Archive for March, 2012

This past four days have been “Happy Dance” Days!  Thanks to a flu bug, I sat with my laptop and searched the ‘net for family history.

I hit a jackpot with the Southern Kentucky genealogy website at: http://www.so-ky.com/ when I found my Gr-Gr-Grandmother Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb’s brother Willis’s death certificate and a photograph of his tombstone.

I started to post his tombstone photograph here, but didn’t feel quite right about doing so, as I didn’t take the photograph, and so here is the link to the tombstone, and below is the transcription.

Jesse W. Laird tombstone photograph
http://www.so-ky.com/cem/hartcem/n/newhope/IMG_9290.jpg

Transcription:

Jesse W. Laird
Co D 2 KY Cavalry
May 7, 1835
February 15, 1916

More Laird links:

Jesse Willis Laird Death Certificate
http://www.familytreewriter.com/2012/03/amanuensis-monday-willis-laird-death-certificate/

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Including Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb
http://www.familytreewriter.com/2010/04/saturday-night-genealogy-fun/

Willis’ Aunt – Bettie Crabb’s Tombstone in Glasgow Cemetery, Glasgow, Kentucky Cemetery
http://www.familytreewriter.com/2010/04/tombstone-tuesday-bettie-crabb-barren-county-kentucky/

Willis’ brother-in-law – J. R. U. Crabb, Glasgow Cemetery, Glasgow, Kentucky
http://www.familytreewriter.com/2009/11/tombstone-tuesday-j-r-u-crabb-barren-county-kentucky/

Willis’ sister, Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb, buried in the Milan Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas
http://www.familytreewriter.com/2009/09/tombstone-tuesday-elizabeth-laird-crabb/

I had a flu bug this weekend, and it is that flu bug that I have to thank for having a “Happy Dance” weekend!

A little virus had me sitting more than usual, and to combat boredom, I started ‘hunting’ on the Internet for ancestors and their siblings!  Thanks to the virus, I don’t remember exactly how I arrived at this wonderful Kentucky website, but I’m not sure I had ever been to this one before, and if I had, it has a lot of new ‘stuff’ on it, including my Gr-gr-grandmother’s brother, Willis Laird’s death certificate!

As a volunteer here in my own county, I am doubly appreciate of those who find and share family history information, and I want to say “Many thanks to the volunteers of this Southern Kentucky website at http://www.so-ky.com!  I am so very grateful to find out for certain now, that Willis is my Gr-Gr-Grandmother Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb’s brother”

You can see a scanned image of Willis Laird’s death certificate here: http://www.so-ky.com/dth/14/Jesse%20W.%20Laird.jpg

According to the website, Willis’ first name is actually Jesse, and though his death certificate doesn’t state that, his tombstone does.  Comparing the dates on tombstone and death certificate help verify that they are one and the same.

Information on the death Certificate:

Commonwealth of Kentucky
State Board of Health
Bureau of Vital Statistics

Place of death:
County: Hart KY
Vet.Fot. Northtown

Registration District No. 6174
File No: 4772
Registered No. 51

3. Sex  Male
4. Color or Race: White
5. S/M/W/D:  Married
6. Date of Birth: May 7 1835
7. Age: 80 yrs  8 mos  8 da
8. Occupation:  Farmer
9. Birthplace: KY
10.  Name of Father: Hesikiah Laird
11.   Birthplace of father: Unknown
12.   Maiden name of Mother: Patsy Carter
13.   Birthplace of Mother:  Unknown
14.   Informant:  V. J. Eggsdon/Iggsdon (?) Address:  Cave City
15. Filed:  Feb 17, 1916 Informant:   J. M. Isenberg
16. Date of Death:  2-15-1916
17: I here certify, that I attended deceased from February 4th, 1916 to February 14th, 1916, that I last saw him alive on February 14th, 1916, and that death occurred on the date stated above at 8:00 a.m. (I think, hard for me to read).  the
Cause of Death was as follows:

Lagrippe – Duration 15 daays
Contributery: Pneumonia
Secondary: (illegible, at least to me)

Duration  5 Days

Signed: J. T. Godby, M. D.
2-16-1916 Address:  Cave City, KY

18. Length of residence – not filled out
19. Place of Burial:  New Hope Date of Burial: February 17, 1916
20. Undertaker: J. W. Oster Address:  Cave City, KY

What a lot of information is contained in this death certificate!  I know that Willis was living in the Cave City area, and that he died 4 years after his sister Elizabeth Laird Jones Crabb did.

I know what cemetery Willis is buried in, and luckily enough (and thanks to the Southern Kentucky volunteers) also have a photograph of the tombstone as well as photographs of the cemetery and church there, and will be sharing links to that soon!

Thank you Kentucky volunteers!  I’m still doing a Happy Dance!

More Laird info:

http://www.familytreewriter.com/category/sherrys-family-tree/lard-laird-genealogy/

I love this blog post by Billy Coffey.  He says he’s not a genealogist, but in this post, he’s captured the essence of why many of us do this, search for this person, and then that one, hunt for this fact, or that, and try to find out who these ancestors of our truly are, and if we can, what they were like.

Billy Coffey captures most of the reasons why I do genealogy, and he says it better than I ever could.

Like Billy, I’m not looking for the rich and famous.  (I would enjoy finding just one, but I don’t think I will.)

Most of my recent ancestors were farmers, and my distant ancestors, on two sides, were people who left their home country in search of a place where they had the freedom of worship.  It is these everyday people, these people who climbed on a ship in search of freedom, these homesteaders, and farmers and farm wives, who bravely faced everyday hardships that I search for!

I don’t think anyone could say it better than Billy said in his blog post at BillyCoffey.com:

“Because I am the result of many moments and many decisions that mattered to people with whom I share a common bond. And those who come after me, my children and their children and theirs, will be the results of my own moments and decisions.”

I appreciated Billy putting into words at how I feel about my ancestors.

It reminded me that we’re all a part of the tapestry of history, the tapestry that living our everyday ‘nobody’ lives weaves each and every day.

Thank you, Billy.

I just loved this week’s episode of “Who Do You Think You Are?” with Reba McEntire!  Since she was raised in our next-door state of Oklahoma, it’s like she’s almost a neighbor!

According to Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers, I’m not the only one who loved this episode!  According to MacEntee the number of viewers went up by 1/3rd and it came in second in its time slot!  Sounds pretty good to me, though I think it ought to be Number 1 in its time slot!

Check out the rest of the stats for the Reba McEntire episode here at the GeneaBlogger’s website!

I have to say that I’ve loved every one of the WDYTYA episodes, but being a big Reba fan made this one special to me!  My hubby, son and I saw her sing in Wichita several years back and she put on an awesome show!

The things that the researcher’s uncovered about Blair’s ancestors, and then this week that they shared with Reba sure was a revelation on the times and the area they all lived in, and reminded me to turn over all the stones in my searches.

I can’t wait till next week rolls around to see what interesting things the researchers share with the guest!