayer. There are so many.

* Graphic courtesy of Webweaver's Free Clipart

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Relatively Speaking, Tie In's, Birth and Marriage Dates, and Mega Thanx

2010-03-08T05:07:00.001-05:00

It is so rewarding to realize that my little blog has readers, followers, and those that read, and then write and give me feedback. Amy is one of those, she reads and she gives feed back.

Amy was instrumental in Spelling Don’t Count, Even in Indexing, Save Me Please! Amy put me on to the Chancery cases digitized at the Library of Virginia. I could work on those cases for years, they are a gold mine for me. Amy lives in the area of Virginia where the Darden and Eley clans lived. She has "insider information", she sometimes pulls obits for me. Amy is indeed a great researcher and online friend. THANX AMY!!

A while back, she read cousin Anne's Relatively Speaking post, Where Does the Inspiriation Come From?, Or Blunder Your Way to a Blog Topic! Anne's comment "What I really find irritating are the number of headstones I've found recently with just years on them...", had Amy writing me suggesting a follow up blog when it was my turn next to write Relatively Speaking. (I can use all the help I can get, another thanx Amy!)

Amy wrote, "Remember on the Brantley stuff that one of the books that Rick let them copy was the 1902 Voter Registration Book. Now I cannot vouch for all places (since I can't seem to find anyone in IOW that knows where their books are), but the Southampton one has full birthdates in some of the sections and tells how many years they person resided in the state, county, area/locality. I've been able to complete get complete birthdates for people that only had the years listed on their tombstone."

Actually Amy, I did not remember, but, I went surfing. The main link to the Brantley Association of America is here. Isn't this a fabulous site and project?? The Southampton County page is here, and further investigation will lead you to the Southampton Records, with those voter registrations down at the bottom of the page. And, yes, I need to spend a considerable amount of research time here Amy, I see so many surnames that are in my data base. *

Here is a small sample of the page, you will have to click on it to open to a new page to see in a larger format, then click the back button to return here to Reflections.

Thanks to Amy, a great idea of where to look for birth dates!

* While writing this post, I actually did snoop around some more and I discovered a license to marry for Charles H. Darden and Martha A. Stephenson. I have been looking for this for YEARS!! Charles is my gg grandfather, and Martha is his second wife. Charles' house is shown in Smile For The Camera, "Give Their Face A Place", Sarah Anne Darden. Guess I owe Amy ANOTHER big thank you!

THANK YOU!!

**And, since I am thanking Amy, guess I will include another shout out for this tidbit she forwarded this weekend, because, as she wrote, "ok, decided to stop my stuff and work on someone else's line... " Amy found more stuff I have been looking for. Amy you are really on a roll. How many times can I say thank you?? Obviously, NOT enough! (Image from Ancestry)

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Museum of Mobile, Update

2010-03-07T15:38:00.000-05:00

John and Donna have photos of the underground pipes. Here ya go, first the clay, then the wood.

THANX John and Donna for sharing! Photos edited a little by Carol. Isn't this a hoot?? Now remember, John and Donna were standing on one side of the display looking with great interest at the wooden pipe, and yours truly, was on the other side of the display looking at the clay version of the pipes. Well, half a version. See the full display in photo that Man took here. We had to study the display very carefully to discover the mirror. "Great job" to the museum staff!

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Museum of Mobile

2010-03-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

As I was telling you the other day at 2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Oakleigh, Mobile Alabama, John, Donna, Man and I trekked over to Mobile for some museum hopping. After our fabulous lunch we drove over to the Museum of Mobile.

We were greeted by friendly helpful staff. We had 2 hours on the parking meter (little did we know there was a free parking lot not far from where we parked John's big truck, but, with big trucks you take what you find when you find it and don't complain!) so we got right to it, following the suggestions of the staff.

This is Marianne, the Goddess of Liberty. She stood on the 1889 Mobile County Courthouse until she was damaged by a hurricane in 1916, removed in 1917 and was stored in pieces until the 1970's when she was "rescued" by the Museum of Mobile. But, it took a few more years to put her back together and on display.

One of the current exhibits is a collection of stamps and/or coins issued for Black Americans, each individual display had some history about the person, photos of them, a sample of the stamp or coin (a few had entire sheets of the stamp). It was a great exhibit, where the 4 of us took quite some time closely studying.

This next photo had the 4 of us laughing for quite some time. This display was of underground pipes from early Mobile. Strange looking display for sure. On the left is a clay type of pipe, on the right is a wooden type of pipe. I kinda drifted by the wood and was studying the clay side, standing squarely facing it. John and Donna were facing square on looking at the wooden pipe. We were discussing the display and they were making comments about it, well, that did not quite match what I was seeing. I said something about it being made from clay, and they both looked at me like I had lost it. I'll bet they were thinking, okkk, call the paramedics, Carol needs to take a little ride to the hospital. A few moments later we discovered the humor of the museum staff, they had put a mirror in the middle of the display, and half of the pipe, the mirror of course, making the pipe look whole. Sorry to say, we don't have a photo to show you of each half, but here is the display showing both halfs at the same time. Guess this was a "you had to be there" moment. But we enjoyed it!

Below, sample of beautiful bench. Just love it!

But, not sure it would be very comfy to sit on!

There were some wonderful displays of Civil War artifacts, Mardi Gras collection (very heavy into sequins!) and doll house collection. This photo, which is still out of focus gives some idea of the detail. Running low on parking meter time, we had to get moving on, this would be a great museum to revisit, and next time we will see if we can scare up one of those free parking spots.

Poker, and drinks, doll house sized.

One of the doll houses, guestimate the size of 6 to 8 foot wide:

The Museum of Mobile, well worth the visit.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Happy Birthday Jim, 80 Years Young

2010-03-06T05:52:00.001-05:00

This happy smiling wonderful man is Jim!

Happy Birthday Jim!!

Jim is my nephew's grandfather.

Jim is a deeply passionate, caring, intelligent man.

Jim was a rock to Carol during some rough emotional times.

Jim wrote me once something I have NEVER forgotten:

"Consider yourself sufficiently hugged."

It was one of the nicest things anyone ever said to me, I have borrowed it a time or two to share with others who need a long distant hug, when I could not be there in person to do so.

So, Jim, CONSIDER YOURSELF SUFFICIENTLY HUGGED!!

Have a great party! Love from Carol and her Man!

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Oakleigh, Mobile Alabama

2010-03-05T17:01:00.001-05:00

This home/museum came highly recommended, so John and Donna, Man and I made the trek to Mobile and spent a day museum hopping.

First stop, Oakleigh, built by James Roper, 1833, guided tours, and our guide was Sister, errr, Sistah. Sistah was great, she could really spin a story and she knew her history of Oakleigh and Mobile. The collection at Oakleigh is outstanding, you could spend days investigating the artifacts.

No photos were allowed inside.

Above: Exterior staircase.

Above: originally, the bottom floor of the house was NOT enclosed.

Originally the second floor was the main and only level.

Interesting architecture. The windows on the second level open.

The small white wooden section below the windows also

opens to allow one to walk through the entire opening.

Door knocker (second floor door at the top of the curved staircase.

After a delightful 2 hour tour, we had lunch at the Cream and Sugar just down the street one block, great coffee, a crab and goat cheese quiche that was heavenly and wicked deserts. We had leisurely lunch, thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Our next stop was the Museum of Mobile, which I will cover in a future post.

Smile For The Camera, "Give Their Face A Place", Sarah Anne Darden

2010-03-04T20:01:00.001-05:00

This Smile For The Camera challenge is: March is Women's History month and you are asked to picture women back into history. The unknown, known and unsung women who are often the foundation of our family history. Give their face a place. Thank you to footnoteMaven at Shades of The Departed for hosting this carnival.

My choice to give a place to is my GG Grandmother, Sarah Anne Darden Eley Pierce. Better call her Sallie tho, as I don't think I have ever found her in any document recorded as Sarah. Sallie was born March 5, 1847 in Isle of Wight County Virginia, her father was Charles Henry Darden, her mother, Nancy Seeds Darden. Left is the ONLY picture of Sallie that I have ever seen.

Her father built this house, sometime around 1850. If she was not born in this house, she surely spent many of her formative years here.

This photo was taken sometime in the 1990's.

At the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana there is a great collection of early maps. (This map was part of the collection of maps in the Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress.) In that collection I discovered a map of Isle of Wight County, Virginia drawn during the Civil War. This map had residences indicated, marshes, rivers, areas of heavy forests or woods, plus any military objects of interest. Charles Darden's home is shown, as "Darden", see it close to the bottom of the map, a little to the right of center.

Here is the home, current mapping courtesy of Google.

Sallie married Solomon B. Eley, on September 13, 1865, just months after the close of the Civil War. Her husband was a veteran, had been a Captain in the 16th Virginia Infantry, and was at Appomattox Courthouse Virginia on April 9th, 1865 for the final surrender.

Sallie and Solomon did not wait long to start their family, on July 4, 1866 their first born child, Lorena Estelle Eley was born. Three more children came along in rapid succession, 2 sons and another daughter. The two sons did not survive past infancy, one of the sons we do not even have a name for.

In April of 1871 Solomon died from consumption, very likely, the after effects of his years on the battlefield. His compiled service record shows he was hospitalized at least once, in Richmond. He died in Sussex County, Virginia, where we find a Chancery case which included documents where Sallie had arranged to have Solomon's body as well of that of an infant child transported back to Isle of Wight County for burial. (Burial spot unknown.)

Sallie was left to care for her two daughters. Her father was in deep financial trouble, times were rough, how did she surive?

About two years later on April 1, 1873 Sallie took as her second husband Francis Columbus Pierce. To this union were born two daughters. The first has been lost to this researcher, the second lived to adulthood, married and had her own family.

By 1900 Sallie and Frank Pierce had moved away from their ancestral county, Isle of Wight Virginia. But they did not move far, only to Norfolk Virginia. Frank worked as a sawmill watchman and later as a policeman.

Sallie died May 2, 1914, her three daughters surviving her. Sallie is buried in a paupers grave in Magnolia Cemetery, Norfolk, Virginia. After experiencing the Civil War, marrying a veteran, losing her husband and 3 children to early deaths, marrying a second time, Sallie's last place is here, under a huge magnolia tree in an unmarked grave.

Relatively Speaking, Mid Week by Karen and Anne

2010-03-04T08:36:00.000-05:00

I must draw your attention to both cousins blogs today, both wonderful.

Cousin Anne over at Gene Notes, writes about her hubbie's grandmother's home village in Poland. That photo makes me want to jump on a plane and have a visit.

Cousin Karen writes what I wish I had, about television and the latest rash of genie-programs. You HAVE to read it. Karen, can I add my sig line to this post??

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Flipside's Challenges Get More Difficult - Cotton

2010-03-03T10:28:00.000-05:00

Linda's Wordless Wednesday challenges get a bit more difficult every week, especially since she keeps pulling these snow photos on me. This has been a cold wet winter here in Alabama, they say the worst in 25 years, but, Gulf Shores, so far has escaped real snow (cannot count those sleet/snow balls that melted on contact).

But, she gave her post today a clever title, "Ohio Cotton" . Reflection's response is Alabama Marsh Cotton. The other day Man and I went to Gulf State Park to walk in an area we had not investigated yet. Here I found cat tails in the cotton stage. Rather beat up by all the wind and rain we have had, aren't they??

Alabama Marsh Cotton

AKA, Cat Tails

Tombstone Tuesday, Birthday Observances, Samuel David Holsinger

2010-03-02T16:25:00.001-05:00

Thornrose Cemetery, Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia.

Photo courtesy of Judith M. Boyers,

The Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library

http://www.friendsofallencounty.org/index.php

Samuel's obituary appeared in the November 10, 1964 issue of the Staunton Leader, Staunton, Virginia:

"Cities Second
Manager Is Dead

Samuel David Holsinger, Staunton's second city manager, died Monday (Nov. 9, 1964) at 8:40 p.m. in King's Daughters' Hospital. He was 87.

Mr. Holsinger served as city manager of Staunton from July 1, 1911 until Feb. 1, 1923, succeeding the city's first manager, Charles A. Ashburner.

Mr. Holsinger, who lived at 632 West Frederick St., was born March 2, 1877, son of the late Peter P. Holsinger and Mary Kessler Holsinger.

*****

Funeral services will be held at the graveside in Thornrose Cemetery Wednesday at two p.m. conducted by the Rev. J. J. Murray, D. D., interim pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Holsinger also was commissioner of revenue for Staunton from Feb. 1, 1923, when he was appointed by the late Judge Richard S. Ker, succeeding A. A. Eskridge, until Dec. 31, 1945. He was defeated in the Aug., 1945 primary election by George V. LaBonte.

Mr. Holsinger was born and reared in Rockingham County in the vicinity of Tenth Legion. He attended the public schools at New Dale and Tenth Legion, also the Broadway High School.

After graduating from West Central Academy at Mt. Clinton and from Dunsmore Business College of Staunton, he specialized in certain studies under a professor at the University of Virginia.

Before entering upon his long public career, Mr. Holsinger taught for a brief period at the West Central Academy and Dunsmore Business College.

*****

On April 1, 1908, he was appointed assistant to City Manager Ashburner. He served in this capacity until Jan. 1, 1911 when he became acting city manager, filling this post until July 1 of the same year when he was appointed city manager.

Mr. Holsinger served as agent here for the State Auto License Bureau for 30 years, having been appointed by Col. B. O. James in 1923. He held the state license bureau agency until his retirement in March, 1956.

Mr. Holsinger was a member of the Staunton Church of the Brethren. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of King's Daughters' Hospital and was at one time vice president of the Association of Commissioners of Revenue for the state.

Survivors include his wife, Mrs. Irene Bishop Holsinger; **rest of names of survivors deleted, please contact this blogger for names**
A son, Eugene H. Holsinger, died Jan. 1, 1947.

The body will remain at the Fred Henry Funeral Home until the hour of service. The family requests that flowers be omitted."

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

91st Carnival of Genealogy, A Tribute to Women! The Biography

2010-03-01T10:29:00.001-05:00

Edna May Fenton was born on May 20, 1888, or 1889 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Documents containing her birth information differ, and I am sure Edna would have approved, she maintained a certain amount of secrecy about her early days. The age on her marriage certificate is pretty hard to read, it might be 22 or 24, of course, that gives us a birth year of 1896 or 1894. Her death certificate states she was born in 1893.

Her parents were William Franklin Fenton and Fannie Hurlburt Fenton, Edna was the youngest of 4 children born to this couple. Edna's was only about 10 years old when her mother died in 1898. If she were born in the mid 1890's, she would have been even younger. Note: Edna does appear on the 1891 census with her father, mother and three siblings, as a 1 year old babe, so that pretty much puts her birth year before 1890, not the mid 1890's.

By 1901 her father had remarried and had a second family in the making. Edna appears on the 1901 census with her father and step-mother, Ida (nee Jarvis). She does not appear on the 1911 census. In fact, from 1901 until 1918 we have no idea where Edna is or what she is doing.

Above: The 1901 Census of Canada, Nova Scotia,

4th District Yarmouth, Polling District of Arcadia

Note the confusion over Edna's age and birth year.

The numbers just don't add up.

Above: 1911 Census of Arcadia, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada

No Edna.

According to another descendant of William Fenton and Ida Jarvis, a family story is that Edna went to the states as a maid. We have heard she lived in Massachusetts. Searches of passenger lists, census both in Canada and in the United States have yet to find Edna, at least as Edna Fenton.

In 1918 Edna married Arthur Norman Stevens, Sr. Arthur has his own secrets and his story alone would be a great mystery novel. But, alas, I don't wish to tell his story here, but the story of his Nova Scotia born bride. I will tell you, however, that in the research on Arthur we discover that in the year 1918 he is living in an apartment house at 208 Abbott in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. 208 Abbott was the address of the Fort Apartments, he is listed as living in apartment # 14. In that same year, 1918, we find Mrs. Edna Stewart, waitress, living in Apt 11, 208 Abbott, Detroit. Edna married Arthur as a single lady under her maiden name, claiming she was never married before. Is Mrs. Edna Stewart in reality Miss Edna Fenton??

Over the next several years, Edna and Arthur become the parents of three boys, Arthur Norman Stevens, Jr., Walter William Stevens and George Elmer Stevens. In the photo to the right, from left to right, Walter, George (standing), Arthur.

The Stevens family moved from Detroit to the suburbs, and we find them on the 1930 census living at 1566 Empire Street, Lincoln Park, Michigan. In 1944 they lived at 4165 Coolidge, Lincoln Park, Michigan. The family moved again, by 1947 we find them living at 1044 Farnham Avenue, Lincoln Park, Michigan.

In 1940 tragedy hit, their 2nd born son, Walter was killed in a automobile accident on the eve of his 21st birthday. World War II took both of her other sons off to war, both returned home.

In 1952 her husband Arthur died. In 1954 Edna too passed.

Edna lived through 2 major wars, World War I and World War II. Two of her sons fought in WWII. From the date of her birth (using the year 1888) to the date of her death, 12 American Presidents held office, starting with Glover Cleveland, ending with Dwight D. Eisenhower, noting that until sometime after the 1901 census, she lived in Canada, not the US.

Edna was an extremely private lady. She was Man's grandmother, he has no recollections of her, the only memories are stories he has heard from his mother (Edna's daughter-in-law.) Until I started doing research and connected with other Fenton descendants, Man had never met another Fenton. Never. Granted he was only a wee bit of a lad when Edna passed, but there were no aunts or uncles, no cousins, no family kin named Fenton.

We have been told Edna loved her garden and flowers. We do have some photos from Edna, many of which have no names or dates. There are no photos of Edna's mother and father. We have no photo of Edna before her marriage to Arthur in 1918. We have no diaries and only a small handful of letters and cards. Several of the letters are dated after the death of her husband, she was attempting to apply for a social security card/number, she needed a birth certificate from Canada, it appears she never obtained one.

We know little about her life in Nova Scotia, nothing about her for almost 17 years between 1901 and 1918. After her marriage it appears she lead a "woman's life", bearing children, caring for home and family. But far from being a boring woman, to me she is a lady of intrigue. When did she leave Nova Scotia, where did she go, how did she end up in Detroit, was she Mrs. Edna Stewart?

Edna and Arthur are buried in unmarked graves at the Ferndale Cemetery, Riverview, Wayne County, Michigan. Somehow the fact that their graves are unmarked suits them, they were both hiding secrets. That said, I hope someday to place markers on their graves, even if I never figure out Edna's secrets of 1901 to 1918.

What were you doing Edna, from 1901 to 1918? I want to fill in your timeline!

*Time line post about Edna appears separately.

**Thanks to Jasia of Creative Gene for hosting this 91st Carnival of Genealogy

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

91st Carnival of Genealogy, A Tribute to Women! The Time Line

2010-03-01T10:22:00.000-05:00

The 91st Carnival of Genealogy asks us to write a biography of a woman on your family tree, but first you need a time line for her.

I love time lines, I just don't do them. However, a challenge is a challenge and I usually cannot resist. So, I start with Google search and see what is out there in Net-Land. I found three sites that I tried. Two allowed me to do my own time lines via input of names and dates and such. The third one was much more detailed, it has a HUGE data base of events tied to dates which result in quite long reports. You can add your own dates and details to this one as well. I think this time line builder would be super if you could pick and choose some of the standard events. However, it is a large graphic if you need to cover a number of years, as in my case 1888 to 1954. That said, this third one really gives you a great feel for what went on during the years of your ancestor's life.

I built a web page for the three time lines over at my sister site, Reflections On Families Past. The page has links and images of the three time lines I built. They all are interesting, and have aspects I like about them. I most likely will not do another time line, but if I do, I think that I might use this one from Read Write Think at http://www.readwritethink.org/ . I can see good possibilities with this time line, as I can add more details, but it is still simple and clearly laid out.

* Thanks to Jasia at Creative Gene for hosting this 91st Carnival of Genealogy.

**If you have trouble remembering historical dates, that HUGE time line builder is for you, for informational purposes that one rules, as they say. Even if it is a bit overwhelming!

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, A Gulf Shores Must, LuLu's

2010-02-28T22:11:00.000-05:00

One of the "MUST DO'S" in the area is LuLu's. It is right on the Intracoastal Waterway, so, if you are close enough to that side of the restaurant you can see boats, ships, and barges go by. I have heard say that on a lucky day you might even spot a porpoise or two.

Today was our visit. Here is our scorecard.

Atmosphere - - colorful, fun.
Live music - - great, but, really, must you deafen us? As in, geshhhh, it was way too loud, made the first part of our meal on the miserable side. Man was rolling up paper towels/napkins into little ear plugs, yea, he did, and yea, he used em. SIGH
Beer - - cold and stays that way thanks to those nifty pitchers with the frozen plastic ice thingy. Very, errr, dare I say it, COOL.
Burgers - - at least 8 outta 10. Maybe 9. That comes from a burger snob (yep, Moi is a burger snob).
Fries - - 7 outta 10.
Onion Rings - - 100 outta 10. By far, these are the best onion rings we have ever had, anywhere, anytime, any price, ohhh, and these are not cheap. About $3.00 more than an order of fries. Worth it, YEP, gotta say they are. OHHH, and the cocktail sauce, get a 20 outta 10 for that, best I have had. Onion rings and cocktail sauce, can we spell TOTALLY SINFUL ! ? !

I might go sit through more irritating loud music just for the beer, onion rings and cocktail sauce. Nahhhh, I'll just check the web site and avoid the music.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Happy Birthday, Deb

2010-02-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday to a very special lady, the mother of my nephew, and a dear friend!

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy, 27th Edition

2010-02-27T10:27:00.000-05:00

The topic for the 27th Edition Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is "The Village of my Ancestor." Each article should deal with any known history of any location that one ancestor may have lived. It could be history of a town or area in the U.S. or an European Village," Thank you to Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research for hosting this carnival.

Man's grandparents, the Gehrkes, were Germans. They had an unusual movement pattern from Germany to their final place of residence, Michigan. See, they went via Hawaii and California. This is the story of their village of their origins. But, first, I had to find the village, so the back story first.

In 1997, after a number of years of research, and 7 months of full time compiling, writing and oganizing, I published their family history, "The Gehrke's ; Descendants of Karl and Charlotte Gehrke, Emigrants from Germany 1888".

Man's great grandparents, Karl and Charlotte Gehrke lived in Germany. In 1888 they had 2 children, Man's grandfather, Fritz (Fred), and daughter Hedwig. In that year, the family boarded a ship and landed in Kauai Hawaii. Karl was to work on the sugar plantations. There were a number of other Germans living at that time in Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii.

Early in the research, we knew the name of the town of Fred's birth, the family had it recorded as Hammerstein. I was disappointed to discover there was more than one village in Germany named Hammerstein.

1994-97 (the years that I was actively researching the Gehrke clan) was before you could find just about ANYTHING on the internet. So, my research consisted of letters, lots of letters to Germany. Help with these letters came from my soon to be daughter-in-law, a bright young lady from Germany.

The Lihue Lutheran Church records were a gold mine in the research of this family. Baptisms, confirmations, deaths, marriages, all duly recorded, in German, but recorded. It was in the confirmation records of Fritz (Fred) and Hedwig and Hedwig's marriage record that verified the village of their birth.

Above, the marriage record of August Braun and Hedwig Gehrke,

Lihue Lutheran Church records, the second column from the

right shows Hedwig's birth date and birthplace,

Hammerstein, West Prussia

Between the letters to Germany and the church records from the Lihue Lutheran Church, we eventually located the correct Hammerstein, now Czarne Poland.

Next I relied on the help of my co-workers at the Westland Michigan Family History Center, many of whom specialize in Polish research. These kind souls helped me write letters and translate the answers for me back into English. We eventually learned that civil and church records were non-existant, destroyed in World Wars. Since it seemed this was the end of the search, I turned my energies elsewhere. I did publish some maps in my work, but, never searched for any history of the town. I now realize, that was a stone left unturned.

I cannot explain my reaction to the huge surprise that was waiting for me when I did a Google search for Czarne. First I looked at the Wikipedia page, where I found a lot of history back to around 1300. Kingdom of Poland, Royal Prussia, West Prussia, etc. But here are the sentences that took my breath away and almost made my heart stop:

"In 1885 the Prussian Army built a large training ground (Übungsplatz) there. In World War I the German Army used it for a large Prisoner-of-war camp for Russian prisoners. In World War II it was the site of the notorious Stalag II-B in which tens of thousands, mainly Soviet prisoners, died from disease, mistreatment and malnutrition."

At http://stalagoflagpow.com/ I found the following information:

A Stalag was the term used during the First and Second World War for prisoner-of-war camps in Germany.
Stalag II-B just outside Hammerstein in Pomerania (now Czarne, Pomorskie, Poland), where treatment of prisoners was considered worse than at any other camp in Germany established for American POW

Above photo made available at Wikipedi by

Deutsches Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archive)

Photo taken 9 August 1941

(see full disclosure data here)

I am still processing this discovery of the known history of the birthplace of Man's grandfather, I probably would never have revisited the Gehrke research this way if it were not for this carnival. Each carnival I have participated in has had me reviewing what I thought I knew, searching out, verifying and learning something new. Sometimes these new searches end up providing a bit of a surprise, like this time.

Hammerstein Gemany, now Czarne Poland, surely had a known history, only it was not known to me. I would bet that Fred knew this history, he did not die until 1964. Now I wonder, how he felt about it.

* Yes, I know the limitations of Wikipedia. Further research and reading are always advised.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Road Kill Cafe & Spring Flowers, Elberta Alabama

2010-02-25T20:06:00.002-05:00

Man and I have been hearing, you have to have lunch (buffet Man's FAV!!) out at the Road Kill Cafe.

We knew right where it was, because it was next door to my dentist down here, the one who fixed up that ole broken tooth I had back in November (2009).

So, today was the day, you have to be there by ohhhhh, 11ish, and they say the food is gone by noonish. They cook "X" amount of food, and when it is gone, they close up and go home! The eats were pretty good. Chicken was outstanding!

Their tshirts say something like, You kill it, we grill it!

After lunch we had a return visit to the Baldwin County Heritage Museum. What a nice collection they have, and so well organized. This time we went out the back door to see the school and church. I was snapping photos and enjoying the sun and my day and the old stuff, and oh, oh, batteries on the camera, DOA. Oh, well, Man, just looked at me and said, "guess we have to come back". Yea! Works for me.

But, before the battery crashed, I found some flowers:

Flipside, Flower Challenge, And a Small Congrats!

2010-02-24T09:38:00.000-05:00

Linda, over at Flipside, posts some great photos on Wordless Wednesdays. Well, she posts some great ones ALL the time, but, some of her WW ones have been outstanding, and frequently I take a look, and realize, I have one that is similar and have posted mine as a response. I find myself looking forward to Wednesdays, wondering what she will offer. I am never disappointed!

In response to her photo today of Melrose Scotland I had to dig into my memory banks. These, from our visit last summer to Mackinaw Island, Michigan, are the closest I can come. Enjoy Linda!

By the way, congrats to Linda, she flew by 20,000 on her site reads recently. Quite the accomplishment there Linda!

Tombstone Tuesday, Montgomery Hill Cemetery, Baldwin County, Alabama

2010-02-23T19:02:00.002-05:00

Many of the family burial plots in this historic cemetery are enclosed with fences. Fences and gates, which I find so interesting, and artistic.

Two fascinating stones in this cemetery, speak for themselves:

Relatively Speaking, Wednesday Sobs And Rants by Anne

2010-02-23T09:32:00.002-05:00

Nope, it is NOT Monday, but, it is Relatively Speaking by Anne.

Remember my post on Sunday, My Genie-Heart is Heavy and Sad ?

Well Anne has a bit more to say about the Library of Michigan on Gene Notes this AM.

UPDATE of sorts, as I was posting, so was Relatively Speaking member Karen, over at Genealogy Frame of Mind, yep, about the Library.

Please go read both these posts, Anne and Karen say it so well.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

2009-10 Winter Tana Tour, Red Eagle (William Weatherford) and Fort Mims

2010-02-22T19:42:00.000-05:00

Baldwin County Alabama is full of history, lots of history. Man and I are working on visiting most, maybe even all, the historical sites here.

Baldwin County is also quite large, I think I read somewhere that it is the largest county in Alabama. I'll fess up, that when Man and I got in Big Butt, I really did not have a handle on just how far we were going one way. (Shhhh, don't tell Man, I just checked and it is like 75 miles one way, GULP!)

My goal for the day was to get to William Weatherford's burial spot, in very northern Baldwin County. Why??? Cause it was there and I wanted to see. Why??? Cause - - -

William Weatherford, aka Red Eagle's burial place.

His mother, Sehoy Tate Weatherford,

a Creek Nation Princess of the Wind Clan is also buried here.

You can learn more about Red Eagle here or try a good ole Google search.

After we left here, we started the trek back towards Tana and Gulf Shores, stopping at several other historical places, including Fort Mims, the site of a horrific massacre, in which over 500 people died. You can learn more about Fort Mims here.

Above, a re-creation of the East Gate where the attack began.

As sad as this site is, Man and I enjoyed our visit, and since we knew nothing of this history, we also learned something.

After leaving Fort Mims, we wandered over to the Montgomery Hill Cemetery. Check back tomorrow for a photo tour of the cemetery.

*Something kinda strange about Fort Mims, as soon as I walked through that East Gate and was standing on the inside, there was a peculiar odor. Man thinks it was some preservative used on the poles of the walls. I could not tell, but felt it was a bit bizarre and eerie. I could not smell it close to the poles, but, could smell it when I was about 6 foot or more from the walls.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

Splogger-Splatterer, Round Four

2010-02-21T20:05:00.001-05:00

The other evening when I should have been trying to do something productive, quite by ~~chance~~, errrr, accident, I found myself looking at 9 pages of results from Google Search on the total url of Reflections From the Fence. Actually, I am not quite sure how it happened, I clicked on something and BAM, there I was in Google Search. OKKKK, since I was there, I had a lookie see.

Yep, I found a bunch more sploggers. So, without wasting another moment, let's splatter them, remember, no links, you go there, you pad their wallet$.

squidoo.com

123people.co.uk (I found this one last week, I have no idea why they have Reflections there, and I may be wrong, but I think they are sploggers too)

mygreenvillecounselor.com

pubsub.com

thana-store.com

daymix.com

jokester-store.co.cc

yorkza.com

shop.coojin.com

fungpleng.yorkza.com

gasellercisetrainers.co.cc

alimustikasari.com

brokencontrollers.com

connect.in.com

Curiosity got me, and I decided to have a look at a few other blog names and see what popped up. Greta over at Greta's Genealogy Bog has told me she knows she has been a victim of sploggers for some time, She is right, it did not take me long to find that costa-rica-weather.net had her.

Then I went to cousin Karen's name, Genealogy Frame of Mind. Did not take long at all to find that the 123people and jokester-store people and another gang currently going by the name of araby.com have Karen listed.

Not willing to spend any more time on the searches, I sure came away with the feeling that, if you blog, you ARE being splogged.

One thing I discovered was that I picked up different names of sploggers dependent upon how I searched. I have searched with my full URL, and I have searched thusly: reflectionsfromthefence. One time I searched with the quotes like this: "Reflections From the Fence" and a few other ways as well. I stumbled into this realization during my study of the creeps on the Google Search page, but again, sorta by accident.

Down at the very bottom of the search page I found a link titled, "See all my SearchWiki notes". You know my curious mind had to know, so, yes, I clicked on it, and it took me to this cool page which showed all the comments I have been leaving trying to SHAME these idiots. (OKKK, we all know that they are not going to be shamed, but, if I keep them from getting ONE click to their sites I'll be happy.) Anyway, this page is called "My SearchWiki notes" and I was able to save it as a favorite. This page showed all the different ways I had been searching as well as the comments I left each time.

At the end of the evening, I am not sure I understand all of what I found here. It has become more and more evident as I tread along, that there are a lot of people trying to make $$$$ off us bloggers.

I spent an evening when I first was learning about sploggers in an online discussion with some live support dude at one of the companies that host one of the sploggers that was splogging me. Oh, yea, they were polite, and encouraging during the live chat. Then, I got the email with directions on how to proceed with my complaint. They set it up in such a way that no reasonable complaintant would continue with said complaint. BLAH. Now, in hind sight, after finding out how many sploggers are out there, I have to wonder, did that real nice live support dude sit on his end of the conversation laughing so hard it was hard to stay in his seat?? Probably.

SPLAT!!!

Relatively Speaking, Anne's Got Inspirations

2010-02-21T15:45:00.000-05:00

Cousin and friend Anne, over at Gene Notes is ramping up for her submission to the Monday series, Relatively Speaking - Cousins that Blog. She let out a little hint today, something about inspirations. I'll be there first thing tomorrow AM Anne!

*Graphic courtesy of http://desktoppub.about.com/

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.

My Genie-Heart is Heavy and Sad

2010-02-21T10:08:00.000-05:00

Please read the notice dated February 21, 2010, from the Michigan Genealogical Council web site.

Via a friend I hear that the morale at the Library is rather low. I say no more, too sad for words.

Copyright 2010, CABS for Reflections From the Fence.