documenting my very southern genealogy from the plantation to the frontier
In a break from doomscrolling lately, I've been picking ancestors at random and searching for them on Family Search's new full text search feature just to see what pops up. Most (nearly all) of my ancestors were subsistence farmers who didn't leave much of an impression on the historical record even with a "deep search." … Continue reading The Trials of Daniel T Sumner
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
It took a pandemic lockdown, but I finally tackled my dad's Smith line a couple of weeks ago. I had traced it back his second great-grandfather a few years ago, but stopped there when confronted by an entire county full of Smiths—who all share about five given names! I knew that George Washington Smith, my … Continue reading Finally Sorting Out Smiths
For Valentine's Day, four photos of couples from my family tree.
Jewell Smith was the second daughter of Bertus "Bert" Monroe Smith and Mollie Irene Sumner. She was born 25 September 1910 in Florida. As far as I know, Jewell was the first person in our line to have a high school diploma. She was certainly the first woman to have one. Because the Smith name is … Continue reading Lucy Jewell Smith
Edgar "Sonny" Bembry, born 14 June 1906, was the oldest of Hiram and Palma Lashley Bembry's seven sons. As such, he was unable to attend school past the third grade because he was needed on the farm. While he stated on the 1930 census that he could read and write, he was never fully literate. He … Continue reading Edgar Bembry
A Long Way to Tennessee 