A Newbie's View of the National Archives - Those Places Thursday

There truly aren't words for what a fabulous experience I had researching at the National Archives. I was there a day and a half. The staff was extraordinarily patient, supportive, and just plain kind without being the least bit patronizing (which wouldn't have been much a leap given some of my questions).

"Checking in" after lunch worked since I had the next day as well. If I'd only had one day I would have been first in line when the doors opened in the morning. It did take well over two hours to clear security, get my temporary researcher's ID, fill out requests for the Civil War Pension Files I wanted, drop off all but the allowed essentials in a locker and wait for the files to be delivered. I then had a couple hours to dig into the first file before the end of the day. The beauty of the system was that all the files were there waiting for me the next morning.

One of my favorite experiences came at the end of my visit. I finished reviewing the last Civil War pension file (I was able to thoroughly examine three files in my day and a half) with 30 minutes left before the Archives closed. I was curious about hunting for something more obscure. I settled on War of 1812 Civilian Reparations files - or records of claims made by American civilians for damages by the British - and sweetly asked where I would find them. One of my Meredith in-laws did receive a settlement from the British in 1828 and I would love to get a look at the information in the claim.

There was no rabbit pulled out of a hat, nor did I truly expect to get my hands or eyes on the claim at 4:30 pm (and a Friday, at that). But three archivists thought, talked, quickly searched and suggested ways to find the information. I walked away with several viable search strategies and a telephone number for an archivist who specializes in records of that era. An impressive result.

A few other hints to total novices - 

• First, know where the serial numbers are on all your electronic devices. My little HP had the number hidden away on the battery which I had never removed. Took us a few minutes. (And to HP - print could be just a little bigger for eyes that have seen a few years, thank you!)
• The sheet recording all your electronic devices should be kept if you're going to be using the Archives for several days running. Saves those minutes spent squinting at the serial numbers the first day. 
• It is not necessary to break into giggles the first time you move to the microfilm reader/digital scanner, elated to be grabbing digital rather than paper images, and realize it has hand cranks to move the film. But if you do, no one will shush you.
• My standard dressing in layers for libraries is less effective here. No sweaters, wraps or hoodies allowed in the reading room unless you are wearing them. Which means a bit of going back and forth to the locker room if your temperature fluctuates. Still it was a chance to stretch my legs and grab a drink of water. 
• Gathering Civil War Pension File information from Footnote.com before the trip saved a bunch of time when filling out the document request forms. Do as much advance work as possible using the NARA website, or other on-line repositories.

Big changes are apparently afoot at the Archives. In future years most research will be done at other sites. If you have a chance to visit it this year or next, do. It's a thrill.

From the Old World - Wordless Wednesday

Pytor Pereksta

This picture was mailed to my grandmother from her niece in Czechoslovakia in the late 1950s. The photo is labeled Pytor Pereksta and is believed to be my grandmother's brother. 

Pytor Pereksta Photograph; digital image, privately held by Susan Clark. 2006.  

Random thoughts from the road

I'm a couple weeks into an alternately leisurely and manic tour of East Coast relatives and archives. It's been a grand trip so far. Mostly great weather, wonderful visits with family, a glorious treat meeting a geneablogger friend and husband, and some wonderful "finds" that have kept me awake at nights as I reflect on what I'm uncovering.

A few thoughts have wandered through my brain repeatedly.

Having a portable WiFi network via my cellphone has been a lifesaver. Senior relatives don't always have computers, much less wireless networks. I've been able to set up computer, scanners, printers where ever I am and plug away with my digitizing projects. I've even been able to web browse or catch up on blog reading parked on the side of an interstate waiting for a squall line to pass.

My camera does a better job digitizing documents than I thought it would. Much faster than the scanners, too. Still, for those that it cannot adequately capture, the FlipPal scanner has been marvelous. For digitizing photographs the FlipPal or my flatbed scanner have been far better.

I am even more committed to getting information about the research and my "finds" out into the world via blogging and a website. Much of what I have worked out over the last 10 years of researching my Meredith and Lee in-laws is hinted at in the late 19th/early 20th c. letters I am reviewing now. There's real joy in reading these letters since I "know" all the characters from my research, but I could have chopped a couple years of work off if I'd had them to start with. I'd like whoever is interested in this bunch three or four generations from now to have a leg up!

And finally, having census data indexed, on-line and searchable is an incredible advantage. Thank you to the federal government, indexers, churches, for-profit corporations and Al Gore for making it possible.

Francis J. Smith 1805 Will - Amanuensis Monday

I am currently examining and digitizing papers belonging to my husband's great grandmother Maria Lee Palmer Smith [MLPS]. Included among them is an 1805 copy of Francis J. Smith's will, who was her husband's great-uncle. He died shortly after his will was written on 12 April 1805. This copy of the will is attached to the original letter of administration issued on the 27th of May, 1805.

Copy

Francis J Smith

Will annexed

to Letters Testamentary

For

Jane Elizabeth Smith

Leonard Jamison

& William Williams

Executors

Maryland ss) The State of Maryland To all persons

To whom those Presents shall come Greeting

Know Ye that the last will and Testament

of Francis J Smith of Frederick County Deceased

Hath in due form of law been Exhibited

Proved and recorded in the Office of the

Register of Wills for Frederick County a Copy

of which is to those presents Annexed and

Administration of all the Goods Chattels

and Codils of the Deceased is hereby granted and

committed unto Jane Elizabeth Smith, Leonard Jamison,

& William Williams The Executors by the said will appointed

Witness John Schley Esq^r Which Justice of the Orphans

Court of Frederick County this 27^th day of May ~ 1805

Test Richard Butler Reg^r.

Of wills Fred^k County.

In The Name of God Amen I Francis

J Smith of Frederick County and State of Maryland

being Sick & weak in Body tho of sound mind and

memory thanks be to Almighty God for the same

do make and Ordain this to be my last will and

Testament in manner and form following Viz^d

1^st I resign my Soul into the hands of Almighty

God who gave it and my Body to the Earth to be

decently buried at the discretion of my Executors

hereafter named - 2^nd I Give and bequeth

all my Estate of which I am at this time or may ~

Hereafter be Possessed both real & Personal after

paying my just Debts unto my beloved Wife M^rs.

Jane Elizabeth Smith, her heirs & assigns forever in full

confidence she will dispose of it to the best advantage

that may be in her power – as a Provision for herself

and our Dear Children – it may be proper to mention

that the real property to which I have a legal right

is in the State of Kentucky but the County or Counties

in which it lies from the fragment changes which

have taken place in the limits of the Counties

in that State is not at Present recollected

3^rdly It is my desire that out of Personal

Estate my dear Wife will pay into the hands

of the Reverend M^r John Dubois as soon as she

can make it convenient without Distressing the

family the Sum of Twenty Dollars to be applied

by him as heretofore verbally directed -

4^thly I hereby appoint my Dear Wife Jane

Elizabeth Smith M^r Leonard Jamison & M^r William

Williams (of S^t Marys County Executors of this my last

will and Testament In Testimony whereof

I do hereunto set my hand & Seal this Twelfth

day of April in the Year of our Lord one

thousand Eight Hundred & five

Signed Sealed & Acknowledge)

in the presence of -                  )       Francis J Smith {seal}

P. Thomas, Joseph Smith         )

Baker Jamison                         )

True Copy Test Richard Butler Reg^r.

Notes: According to family records, Smith's wife was Jane Hurd. Leonard Jamison was Smith's brother-in-law, married to his sister, Mary. He was also the grandfather of MLPS's husband and believed to have received the will and letters of administration. Joseph Smith, a witness, was Francis Smith's brother. Baker Jamison was Leonard's brother. [Updated] A Family Record name the children of Francis and Jane Hurd Smith as Leonard (unmarried), Jane (married Dr. Stone), Mary (married Raphael Neale) and Ann (unmarried).

The handwriting, though extremely legible, included what I believe is an unusually formed letter "e" that looked like an "o". I opted to transcribe it as an "e".


Source: Frederick, Maryland, Francis J. Smith Will, dated 12 April 1805 and Letters of Administration, dated 27 May 1805; Contained in the Maria Lee Palmer Smith Papers [Privately Held] Frederick, MD.

Road Trip, c. 1961

I've no memory of this early road trip. It was probably blocked out from the trauma of perching on the edge Niagara Falls. It is absolutely the last time I was voluntarily perched on the edge of anything. My sister (on left) has no such fears. Whenever we traveled she and Daddy would scale whatever there was to scale. I still remember her legs dangling beneath the fence (literally queasy as I write this) on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. I stared up at them on the Eiffel Tower, saw them waving atop the Tower of Pisa, and every other monument over two stories tall we visited while we were growing up. 

I've made some progress in adulthood. With enough time I've been able to creep close to the edge of the Grand Canyon and peer down into Bryce Canyon. I've walked on rope bridges in the jungle and even climbed the Statue of Liberty. None of it has been fun, but I've managed. Still, there's no way this picture will EVER be recreated. 

Mother's caption on the back reads "Terror at Niagara Falls" so perhaps my fear of heights was inherited. 

A Southern Belle - Wordless Wednesday

Maria Lee Palmer Smith (1844-1931)

Maria Lee is my husband's great-grandmother, the daughter of Margaret Meredith and James Armistead Palmer. This is a xeroxed copy of an undated photograph. I believe it was taken when she was in mourning, but don't know if it was for her mother (1889), her husband (1900) or her son (1916). The earlier dates seems the more likely, given her clothing.

School's Out for Summer

My great-uncle Earl Williams was twelve years old when he brought home this report card to his parents in 1905. Apparently he had a bit of trouble getting back to school after the Christmas holiday, but I suspect his parents were quite pleased with his work that year.

Earl was born 15 March 1892 to Flora McAdams and R.J. Williams. He drowned in 1915. His younger sister, Iva, kept his portrait over her dresser for the rest of her life.

Happy Father's Day

First time father and first time child
We navigated the route together
It's been a wonderful trip
Love you, Daddy

705 East First North Street - Those Places Thursday

Growing up in a Connecticut town full of winding roads I was always impressed with the neatly laid out streets in my mother's hometown of Morristown, TN. But I could never wrap my head around the street names. First, Second, Third Streets seemed clear enough, but once the quadrant names were added - well I was amazed. This is my Sawyer grandparent's home. It sits on a small rise. We would sit on the glider on the porch (barely visible on the right) and watch the world drive by. I know at one point I went looking for West First South Street. I don't remember if I ever found it...

Sarah Killion Sawyer - Tombstone Tuesday

Last month I wrote about my great-grandparents Archie Sawyer and Sally Killion. I mentioned that I had seen her tombstone more than 20 years ago, but had not taken a camera to the cemetery. Revisiting the cemetery was high on my to do list for this summer. Well scratch that one off the list. I may get up to Joseph's Chapel Cemetery, but it's no longer a must do. I did have a camera!

SARAH

wife of 

ARCHIE SAWYERS

BORN 

Sept. 2?, 1812

DIED

January 2, 1881

I found this picture while digging through my basement for a cooler for the upcoming research trip. Obviously my basement, like the rest of my life, is exceedingly well organized. I'm not going to speculate on what powers are rewarding me for days of planning and techie traumas, but I thank them, my lucky stars and anyone else who wants to take credit.

Grass may well have grown over the marker by now so finding it could have been quite a chore. My notes say her birthday was September 23rd, but the marker doesn't look like that from this picture. Regardless, I'm thrilled to have found this and so pleased I wasn't quite the ditz I thought I was. Well, still a ditz, having misplaced the photo in the basement near the cooler, but not such a ditz as to have forgotten to take the picture!

Mystery Monday's Merediths

I have spent years researching my 19th century Meredith in-laws and have had considerable success finding information that has clarified their relationships and cast a bit of light on their lives.

There are some aunts and cousins that are more shadowed - even hints of a bit of scandal. But I've not delved deep into those individuals yet. I hope to find some records this summer in Virginia that will answer some of my questions. But above all I want to find out about my mystery Merediths.

My husband's gg grandmother Margaret Meredith Palmer had three brothers - Thomas James (T.J. or James), Thomas William (Tommie or Thomas), and William Vincent Meredith (don't you just love those names!). I've written about James' untimely death and about William's life as a Redemptorist priest several times. But Thomas has been difficult to decipher.

He was mentioned in the family letters from the Thomas Meredith papers at the Maryland Historical Society. There was no reference to college for him, however, which I found puzzling since so many other nephews and his sister, Margaret, were being educated at Catholic schools by their uncle. His brother (and guardian) James wrote about taking Tommie with him on business trips which suggested he was being groomed to join the family ranks of merchants. Margaret writes about relying on him for advice and assistance following her husband's death in 1847.

The information in the letters is supported by the 1850 census. He appears twice - enumerated as a merchant on July 1st in Lancaster County (VA) with his brother, William, and again in his sister's household in Northumberland County (VA) where he was enumerated as a clerk on November 15th. Also in his sister's household was a young woman, Frances Palmer. I have not been able to identify her relationship to the family.

And then his life becomes much less clear. I have a theory as to what happened, but many, many questions. I posted this query on several message boards in 2007 (no responses to date).

Seeking information on the following persons listed in 1850, 1860, & 1870 Census:

1850 - VA Northumberland, District 7
Frances PALMER 22 female
Thomas MEREDITH 25 male clerk
Both were living in the household of Margaret Meredith Palmer, widow of James Palmer.

1860 - VA Lancaster, Eastern District (Litwalton Post Office)
F M MEREDITH 33 female seamstress & head of household
John MEREDITH 6 male
Caroline MEREDITH 4 female
Nanny L MEREDITH 2 female
Thomas E MEREDITH 1 male
All born in Virginia

1870 - VA Northumberland, Wicomico
John MERRIDETH 16 male working on farm, born in Virginia
He is in household of John Palmer, son of Margaret Meredith & James Palmer. Margaret Palmer is also in household.

MD Baltimore, Ward 10
Carrie MEREDITH 14 female born in Maryland
Nannie MEREDITH 12 female born in Maryland
Both were residents of Saint Mary's Orphan Asylum.

On the face the information suggests Thomas (who with his brother, William, were the only Merediths enumerated in Lancaster and Northumberland Counties in 1850) likely married a woman whose name began with F, had four children and died. Was the woman the Frances Palmer living with his sister in 1850? A memorial on Findagrave shows he died in 1859 and was buried at St. Mary's Whitechapel in Lancaster County. It's fairly tidy.

BUT, why was Thomas left out of his uncle's 1853 will? His uncle left substantial bequests to all of Thomas's siblings and his sister's children. Why was he buried at St. Mary's when there is no record of any other family member being buried there? What happened to F M Meredith and the baby Thomas? Marriage records indicate she remarried. Did the Civil War impact the family? Why were the daughters in an orphanage in Maryland (which was one of the largest beneficiaries of Uncle Thomas's will)? And what happened to the young Merediths in the years that followed?

I hope to get answers to many of my questions when I visit the Library of Virginia and the Mary Ball Washington Museum & Library this summer.

Pretty Babies - Sentimental Sunday

Somehow I have managed to wait more than two months before trying out the stitching software for my not-so-new FlipPal scanner. I pulled out a large hand tinted portrait of my grandmother, the oft photographed Iva Williams, which is too large to fit on my scanner. I am so impressed with the results! 

Now if I could only figure out how to crop to an oval image on my laptop. I'd wish it was a Mac save for the agonies my iMac desktop is going through as it moves into old age...

Update

Kristin Williams very kindly sent me a beautifully cropped version of Grandmother as a baby. 

Thanks SO much, Kristin. As much as we adore the technology that allows us to accomplish more than Grandmother could have ever imagined, it is a major frustration when it zigs instead of zags. Kristin saved the evening for me! 

Logging in Cocke County - Those Places Thursday

Cocke County Killions, c. 1920

During the early part of the 20th century industrial logging took hold in the mountains of East Tennessee. Though my great-grandfather Gee Sawyer left the mountains of Cocke County for farmland along the Nolichucky River in Greene County, his brothers and Killion cousins in Cocke County joined the thousands of men who earned a living chopping down the old growth forests and moving the lumber to the mills for processing. From 1900 to 1930 two-thirds of the forests in the Smoky Mountains were cut down.

Gee's brother Andy Sawyer and some of his sons were teamsters, hauling lumber cut in Cocke County across the mountains by wagon to mills in North Carolina. Their frequent trips to and from Madison County, NC helped maintain links to Sawyer cousins in North Carolina, links all but lost today. They would drive their horses from Del Rio, up past Paint Rock, Hot Springs and down toward Marshall, NC. A Sawyer cousin shared a digital copy of a photograph above of some of the Killions at work moving the logs. We can't identify specific individuals, but these men were the sons and grandsons of one Andy & Gee's maternal uncles - most likely Jacob Killion (1824-1903). 

School outing, c. 1920

From today's perspective clearcutting such large swaths of old growth forests is appalling, at best. It was not seen that way at the time. Many families saw incomes rise with the wages paid to the loggers and teamsters. The communities were proud of the railroads and mills. My great-aunts remembered outings or frolics up into the mountains to watch the wood being felled and moved. 

Their photo albums contain several photographs of school girls and friends posed on logs and downed trees. No one is mourning in these photos. They are playing, gawking and celebrating. In this photo the logs are resting next to a railroad line. My great-aunt Selma Sawyer, a school teacher, is seated at the right.

2011.5

The earth moved. Literally. This is how my day started - a 4.2 magnitude earthquake centered 50 miles south of us in Sullivan, Missouri. At 3:10 a.m.

This is a very small earthquake - at least from a distance. Nothing fell, nothing cracked (with the possible exception of me). But it was an unnerving beginning to the day. A day that is heading for 98 degrees. Again. A day where many Missourians are only beginning to come to grips with post-tornadic realities. A day when others are watching the rivers rise. Hell, even the bugs are jumping up and smacking us in the face.

 Some rights reserved by Eric Henderson Photography

So what greets me when I open up Reader this morning? Kerry Scott telling me my house is on fire. No kidding. And she wants to know what I'd grab as I'm running out.

I actually started to think about it. The pictures are backed up online so I don't need to go for those. All the techy stuff can be replaced. My purse would be a good idea. But a thing - something of personal value or significance? This place is full of things. My grandmother's crocheted pieces. My great-grandfather's powder horn. A wooden goose I loved as girl and now have in my family room. Family silver and china and crystal and rugs. The quilts - I really should grab one of those. The books. My husband might grab one of the etchings from his family. The paintings. I'd probably go up in smoke trying to figure it out.

Months after Hurricane Katrina hit I spent several weeks working with the Red Cross in Mississippi. These things take a LONG time to clean up before anyone can begin to think of rebuilding. On Halloween we drove around cheerfully serving meals and passing out candy to families living in tents, trailers, campers amid the rubble. Cheerful was key. I was cheerful. I wore a St. Louis Cardinals baseball cap and bantered with the clients. They bantered back. I even teased one woman who was wearing a Christmas tree pin that she had the wrong holiday. She looked puzzled then glanced down at the pin. "It's the only thing I could find afterwards," she said. I can still see her face.

That's the point. When everything goes up in smoke I'll grab something. Probably whatever thing is nearest the door or window I'm jumping out of. It really doesn't matter what it is because it will be all that's left.

Meanwhile, I'm calling an end to this year. It has, on every possible level, been one for the books. I had high hopes for the rapture a few weeks ago, but that was a bust. No way I'm waiting until October for the next go-round. Time for a new one. I don't think I can actually pull off decreeing that it is now 2012, so from here on out this year is officially 2011.5.

UPDATE - My bumpy wake-up was downgraded to a 3.9 earthquake.

A Family Record, Part 2 - Amanuensis Monday

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch who originated the Amanuensis Monday meme, providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

My grandfather Stefan Popp wrote a family record of his, his wife's and their own family in a pocket calendar that I have. It's written in what I have been told is a Rusyn/Ukrainian dialect. My translations are not exact, but I believe they communicate the basic information.  I wrote about his own parents here. This second part is a record of his wife Anna Pereksta's family.

Family Record for Ivan Pereksta and Olena Sidor

Wife's parents

Ivan Pereksta was born in Prislop january 25 in the year 1857

He died february 19 in the year 1933 at the age of 76 years 9 months and 3 days.

Mama

Olena Sidor (Hocko) was born in Starini September 27 in the year 1860

She died january 3 in the year 1936 at the age of 75 years 4 months and 24 days.

Ivan and Olena Pereksta were married may 3 in the year 1879

They had children

Maru, Ivana, Petra, Olenu, Zuzku, Anna, Vasila and Nascu|Zelenak 

Mara was born in the year 1880

Notes -

Olena Sidor's name includes an alias (Hocko). This is not uncommon and is used to differentiate families that have the same surname. Sidor is a very common name in the area this family lived. At this point we don't know if Hocko indicates maternal surname earlier in the family, a personal characteristic or trait or references a geographic location. 

Starini or Starina, the village where she was born, no longer exists. It was one of several villages flooded  when the Starina Reservoir was constructed in 1980. 

The names of the children as we use them today are Maria, Ivan (John), Pytor (Peter), Olena, Susanna, Anna, Vasil and Nascia. Maria, John, Susanna and Anna settled in the United States. Peter, Olena, Vasil and Nascia stayed in Europe. 

The surname Zelenak was added later with lines indicating it belonged to Mara, the eldest child. 

"Popp-Pereksta Family Record." (MS. Binghamton, NY, 1930-1982), p. 2-3; Digital Images.  Privately held by Susan Popp Clark, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,]. 2008.  

This is the Face of Genealogy

My grandparents-in-law, Mary Whitaker and Stanley Clark, c. 1920.

Learning of their lives has cast light on our own.

J.S. Sawyer - Sunday's Obituary

J. S. SAWYER

     J. S. Sawyer, aged 84, a prominent citizen of the Warrensburg community, died very suddenly at 8 o'clock Friday night at his home from a heart attack.

     Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon at Warrensburg Baptist Church of which he was a member, by Rev. C. P. Jones, assisted by Rev. John McGregor. Interment in Oak Grove Cemetery in Greeneville.

     He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Katherine Conway Sawyer, five daughters, Mrs. H. L. Luttrell of Greeneville, Mrs. Herbert Haunt [sic], Misses Emma, Selma and Katherine Sawyer, all of Warrensburg. Also three sons, Bob of Morristown, Conway and Winston, of Warrensburg; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Notes - The undated newspaper clipping was kept in the funeral home memorial books in the Sawyer family collection of papers. J. S. (Jehu Stokley) Sawyer died 19 January 1940. The clipping may have been from a Greeneville (TN) newspaper since his third daughter living there was mentioned first. His eldest daughter was Lillian, Mrs. Herbert Haun, not Haunt. The other children are listed in birth order.

Jehu S. Sawyer (Sort Of) Family Record - Treasure Chest Thursday

My great great-grandparents Archie and Sallie Killion/Killian Sawyer were my largest stumbling blocks in researching my mother's family when I started in the 1980s. My great aunts, when questioned, never knew the names of their grandparents but knew we were "kin" to the other Killions or Killians in the area. One of my first successes was identifying Sallie's parents, David and Barbary Killian. Identify as in "I am sure these are her parents but I don't have any document naming them as her parents". 

Census records identified David and Barbary as the only Killians old enough to be her parents in Cocke County at the time Sallie and Archie were married and starting their family. Their sons were the only other Killians appearing in 1840 and 1850 Cocke County censuses. They were neighbors, enumerated on the same pages in 1840. David actually signed a bastardy bond for Archie when he was hauled into court after an apparent fling (making him one generous father-in-law). Archie and Sallie named their first daughter Barbary. All the Killions in the area descended from David and Barbary's sons. The circumstantial evidence goes on and on. But there was nothing in writing. 

Until this. A family record written in my great-grandfather Gee Sawyer's funeral home book. A record that names Sallie Killion's parents as David and Barbara Killion. Now I know it's written generations later, and yes, I can see their names were added even later to this record (in pencil, at that). The handwriting is shakier than any other in the funeral home books and seems to be that of an elderly person. It is entirely possible that my great-aunt wrote this in the '80s after I told her of my theories, or that my great-grandmother knew the information and added it later. And it is true that my elderly great-aunts did not know or remember this when we talked in the 1960s and 70s and 80s. But it is the ONLY time I've ever seen their names written in any of the family documents I've inherited. 

So it's a keeper - with asterisks galore***. 

Doughty-Stevens Company (Greeneville, TN). "Jehu S. Sawyer Memorial Books." Digital Image. Privately held by Susan Clark. 1996.