Archive for the ‘Sherry’s Family Tree’ Category
Tombstone Tuesday – George W. Smith and his wife Lucy
by Sherry Stocking Kline
written October 13, 2009
George W. Smith was my great-uncle, though I hadn’t a clue who he was or even that he existed until I read a biography that was published about George, his Civil War Service, his marriage, and his family, including several generations.
When I read it I was pretty sure he was ‘kin’ and research proved that to be the case.
I owe the person who put the biography into the book a huge debt of gratitude, because his sister, my great-grandmother, Martha Ellen Smith (a twin) married my great-grandfather, Willis Washington Jones. And if there’s anything more difficult than locating a Jones’ needle in a haystack, it’s locating one who married a Smith!
The stone I photographed as his wife, and that I am uploading here, appears to be a second wife of George W., though I have not verified that.
I have not gone back to Barren County to finish sorting out all the many threads I still have hanging, though I need to, as perhaps one thread or another will lead me over or through my brick wall, which is, who is the father of Willis Washington Jones?
The following is George’s family’s biography:
BOOK – BARREN COUNTY KY Genealogy & Biography
Vol II Editor Thomas Westerfield
Genealogical Reference Co
P.O. Box 1554
Owensboro, KY 42301
GEORGE W. SMITH was born in Sullivan county, Tenn., on the 17th of February, 1840. His father, Charles A. Smith, is also a native of Sullivan County, Tenn., born March 1, 1818.
He married Miss Virginia Hawley, whose parents were Virginians, and who died in the year 1872, leaving eight children – four sons and four daughters – of whom five are yet living, George W. Being the oldest survivor; after him follow Sarah A. (Smith), Nancy (Harrison), Mary (Foster) and Martha (Jones).
Charles A. Smith has followed farming during most of his life, in connection with which he worked at the blacksmith’s trade; he is a resident of Barren County; his age about sixty-seven years; he is hale and stout and seems to have lost but little of the vigor of former years. He is a son of Calvin Smith, of North Carolina, who was of Welsh extraction, and was married to a Miss Allen, a distant relative of Col. Ethan Allen, of Revolutionary fame.
Calvin Smith’s father was a veteran of the war of 1776, and held the rank of captain. James Hawley, the father of Mrs. Charles A. Smith, was of French descent and belongs to one of the highly respected families of Virginia. He was a teacher by profession, and later in life a farmer. His father, Francis Hawley, was a Virginian, and served in the war of the Revolution.
George W. Smith was reared on a farm and received a good common school education. In 1861 he enlisted in Company E., Ninth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, Federal, and served until December, 1864, rising to the rank of sergeant; he was engaged in the battles of Perryville; Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, Kennesaw, Lost Mountain, Resaca, Atlanta and Jonesboro.
After he returned home, with the small capital of $600 he began farming, and through industry and perseverance, he is now the proprietor of 230 acres of good land. His farm is in good condition, Well kept and improved, with good buildings and orchard of 1500 trees.
He was married, on the 8th of November, 1866, to Miss Julia Harrison, of Barren County. To this union have been born eleven children: Anna D., Martha R., Charles S., Horace G., Lulu, Reuben, Daisy, Garfield, Arthur, Mary P. And Ora. Mr. Smith is a member of the Baptist Church. Mrs. Smith holds to the Methodist faith.
Her parents, Reuben and Martha (Sanders) Harrison, were of English parentage, and by birth Virginians. Politically Mr. Smith is a Republican, but does not engage actively in politics.
Oops! In my Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post I listed this church as the Temple Hill Baptist Church. I did not check my notes before making this post, and it wasn’t until I looked at this church sign that I went “Wooops!” So I will make the changes on my Saturday post as well! We had a wonderful time “cemetery stomping” with our new cousins, Dennis and Nancy (Bertram) Bush here.
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – The Day the Genealogy Serendipity Angels Smiled!
The following is from Randy Seaver’s Genea-Musings website! Thank you, Randy!
Yes, it’s Saturday Night, and time for some Genealogy Fun!
My friend, Leland Meitzler, posted his Top Ten list of “Most Satisfying Genealogy Events” yesterday – and it’s a good list – please read it and respond to it if you want to.
For today’s SNGF, if you choose to participate (cue the Mission Impossible music!), please:
1) Tell us about one (or more) “Satisfying Genealogy Moments” from your family history and genealogy research. What was it, and how did it make you feel? You can make a Top Ten list if you want to!
2) Write your own blog post, or make a comment on this post, or make a comment on Facebook, and tell us about your “moment in time.”
The Day the Genealogy Serendipity Angels Smiled!
by Sherry Stocking Kline, October 10, 2009
My Number One favorite all-time Genealogy Experience was one of those “ahhh moments” when Serendipity and the Angels smiled on us.
It was July of 2005, and my husband and I were leaving soon to visit our son in Illinois, and we were taking my mom who was 93 at the time, to Barren County, Kentucky for a day or two and try to locate my Mom’s dad’s childhood home.
I did some research before I left. I re-checked on library hours, wrote down addresses, packed up a notebook (and laptop), and called the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center in Glasgow, Kentucky to talk to the wonderfully helpful woman I had spoken with on a previous occasion.
I nearly hung up the phone…
I nearly hung up the phone when I learned that the woman who had been so warm and friendly before was not working.
That would have been a mistake.
I sighed to myself, decided to take a chance, re-state my facts and share my story with the woman who had answered the phone.
“I’m looking for information,” I said, “about my great-grandfather and great-grandmother, Willis Washington Jones and his wife, Martha Ellen Smith and her parents, Charles and Virginia Hawley Smith.”
There Was Dead Silence…
There was dead silence for at least three heartbeats.
And then she said (and here I still get goosebumps) “Charles and Virginia Hawley Smith are my great-great grandparents, too.”
“Oh. My. Gosh.” I thought.
“Hello, cousin!” was my astonished reply. The genealogical angels had not deserted me; they had given me a wonderful gift!
My brand-new cousin’s name was Nancy Bertram Bush, she was ‘into’ genealogy, and she invited us to give her a call when we got to Glasgow.
A couple of weeks later, we were in Glasgow. I stopped at the courthouse, looked up some land records, and learned more about my great-great grandfather Smith’s land holdings.
When we arrived at the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center, I gave Nancy another call and we were in luck, she was home.
Nancy Had a Gift for Mother…
She hurried over to the Center to meet us, (and a nicer new cousin I can’t imagine meeting). She brought along a treasure, a photograph of my mother’s grandparents (complete with the names) that had been mailed back to the family from Kansas and presented it to my mom.
Mom had never seen photographs of her grandparents and when we brought the photograph home, we were able to identify Willis and his wife Martha in two other photographs that we had.
Nancy offered to take us around Barren County with her husband to try to locate the former home of Willis and Martha Ellen. We went up hill and down dale, we stopped at one family farmstead that had Smith family buried there, and we tramped through tall grass to record names and take photographs, but this was not our destination.
Our next stop proved to be the home of Charles and Virginia Hawley Smith, and we were able to visit with the family and see the land and outbuildings, some of which might have actually been standing during Charles & Virginia’s time.
The Family Cemetery Had Been Returned to Farmland…
Thanks to researching cemetery books we already knew that their family cemetery had been returned to farm land, which was disappointing.
Next we stopped at the Caney Fork Baptist Church and cemetery and walked through the cemetery and paid our respects to cousins, great-aunts and great-uncles.
When we watched my mother get out of the car and in her words “stand on the land her father had played on as a child” and look around and see “where he came from,” it was a meaningful moment for us all.
We were grateful we were able to help her do this.
Thank You, Cousin, Nancy…
It was with deep sadness that we received word about two years ago that our new-found cousin, Nancy Bertram Bush, had suffered a heart attack and passed away.
Thank you for a wonderful Genealogical Moment in Time, cousin Nancy.
And This Brother Came to Kansas – Tombstone Tuesday – James and Elizabeth (Conver) Kline
by Sherry Stocking Kline
Written for FamilyTreeWriter.com – October 5th, 2009
Though family and family history has always been important to me, I have my father-in-law to thank, at least in part, for my interest in researching genealogy.
My Father-in-Law Got Me Started…
It was my father-in-law who put the bug in my ear that “he sure would like to know more about his family” though he also let me know at the same time that he was afraid to find out.
Like many families, there was a ‘story’ involved. Three brothers, or some such number, and one went this way, one went another, they had an argument, and they never spoke again.
The Brothers Argued and Never Spoke Again?
The story that Pop, my father-in-law had heard was that the brothers came west, and then they argued on the way, and one came to Kansas and they never spoke again. And Pop was afraid that I might find something about his grandfather that would be, well, really embarrassing, so though he really wanted to know, he was more than a little hesitant.
He probably knew that the mystery would be a challenge that I couldn’t resist, and he was right.
I Was Clueless When I Began to Research…
I began to research. And it’s funny now how clueless I was when I started. My first trip to the library I was simply opening up Pennsylvania genealogy books looking for the Kline name, hoping to get lucky!
Kline isn’t all that common here, so I had no idea that Kline (meaning ‘little man’) is pretty much the German version of Smith in Pennsylvania.
Bless her heart, Marsha Stenholm (now retired) of the Wichita Public Library took me under her wing, and we actually found a little info that first trip, and oh, my gosh, I was hooked!
James Ran in the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Race…
Here is the tombstone for Pop’s grandfather and grandmother. They came from the Venango County area in Pennsylvania, and made a stop in Illinois and also in Iowa, leaving farms there to come to Caldwell, Sumner County, Kansas to make a run in the Cherokee Strip Land Rush Run into Oklahoma. When they did not win any land in that race, they settled near Milan, Sumner County, Kansas.
James and Elizabeth Conver Kline are buried in the Ryan Township/Milan Cemetery in Sumner County, Township Cemetery, Milan, Sumner County, Kansas.
And though I did find that the siblings may have had some disagreements, it seems as though several kept in touch with one another, even after they all re-located to their new homes in the west.
Still a Work in Progress…
Even though Pop is gone now, this is still a ‘work in progress’ and I’ve connected with other distant branches of the family, and they’ve added much to the family tree information.
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Building a Pond and the Leaky Tin Bathtub!
Here is the Saturday Night – time for some Genealogy Fun! Assignment from Randy Seaver at http://www.geneamusings.com/
“We all have childhood memories, but if you’re like me, you’re concentrating on getting the family history of your parents and earlier generations. Let’s think about ourselves here.
Here’s your mission if you want to accept it …
1. What is one of your most vivid childhood memories? Was it family, friends, places, events, or just plain fun?
2) Tell us about it in a comment to this post, a Comment or Note on Facebook, or in a blog post of your own.”
Building a Pond in the Pasture and the Leaky Tin Bathtub!
by Sherry Stocking Kline
October 4th, 2009
And there was the time we kids built a pond in my folk’s pasture.
We weren’t supposed to. We weren’t even supposed to be home from school.
My Nephews Were Out of School With Colds
But my nephews (who were nearly my age) had stayed home sick with colds, and so, because they were coming to visit, my mom allowed me to stay home from school, too.
Since it was a mild spring day following several days of rainy weather and since we weren’t very old we headed outdoors as fast as we could and headed for the pasture to see if we could find some water.
We had some pretty deep buffalo wallows in our pasture when I was growing up, and they were a constant source of tadpoles and good place to wade after a rain.
We were in luck that day, the buffalo wallows were full and spring rains had filled the little creeks till we were wading in water that was nearly up to our (four, six and eight-year-old-high) knees.
Soon We Were In Water Over Our Knees
But we wanted it deeper! So we grabbed tree limbs, branches, old boards, and whatever else we could, and dammed up the creek. Awesome, pretty soon we were wading in water over our knees. One of us scrambled back up to the house, and drug back an old tin bathtub to be our makeshift boat.
We set the leaky old tin tub afloat and for quite awhile we took turns, using an old board for a paddle.
We Had a Lot of Fun Till…
We had our own little pond, and our own little boat (bathtub), in our own (huge) backyard. We were so happy. We were going to have fun forever.
We had a lot of fun that day.
Till we got caught. You know how sometimes when you were a kid your mom would be so annoyed she’d take a whack at your backside, and you’d get another one with each step she took and each word she said?
Well, let’s just say my mom was annoyed, and so was my nephew’s mom. We heard “I’ll never let you stay home from school again,” “you ought to have known better than that,” and “you kids could have drowned.”
I don’t think I ever did get to stay home from school like that again. But that day was a lot of fun even if I did have to sit kinda easy in the chair later that night.
Unfortunately, though I’m sure it was for our safety, our little makeshift dam was dismantled, and the Good Ship ‘Tin Tub’ never sailed again.
Tombstone Tuesday – Elizabeth Laird Crabb
The Tombstone Reads:
Crabb
Elizabeth
Wife of J.R.U. Crabb
March 11, 1831
July 30, 1912
Aged 81 yrs
4 mos. 19 DS
Obituary:
Death of Mrs. J. R. U. Crabb August 1, 1912 – Milan News
Miss Elizabeth Laird was born in Hart County, Kentucky, March 11, 1831, and died at her home near Milan, Kansas, July 30, 1912, aged 81 years, 4 months and 19 days.
Early in life Mrs. Crabb dedicated her life to God through faith in Jesus Christ and united with the United Baptist church in Barren County, Kentucky. She has been since that time a constant and faithful member of the church.
She was united in marriage to Mr. J. R. U. Crabb, July 11, 1857. To this union six children were born, of which two died in infancy, one boy at the age of thirteen and one daughter after she was grown. Two daughters still remain, one is married and lives in Kentucky and the other is still at home.
Mrs. Crabb has been ill for a number of years and everything that cheerful hands, loving hearts and the best of medical skill was done, but all in vain. A good woman has gone to her reward leaving behind a sorrowing husband, two daughters and a host of friends.
Funerals services were conducted in the Baptist church, Wednesday afternoon at two o’ clock, by the pastor, F. G. Wilkerson. Interment was made in the Milan cemetery.
The entire community extends sincere sympathy to the bereaved husband and relatives.
And here is part of my mystery, and my brick wall.
Elizabeth was my great-great grandmother. Or was she?
Her death certificate states that she was born in Hart County, Kentucky, and her parents are Hezakiah and Patsy Carter Lard/Laird.
Her obituary mentions the children “born to this union” and does not mention any other children.
The Mother in the census here was given the last name Crabb by the census taker, but note that her name was Patsy C., leading me to wonder if Patsy was actually Elizabeth’s mother, rather than J.R.U.’s.
For a time, even though my mother called her grandmother and we placed flowers on her grave, I could not verify her link to my family, as her son, my great-grandfather, had the last name of Jones.
My great-grandfather, Willis Washington Jones was born in 1853, and by 1860, he is shown here on the census with Elizabeth Lard Crabb and her husband, J.R.U. Crabb. My mother was always told that Elizabeth was her grandmother, but as Elizabeth died the same year my mother was born, she does not remember her. Her older siblings did remember her, however, and she was always called grandmother by them and by my mother’s mother.
It appears, and records seem to verify, that Willis was her son, either by a previous marriage, or that Willis was illegitimate. (I have Willis’ death certificate, but not here where I am today. I believe that it lists Elizabeth as his mother.) By the time Willis died, however, he was re-married to a much younger woman, and had begun a second family.
I’d like to be able to solve this puzzle someday, and in writing this, found one clue that I had previously over-looked. Amazing how a fresh look will open up another possible avenue of research!
Brick Wall Suggestions Most Welcome!!
Happy Tombstone Tuesday!
1860 Census
Page #87
Metcalfe County, KY
East Fork Post Office
Entry # 586 586
J. R. U. Crabb, 22, M, Farmer, `1000 Real Estate Value, 1500 Personal Property Value,
Elizabeth , 28, F
Daniel U, 2, M
Patsy S, 1/12 yrs olf, F
Patsy C. Crabb, 60, F
Willis Lard, 25, M
Catherine Piper, 17, F
Amanda Gooden, 12, F,
Willis Jones, 7, M
1870 Census
Saunders Precinct
Barren Co, KY
20 Aug 1870
Temple Hill Post Office
Crabb, Joseph R. U. 32, M, W. Farmer, blank, 1200 personal property, born KY
, Elizabeth 36, F, W housekeeping
, Daniel W. 12, M, W
, Martha S 10, F, W
Sallie A. 8, F, W
Bettie 4, F, W,
Patcy (?) C 70, F, W, housekeeping
Roderick and Frances “Fanny” Stocking’s Tombstone
By Sherry Stocking Kline
September 22, 2009
My great-grandparents, Roderick Remine and Frances “Fanny” Hitchcock Stocking are buried here, in the Osborne Township Cemetery near Mayfield, Sumner County, Kansas. This cemetery lies on the Chisholm Cattle Drive Trail.
Roderick and Frances came to Kansas from Michigan in the 1870’s, homesteaded just north and west of this cemetery, in a one-room house so small they had to put the table out of the house at night to put down their beds.
Their first child, my grandfather, Elmer Stocking, was born in that tiny house! Fortunately, they built a bigger house before they had three more sons, Ralph Hurlburt, Roderick Porter, and John Lester.
My great-grandmother passed away from cancer in 1920, but my great-grandfather Roderick lived to be nearly 98 years old, passing away in 1951. I remember him as being tall and distinguished looking.
My mother, his granddaughter-in-law, says he was a “fine, gentle, man” and she always thinks of him when she thinks of this verse, “Prayer was his key for the morning and his lock for the night”.
My First Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!
By Sherry Stocking Kline
written for FamilyTreeWriter.com on September 19, 2009
Hello all! This is my first foray into Saturday night genealogy fun, (see Randy Seaver’s website at http://www.geneamusings.com/) and I will most ashamedly admit that although I’ve done genealogy for 20 years and written about it for 10, I’ve not taken the time to understand the ahnentafel numbers.
Mea culpa. What is it Johnny Carson used to say “so many lashes with a wet noodle?” Anyhow, I’m not sure, well, actually, I’m pretty darn sure I played the game wrong, but I tried.
Like R. J. Seaver, my father was born in 1911, but he would have been 98, almost 99 by now. So I began with me, and went back almost to 19 back from me. Got to George before 19. If someone can explain to me how to do an ahnentafel in Family Tree Maker 16, and have it tell me what numbers are what, I’ll re-do my entry here.
My Ancestor is George Stocking
Anyhow, My ancestor is George Stocking, who emigrated to America in 1633. The following is the info from my Stocking Ancestry Book, compiled by Hobart Stocking by research and previous books!
George Stocking, born about 1582, Suffolk, England, married Anna ?
He emigrated to America on the ship Griffith, and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and built a house there in 1635 at the corner of the present Holyoke and Winthrop Streets.
George joined the Thomas Hooker Party
On May 6, 1635, he was made a freeman. (I don’t know what he was indentured as) He joined the company of the Reverend Thomas Hooker (one hundred in number according to family history) and traveled on foot through the wilderness to the Connecticut River in 1636.
Helped Found Hartford, Connecticut
He was one of the original founders of the city of Hartford, CT, and you can see his name on the stone of founders in the city there, as well as find his tombstone in the cemetery.
George was a prominent proprietor there, and “in the general distribution of land, he received twenty acres, “on the south side of the road from Geoge Steel’s, to the south meadow,” other grants being made later on.
On the death of Anna, whom he had married in England, he is understood to have m. 2d. Agnes (Shotwell) Webster, widow of John Webster, governor of the colony. The Stocking Ancestry Book states “It does not seem probable: Agnes is not mentioned in the 1683 court distribution of George’s property.)”
He took from the first an actiave part in local affairs; was selectman in 1647; surveyor of highways in 1654, and ’62; chimney viewer in 1659, and was excused from military duty in 1660, owing to “great age.”
George became a freeman, October 4, 1669. (again?? I wonder what this means?)
Living to 101 is Pretty Good for those Times!
He died May 25, 1683, aged 101 years, and his name is inscribed on a large monument erected to the memory of Hooker’s party, and which now stands in the old Center Church burying-ground in Hartford.
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF GEORGY STOCKING:
“15 July, 1673.
“George Stocking of Hartford upon the River of Connecticut planter dos in this my last Will and Testament Give unto Anne my Wife all my housing barn orchards homelott upland and meadow & swamp land cattles and all other estate for her to use during the time of her life, and after her decease to be disposed of as follows. I doe give to my daughter Lidia Richards the wife of John Richards The sum of (pounts) 14. and do also give to my dau Sarah Olcott the wife of Samuel Olcott the sum of pounds 10. I doe also give unto the six children of Andrew Benton, that is to Andrew Benton, Jr., John Benton, Samuel Enton, Joseph Benton, Mary Benton, and Dorothy Benton, the sum of (pounds) 12. to be divided among them I doe hereby give unto Hannah Camp one Mare. My will is that these legacies be discharged within one year next after my wifes decease. My will also is that my wife shall keep the housing and barn in repair unless something more than ordinary befall any of them. The remainder of my estate to my son Samuel Stocking and make him my executor. The land to pay its due proportion to the Ministry of the New Meeting house. I desire Gregory Wollerton and St. Bull to be oversers.
“George Stocking (seal)
“Witness
“Gregory Wollerton
“George Grave,Sen.”
“December 1683. This Court (at Hartford, CT.) haveing viewed that presented as the last Will & Testament of George Stocking in the circumstance of it, together with what George Stocking (#1) hath declared to George Stocking (a granson, #11) & Captain Allyn & his declaration of his will in part controdicting, doe Judge that the Will presented is of no value, & therefore the Court distribute the Estate as followeth: to Samuel Stocking (Pounds) 100; to Hannah Benton’s children (Pounds) 41; to the wife of John Richards (Pounds) 41; to the wife of Samuel Olcott (Pounds) 41; to John Stocking who had lived with George Stocking, his frandfather, for some years, the remainder of the Estate, being (Pounds) 34, we distributed to John Stocking; and desire & appoint Marshall George Grave and Thomas Bunce to make this distribution.”
It’s Definitely A Small World
One interesting aside note, or interesting to me, anyhow. When six of us gathered here in Sumner County, Kansas some 300 years later to form the Sumner County Genealogical Society, FOUR of us could trace our history back to Hartford, CT founding fathers, and one of us descended from the man Hartford was named for.
Small world indeed, and when we did closer research, a librarian friend and I discovered that our ancestors had witnessed each other’s wills back and forth.