Lisa Williams, Author at Honeysuckle Farm, LLC

Ralph Larkin and the Mystery of His Missing Sibling

Today’s blog post is about Ralph LARKIN. I’ll be going off the information I have available to me online (and not digging out my records or any additional information online) as well as going off stories from my Dad to create today’s blog post. Ralph LARKIN is my paternal great grandfather. He died on this date in 1963. I wasn’t born for another 6 years so I don’t have any personal stories about him to tell. Any stories I have come from others and from records.
RALPH’S CHILDHOOD
I have tried to stick with Ralph’s childhood but a big part of childhood is siblings and Ralph has a sibling that’s a big mystery so today I’m going to talk a little about the siblings.
Ralph was born in 1898 in Barry County, Missouri to William and Minerva UNDERWOOD LARKIN. By 1900 (just two years later) the family was living in Aurora, Lawrence County, Missouri. Ralph had two siblings that I can name with certainty- Emily and William. (Alice is another child that some researchers assign to Minerva. We’ll talk about Alice in a minute.) In the 1900 census Ralph’s mom was 48 years old and she stated she gave birth to four children and all four were living. There are only 3 children living in the home, though- Emily (who later goes by Emma; 10 years old), William (who later went by Jess or Jesse; 8 years old), and Ralph (2 years old).
Ten years later in the 1910 census, Ralph’s mom says again that she gave birth to four children but in 1910 she says one child is deceased. The children listed in her household in 1910 are Emma, Jesse (spelled ‘Jessie’), and Ralph. I did a search of pre-1910 Missouri deaths at the Missouri archives database for a possible record of the baby that died but couldn’t find anything that seemed to fit with the information above.
Now let me throw another kink in things. Jess died in 1956. His obituary lists the following siblings: Mrs. Emma SPILLERS of Southwest City, Missouri; Mrs. Alice EDENS of Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Ralph LARKIN of Southwest City, Missouri. So, were there actually 5 children total and one died? Did they think Alice was going to die and told the census taker she was dead but then she pulled through? Was there a misunderstanding on either the census taker’s part or the part of the person giving answers to the census taker?
Let’s go ahead and talk about Alice now. Some researchers have Alice listed as Minerva’s sibling (Ralph’s aunt) and some have Alice listed as Minerva’s child (Ralph’s sibling). On the FindAGrave website Alice is listed as belonging to Minerva’s parents. I believe this is incorrect for a couple of reasons including Alice being listed as a granddaughter of Minerva’s mom on the 1880 census and the fact that Minerva’s mom would have been approaching 60 when Alice was born so biology would make it improbable that she gave birth to Alice.
On the records I’ve found for Alice, she had UNDERWOOD as her last name. So was Alice the illegitimate daughter of Minerva or one of Minerva’s sisters? Was she Minerva’s niece that Minerva ended up raising (a daughter of one of Minerva’s brothers)? Minerva’s brother just happened to get married the year Alice was born so maybe something happened to Alice’s mom and Minerva’s brother couldn’t care for the baby? Allow me to tell you what I think. I think we can safely rule out all of the brothers because in the 1880 census Alice’s father’s birthplace is not given but her mother’s is and her mother’s birthplace is North Carolina. If one of Minerva’s brothers had been the dad, the family would have been able to answer the question of Alice’s father’s birthplace so I think we can safely rule out all of the brothers (Ralph’s uncles). Minerva was approximately 19 when Alice was born so I think it’s most likely that Alice is either Minerva’s or one of the sisters’ illegitimate child. Minerva and Mary are the only ones I’m showing as being born in North Carolina so I think we can safely narrow it down to one of those two women. In looking at these two women, I notice that in 1874 (when Alice was born) Mary was married and going by the name BUTLER. So I think we can finally narrow it down to Minerva as being Alice’s mom. That equals four biological children for Minerva so you would think that would solve the problem, but it doesn’t because Minerva said one of her children was deceased by 1910 and yet Jess’s obituary shows there were four siblings and all were still alive in 1956.
I have yet to figure out this mystery. If you get it figured out- please let me know! It’s difficult for me to imagine that Alice and Ralph were ever very close. Alice had her first two children before Ralph was ever born and she had her third child the same year Ralph was born. We’re going to stop right here with Ralph’s childhood and move on but first, I want to show you some photographs of two of Minerva’s children.
This is Ralph:

This is Ralph’s sister, Emma LARKIN SPILLERS:

RALPH’S ADULTHOOD
In 1918, at age 20, Ralph married Bessie WILLIAMS STEELEY.

Ralph and Bess
Bessie had been married already once at the age of 14 to Otis STEELEY and that marriage ended in divorce almost as soon as it began. I think for Ralph, this was his first marriage. Ralph’s mom signed the application for a marriage license and Bess’s mom signed the marriage certificate as a witness to the marriage.
Ralph and Bess had 10 children together that I know of. The stories of their children are interesting but I’ll get to those another day. Ralph worked as a mine laborer and then later as a miner in Miami, Oklahoma. He was also a farmer. He always lived close to his family as far as I can tell.
When my Dad talks about Ralph he often recalls that Ralph was very devout in his faith and was of the Pentecostal faith. Ralph loved to fish and was a hard worker.
food and memories blog post ralph bess larkin fishing.jpg
Ralph and Bess fishing.
Dad says Ralph died when my dad was only 19 so he doesn’t have a lot of memories, but as he recalls it Ralph died of miner’s lung disease from all his years working in the mines. He says Ralph wasn’t a coal miner. My thought on this is that given that Ralph mined in the Miami, Oklahoma area, Ralph would have worked in the zinc or lead mines. Dad said he always thought one contributing factor to Ralph’s death was lead poisoning. Dad says he’s never seen Ralph’s death certificate but basically Ralph suffocated to death. Ralph moved to Arizona on the doctor’s advice in hopes of restoring his health. He didn’t feel like the dry climate helped him so he moved back after a few years. Dad recalls that at the time, it seems the doctors thought Ralph might have asthma.
Ralph was also very strict. Dad says he loved and respected Ralph but always kept his mouth shut around him! Ralph was stern, but not mean. Dad says Bess was somewhat irreverent and opinionated and was a handful for the strict and devout Ralph.
RALPH’S DEATH
Ralph died in January of 1963. Bess, whom my cousin has affectionately called ‘the serial bride’, remarried in August of the same year. She married James R. BRIGGS of Joplin, Missouri. I’m going to end Ralph’s story here since I’ve previously written about Ralph’s official cause of death. His birth date is in April so we’ll be visiting him again in April and hopefully we can flesh out his story a little more then. Until then, click on over to Becky’s blog. She’s posting a photo a day that is genealogy related.
Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives blog

Lucretia Hutchison Mitchell Hartman- A Celebration of Her Life

Today we’re honoring the life of Lucretia HUTCHISON MITCHELL HARTMAN.
Lucretia is my paternal 4th great grandmother. Her first husband was Mordica Elias MITCHELL, my 4th great grandfather. Lucretia was born in 1813 in Polk County, Tennessee. She married Mordica in Monroe County, Tennessee. Sometime between 1840 and 1850 the family moved to Missouri. Together Lucretia and Mordica had 8 known children. Lucretia outlived Mordica by 35 years. About 7 years after his death Lucretia married a second time to William HARTMAN. They each brought children from previous marriages into their own marriage. They were married for 14 years until William’s death. Lucretia outlived William by another 14 years. I don’t know if she married a third time or not.
I believe that about 1879, Lucretia moved out to California where some of her children lived. Some researchers say Lucretia did not move to California and died in McDonald County, Missouri. I believe it to be more likely that she died in California while living with some of her children out there. However, I can’t prove either theory. Lucretia’s children moved out to California in the late 1850’s. That was too late for the 1849 California Gold Rush but it was about the time of Pony Express and the installation of the railroad so it’s possible they went to California for those reasons.
Lucretia outlived not only two husbands but most of her children as well. Three are known to have survived her. The three known to have survived her are James Harrison MITCHELL, Mary Louisa MITCHELL POTTER THOMAS, and Hester Ann Eglentine MITCHELL DRAKE. James and Mary both went to California. Hester stayed in Missouri.
I haven’t been able to find a lot of information about the family. What I have found includes this death certificate for her son James MITCHELL:

Death Certificate for James Mitchell, son of Mordica and Lucretia (Hutchison) Mitchell.

Cause of death was “old age” and subsequent “gradual breaking down of all the organs”
I also do have one photo of her daughter (and my 3rd great grandmother) Hester MITCHELL DRAKE:

Portrait of Hester (Mitchell) Drake, daughter of Mordica and Lucretia (Hutchison) Mitchell.

In researching her children I discovered that a couple of the daughters married into the POTTER family. I also discovered one very interesting connection that I had not previously made. Please note that this is someone else’s research and I haven’t had decent internet to double check the information. But if it checks out it will be the biggest breakthrough I’ve made on this family in a long time. According to what I found, Hester had a sister-in-law, Elizabeth J. BECK MITCHELL. When Hester’s brother (Elizabeth’s husband) died, Elizabeth remarried to Hester’s father-in-law, Ervin Alonzo DRAKE (Poppy’s grandfather, not Poppy Lonzo). Ervin had lost his first wife. He was quite a bit older than Elizabeth (20 years older) but they stayed together until Ervin’s death in 1900 (24 years of marriage). So Hester’s sister-in-law became her step-mother-in-law in 1876. And William’s sister-in-law by marriage became his stepmother. Very…awkward. But I guess it worked out for them. At least, I hope it did. Again, I still have to verify all this but I wanted to share with you in case any of you have time to check it out and share with the family.
I wish I had more to offer you about Lucretia’s life. Given the difficulty of this line, I feel pretty good about the discovery of Elizabeth BECK’s maiden name (or maybe it’s a previous married name? I don’t know.). That in itself is a new discovery as is (at least for me) the fact that she had two separate relationships to William and Hester MITCHELL DRAKE. So that’s better than finding nothing at all. I hope you’ll join with me in lighting a candle today to celebrate the life of Lucretia and it’s trickle-down effects on our lives today. If you make any discoveries about her, I hope you’ll share them here. In the meantime be sure to head on over to Down in the Root Cellar where Becky has written a blog post (“Trapped”) about my maternal grandma, Jessie. It’s a great read!

Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Nancy Jane Chambers: the Girl with Two Names

When I First Learned About Her
When I first started working on my family history back in my teens 3/4 of my grandparents were living and I went to my grandmothers often for information. My paternal grandmother (Mam) told me (always and consistently) that my HUBBARD-line 3rd great grandmother was Nancy Jane STONE and she married John Allen HUBBARD and this couple gave birth to my 2nd great grandfather, Alford Allen HUBBARD (mother of Edith HUBBARD DRAKE). She was eerily accurate on 99% of the family history but this one- well, she was right, but she wasn’t right.
This “right and yet not right” information caused me some grief over the years and it took me a long time to get anywhere with this line. You see, Nancy was really born Nancy Jane CHAMBERS. She was the one and only baby born to William C. and Rhoda A. (ALLEN) CHAMBERS. Nancy’s dad died sometime within a year after Nancy was born. When Nancy was about 2 ½ years old (sometime within the year after William died), Rhoda remarried to James J. STONE, a local widower. Rhoda and James had 10 more children in addition to the children he brought into the marriage and the child Rhoda brought into the marriage. With that many siblings and her mother having remarried when Nancy was so little, it’s not surprising that in the family history her name was passed down as Nancy STONE as opposed to Nancy CHAMBERS. James raised Nancy, not William. So you see- Mam was right and not right all at the same time. Everything else I found out about Nancy I had to learn on my own but at least my Mam got me started with a name and I’m grateful for that and for having had an interest when I was young enough to ask the questions.
All the Other Information I Learned
My biggest breakthrough on Nancy came fairly recently (within the last several years) when I connected with someone on Ancestry who was able to provide that missing piece- the information that Nancy was actually a CHAMBERS and how it came to be that she was known as a STONE. Sadly, I’ve only made it back one more generation. Still, that’s progress and I’ll take it.
Nancy married John Allen HUBBARD when she was only 16 years old. John was 23 years old at the time they married. Nancy and John lived in Harrison County, Missouri for around 20 years. They had most of their children (possibly all of them) while living there. By 1900 they were living in Douglas County, Missouri. There is lots to be learned from each census. For instance, I know that when Nancy was 11 she and her family were living in Polk, Taylor County, Iowa and her stepdad was claiming to be a doctor (this is one of at least 3 different professions he claimed over the years). At that time, she was censused as Nancy STONE. In both the prior and the subsequent federal censuses (1850 and 1860) the family lived in Harrison County, Missouri. I have no idea why they moved to (or from) Iowa. Particularly interesting in Nancy’s case though is the 1900 census. In 1900 women were asked how many children they’d given birth to and how many of those children were still living. Nancy told the census taker she had given birth to 8 children (this count of 8 remained the same in 1910). As of now, I can only account for 6 of those 8 children. Only 4 of the 6 that I can account for lived past 1900. John and Nancy’s daughter Rhoda died at age 29. Their daughter Sedanie died before age 11. That leaves Julia (who married a PRUETT), Sereptia (who married a HARVILL), Alford (my 2nd great grandfather who married Laura A. BUTLER), and Sylvia (who married a STAFFORD). Out of those 4, only my 2nd great grandfather moved down into Southwestern Missouri/Northeastern Oklahoma area. I don’t have any photos of Alford with his mom Nancy but I do have one photo of Alford with his sister Julia and her family.

Alford Hubbard with his sister Julia and her family.

Far right is Alford HUBBARD and standing next to him is his sister Julia and Julia’s husband John. I think the young girl is either John and Julia’s daughter or granddaughter.
The other thing I found interesting about Nancy’s children are the death certificates I found for 2 of her children- Julia and Sylvia. Sylvia’s death certificate says she died from Consumption (Tuberculosis). The person giving the information must have been trying to make a point because the exact cause of death the person listed on her certificate states:
“Consumption
Used Patent Medicine
Had no physician”
I’m thinking this person had a particular dislike for the snake oil salesmen and for the people who refused to go to doctors. I wonder if health care costs were high back then, too?
Sylvia died at 10:00 p.m. on 27 February 1912. I’m betting they had a long night ahead of them. Julia’s death certificate was much less wordy. Julia died at 12:30 a.m. on 17 June 1946 from Cancer of the Liver. Another long night for the HUBBARD family and another long, drawn out death.
The End of the Line
I wish I could tell you what happened to John and Nancy at the end of their lives but I can’t. The last record I can find for them is the 1910 census. They were living in Lincoln Township, Douglas County, Missouri. All the children had moved out and they were by themselves. His age was listed as 71 and hers as 65. They were living in between Julia and her family and Sylvia and her family. So we’ll leave them there, nestled between people they loved and people who loved them back.
I do want to make a sort of endnote. Those of you who carry the Allen name that was handed down through the HUBBARD generations (like my cousin Richard), I believe that ultimately your Allen name came from Nancy’s mom, Rhoda ALLEN CHAMBERS STONE. So you carry more than a middle name of previous ancestors (like Alford and his dad, John). You carry the surname of Rhoda and those who came before her.
In case you’re making cupcakes with me, you can refer back to this past Sunday’s blog post for the link to the cupcake recipe I’m making to honor our birthday girl, Nancy Jane CHAMBERS HUBBARD. You can also click on over to Becky’s blog at Down in the Root Cellar. I hear she’s planning a fabulous blog post coming soon.

Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Laura Ann BULLOCK RITER- The Consummate Mom and Grandma

Laura is my maternal great grandmother. Hers is the first death date anniversary I’ll be honoring this year. So if you’re lighting a candle with me today, now would be a good time to go do it while you’re thinking about it.

On the far right is Jessie RITER BATES and to the left of Jessie is Jessie’s mom, Laura BULLOCK RITER. To the left of Laura are two of her other daughers, possibly Bertha (second from left) and Myrtle (far left).
When I was younger I asked Granny to tell me about her mom, Laura. What she recalled the most was that Laura always went outside and played WITH her kids instead of sending them outside to play alone while Laura took care of chores and household business. Granny also recalled Laura being a good cook. When I asked my Mom about her grandma Laura, my Mom also remembered Laura’s cooking. She remembers going to Laura’s house on Sunday’s for meals and Laura almost always fixed Angel Food cakes with sprinkles inside for dessert. I talked about those cakes in this blog post. Mom loved those cakes! In spite of Laura’s good cooking, she was always a thin, petite woman. My mom didn’t recall ever hearing Laura yell or get loud.
Laura lived in several different houses in Sulphur Springs, Benton County, Arkansas. Laura’s brother, Uncle Ed, always lived near Laura all his life. I don’t think he ever married. I remember Mom telling me once that it was almost like he stayed to take care of Grandma Laura.
Just before Laura’s 23rd birthday, she married William Sherman RITER. They had five children together. Granny always told me there was another baby that didn’t live but I have no proof of that. This baby that didn’t live was Laura’s first baby which would make a total of 6 children that Laura gave birth to. When Laura was just 41 years old, William passed away and left her to raise those five children alone. She raised them well and never remarried. Granny recalled that it took Laura almost a year to get William’s military pension started. That year was very difficult as the family didn’t have much money to live on.
In the mid-1950’s, Laura’s daughter Bertha was diagnosed with cancer. In the fall of 1957, when Laura was 70 years old, Bertha died due to the cancer. That left Bertha’s children with their stepfather with whom they did not have much of a relationship and while he loved them, he had no way to raise them on his own. Laura moved those five children back from California and finished raising them. In January of 1970 at the age of 81, after raising 10 children, she passed away. She died on a Saturday. At the time of her death her son William lived in Panama City, Florida. Her daughter Myrtle (RITER) PENDERGRAFT lived in Sulphur Springs (as did Laura). Laura’s daughter Jessie (RITER) BATES live in Southwest City, Missouri. Her daughter Faye (RITER) STEVENS lived in Anderson, Missouri. Her brother Ed BULLOCK lived in Sulphur Springs, Arkansas near Laura as I talked about earlier. He is also buried in the same cemetery as Laura (Butler Cemetery near Sulphur Springs, Arkansas).

William "Ed" Bullock's gravestone. — William “Ed” Bullock’s gravestone.

I’m leaving a photo of Ed’s gravestone here since the name on the stone is different than what they called him. He doesn’t have any descendants to remember him or clean his gravesite and leave flowers. If you’re ever in the area, you might stop by and leave flowers for he and Grandma Laura and clean off the stones.
Laura’s brother Oscar BULLOCK lived in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Oscar was a World War I veteran and when he passed away he was buried in the Fayetteville National Cemetery in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Her sister Cynthia (BULLOCK) BATY lived in Gilroy, California. Another of her sisters, Alice (BULLOCK) ROTRAMEL, lived in Southwest City, Missouri. At the time of her death, Laura had 29 grandchildren (5 of whom she finished raising as noted above) and 53 great grandchildren (of whom I was one of the newest, being less than a year old at the time of her death).

Me at approximately the time Laura BULLOCK RITER passed away.
If you have any memories of Laura I’d love to hear them. If you have any photos to share, I’d love to see them.

Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Baby

On days when I’m not scheduled to do a blog post I’m going to try to post photos. This month I’ll use the current Genealogy-Photo-a-Day Instagram challenge as a theme guide. Today’s theme is ‘baby’. Today I’ll post a photo of me taken just after I was born. My paternal great grandfather, Mark DRAKE, is holding me and my paternal great grandmother, Edith (HUBBARD) DRAKE, is standing beside us. If you have photos you’d like to share just send them to me and I’ll be happy to post them with a caption that you provide and with credit to you.

My great-grandparents, Mark and Edith (Hubbard) Drake. Mark is holding me.

Until tomorrow,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Down in the Root Cellar

2016 Report Card

It’s the end of the year so that means report card time.

If you’ve been reading my blog for at least a year you’ll know that at the end of the year I post the year’s goals and review how well I did at reaching them and then I set new goals for the new year. Often, even if I don’t reach the goals in the year I made them, I will reach them in a different year. It never ceases to surprise me how the universe seems to work to meet my goals if I put them out there. Most years I put my goals out to the universe and don’t look at them again until the end of the year. It’s always a fun surprise to see how things turn out.

Last years goals:

1. To learn who my 3rd great grandfather Charles SEELY’s parents were. (Research goal)

You can read previous posts about the SEELY’s at these links:

#22882- Charles’ marriage to Sinthia FOSTER.

#25722- the Arkansas copy of the deed for the Georgia property.

#23404- the multi-part story of Press SEELY- grandson to Charles SEELY.

#20760- June 2015, a more in-depth post about Charles Seely.

So I didn’t find out a lot about Charles this year despite going to Lawrence County, Missouri to look for records. If you open your eyes and pay attention though, you’ll find that life is very cyclical and I’m certain that Charles will decide to be found in a future year when I don’t expect him to show up. I did acquire his Homestead file from National Archives. Charles homesteaded land in Lawrence County, Missouri in 1857. The documents are of poor quality and unfortunately did not give the amount of detail I’ve found in other ancestors’ Homestead files. Charles paid $100 for the Northwest quarter of the Southeast quarter of section 31 in Township 27 of Range 28 containing 40 acres at $2.50 per acre. The document was originally filed in the Receiver’s Office in Springfield, Missouri.

Land plat map of Lawrence County, Missouri area where Charles Seely's homestead was. — Land plat map of Lawrence County, Missouri area where Charles Seely’s homestead was.

Charles’ land was located where the red circle is on this map of Lawrence County, MO.

This year, the person who really wanted to be found (and who kept cropping up all year long) was my 3rd great-grandfather, John BATES. You can read some of his posts at these links if you want:

Post #16413 written in January 2015.

Follow-up post #25406 guest written by my cousin Troy Bates.

My mom and I were able to go to the Benton County, Arkansas courthouse and find a deed record pertaining to John’s widow and then later in the year Bart and I were able to make a trip to Georgia and I found the counterpart to that deed in a courthouse in Georgia. The deed had to be filed in both states since the property was in Georgia but by that time, his widow had remarried and moved to Arkansas.

So as far as Charles SEELY- I found him on a couple of documents but I don’t feel I made any real progress as far as who he was, who his family (parents/siblings) was, or where he came from.

2. To blog at least once per month. Also, to convert some of my blog stories to articles and try to get them published in small local or specialized genealogical or historical publications. (Combined writing and sharing goals)

This was a win and not-a-win all at the same time. On the one hand I blew the blog goal out of the water with more than 54 (!!!) blog posts this year. The publication goal? I did a little research into potential publications to contact but didn’t actually send any material in for possible publication. This year was not at all what I expected it to be. I’m glad for the things that happened- they just didn’t further the genealogy goals.

3. To start over in reviewing and organizing my family history utilizing ideas from Thomas MacEntee’s Genealogy Do-Over Challenge. (Organizing goal- keeping the same goal since I didn’t meet it last year.) You can learn more about the challenge here.

Once again, I didn’t get much done in the way of organization other than cleaning up my digital family tree because that part is necessary before I can consider a blog post publish-worthy. Beyond that- I didn’t do anything worth noting here. However, for Christmas I requested a table that I could set up in my home to utilize as a work area for all my genealogy “stuff” (some of which has been packed away for more than a decade!). My parents were kind enough to get me a table. I’ll be setting it up between Christmas and New Year’s and will begin unpacking all my genealogy, organizing it, digitizing it, and setting up a work area. I’m really excited about this! Thanks Dad and Mom!

4. To attend a conference/workshop/educational event. This year’s choice is Family History Conference of Northwest Arkansas 2016 (same as last year). It’s a free event with some good workshops. If you’re interested you can find more information here. (Self-Improvement Goal)

I went to the conference in 2016 and enjoyed it. This coming year I will be teaching one of the workshops. I’m pretty excited about that and I hope to see some of you there. It’s still free. The 2017 schedule should be up soon. You can register now if you want. The link above is still valid.

In summary, while I didn’t meet some of my goals or met them in a way I didn’t intend/anticipate, I still feel it was a pretty successful year. In addition to last year’s genealogy trips, I was able to get trips in this year to Tennessee/North Carolina and Georgia as well as local trips to the courthouses in Benton County, Arkansas and Lawrence County, Missouri.

New Year, New Blog

Now it’s time to set new goals and then to talk about the 2017 blog setup since it’s going to change some.

2017 Goals

1. Learn more about my 3rd great grandmother Hester Ann Eglentine MITCHELL DRAKE – anything about the end of her life or the very beginning (well…really just anything at all!). (Research goal)

2. Continue to blog but with a more regular schedule and begin including some of Bart’s family stories as well. (Writing/Sharing goals)

3. Set up a research area in a spare room and FINALLY get started on those organization goals I’ve had the last couple of years. (Organizing goals)

4. Create a successful class to teach Spring, 2017 at conference. (Self-Improvement Goal)

Blog Changes for 2017

In 2017 my blog will change. I plan to start telling some of my husband Bart’s stories as well as mine. I also plan to have somewhat of a schedule so I don’t necessarily have to announce when each blog post goes live. I will still advertise each blog post on my Facebook but I won’t necessarily be tagging people each time I post. I would like readers to be able to depend on a schedule and know ahead of time what I will be posting so they can go find the information on their own. I would especially like to get away from tagging everyone on Facebook for each individual post.

In order to accomplish these goals I will be making a new blog post every Sunday. On Sunday I will list the specific days of that week that new blog posts will go live. That way you can check back on those days if you’re interested in the topic and find it on your own. For instance, the first week of January I will be posting the week’s schedule on January 1 because it’s a Sunday. It will look something like this:

January 1: Schedule for the week PLUS stories about James M. BULLOCK (my maternal 2nd great grandfather) and Theodor H. MOELLER (Bart’s maternal great grandfather).

January 3: Stories about Laura BULLOCK RITER (my maternal great grandmother)

January 5: Stories about Nancy CHAMBERS HUBBARD (my paternal 3rd great grandmother)

January 6: Stories about Lucretia HUTCHISON MITCHELL (my paternal 4th great grandmother)

So now you know that the first week of January you can expect blog posts on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. You will also know whether I’m talking about mom’s family (maternal) or dad’s family (paternal) or Bart’s mom’s or dad’s families. So if you miss my Facebook link about a particular person that you’re interested in you can just come here and read it. Bookmarking my blog on your computer or subscribing to an RSS feed of my blog will be the easiest/fastest way to access my blog on your own without Facebook links.

I hope this coming year will be a great year for all of us and I hope you will come back to read the blog throughout the year. I’m looking forward to telling our stories for future generations to enjoy. Please feel free to contribute stories if you have some about the people listed on each Sunday’s schedule. I’d love to include your stories here. For now though, I’m going to celebrate the coming new year with some cupcakes. You can find the recipes for the cupcakes here: Gin and Juice Cupcakes from A Soulful Twist blog and Red Velvet Red Win Cupcakes from A Night Owl blog.

Until next time,

~ Lisa at Days of Our Lives

Details of the 99%

So I thought I would give you some further insight to the percentages in yesterday’s post. I will start with my paternal line and then go into my maternal line after that. I will let you know where I think each line came from in order to make up the DNA results I talked about yesterday.
My Paternal Lines- In Alphabetical Order
I will put the surname first and then the country I *think* each family came from before entering the US. If I don’t know, the family won’t be included on the list.
Bear- I suspect this family is Native American but can’t prove it
Bond- England
Caudill- Scotland or England- not certain
Day- Wales
Drake- England
Greer- Scotland
Hubbard- England
Larkin- Possibly Ireland
Littrell- Ireland
Lowe- England
Pilgrim- I suspect Germany but don’t know anything certain
Reed- Ireland
Sargent- England
Watts- England
Wedding- Germany
Weddle- Netherlands
Is it becoming clear why my data states 56% British Isles??
My Maternal Lines- In Alphabetical Order
I will put the surname first and then the country I *think* each family came from before entering the US. If I don’t know, the family won’t be included on the list.
Bates- I suspect probably Germany but don’t know really
Chenoweth- England
Dale- England
Dow- England
Ellis- England
Elston/Elton- England
Gibson- Ireland
Reiter/Riter- Germany
Scott- Native American
White- England
So you can see that my mom’s heritage is a big mystery to me, but still helps to account for a good portion of that 56% British Isles result.
I’ve pretty well accounted for the 56% British Isles. I’ve accounted for exactly ZERO of the 25% Scandinavian DNA. I feel like I’ve done a decent job covering the 10% Western and Central Europe (Germany). I’ve accounted for exactly ZERO of the 7% Southern Europe. And that 1% Central/South Asian plus the half percentages of Eastern/Middle East and Ashkenazi Jew?? Still nothing (although I suspect the Reiter family on Mom’s side and possibly the Pilgrim family on Dad’s side)! However, I’ve starting dabbling with the Jewishgen.org website and have found so many of the surnames that I believe to be German (on both mine AND Bart’s families) so maybe I’ll make some headway on the Jewish angle in 2017.
Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

99%

I’m slow to get into things but once I do, I’m pretty committed. The DNA craze has been going on for awhile. My SIL Becky got hers done long ago and has been encouraging me to do mine for a long time. I finally decided I was ready and knew which company I wanted to go with, etc. Actually…my great-uncle and great-aunt wanted me to help them do theirs and I decided if they were doing it and I was helping them I might as well do my own. Then I decided if I was doing it my husband was, too! Then I even got my parents to do it. I chose Family Tree DNA for a few reasons, the most important of which are that they don’t share your info with other companies and also they utilize a swab test rather than a spit test. (The kits are still on sale but only for a few more days! Hurry and buy one now!!)
I ordered our kits the second week of November. We held on to them a couple of days and then sent them in. I’m not sure what happened with the mailing process but it took a couple of weeks for Family Tree to acknowledge receipt of our packages. However, my uncle and aunt’s kits were acknowledged right away. My husband and I swabbed and sent in our samples in mid-November. Our results were posted about a week before Christmas. For the record, the results were posted well in advance of the date projected by Family Tree DNA. I COULD NOT WAIT TO READ THE RESULTS!!
I opened them and I was so confused and frustrated! My husband’s, aunt’s, and uncle’s results all read 100% but mine read 99%. I messaged Family Tree and asked why mine were only 99%. I didn’t get a response (to be fair it was Christmas time) so I called them and asked the same question. I was told that it is normal to receive between 99% and 101% on results due to the fact that there are sometimes fractions of percents that cause the total to come in under or over 100%. The company doesn’t report fractions less than 1% total because that amount falls within the margin of error.
So for my family reading this- I know you’re asking yourself when I’m going to get around to talking about that 99% so here you go:
98% European- broken down to include:
56% British Isles (United Kingdom, Ireland, Great Britain area)
25% Scandinavia (Norway and southern Sweden area)
10% Western and Central Europe (Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic area)
7% Southern Europe (Portugal, Spain, Italy, Albania, Greece area)
Plus
1% Central/South Asian- specifically:
Central Asia (Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan area)
In case you do better with pictures, here you go:

For the most part I was not surprised with the exception of the 1% Central Asia. I WAS surprised that there was no Native American percentage since I can prove that heritage.
Now back to that 1%. Along the way to discovering all of the above information and subsequently trying to find relatives on the Family Tree DNA website and the Gedmatch.com website, I have discovered that the missing percent includes about half Eastern Middle East (the best I can tell that includes Turkey, Israel, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan area) and about half Ashkenazi Jew. I will say that there are a lot of extraneous discussions on the internet about Eastern Middle East DNA and the possibility that Native American DNA is being interpreted as Eastern Middle East. I just don’t know enough about DNA to say what’s going on with that.
About the Ashkenazi Jew…I used to tease my son about having a “Jew nose” and I would affectionately call him my “Jew boy” sometimes. (He’s no longer with us but as soon as I learned about the Ashkenazi heritage, I texted my daughter to let her know she really was my “Jew girl”.) I used to tell my son there’s Jewish in there somewhere! Then about a year ago I found some information in my research that indicated the possibility of Ashkenazi Jew and I mentioned it to my mom but then I just put it on the back burner and forgot about it because what are the chances this Oklahoma country girl is really Jewish?! Seriously. And there was ZERO family oral history about being Jewish. Well, wouldn’t you know…I am!! And now I know where that Jew nose came from! And it totally explains my maternal grandparents’ tight grip on money! I *think* my Ashkenazi DNA may come from my maternal 2nd great grandfather, Nicholas REITER. Those of you who follow my blog may know that I’m kind of stuck on Nicholas REITER’s family history. I just can’t get anywhere with him even after nearly three decades of research. As soon as the Ashkenazi Jew heritage was confirmed with DNA I started looking around online and found Jewishgen.org. I found a few REITER researchers on this website and I have contacted all of them hoping to get a positive response and finally make a breakthrough on this family line. Something really cool about being Jewish- if I’m understanding correctly- is I can obtain dual citizenship in Israel based on my mother’s Jewish heritage because of Israel’s Law of Return. Very cool!!
I’ve uploaded my results to the Gedmatch.com website hoping to get more results but honestly- I feel so dumb when it comes to this DNA stuff. There is so much to learn! And it isn’t an exact science. Each company I test with could come back with slightly different results due to differences in testing. And your DNA can NOT tell you everything. For instance, I know I’m Native American even though my DNA results don’t indicate that. On top of that, my brothers’ DNA results may be slightly different than mine because people don’t inherit equal amounts of DNA from each ancestor. So while my results may show Ashkenazi Jew, my brother’s might not show that at all. And while my DNA may shows no Native American heritage, that Native American may show up on my brother’s results.
I encourage each of you to get tested. The more people that test, the easier it will be to continue researching the family’s history. You have options including Family Tree DNA, Ancestry, 23andMe, and the newest one- MyHeritage. Please let me know if you decide to test. If you can get older family members to test, please do so. With each generation, we lose a little piece of DNA. I’m so looking forward to this DNA journey I’ve started on. If I make any incredible breakthroughs I’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Medical Monday: An Apple a Day, A Test a Year- Whatever it Takes

This is a late post but an important one. Periodically I have to begin a round of tests to ensure that I do not have cancer. This has been going on for about 10 years now. Occasionally, after what I think will be a routine exam, the doctor will say, “There’s something that I’m not sure about. Let’s do some tests.” So I go do the tests and then it’s wait wait wait wait wait…then, “Ok well it seems like everything is fine so we’ll just watch and wait.” And then I’m put on an every six-month schedule to see the doctor for at least a year and a half until they’re comfortable with the way everything is going. Last year I was referred out to a breast cancer doctor in Tulsa so she could take a look and give her input. It was a little stressful to be bumped up from OB-GYN care to a breast cancer doctor. Let’s be honest…it was nerve-racking. She was great though and even got me a genetic cancer screening paid for by insurance and it said everything was fine. So I felt confident that I was healthy and I went on about my business. But really- who knows the future? I just had another visit to the breast cancer doctor today for an exam. Regular exams are so important. Guys (men!)- don’t think you’re immune to breast cancer because it hits guys, too. For that matter, don’t ignore any signs or symptoms of any type of cancer. If something isn’t right- go to the doctor! Ignoring it doesn’t make it go away. In this day and age, cancer is survivable- especially if you seek treatment right away.
Just to emphasize what I’m saying (for those of you who share some of my genetic history), I’m going to post photos of causes of death on ONLY THREE of my direct line paternal ancestors. There’s plenty on mom’s side too, so don’t think y’all are off the hook just because I’m talking about my paternal family. Please- get regular exams no matter how uncomfortable they may be!

Portion of a death certificate showing a family history of cancer.

I know that these are ancestors who died of cancer but this was a long time ago. Cancer is treatable now. The people who love you need you to TRY! So go get examined today if you’re having problems- and maybe even if you’re not. Preventive maintenance is the best policy.

Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Drama Queen

Today’s blog theme is ‘heirloom’. This is another topic that has already been covered this month so I planned on doing something different for the final blog post in this month-long challenge. I’ve written a post about Derek so now I want to finish up with a blog post about Shaina and my stint as a ‘drama mom’. It’s going to be short and sweet, I hope, since we are still struggling with the hot water heater problem.
I remember when Derek was in 2nd grade his teacher (I wish I could remember her name- he loved her) commented to me once about how dramatic Derek was. I must have looked at her like she had two heads and I remember saying, “He is?!” She went on to tell me the ways in which Derek was dramatic and all I could say was that I guessed I hadn’t noticed that Derek was dramatic since his sister was so much MORE dramatic all the time. ALL the time.
Over the years both my kids were in quite a few plays. I truly enjoyed my time as a drama mom. I was in a play in 1st grade and loved it but once I got to high school I didn’t have enough confidence or self-esteem to be in drama. I kind of lived through my kids during their drama years. So to close out this month, here are a few mementos of some of the plays Shaina was involved in. She was a good actress and I’m proud of her.

A church play Shaina and Derek were in when they were little. We were at Kuna Life Center in Kuna, Idaho at that time.

Shaina is front and center- almost covered up by the music stand.

More pics from Candy Cane Christmas, the church play the kids did at Kuna Life Center. Shaina was practicing her solo part here.

Shaina is at the microphone for her solo part.
Candy Cane Christmas- Kuna Life Center, Kuna, Idaho.

Shaina at JBU Cheer Camp in Siloam Springs, Arkansas the summer after her 5th grade year.

Shaina is in the center in blue shorts.

Shaina at JBU Cheer Camp in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.

Shaina is next to the cheerleader on the right.
~~Summer drama camp- Grease musical~~

Shaina at dress rehearsal for Sager Creek Arts Center's play The Plain Brown Bear. Shaina and her cousin, Patrick Dowdy, had the two lead roles. — Shaina at dress rehearsal for Sager Creek Arts Center’s play The Plain Brown Bear. Shaina and her cousin, Patrick Dowdy, had the two lead roles.

I thought I had lost all these photos in a computer crash! I was just saying a few days ago how much I would like to have a photo from this play. This is Shaina and my nephew, Patrick, in The Plain Brown Bear. Shaina and Patrick earned the two leading roles in the play. Shaina is on the far right in a dark blue dress and is sitting. Patrick is front and center in the bear costume. Both Shaina and Patrick gave excellent performances. This was Shaina’s final stage performance. She showed her maturity as an actress on stage.

Cast photos from Picture in Scripture Amphitheater.

Bart and Derek are wearing the Roman soldier costumes. I am seated to the left of Bart and Shaina is the girl seated next to Derek, between Bart and Derek. In the upper right corner I’m pretty sure that’s Derek getting a pie smashed in his face by Jackie Lingle.

Cast photo from Picture in Scripture Amphitheater in Disney, Oklahoma.

In the upper row on the far right is Derek and the girl in front of him wearing the purplish-pinkish costume is Shaina.

Cast photos from Picture in Scripture Amphitheater in Disney, Oklahoma.

I *think* both my kids are in the upper tier with Shaina being on the far right in the green costume and Derek being third from the right in a yellowish/beigish costume.

Possibly opening night at Picture in Scripture Amphitheater in Disney, Oklahoma.

This is the opening scene. I am on the upper tier in the white costume helping someone with their flag. It was a windy night and the flags were difficult to handle that night. I *think* that might be Shaina below me and to the right next to the maroon-colored curtain on the building. The girl wearing the green dress.

Derek and Bart as the two thieves on the cross. Darrin Scroggins played Jesus. Picture in Scripture Amphitheater, Disney, Oklahoma.

2010- our final season in the Picture in Scripture play at Disney, Oklahoma. The final picture is Bart and Derek playing the two thieves on the cross and me as Mary. Shaina was in the crowd below us.

Cast photo at Picture in Scripture Amphitheater in Disney, Oklahoma.

I think this was the 2003 season- our first year in the play. Shaina is in the circle on the left. Bart and I are circled together and Derek is in the other circle.
Finally, Shaina in The Little Prince and me as backstage drama mom in The Little Prince. She got to wear a fat suit and play a male character:

Me, backstage doing costume changes at Grove Playmakers' production of The Little Prince. — Me, backstage doing costume changes at Grove Playmakers’ production of The Little Prince.

Me backstage helping one of the cast members with her costume.

Shaina putting on her "fat" suit for one of her parts in Grove Playmakers' The Little Prince. — Shaina putting on her “fat” suit for one of her parts in Grove Playmakers’ The Little Prince.

The fat suit was a chore to get into.

Shaina and another actress in costume backstage at Grove Playmakers' The Little Prince dress rehearsal. Here, she's wearing the fat suit. — Shaina and another actress in costume backstage at Grove Playmakers’ The Little Prince dress rehearsal. Here, she’s wearing the fat suit.

Shaina posing for the camera with her cast friend.

Shaina at Grove Playmakers at a rehearsal of The Little Prince.

So much emotion! One of the play rehearsals.

Shaina, backstage and in costume, awaiting her turn on stage at Grove Playmakers' production of The Little Prince. — Shaina, backstage and in costume, awaiting her turn on stage at Grove Playmakers’ production of The Little Prince.

This was backstage on either a dress rehearsal or one of the show nights. This was Shaina’s next to last stage role. She showed a lot of maturity on stage and in accepting the role she received.
It was stage tradition for the actor/actress to write their favorite line from the play on the wall backstage. I can’t remember the lines Shaina chose but maybe if she remembers she will share them with us.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the November blogs. I’m going to take a break in December. I need to start on Christmas presents before I run out of time! You may only see two blog posts from me in the final month of 2016 but I’ll still be around blogging when I can.

Until next time,
Lisa @ Days of Our Lives

Author: honeysucklefarm.ok