Historical-Matters.com » family matters

Thoughts on homelands past & present

Mary — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 20:48:38 +0000

As we traveled north on I-59, I noticed the similarities between the old Choctaw homelands through which we were driving with the “new” Choctaw homelands in southern Oklahoma. Both lands are heavily wooded, and hilly. The earth in both places is reddish. The water in the creeks, streams and rivers is tobacco brown from leaf tannin. Were they given a choice in their new homeland?

Professor Frank Owlsey, Ph.D, wrote Plain Folk. He studied migration trails based on the taste of the water. If you’re doing Southern research, you need to read this book!

The Great Loop Tour, Tuesday, Oct. 4

Mary — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:54:59 +0000

My fingers don’t like my laptop keyboard. I’ve written two blogs that are “gone with the wind.” To catch up, we arrived in Kenner at my Brother’s retirement center. They have a very nice two bedroom apartment. The smaller of the two is their office/den. No two walls intersect at right angles which makes for interesting furniture placement. They have 3 gourmet meals a day served in the 3rd floor dining room which has lots of windows.

Yesterday we drove north over the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway, a 22-mile engineering marvel. Two lanes north and two lanes south with periodic crossover bridges. The crossovers have law enforcement/rescue vehicles. There are a couple of ‘hills’ under which lake traffic can move. The northernmost one has a drawbridge. The northbound lanes are free, but the southbound lanes pay a toll.

Our destination, Fairview State Park, was not far from the end of the causeway. It has a lovely campground on the Tschefunte River. [I think I spelled that correctly.] It’s a Native American word spelled and pronounced by Frenchmen. Park roads and campsites are paved. The comfort stations are immaculately clean. Our campsite is next to the WIFI tower! Lots of tall pines, magnolias, sweet gum trees, and other flora I can’t identify. The wifi tower attracts a redheaded woodpecker, but also frustrates him. Mockingbirds sing all day. A really nice place to relax.

Brother and wife are staying in a “lodge” tent. You need a degree in engineering to set it up. And Brother and wife are too feeble to erect it. So guess who got the “honors.” It only took the four of us two hours to turn a bag of nylon and aluminum into temporary shelter. I’m cooking in the motorhome. I refuse to cook outside!

We’re relaxing here through Thursday morning.

Venn Diagrams & genealogy

Mary — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:49:00 +0000

I’m a fan of the TV show Numbers. In tonight’s episode, the characters were discussing using a Venn diagram with an added fourth dimension-time. It hit me that as genealogists we can make use of Venn diagrams with this added dimension in connection with our studies of kinship theory. I’ve been using Venn diagrams [intersecting circles] to look at my families in a different way. And while I am lousy with solid geometry, I may attempt to construct a diagram that shows when those circles intersect. Something to think about anyway.

Litiguous ancestors

Mary — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:15:52 +0000

My Mickle ancestors were a litiguous lot, at least when it came to the federal government. Harmon Mickle’s Southern Claims Commission disallowed file contains 912 pages of testimony, letters, claims and counter-claims concerning his losses during “the late unpleasantness.” [American Civil War to you non-southerners.]

His widow, Johanna McSweeney Mickle, a first-generation Irish woman, and her adult children, filed claims for Choctaw citizenship, based on Harmon’s intermarriage with a Choctaw woman, Susanna Morris, his first wife. Johanna couldn’t prove Harmon’s Choctaw citizenship by intermarriage to Susanna Morris/Murris, and was therefore denied an allotment. By combining the files of her children–the kinship group–I managed to document several dates and events I have not been able to find otherwise.

I also learned that Footnote.com has only the allowed Southern Claims Commission files online. You have to read the fine print!

What happened to Thanksgiving?

Mary — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:20:00 +0000

In yesteryear we had three holidays, about a month apart: Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Now we have “Hallothankmas” from September until the end of the year. Halloween decorations appear Labor Day in stores. The day after Halloween, the Christmas decorations and Christmas sales start. What happened to Thanksgiving?

We’re in danger of loosing a precious family holiday! Our extended family gathered at grandmother’s kitchen for a feast and to catch up with each other. After the meal, the menfolk gathered around the radio, the women in the kitchen to clean up and the cousins held forth on the front porch. Today most of the family is scattered across the country. Grandmother, the aunts and uncles, and some of the cousins are long gone to the ancestors. But we can keep the spirit aflame in our hearts and in our own homes!

Gather your loved ones together this year and while you’re feasting, remember the extended family.

And may your favorite football team win! Go Sooners!

Vital record found in Southern Claims Commission file

Mary — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:38:38 +0000

For years, I have been taught that you won’t find vital records in federal records. Wrong! I ordered the disallowed Southern Claims Commission file for Harmon Mickle, one of my ancestors [$450]. In one of the depositions, I found reference to a 3rd marriage for his mother-in-law, Johanna [surname unknown] McSweeney Harland LEWIS. Johanna had dropped off the face of the earth in Sebastian County Arkansas after the 1850 census. I could find her children, but not her. Now I know why — she remarried! Now it’s back to Ft. Smith and Greenwood to find what happened to her. Yes, there are two courthouses in Sebastian County. Forthunately they’re not too far apart with modern transportation. Or maybe, considering the price of gas, I’ll just write, hmm.

Where did Thomas Smith go?

Mary — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 21:32:20 +0000

I’ve lost Thomas Smith after 1880. He’s Errol’s ancestor and has been a pain to research.

Thomas Smith was born about 1845 in Johnson County Indiana, married Barbara Ellen Fansler in Marion County, Indiana, moved to Posey Township, Clay County Indiana by 1870. In the 1880 census Tom and family are living with Joe Stewart in St. George Township, Pottawatomie County Kansas. Under occupation is listed “temporary resident.” By 1888 the family, or at least Hettie Ellen, the eldest daughter, is living in Sebastian County Arkansas, where she married Henry Caspar Kaase, 8 January. But I can’t identify Thomas or the rest of the family in Sebastian County. Where did they go? Are they in Arkansas or Indian Territory? Hmmm?