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.

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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