Tuesday, February 25, 2014

52 Weeks of Sharing Memories - Grades 5 and 6

Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy has challenged us to keep a weekly journal of our own memories in 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories for our future generations. This will be a good way for me to record what little I still remember!

I went to S. L. Mason Elementary School in Valdosta, Georgia, from fourth to sixth grades. In fifth grade, my teacher was Mrs. Atkinson. I remember that she read to us sometimes, and her husband would visit our class once in a while. She and her husband lived down the street from us. I lived across the street from them for a number of years as an adult.

I hated reading circle even though I loved to read. I just hated having to stumble out loud over words in front of everyone. One project that I remember in particular, because it was so much fun, was making a farm scene. I don't remember the details, but my dad picked some dried grass for me from an area off of Gornto Road that I think was a field or at least a vacant lot at the time (this area was the former Jones farm and is now full of houses). The tall, dried grass reminded me of hay. I don't remember exactly what the project was about, but I have the impression that it was probably to do with Georgia industry or agriculture.

Fifth grade, taken in 1965

I had to start wearing glasses in fifth grade, and in sixth grade, I had to get braces. If that wasn't a sight! My sixth grade teacher was Mrs. Brandon. 

Sixth grade. Look at those glasses! Oh, how I disliked them!

I played tetherball at recess--another game I loved--but I don't remember which grade I was in. Maybe both fifth and sixth grades. I was always trying to beat my friend Lynn at tetherball, but I never could. She was the best player. I think she beat everyone, boys included. I had a very small circle of friends, and those friends lived within walking distance of where I lived. We went to the same church, sang in the church choir (I can't carry at tune), participated in other church activities together, and spent the night at each other's houses. Lynn moved away after sixth grade. I think we exchanged a few letters but then lost touch. I had the same hairdo, from the time I had enough hair to put up in a hair clip, until the end of sixth grade, but that changed in the summer between sixth and seventh grades.

This is about the extent of my memories of fifth and sixth grades other than flashes of scenes and people every now and then--just tiny moments still lingering in my brain.

Catherine

Monday, February 24, 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #8 Margaret DeVane

My maternal second great grandmother Margaret DeVane was born September 26, 1826, in Bulloch County, Georgia, to Francis Devane and Frances Giddens (yes, her parents have the same name). Margaret was one of at least eight children. Her siblings were Priscilla Ann (1816-1904), Tabitha (1822-1897), Thomas (1824-1902), Rebecca Jane (1831-1859), Patrick (1834-1862), Benjamin Mitchell (1835-1912), and William (1838-1909).

Around 1831, Margaret's parents moved the family to the fertile lands and pine forests of north Lowndes County, Georgia, an area that later became part of Berrien County. This must be where Margaret met her future husband William Roberts. William's parents, William P. Roberts and Sarah Knight, were among the early setters in Lowndes County and were living here by 1825. William was born here three years later. This part of Georgia was being settled quickly during this time, with many new settlers moving in carving out their land and building new homes. Native Americans were seen on occasion, and they sometimes fought with the encroaching white settlers. (The maps below are from http://randymajors.com/p/maps.html with labels added.)


Lowndes County, Georgia, in 1830. It was formed from Irwin County in 1825.


Lowndes and Berrien counties in 1860. Berrien was formed from part of Lowndes County in 1856.

Margaret married William in Lowndes County on June 30, 1845, when she was nearly 19 years old. She gave birth to nine children: Priscilla Ann (1847-1920), Rebecca Jane (1849-1849), John Taylor (1850-1920, my maternal great grandfather), Elizabeth (1853-1936), William Patrick (1855-1922), Benjamin Hill (1858-1936), Francis (1860-1915), Martha Leona (1864-1900, for whom my grandmother was named), and Margaret Beulah (1867-1946).

Margaret and William eventually moved to the town of Valdosta, the county seat in Lowndes County, where several of their children were living. Margaret died August 18, 1893, and William died in 1903. Both are buried in Sunset Hill Cemetery in Valdosta near several of their children.

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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Sources:

Folks Huxford. Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume V.  Self published, 1967. Second Printing, 1970, 366-367.

General James Jackson Chapter, NSDAR, History of Lowndes County, Georgia 1825-1941 (1942; Reprint, General James Jackson Chapter, NSDAR, 1995), 1-6

Monday, February 17, 2014

52 Weeks of Sharing Memories - What I Remember About Fourth Grade

Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy has challenged us to keep a weekly journal of our own memories in 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories for our future generations. This will be a good way for me to record what little I still remember!

Third grade was my last year at Sallas Mahone Elementary School. The new (now the old) S. L. Mason Elementary School was completed on Azalea Drive (in Valdosta, Georgia) for the district I lived in, so I started fourth grade there. It was much closer to where I lived, and I could walk or ride my bike to school.

My fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Norvell. I really liked her. Our principal was Hadley McDuffie. I liked him a lot, too. I remember how he used to come into the noisy lunchroom and clap his hands as loudly as he could as a signal to us to quiet down. It worked. For a little while.

The lunchroom at S. L. Mason Elementary School (from Google Earth streetview)

I was a picky eater, and as I mentioned in my post about 2nd and 3rd grades, I hated lunchroom food. I don't remember if this happened in 4th or 5th grade, but I remember one of the lunchroom ladies giving me a handful of canned potato sticks wrapped up in a napkin. She noticed I didn't eat my lunch, and she didn't want me to be hungry the rest of the day. How sweet! But I was totally embarrassed. I never got good marks on my report card for "Eats a good lunch."


4th Grade


Here I am in my fourth grade class photo. That's me in the middle.
I loved that blue dress with the sailor collar!

I'm having trouble separating fourth grade memories and fifth grade memories.They sort of blend together. I remember playing hopscotch and Chinese jump rope a lot. I loved them!

Catherine

Sunday, February 16, 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #7 Ann Raines

My maternal 5th great grandmother Ann Raines was born on September 3, 1762, in Sussex County, Virginia, to Nathaniel Raines and Susannah Parham. Nathaniel was a Revolutionary War soldier in Virginia. Ann married Thomas Goodwin Mitchell, who also fought in the Revolution. Ann and Thomas had 11 or 12 children. As I noted in my post about their daughter Susannah (my 4th great grandmother), besides Susannah, according to Huxford, their children were Amy Goodwin, Hartwell, Nathaniel Raines, Richard, Thomas G., Tobitha, Nancy Green, Taylor, John, and Robert.[1] I have Edward listed as a child of theirs in my tree but I don't have Tobitha listed as a daughter. While researching for this post, I found a genealogy website about the Raines family that notes "Tabitha" died in infancy. Edward is listed as a child and died in Jasper County, Georgia, in 1824, but Robert isn't listed as a child of theirs. See Descendants of William Raines http://zdraines.homestead.com/files/w_raines.htm. Looking at this website, I see many connections between the Raines family and several of my surnames: Goodwin/Goodwyn, Wyche, and Mitchell. Apparently these relationships go way back.

Ann and Thomas moved to Hancock County Georgia after the Revolutionary War and then moved to the portion of Montgomery County that was later included in Telfair County. Thomas may be the Thomas Mitchell in the 1806 Montgomery County, Georgia, tax digest below. It notes "Do [ditto Montgomery], Hancock" next to his name. Below his name is a Thomas Raines who may have been a relative or sibling of Ann's. Listed above Thomas Mitchell is Edward Blackshear who may be the same person who married their daughter Amy.[2]

1806 Montgomery County tax digest for Thomas Mitchell (click on image for a larger view)


In 1825, Ann and Thomas moved to "newly formed" Thomas County, Georgia, where Thomas died the following year. Ann died there in 1830.[3]

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. Vol. 1. Cooper Press, Jacksonville, Florida, 1966, 184-185.

[2] Ancestry.com Georgia Property Tax Digests 1793-1892. Militia District Number 51. Citing Georgia Tax Digest [1890]. 140 volumes. Morrow, Georgia: Georgia Archives.

[3] See footnote 1.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

52 Weeks of Sharing Memories - Games I Played

Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy has challenged us to keep a weekly journal of our own memories in 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories for our future generations. This will be a good way for me to record what little I still remember!

There were so many games and activities that I loved as a kid, especially the ones that were played outside. Here's a list of many of them with some links to help explain what some of them are and how they're played.

Hopscotch (http://www.wikihow.com/Play-Hopscotch) I loved, loved hopscotch!

Hide-and-seek (We'd play this in the house sometimes, too. Lots of closets to hide in.)

Chinese jump rope (http://www.wikihow.com/Chinese-Jump-Rope) Loved this, too!

Jumping rope (No fancy footwork. Just jumping until I wore myself out.)

Pick-up-sticks (http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/6424/pick-up-sticks)

All sorts of board games and card games, especially Monopoly (see photo below)

Tether ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetherball)

Yo-Yo. (I couldn't do any tricks with mine. Could hardly make it go up and down the string.)

Hoola hoops (http://inventors.about.com/od/hstartinventions/a/Hula_Hoop.htm)

Roller skating (Not so great on asphalt, so I didn't skate much)

Riding my bike all over the neighborhood (I taught myself how to ride on a small bike without training wheels and with no help from anyone, because I'm stubborn like that.)

Running through the sprinkler on hot summer days or sitting in a washtub filled with water.

Playing "chase" (Whoever was tagged was "it" and had to chase everyone until someone else was tagged.)

Playing on the swing set and monkey bars.

Climbed a couple of trees and then hollered for my dad to get me down (I'm afraid of heights).

Playing with dolls, especially Barbie (I think I "played Barbies" as we called it until I was 12 and reluctantly gave her up. I decided I couldn't still play with dolls if I was about to enter junior high!)


That's me on the left with a childhood friend at my family's lake house on Long Pond, Lake Park, Georgia, in the early to mid-1960s. We played Monopoly by the hour when we were tired of swimming. We must have just come in since our hair is wrapped up in towels!

Here I am in 1959 grooming one of my many dolls. I loved playing with dolls.


This post sure brought back memories of all the fun I had as a kid!

Catherine

Monday, February 10, 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #6 Susannah Mitchell

My maternal 4th great grandmother, Susannah Mitchell was born September 20, 1780, in Sussex County, Virginia, to Thomas Goodwin Mitchell and Ann Raines. She was the oldest of 11 or 12 children. Her siblings were Amy Goodwin, Hartwell, Nathaniel Raines, Richard, Thomas G., Tobitha, Nancy Green, Taylor, John, and Robert.[1] I have a brother named Edward in my tree but I don't have Tobitha listed as a sister.

Susannah married Littleton Wyche on May 2, 1798, in Richmond County, Georgia.[2] She gave birth to daughter Nancy in 1799, and by the birth of their second child Thomas Clarke in 1801 (my 3rd great grandfather), they were living in Montgomery County, Georgia, where the rest of their children were born: Rebecca Taylor, Martha Susannah, Maria, Elizabeth, Henry, Margaret Bryan, William, Patience, and Littleton.

By the 1830 census, Susannah and Littleton had moved their family to Thomas County, Georgia. Littleton died in 1834, and Susannah may have moved in with their son William. There's a female of the right age (about 60) living with William and his wife in the 1840 Thomas County census. Susannah is enumerated in the 1850 Thomas County census as living with son Thomas and his family.[3]

This is an 1863 Georgia-Alabama map that I've labeled with the counties to show the migration of Susannah Mitchell and Littleton Wyche from Richmond County, to Montgomery County, and finally to Thomas County Georgia (A. J. Johnson's map of Georgia and Alabama from http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/histcountymaps/ga1863map.htm)


1830 Thomas County, Georgia, census for Littleton Wyche (click on image for a larger view)

1840 Thomas County, Georgia, census for William Wyche (click on image for a larger view)


1850 Thomas County, Georgia, census for Thomas C. Wyche. Susannah is listed as living in his household (click on image for a larger view).



Susannah died when she was nearly 70 years old on July 29, 1850. According to her memorial on Findagrave.com, she and Littleton are buried in the Gatlin-Wyche home cemetery four miles east of Thomasville, Georgia.

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. Vol. 1. Cooper Press, Jacksonville, Florida, 1966, 184-185.

[2] Ancestry.com. Georgia Marriages 1699-1944

[3] 1830 U.S. census, Thomas County, Georgia, population schedule, Not Stated, p. 17, Littleton Wyche, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 February 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication M19; 1840 U.S. census, Thomas County, Georgia, population schedule, Thomasville, p. 292, William Wyche, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 February 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication M704; 1850 census, Thomas County, Georgia, population schedule, District 81, p. 35B, dwelling 504, family 54, Thomas C. Wyche, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 February 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication M432.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - #5 Rachel Anderson

Rachel Anderson, my maternal 5th great grandmother, is another ancestor about whom I know very little, and I've done very little research until writing this post. She may have been born in 1753 in Surrey County, Virginia. I don't know for sure. Nor do I know who her parents or siblings were. Some family trees on ancestry.com list her name as Rachel Frances (Fannie) Anderson.

Rachel married John Knight in the Cheraw area of South Carolina on January 9, 1774. Just over two and a half years later, Rachel gave birth to daughter Mary on September 25, 1776. Their son William Anderson Knight, born on February 16, 1778, is my 4th great grandfather. In April the following year, John joined the 1st Georgia Battalion as a sergeant during the American Revolution and served until February 1, 1780. It seems John was home just long enough for son Jonathan to be conceived. Jonathan was born on February 14, 1781. John served in the war in the Cheraw District of South Carolina for about five months in 1781 and in 1782. (According to Barest [1998], Mary, William, and Jonathan are the only proven children thus far.)[1]  What was life like for Rachel while John was off at war with two and then three little children at home? Did she boycott British goods, including tea, satin, and silk? Did she spin or weave her own cloth as a result? Was she able to contribute monetarily or in other ways to the war effort as many wives did?[2]

American Revolution war record for John Knight, 1st Georgia Battalion (image from fold3.com)

For his services during the war, John received a land grant in South Carolina in 1785 and 1786. In 1789, he received a land grant in Burke County, Georgia, and two land grants in Effingham County, Georgia, so he and Rachel moved their family to Georgia. John sold the two grants in Effingham County, one in 1790 and the other in 1799. In 1803, John and son Jonathan were granted land in Spanish Florida. John's was in Fernandina. They signed an oath of loyalty to the Spanish government and asked for permission to return to the United States to get their families, so Rachel and John and son Jonathan and his wife moved to Florida. Two years later, John asked "to be released from his Spanish Land Grant" because his eyesight was failing and he wanted to move back to Augusta, Georgia (which is in Richmond County north of Burke County in northeast Georgia at the South Carolina border). John may have died after 1822 in Georgia, possibly in Wayne County (southwest of Effingham County in southeast Georgia).[3]

I don't know when Rachel died. Several family trees on ancestry.com have her death year as 1844, and some say she died in Hillsborough County, Florida, that year. It is possible that she died in Florida. Her son Jonathan and his family moved back to Florida to Duval County (in northeast Florida, Jacksonville is the county seat) sometime before the 1850 census. Rachel isn't listed with him in that census.[4] Jonathan and his family lived for a time in Lowndes County, Georgia. There's no female recorded in that census old enough to be Rachel.[5] I haven't finished researching daughter Mary, and there's no female old enough with son William either.

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 1. Cooper Press, Jacksonville, Florida, 1966, 159; Bettye Knight Barest. "John Knight." In Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 10. Huxford Genealogical Society, Homerville, Georgia, 1998, 257-258.

[2] Boundless. "Domestic Support for the War Efforts." U. S. History. American Life During the Revolution 1763-1789.  (https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/american-life-during-the-revolution-1763-1789/ : accessed 2 February 2014).

[3] Bettye Knight Barest. "John Knight." In Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 10. Huxford Genealogical Society, Homerville, Georgia, 1998, 257-258.

[4] See footnote 3, p. 258; 1850 U.S. census, Duval County, Florida, population schedule, Black Creek, p. 110A, family 33, Jonathan Knight, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication M432.

[5] Folks Huxford, Pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia, Volume 3. Cooper Press Inc., Jacksonville, Florida, 1957, 174-175; U.S. census, Lowndes County, Georgia, population schedule, Not Stated, Jonathan Knight, digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 5 February 2014), citing NARA microfilm publication M704.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

52 Weeks of Sharing Memories - Naughty Things I Did as a Kid

Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy has challenged us to keep a weekly journal of our own memories in 52 Weeks of Writing our Memories for our future generations. This will be a good way for me to record what little I still remember! There are several naughty things that I did as a kid, so I had trouble picking one. I'm sure my family can remind me of a few more.

Once, when we were both little, my brother Andy called our mom a bad word. I said, "Say it again!" We both got our mouths washed out with soap. I was sent to my room several times as a kid for being sassy or for not minding. I would hide vegetables in my milk or tea, or scoot them around on my plate, or hide them in my napkin to make it look like I had eaten some and then lie to my mom that I ate them. (My mom was wise to all of my tricks.) I would sometimes pretend to be sick so I could stay home from school. My mom said she always knew when we were faking, but since we put on such a good show of it, she figured we needed a break from school and would let us stay home.

My brother Andy, my dad Albert, and me at the J. T. Roberts house in 1957. I'm wearing such a big pout on my face, it has to be fake! Looks like my dad was having trouble corralling my brother for a photo.

One summer, when I was 15 or 16, I decided to wash my dad's red Buick Skylark. Rather than using the mild dish detergent we always used, I decided it would be better to clean his dirty car with laundry detergent (or maybe it was Comet). I scrubbed and scrubbed and rinsed his car, so proud of myself. Until it dried, that is. I had scrubbed off the shine. I was so shocked, I didn't know what to do. So with my face fire-hot red and my heart pounding, I quietly put up the cleaning supplies and slipped into the house. Later when my dad saw his car, he asked what happened to it. "I don't know," I lied. He said he just didn't understand what could have happened. Was he waiting for me to confess? I don't remember him even getting mad or saying anything else about it.

At Jekyll Island, Georgia, in the early 1970s.

My dad had to know that I was the culprit. Maybe he was just pleased that I made the small gesture of washing his car even though it turned out to be such a disaster! He drove it around like that for several years and then traded it in. I only recently confessed to this naughty deed to my sister Helen. I never told my dad that I was the one who ruined the finish on his car.

Catherine

#52SharingMemories