Archive for the ‘Family Tree’ Category

Sherry Stocking Kline
December 1st, 2009

472 - Gary Neal Stocking, buried Prairie Lawn Cemetery - Wellington, KS

Gary Stocking's 1926 Street Rod - Colorado Mountain scenery - 475

Today, December 1st, would have been my brother, Gary Neal “Sox” Stocking’s 73rd birthday.

If he were still alive.

Gary Neal Stocking & His 26' T Street Rod Pick-up

Gary fell ill in the spring of 2001,  just a month or two after we lost my oldest brother’s wife, Nancy Rae (Cook) Stocking  to cancer.  By the time the doctors ran a PSA test (to test for prostate cancer) it was too late, it had spread to the bones.

Two weeks after his prostate cancer diagnosis –  he was gone…

I’m sharing this today on his birthday, because prostate cancer is one of the most survivable cancers, IF you find it in time, and get treatment.

My brother was a get-things-done, take-care-of-business kind of guy. He kept everyone’s car cleaned, the oil in everyone’s car changed, the i’s dotted and the t’s crossed, except for one.   He didn’t have time to take care of his own health.   He was too busy.  I’m not sure he ever had a PSA test, until it was too late.

Gary was a car guy, and he and his wife Sharon showed their little 1926 Model T Street Rod in four states, and people came to his funeral from at least three.   In their street rods.

He was the kind of guy that could get on an elevator, say hello, visit with the folks next to him, and have everyone smiling by the time they got two floors up.  He was the kind of guy when a car guy he didn’t even know called for help in the middle of the night, he’d get in his pick-up and drive 2 hours to go help him.

He was the kind of guy you could count on…

He was older than me, and when our dad died young, he became extra protective, extra helpful.  I always knew if I had car trouble, or any kind of trouble, anywhere, and my husband couldn’t rescue me, he’d be there for me.

When he died I felt like someone had taken the training wheels off my bike before I was ready to go solo.  Whenever I got in the car to go somewhere I knew my ‘safety net’, my own personal ‘Triple A’ type rescuer was gone.

If you’re a guy – get a PSA test, before it’s too late…

I’m writing this to say ‘thank you’, to honor him, and to remind any guy reading this to get a PSA test before it’s too late.

Sherry Stocking Kline
November 24, 2009

Here is my Tombstone Tuesday:

J. R. U. Crabb, Buried in Glasgow Cemetery, Barren County, Kentucky

As shown on the tombstone:

J. R. U. Crabb
Born: April 14, 1838
Died:  Nov  1, 1920

Our Father is gone but not forgotten.

If I have all my facts right, and if my mother is right, too, then J. R. U. Crabb buried in the Glasgow Cemetery, Barren County, Kentucky, is my step great-grandfather. Mom was always told that Elizabeth Crabb was her grandmother, and Elizabeth was J.R.U.’s wife.

J. R. U.’s daughter, Bettie Crabb, is buried right next to him in the cemetery in Glasgow.

This is a beautiful cemetery, with a small Civil War fort, Fort Williams, at the top of the hill, and the tombstones run up and down along the sides of the hill.

72 - Fort Williams Memorial Marker, Glasgow, Barren County, Kentucky

Fort Williams has a cannon, and there are several memorial markers that tell the story of the battle that was fought there on October 6th, 1863,  and you can look out over the tombstones from nearly everywhere in the Fort.

81 - Nancy Bertram Bush, Glasgow, KY & Norman Kline, Wellington, KS

We spent an hour or two locating family graves, and spotting other names that may have been family as well, so I came home with several ‘extra’ tombstone photographs for research purposes.

Because there were flowers on one family gravesite (indicating to me that there were people living nearby who brought flowers) I was later able to track down some other family members thanks to a few phone calls and the kindness of several Kentucky businesses, the South Central Kentucky Cultural Museum, and new-found family members.

That evening we watched the sun set from the fort and it was beautiful to look out over the tombstones on the rolling hillside in one direction and in the other direction watch the lights of the city begin to twinkle on far below us.

The city of Glasgow’s website has information and aerial photographs of Fort Williams here.

You can read more abut the J.R.U. Crabb family and see information extracted from the 1860 census here.

For a time, J. R. U. , his wife, Elizabeth (Laird) Crabb, and their daughter Bettie lived on a farm just east and a little south of Milan, Sumner County, Kansas.  I know from reading the local newspapers for that era that J.R.U. had cattle.

Elizabeth died on their farm near Milan, Sumner County, Kansas on July 30, 1912, and at some point in time before his death J.R.U. and daughter Bettie returned to Kentucky where J.R.U.’s other daughter, Sally Mayfield lived.

You can see Elizabeth’s tombstone, located in the Ryan Township Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas, and read her obituary here.

And oh, yeah, if you’ve googled one of the names in this post, leave a comment and contact info!  We need to talk!

Sherry Stocking Kline
November 21, 2009

For me, it’s a sniffly sneezy, Saturday night. I’m on the mend, but Kleenex still needs to be on stand-by.

Here is our Saturday Night Fun Challenge from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings!  Have Fun!

Hey, genies, it’s Saturday Night, time for some Genealogy Fun!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (where’s my Mission Impossible music…drat, lost it), is:

1) Who is your MRUA – your Most Recent Unknown Ancestor? This is the person with the lowest number in your Pedigree Chart or Ahnentafel List that you have not identified a last name for, or a first name if you know a surname but not a first name.

2) Have you looked at your research files for this unknown person recently? Why don’t you scan it again just to see if there’s something you have missed?

3) What online or offline resources might you search that might help identify your MRUA?

4) Tell us about him or her, and your answers to 2) and 3) above, in a blog post, in a comment to this post, or a comment on Facebook or some other social networking site.

My most elusive mysterious ancestor and the brick wall I most want to break down is my Great-grandfather, Willis Washington Jones.

What do I Want to Know?

Who was his father. If his last name wasn’t Jones, it would certainly be a lot easier.

If I could find a marriage license/record for his mother and father, it would certainly be a lot easier.

If he had been on a census with a Jones mother and father, it would be a lot easier.

Here’s What I Know, and What I Think I Know…

He was born in Kentucky, according to his death certificate and most census records, though one granddaughter thought he was born in Illinois.   He may have been born in Barren, Edmonson, Hart, or possibly even Metcalfe County and he died in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

Reviewing some of the following  info for Willis, I see a couple of gaps I have that I can probably fill without too much travel involved.

But if anyone out there has a lot of Jones’ family info in one of the above counties, I’d sure be interested!  I’ve nearly come to the conclusion that I need to gather all Jones’ info for those counties in that era, and see if I can by process of elimination figure the puzzle out.

I do have one question that I would like an opinion on, on the 1860 census that my great-grandfather Willis is on, (see below) he is listed at the very bottom of the list, and not with what I believe are his half–siblings.

Any comments would be welcome! Does that mean that Elizabeth is probably not his mother. (Either an obituary or death certificate names her as his mother, and yet, never a mention of his father.)

She, her husband, and one of her daughters also moved to Kansas, and lived near Willis for a time.

The following is part of  a ‘cheat sheet’ that I’ve typed up to take with me when I’m out and about researching.

Willis Washington Jones – Misc Info

Born: Mar. 28, 1853  in Kentucky.

Willis’ mother was Elizabeth Laird Jones (Elizabeth’s parents were Hezekiah Lard/Laird and Patsey Carter.)

I have no idea who Willis’ father is.

I have no proof that Elizabeth married anyone named Jones before she married J. R. U. Crabb.  (5 March 2012 – I have now viewed the marriage  certificate for Elizabeth and her second husband, J. R. U. Crabb and her name is listed as Jones.)  So, apparently Elizabeth did marry Willis’ father,  and either they divorced, or his father died while he was very young.

Willis last name was Jones on the census as a child, and ever after.

1860 Census in Barren County

Is Willis with his mother and a stepfather, J.R.U. Crabb, or is he an orphan taken in by this couple?

1860 Census Page 87 – Metcalfe County, KentuckyPost Office – East Fork4th of July, 1860
Entry 586

J.R.U. Crabb – 28 – Male
Elizabeth – 28  (1880 census says born in KY, mother born in South Carolina)
Daniel U – 02
Patsy S – 1/12

Patsy C. Crabb – 60 – North Carolina
Willis Lard – 25
Catherine Piper – 17
Amanda Gooden – 12
Willis Jones – 7  – born Kentucky

I have not found Willis on the 1870 Census

Willis W. Jones married Martha Ellen Smith, daughter of Charles and Virginia (Hawley) Smith on 27 June 1876 in Barren County, KY.

They were married by Minister Bertram at his home. (later, in 2005, a new-found cousin, Nancy Bertram Bush, told me the minister was Ephraim Bertram, a circuit minister.)

Martha Ellen Smith was born Sept 03, 1852. She died on July 23, 1898.

I do not know where she is buried, but believe it to be in Kansas, Oklahoma, or possibly even Arkansas, as I’ve been told they had a strawberry farm in Arkansas for a time.

No one living knows where the strawberry farm was in Arkansas, and I question the person’s memory who gave me that information.  I’ve done no research in Arkansas – yet.

1880 Sound-Ex Edmonson Co., KY, Brownsville Dist.

Jones – Soundex# – is 520
Roll 40 – Kentucky T-570

Jones, Willis White,  Male, 27 years
Jones,  Martha E. Wife Age 28 Born KY
Jones, Evan B Son 3 KY
Jones, Pearl dghtr 1  KY

1880 Census  – Edmonson Co., KY

Jones, Willis white Male 27  married  Farmer
Jones, Martha white  Female 28  married  housewife
Jones, Evan B white Male   3  son
Jones, Pearl white Female 1 dghtr

Willis W. Jones remarried and had more children, and he died Sept 26, 1929 in Sapulpa, OK (this is certain, I have the death certificate), he is buried there, and some of his descendants live there.

1910 Oklahoma Census – Sapulpa  Township  47, 47(There was a third son later, William)

Jones, Washington W.    Hd  Male         Age 57  born KY  fthr  brn US. mtr brn U.S.

Eliza C. wife white  Age 40  # of yrs of present marriage   2  (or 7 not a good copy)

Bessie B age 18  born KY mtr & ftr born in KY
Vechel N. age 6, born Oklahoma  parents  born KY
Richard T age 1, brn Oklahoma parents KY – Willis Lard

This seems like such a lot of information, but hope springs eternal that someone with the answers will find this post, and contact me.

The thing that makes this more unlikely, is that I doubt that my Great-grandfather Willis had any more full siblings who would have the information that I need.

If  you are reading this after googling one of the names listed above, We need to talk! Please leave a comment, so we can share info!  Thanks….

Sherry Stocking Kline
November 19, 2009

This photograph is of Margaret “Maggie” (Corson) McGinnis taken on her 100th Birthday, January 19th, 1949.  The photograph was taken at her daughter’s home, Maud McGinnis Stocking, in Cedarvale, Chautauqua County, Kansas.

Margaret (Corson) McGinnis on her 100th Birthday with gr-granddaughter Sherry Stocking

The chubby little urchin sitting on Maggie’s lap is myself, Sherry Stocking.

Great-grandma McGinnis died on March 26, 1950, and I do not remember her.  How I wish I did!  She is buried at Osborne Cemetery, in Sumner County near Mayfield, Kansas.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
November 17, 2009

My great-uncle, Albert Miner Breneman, died long before I was born, when his niece, my mother, was about three years old. Albert died as the result of a motorcycle accident at the age of twenty-seven.

Looking at the picture following I’d say he was a fine-looking young man.

Albert Miner Breneman - Ryan Township Cemetery, Sumner County, Milan, Kansas

Albert, the son of Salinda (Rose) Breneman and Constantine “Tom” Breneman, is buried in the Ryan Township Cemetery, a small well-kept cemetery in Sumner County, Kansas, just one mile west of Milan, and about 16 miles west of Wellington on Highway 160.

Albert Miner Breneman

born – March 26, 1888
died – January 10, 1915

Albert, second from the left on the back in the picture below,  had five brother’s and sisters, and one of his sisters, Carrie Esther Breneman, front left below, married Warner LaRue Jones.    

Carrie and Warner were my grandparents.

Children of Constantine "Tom" & Salinda Breneman - Back: Ira, Albert, Harvey, Otto Front: Carrie & May

Albert is shown above with his siblings:

Back: Ira, Albert, Harvey, and Otto
Front: Carrie and May

Whenever I visit the cemetery to leave flowers or take photographs I think how sad it was that he died so young.

Sherry Stocking Kline
November 16, 2009

Just a few quick notes to help my Twitter Friend, @Bonnie67, have some Genealogy Fun!

Everyone told me three things when I started to do genealogy research.

A.   Start with me and work backwards.

B.   Document and log my searches through census and books, even when I didn’t find anything (so I wouldn’t search the same place two or three times) and document my sources, and

C.   Get an organization system, a filing system, a notebook, etc.

I didn’t follow advice B and C as well as I should have, but I’m working to turn over a new leaf!

Ten Tips to Begin Your Family History Research

1.  The first thing you need to do is start filling out Family Sheets/Family Group Sheets. You can find a blank group sheet here.

If you have a family that has more than six children, click here to download an add-on sheet for the children.

2.  Fill out the first group sheet for your own family. Your spouse, yourself and your children.

3.  Multiple marriages?   Begin with the first spouse, and ‘tie’ children to their biological father.

4.  Fill in with everything you know. The reference(s) line refers to where the information comes from, whether it is your personal knowledge, a relatives, a death certificate, census, etc.

5.  If you have more children than blanks, add on an extra sheet.

6.  Written everything you can?   Then next fill out a family group sheet for your parents and their children (you and your siblings). Continue with your grandparents, great-grandparents, etc., as far back as you can go.

7.  When you have gone as far as you can with what you know, you need to turn to other sources. Family members, such as parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, even your older siblings may remember something that you don’t.

8.  After family, you will need to turn to paper records: wills, death certificates, obituaries, census records, newspapers, and much, much more.

9.   Want a basic free genealogy program to help you save, sort and file your info? You can find a link to download one here: Free Legacy Family Tree Software, http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Index.asp. And another one from Roots Magic here: http://www.rootsmagic.com/Essentials/.

Randy Seaver  has written a Roots Magic Essentials review on his Genea-Musings here.

This will give you a place to begin to store your records. You do NOT  have to have a program to do  genealogy, but it does make it easier to file and manage all the information you may accumulate.

10.  Review your Group Sheets.  Someone told me once that doing genealogy was like working the world’s biggest puzzle.  And that’s what genealogists do as they research, they add one puzzle piece at a time, checking to see where it fits.  So now, you go over your Group sheets, and see what blanks you need to fill in, set your goals for future research, and start filling in the blanks!

Happy Hunting!

Downloads:

1. Family Sheets/Family Group Sheets. You can find a blank group sheet here.

2. More children than blanks in your primary group sheet? Add on an extra sheet: Extra Children Sheet.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
November, 10, 2009

This stone belongs to my husband’s grandparents, John Conver and Jessie (Wood) Kline.

John & Jessie (Wood) Kline, Ryan Township Cemetery, Sumner County, Kansas

The Ryan Township Cemetery is located in Sumner County, one mile west of Milan, Kansas on Highway 160, or about 16 miles west of Wellington, Kansas.

John is the fourth son of James and Elizabeth (Conver) Kline.  John had three older brothers who passed away before the family moved to Kansas.  You can read more about James and Elizabeth Kline’s family here.

Jessie is the daughter of Nathaniel and Mary (McMulin) Wood. Nathaniel and Mary homesteaded a quarter section of land in Sumner County, Kansas, near Milan, and are also buried in the Ryan Township Cemetery, Milan, Kansas.

John and Jessie had three children:

Lawrence Conver Kline b. May 15, 1911 – d. Feb 16, 1989
Dorothy L. Born & Died in 1915 at 4 mos of age
Melvin Ray Kline b. Mar 20, 1918 – d. Aug 18, 1988

Lawrence, Dorothy, and Melvin are all buried in the Ryan Township Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas.

If you are researching the Kline family, I hope you will leave a comment with your contact information so we can share and compare research!

Thank you & Happy Researching!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
November 7th, 2009

It’s Saturday Night and time for the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun Challenge!  The following comes from Randy Seaver, http://www.geneamusings.com/.  Once again, Thanks, Randy!

Hey, genealogy fans – it’s Saturday Night, and time for some Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music…), is:

1) Find out the geographical distribution of your surname – in the world, in your state or province, in your county or parish. I suggest that you use the Public Profiler site at http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/, which seems to work quickly and easily. However, you cannot capture the image as a photo file – you have to capture the screen shot, save it and edit it.

2) Tell us about your surname distribution in a blog post of your own (with a screen shot if possible), in comments to this post, or in comments on a social networking site like Facebook and Twitter.

It was interesting to see where the Stocking surname was scattered, and also where it is predominant.  It still appears to be more dominant in the United Kingdom, where it originated.

My Stocking immigrant ancestor, George Stocking, came to America in the 1630’s on the ship Griffith from Suffolk, England. It appears there are still many family members in England today.

It was interesting to see the break down for the FPM or Frequency of Family Members Per Million by Countries of the Stocking Name:

Country

United Kingdom   9.72
United States         8.53
Canada                      5.73
New Zealand           1.41
France                       0.05

The following is what the map looks like by Regions:

Idaho, United States  76.85
Utah, United States 62.83
West Midlans, United Kingdom  30.65
East Anglia, United Kingdome   24.78
Wyoming, United States  24.36

And then the Stocking surname in my State!  And if you look to the county just south of Wichita, which is Sumner County, you will see there are several of the Stocking family represented in this area!

The Stocking Surname in Kansas!

by Sherry Stocking Kline
November 6th, 2009

James & Elizabeth (Conver) Kline buried in Ryan Township Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas

On the Stone:

James Kline

Jan. 25, 1945  –  June 21, 1908

Elizabeth His Wife

May 4, 1846  –  Dec 8, 1918

James and Elizabeth (Conver) Kline are buried in Ryan Township Cemetery, near Milan, Sumner County, Kansas. The cemetery is located one mile west of Milan, Kansas on Highway 160.

James and Elizabeth (Conver) Kline came to Caldwell, Kansas shortly before the 1893 Cherokee Strip Run, where as family story has it, James ran in the Cherokee Strip Run, and when he was not fortunate enough to win free land, he later came to the Milan, Kansas area, where he purchased land along the Chickaskia River south of Milan.

James was born in Clarion County, PA.

Some of the following information includes information that I personally have found, but also includes information that I received from cousin Liz Williams:

Elizabeth Conver was born  4 May 1846 in Richland, Lebanon Co., PA, and was the daughter of  of John A. Conver & Marry Huff.

James and Elizabeth were married in Knox, County, Illinois on 31 Oct 1867.  They had three sons that died before they came to Kansas, Charles William Kline, born in 1868 but died before 1870, and two more sons, Levi born in 1870 in Illinois and Samuel born in 1872 in Iowa also died young.

After coming to Kansas, they had seven more children. The oldest surviving son, John Conver Kline, was my husband’s grandfather.

James and Elizabeth’s other children were: Newton Oliver Kline, Susan Alica Adilia Kline, James Monroe Kline, Walter Cleveland Kline, Orie Ray Kline, Mae Violet Kline

I would love to connect with other members of my husband’s Kline, Conver, and Huff family to share information, so please leave a comment with  your contact info and I will respond asap.

by Sherry Stocking Kline
Published in October 2002 in the Wichita Eagle “Active Life” Magazine

When people start to climb their family tree they often hope to find royalty, presidents, or founding fathers, but imagine the surprise of two Wichita women when they found out their ancestor was a Salem witch.

Ardith Ott was in Salt Lake City researching her family tree when she made a surprising discovery.

“I was looking at my Bixby/Byxbe line,” Ott said, “and I found out that this woman who was hung as a Salem witch was one of my ancestors.”

Your Famous Ancestor May Show up in Books, Plays, or Movies…

As Ott soon learned, when your ancestor is famous (or infamous) your family information may be included in history books, show up on the front pages of newspapers, and be documented in trial transcripts. And your ancestor and the events surrounding them may be turned into books, movies, and plays, and your ancestral home be turned into a tourist attraction.

Ott’s ancestor was Rebecca Nurse, accused of witchcraft in March, 1692, tried, found innocent, re-tried, found guilty, excommunicated from her church in Salem, and hanged on July 19, 1692.

At first, Ott said she found it amusing to tell people that her ancestor was a Salem witch.

“I thought it was pretty funny when I discovered it,” Ott said, “until I read more about it; then I felt guilty for laughing. She was a victim.”

“My ancestor was hard of hearing,” Ott said, and would turn her head like a deaf person, so her accusers said that she was communicating with a bird in the rafters.”

Forty Friends Testified to Her Character…

Ott added that Nurse had almost forty friends, neighbors, and family members that testified to her character and innocence, and the Salem Witches Web site at the University of Virginia, said that seventy-year-old Rebecca Nurse was an elderly and respected member of the Salem Village community.

Betty McGehee, member of Associated Daughters of Early American Witches and a 14^th great-granddaughter of Rebecca Nurse, said she joined the association to educate others that the people accused were not practicing witchcraft but were victims of the superstitions and hysteria of the times.

McGehee said that three of William Towne’s daughters, Rebecca Nurse and her two sisters, Sarah Cloyce and Mary Easty were also accused of witchcraft. Mary was hung in September of 1692 and Sarah was acquitted after spending months in jail.

What Started it All?

You know how when you tell a story sometimes it grows out of bounds,” Ott said.

“It was just a form of hysteria, and it all started with a couple of mischievous girls who started blaming everybody for something that went wrong,” McGehee said.

Tales of Voodoo and Witchcraft Fueled the Fire…

Fueling the hysteria, McGehee said, was a man who blamed the witches for the birth of a two-headed calf, and a couple of little girls that fell on the floor in church and claimed that Nurse had cast a spell on them. Adding fuel to the fire were the Barbados-raised servant girl Tituba’s tales of voodoo and witchcraft.

Research since then has indicated that some of Nurse’s accusers were individuals involved in land disputes with the family. Individuals who benefited from the Nurse’s death and the family’s problems.

Another possibility, according to “Poisons of the Past: Molds, Epidemics and History” by University of Maryland Historian, Mary Kilbourne Motassian, was that exposure to a dangerous grain mold called ergot may have caused some of the strange symptoms people reported, symptoms that included nausea, temporary blindness and deafness, and hallucinations.

According to Dick Eastman, journalist for Ancestry Daily News at www.ancestry.com, “By the end of May 1692, two hundred accused witches were in jail, and twenty men and women were hanged, crushed to death, or left to die in prison…..” (map of witchcraft accusations can be found here.)

The Graves Were so Shallow…

Ott’s research uncovered the fact that her ancestor was thrown into a grave on Witch Hill with other witches, graves that were so shallow that the dead people’s hands stuck up in the air.

Nurse’s sons recovered her body and buried her in an unmarked grave. Nearly 200 years later her descendants erected a monument to her memory, listed the names of those who came to her defense, and inscribed the monument with a poem written especially for her by John Greenleaf Whittier.

Ott and her family visited her famous ancestor’s home, Salem Village, viewed the diorama, and the monument that her descendants erected to her memory.

Infamous Ancestors More Interesting?

“It’s nice when your ancestor’s were good people,” Ott said, “but when you find something unusual, that makes it more interesting.”