Old World Uncle - Wordless Wednesday

Turner Slave Sale - 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.

This is the first of a series of transcriptions of records involving slaves that I copied at the Library of Virginia. Edward Turner was my 5th great grandfather. He died in 1805. William Byrne married Turner's youngest daughter, Ann. They remained in Fauquier County throughout their lives.

Fauquier County, VA Will Book 7, p. 12 (LVA Fauquier Reel 33)

Turner Edward, Account Sale
Sale of the property of Edwd Turner, Decd  Lewis Turner acting Admt
January 3rd 1817  the widows dower Slaves to William Byrne 

To negro David                          370.00
Siller and Lucy                          651.00
9 Barrels of Corn at 6$50             38.50                                                                        1079.50
At a Court held for Fauquier County the 26th day of May 1817
This account of the sales of the estate of Edward Turner deceased was returned into Court and and ordered to be recorded.
                                                  Test                                     
                                                 Daniel Withers C.C.                                

Abstract thoughts

I've relied for many years on published abstracts of wills, marriages and deeds in my research. I don't live anywhere near the places I've needed to research and it's only in the last few years that original documents have become more available online. As I worked through the thousands of names in the family trees I inherited, validating the information and adding rudimentary sources, the abstracts were heaven sent.

I'm now in Virginia - ground zero for much of my family and my husband's. I'm visiting houses, cousins, graveyards and my personal Mecca, the Library of Virginia. Four days there doesn't seem nearly enough time, but I shall make the most of it. 

Saturday I plowed through Lancaster and Northumberland records, looking for the wills I've been citing, looking for estate settlements, inventories, other deeds and indentures. And I found them. Dozens and dozens of them. I haven't dared count how many pages I'm going to copy to my flash drive on Monday.  

And I saw what I'd known in the abstract - the names that are missing from those lovely, easy abstracts. There are dozens and dozens of them, as well. Names like Sam, 42 year old male. Annie, 16 year old female. Stepto, 27 year old male. (These aren't specific people - just examples.) I looked away several times. I was more exhausted than I've been the entire trip. I can't possible copy them all. But I will copy everyone of "ours" that I can get to. And over the next months I will transcribe every name and publish them all. 

In the meantime, if you're seeking enslaved ancestors from the Northern Neck and believe they might have been owned by the following families please contact me after August 1st. I'll be glad to send you copies of anything I've found. 

Slave Owners naming Slaves in 18th & 19th c. Northern Neck Records

Corbin

Currell

Gibson

Lawson

Lee

McTyre

Meredith

Palmer

Yerby

These other families may also have left records naming slaves, but I have not seen them so far. I will, however, be copying records so may have information on them later.

Conway (Northern Virginia)

Dobyns (Northern Virginia)

Doggett (Northern Virginia)

Holt (Amelia and Campbell Counties)

James (Wythe and Smyth Counties)

Mason (Campbell County)

Porter (Fauquier County)

Turner (Northern Virginia)

Williams (Wythe, Grayson, Smyth Counties)

SNGF - Slices of Heritage Pie

I needed something quick and fun this evening and Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun was just the thing. His challenge was to list all 16 great-great grandparents, their dates and places of birth, death and marriage and to then make a pie chart of the birthplaces.

Now I'm scant on dates when it comes to my European great great grandparents. I consider myself blessed to know all their names! As for the places they were born, lived and died, well, borders and states have changed dramatically since they lived. Technically all eight were born in the Hungarian Empire. Some may have been ethnic Hungarians, but today the villages where they lived are in Slovakia and the Ukraine and no one there considers themselves Hungarian. So that's what I'm going with for the chart, no matter what my list says.

The Great Greats

16. Stefan Papp was born before 1826 in Drahovo, Maramoros, Hungary and died in Drahovo, Maramoros, Hungary.
Stefan married Anna Stajko in Berezovo, Maramoros, Hungary.
17. Anna Stajko was born in Drahovo, Maramoros, Hungary and died in Drahovo, Maramoros, Hungary.

18. Ivan Tegza Balabancuk was born before 1837 in Maramoros, Hungary. 

Ivan married Anna Perehanic Rabunesic in Berezovo, Maramoros, Hungary.
19. Anna Perehanic Rabunesic was born before 1840 and died after 1892 in Berezovo, Maramoros, Hungary.

20. Ivan (Janos) Pereksta was born in 1826 in Kis-Pereszlo, Zemplén, Hungary and died in 1857 in Kis-Pereszlo, Zemplén, Hungary.
He married Maria Bundzha on 24 Feb 1848 in Kis-Pereszlo, Zemplén, Hungary.
21. Maria Bundzha was born in 1829 in Kis-Pereszlo, Zemplén, Hungary.

22. Ivan (Janos) Szidor was born in 1818 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary.
He married Maria Komiszar on 3 Feb 1848 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary.
23. Maria Komiszar was born in 1825 in Sztarina, Zemplén, Hungary.

24. Archibald Sawyer(s) was born in 1795 in South Carolina and died before 1880 in Cocke, TN.
Archibald married Sarah Killian about 1836.
25. Sarah Killian, daughter of David Killian and Barbary Fulbright, was born on 23 Sep 1812 in NC, and died on 2 Jan 1881 in Cocke County, TN.

26. Charles Turner Porter Conway, son of James Christopher Turner Conway and Sarah Elizabeth Holloway, was born in 1828 in Cocke Co, TN and died in 1886.
Charles married Ella Holt on 17 Dec 1851.
27. Ella Holt, daughter of Zebidee Holt and Eleanor Allen, was born in 1827 in Tennessee and died in 1895 in Cocke Co, TN.

28. Granville H. Williams, son of Levi Williams and Susannah Pugh, was born on 22 Feb 1820 in VA and died on 23 Jul 1888 in Grayson, VA.
Granville married Sally James on 30 Jan 1841 in Smyth, VA.
29. Sally James, daughter of John James and Nancy Smith, was born on 21 Mar 1821 in , Wythe, VA and died on 18 Aug 1864 in Grayson, VA.

30. Samuel Bryson McAdams, son of Thomas Cunningham McAdams Sr. and Cynthia S. Stephenson, was born on 3 Feb 1845 in Washington, TN, died on 13 May 1900 in Johnson City, Washington, TN.
Samuel married Rachel Mulkey on 9 May 1866 in Washington, TN.
31. Rachel Mulkey, daughter of Philip Mulkey and Ann Duncan, was born on 15 Sep 1839 in Washington, TN, died in 1906 in Johnson City, Washington, TN. 

As for the Pie, any way you slice it it's fun to work with!

From Kid's Zone

Pereksta Cousins from the Old World

I have an envelope addressed to my grandfather from his wife's family in Czechoslovakia that was sent in the 1950s. The postmark is hard to read but I think it was sent in 1958. My grandfather died in 1948, but the family in Europe may not have known about his death. The envelope is full of photographs, some dated, some labeled, some with no information at all. The most poignant, which I will not publish for privacy reasons, is at the burial of one of my grandmother's great-nieces.  There are photos of soldiers, of family groups, of children. The dates on the photographs range from 1948 to 1954.

These are my favorites.