When Branches Intertwine

When dancing with the ancestors cousin relationships might well drive you to drink. My cousin's son is not my 2nd Cousin. Rather, he's my First Cousin 1 x Removed. 

Joseph Bryan Reid is my 5th Cousin 2 x Removed. He was my Grandmother Mary Willie Boone-Sweat's 5th Cousin. Confused yet?

Well, so am I! Ha!

Not only is Joseph Bryan Reid my 5th Cousin 2 x Removed on one line, he's that way on another line. This happens when branches intertwine on the family tree. No, it's not first cousins marrying first cousins. So far, I haven't found any of that in all my research, but I have found where cousins have married. 

With Joseph Bryan Reid there are two branches/descents in his tree that combine with my tree: Thomas and Mary (Aisquith) Hagan and McKelvie and Ann (Williams) Hammett. Thomas and Mary are my 7 x Great Grandparents and McKelvie and Ann are my 6 x Great Grandparents . . . on two separate branches that merge together with the marriage of their descendants Victor Ivo Boone and Mary Willie Watson (my great grandparents).

Okay, really there's three, but it gets really complicated, so, I'm going to stick with the simple version for now.

It went something like this . . .

Thomas and Mary (Aisquith) went forth, were fruitful and multiplied. Boy, did they multiply. I have descent from three of their multitude of children, but, for this post . . . I'm going to simplify to one child, but then branch out a bit since that's where my tree connects with Joseph Bryan Reid's tree.

Thomas Hagan - Mary Aisquith

Thomas Hagan - Sarah Mudd

    James Hagan - Monica Johnson

Tabitha Hagan - Enoch Hagan                          Clement Phillip Hagan - Mary Ann Miles

Rosena Hagan - William Henry Boone    Thomas Sidney Hagan - Mary Amanda Edelen

Miles Boone - Rosa Jane Duvall                             Angelah Hagan - David Alexander Reid 

Victor Ivo Boone - Mary Willie Watson              John Bryan Reid - Mary Estelle Greenwell 

Mary Willie Boone                                          Joseph Bryan Reid

So, now you see where the trees were once one, but then split off into two. Tabitha Hagan and Clement Phillip Hagan were brother and sister.

In another interesting note on this cousin relationship, is the descent from Thomas Hagan and Mary Aisquith that leads to William Henry Boone. It goes something like this . . .

Thomas Hagan - Mary Aisquith

Thomas Hagan - Sarah Mudd

Benjamin Hagan - Monica Blandford

Elizabeth Hagan - Walter Boone

William Henry Boone - Rosena Hagan

But, as you know if you've been paying attention so far, there's another connection between Joseph Bryan Reid and me, since the other Grandparents we have in common are McKelvie Hammett and Ann Williams. That little descent goes something like this . . .

McKelvie Hammett & Ann Williams

Elizabeth Hammett - William Proctor Ballard              Susannah Hammett - James Cissell 

John Ballard - Elizabeth Nalley                          Elizabeth Cissell - James Madison Ballard

Charlotte Ballard - James Johnson                  Mary Helena Ballard - William Greenwell

Annie Johnson - Richard Hilary Watson      Thomas Greenwell - Mary Rose Mattingly

Mary Willie Watson - Victor Ivo Boone          Mary Estelle Greenwell - John Bryan Reid

Mary Willie Boone                                       Joseph Bryan Reid

Nope, not done yet, because, there's a second connection on this tree through William Proctor Ballard and his sons John Ballard and James Madison Ballard, both of who played a role in the respective descents of Mary Willie Boone and Joseph Bryan Reid. And, since I'm noting the cousin relationships, Charlotte Ballard and May Helena Ballard were first cousins, which means that Annie Johnson and Thomas Greenwell were . . . First Cousins 1 x Removed! Woo hoo!

To say that the children and grandchildren of both Mary Willie and Joseph Bryan are cousins, is quite the simplification, since we're/they're actual cousins on more than one level! Whew!

So, when dancing with the ancestors and trying to keep track of the cousin relationship, well, good luck with that lovely task.

City Directories

When dancing with the ancestors, don't discount those city directories you'll come across. They're a valuable research tool and will give you a glimpse into the lives of your ancestors.

Things I've discovered looking through the directories . . .

• My great grandparents John Leonard and Martha (Lane) Smith lived at 1814 Hamburg Street in Nashville according to the 1810 Census Record. By 1815, they were living at 1814 Delta Avenue according to the City Directory. Come to find out, Hamburg Street became part of Delta Avenue between 1910 and 1915
• My Grand Aunt Olive Mae Smith (my grandmother's sister), prior to going to nursing school, worked at a laundry as a pressman, folder, and pressmfdr (I guess pressman/folder shortened)
• My Great Grandparents Charles A. and Martha (Tate) Mitchell rented a place prior to buying their house on 1705 Grand Avenue in Nashville.
• My Grand Uncle Charlie Hoffman (he married my grandmother's sister Willie Octavia) worked for Argo and Hoffman. 
• Great Grandpa Charlie Mitchell was a watchman at Weinberger's in Nashville in 1924; however, in 1922 he was a bag maker. 
• My Grand Aunt Clara (another of my grandmother's sisters) worked as a nurse for Dr. O. A. Oliver in Nashville in 1924. At other times she was an assistant and a dental technician

The City Directories will also tell you if your ancestor was a boarder, renter, or owner.

So, when dancing with the ancestors, make time to go through those City Directories, whether online or at your local State Archives. 

The Mitchell Line - 2013 in Review

Dancing with the Ancestors isn't always the easiest thing, especially with those brick walls appearing out of nowhere and making those intricate dance steps a wee bit more difficult. Still, sometimes, a nice sidestep and maybe a leap or twelve, and you step around or hurtle over the brick wall.

2013 was the year of the Mitchell line! Okay, it started at the end of 2012, but the major finds happened in 2013. So, I'm going to mention 2012, then flash forward to 2013. It happened something like this . . .

• October 2012 - visited my first cousin Jean in CA and learned that great grandpa Charles A. Mitchell was not an only child as my father repeatedly told me, my siblings, and my mother. Nope, don't have a clue where he got this information, but . . . Great Grandpa Charlie was one of 11 children.
• May 23, 2013 - received the following comment on this blog: I am a descendant of William C. Mitchell by his daughter Martha Matilda (Mattie) Mitchell Bunch. William C. Mitchell left Tennessee briefly in 1860 to live in Alabama and then returned to Warren County, Tennessee. Sometime between 1880 and 1883, he came to Texas to Blanco County... where Mattie Mitchell Bunch and her sister Amanda Josephine Mitchell Offill were married. William also remarried at that time to a Mrs. O. Hopper. Just two weeks ago I was in Blanco County to look up probate records for William C. Mitchell and Mrs. O Mitchell. Both were deemed in early 1900's to be unable to support themselves. Sadly William C. Mitchell at age of 90 was declared a lunatic and sent to Austin, Texas to the insane asylum. Mattie and her sister are in Grayson County, Texas married with children in 1900 and then on to Navarro County, Texas. William C. Mitchell did have a son named Charles A. Mitchell and somewhere I do have a picture of him upon which is written Mattie's brother, Charles A. Mitchell. I can also confirm his marriage to Martha Tate.
• May 31, 2013 - found the comment, posted it, replied, and . . .
• June 2013 - heard from third cousin Debbie, the person who left the comment, and . . .

I was off and running on researching the Mitchell line with this new found information. Soon, thanks to Debbie, I had the 1860 Census for 2 x Great Grandpa William C. Mitchell, as well as additional information.

• June 2013 - connected with third cousin Jan, descendant of Amanda Josephine Mitchell-Offill, my great grandfather's sister.
• July 2013 - connected with third cousin-in-law Diana. She's married to third cousin James, descendant of Mary Frances Mitchell-Cunningham, my great grandfather's sister
• July 2013 - connected with a researcher on the Grove line who helped fill in the blanks on Nancy Caroline Mitchell-Knighton-Caulder-Hillis, and solve the mystery of the parentage of Leo C. Groves and Martha C. Groves.

My Great Grandpa Charles A. Mitchell was the administer of Leo Groves estate. Great! Fine! Dandy! I just didn't have a clue who in the heck Leo Groves was until I came across the 1900 Census for William F. Mitchell (Charles's brother) in Texas and there were Leo and Martha listed as his niece and nephew. His sister Nancy Hillis was living with him at that time as well. Still, didn't have a clue if Nancy was there mother, or one of the other sisters.

So, off to the State Archives in Nashville, TN, searching, and searching and searching through roll after roll of microfilm and come across more information about Leo and Martha, specifically that at one time a W. L. Groves was their guardian. Then, did some quick searches on Ancestry, contacted a member or two and received a response that filled in the blanks on Nancy - gave me various marriage dates, names of husbands, and the fact that . . .

Leo and Martha Groves were the children of Lydia Knighton (Nancy's daughter) and William Groves. So, Great Grandpa Charlie was the administrator of his great-nephew's estate, not his nephew's estate.

• July - October 2013 - continued to research the siblings of my great-grandfather, and search for more information on 2 x Great Grandpa William C. Mitchell
• Labor Day Weekend 2013 - discover that sister Barb knew what the A stood for in Charles A. Mitchell . . . Alexander. It seemed, back when her son was in third/fourth grade, he had to do a family tree and my sister talked to my parents to fill in the blanks and dad told her that his grandfather's name was Charles Alexander Mitchell
• October 2013 - at the State Archives in Nashville, Tennessee on another round of dancing with the ancestors and come across the following notation - Dock Mitchell uncle of Charles A. Mitchell of here is visiting for the first time in 43 years/lives in Eagle Springs, Texas o - in the following book: Warren County, Tennessee: Genealogical Notes from the McMinnville Newspapers, 1880 - 1914.

Goosebumps, dear readers, goosebumps popped up all over my body as I read this notice . . . again and again and again. Finally! I knew, no doubts at all that Dock Mitchell was my 2 x Great Grandfather's brother. No doubts! It took only a bit of searching on Ancestry to discover that Dock Mitchell was the son of Allen Mitchell and Sarah Wilson, and that Allen Mitchell was my 3 x Great Grandmother.

Unfortunately, Sarah was Allen's second or third wife, and step-mother to my 2 x Great Grandfather William C. Mitchell. Still, I know knew that 2 x Great Grandpa had seven half-siblings, and, through further research - Census Records, etc., - know that he had two sisters and four brothers, most likely full, but potentially half . . . whose names remain a mystery right now.

So, all in all, it was a banner year for research on the Mitchell line. My poor nephew is not the only male Mitchell left to carry on the family name. It relieves a bit of pressure, but there's still the pressure for him to produce a few male children to carry on the direct line of our branch of the family tree.

Happy New Year!

S

The Family History Book

Dancing with the ancestors is NOT all about the research. Okay, it's 95% about the research, but . . .

. . . when all the researching is done, there's . . .

. . . the Family History Book!

But, why wait until all the research is done? Why not start . . .

. . . NOW!

Well, that's what I've done. I've begun to compile the Mitchell and Allied Families family history book.

Why? Well, I've done quite a bit of research and confirmed quite a bit of information, so why not NOW instead of LATER? NOW makes much more sense. I could wait of course . . . years and years, maybe decades, fine tuning my research, discovering more and more and more, but . . .

. . . it makes more sense to take what I have already confirmed and start putting it into a family history document. Yes, I'll make additions throughout the years as I continue dancing with the ancestors, but by doing it NOW, I'll also have a record of what I have confirmed, as well as a document my family can flip through as they have time and discover our shared past. 

So, don't put off writing that family history document. Do it NOW, as you research. Don't wait until tomorrow, when you can do it today. 

The Importance of Last Wills and Testaments

When dancing with the ancestors, don't discard the importance of the last wills and testaments of . . . your direct ancestors siblings. 

Last Wills and Testaments, when you can find them, are treasure troves of information. In many cases, they'll list the spouse/children of your ancestors which will help confirm whatever information you already have, or add information that you didn't have about spouses/children of your direct ancestors.

The last wills and testaments of the siblings of your direct ancestors can do the same thing. Case in point: Mary Eliza Masterson, my 2 x great grandmother Julia Amanda Masterson-Watson's sister. In her will, Mary Eliza listed the following siblings: Helen, Washington, Robert, Hilary, Green, Meridy (short for Meredith), James, Ann Thomas, Lucinda Smith, Julia Watson, and Elizabeth Hicks. These names all jived with what I had, but . . .

. . . it gave me some other important information which helped me correct my family tree.

Based on information I had previously found, but not 100% confirmed, I thought James, Lucinda, and 2 x Great Grandma Julia were deceased prior to 1890. Well, if they were dead, I sure as heck don't know why Mary Eliza Masterson was leaving her dead siblings money in her last will and testament when she wrote it in . . . December 1890.

So, thanks to her will, I know knew that Lucinda, James, and 2 x Great Grandma Julia were still alive in December 1890 and not, unless they came back as zombies (hey, you just never know), when their sister wrote her will. I also found out the married names - which I had, for the most part - of the sisters.

So, when dancing with the ancestors, don't forget to attempt to find the last wills and testaments of your direct ancestors siblings. You never know what important information you'll discover.

Not The Last . . .

. . . of the Mitchell line!

When dancing with the ancestors it's easy to believe the family stories, such as . . .

. . . two of your great aunts were murdered in New Orleans

. . . your great grandfather was an only child

. . . or many other stories that are passed down through the generations and become fact when, in reality, their either total fiction, or part fact/fiction.

I did have a great aunt that was murdered in . . . Louisiana. Her sister died of natural causes eight years later. No murdered involved.

My Great Grandpa Charles A. Mitchell was one of eleven child so, in fact, he was not an only child, even though that's the story dad told us. 

There's a sense of comfort in knowing that my nephew is not the last of the Mitchell line and that the pressure for him to have three or four sons to carry on the Mitchell name is not so great. Ha! Still, to carry on our direct line, a son or two would be nice. But . . .

. . . there are other male Mitchells out there that can continue the line traced back to my three times Great Grandfather Allen Mitchell.

By his first marriage, he has one known son: William C. Mitchell (my 2 x Great Grandfather). According to Census Records, he had at least three other sons by his first, maybe a second wife, prior to marrying his second, or maybe third wife Sarah Wilson, by which he had seven children, five of them males. So, the line, through those children, and their children, and their children, and so on . . . continues.

The line might also continue through four of the five sons of William C. Mitchell - James, Henry, John, and William - since we know it continues through Great Grandpa Charlie, with added pressure on my nephew to produce Mitchell heirs. I haven't been able to trace James, Henry, or John. From what I've found on William, I don't think he had any children, but I could be wrong on that theory. 

There is the possibility, based on a photograph I have, that James, Henry, or John had at least one son who had two children: a girl and a boy. At this time, the people in the photograph are not identified, but the man is definitely a Mitchell. Hopefully, someone will identify the people in the photo and I can trace back further.

So, when dancing with the ancestors, take those family stories with a grain of salt. They may or may not be true and they may or may not have taken on a life of their own that altered the fact into fiction. 

Luck & Perseverance

When dancing with the ancestors, luck and perseverance play a big part.

This past weekend, while dancing with the ancestors at the State Archives in Nashville, Tennessee, I was going through a book about the McMinnville, Warren County, Tennessee newspapers that listed obituaries and other notices. I came across the following notice: Dock Mitchell uncle of Charles A. Mitchell of here is visiting for the first time in 43 years/lives in Eagle Springs, Texas.

First - tracking the Mitchell line has been a wee bit difficult since little was known about the Mitchell line. My Great Grandfather Charles A. Mitchell's death certificate only listed his parents surnames. No first names. No middle names. Just the surnames Mitchell and Forrest.

Great! Fine! Dandy!

Well, at the State Archives one Saturday looking through the book The Heritage of Warren County and, in a section about the Forrest family, I came across the following mention: Martha Forrest married William Mitchell!

Woo-hoo!

I now had a bit more to go on, but . . . just had to prove I had the right Forrest family. It turns out I did. This was confirmed through DNA and getting in contact with other members of the Mitchell Clan . . . who I didn't know existed at the time, more on that later, and wouldn't have known existed if not for this blog and a comment a distant cousin left. Again, luck and perseverance.

If I hadn't known the last name Forrest, I wouldn't have turned to that section in the book, and found the reference to who Martha, daughter of Richard Albert Forrest, married. On the same day I found the reference to Dock Mitchell, I also found my 2 x Great Grandmother Martha Forrest-Mitchell's obituary that mentioned she was the daughter of Rev. Richard Forrest!

Can I have an Amen, Sistah? 

But, back to the reference about Dock Mitchell. As I mentioned, tracing this line hasn't been the easiest task in the Universe. The death certificate was not much help, other than providing 2 x Great Grandma's surname, which was a help. Then, there was the reference in the book that gave me her, and her husband's, first name. But, I was still operating under the assumption that Great Grandpa Charlie Mitchell was an only child. It's what my dad told me. I believed him. Why wouldn't I? Well, last October, when I mentioned that to my cousin in CA, she informed me that Charles had a brother that moved to Texas.

Well, now everything I was finding made sense. Every Census Record I discovered indicated that Charles was not an only child. Come to find out, he was one of 11 children. So much for that only child theory. I still have no clue where dad came up with that one.

So, back to good old Uncle Dock Mitchell. Since I didn't know anything about William, other than he had parents out there somewhere, and possibly siblings, this was the first major clue I had about his family, and maybe tracing back another generation.

Once home from the Archives, I get on Ancestry and with just basic - Dock Mitchell and Eagle Springs, TX - information, I . . . 

. . . discovered that Doctor James Mitchell was the son of Allen Mitchell and his second, if not third, wife Sarah Wilson, and that he was one of seven children.

I now had my 2 x Great Grandfather William C. Mitchell's father name, and the names of his half-siblings!

Woo-hoo, Amen, Sistah, and all that jazz.

This find was as much about perseverance, as it was about luck. So, when dancing with the ancestors, don't discount luck, and don't discount books regarding newspaper clippings. If not for that book, I wouldn't have been able to trace back to 3 x Great Grandpa Allen Mitchell.