Month: June 2010

Longhorn Lineage

Most people learn of my football loyalties within the first ten minutes of even a casual conversation. It’s near impossible to grow up in western Pennsylvania during the 1970s without developing very specific leanings. Even fleeting personnel issu…

Most people learn of my football loyalties within the first ten minutes of even a casual conversation.  It’s near impossible to grow up in western Pennsylvania during the 1970s without developing very specific leanings.  Even fleeting personnel issues (ahem) don’t alter football heritage.  But we can also lay claim to a strong maternal football lineage – of the Texan variety.

Mom was born in Sierra Blanca, Texas, but the family moved to nearby Fabens in 1932 and that’s where she attended high school. It’s about as far west as you can get in Texas. Safe to say that football was a social focal point.   And I’ve got the memorabilia to prove it.

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I come from Alabama….

….if not with a banjo on my knee, then at least with a new set of possible ancestors to research. When I arrived in Birmingham last Sunday for the Institute of Genealogy and Historic Research, we had one possible connection to Alabama. According…

….if not with a banjo on my knee, then at least with a new set of possible ancestors to research.   When I arrived in Birmingham last Sunday for the Institute of Genealogy and Historic Research, we had one possible connection to Alabama.  

According to the 1860 U.S. census for Hempstead County, Arkansas, Alabama was the birthplace of Jesse G. Williams, our 3rd great grandfather of Mom’s paternal line.(1)  (Family legend has it that Jesse was killed in 1864 in the Battle of Little Blue River in Missouri;  1860 is the last census in which he appears.)  As it turns out, that single piece of evidence directly conflicts with the prior census. The research is far from complete but, using a more formal (and scholarly!) narrative style to report, here’s why I think South Carolina is the more likely birthplace.

[Note:  I  made several big leaps on the Alabama front last week, during breaks from the Military Records class. More will be written about both, but, in the meantime, a big thank you to the staff of the Special Collection section of the Samford University Library, particularly Liz Wells and Mark “sorry-I-didn’t-get-your-last-name.”]  

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Paying It Forward – Here’s the Ruffner Family Bible

Online and print publications on our Offutt line cite an 1840s family bible that was passed down to our grandmother’s cousin. I’d like to locate the bible — for several reasons. It’s a very special family artifact. To actually see it would be as …

Online and print publications on our Offutt line cite an 1840s family bible that was passed down to our grandmother’s cousin.  I’d like to locate the bible — for several reasons.  It’s a  very special family artifact.  To actually see it would be as thrilling as our visit to the Offutt property in Montgomery County (described on May 5).   But I’d also like the chance to look at the entries and evaluate them as evidence — to look at the content, examine the handwriting, the ink, and check the publication date of the bible itself. Continue reading “Paying It Forward – Here’s the Ruffner Family Bible”

War and Peace – Updated

I’m headed to Alabama on June 13th for a week-long class on Military Records. The class is one of the offerings of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University, a premier genealogical institute. One of my (self-assigned…

I’m headed to Alabama on June 13th for a week-long class on Military Records.  The class is one of the offerings of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University, a premier genealogical institute.  One of my (self-assigned) preparation tasks is to gather up my clues on ancestral military service so that I have a menu of real-life inquiries to pursue during my week of immersion. 

I had a request to indicate (my) relationship to the ancestors below.  That information appears in brackets.  And I’ve posted a picture of John Kennedy “Jack” Gates, cousin and combat photographer.  It’s a unique shot that includes headline news. Thank you, Susan!

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