52 Weeks of Sharing Our Memories - Prom Night

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy who has challenged us to write our memories for our future generations.

I almost didn't write anything for this week's challenge. Well, because I never went to prom. Being an introvert, I got out of going (with some lame excuses) even though I was asked. My mom made me a baby blue dress for one of the proms, but I just couldn't bring myself to go, so I canceled my date. Bad, I know.

The photo below has nothing to do with prom but I'm wearing one of many dresses my mom made for me. It was pink dotted Swiss with a belt that she made, too:

My mom, siblings, and me in front of our house. Easter 1968.

Catherine

52 Weeks of Sharing Our Memories - Summer Time Fun

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy who has challenged us to write our memories for our future generations.

When I was young, I spent most of my summers playing outside. I don't remember it being as hot as it is now in my hometown. If it was, we didn't notice.

If we came inside, we were run back outside if we were too rowdy. Sometimes we stayed inside and watched game shows or cartoons if it was Saturday. I played Barbie dolls with my friend from across the street, sometimes by the hour.

We drank out of the water hose or spigot if we were thirsty. We ran in the sprinklers and played in our kiddie pool or sat in wash tubs filled with water. When the neighbors across the street built a pool, we swam over at their house.

We played hide-and-seek and chased each other around. We built forts in the woods near our house or in our backyard. We made mud pies. We rode our bikes everywhere and skated in the street or in our driveways. We chased fireflies in the evening and collected them in glass jars with holes punched in the lids. We antagonized roly polies just to watch them curl up, and we watched the activities of ants.

I remember hearing, "Close the back door! Are you trying to cool the whole neighborhood?" And, "You're letting flies in!" "Go outside and play!" "Read a book."

My parents took us on a two week vacation during the summer. I remember mostly going to Fernandina or Daytona beach in Florida. One summer, we drove to Washington, D.C. That was mighty brave of my parents considering there are five of us kids, and at the time, ranged in age from three to 12.

Here I am with my brother. I don't know where or when this was taken.
Probably "at a lake south of town" and in the late 1950s.

After my parents built their lake house on Long Pond in south Lowndes County, we started going there for vacation. I think the longest we'd stay was a week. We'd usually only go for a weekend. I'm not sure how much of a vacation it was for my parents who had to tote food, bedding, towels, and anything else we might need down there each time and contend with the sand and lake water we brought inside the house with us. The only air conditioner in the lake house was a window unit that had been inserted in the wall of the living room, so we used fans in the bedrooms. I'd go to sleep listening to the sound of the fan. It was relaxing. To this day, the drone of an oscillating fan makes me want to take a nap!

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #25 Susannah Silver

Susannah Silver was my maternal fifth great grandmother. I have next to nothing about her in my family tree except that she was married to John Burt and had a daughter named Sarah who married John Rulon (Sarah Burt and John Rulon are the parents of Sarah Rulon whom I wrote about in my post 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #19 Sarah Rulon).

I did some searching online to see what else I could find. There's a will abstract for John Burt "of Cumberland County," New Jersey, on ancestry.com that lists daughter Sarah "Rulong" and six sons: Noah, Richard, Daniel, John, Jesper (probably should be Jasper), and Moses. The will is dated March 25, 1798, and was proved on March 31, 1801. It doesn't list Susannah, so she must have died by 1798.*

This is all of the information I've been able to find about Susannah so far.

Catherine

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by genealogist Amy Crow at No Story Too Small.

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* the will abstract is from a digitized version of Documents Relating to the Colonial, Revoluntionary and Post-Revoluntionary History of the State of New Jersey, First Series Vol. XXXIX, Calendar of New Jersey Wills, Administrations, Etc., Volume X--1801-1805, edited and indexed by Elmer T. Hutchinson, New Jersey Historical Society, MacCrellish & Quigley Co., Trenton, New Jersey, 1946, 67

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #24 Isabella Hurt

Isabella Hurt was my paternal 7th great grandmother. She was married to Philip Pendleton, who I've heard referred to as "Philip the immigrant" and his descendants as "the Virginia Pendletons." So, I think of Isabella Hurt as the mother of all of us Virginia Pendletons. (These Pendletons are not related to Brian Pendleton of Massachusetts.)

Not much is known about Isabella. I have that she was born April 26, 1654 in New Kent County, Virginia. I don't have parents listed for her, but they were likely William and Margaret Hurt. Isabella married Philip Pendleton in 1682. She was his second wife. After Philip's five-year indenture was over in America, he had returned to England and married. He soon came back to America after his first wife died not too long after they were married.[1]

Isabella gave birth to seven children: Henry (b. 1683; my 6th great grandfather), Elizabeth (b. 1685), Isabella (b. ABT 1688), John (b. 1691), Rachel (b. ABT 1693), Philip (b. 1695), and Catherine (b. 1699). Philip was a teacher when he first came to America, but I don't know if he continued in that profession after he returned from England. The Pendletons owned a 300-acre farm in King and Queen County, Virginia, and possibly grew tobacco. They were probably among the class of yeoman farmers who held a few hundred acres of land and lived in "modest clapboard houses." These farmers usually worked the land themselves or with the help of a few indentured servants or a few slaves. The larger land owners began to import more and more slaves (reducing the cost of labor and of getting their goods to market) and buying up more land. The livelihood of the yeoman farmers declined as they were unable to compete. Like many others, some of Isabella and Philip's descendants migrated west of Virginia where land was available.[2]

King and Queen County, Virginia, as of 1691 (map from http://www.randymajors.com/p/maps.html)

Philip died in 1721, the same year their son Henry died, and Isabella died three years later in 1724.

Catherine

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by genealogist Amy Crow at No Story Too Small.



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[1] David Ellis Pendleton, The Descendants of Philip Pendleton A Virginia Colonist. Heritage Books, Westminster, Maryland, 2007, 12, 15, 17.

[2] See Footnote 1 above.

52 Weeks of Sharing Our Memories - Some of My Favorite Books

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy who has challenged us to write our memories for our future generations.

One book I remember in particular is Betsy's Little Star by Carolyn Haywood, first published by Morrow in 1950. Star is Betsy's four-year-old sister. I read that book over and over; it's the first of a few that I would read more than once. I don't remember what appealed to me so much that I would read it so many times.

I loved the Nancy Drew mysteries. I read some that were my mom's, got some new ones, and checked some out from the library. I read a few Bobbsy Twins stories and Hardy Boys mysteries, but I preferred Nancy Drew. I read Nancy Drew mysteries for years. I guess I have loved mysteries since I was a kid. Still love them. Another favorite of mine was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I also loved to read biographies of people from colonial America. Well, the ones written for kids. I couldn't get enough of them and was so disappointed when it appeared I'd read all the ones the library had to offer.

Here I am when I was five engaged in one of my favorite pastimes--Reading

My parents were avid readers. They always had a book in their hands (when they weren't tending to us and the household or working). I started going to the library when I was in elementary school. I loved it! It was and is one of my favorite places. I especially loved the summer reading program at the library. I would check out five books at a time, read through them, and then check out five more. Our names would move from poster to poster depending on the total books we'd read. I always checked to see where my friends' names were and see if they were ahead of me.

I have always loved to read and have always loved books.

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #23 Henry Washington Brown

Twenty-one out of 22 of my 52 Ancestors posts have been about my foremothers. In honor of Father's Day coming up, I thought I'd write about one of my forefathers. I've been avoiding writing about my paternal great grandfather Henry Washington Brown, because of the tragedy he caused, but his blood runs through my veins, too, and it's time I tried to get to know more about him.

One of ten children, Henry was born on March 4, 1863, in Covington County, Alabama, to William Jackson Brown and Sarah Adams. By the time he was born, the American Civil War had been raging nearly two years.

Henry grew up on the 120-acre family farm in Covington County where they grew wheat, corn, rice, tobacco, cotton, peas, and barley; raised pigs and cows; churned butter; and made molasses from sugar cane.[1] His siblings were Thomas Jefferson (b. 1847), William Franklin (b. 1849), Elizabeth (b. 1851), James Andrew (b. 1852), Mary (b. 1855), Sarah Cecille (b. 1858), John Berry (b. 1862), Willis Jackson (b. 1864), and Robert Joseph (b. 1867). Henry's mother died about a month after her last child Robert was born when Henry was just four years old.

By the time Henry was 17, he had moved out of his father's house, but I don't know where he went or why he moved out at such a young age. Probably to find work. He's not listed with his father in the 1880 census and I haven't found him elsewhere.

Where's Henry? The James Brown and Franklin Brown in the above 1880 Covington County, Alabama, U. S. census are Henry's older brothers. W. J. Brown is Henry's father. Henry is also not listed with his brother Thomas Jefferson Brown. (Click the image for a larger view.)

Henry married Hattie Finney on April 16, 1884, in Escambia County, Alabama.[2] Their children were Lucy Belle (b. 1887), Lavada (b. 1890), Elliott Medric (b. 1893), Helen Larue (b. 1896, my grandmother), and Hoyt Henry (b. 1896, my grandmother's twin). My dad wrote in his memoirs that their children were named after Henry's friends.

Henry seemed to have held a variety of jobs over the years, but most might be the same job or within the same field--lumbering. At the time of the 1885 Florida state census, he was working as a cooper. By 1900, he was a log driver. The 1910 Federal census index on ancestry.com does not match the digitized original record that comes up, but the 1910 Pensacola, Florida, city directory says he was a laborer. Here are a few more:

• 1911 Pensacola city directory: contractor
• 1913 Pensacola city directory: lumber
• 1916 Pensacola city directory: laborer
• 1919 Pensacola city directory: carpenter
• 1920 Escambia County, FL, census: foreman in a shipyard
• 1921 Pensacola city directory: carpenter
• 1924 Pensacola city directory: carpenter

By the 1930 census, Henry had a truck garden business. By this time, he was 67 years old and probably retired. According to my dad, Henry also had a moonshine still.

In my post Fearless Females: The Tragic Death of Hattie Finney Brown I wrote about the tragedy that I mentioned above, so I won't recount it here. I also wrote about Henry's death two years later in that same post. I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of this family.

My dad wrote in his memoirs,

My mother was Helen LaRue Brown (Thomas) Pendleton (1896-1972).  Her parents were Henry Washington Brown and Hattie Finney Brown of Pensacola, Florida, formerly of Alabama. Mama said one parent was Scotch [sic] and the other was Irish—and that was an unpredictable combination. 

Catherine

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by genealogist Amy Crow at No Story Too Small.



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[1] 1860 U. S. census, Covington County, Alabama, nonpopulation schedule, p. 21, line 20, William J. Brown, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 10 April 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication M279.

[2] Ancestry.com Alabama Marriages, 1809-1920 (Selected Counties), for Henry Brown and Hattie Finney.

52 Weeks of Sharing Our Memories - Ooh, La, La, That First Crush

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy who has challenged us to write our memories for our future generations.

I think my first crush was Elvis Presley! I remember my friend across the street and I used to listen to his music and go see his movies. We got in an argument once over one of his movies where he has a twin. My friend said it was Elvis playing both parts, and I said he wasn't. Well, she was right. At the time, I didn't believe that could be done in a movie! It was kind of like finding out there is no Santa Claus.

The old radio/record player cabinet where I listened to Elvis

My next crush was Paul McCartney of the Beatles. Or it might have been George Harrison. When I first learned of the Beatles, I had their names mixed up.

I don't think I had a crush on a boy in my own universe until I was older. I had crushes on bad boys and good boys and boys in between.

Catherine

52 Weeks of Sharing Our Memories - Jobs I've Had

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy who has challenged us to write our memories for our future generations.

This week's prompt is to list all of the jobs I've had. Let's see if I remember them all.

I started working for my dad at The A. S. Pendleton Company wholesale grocers when I was 14 as a warehouse worker and later as a bookkeeper. Rather, I ran the bookkeeping machine. Sometimes I took in the money that the truck drivers and salesmen collected from customers and did whatever else my dad needed me to do. My Uncle Jack taught me how to use a ten-key calculator without looking at the keys. I worked for my dad until after I married and my son was about 2 or 3 years old.

Secretary and bookkeeper at South Georgia Pecan until after my daughter was born.

Bookkeeper at Lee Office Equipment Company.

Phone service order typist and later Customer Service Rep for AT&T until it split up into the "baby Bells." Then it was Southern Bell.

Started out as a temporary receptionist, then permanent secretary, and later Production Control (i.e., inventory) at Saft America.

Then I made a complete career change and went to school to become an archaeologist. After I finished my master's degree classes at the University of Alaska, I worked for the Alaska Branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Alaska Office of History and Archaeology, the National Park Service in Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska, and a private cultural resource firm in Alaska.

Here I am at the archaeology field school in 2000 on St. Paul Island, Pribilof Islands, Alaska

Well, I think I remembered them all.

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #22 Phoebe O'Steen Weeks

My maternal 4th great grandmother Phoebe O'Steen Weeks has been a bit of a mystery to me--her name and parentage, that is. I've seen her name as I have it here, and I've seen it as Phoebe Weeks O'Steen. I have her parents as John O'Steen and Ada Weeks. Why the confusion on her name? A recently found cousin on 23andme.com told me that speculation has it that Phoebe was born before her parents were married, so she was given her mother's maiden name of Weeks. Then her name was changed to Phoebe Weeks O'Steen after her parents married.

I did a little research a while ago to see if I even have the correct parents listed for Phoebe. I haven't located a marriage record yet for her parents. I have that Phoebe was born in 1785. A few trees on ancestry.com have her parents' marriage date as 1787, but none that I looked at have any attached records to back this up.

In Volume 2 of Folks Huxford's Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, he doesn't list Phoebe as a child of John and Ada. In Volume 4, he has a correction for the names of their children and says, "The old Bible record of these births also include that of Phoebe Weeks, born Feb. 22, 1785, she being a half sister to the above [children]." In Volume 10, a descendant of Phoebe's sister Cassandra notes that they were half sisters.[1] So it sounds like there's a possibility that John O'Steen is not Phoebe's father.

According to Huxford's correction in Volume 4, Phoebe's half siblings were Reubin (b. 1788), Ezekiel (b. 1791), Leonard (b. 1793), Bartholomew (b. 1795), Nancy (b. 1796), Argent (b. 1798), Cassandra (b. 1799), Easter (b. 1801). Huxford notes that Reubin was born in North Carolina. After his birth the family moved to Beaufort District, South Carolina, and then moved to Georgia prior to the birth of Easter.[2]

Phoebe married my maternal 4th great grandfather John Roberts in 1798 in McIntosh County, Georgia. She gave birth to 11 children: John J. (b. 1799), Lewis (b. 1802), William P. (b. 1804, my 3rd great grandfather and husband of Sarah Knight), Reubin (b. 1807), George (b. 1808), Bryant J. (b. 1809), Nathan (b. 1811), Stephen (b. 1814), Phoebe (b. 1815), Enoch (b. 1820), and Mary (b. 1826).

Phoebe and John moved from either Bryan or McIntosh County in 1803 to Wayne County when it was formed. They stayed in Wayne County for over 20 years and then moved to the eastern portion of Lowndes County in 1827. In June of that year, they became members of the Union Primitive Baptist Church (also known as Burnt Church) in the part of Lowndes County that later became part of Lanier County. John was an ordained deacon at the church. He moved his letter in 1841 to form Wayfare Church in what is now Echols County, Georgia, because it was closer to where they lived.

Lowndes County, Georgia, as of 1830 (from http://www.randymajors.com/p/maps.html)

In 1848, Phoebe and John moved to Columbia County, Florida, where they died. Phoebe died in 1851 and John died in 1854. They are buried in the cemetery at Swift Creek Church near Lake Butler, Florida. At the time Huxford wrote Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia Volume 1, John's was marked, but Phoebe's wasn't.[3] A headstone has since been placed at her grave.

Columbia County, Florida, as of 1840 (from http://www.randymajors.com/p/maps.html)

Catherine

This post is part of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by genealogist Amy Crow at No Story Too Small.



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[1] Folks Huxford, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 2, Patten Publishers, Adel, Georgia, 1961, pp. 228-229; Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 4, Atkinson County Citizen, Pearson, Georgia, 1968, pp. 368-369; Huxford Genealogical Society, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 10, self published, Homerville, Georgia, 1998, pp. 551.

[2] Folks Huxford, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 4, Atkinson County Citizen, Pearson, Georgia, 1968, p. 368.

[3] Folks Huxford, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 1, Cooper Press, Jacksonville, Florida, 1966, pp. 240-242.