52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Heirloom

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of February 19, 2018, is Heirloom.

I looked up the definition of heirloom. According to Google, an heirloom is “a valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations.” I wonder how many generations count? And what is considered valuable? I guess most of what my family has would be considered ephemera and memorabilia. But a few items come to mind that might be considered heirlooms. At least maybe in the coming generations as they get passed down. 

My mother has her father’s (William Liming Redles) U.S. Marine Corps sword. She also has a diamond that belonged to him that she had reset into a ring for herself. 

This sword belonged to my maternal grandfather William Liming Redles

My dad had his great uncle Louis Pendleton’s gold pocket watch that was sent to my paternal grandfather Albert S. Pendleton, Sr. after Uncle Louis died in 1939. 

Uncle Louis' gold pocket watch and one of his novels, In the Okefenokee.

The note with the watch says, "Watch sent to Dad by Uncle Louis administrators." The watch still works! Yes, I wound it up to see. Couldn't help myself.

What are some of your family heirlooms?

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Valentine

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of February 12, 2018, is Valentine.

I'm so lucky to have letters my maternal grandfather, William Liming Redles, sent to my grandmother, Leona Roberts, during their courtship and marriage in the 1920s and early 1930s. (He died in 1932.) I've only read through 1923, but I've listed the letters in a spreadsheet with a short synopsis of each one. 

I previously posted a Valentine's Day card I'd found in Will's letters that he'd sent to Leona for Valentine's Day in 1923. I searched my spreadsheet to see if there were any others, and I found one he mailed to her for that same Valentines' in 1923.

1923 Valentine's Day card my grandfather Will sent to my grandmother Leona

I wonder what my grandparents would think about me posting their love notes on the internet for the world to see! I doubt they'd be pleased. From reading my grandfather's letters, he sounds like a very private person. In fact, in one of his letters, he asks my grandmother to destroy all of his letters. I'm glad she didn't listen!

Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Favorite Name

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of February 5, 2018, is Favorite Name.

One of my favorite names is that of my paternal second great grandmother, Catharine Sarah Melissa Tebeau. I’ve always thought it was a pretty name. My parents named my sister Melissa after her. (My first name, Catherine, is from my mom’s family.)

From Confederate Memoirs: Early Life and Family History, William Frederic Pendleton, Mary Lawson Young Pendleton. Edited by Constance Pendleton, 1958. Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

I haven’t found where the “Sarah” or “Melissa” in Catharine Tebeau's name might have come from. Possibly from her mother's, Hulda Lewis, side, as I've been able to match up most of Catharine's siblings' names with her father's siblings and parents (Although, some of these could also be from Hulda's family, and one of Catharine's brothers is named Lewis, obviously after Hulda's maiden name). Catharine's first name may be from her paternal grandmother, Catherine Treutlin. I’m not sure if I’m spelling either Catherine’s name correctly. I’ve seen them spelled both ways, Catharine and Catherine.

Participating in this year's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks has helped me get reacquainted with my ancestors!

Do you have a favorite ancestor name?


Catherine

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - In the Census

This post is part of Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks for 2018. The prompt for the week of January 29, 2018, is "In the Census."

In spite of census records not always being accurate (not to mention, sometimes illegible), I love looking through them. They’re a snapshot in time of where our ancestors lived and what they were doing for a living on the day the enumerator stopped by their home, once every ten years. Makes me wonder sometimes, though, what was going on in those ten years in between. What changed? Sometimes they'd moved, added several more children or other family members, or lost a spouse through death, divorce, or abandonment.

While researching my paternal second great grandparents, William Jackson Brown and Sarah Adams, I found that they were listed twice in the 1850 U.S. census for Sumter County Georgia. I doubt they owned two separate properties, but I could be wrong. 

The first 1850 census for the Brown family (William and Sarah and their first two children Thomas and William) is dated November 18 (see below).

1850 U.S. census for Sumter County Georgia dated November 18, 1850

The second enumeration in the 1850 census was taken two days later, on November 20 (see below).

1850 U.S. census for Sumter County Georgia dated November 20, 1850

In each of the 1850 census records, the Browns are living near different neighbors, so the two pages aren't duplicates. In the census dated November 18, 1850, they are living next to Sarah's parents Rowell and Lucy Adams, and William's occupation is recorded as laborer. In the November 20 record, he is listed as a farmer. 

I ultimately concluded they must have moved or maybe were in the process of moving, and whomever the enumerator spoke to at each residence didn’t know the information had already been reported.

Finding an ancestor enumerated twice in the same census year sure beats not finding them at all!

Catherine