“Thank You”
Throughout the year I have read many wonderful, funny and heartfelt comments you’ve left on my blog. I began this blog on January 13th and can’t believe that I’ve been blogging for over one year and celebrating my 1st “Blogiversary”!
“Thank You” so much for taking the time to read and comment during the past year and for a Final Post of my 2014 – 52 Week 52 Ancestor Stories, I’ve chosen to highlight many of those heartfelt comments you posted to me.
Jeanne
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Week 1 – 52 Ancestors 52 Week Blog: Ola Askew McKinley
Lyn Smith: Wonderful story, Jeanne. It just so happens, your grandmother, Ola Askew McKinley was my great aunt, being the wife of Edgar Thomas McKinley, half-brother to my grandfather, Charlie Earle McKinley; both born in Hancock County, Georgia. That is only one way our families are entwined.
You mention the way our grandparents spent their time and how hard they worked. Papa Earle and Uncle Edgar were raised on a farm, from what I gather it was mostly cotton and all the children worked in the fields when they were old enough. I recall a story Papa used to tell about there being a ghostly experience at the house one day when they were all out in the fields.
Papa mentioned his four siblings and he was in his teen years, so I’m presuming Papa was about 15 years old. Possibly Uncle Edgar was out of the house by this time but Papa said it was not the only time they had this experience. Did something like that happen while Uncle Edgar was still at home? Papa said they moved from this house a few years later and another family moved in and later the house was destroyed by fire. Papa had that story told to the local paper some years back and I still have the copy.
Times were hard in those days and all families did what they could to help each other. Papa did many things in his lifetime, from running a store in Jones County, Georgia to making a living as a carpenter. He eventually began installing storm windows as part of his work. Papa married Grace Marchman, and they had six children, the oldest was my mother – Margret Grace McKinley.
I don’t recall when Mama and Papa moved to this house on Forsyth Street in Macon, Georgia but I do remember the house and the good times we all had there. The kitchen was separated from the ‘family’ room with this divided window, which had bi-fold doors. I call it a family room because it had a dining table, and eventually a TV. There was one big ‘ole comfortable chair for Papa, a counter and a couple of bar stools. The windows were open when family was there so Mama could be be in her kitchen and visit at the same time. This was not a small kitchen like you see in most houses today, it was huge. Mama cooked from scratch and no one walked away hungry. She used a pinch of this and a pinch of that, using her favorite wooden spoons and spatulas. In making her biscuits, she had a little metal cookie cutter. but usually used a glass when she wasn’t rolling them in her hand.
Upstairs in our house was a huge room between the bedrooms, that is where her sewing machine was and a table large enough to spread the biggest sheet of material to be cut. Mama was the best seamstress I knew; I learned my sewing skills from her. I don’t believe she ever knitted or crocheted, as I have no memory of it.
One summer when Uncle Charlie sent his girls down from North Georgia to stay with Mama. Mama took them shopping for patterns and material to make school clothes for the upcoming year. One of the girls voiced that she preferred store bought clothes, while one made her clothes that summer, with Mama’s help, of course – she had the most clothes! A lesson well learned! Store bought is nice but often more expensive; the same holds true today.
I have a small quilt Mama made one year but hadn’t decided what she would do with it, so she put it away until someone needed it. It just happened that the heater in our truck went out one day and we were on our way to North Alabama for Christmas. Needlessly to say, I was freezing! Mama gave me the quilt and four paper grocery bags and told me to put two bags together, put my feet in and then put the quilt over my lap. I was warmer than when the heater worked. The things we learn from the older generation – if we would but listen!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Evelyn thanks for all the family memories – too bad we never knew each other in growing up, but we share our love of family history and we know our McKinley family history will be preserved.
Week 2 – 52 Ancestors 52 Week Blog: Berrian Clark Bryan
Nancy Bunch: I loved reading about my 3rd great grandfather! My grandmother never talked about him maybe it made her sad. Your stories have sparked a desire in my sons and grandsons to know more about their ancestors! My cousin, Judy is reconnecting my husband and my dad’s fathers’ family. We were very surprised to find we are related to famous people! The best treasures I’ve ever been given ! All my new found Bryan / Bryant cousins we are going to see as soon as weather and illness permits! Now Judy is reaching my husband’s family! It’s like Christmas everyday! Jeannie we are going to go on the same walk as you did in one of your stories and go to the church and grave-sites!! Cannot wait ! Love you, cousin Nancy.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Nancy that is so exciting!!! I would love to make that walk again, when are you going? I plan on coming to Georgia in April and October this year, maybe I could meet you for that walk if one of those times would be convenient for you. It would be so exciting to all go together and lunch afterward at The Smith House!
Week 3 – 52 Ancestors 52 Week Blog: Joseph Thomas Sharp
Cathy Garner Royer That was so interesting. I love reading about your family.
Evelyn Smallwood Smith: I found this post several years ago but for some reason cannot locate it today. I wonder if it was removed as an error in post or for some other reason? It stated Joseph T Sharp was buried Powelton Cemetery b. 1835 d. abt 1906 marr. Narcissa Meadow(s) b 1838 d b/f 1870? Daughter Rosie L McKinley buried in Powelton Cemetery. Lived w/ daughter b/f her death continued living w/daughter’s husband, Edgar L McKinley. Site now says – this cemetery may be either destroyed or an error on the DOT map; The area has been logged and the earth has been severely disturbed. (Source: friendsofcems.org/Hancock/Lost)
A search of Georgia Virtual Vault shows only the Pension record. Unfortunately, it is not yet known what records were archived at the Hancock County Courthouse prior to the devastating fire a few weeks ago.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: I contacted the site owner of the Friends of Cemeteries in Hancock Co. I was told that they had taken down that page as there wasn’t any responses. That may well be where my Joseph was buried, but unfortunately it is all lost now. At first I never understood why he wasn’t buried next to his daughter. I’ve since discovered, that Joseph didn’t die right after his daughter Rosie did, but instead went to live with his son Edwin L. Sharp in Augusta, Ga. I found him in the 1910 census, living in his household, but I did not find him in the 1920 census. So Joseph T. Sharp died between 1910 – 1920. I searched in Augusta, thinking his son buried him locally, but I have not found a grave listed. Maybe he was buried next to his wife Narcissa Meadows Sharp, but that’s a mystery also – maybe one day we will discover where they both were buried.
Lyn Smith: The marriage of James S Sharp and Elizabeth Lancaster is listed in the Hancock County, Georgia Marriage Book 1808-1879 on page 33, line 14. I, too, have heard very little about James and Elizabeth Sharp. All I know of them is what I have found in my research, which is pretty much what you have found. It’s really funny how our lines mixed together. I mean Narcissa Meadows was born in 1838 to William (1778) and Serena Kettrell Meadows, who were married 1823 in Warren County, Georgia. Narcissa Meadows daughter, Rosie Sharp was my great grandfather, Edgar Lawson McKinley’s first wife, making her children my aunts and uncles, thus my relationship to Edgar Thomas McKinley.
William Meadows was married before he married Serena Kettrell, to whom has never been discover, but his son, Wiley Meadows (1807) was the half-brother to Narcissa. Wiley Meadows is my gggg-grandfather, as his son, William D Meadows (1831) was the father of my great-great-grandfather, William Green Meadows who married Susan Rosalia Brantley, whose daughter Annie Lee Meadows (1892) was my grandmother’s mother. My grandmother, Grace Marchman married Charlie Earle McKinley, who was half-brother to Jeanne’s grandfather, Edgar Thomas McKinley. This gives us links to the Meadows line both through our Sharp line and McKinley line, making us linked to the Meadows line twice. That is not the only line we have more than one link to.
Annie Lee Meadows was born in February 1892. There were 5 girls born to William Green Meadows and Susan Rosalia Brantley. It took me a while to locate my great-great-grandfather because my mother had always referred to him as Green Meadows. With some help from another Meadows researcher, Michal Farmer, I was able to learn who my great-great-grandfather was but neither of us has been able to determine when or where Green Meadows died but we believe it to be either Taliaferro or Richmond County, Georgia. He died before 1900, as Annie Lee Meadows and three of her sisters, Susie, Allie and Willie are found in the 1900 Census in the Augusta Orphan Asylum in Richmond County, Georgia. I found Susan Rosalia Brantley Meadows and her daughter Minnie (Minerva) working in a Cotton Factory in Greensboro County, Georgia. I believe that Susan had a difficult time taking care of five children after Green died and therefore, kept the oldest, while putting the other four in the Orphanage. Why it is called an Asylum is a mystery. I also do not know if Susan ever took her girls out of the Orphanage but she shows up in the 1910 Census with her second husband, Thomas Brake and his three children from a previous marriage.
Annie Lee Meadows married at the age of 17 to James Thomas Marchman III 22 August 1909 in Greene County, Georgia and my grandmother Grace Marchman was born 18 May 1910. There were two other children born to this union; Daisy Marchman and Raymond Thomas Marchman. My grandmother remained in Georgia, while Aunt Daisy and Uncle Raymond ended up in Maryland.
Papa Marchman had a stroke in the mid 1920’s, which left him paralyzed and Grandma Annie Lee had to find work. How she found work in Greystone Hospital in New Jersey is still a mystery. At any rate, Papa Marchman moved in with his son Howard Marchman, who lived in Hardwick; operating a store with a Post Office, located near the gates to the State Hospital. Howard was born to Mildred Hilsman, first wife of James Thomas Marchman III; the Hilsman line is another story.
Along with Papa Marchman moving in with Howard, so did Mama Grace and her sister, Daisy. Raymond Marchman decided to live with the McKinley family down the road, which would turned out to be my grandfather’s family, Edgar Lawson McKinley and his second wife, Nancy Josephine Askew. By this time, Edgar Thomas McKinley, Papa McKinley’s half-brother, was married and starting his own family.
Grace Marchman married Charlie Earle McKinley in Greene County, Georgia on 5 February 1930. They had six children, the oldest being Margret Grace McKinley, my mother born 23 May 1931. Papa operated stores in Greene County and Jones County before moving to Macon and becoming one of the best known carpenters in Middle Georgia. Everyone around these parts knew my grandpa and admired his works. Later, he added the installation of those insulated windows. I remember Papa taking his green lunch box and a big orange thermos filled with water to work every day. Mama Grace would fix his lunch every morning while making his breakfast. He took a thermos of coffee and sweet ice tea. Never did he ‘waste’ his money on takeout food, even when it became available. When Papa ran his store in Jones County, he had this huge three compartment freezer, which he kept even when he sold the store. They used that freezer till the time of his death in 1997. Papa also built a lot of the furniture they had. I remember when they lived on Forsyth Street in Macon, he built two Secretary Desks in each of the front rooms, and one was the formal dining room and the other the formal living room. Both were built in and could not be taken with them when they moved. Oh how I wish I had one of those desks. Papa also built each of us girls a baby cradle, mine was blue and he also built several children’s rocking chairs and a square table with stools for my older sibling;. the table and stools are still at my mother’s house.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Lyn, what lovely stories you’ve written to me. I hope you’ve preserved them offline for your family history as well. We need to get you a blog set up, I think you’d enjoy writing. Thanks for adding your history!
Week 4 – 52 Ancestors 52 Week Blog: Ila Stargel Sewell Jones
Week 4 – 52 Ancestors 52 Week Blog: Ila Stargel Sewell Jones
Nancy Bunch: I am B.C. Bryan ‘s great -great granddaughter .. My grandmother was Carrie Hudson .. Her sister were Ollie, Mary Anne and brothers John, and James. I too remember many stories like the doodle bug, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Granny married Emory Murrell my grandfather and they moved to Alabama. I love old pictures – I feel like I’m back in time with them. I Enjoy reading your stories. My dad was Clarence Allen Morrell – he changed it because Morrell sounded better in the Army. The rest of the family remained Murrell.
Steve Insalaco: I remember meeting Ila when we went on that hike into the woods. It was really neat to actually see where B.C’s cabin once stood.
Week 5 – 52 Ancestors 52 Week Blog: Heirloom Recipes…
Frank: Great story!
pen4hire: Oh yum! I have to try your recipe. You’re like me– haunted by ancestors in the kitchen. I wish I had paid more attention to my grandma’s food prep. I was too busy just eating! I try to catch a bit of my memory at Ancestors in Aprons.
Evelyn Smallwood Smith: I, too, wish I had spent more time paying attention to my grandmother’s methods, instead of just being in there with her. Try as I might, I cannot duplicate her biscuits. Grandmother Grace McKinley made the thinnest, flakiest, biscuits I’ve ever tasted. She never used a rolling pin but managed to smush that dough pretty thin, then used a glass to cut out the biscuits. Then she placed each on the baking sheet and pressed bacon grease atop each one. Once they were done, she would butter each one as she placed them in the basket, which she had placed a towel to cover them. I don’t recall my grandmother ever using a timer either. She just knew!
We also spent many a day snapping, shelling and shucking. Mama, as I called her, kept little chunks of potato in her mashed potatoes and fatback in her beans. To my knowledge, there are no recipes from my grandmother’s kitchen.
One of the funniest stories I can remember is a home economics class of mine in junior high. We had to prepare a meal with adult supervision and the adult was to write a report for my teacher. Mama decided to make hotcakes using what I called her fancy mixer. It was a stand mixer with glass bowls. She told me to be careful and not hit the beaters with the wooden spoon. Yes, I did hit the beaters and we had a big mess to clean up! No, she did not yell or scold me, she just said that was the reason. She then taught me how to pour the batter in the skillet and know when was the time to turn them. That was a fun day and I don’t recall any complaints about my hotcakes.
Such wonderful memories that should have been written down but so many of us didn’t think about that while we were growing up.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Thanks for your cooking memories Evelyn. I wish I had more cooking times in the kitchen with my mother and grandmothers, but I wasn’t interested at that time, like most kids.
Week 6 – 52 Ancestors 52 week Blog: Searching for Family…
Lyn Smith: I’ve had the research bug for many years, as well. I began back in the early to mid-1990’s. Every opportunity I had was spent at the afternoon of my local library. They have this wonderful genealogy department and I would write down all the information that appeared related to my search. My hands would get tired of the writing, so I began making copies of the information. Sometimes I did not want to leave the library, I was so engrossed in my findings.
All of a sudden I picked up this book entitled ‘The Genealogy of the Marchman Family in the Southern States’ by Dennis Marchman. I found my grandmother, Grace Marchman McKinley’s name among those pages. I took that book to the copier and copied every page. I kept looking and found a couple of other books on this family. I didn’t see anything in those, so I took my copied pages to my grandmother and she helped me piece some of it together. I made notes throughout the pages and thus began a project I have not been able to turn loose of since.
As my search progressed, I began to notice how the Marchman, McKinley, Meadows, Askew and Hil(l)man families intertwine. It was amazing to me. I even laughed, saying didn’t these folks realize there was a world outside Greene and Hancock counties?’ Of course, they knew, they were simply small town folks who enjoyed the small town communities in which they were living.
Our family has branched out all across the United States and some have been preachers and lawmen. I remember being told that there are five tribes of Indian in my family but have yet to find much proof of that. The problem, I believe, being no one remembers, or the people who could have told me have passed on. My mother told me that her grandmother comes from Cherokee stock and even shared pictures with me of Grandma McKinley’s grandparents. This was Nancy Josephine Askew, mother of Charlie Earle McKinley, who is half-brother to Edgar Lawson McKinley.
My Indian heritage is still an on-going project. Around 2004, I was introduced to internet research and not long into this type of searching, I discovered a tree that was put together by Jeanne Insalaco. This was my family, so I contacted the creator of this tree and discovered she was my cousin, Jeanne Bryan Insalaco, the author of this blog. We have since traded information.
Jeanne and I have the same research but she is much better at putting information into story form and her mother has more family history than I could gather from my end of the family. It is possible that had I began earlier, I could have gathered more first-hand information but it is too late for me to worry about that.
I did receive a wealth of information from my grandfather’s brother, J.W. McKinley, who happens to be Jeanne’s great uncle as her father, Edgar Thomas McKinley was my grandfather’s half-brother, also being half-brother to Uncle J.W. as well. I do remember my grandfather, Charlie Earle McKinley, adamantly stating that we were not Scot-Irish. Unfortunately, my research had not gone that far during his lifetime. When I put the information together, I took a copy of what I had to Uncle J.W. He was thrilled! I asked him about the Scot-Irish connection and Papa’s always saying we were not Scot. Uncle J.W. said he didn’t know why Papa wouldn’t accept the Scot line but he always had a feeling it was there. Going back to the McKinley beginnings is still on-going. There were many spellings of the name and at one time, they were known as Clan’s (Clan MacKinlay and so on).
But the bug has not left me and I will continue my search into the McKinley line as well as my other lines. Sometimes I get so involved in my search that I don’t want to turn loose. I will work late into the night when I find something unique in my line. It is a lifetime project and I do believe a disease.
Week 7 – 52 Ancestors 52 week Blog: The Shoe hits the Wall
Schalene Dagutis: It always pays to look at the actual image of the record when one is available. Good job!
Week 8 – 52 Ancestors 52 week Blog: Edgar Thomas McKinley
Frank: This was really beautiful. I enjoyed it.
Week 13 – 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Edgar Leroy McKinley
Melissa Insalaco-Gillon: I am proud to have given my first daughter the name McKinley Lee. She will carry the family name and one day she will understand why it is important to remember and know family “roots”.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: McKinley Lee has some tall shoes to fill carrying that name and definitely see McKinley traits in her disposition! McKinley’s are very strong willed and stubborn!
Week 14 – 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Siloam Hauntings on the McKinley farm
Week 14 – 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Siloam Hauntings on the McKinley farm
Evelyn Smallwood Smith: I didn’t realize you had a copy of Papa’s ‘Ghost Story’. I use to keep that clipping tacked on my icebox. It’s in my genealogy folder now.
Week 20: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Dear Bryan and McKinley Ancestors
Week 20: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Dear Bryan and McKinley Ancestors….
Lyn Smith: If I believed in séances, I can think of many of my ancestors I’d call back for a ‘sit-down’. So many interesting tales they could tell of how they came to America from wherever their line originated. The struggles made to settle down and start a new life. Most of my family doesn’t understand my passion for this kind of research but it doesn’t matter, I continue on.
I would talk to my great-great grandmother, Cicily Evans Askew about our Cherokee heritage. I know her grandmother was full-bloodied Cherokee but was her mother? I’ve still not discovered the names of Grandma Cicily’s parents and only a guess at the name of her grandmother, whom I have a picture of. Are we related to President McKinley? That would be something. Of course, it would be cousin or uncle but it really would be something. I’ve heard that we are but no proof has surfaced.
I would also talk to my father, Javan Smallwood about his service in the Navy. He never really talked about any of it but I have discovered from my research that Daddy was on more than one Destroyer during World War II. Were any of those Destroyers engaged in fighting and where? I also know Daddy crossed the Equator; I have the Certificate given him. I’d like to know about that experience.
I’d also like to talk to his parents about the heritage they left behind. Grandpa J. Van Smallwood died just a month before I was born and I never thought to ask any of these questions of Grandma Stella, who died in 1971, the year before my graduation. Though I loved history in those days, family history and heritage weren’t on my list. I’ve also learned of some of the exploits of many of my ancestors. For example, on my Smallwood line we are related to William Barrett Travis, who died defending the Alamo. Oh, how I would love to talk to him about his short life.
As Jeanne says, do you think us crazy when we visit the cemeteries, taking pictures, writing dates, cleaning stones so we can read them more clearly? Have you thought about sitting beside us and relating your life to us? Oh yes, there are many ancestors I would love to write to, or talk to. Research is fun, frustrating and addictive but the stories we could learn from those gone before us. What an adventure that would be.
Week 25: 52 Week Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Edgar Lawson McKinley
Week 25: 52 Week Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Edgar Lawson McKinley
Lyn Smith: Edgar Lawson McKinley was my great grandfather, whom I never knew. He died ten years before I was born but I did know my great grandmother, Nancy Josephine Askew McKinley. I’m not sure why my mother called her Miss Minnie but I do remember Papa calling her Miss Bay. Mother said he never knew the reason for the Miss Minnie name but Grandma hated that name – maybe that is why she was called Miss Bay? I wonder if Uncle J.W. could answer that question?
I remember one of the last times I visited Grandma. It was 1969 when my mother and I went to see her and Aunt Aretta, the youngest sister to both my grandfather and Jeanne’s. Aunt Aretta never married and I remember Mother telling me that something was wrong with her eyes and no one could figure out what it was. Mother said Aunt Aretta could read very little and did not go to school. I loved Aunt Aretta and would sit with her going through pictures and talking about each one. Aunt Aretta died a few years ago and I will always miss her.
I remember Papa and Uncle J.W. had running water put into that house Grandma lived in but Grandma would always wash dishes in a dish pan and toss the water out the back door. That is what she had always done and she couldn’t get out of the habit.
Aunt Ola’s great grandfather, William Milton Askew was Nancy Josephine Askew’s grandfather. William Milton Askew was married twice and from his first marriage to Mary Gerald, was James Brittain Askew, Ola’s grandfather. From William Milton Askew’s second marriage to Ann Green Reid was Charlie Morton Askew, my grandmother, Nancy Josephine’s father. As of this date, only one of Grandma Josephine’s children are living, Uncle J.W., James William McKinley.
Another possible mass of stories could have come from Grandma Josephine but, again, I never thought to ask her. I loved spending time with her but I spent more time with Aunt Aretta. My sister, Mary, spent times with both Grandma and Aunt Aretta as well. When her first son was born, she took him to meet his great-great grandmother. Many pictures were taken and she sent me a few copies. I think the one I treasure the most is of Grandma, Papa, my sister and her son, Richard.
Looking at the second picture Jeanne has posted of the family above, it is amazing to me how much like Aunt Aretta, I looked at that age. A compliment even if I so say so myself.
Family history, the way our elders spent their time when not working include many wonderful stories. My Papa loved baseball and water. I remember as children that Papa would take us on trips to Jekyll Island, Okefenokee Swamp and Indian Springs here in Georgia. All of these places have bodies of water and whenever possible, Papa would take us into the water. I have a picture of Papa, me and my siblings in the ocean. Quite possibly, that is where my love of beaches comes into play. I love walking the beach and hearing the ocean.
I remember one trip we took to Indian Springs on a picnic. They had these water crafts you could rent for fun on the lake. Several of these crafts were rented and Uncle Carroll (my mother’s brother) took me out in the water with him. Uncle Russell, another of Mother’s brothers, took another craft out but I can’t remember who he took with him. We had such fun playing bumper cars with those crafts. I can’t recall what they were called but you had to pedal them, they did not have a motor as those of today. Uncle Russell was the family prankster. A lot of fun was had at every family gathering. My uncles always had a good joke or story to tell, this includes Uncle Charlie. There were four boys and two girls in my mother’s family, mother being the oldest and Uncle Charlie being the next. Of the six siblings, only two remain, Uncle Charlie and the youngest sister, Evelyn.
I loved hearing the stories of them growing up and wish I could remember more. I do remember Mother saying she got her love of baseball from her father and brothers. Mother loved her brothers and often bragged of what she learned from them.
Week 26: 52 Week Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Evelyn Irene Little Bryan
sharon whitman: She sounded a lot like my grandfathers wife my grandmother as far as her cooking. Sounds like you grew up the same way I did with my grandmothers cooking all she did. she loved garden food too.
Week 29: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: James and Elizabeth (Cain) Bryan
Week 29: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: James and Elizabeth (Cain) Bryan
Wendy Walker Bloome: Thank you so much for your hard work!! Truly a treasure.
Week 30: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: A Family Search, an Old Church and Ghosts….
Week 30: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: A Family Search, an Old Church and Ghost
sharon whitman: Love, love, love the stories! And if you look real close at the bench in one of the pics I swear it looks like an arm leaning on the pew, gave me chill bumps. Thank you for sharing. I may never get to go to where these stories are wrote about but I feel I have been able to just by reading the stories.
Week 31: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: The Tale of the Two Nancy Bryan’s….
Week 31: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: The Tale of the Two Nancy Bryan’s….
Margie von Marenholtz: VERY, VERY NICE! Great Job! I had never found a spouse for John Bryan, Jr. I’m sure all the records we need were in some burned out courthouse – LOL. Thanks for all the great digging 🙂
Week 33: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Louise Alma Wilson Little-Gossett
Week 33: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Louise Alma Wilson Little-Gossett
Paulette Bryan Huffman: Love reading your blogs. I do remember him coming to Grandmama and Grandaddy’s for Christmas. We thought he was rich because he brought the best Christmas presents for us as we were usually visiting during that time.
Week 34: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Narcissa C. Meadows Sharp
Week 34: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Narcissa C. Meadows Sharp
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: Isn’t it wonderful how we discover new things about our ancestor as we prepare to write about them? Thank you for an interesting read.
jinsalaco2013: I’ve enjoyed breaking through old brick walls and looking through to more. Thanks for stopping by….
Evelyn Smallwood Smith: Will put this on my Favorites bar. Thanks for putting this together, Jeanne. Took a lot of work and time and I thought the effort you put into the tree you posted on Rootsweb was super.
Lyn Smith: What I think is truly interesting is another link that intertwines our families. Narcissa Meadows, daughter of William Meadows and Serena Kettrell and wife of Joseph Thomas Sharp, was also half-sister to Wiley Meadows, both Narcissa and Wiley being children of William Meadows born 1778. It is unknown who William was first married to but it is known there were five children born to his first marriage, Wiley being the oldest. I presume William was first married about 1805, since Wiley was born in 1807.
Why do I bring this up? This connection brings the Sharp, Meadows and McKinley lines together. Narcissa was the mother of Rosie Sharp, and the first wife of Edgar Lawson McKinley. Edgar Lawson is my great grandfather as well as Jeanne Bryan Insalaco’s great grandfather. Her grandfather, Edgar Thomas McKinley was born to Rosie Sharp McKinley, while my grandfather, Charlie Earle McKinley was the oldest son born to Edgar Thomas McKinley and his second wife Nancy Josephine Askew.
William D Meadows,1831 was born to Wiley Meadows, half-brother to Narcissa Meadows. William D Meadows’ son, William Green Meadows married Susan Rosalia Brantley on 22 March 1886 in Taliaferro County, Georgia and their daughter, Annie Lee Meadows married James Thomas Marchman, III, on 22 August 1909, who is the father of my grandmother, Grace Marchman, who married Charlie Earle McKinley, oldest son of Edgar Lawson McKinley and Nancy Josephine Askew.It is so fascinating to me how our lines come together when we stop and pay attention to what we are entering into our histories.
The burial places of some of these ancestors’ remains a mystery that I hope can one day be resolved. I’m thinking that some graves are not marked because the families possibly did have the money to purchase stone markers and the wooden markers have deteriorated with time and descendants did not think to preserve those grave markers; sad but very possible.
What I also find is that many family entries were not kept in family Bibles, or some of those Bibles were not passed down through the generations; some descendants don’t think anything about this type of history.
Week 34: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Narcissa C. Meadows Sharp
Week 34: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Narcissa C. Meadows Sharp
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: Isn’t it wonderful how we discover new things about our ancestor as we prepare to write about them? Thank you for an interesting read.
jinsalaco2013: I’ve enjoyed breaking through old brick walls and looking through to more. Thanks for stopping by.
Lyn Smith:What I think is truly interesting is another link that intertwines our families. Narcissa Meadows, daughter of William Meadows and Serena Kettrell and wife of Joseph Thomas Sharp, was also half-sister to Wiley Meadows, both Narcissa and Wiley being children of William Meadows born 1778. It is unknown who William was first married to but it is known there were five children born to his first marriage, Wiley being the oldest. I presume William was first married about 1805, since Wiley was born in 1807.
Why do I bring this up? This connection brings the Sharp, Meadows and McKinley lines together. Narcissa was the mother of Rosie Sharp, and the first wife of Edgar Lawson McKinley. Edgar Lawson is my great grandfather as well as Jeanne Bryan Insalaco’s great grandfather. Her grandfather, Edgar Thomas McKinley was born to Rosie Sharp McKinley, while my grandfather, Charlie Earle McKinley was the oldest son born to Edgar Thomas McKinley and his second wife Nancy Josephine Askew.
William D Meadows,1831 was born to Wiley Meadows, half-brother to Narcissa Meadows. William D Meadows’ son, William Green Meadows married Susan Rosalia Brantley on 22 March 1886 in Taliaferro County, Georgia and their daughter, Annie Lee Meadows married James Thomas Marchman, III, on 22 August 1909, who is the father of my grandmother, Grace Marchman, who married Charlie Earle McKinley, oldest son of Edgar Lawson McKinley and Nancy Josephine Askew. It is so fascinating to me how our lines come together when we stop and pay attention to what we are entering into our histories.
The burial places of some of these ancestors’ remains a mystery that I hope can one day be resolved. I’m thinking that some graves are not marked because the families possibly did have the money to purchase stone markers and the wooden markers have deteriorated with time and descendants did not think to preserve those grave markers; sad but very possible.
What I also find is that many family entries were not kept in family Bibles, or some of those Bibles were not passed down through the generations; some descendants don’t think anything about this type of history.
Week 36: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Dear Photograph – Thanks for the Memories…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/08/week-36-september-4-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-dear-photograph-thanks-for-the-memories/
Helen Holshouser: Very nice! I too love photographs, little stories all by themselves! But when used to illustrate the stories, like you just told us, its so much better! Thanks! I loved this!
jinsalaco2013: Thanks for stopping by Helen. We’re two southern women telling stories!
Frank: I haven’t offered many comments, but I loved this entry. So important to share the small details of your memories with your friends and children. So much information in those photos that you brought to life. Nice!
jinsalaco2013 :Thanks for stopping by. Funny how so many memories can be in just one photo!
Week 39: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Two Sisters Married Two Brothers…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/week-39-september-27-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-two-sisters-married-two-brothers-nancy-bryan-and-george-winston-bruce-did-they-bury-gold-parthena-bryan-and-aquilla-bruce-did-she/
Mulberrygrrl: Excellent storytelling! Thank you for sharing.
jinsalaco2013: Thanks for stopping by – glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Week 41: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Rosa L. Sharp McKinley (1869-1902)
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/week-41-october-13-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-rosa-l-sharp-sharpe-mckinley-1869-1902/
Helen Holshouser: Very interesting! You do such a great job of weaving your story and research together! I have a cousin with Sharps in her tree, from Virginia, wonder if you are related!
jinsalaco2013: You never know! I’ll have to recheck what early lines I have on him.
Week 42: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: William Pinkney Turner and Laura A. Gooch
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/week-42-october-11-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-william-pinkney-turner-and-laura-a-gooch/
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: Enjoyed reading about Pink, what you’ve found and are still searching for. Good luck!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Thanks for reading – I enjoyed learning about his life snd maybe one day I’ll find his parents!
Week 43: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Granddaddy was a Pack Rat…. Maybe not….
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/10/29/week-43-october-25-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-granddaddy-was-a-pack-rat-maybe-not/
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: Jeanne, this was wonderful. Reminded me of all the things spread through the house – I need to photograph them and write the stories so that our children won’t throw them out. Thank you!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Glad you enjoyed it…and there’s so many more that I didn’t write about. I foresee another story on Heirlooms in the future to preserve the items and memories. Yes do write your pack rat story – everyone is a pack rat!
Week 44: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: North Carolina McKinleys head into Georgia…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/06/week-44-november-1-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-north-carolina-mckinleys-settling-into-georgia/
Helen Holshouser: This is an amazingly well documented article and lengthy for someone also working full time and writing a novel! My gracious, I’m impressed! My husband grew up near Charlotte with his German ancestors settling there in the late 1700’s like you say when many were moving that way. This was a great read, and I am looking forward to comparing it to my husband’s family history. Thanks for a lot of history!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Helen, Thank You for your kind words. Yes I’m like a dog always chasing my tail, between work, weekly stories, and now the 30 day novel! Thank Heavens for my husband, who is retired and takes over everything else do I have time to write! I honestly don’t know how I pulled this story off! I have much more but had to call a halt for another day!
Lyn Smith: Impressively good! Whenever I think of our Scottish/ Irish heritage, I remember how irate Papa CE would get. He always said we were not Scottish. Unfortunately, my research did not get to the proof until after he passed. I asked Uncle J.W. about it and he said he never could understand why Erle would get so upset at being Scottish. I still laugh about it.
I need to get with you on the children of William and Margaret’s children. You said they had 7 children, I credit them with 9? Of course, the Census records back then did not list anyone but head of house. I’ve also wondered why James and John died the same year. Ireland. I’ll look up the pages I printed. I’m like you; my information is never where I can lay my hands on it when I need it. James was only 14 but John was 21. Could it have been malaria- interesting? More research. That’s what we do. Thanks for the information that I didn’t already have or wasn’t aware of.
I have some information from another site; I believe you led me to it. I’ll have to look it up because I can’t remember it off the top of my head. It was about the McKinley’s from Scotland and Ireland. I’ll look up the pages I printed. I’m like you; my information is never where I can lay my hands on it when I need it.
Lyn Smith: By the way, that site is A History of the McKinley Family in Ireland.http://irishmckinleys.blogspot.com/p/from-scotland-to-ulster.html
Beverly McGowan Norman: Thank you so much for sharing this!
Helen Holshouser: I thoroughly enjoyed it too! Now those treasures have been saved forever! Your children and grands forever will have family history in their hands via your story and pictures. Your grandparents live here and we know their personalities! Loved it!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Beverly & Helen thanks for kind words! Glad you enjoyed. Don’t forget to go write your “pack rat” stories now 🙂
Week 45: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Just When I thought I knew it all…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/week-45-november-8-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-just-when-i-thought-i-knew-it-all/comment-page-1/#comment-195
Lyn Smith: Wonderful story! I think it’s so sad that so many historical places go by the wayside because not enough people realize the importance. They think these building don’t belong in our time. I get so angry when I pass an old place in such disarray because no one wants to care for it. I’ve witnessed the construction of new buildings for one business or another, only for the business to decide that spot is no longer suitable, and then that place just sits until someone else comes along to take it. Why are old schools being replaced because of asbestos and new ones being put up? Why can’t the old schools be cleaned up and continued to be used? Instead of modern decor, use pictures of the old days to show what these buildings were in the old days. Wow, what a conversation piece. We have history in our lives and in our country but choose not to utilize it. What is wrong with us?
Wonder what Mother could add to this story if she were still with us? She was also born in Siloam. I once asked her to write down all the stories she could remember but I don’t believe she ever got around to it because she never gave me any and we’ve not discovered any. Jeanne, have you ever talked to Uncle J.W.’s daughter, Peggy? I’ll bet she’s full of stories and you are so good at putting them into story form.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: I wish I knew if my grandfather knew about this? Knowing him, nothing got by him but if he was busy plowing in the field, he wasn’t going to leave work to go see that plane. He hated those planes flying over Mama told me, especially when they buzzed him in the field and upset the horse. My mother said she remember hearing nothing about this plane – guess she lived a very sheltered life on the farm.
Week 46: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: I Pack my Suitcase with…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/19/week-46-november-15-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-i-pack-my-suitcase-with/
Karen: I remember the game “I pack my suitcase” from my own childhood. I can’t remember that we ever stuffed plants in it, but cars or airplanes! Plants are definitely much better!
Helen Holshouser: I love this story! It tells me so much about your family I never knew before. I hadn’t even realized just how much a Southerner you are! I too have a beautiful Crinum lily! Did you know they can and often do live a hundred years!? And of course your Barbecue and Brunswick stew concerns — I’m right with you! There was a time we would only use Carolina Treat Barbeque Sauce! Nowadays, Max cooks the pork roast in the crock pot then shreds it and flavors it. I’ll send you the recipe!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Helen I’d love your family recipe for sauce – thanks for stopping by and sharing some of your Southern food memories.
Lyn Smith: This one story brings back the memories when Mama Grace McKinley would pack Southern things to send to my sister, Mary, who had married a guy from Ohio. Certain foods we enjoy could not be found in Ohio. Actually, could not be found in several places north of Tennessee. I would go shopping with Mama and we’d buy extra bags of grits and packages of stricklin (fatback meat) and a couple of other things. Papa would get the packing materials so these items could be mailed to my sister in Ohio.
I went to visit my sister one year and Mama sent me with a load of all these foods for my sister. This was done for years until my sister moved back to Georgia. There is also another story about when our brother visited our sister and was astounded they didn’t serve grits, didn’t even know what they were.
Week 47: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: James Bryan – War of 1812
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/week-47-november-22-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-james-bryan-war-of-1812/
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: I can hardly wait for them to scan and make available the file of my Jordan N. PETERS who had a hard time getting his pension for the War of 1812 because his records burned up in his house during the Civil War. Good job Jeanne!
Week 48: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Rebecca Ann Mapp (1899-1906)
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/04/week-48-november-29-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-rebecca-ann-mapp-1899-1906/
Helen Holshouser: I thought I’d left a reply earlier! Don’t’ know how It got lost! I loved this post, and admire the way you investigated and documented your investigation! Very interesting and well done!
Week 49: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: The Hilsman Family
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/week-49-december-06-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-the-hilsman-family/
Lyn Smith: Great job Jeanne! I knew a lot of this but you sure have enlightened me on a bunch. I spent months (a couple or three years ago) researching the Hil(l)sman line. I knew that Bennett and Micajah’s parents died when they were young and they sued their guardians, then came to Georgia but I didn’t know their parents were killed by Indians. I’m going to have to start printing these pages and attach them to all my other papers. This is really good stuff. Your McKinley line must have got all the story genes because mine sure missed out. Thanks for all the good work.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Thanks for reading. I’m sure you could write great stories – you just have to start!
Geri Crouch: What is known about the daughter of Bennett Hilsman named Mary that was married to Samuel Eley and William Baker. They were in Bute County, North Carolina when William Baker died in 1776. What is known about William Baker?
Paul A Lasseter: James Hilsman (1805-1854) is mentioned in the Autobiography of Col. Richard Malcolm Johnston by Richard Malcolm Johnston (pages 17-18). The book indicates he was a schoolteacher and that he was killed by his son-in-law.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Paul that is quite interesting to know – I will search out that book. Are you related to James Hilsman?
Week 50: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Rolling on into my Meadows…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/week-50-december-13-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-rolling-on-into-my-meadows/
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: Wonderful title Jeanne. Can hardly believe we only have two more. Now I wonder how many words we wrote this year just for Amy!?
Mulberrygrrl: I have Meadows’ in my line too, Jeanne. My great grandmother was a Meadows from Rockingham Country, Virginia. I have it that our branch came to America in 1636, settling in Lancaster, VA, but have not proven out the whole line yet. That’s hard work! Enjoyed your post. Thank you!
Week 51: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, I found your parents!
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/week-51-december-20-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-mary-mary-quite-contrary-i-found-your-parents/
Helen Holshouser: I suspect this Rogers family will connect to ours and track back to Mayflower! The Hills are in this same area! Maybe we will find our kinship!
Week 52: 52 Ancestor 52 Week Blog: It’s WEEK 52 – Reflections on My Year 2014 Stories…
https://jinsalacoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/week-52-december-27-2014-52-ancestor-52-week-blog-its-week-52-reflections-on-my-year-2014-stories/
Bernita Allen: What an impressive post! Your reflections were not only heartfelt but great stories. Thank you for sharing them. Happy New Year!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Bernita Allen thank you for your wonderful words. Happy New Year to you also.
pen4hire: So glad to see you over at Ancestors in Aprons and be introduced to your blog through our participation in 52 Ancestors. Don’t we all have those regrets! The lesson I take away is that I will tell my children and grandchildren EVERYTHING, whether they seem to be paying attention or not. I will leave them written words, photos, videos and recordings. Some day they will treasure them.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Thanks for stopping by and reading. Yes our generation is the one to encourage the children that family history is important! I love your blog name as I do remember my grandmothers “always in aprons ‘I look forward to stopping there again.
Cathy Meder-Dempsey: Jeanne, it has been a wonderful year getting to know you through your ancestors. Love this final post! I’m sure you will figure out a way to entertain us in 2015 even if it isn’t once a week. Thank you for reminding me that I need to check how many words I wrote on my 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. Happy New Year!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: It’s been a fun year connecting with you Cathy and all you’ve written as well – I’ve learned a lot from your stories as well as being entertained. And yes I thought of you also when I figured up my word count on the 52 stories! Happy New Year! Have fun writing!!!
Lyn Smith: What a fantastic year of memories. So glad you hooked me up with this blog of yours. I do wish certain members of the family were still alive to discover the things we’ve found out through our relenting research. Just like you, I will keep pushing and searching. To quote Bob Hope – Thanks for the memories.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Lyn I’m so glad we hooked up and I could share my blog with you. Yes I also so wish I could have shared my stories with some of our family that have passed. I wish I knew more of their stories! Thank you for being a dedicated reader of our family stories!
Helen Holshouser: Oh Jeannie, this is such a wonderful tribute to your family, but inadvertently to you as well! You deserve a special star in heaven for holding the family stories! Now you’ve shared, and will share, them for so many generations! What a gift! I wish we could be around to see our 5th great grandchildren at our age finding these stories, and saying “Wow! Look what my grandma Jeanne wrote!” all those 100 years or more ago! LOL I love it! By the way, are you sure you are not kin to President McKinley? Have you looked? researched his line? William McKinley, 1843-1901. You remind me of him sometimes, his forthrightness! Perhaps. Love you!
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Helen “Thank You” for your kind words and spending time reading my stories this year. I”m so glad we have met on-line and maybe in the New Year of 2015 we might just discover a link to relate our lines together. I can’t wait to see what 2015 brings us in discovery. Happy New Year!
Melissa Insalaco-Gillon: Mom, what an awesome feeling of accomplishment you should be feeling now. Looking back at all those memories makes me wonder if I will remember all my family stories one day. Unlike you, I am not a writer, but I am so proud of you for ensuring all these family stories and your memories are recorded for us to read and share with our kids one day. Great job! You excel at every challenge you tackle. I am proud to be your daughter. I love you.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco: Thank You Melissa for the sweet words to your mother. Remember the “Apple” doesn’t fall far from the tree. You inherited my craft genes, you just need the time to develop them. Right now your full attention is on raising McKinley and Grace – that’s a busy job!
52 Week Ancestor Challenge 
Just found your blog after searching John Hilsman of York County, PA. My mother is a Hilsman, through William – Bennett – Micajah. Her father was Frank Rogers Hilsman. In the book you referenced (of which I have a copy), my mother and uncle are listed, but nothing further. We are a dead-end branch, but my uncle does have children and still lives in Georgia.
Anne, so happy you found my blog. I never thought I’d find anything on the surname Hilsman, but I was certainly proved wrong. There is much more to discover on this surname – hopefully in the future I will find more to share. Please stay in touch.