documenting my very southern genealogy from the plantation to the frontier
It's been a very cold winter in these parts, and I'm back to playing around with Family Search's full text search. I needed a break from Smiths after sorting out the two Daniels, you see! With this last round of digging, I learned that my 3rd great-grandfather, Daniel Smith (1816-1868) was relatively well off. In … Continue reading A Little Story About Smiths
I recently starting playing around with Family Search's experimental full-text search. It's pretty amazing and incredibly useful. Especially for an unusual surname, such as Bembry. Of course, many of the hits that come up are documents that I have already seen via old-fashioned scrolling through deed indexes and so on. But even in that case, … Continue reading Fun with Family Search Labs
My newly discovered 6th great-grandfather, James Hall, made his will in Orange County, North Carolina in 1796. James was most likely the son of a Samuel Hall from Chester County, Pennsylvania. Many online sources and genealogy publications seem quite confident of this connection. I'm still not 100 percent sure because there was more than one … Continue reading Will of James Hall, 22 May 1796, Orange County, North Carolina
My 5th great-grandmother, generally known as Thamer Halle, is presumed by many online sources to have come from either Germany or France, specifically Alsace-Lorraine. This appears to be based entirely on family oral history, and I have never been able to find any evidence for it. She's been a brick wall for some time. Recently, … Continue reading Tamer Hall Sarver
I recently completed an epic, year-long "do-ver" of my family tree, and am now back to researching and transcribing. Robert Lowry is my newly discovered 7th great-grandfather. He named my 6th great-grandmother, Ann Lowry Dicken, wife of Benjamin Dicken, in his will, below. Lowry and Dicken were likely neighbors, as Dicken witnessed the one deed … Continue reading Will of Robert Lowry, 4 July 1768, Edgecombe County, North Carolina
I think I have exhausted available resources on my favorite brickwall ancestor for the moment. I also find it's a good idea to step back once in a while, work on something else, and see what comes up in the meantime. However, I've discovered a few more details over the last few weeks that I … Continue reading Bits and Pieces on Miles Bembry
In researching my brickwall ancestor and 5th great-grandfather, Miles Bembry (1766-1838), I have been researching his FAN (Friend Associate Neighbor) club in depth for some time. However, recently, I consulted with a professional genealogist, and this caused me to realize that I needed to be more systematic in my research and develop more visual aids … Continue reading Miles Bembry as Plantation Overseer
A couple of days ago, I heard about a website called Archive Grid on a podcast. As usual when I find a new archive, I ran a quick search for "Bembry," because I can be pretty sure whatever comes up will relate to my family in some way. To my surprise, a letter from personal … Continue reading Maybe He Just Needed Killin’
I have been scanning more photos found at my grandmother's house. This photo, she confirms, is a Sunday School class from Mount Nebo Baptist church in Buena Vista, Tennessee. Judging from the cars and clothes, I think it must have been taken in the early 1930s. My grandmother, who grew up attending Mount Nebo, identifies … Continue reading Carroll County, Tennessee Sunday School class
For the last few weeks, I have been working on Miles Bembry's FAN club in an attempt to finally topple that Bembry brickwall. I've gathered a ton of information! But I am starting to confuse myself by now, and so I think I need to take a step back to properly organize and summarize it … Continue reading Nansemond Connections
A Long Way to Tennessee 