Researching Tax Records

I'm doing a little research on my RICH roots, specifically my 4th great grandfather John Wesley RICH. He is one of those lovely ancestors who 1) has a common first name 2) often went by his middle name, occasionally his first name followed by his middle initial, and possibly (according to these records) just his first name and 3) has a son by the same name. These factors can make it a little difficult when using alternate records in placing him. I'm using some alternate records for this post so I can fill in the gaps in my timeline between the 1860 and 1880 census. John Wesley RICH is nowhere to be found for the 1870 census and several of his children are MIA as well.

Since I no longer subscribe to any of my old genealogy subscriptions (Ancestry, Newspapers.com, or Fold3) I'm going back to old faithful Family Search where you can research for free.

Various records I'm looking at are tax records, voter registration, and marriage records indicating the location of children just to name a few. Census records help because being surrounded by wife, parents, children etc we can feel certain we are indeed looking at a record pertaining to our ancestor. The other records, on the other hand, especially when you have a common name, aren't always as reassuring. *I will try to use his name how it is spelled and given with each record.*

I've blogged about John Wesley RICH before. You can find those blogs here and here. 

I want to lay this post out in a timeline:

• circa 1815 birth of John Wesley RICH. Census records indicate the following years: 1812, 1813 and 1815. They all sate he was born in Kentucky.
• 1834 Marriage of Westley Rich to Nancy CREEK in White County, IL (see previous posts for image of record).
• 1838-39 in Arkansas (?) daughter Sarah gives Arkansas as her birth state in two census records. There is an 1837 tax record for a John Rich in Benton County, AR. Unsure if that's him.
• 1840 census record Hamilton County, IL enumerated a Wesley Rich. (one male 5-10, one male 15-20 (this would not be a child), then himself age 20-30 -- two females under 5, and his wife age 20-30)
• 1844 birth of son, Robert Robin in Missouri
• 1846 birth of son, William in Missouri
• 1848 birth of son, Orville Sexton in Illinois/Missouri (most likely Missouri)
• 1850 census places this John W RICH family in Lawrence County, Missouri
• 1852 birth of son, Jeremiah in Missouri
• 1853 Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910 finds a John W RICH in Grayson County, TX
• 1856 Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910 finds a John W RICH in Grayson County, TX alongside an E RICH (a connection to the Ephraim L Rich from this post perhaps?) This particular tax record led me to find a land record for 360 acres along Spring Creek, belonging to a John W RICH 
• 1857 Texas, County Tax Rolls, 1837-1910, provides the same information with the exception that now a Nancy A RICH is listed with them as owning 430 acres. Her land record can be found here.  Her land record tells me that John and Elijah RICH (the E. RICH from above) were the chain carriers for the survey of her property.
  
  Before moving on, I decided to look for John W RICH in Grayson County census records and found disappointing results. This is a different John W RICH, who was born in NC around the year 1825. Now to research Elijah and Nancy. I'm having difficulty finding Elijah and Nancy in census records. It's my theory that they are brother and mother to the Grayson County John W RICH.

• 1860 My Wesley RICH and family are found enumerated in Burnet County, Texas. Killian is married and living with his wife on the same page.

We know from census records that the following children belong to John Wesley RICH and from one of my previous posts we know that some of these names or ages aren't always consistent between census years, but we're going to do our best. I feel that Selina and Archilles of the 1850 census were actually Sidney and Arville.

1. Killian 
2. Sarah
3. Sidney 
4. Robert aka Robin
5. William
6. Arville/Orville Sexton
7. John Wesley Jr.
8. Jerremiah
9. Caroline
10. George W.

• 1865 One single solitary military record shows Killian in Colorado County, TX
• 1867 Voter registration shows a J W and Robt RICH in Milam County. Registered to have been in the state for 7 years (1860) and in county/precinct for 2 years. Both names are marked through. Killian is registered in nearby Falls County just (")marks down both columns all the way down. sigh There is also a Robt Rich listed in Collin County that year. His registration states he'd been in the state 9 years (1858) and in the county/precinct for 1 year.
• 1868 marriage record for Arville Sexton RICH to Sarah Jane WILLHITE from Collin County.
• 1870 census I can only find Robert and William married and living with their families and their siblings George and Sidney living together in the same household in Van Zandt County. Arville is enumerated in Collin County.
• 1872 there's a marriage record for Wesly RITCH to Tennie LOVETT from Cooke County
• 1873 there's a marriage record for Sidney RICH to J W SIMONS also from Cooke County
• 1878 there's a marriage record for Caroline RICH to R O HUGES from Johnson County
• 1880 census shows John W RICHE in Lamar County. In his household is his unmarried son George and his widowed/divorced/single daughter Sarah J CARTRIGHT with her children. On the same page is his married daugther Caroline, and his married son William. Killian is enumerate in Collin County, Sidney in Hill County, Robert in Comanche, Arville in Wise and John Wesley Jr. in Collin.
  
  I'm including an image so you can see just how much ground this family covered through these 20 years in Texas.
  
  

I have still been unable to place John Wesley and his wife Nancy, or the following children for the year 1870: Killian, Sarah, John Wesley Jr. or Caroline. But just in writing this post I found Caroline's marriage to Richard O HUGHES so it wasn't all for naught. It's just so frustrating that even after the 1880 census so much of this family just falls off the radar. My ancestor Killion died in 1881 but what about his parents and siblings: Sarah, Arville, John W Jr., Caroline and George, where and when did they die?

Until next time,
Becky.

In Remembrance - Myrtle Rutherford Jones

Family Search has a calendar feature with the option of having them send you a message on the anniversary of birth dates and wedding anniversaries of your ancestors. Today I was notified that my paternal great grandmother Myrtle Lurie RUTHERFORD JONES would have been 120 years old. Honestly, I didn't need the reminder because for some reason her birth date always stands out to me. I'm not really sure why because she lived in Texas and I rarely got to see her. If I had to guess, it's most likely because of the time I spent with my Mammy (her daughter).

Myrtle RUTHERFORD (Grandma Jones is what I grew up calling her) was the first born and oldest child of James Walter RUTHERFORD and Ora Frances McCLUNG. She was born 2 October 1899, in Santa Anna, Coleman County, Texas. *Her obituary says Mount Pleasant, Titus County, Texas -- Where her parents married in 1898* The earliest photograph I have of her is from around 1902. She is standing between her parents. The baby is her brother Jesse Newton RUTHERFORD who was born New Year's Day, 1902 (this helps date the picture).

 The next photograph I have was taken in 1904 when the next baby came along, Glennie Lillian, who was born 1 July 1904. Grandma Jones is standing on the right, Jesse on the left and baby Glennie is in the middle.

In January of 1908, when Grandma was only 8 years old, the family loaded up their covered wagon and headed North to an area known as Antelope Flat, in Foard County, Texas. At this time she was the oldest of four siblings, the baby, Flora was 9 months old.

Around 1912 Grandma's dad, J W RUTHERFORD, gave the community an acre to move the one room school house. Grandma attended school there. According to one of my favorite books, my husband bought me, Between The Wichitas, Grandma wrote that her first teacher was a Mr. Jim Burnson. (page 200).

I can remember this book sitting on the little wooden shelf on the back side of Mammy's brown sink. I didn't inherit it. My wonderful husband bought me one of my own. It isn't in circulation anymore.

Grandma must have met Grandpa John Arthur JONES at that school because according to John's brother Frank they also attended school there for a time. (page 416)

"The teacher at Antelope Flat lived over at Foard City. He drove a one-horse buggy without any top on it. We didn't miss any school days. Neither did the teacher.  Albert Haynie's children, his brother C. H. Haynie, Will Glenn, the Rutherfords, Henry Black, Bullions, Moody had kids in school there. The Joneses also. It was quite a while before we got to know everyone around for we didn't get to visit like they do today."

On Sept 18, 1916, one month before Grandma turned 17, she married John Arthur JONES at Burkburnett, Wichita County, Texas.



In early May 1918, the two had their first baby, a boy. Unfortunately, he didn't survive.  I'm not certain if Grandpa served in the war. There are many accounts of his brother Frank serving, but I haven't found any evidence that John Arthur did. He did however, register. He was self employed 1 mile SE of Truscott.



Around that time John found work with a childhood friend, Walter COODY. The two of them worked for a doctor in Burkburnett butchering and selling beef. They drove a Model T truck. During this time there was an oil boom. (page 334) While living in Wichita County Myrtle gave birth to two more children who born in 1923 & 1925.

I'm not sure when the picture below was taken but I wanted to include it here, since there are so few pictures of Grandpa JONES. It's taken from Between The Wichitas. My grandmother always had dark hair and so did her husband, Charles, but my dad had really blonde hair. According to John Arthur's WW1 registration he was tall with light hair and light blue eyes.



Around the year 1930-1931 John and Myrtle operated the chuck wagon for John's brother-in-law, J. M. CHOWNING's threshing crew. (page 327) They also worked  for the Charles HAMILTON Ranch for some time.

In 1934 the family moved to San Antonio where Johnnie went to work for the Humble Oil Company. Six years later, when their oldest child was 17 and their youngest child was only 6 months old, Myrtle became a widow. John died tragically in a vehicle/train collision.

Grandma then had to support five children ages 17, 14, 5, 3 and the 6 month old baby. She managed to remain in San Antonio for a few years before moving her little family back "home" to Truscott.  She used every dollar she had to buy a home, the old Mrs. Sam TURNER (Ollie Jane CAMPSEY) home, which served as a boarding house. (page 278). She even had to support her little family during WW2 when lean times were made even worse by rationing. My cousin Mike, shared this photo of her ration book with me a few years ago and I thought this is a great place to post it again.




While looking through my book, I noticed on page 50, where they mentioned Grandma chaperoning a hay ride. It said during those days it was an accepted fact that an adult was to always accompany group outings and that Mrs. Myrtle JONES frequently did so. I couldn't imagine with all that was on her plate she still found the energy to want to chaperone events.

"One week the springs of 1942, the boys decided to give a hay ride. They worked Saturday for Carl Haynie to get the use of his wagon and team. Everyone chipped in money and the girls bought food for a wiener roast. 

Mrs Myrtle Jones chaperoned that outing, as she frequently did, taking her young children and sitting calmly by the campfire wile the teenagers played walking games." 

Grandma also worked for eight years in the Truscott school lunchroom. I can remember Mammy telling me that someone gave them a pig and Grandma would feed it using the left over scraps from the school lunchroom. I seem to also remember she did laundry for extra income, but I'm not certain of this last memory.

Here is a photograph shared by my cousin Kaye from 1957. The women are wearing collages so it could have been Mother's Day or Easter.




I remember one trip to Texas to celebrate Grandma's 90th birthday at the nursing home. My Aunts Jeannie and Cathy served a large beautiful cake and there was punch. There was a small mention of it in the Munday Courier. I was hoping for a picture. I was only 9 at the time but I remember it was a big celebration. I did find where her 75th and 77th birthday was celebrated as well.

I've posted on Facebook and even made mention in a blog post that my grandmother, Myrtle's daughter, moved with her family to Arkansas in the mid '60's. I can still remember long distance phone calls between my Mammy and her older sister Frances. I'm sure there were phone calls to her mother too, but what I remember most were the cassette tapes that she would record and mail home to her mother. I even had to record a few (when I was too young to fully grasp why). As the years wore on Grandma JONES' hands became too arthritic to write and her eyesight was failing, long distance phone calls were expensive so to communicate they would mail cassette tapes back and forth. I was lucky enough to inherit Grandma's last tape she sent Mammy. You can watch the video below to listen.

Before she gave up writing all together, Grandma sent this letter. It was in short hand, which it is my understanding, how she would often write. She was 91.  My Dad's cousin Gayle transcribed it for me below.

Grandma died in July of 1994. I remember her funeral well. It was so hot. July in Texas.We gathered at a small white church. They sang 'In The Garden' and she was laid to rest in the Truscott Cemetery where the rest of her family is buried.

The Nalls gathered at the Seymour Motel before the service.
Back Row: Dad (Johnny Nall) Cathy Gardisser, Mitch Nall, Mike Nall, Bampy (Charles)
Middle Row: Me (Becky), Mammy (Sue) Jeannie, Jeff, Jennifer, and Tom Calvert
Front Row: Matthew and April Gardisser, and Jeremy Calvert.

Before wrapping this up, I thought I would include a picture I have of one of her few visits to AR.

Maybe 1981

Until next time,
Becky

Home Videos

Today some clips of a home video were shared with me on Facebook from the year 1995. This home video takes place at a little house on Hwy 16 in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, belonging to my ex-husband's parents at Christmas time.

This was the same year that I first started dating Gaylan. I was 15 he was 19. It really took me back in time. I don't think I met his family until Easter of 1996. I know that was the first time I met his sister, Cookie. So many people are now gone and sorely missed. These clips are truly how I remember the DOWDY/COUNTS family. They were a close, big, happy family.  Brenda and Carolyn always prepared a big meal for the holidays. The house was full and loud. Cards were often played at the table and the girls would occasionally be huddled up in a bathroom or corner getting 'dolled up' to go somewhere. This was a good season to remember. Thank you Nerissa for sharing these with me.


For my kids: Your Dad is in the camo pants and sweatshirt in the back of the room. He is standing next to your Uncle Tony and 2 year old Jake comes back with a present and sits at his feet.

                                     
                                     

Until next time,
Becky

Twins

I'm skipping ahead so today's prompt is going to be TWINS

I'm going to start off with the 1860 Rusk County, Texas, census for Beat No. 6. Post office is Minden. For the first set of  NALL TWINS I have come across in my research.

The first family listed on the image below is the family of Thomas J Nawls (NALL). My 4x great grandfather. The second family listed in my 3x great grandfather, John Middleton Nawls (NALL), living in the same household is his sister Margaret SCROGGINS' family. If you look where I've indicated, the two children of J M and Mary are 6 month old twins. In my post about John Middleton's Civil War service, I touched on the illness and poverty that came to this area during the beginning of the war. I believe that illness and poverty could have been what led to the death of baby S. NALL shortly after this census. Baby S. Nall died by 1865 when the family of  three (Mary, David, and my ancestor John Thomas) are on the indignant soldier's families list.

1860 Beat 6, Rusk County, Texas 

The surviving children of John Middleton and Mary Jane GARNER NALL were:

1. David Harrison (TWIN) 1859
2. John Thomas 1861
3. Sarah 1866
4. Pervelley Ophelia 1869
5. Charles Elexander 1871
6. James Wesley 1874
7. Linnie 1880

As far as I have found, none of the above children had TWINS. And to preserve my sanity, from here I am going to focus only on my ancestor John Thomas NALL's descendants and from there the descendants of his son, my ancestor, Benjamin Rufus NALL.

John Thomas NALL married Optha Ophelia RICH and they had 10 children. They were:

1. Emma Nall 1883
2. James C 1885
3. Minerva Frances 1889
4. Elsie Mae 1892
5. Charles 1894
6. James Arch 1895
7. Mary Ethel 1898
8. Roy 1900
9. Mollie Marzel 1903
10. Benjamin Rufus 1908

Benjamin Rufus NALL married(2) Willie Belle FOSTER. They had seven children, two of which were TWINS

1. Charles Bryant Nall (my ancestor)
2. Female 
3. Male
4. Male
5. Male (TWIN)
6. Wilma Jean (TWIN) died at birth.
7. Rufus Leon Nall died in farming accident.

Their third child would marry and have four children, one girl and three boys. One of these boys would marry and have three children, two of which were TWIN  girls.  

Their fourth child had six children, two of which were TWIN girls. Another one of their daughters would go on to marry and have eight children, two of which were also TWIN girls. Their son would marry and have four children, two girls and two boys. One of those girls would marry and go on to also have TWIN girls.

Not counting the TWINS born to John Middleton NALL and Mary Jane GARNER. There has been five sets of TWINS born in four generations.

.

Until next time,
Becky

Strong Genes and Eyebrow Peaks

Today's prompt is FACIAL FEATURES 

Below is a collage I made of my great grandmother, Bondell BYNUM and her direct ancestors. 

First off, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have these pictures. The oldest picture dates somewhere around the late 1890's or early 1900's. There is one feature that stand out to me in all of these and that is the way their eyebrows all come to a very sharp point mid-arch. 

Left to Right: Bondell BYNUM, Kinchen BYNUM, Lou Elmer REYNOLDS, Arkansas WOOD

1. Bondell was the second child born to Kinchen BYNUM and his wife Ludia MOORE
2. Kinchen was the first child born to Lou REYNOLDS and her husband John Thomas BYNUM.
3. Lou was the third child born to Arkansas WOOD and her husband Thomas REYNOLDS
4. Arkansas was the youngest child born to Blount M. WOOD and Frances PARHAM

I did a little research and found that a person's eyebrows can tell you a lot about them. According to Chinese face reading, if your eyebrows have high, pointed arches, you are a fun-loving, outgoing person who thinks fast and talks faster. You love to be spontaneous and need near-constant stimulation to keep you entertained and interested. You also have a great sense of humor, but may be over-emotional, at times.

I've looked through pictures of my grandfather and I can sometimes see the same feature in one of his eyebrows but it's not always as prominent. I feel like my mother's eyebrows are both very round. And I feel like mine are more like my grandfather's -- one is sometimes pointy but this day and age with all the plucking and waxing, it's hard to say what my natural eyebrow shape is. But there's no denying the trait in the first 4 photographs.

Grandpa, Mom, Me

Until next time,
Becky 

The John Calvin Jones Cousins

Another short and sweet post. Today's prompt is COUSIN. I wanted to find a way to share a compiled booklet about my JONES family, affectionately referred to by my grandmother as her 'Cousins Book'. (click link). 

There are a few photographs, stories and a wealth of information contained in the work put together by the Jones cousins. As sometimes happens in works this large there are a few errors here and there (my birth date is wrong) but by and large it is just such a precious thing to have if just for the stories shared within it.

One of my favorite stories is found on page 207. It describes the beloved Buffalo Horn Hat Rack. It was restored and was seen by many at a 1993 Jones Reunion. It says that David Jones (grandson of Frank Jones) was the last named owner of this rack.

The story goes...

While on Sweetwater Creek John Calvin and Leona picked up buffalo horns, still on the skulls. They scraped the horns, polished them with powdered charcoal, rubbed them with a woolen cloth until you could almost see your picture on the horns. Then they mounted them on a horse shoe frame with a mirror inside and used it for a hat rack. Bob Jones said Frank told him the man at the store built the horseshoe frame for Leona to put the buffalo horns on. (possibly Frank Exum. ) The frame is made from an Arbuckle Cofffe box.

A granddaughter of Frank Jones sent me the following photographs of the buffalo had rack. This first photo was taken March 1980, in the home of Frank and Pearle Jones in Plainview, TX. The little boy with Frank is Kay Jones Merkling's oldest child, Joseph Legarde, aged 3.





This second photo shows the "restored" hat rack, hanging in the home of Chuck and Ella Mae Jones, in Plainview. This photo isn't dated.



Here is an updated Table of Contents to the Jones Legacy.


Until next time,
Becky

Brothers Working Side By Side

The prompt for today, September 5th, is BROTHER.  This post will be short and sweet.

Below is a video provided by my Great Uncle Bo and his wife Bette. They shared it at the 2018 NALL family reunion and my cousin Angie shared it with me on Facebook. I took it and added annotations so we would all know who is who and I thought this was the perfect prompt to share it on my blog.

This is my Great grandfather Rufus Nall working cattle with his sons, grandsons, and brother-in-law, Art FOSTER. This wasn't too many years after moving onto Blue Mountain, Prairie Grove, Washington County, AR from around Benjamin, Foard County, TX.  To read more about the move from Texas to Arkansas, you can read this post.

If you find the video above to hard to see try clicking here.

At about minute mark 1:24 you can see Grandma Nall's house in the background. That means something to me, because it lets me know I have helped work cattle on that same ground. We had a corral and headchute by that time, but it still is something special to me to have been blessed with that experience.

P.S. If you're curious, like me, as to what Rufus' brand was, it was the Bar N.





Until next time,
Becky

Sisters; Gone But Not Forgotten

Today's prompt for September 4th is SISTER, and I wanted to do a short little write up on two different sisters a generation apart that disappear without a trace. I always wonder about the people I come across in my research that just fall out of the story line, often without any children, and therefore no descendants to come searching for them.

The first sister is Caroline CONNER. She was the sister of my 3x great grandmother, Jane CONNER.

I first came across Caroline CONNER living with her parents Joseph and Jane CONNER and four siblings: William, Thomas, Jane and Joseph in Taylor, Greene, Missouri during the 1850 census. She was sixteen and her birth state is given as Missouri.

Ten years later she is unmarried and living at home with her parents in 1860 but has only aged two years ,sigh. By 1860 the family had moved to Finley, Webster, Missouri. They actually may not have moved all that much because the county lines were moved in 1855 when Webster County was created out of Greene County. Besides Caroline, her younger brother Joseph, is also still living at home.

After 1860 I find no other records that I'm certain are her. There's a marriage record out of Morgan County, Missouri, but I don't think that is her.

I was tickled pink to be able listen to my great grandmother tell a story about Caroline. *Thank you Tarona!*

In Grandma Zulie's story Caroline goes by "Line, Line CONNER". You can listen to it here.  Or try watching it below....

The second sister to go missing is Caroline's niece, Rebecca EVANS, who was the sister of my 2x great grandmother, Clara India Evans. Rebecca would've been Grandma Zula's aunt. Looking at when she disappeared, it's possible Grandma never even knew her.

Rebecca E EVANS was the sibling closest in age to my ancestor Clara India EVANS. I did a post on the name Rebecca  where I mentioned that my maternal grandmother was named after her paternal grandmother but I wonder if she could have also been named after this sister.

Rebecca EVANS first shows up in the 1880 Boston, Madison County, census as the youngest child of Josiah and Jane EVANS. She is one year old and her birth state is Texas. Her birth is the only record I have that the EVANS family was ever in Texas.

She shows up again as Beckie E EVANS in the 1900 Hill, Johnson County, census living with her mother, Jane, her sister and my ancestor, Clarenda and a very young niece, Etha M Evans (I believe this is Jody's daughter).


There was a marriage between a Rebecca EVANS and an Adison J. ROBINSON from Coal Hill, Johnson County, two years earlier in 1898 but that is not her. California Death records indicate that Rebecca to be Sarah Rebecca EVANS, and her mother's maiden name was HESS not CONNER.

AND there was a marriage record for a Becky EVANS and Marion GILBERT. They were married July 1913 in Friley, Johnson, Arkansas. THIS MUST BE HER, right? Or is it?  This Becky Evans is about 10 years too young. But the Friley community is spot on.





Beckie GILBERT born 1898 in Arkansas and her husband FM (Francis Marion) with young daughter Kate are found living in Batson, Johnson County in 1920 so I guess this really isn't her either.



If anyone out there knows anything else about Caroline CONNER or Rebecca EVANS I'd love to hear from you!

Until next time,
Becky

Gone Without A Trace

I'm going to try to do a little blogging again using FREE sources since I let my Ancestry subscription lapse. It wasn't worth the money for what little "new" I was discovering anymore. I still have access to my tree and any pictures I've uploaded and that helps as I learn to build my tree and use Family Search for more than just random searches. I'm using a few prompts from Genealogy Photo A Day for the month of September. Today's prompt will be a combination of the first three days of September:  SURNAME, MAIDEN NAME, and PARENTS

The focus of this post will be my 4th great grandparents James H KOSIER and his wife Adaline.

The reason for SURNAME is because in the 7 sources I have for James his surname is spelled:

1. C-O-Z-I-E-R 1850 Ancestry transcribes it as C-A-Y-I-E-R and Family Search C-A-Z-I-E-R
2. K-E-I-S-E-R  1860 Ancestry and Family search both transcribe it the same
3. C-O-S-I-E-R  1870 Ancestry and Family search both transcribe it the same
4. K-O-S(Z)-I-E-R  1880 Ancestry and Family search both transcribe it the same 
5. K-O-S-S-I-E-R Texas Muster Roll 
6. K-O-S-I-E-R  Texas Voter Registration 2x

The reason I chose this couple for MAIDEN NAME is the fact that I have Adeline's maiden name as HOWARD but I don't have any sources to verify this. I have yet to find any marriage records for them.

And lastly, PARENTS, because I don't know who either of their parents are.

The first time I find James and Adaline, is the 1850 census for Knox County, TN. They are living in dwelling # 1115 and they are family #1124. Their last name is looks to be spelled C-O-Z-I-E-R. Family Search has this name transcribed as C-A-Z-I-E-R. Enumerated in their household is a daughter Elizabeth (7), son John H (5), son William E (3), daughter Mary A (7/12).

James is a laborer on the 1850 census, surrounded by farmers. The value of his property is considerable less than the others on the page at 350. Neighbors are: CHILDRESS, GIDEONS, WHITE, and MAY to name a few.

By 1860 this family has moved to Red River, Texas. He now lists his occupation as farmer but again the value of his estate is considerable less than the others. He now has seven children: Elizabeth (17) John (15), William (13), Mary (10) and new to the family are Loretta (8), Evaline (6), and James (2). All children were born in Tennessee indicating they hadn't lived in Texas for more than two years, tops.

Knowing that this family is in Red River Texas in 1860 leads me to feel confident that the following Muster Index Card for James KOSSIER  is my ancestor.




Voter Registration for Red River County, Texas, dated 9 July 1867,  entry 545 shows a J H KOSIER followed by a (546) James KOSIER both state they had only lived in the state and county for seven years. Both men were born in Tennessee. I believe J H is John Howard, the eldest son of James and Adeline.

By 1870 James and Adeline have moved to Johnson County, Arkansas. James and his wife are family #8 The three oldest children have since married and are living on their own nearby, enumerated as family #'s six, nine, and ten. The children remaining at home are Mary (20), Loretta (17), Eveline (14), James now going by Robert (12) and finally my ancestor Zulema (9). Texas is her birth state. James property value is about the same as his neighbors. His occupation is farm laborer. One thing of note about this census is that under the heading Constitutional Relations, both items are marked. He is a US citizen older than 21 and his right to vote has been denied or abridged on other grounds than rebellion or other crime.





In 1880 James and Adeline are living in the neighboring county of Madison, Boston Township. They still have Evaline and Robert living at home. William is living next door with his family.

After 1880 I can no longer find James and Adeline nor several of their children.

1900 census

Elizabeth and Franklin Lafayette Stewart --  Lee, Johnson County
John Howard Kosier unknown but his son Hugh was born in Winthrop, Little River, AR in 1888
William E Kosier died 1895 It is rumored he and his wife died of typhoid fever weeks apart.
Mary and Joseph McCallister unknown
Martha Loretta Acord unkown, husband Thomas died in 1886 in Franklin County, AR
Evaline Kosier unkown
Robert James Kosier unknown but living in Hill, Johnson County, AR in 1910
Sarah Zulema and John Turner Acord -- Hill, Johnson County, AR

This little family unit often has left me with more questions than answers. Where did everyone go after 1880? I've even tried finding the Kosier siblings via their young children who were born in the late 1870's-80's and sometimes even they are missing without a trace. If you have any answers or theories to provide on these families I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time,
Becky

An Old Fashioned Mother

The kids are all back in school and with my most recent botox treatment making many tasks feel impossible these days, I have found myself back in the recliner scouring the Internet for any more tidbits on my ancestors that I have yet to uncover. My favorite thing to search are old newspaper articles. It gets a bit tricky though because there are often so many typos and spelling errors.

There's a great free newspaper archive from Texas Tech University, I've mentioned it before. They changed their website a while back and I couldn't get to the newspaper search, but I was finally able to get it to work a few weeks ago. Today, of course, as soon as I start to type my blog, it has become glitch-y. We will see how far I get before deciding to come back another day....

This time I'm searching the Foard County News for any records on my NALL/FOSTER ancestors.

Today I found where my great grandmother Willie Belle competed in the County Interscholastic Meet and won second place in arithmetic. There of course was a typo and her name was given as Winnie Belle, but I'm 99.99% sure it's her. Claytonville was a very small rural community. Grandma would've just turned 15. The article is from March 1930.

Foard County News 28 March 1930

 I also found where in May of that same year, Grandma, portrayed the Mother, in Walter Ben Hare's 1917 play "An Old Fashioned Mother".  How fitting. I know she was the great matriarch of our NALL family. I was actually able to find an online copy of the play. Just click on the title to take a look at it yourself.

Foard County News 16 May 1930

I'm not certain when this picture of Grandma was taken, but I imagine it was close to 1930. If you were wondering what she looked like back then.

Just to give you an idea of the severity of the typos, below is the Birth Announcement of my grandfather, Willie Belle's first born, Charles Bryant Nall, who was born 13 May 1935. To Willie Belle (Foster) and Benjamin Rufus Nall. There is a town called Benjamin, where my grandfather attended school, so I think that part is right.

Foard County News 06 June 1935

I'll go ahead and wrap this post up. I'll come back and add direct links to the newspaper articles, if the Texas Tech website ever comes back up. It really is a great resource when it's working. The trick is getting past all those typos.

Until next time,
Becky

Yearbook Memories

I wanted to do a quick post with a few snippets from yearbooks past involving my family.

I'll start you off with this page from the 1975 Prairie Grove Yearbook, mentioning my paternal grandfather, Charles Nall, for being on the school board.



This next one is pretty precious to me, because I don't have many pictures of my dad when he was young. Here he is in his 6th grade photo. The first year he was in Prairie Grove.



Here's another one showing my dad and step-dad both being members of the 1975 Letterman's Club

Another one from 1975. Dad was voted 'Best All Around'

1976 Mom was in FTA (Future Teachers of America) and Library Club






1983 my step mom Dawna was in Drama and Basketball

Until next time,
Becky

Mattie Dillahunty -- A Staunch Democrat and Hard Worker!

Today I want to write briefly about my step mother's maternal great grandmother, Mattie Minerva Dillahunty Moore Cravy. I've written a bit about her first husband and children here.

Mattie must have been a strong woman. She endured so much loss in her 94 years on this earth. She buried her parents, siblings, two husbands, and six of her eight children.

When I think back to her story, I think about a post I once read on Facebook about our inner crone.

IN PRAISE OF THE INNER CRONE!

OK, we all know about the "inner child", right? The innocent being who still lives inside of us, who needs and deserves love and care, and whom we sometimes have to channel in order to learn self-compassion?

I'm a big fan of the notion of the inner child. It can be a really healing construct. Once, when I was going through a particularly dark season of self-loathing, I taped a sweet photo of myself (age 2) on my mirror, and taught myself that any harm I did to me, I also did to HER. It made me kinder and more tender to myself. Imagining other people's inner children makes me kinder and more tender to them.

So the Inner Child is a good thing.

These days, though, I spend less time thinking about my Inner Child lately, and more time focused on my INNER CRONE — the old lady who lives inside me, whom I hope to someday be.

Because she's a serious bad-ass.

The really old ladies always are bad-asses. I'm talking about the real survivors. The women who have been through everything already, so nothing scares them anymore. The ones who have already watched the world fight itself nearly to death a dozen times over. The ones who have buried their dreams and their loved ones and lived through it. The ones who have suffered pain and lived through it, and who have had their innocence challenged by ten thousand appalling assaults...and who lived through all of it.

The world is a frightening place. But you simply cannot frighten The True Crone.

Some might consider the word "crone" to be derogatory, but I don't in the least. I honor it. The crone is a classic character from myth and folklore, and she often the bearer of great wisdom and supernatural power. She is sometimes a guardian to the underworld. She has tremendous vision, even if she is blind. She has no fear of death, which means: NO FEAR.

I keep a wall of photos of some of my favorite crones, for inspiration. The photo below is of a Ukrainian Babushka who lives in (get this) Chernobyl. There are a group of such women — all tough elderly peasants — who have all recently moved back to the radioactive area around Chernobyl.

You know why they live there? Because they like it.

They like Chernobyl because that's where they came from. They are natural-born farmers. They hated being refugees.They resented being shunted off their land after the catastrophe. They hated living in the shabby and crime-infiltrated and stress-inducing government housing in the city, and they much prefer the independence of living off the land in the most contaminated nuclear site on earth. They have formed a stupendously resilient retirement community there, in what some would call the world's most terrifying landscape.

Is it safe? Of course not. Or, whatever. After 90 years of hard living, what does "safe" even mean? They drink the water. These women plant vegetables in that radioactive soil and eat them. They butcher the wild pigs that scavenge around the old nuclear power plant, and eat them, too. Their point is: "We are old. What do have to fear from radioactivity? At this age? Who cares?"

All they want is their freedom. So they take care of themselves and each other. They cut and haul their own wood. They make their own vodka. They get together and drink and laugh about the hardships of World War II and the evils of the Stalin years. They laugh about everything, then they go outside and butcher another radioactive boar and make sausage out of him.

I would put these women in a Bad-Ass Contest against any cocky young alleged Bad Ass you've got going, and I guarantee you — the Chernobyl crones would win, hands down.

We live in a society that romanticizes youth. We live in a culture where youth is considered a real accomplishment. You look at a seriously powerful classic crone like the woman in this photo and you see foolish we are — to imagine that the young offer much for us to aspire to, or learn from. No wisdom like the wisdom of survival. No equanimity like the equanimity of somebody who plants a garden right on top of a nuclear disaster and gets on with it.

So these days, when my Inner Child gets all fluttery with the panic of living, I just ask myself: " WWMICD?"

"What Would My Inner Crone Do?"

Ask yourself that same question. See what she tells you.

One thing I can promise you she will never say? She will never say: "WORRY.

She will more likely tell you this: "ENDURE."

Hang in there, all you future awesome crones!

Who better to imagine than one of your ancestors? So for my sister, and stepmom, I hope when you read about Mattie, and if you ever fall on difficult times,  you picture her as your inner crone. As you go through the life, I hope you are able to endure with all the strength of those who have gone before you.

Mattie was born in Sebastian County, AR 9 September 1886/87. She was the 7th child born to Mr. Adolphous Dillahunty and Emily P. Williams. She married James Walter Moore in June of 1902 and they lived in and around Greenwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas, for about 20 years before moving to Webber Falls, Muskogee, OK. Mattie experienced a lot of personal loss in the 1930's burying her husband and several children. She ended up living in Tulare, CA with her sons Adolphus, Leon and Clyde by 1935. After living in California for about 5 years she remarried a man by the name of Mose Pierce Cravy around 1941.

Once again in looking for answers as to who Mattie's first mother and father-in-law might have been, I ran across a few articles, some even includes Mattie's picture! I wasn't able to find the answers I was looking for as far as who Walter Moore's parents were, but I did think the articles below were very interesting.

Tulare Advance Register 07 Nov 1978

Tulare Advance Register 4 Nov 1980

Tulare Advance 6 July 1982

I hope you guys enjoy the articles and if you need to enlarge them, you should be able to click the caption below each article to be taken to the file where there is a ZOOM option.


Until next time,
Becky

Memories From My Childhood (Part Two)

When I was growing up my Dad had the green table in the bottom left corner. I don't remember the chairs. I remember he had wooden folding chairs instead.