Tag: research

Intentions

On By RootsGenieIn MusingsLeave a comment
Retrieved 2023, January 1, from http://www.dictionary.com

We all seem to start the New Year with the best intentions. Resolutions to become a better person, or accomplish a goal. In genealogy research, you need to start with a plan or you end up wasting time and money. By the end of the year, you can reflect on those successes or failures to determine if you should shift your focus, or maybe start from scratch.

When I came back to my blog at the end of 2022, I realized I hadn’t been here since 2019. My intentions in my last post were to come back regularly to share my family history with likeminded genealogists. A lot has happened since that I will share more about in future posts, but I can say that the Covid pandemic has made my life completely different in the past three years. So much so that I didn’t even realize that three years had passed! But my intentions were completely honest.

My plan was to write, and write as often as possible to get myself back in the habit. But like the quote says, tell Him about your plans! So I will say I am striving to do the best I can, and I won’t beat myself up if I fail. I would like to post at least twice a week, not including social media. I’m hoping that you will hold me accountable if I try to disappear again. The only way to make it through tough times is to push through it. Here’s to success in 2023!

New Year, New Look!

On By RootsGenieIn Maternal Ancestors, Musings, Neal4 Comments

I’ve been neglecting you, and my ancestors have been letting me know it. I decided that I need to refocus my energy on this blog. Not just sharing research, but sharing stories that bring my ancestors back to life. So I’ll tell you what inspired me to make this change:

Anyone that rides with me knows that I never take off right away at the light. A few weeks ago I was coming up to a red light and it suddenly turned green. Something kept telling me “don’t speed up, go slow”, and I never pressed on the gas. It was almost like I could feel something pulling me back. By the time I got to the intersection someone came barreling through the red light, just missing us. Had I taken off at regular speed I’m positive that my passenger and I would have been seriously injured, or killed. I had no idea why I had such a strong urge to slow down, but I later learned it was the anniversary of my grandfather Raymond Neal’s passing. Now I understand it was his presence I felt, and I have to holla back I hear you Pop! (and was it coincidence that his favorite singer, Nancy Wilson, passed later on that day?)

So I challenge everyone who reads this to acknowledge those whispers, and the hairs that raise on the back of your neck. That’s your ancestors pleading with you to remember them, and call their name.

neal, raymond
Raymond Neal circa 1952, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (My uncle Delmar hiding in the background).

 

Susie Holbert-Mosaic Templars of America (Part 1)

On By RootsGenieIn Holbert, Musings, Paternal AncestorsLeave a comment
I can’t say enough about the kindness of strangers. I use the Findagrave.com website quite often to search for ancestors. If I’m lucky there may be a picture, a biography or at the least a link to other relatives in that cemetery.
In this instance, I was looking for my Aldridge family that I found in the Rusk Cemetery in Boley, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. I requested photos from a local volunteer and I waited. In the meantime, I did more digging and found I had another ancestor there: my 3rd great-grandmother, Susie (Crenshaw) Holbert. So I emailed my wonderful volunteer, Angela Dionne, to ask if she could look for Susie’s final resting place as well. I had no idea of the wealth of information I would soon find out about my ancestor, and the history lesson to come.
Angela explained that Okfuskee County had a lot of black cemeteries that have not been documented.  Apparently, there was someone who took the time to add lists but not pictures, so they were in the process of trying to photograph as much of the cemetery as possible. Problem was a lot of the graves only have a rock, or a headstone that is no longer readable. I kept my fingers crossed, but I wouldn’t hear back from Angela for a while.
Then one day out of the blue, I get this in my email:
SANYO DIGITAL CAMERA
As you could guess I was ecstatic enough to have a picture of her headstone and a likely date of death. But if you look closer, you can see there is a symbol and inscriptions above Susie’s name. I emailed Angela again to thank her for the picture and to ask her if she knew anything about the symbols. She said she would go back to the cemetery and take another picture of the headstone to see if she could get more detail. So I have to wait again, but I am so grateful to Angela for making another trip in the Oklahoma summer heat!
While I waited, I tried to make the picture as big as possible. In the center it looked like some sort of Masonic symbol, but I couldn’t make it out clearly. I searched for anything that looked similar on Google images, then one day I found something that looked familiar:
MTAMarker
There were similar markings, and there is more detail at the bottom of the stone. I learned that it is not a Masonic symbol, but the marker of the Mosaic Templars of America, an organization founded by two former slaves in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1882. But how did my grandmother end up with this marker in Oklahoma? Stay tuned to Part 2 to learn more about my incredible discovery!

Update!

On By RootsGenieIn MusingsLeave a comment

Posted May 21, 2009
I haven’t had time to post a lot lately, but here’s an update on where I’m at. I decided to try to contact possible living relatives. I’ve been using sites like Zabasearch and Intelius and they have really been helpful. Unfortunately, you do have to pay do read the entire record, so I’ve been using the relatives listed to try to match them up. I still need to find some sort of confirmation of my grandfather’s businesses in Bronzeville. He owned a record store and a dry cleaners. I can’t find any official records and I was told that I should try City Hall, but those records aren’t organized at all. My hope right now is that someone from my contact list in Ohio writes me back. My fingers are crossed!

First Post

On By RootsGenieIn MusingsLeave a comment

Posted December 17, 2008
I try to do some research on my family everyday and I find something new everytime I look. I would like to have a daily post just to remind myself, if noone else, what I have accomplished so far and what I have to look forward to. This way I have a diary that I can refer to when I feel like I’m getting nowhere! I know many genealogists can relate to that! When I first started I was using a free trial to Ancestry.com and I had no idea where to start. I put in my last name and found nothing. Then…bingo! I realized that my grandfather’s name was misspelled in the 1930 census and the rest is history!