1860 :: Barker Boarding House

 

On this date in our family history . . . the 18th day of June . . . in the year 1860 . . . Timothy Barker is enumerated at the Keeper of a Boarding House in Biddeford, York County, Maine . . . this Timothy is a 3rd great-grandpa of the Keeper of this family history blog . . . also in the same household is his wife, Jerusha (my 3rd great-grandma) . . . and their married daughter, Jerusha, and her husband Atwood Frank Smith (my 2nd great-grandparents) . . . LUV the handwriting of the enumerator, Jere E. Lord, on this census page . . . possibly aka Jeremiah E. Lord who died in 1864 in Biddeford . . .

1754 :: Harmon and Milliken

On this date in our family history . . . the 23rd day of May . . . in the year 1754 . . . Elizabeth "Betsey" Harmon becomes the bride of Lieut. Edward Milliken in Scarboro, Maine . . . this Betsey and Edward are 6th great-grandparents to the Keeper of this family history blog . . .






The Harmon genealogy, comprising all branches in New England (Google eBook)
by Artemas Canfield Harmon
Printed by Gibson bros., inc., 1920

1930 :: Uncle Bob is born

 

Robert E. Henry, Jr.
born 21st May 1930
16A Parrott Street
Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts
died 21st December 1997
Veteran's Administration Hospital
Temple, Bell County, Texas





This is our Uncle Bob, my Mom's only brother . . . he never married or had children of his own . . . but I have childhood memories of him being at our house for holidays . . . and bringing extra-special gifts . . . the page image in the above collage is from his baby book . . . the handwriting is that of his young Mother, Elizabeth Marilla Henry nee Smith (1912-1932) . . . and that is her holding him in the lower left corner . . .

Sentimental Sunday :: The Voices of my Grandmas

Remembering the Grandmas . . .
for Mother's Day . . . 

I hear the voices of my grandmas
Calling out from a distant past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."

Tell the children of our wanderings
Let the kinfolk hear the tales
How we braved the new horizons
How we blazed the olden trails.

How we buried too many babies
How we struggled to keep them fed
How we caressed the hands of our loved ones
As they lay dying on their beds.

How we endured many a hardship
With an eye to the future goal
To create a more promising future
And to keep our family whole.

They were as different from each other
As the scraps in a crazy quilt
Yet once the pieces were sewn together
Another generation they had built

I can sense them calling out to me
From the gloaming of my past
"Please do not let us be forgot.
Record our stories that we may last."

Begotten . . .
and may they never be forgotten . . .
Remembering my Grandmas . . .

• Berta Mary Sharp, and her mother, Nellie Lemaire
• Elizabeth Marilla Smith, and her mother, Eva May Brackett
• Ima Lois Muston, and her mother, Emma Patience Nettles
• Jerusha Marilla Barker, and her mother, Jerusha Lakin Hobbs
• Josephine Wingfield Davis, and her mother, America James Fears
• Mahala Lee Roberts, and her mother, Patsy Gill
• Mary Alexandrien Lemaire, and her mother, Elizabeth Waring
• Mary Annie West, and her mother, Sarah Mildred Carter
• Mollie Olive, and her mother, Clementine Jordan
• Nancy Virilla Quinn, and her mother, Sushannah
• Phoebe Merrill, and her mother, Olive Jane Goodwin

The above family poem was composed by benotforgot back in 2009 in response to a challenge posted at Genea-Musings: Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Poetry and Genealogy . . . and the Wordle (name cloud) was created at wordle.net . . .

In loving memory . . .

We have this moment to hold in our hands
and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.



Remembering . . .
Bennie Everhart
20 March 1948 ~ 07 April 2010


Hold tight to the sound of the music of living,
Happy songs from the laughter of children at play;
Hold my hand as we run through the sweet fragrant meadows,
Making mem'ries of what was today.

Tender words, gentle touch and a good cup of coffee,
And someone who loves me and wants me to stay;
Hold them near while they're here and don't wait for tomorrow,
To look back and wish for today.

Take the blue of the sky and the green of the forest,
And the gold and the brown of the freshly mown hay;
Add the pale shades of spring and the circus of autumn,
And weave you a lovely today.

For we have this moment to hold in our hands
and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand;
Yesterday's gone and tomorrow may never come,
But we have this moment today.


Lyrics by Gloria Gaither
Music by William J. Gaither
© 1975 William J. Gaither

1837 :: Death of Margaret Watson

On this date in our family history . . . the 30th day of March . . . in the year 1837 . . . Margaret Porter nee Watson dies in Greene County, Georgia . . . this Margaret is a maternal great-grandma to Josephine Wingfield Henry nee Davis (1842-1899) . . . who is a 2nd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . 


Georgia Comprising Sketches of
Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons
Arranged in Cyclopedic Form
By
Allen Daniel Candler, Clement Anselm Evans:  

Happy Birthday, Sercey

These little ones being held by their fathers are first cousins . . . on the left is my Dad, Forrest Lee Pounders (1927-1996), son of Ima (1906-1999) & Jake (1902-1957) Pounders . . . on the right is Sercey Quinney, son of Shorty (1907-2002) & Dean Quinney (1901-1987) . . . Ima and Shorty were two of seven daughters born to Charlie & Emma (Nettles) Muston . . . Sercey is celebrating his 84th birthday today . . .


Happy Birthday, Sercey!

When the flowers bloom in Spring

Wordless Wednesday :: Could I have this dance . . .

  On this date . . . the 8th day of February . . .
in the year nineteen hundred and seventy-five . . .
I married my favorite dancing partner . . .

Happy Birthday, Mom

 

Happy Birthday, Emily Rebecca

Twenty-something years ago . . . on this date . . . the 24th day of January . . . the 2nd of my three beautiful nieces was born . . . Happy Birthday, Em! . . . Luv ya bunches . . . Auntie Vickie . . . 

Click > HERE < to pick up your very own copy of the vintage forget-me-not image used above -- and it's FREE -- from Vintage Scrapbooking!

The Journal

One hundred fifty years ago today . . . on this very date . . . the 16th day of January . . . in the year 1862 . . . James Madison Hall (1819-1866) sat down in Liberty County, Texas . . . and picked up his pen to compose a few sentences about the events of his day . . .

Thursday, January 16th, 1862. To day I am engaged painting in the new house. Boys are also at work on the house, which is now progressing some better. weather clear and pleasant.

J.M. Hall would continue this practice on a daily basis until his death in September of 1866 . . . these Journal excerpts have their very own blog . . . benotforgot-journal.blogspot.com . . . which will automatically feed to this Twitter account (just in case you would like to follow along there) . . . and they also appear daily on this Facebook page . . .

Sentimental Sunday :: Christmas 1956

1896 :: Birth of Little Helen

On this date in our family history . . . the 18th day of November . . . in the year 1896 . . . probably somewhere in Maine . . . a baby girl is born . . .

She is raised as Helen F. Brackett, and is said to be the daughter of Peter Brackett (1838-1927) and his wife, Elizabeth J. "Lizzie" Merrill (1841-1911). At the time of Helen's birth, Peter is 58, and Lizzie is 55 years of age.

For many years, it was believed that Peter and Lizzie were the birth-parents of Helen's older "sister" -- Eva May Smith (1874-1936) -- until the family lore from Maine was passed on to the Texas descendants that Eva May was actually the daughter of Lizzie's younger sister, Phoebe (1848-1927). Eva May is a maternal great-grandma of the Keeper of this blog.

Even before receipt of this info -- due to the age of Peter and Lizzie at the time of Helen's birth, as well as the gap of almost 23 years between the birth of their two "daughters" (and only children) -- there were questions about Helen's true parentage.

She is enumerated on the 1900 census as 3-year-old Hellen Brackett. And there is a small grave-marker for this little one sitting beside the tombstone of Peter and Lizzie. Engraved on it are the following words :-


Helen F. Dau. of
Peter & Lizzie J. Brackett
Nov. 18, 1896.
May 31, 1906.
Darling, we miss you.
That is all we know at this time. Little Helen needs to be researched further . . . her findagrave memorial page


begotten and not forgotten . . .

1946 :: Did NOT arrive at destination

On this date in our family history . . . the 1st day of November . . . in the year 1946 . . . William Allec Hilton and his seven crewmates boarded a B-17 Flying Fortress at Capodichino AirField in Naples, Italy, and flew out, heading for Bovington, England . . . they never arrived . . . the following areas were diligently searched . . . Isle of Corsica, Ligurian Sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Swiss Alps, Frech Alps, Rhone Valley to Paris (over an area 75 miles wide), an area 75 miles wide from Paris to Bovington . . . all available American aircraft in Italy, France, and some aircraft in Germany conducted this search . . . aircraft from RAF also aided in the search from Bovington to Paris . . . French aircraft also aided in the search in Southern France . . . these searches continued for 18 days . . . they were futile . . . more than nine months later . . . on the 25th day of July 1947 . . . a patrol of the 99th Infantry Battalion Alpine discovers the remains of the aircraft on the mountain Aiguille Glacier, a glacier at 3750 meters, 15 miles southwest of the summit of Mont Blanc . . . some aircraft debris and human remains identify the device . . . the causes of the accident appear to be related to bad weather . . . at the scene of the accident, a propeller blade stuck in the rock where the plane crashed serves to climbers as a place to hang their ropes . . . this William is a son of Isaac Cleveland Hilton (1888-1947) and Louisa Hooper Hilton Roberts nee MUSTON (1893-1973) . . . and he is a 1st cousin twice removed to the Keeper of this geneablog . . . visit William's findagrave page to view the monument at Arlington National Cemetery listing the names of the members of this crew . . . the recovered remains were buried here on 10 October 1947 . . . FYI . . . some of this information was translated by Google from a French internet page . . .

Remembering Aunt Gladys

 

On this date in our recent family history . . . the 18th day of September . . . in the year 2007 . . . Gladys Coreen Taylor nee Muston dies in Waco, McLennan County, Texas . . . she is the sixth of seven daughters born to Charlie & Emma Patience (Nettles) Muston (my great-grandparents) . . . and the last one surviving . . . Aunt Gladys is laid to rest beside her husband, John A. Taylor (1909-1990), in the Lexington City Cemetery in Lee County, Texas . . . one of the older sisters of my Aunt Gladys is Ima Lois Pounders nee Muston (1906-1999), who is my paternal grandma . . . in the late 1950s and early 1960s, our little family would drive down the road to Lexington (from Rockdale) on Sunday afternoons to visit with Grandma (Emma) Muston, who lived right across the street from Aunt Gladys and Uncle John . . . so the Sunday visits always included them, too . . . remembering . . . 

1871 :: Letter to Aunt Amanda

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 15th day of September . . . in the year 1871 . . . Miss Della Vick of Lexington, Texas sat down to pen a letter to her Aunt Amanda back home in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . . and makes mention of the fact that . . . 

I went to the barbecue in Lexington last Saturday was two weeks ago. There was a good many people there but we came home and went to Prospect to preaching that night. It is four miles. There was five joined that night and among them was Mollie Nettles used to be Mollie West.

FYI, this Mollie just happens to be my 2nd great-grandma! . . . and this is just one in a series of letters to Aunt Amanda by kith 'n kin who left a war-ravaged Mississippi following the years of the war between the states . . . hoping for a better life in Texas . . .

Happy Birthday, Jaime Lyn

2005 :: Hurricane Katrina

Norman and Carol Ann (Mulholland) Parr are the late in-laws of one of my New England cousins -- actually a 2nd cousin once removed. I re-established contact with cousin Kristin in 2009 by way of Facebook, after basically being out-of-touch with that entire branch of the family for an entire decade. She had posted a note on her Facebook page in memory of her deceased in-laws (a family story previously unknown to me). I did some research on Google, and found numerous articles mentioning the Parrs, who had apparently been invited to share the home of friends in the face of the impending storm. I also found tributes posted by their son, who shared these photos of his parents. Remembering with and for them . . .

1836 :: Sublett Nominates Sam Houston

On this day in 1836 . . . in the extended branches of our family tree . . . Philip Sublett nominates Sam Houston for president of the Republic of Texas. Sublett, a Kentucky native, had participated in the battle of Nacogdoches in 1832 and was a delegate to the conventions of 1832 and 1833. In 1835 he was elected chairman of the San Augustine Committee of Safety and Correspondence. On October 6 he submitted a resolution appointing Houston commander-in-chief of the forces of San Augustine and Nacogdoches until the Consultation should meet. Sublett was commissioned lieutenant colonel in October and in December 1835 was present at the siege of Bexar. He returned to his farm east of San Augustine after the battle of Concepción. Sam Houston resided in Sublett's home while recuperating from wounds received at San Jacinto. Sublett died in San Augustine on February 25, 1850.

FYI . . . Sublett was a brother-in-law to our Mahala, who is a 3rd great-grandma to the Keeper of this family history blog.

Sentimental Sunday :: Meadows of Heaven

. . . . . . . . . .
A picture is a poem without words.
Horace
. . . . . . . . . . 
Dear Photograph . . .
oh, how I wish he could ride right out of your borders
and into that pasture again . . .
thank you for holding onto that moment in time . . .
. . . . . . . . . . 
In the meadow of life
My acre of heaven . . .
In a place called home
Sailing the waves of past . . .
Rocking chair without a dreamer
A wooden swing without laughter
Sandbox without toy soldiers
Yuletide without the Flight . . .
Meadows of Heaven . . .
by
Nightwish
. . . . . . . . . . 
Over the pallid sea,
and the silvery mist of the meadows.
Silently one by one,
in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars,
the forget-me-nots of the angels.
Longfellow

Black Sheep Sunday :: 1872 Letter

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 14th day of August . . . in the year 1872 . . . Joseph Vick of Lexington, Texas sat down to pen a letter to his Aunt Amanda back home in Oktibbeha County, Mississippi . . . this is just one in a series of letters to Aunt Amanda by kith 'n kin who left a war-ravaged Mississippi following the years of the war between the states . . . hoping for a better life in Texas . . .

---

Lexington Texas
Aug 14th 1872

Dear Aunt

I take my seat this evening to write you a few lines to let you know that we are not all well at this ? I had a chill abot a weak ago Mat has been having some chills but is not now Belle had one today for the first . . . Almost everybody out here has had some chills this summer but there is but very little fatal sickness I dont think that I have heard of a single case.

Crops are very good out here that is cotton I dont think corn is alltogether as good as it was last year cotton is better some people have gone to picking but it is so warm we will not commence until next week there is some ? worms? out here or was about a week ago but they have all disapeared and cotton is doing fine now

There was a man killed out here the other day named birdie by his brotherinlaw named lackey Lackey went to Birdie to borrow a horse to ride to town birdie had just been riding his horse and had came home and fed him he told lackey as soon as his horse got done eating he have him lackey went off some ? and got a horse went to town got drunk went back to birdie and told im he wanted a settlment birdie told him we didn't know there was any when lackey taken him by collar and birdie struck him lackey had his knife in his hand and struck him one lick in the stomach . . . and cut his insides out and then broke and run birdie had a younger brother in the house he got a gun and ? two or three caps at lackey but could not get it to shoot until he had got about one hundred yards don't know whether he hit him or not that was about night and on the next night he lackey stole a horse from his brotherinlaw Jack? Arendal? and left for parts unknown he is a desparate fellow and so was birdie They were both from Miss I think if lackey had been killed to I think the people would have been glad of it

Well I must close write soon and all the news give my love to all yourself included
your affectionate nephew

Joseph H. Vick

Please excuse bad writing and spelling.

Fun in the Sun

This is one of the family photos I would luv to be able to use for The Family Curator's Genealogy Photo Challenge for World Photography Day . . . first problem is the location is unknown . . . second minor problem is that it was taken somewhere in New England, presumably on the coast of Maine . . . and I'm in Texas! . . . anyway . . . 


The photo I took for today for my photo-a-day blog was used to create a background texture that just called out for a beach collage of some sort . . . so I put this one together . . . the mini postcards show scenes from Peaks Island . . . and the young girl with the long dark curls is my maternal grandma, Elizabeth Marilla Henry nee Smith (1912-1932) . . . the names of her friends are not known . . . you are welcome to use this texture for a project of your own . . . just let me know so I can see what ideas you come up with!

1826 :: Expulsion of Elisha Roberts

Colonel Stephen F. Austin
Nacogdoches.
July 21, 1826


SIR,- After an absence of several months from this province to the United States, where I was detained much longer than I had anticipated in consequence of continued and serious indisposition, I returned to this place about the 1st of April last, and much to my astonishment and mortification found everything in disorder and confusion in this section of the province. . . . We have just heard that he [James Gaines] has decreed the expulsion of Judge Williams and Mr. Elisha Roberts [*], two of the most wealthy, intelligent, industrious, and useful citizens in the whole province. . . .

B.W. Edwards

The above information was found at
Haden Edwards & The Fredonian Rebellion 1826-1827
*Elisha Roberts is a 4th great-grandpa of the Keeper of this family history blog

1842 :: Edwards kith or kin?

From September 28, 1840, to November 18, 1851, Nicholas Adolphus Sterne kept a diary of his daily activities, which is a valuable source of information on the period of the Republic of Texas (1836-1846). The names of some of our kith 'n kin are scattered through the pages of his diary . . .




On this date in our extended family history . . . the 13th day of July . . . in the year 1842 . . . Nicholas Adolphus Sterne (ca. 1801-1852) penned the following words in his diary . . . 

Wednesday the 13th Send off Eastern Mail, Mr A. McDonald his Lady, and Mr Miss Edwards, a niece and nephew of Mrs Elisha Roberts arrived, spend the day very agreably,-- made a Sale to Moses L. Patton of the Land I purchased from Jose Ygnacio Ybarbo's Heirs, got my note for $71.00 I gave Doctor Starr, also a receipt I gave Patton for $90.00— spoke to Ned Taliafero respecting some Land, he wants to purchase of me on the Loco, but it is no go, as he wants it on a credit--
Thursday the 14th July 1842 fine weather, done some business at the Office, gave Mr McDonald a Ball in the Evening was well attended, and every body enjoyed themselves--

• Mr. A. McDonald his Lady = Alexander McDonald (ca. 1814-1852) and his wife, Margaret S. Roberts (1822-1892), who is the youngest sister of my 3rd great-grandma, Mahala Lee Sharp Hall nee Roberts (1816-1885)
• Mrs. Elisha Roberts = my 4th great-grandma, Martha Roberts nee Gill (1781-1854) aka Patsy Roberts

  My still unanswered* question is . . .
"Who is this niece and nephew with the last name of Edwards?"
We have not been able to find them on either the ROBERTS side or the GILL side of the family. This question has already been posed (in 2006) to a study group composed of descendants of George Roberts and Rhoda Payne . . . who are Elisha's parents . . . and my 5th great-grandparents . . . with no results so far . . .


. . . . . . . . . .

*UPDATE . . . April 2019 . . . These Edwards kinfolk are apparently two of the children of Patsy's sister, Hester / Ester Gill, who married Robert Edwards in 1819 in Louisiana . . .

Happy Birthday, Monty

 

1890 :: Death of Col. John T. Coffee

On this date in our extended family history . . . the 23rd day of May . . . in the year 1890 . . . Colonel John Trousdale Coffee dies in Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas . . . and is buried in the IOOF Cemetery in that town . . . this CSA Colonel is the husband of Eunice Margaret Amelia Vontress Coffee nee Allen (1838-1919) . . . who is a granddaughter of Elisha and Patsy (Gill) Roberts . . . who are 4th great-grandparents of the Keeper of this family history blog . . .




Historical Register and Dictionaryof the United States Army
From Its Organization, September 29, 1789, to March 2, 1903
By Francis Bernard Heitman

1902 :: Father Dies from Knife Wound

On this date in our extended family history . . . late in the day on the 10th of May in the year 1902 . . . John Connell, Jr. bleeds to death from a knife wound following an unfortunate domestic disagreement with his son and namesake, John Connell III . . . the decedent is a 1st cousin four times removed to the Keeper of this family history blog . . . the Connell killing and subsequent legal proceedings are mentioned in numerous issues of the Dallas Morning News . . . the following biography is from A Memorial and Biographical History of McLennan, Falls, Bell, and Coryell Counties (Chicago: Lewis, 1893; rpt., St. Louis: Ingmire, 1984) . . .

J. H. Connell, a capitalist of Belton, was born in San Augustine county, Texas, when Texas was a province of Mexico, April 3, 1833, son of John H. and Matilda T. (Roberts) Connell, natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky respectively.

John H. Connell's father, a native of Ireland, came to America at an early day and settled in Pennsylvania, where he followed his trade, that of blacksmithing. John H., leaving home when a youth, came in 1826 to Texas and engaged in the mercantile business near Austin, where he was married in 1830. Mr. Connell came to Texas with Sterling C. Robertson, and both secured large tracts of land.

The Roberts family were also among the pioneers of this section of the country. Elisha Roberts [4th great-grandpa of the Keeper of this blog] went from Kentucky to Louisiana in 1819, and in 1820 came to San Augustine, Texas. Elisha Roberts was one of the earliest settlers within the confines of the State.

Mr. Connell died at Viesca in 1834. He was truly a self-made man, and during his lifetime acquired considerable property. Belton is located on a portion of the land on which Mr. Connell once lived. Mrs. Connell having donated to the county of Bell 120 acres, in 1850, on which to establish the county seat. John H. Connell and his wife were the parents of two children: Josephine, wife of Anderson Hamblin, both being now deceased; and J. H., the subject of our sketch.

After the death of Mr. Connell, Mrs. Connell was married in 1835, to Samuel T. Allen, of New York, and their union was blessed in the birth of two children: Thomas R., deceased; and Eunice A., widow of Colonel John T. Coffee, of Missouri. Samuel T. Allen was killed by the Indians at the three forks of the Trinity, in November, 1838, and in the fall of 1847 Mrs. Allen married his brother, Thomas J. Allen. Her death occurred April 3, 1879, at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Coffee, in Georgetown, Williamson county, this state.

The subject of our sketch was reared amid the frontier scenes of what is now San Augustine, Milam, Williamson and Galveston counties. In 1854 he went to California, making the trip from Galveston by water; spent two years in the southern part of the Golden State, and while working in the mines lost his health. He was, however, financially successful. Returning home in the latter part of 1855, he engaged in farming and stock-raising in Texas up to the year 1861. The war coming on in that year, he joined the Confederate forces; was in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and participated in numerous skirmishes and battles.

Returning to his home in the latter part of May, 1865, Mr. Connell set about repairing his wasted fortune, and with renewed energy engaged in his old occupation of farming and stock-raising. He continued his operations in Williamson county till January 28, 1884, when he rented his farm and moved to his property in Belton. He owns considerable valuable real estate, his Belton home place consisting of some 250 acres adjoining town. He has a handsome residence, an intelligent family, and is comfortably situated to enjoy life, having practically retired from active business.

Mr. Connell was married September 15, 1869, to Miss Jennie Howlett, a native of Texas, born in Milam county, October 5, 1844, daughter of James and Sarah (Moore) Howlett, natives of Kentucky and Tennessee respectively. Both the Howletts and the Moores were among the early pioneers of Texas.

Mr. and Mrs. Connell are the parents of five children: John H., Jr., T.E., Susan, May T. and Albert L. T.E. is now a student at the State University of Texas. Mr. Connell and his wife are consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and are held in high esteem by all who know them.

Sentimental Sunday :: Mommy and Me

Sixty years ago today . . . on Mother's Day in the year 1951 . . . the beautiful young woman in this bricolage was about three months pregnant with the little one shown in the photos . . . the rose in the background is a 1932 antique rose called the Fairy Rose . . . the year of origin of that rose is the same year this young Mother was born in Essex County, Massachusetts . . . she was living in Texas (the home state of her Father, and his Mother and maternal Grandpa before him) by the time she started school, and has been here since . . . the Keeper of this family history blog is the little one in the photos . . . she is the first of four lucky children who are privileged to call this lovely woman Mom . . . Happy Mother's Day, Mom . . . luv you bunches . . . and thank you . . . for everything! . . .

Sunday's Obituary :: 1939 Mollie Nettles

Rockdale Reporter
Rockdale, Texas
May 4, 1939


Monday, May 1 at 1:10 p.m. marked the passing of one of earth's dearest and sweetest little mothers, Mrs. M.A. Nettles. She was born near Starkville, Mississippi, October 24, 1852, daughter of Richard and Sarah Mildred (Carter) West, and christened Mary Annie, but known practically all her life as Mollie. She was nine years old when the Civil War began and many were the interesting tales she told concerning it. In 1869 her family, together with several other families, came to Texas in wagons drawn by oxen and settled in and near Lexington.

The following year she married Joseph H. Nettles who had a woodworking shop in connection with the Hester Blacksmith Shop. They soon moved to Williamson County, but a few years later moved back to Lee County and bought a home in the Cole Springs community, near Tanglewood, where a son, Will, still lives. On May 1, 1890, her husband passed to his reward, preceding her by forty-nine years to the day. Of the ten children born to this union, six survive her, two boys and two girls dying in infancy. The surviving children are --

• Mrs. Nona Moore of Cole Springs
• Will Nettles of Cole Springs
• Mrs. Beulah Bryant of Houston
• Mrs. Emma Muston of Lexington
• Mrs. Velma Peebles of Houston
• Joe Nettles of Lott

She had lived on the home place with her eldest son, Will, until February of this year, when she went to Lott to make her home with her youngest child, Joe, and family. It was here, following an illness of bronchial pneumonia, that she passed to her reward. The last six or eight months of her life was spent mainly in bed, but she was given loving and careful attention and was a sweet and patient sufferer. From the wisdom of her years she gave counsel, advice and help to all who sought it, and truly will she be greatly missed by all who knew and loved her.

All of her children, all but five of her twenty-seven grandchildren, and many of her forty-four great-grandchildren were present for the last rites, besides a great host of other relatives and friends. Services were conducted at the Baptist Church in Tanglewood Tuesday afternoon, May 2, 1939, by the Rev. O.J. Morgan, a former pastor of hers. She was a member of the Baptist church, joining in her early girlhood. Interment was in the family plat at the Tanglewood cemetery with Phillips & Luckey of Rockdale in charge. Those coming from Lott for the funeral were --

• Mr. and Mrs. Ed Phillips
• Dr. and Mrs. Patton
• Mr. and Mrs. Luther Reaves and daughter, Dorothy
• Mrs. Claud Day
• Mrs. Grover Stucky
• D. Watkins
• Judge Smith
• Pat Carter and son, Pat Jr.
• Dewey Wright
• Miss Annie Lou Gibbs

The last named was her constant attendant after moving to Lott, and truly a grand-daughter could have been no sweeter to her own grandmother than Annie Lou was to Grandma, who lovingly called her my girl. Present also was Mrs. Richard Mundine Sr. of Taylor, an old friend of the family.

Tech Tuesday :: Kinship Chart

This post is all because of Joan . . . who posted the following comment on my photo blog . . . Doggonit, Vickie, even your charts are works of art. I am wishing that you were my muse. . . . then it dawned on me that there is no reason to have a plain black and white kinship chart hanging there, when I can have a vintage looking chart that is actually pleasing to the eye . . . so I put one together this a.m. . . . and here's a copy for any of y'all who want to use it . . . and if you would also like to have a plain black and white PDF version, just send me an email asking for the PDF relationship chart, and I'll send one to you . . . benotforgot at gmail dot com . . . FYI . . . the accompanying text is freshened up a bit from a post that I originally shared more than ten years ago on my password-protected sites at myfamily . com [retired] . . .

Click on the above chart to open an enlarged view in a separate window.

• Your first cousins are those people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you, i.e., they are the children of your aunts and uncles.
• Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same grandparents.
• Your third cousins have the same great-great-grandparents, and so on.

When the word removed is used to describe a relationship, it means that the two related people are from different generations.

• You and your first cousins are in the same generation (both two generations younger than your grandparents).
• Your mother's first cousin is only one generation younger than those same grandparents, so your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed.

To identify the exact degree of kinship between any two related people . . .

1. Identify the common ancestor of the two people, i.e., find the direct ancestor of individual #1 who is also a direct ancestor of individual #2. The box in the upper left corner of the chart is that common ancestor.
2. Across the top row of the chart, find the relationship of individual #1 to the common ancestor.
3. Down the left edge of the chart, find the relationship of individual #2 to the common ancestor.
4. Read down the column of the individual #1 and across the chart on the row of individual #2. Where the two rows intersect is the box which identifies their relationship.

For example . . . for the Common Ancestor, I am using Christopher Clark who was born in 1681. By the middle of the 19th century . . .

• Christopher's daughter, Agnes, has a great-great-grandson by the name of Samuel (1835-1910) . . .
• Agnes' sister, Elizabeth, has a great-great-granddaughter by the name of Josephine (1842-1899) . . . this Josephine is my 2nd great-grandma, who had lived in Milam Co. TX (where I was born & raised) for more than two decades by the time of her death in 1899 . . .

Since Christopher was the g-g-g-grandpa of both Josephine and Samuel, this puts them both in Column #5 (as his 3rd great-grandchildren) . . . which makes them 4th cousins to each other . . .
As the 2nd great-granddaughter (me) of the 2nd great-granddaughter (Josephine) of Christopher's daughter, Elizabeth, I am the 7th-great-granddaughter of Christopher . . . this puts me in column #9 . . .


If you follow Samuel's Column #5 down until it intersects with my Column #9, you will find that I am the 4th cousin four times removed to this Samuel . . . who was sometimes known to use the AKA of Mark Twain . . .


I assume most of y'all use some type of family tree program that computes your relationships for you . . . I know I do . . . but I still like to keep this chart handy . . . for doing simple computations . . . or for verifying that I am remembering a relationship correctly . . . FYI . . . the following explanation of Grand and Great was found somewhere on the WWW . . . more than 10 years ago . . . I like the way it explains the greats and the grands . . .

• GRAND . . . Grand is a prefix added to represent one generation of separation . . . the father of your father, for instance, is still a father to you . . . however, there is one generation between the two of you . . . so he is a grandfather to you . . . and you are a grandchild to him . . . this term is most commonly applied to fathers and mothers . . . but it can also be used to define other relationships . . . such as a Grand Uncle or Grand Aunt . . . i.e., a brother or sister of your grandparent . . .
  
• GREAT . . . Great is a prefix that is added to represent two generations of separation . . . if Grand is one generation of separation, then Great-grand (i.e. great-grandmother) is two generations of separation . . .
  For every generation of separation above one (Grand), there is a Great added to represent each additional generation of separation . . . your father's grandfather is 3 generations separated from you . . . so he would be your Great-Great-Grandfather . . . the Grand and two Greats represent the 3 generations of separation . . .
  
  This prefix can also be used to define other two-plus generational relationships, like Great Aunt, or Great Uncle . . . as noted, the Grand is more commonly left out (Great Aunt instead of Great Grand Aunt) when referring to relationships other than father and mother . . .
  
  It is common, once you go beyond a Great-Great-Grandparent, to refer to the Greats by number . . . for instance, your Great-Great-Great-Grandfather would be called your 3rd Great-Grandfather . . . and written as G3-Grandfather, GGG-Grandfather or something similar . . .
  
  

The Heart Remembers

Remembering . . .
Bennie Everhart
20 March 1948 ~ 07 April 2010