The Reunion Dash

So much has been going on since the last Thompson reunion and now it is upon me.  I have five days to prepare.  This is our fourth annual reunion.   Having been the primary planner for the past four years,  one would think I would be an old hand at getting ready.,,,, and for the most part I am.

There is always the last minute food details.  We always provide the main meat entrees, drinks, plates, and utensils.  Everyone one who attends is requested to bring a covered dish to share.  One of my wonderful "nephews" prepares the meat for us.  He is an great bbq'er and smoker.  All I have to worry about in the area is getting the meat to him for cooking.  That has been arranged.

Where I got sidetracked this year was the genealogy side.  I always like to bring something new to the reunion.  This year...I missed that goal....I had a lot of plans but nope missed it.  I have a display board which starts with my great grandparents, George and Fannie Thompson.  It has pictures of their children, their parents, and them.  It has an image of the census record that has most of all the children in the same household.  Every year I have added to this display.  This year I will be adding their grandchildren's pictures.

But as for new research... not really anything to contribute.  I had different research issues to pursue on this family but when I did do research, I ended up following other family lines.  The board is missing an image of one ancestor, my 2nd great grandfather, William Flaharty.  I had hoped to confirm his parentage before this reunion.  Maybe next year.

The Elusive Johnson Family Line

According to US Census Bureau, both in the 1990 and 2000 census records, Johnson is the second most common surname in the US.  In 2000, there are just over 1.8 million Johnson's listed in the census.  If you are as fortunate as I to have this surname in your direct line, you know the challenges that can abound with tracing your Johnson family roots.  

My brickwall Johnson is named John Johnson.  He was born February 5 1806 in Coal Creek, Anderson County, Tennessee to parents whose name is unknown to me.  In March of 1825 in Tennessee, he married Rosanna Monroe Adkins.  From Rosanna's obituary, I know she came with her husband and two brothers to Menard County, Illinois in 1831.  Menard County would split and their homestead would end up in Mason County, Illinois.  He would be listed throughout his life on census records as a farmer.  John and Rosanna would have 14 children.  John died the 15th of April 1873 in Mason County.  He was laid to rest in Bethel Cemetery, Saidora, Mason County, Illinois.

I had tracked him all the census since 1840 through 1870.  It is prior to 1840 that I am stuck.  I know he was married in Tennessee in 1825 not sure where.  In 1830 there are at least two John Johnsons in the census index that Ancestry is pulling up for Tennessee.  I'm sure there are more.  So my Johnson lament... why could you of at least had an unusual first name... like your son Sampson or the male version of your daughter Parthena.

To top it all off... 14 children!!!  Only 3 of which were born in Tennessee... one for which I don't even know the name.  Of those 14 children, only two may not have had children.  Yes... my line contributed to the 1.8 million Johnsons in the US today.

In order to bring my brickwall down, I am going to have to look to those 14 children.  Delve more into their lives... it's time to go collateral.  I wonder how many more Johnson's I'll add by my new research,

Letting Go Of Family History

My mother started me down the path of tracing our family tree many years ago.  She handed to me handwritten family group sheets and pedigree charts which I painstakingly transcribed into my Family Tree Maker program.

I then looked through the old picture albums that we had at my parent's house.  In these albums I found, memorial cards for my parents' aunts and uncles who had passed on photos.  Mostly they were of my father's side of the family but a couple of books had information about my mother's family.

This was the beginning information I used to create my family tree over 20 years ago.  I continued building my tree at that time the old fashioned way...writing letters, going to libraries, going to courthouses and paying for copies of vital certificates.  Then the internet began to explode with genealogical data and it has continued its rapid pace.  

Three years ago my mother passed away and I was amazed at the amount of information she had in her "office".  On the wall was hanging an ornate marriage certificate of my great grandparents.  SAY WHAT!!!  Why was I just finding out about this piece of family history?  But that was not the end of the vast family history treasures we would uncover.  

There were more pictures of her side of the family both her immediate family and ancestors.  I found pictures of people who had only been a name in my family tree.  It was great to put a face with name  even if it did take years to get to this point.

My mother during her last years of life and started gathering some of the pictures into family groups.  She created a book for each of her siblings containing pictures of them which she had accumulated over her life time.  Some of them from before her time were probably handed down from her mother.

This year my mother's side of the family is planning a family reunion.  My husband had spent the winter scanning  all of the pictures and other family history items I had brought home over the past few years.  Now I can bring up a digital image of these items any time I want.  It seems only appropriate to hand off the books that my mother created to someone in the family of the sibling.  

It is wonderful that technology has advanced to where we are saving most pictures digitally.  This makes pictures of our ancestors easier to share.  Knowing I can see these picture digitally at anytime allows me to share the original photos with the direct descendants of these siblings.

Surname Saturday - McIntosh

As I wait to take my godson to the Central Illinois Highland Games to celebrate our Scottish ancestry.  I decided it was only appropriate to do a little research on my ancestor that led me to explore my Scottish roots... Robert McIntosh.

Robert was born November 1820 in England.  However, his naturalization paperwork states he was  born in Ireland.   I know his mother's name was Elizabeth.  She was born abt 1790 in England and died between 1850 and 1860 in the United States.  All I know about her comes from a census record.  I know nothing of Robert's father.

Robert came to America in 1848 through the port of Philadelphia.  His wife, mother and three children would follow him to America  a couple of years later in 1850.  They would make there way to Illinois where there would make a home in Mason County Illinois for several decades before moving to Kansas with his youngest son in 1880.

It was in Kansas eight years later that Robert would pass away in April 1888 in Crawford County, Kansas.  Some day I will take a trip to find his resting place.

Several years ago while living in California, my husband and I attend a Highland Games event in Pleasanton.  It was there that I would recognize McIntosh as a Scottish ancestor.

So today I am introducing my godson who also has McIntosh in his veins to his Scottish heritage if all goes to plan.

The Addiction of the Shaking Leaf

Let me start out by saying how thankful I am for the internet and online genealogy sites like Ancestry.com. They have given us access to more information easier than ever before, given us an easy way to link up with new relatives, and all in a short amount of time.... no more waiting for the mail.
The other information online genealogy has given us is a plethora of family trees.... some sourced and some not. Some carefully researched and some not. What these sites do not do in their "Getting Started" videos is discuss how to evaluate the data being presented.
It is easy to accept what someone else has added to their family tree as truth. I have found several family trees online that have copied information from my tree that is in the public realm which I know has no public sourcing. How do I know it is my information because of the pictures I have added to the tree. That's not to say my tree is not supported by proper documentation but just that I have not posted it into the online version. So people have accepted this tree and others have accepted the information from other people and so on. It is the addiction of the shaking leaf.
My husband also a genealogist has encountered a similar problem tracing his family line. Several people have the same person as the progenitor of one of his lines. But no one has the proof to support the progenitor as they found the information in a tree online.
I like many people are addicted to the shaking leaf but I remember my tree is only as strong as my documentation.