Tombstone Tuesday : Cemetery Serendipity

Had a little bit of experience with some cemetery serendipity when at the Riverside Cemetery in Spencer, Indiana.  Right after I finished photographing the Civil War cannons and the Veterans memorial, I felt drawn to turn to my left.  There I noticed a surname that was familiar and I walked over to the gravesite.

The Schell family plot appeared before me.  Though not a blood relative, I have done research on this family due to their connections.  Elizabeth E. Walker (c1830-1907) who married Dr. Frederick A. Schell had been previously married to Eli Davis, my maternal 4th great-granduncle.

Eli Davis was the son of John and Susannah (Unknown) Davis of Monroe County, Indiana.  I do not have his birthdate, and he may have been born in Virginia.  He was married to Elizabeth E. Walker, daughter of Gideon and Susannah (May) Walker, on 29 April 1848 in Monroe County, Indiana.

Poor Eli died between the time of his marriage and May 1849, when his probate court records indicate he had died.  I know of no children born to Eli and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth married Dr. Frederick A. Schell on 14 February 1850 in Monroe County, Indiana.  They were the parents of at least three children : California, Dorothy and Walker.

Locating the tombstones, I learned that Frederick was a veterans of the Mexican War in Company I of the 16th Infantry, as well as the Civil War as assistant surgeon of the 6th Indiana Cavalry.

Frederick and Elizabeth are buried together next to all three of their children and their son-in-law

Tombstone Tuesday - Riverside Cemetery, Owen County, Indiana

 Truly enjoyed my visit to this old, historic cemetery in Spencer, Owen County, Indiana.

One of the things that fascinated me was the Veteran's Memorial Pavilion that contains Civil War Cannons and was dedicated by the Women's Relief Corp.

The enclosed frame hold the American's Creed protected by glass.  This was rededicated by the VFW in 1985.

Looks as if the GAR post was the Gettysburg Post.  Always enjoy seeing these kind of memorials in cemeteries.

This was my first visit to the cemetery, was there with the SAR for a Patriot grave marking.

Blog Anniversary

Well April 25th is the anniversary of this blog.  Even though I haven't been as active lately, it is still alive and kicking.

Thank you to everyone who has commented, shared or liked a link or post.

As always, I continue to seek out new cousins and continue to learn about my family's history.

Tombstone Tuesday : Faney Languell, Owen County, Indiana

 Over the weekend, as I attended a Patriot Grave Marking for a Revolutionary War patriot at the Riverside Cemetery in Spencer, Owen County, Indiana, I located the tombstone of my maternal 4th-great grandmother.

Fanny Reynolds was born circa 1830 in Indiana, the daughter of Jesse Reynolds and Mary "Polly" Putman.  Some records spell the surname as Runnels.  Fanny married my 4th-great grandfather, Austin Davis on 9 February 1850 in Monroe County, Indiana.  They were the parents of two children.  After Austin died, Fanny married Joseph Languell, whose surname is sometimes spelled Langwell in records.  They were the parents of six children.  While the tombstone has her name as "Faney", census and other records have it as Fanny.

Joseph's marker was on the opposite side of Fanny's.  Interesting to note that both of them died in 1883.  Fanny in June and Joseph in June.  Perhaps there was some illness that brought them down.

There marker was located in Section N of the cemetery.  

Cousin Meet-Up

This weekend, I was at Spencer, Indiana in Owen County for a Patriot Grave Marking with the SAR.

I'd reached out beforehand to my cousin, Shelby, to see if we could meet in person for the first time.  We have been corresponding through email and Facebook for awhile.

At the local McDonald's we were finally able to meet in person.

Shelby is my maternal 3rd cousin 1 generation removed.  Our common ancestor was Ida Davis (1874-1900).  Shelby descends from Ida's daughter Pansy, and I descend from daughter June.

It was nice to meet her in person and share some updates to research.  Additionally, since she now lives in the area where our common ancestors were from, she might be able to help with some on-site research.

Our common ancestral surnames : Gilliland, Davis, Reynolds, Putman, Swafford, Crockett, and Nosler - just to name a few.

COVID Didn’t Help My Genealogy

 When the pandemic hit in 2020 and the world seemed to stop for a moment, it didn’t do for my genealogy research what I thought it would do.  Working remote on a full-time basis for the first time, I was sure that I would have more time to do research.  Surely the time saved in the morning and evening commute would leave more free time to research.

Instead, I found myself working more sporadically on the family tree.  Sure, I was able to complete the goal of joining some lineage societies, but I definitely haven’t been able to keep up with day-to-day research.  Or this blog.

Work intensified and other outside commitments have eaten up much of my time. Working from home is still working, it’s not being “semi-retired” as someone referred to me when I told them I was still remote.

Many well-intentioned and half-baked projects to write about remain.  Hopefully, I’ll get them started before the next crisis draws me away.

DNA Cousin Email Template

I’ve been working on a new template to use when reaching out to my DNA matches, hoping to inspire some collaboration.  Here’s an example:

 Hello cousin -

AncestryDNA predicts that we are 2nd-3rd cousins, sharing 192cM (centimorgans) across 10 segments.

Because you also match my father, sharing 406cM (centimorgans), I know that our common ancestors must be on my paternal side.  Looking at the shared matches we have at Ancestry, many of them have ancestry in common with my Lemasters-Wehrly family lines.

Due to the absence of a  family tree at Ancestry, I have not found any commonality yet.  Are you aware of any anomalies in the family tree? 

Would like to work together with you to determine exactly where the relationship lies.  Could you provide a screenshot of your top matches at AncestryDNA or provide me access to your results?

I’ve built a family tree online that does not require membership at Ancestry, at https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/LeMaster-580 .  This is a collaborative tree, and I would appreciate any corrections or additions you can provide.

If you’d prefer to share information outside of the Ancestry message system, my email is travis.lemaster@gmail.com 

I have also tested at other DNA sites - such as 23&Me, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA and LivingDNA.

What are your thoughts?

Self Documentation - County Birth Certificate

 The next piece of evidence in my quest to make sure that I had documented my own existence and was able to link back through each generation was a copy of my birth certificate provided by the local county Health Department.

The scanned copy of the certificate indicated it was issued back in 1985, so this document was requested by my parents for some official purpose and ended up in my possession.  The heading on the document indicates the name of the county Board of Health and titles the document as a Certificate of Birth Registration.

The certificate gives the city and date of my birth, and lists both of my parents by their first, middle and last names - but again it does not list my mother's maiden name.

The birthplace of both of my parents is listed on this certificate.  Both of them were born in Indiana, and it gives the exact certificate number, as well as the book and page where the document is maintained.

Once again, regarding the proof standard - this document provides original, direct evidence of my parent's names - but it does not list the maiden name of my mother.  The document does, however, list the middle names of both of my parents.

My RootsMagic database has been updated with this source information and the type (original, primary, direct) in relationship to the birth fact.

For many years, this document was the extent of my self-documentation, and it would only be when I began validating my line with an eye towards joining a lineage society, did I realize that my data was incomplete.  

Earlier posts on this topic include Documenting Myself and Even Weak Evidence Can Teach.

Self Documentation - Hospital Birth Certificate

 It has been over a year since I'd posted any updates on my quest to begin making sure I had adequate documentation of each generation, starting with myself.  Building out a timeline of each event and keeping a research log, the objective of my first report was "to identify the parentage of Travis LeMaster, born [redacted] in [redacted], Indiana."

One of my first pieces of evidence that I examined in my possession was a copy of my birth certificate.  I had two versions - one provided by the hospital itself and one that came from the county Health Department.

The scanned copy of the hospital birth certificate in my collection is not an official, legal document, but rather a ceremonial one provided by the hospital to new parents.  I can remember growing up that this birth certificate was used to verify my age during Little League baseball and other sports teams.  I doubt that it would pass muster in today's world.

The certificate is embossed with the logo of the hospital

The certificate states my full name : first, middle and surname and states the day of the week I was born (Tuesday) as well as the time of birth - 12:50 a.m.  The certificate is signed by the hospital administrator and lists the name of the attending physician, Dr. Paul E. Jarrett, M.D.

Regarding the proof standard, this document provides original direct evidence of my parents, but it does not list the maiden name of my mother.

In order to prove the link between myself and my parents, I would need additional evidence that would list my mother's maiden name.

Earlier posts on this topic include Documenting Myself and Even Weak Evidence Can Teach.

Experimenting with WikiTree

 As you might have noticed from the widget on the right side of the blog, I’ve been working with creating and updating profiles on WikiTree.  

I’m finding I enjoy the wiki format, and the fact that it can be a good source of ‘cousin bait’ to help find other researching with common interest.

I’m working slowly on my direct line ancestors, adding them or updating them with sources, if not already listed.  

Another project I’m working on was adding individuals who served with my ancestors in their Civil War unit.  Hopefully, some descendants of these men might have additional source material relevant to the unit history or even interactions with my ancestor.

Another plus for WikiTree is that it isn’t behind a paywall, so search engines such as Google will find the research and perhaps bring others to collaborate.

One more place to help share the research on the family.

Happy New Year - 2023

 Another year has come - 2023 seems to have come faster than previous years.  It must be a sign of my old age.

This year was full of challenges, both personal and professionally, but I can't totally blame those challenges for my lack of dedication to maintaining this blog.  A bit of laziness touched with lack of progress is the culprit.

If there's one thing that the past year has taught me, it's that life is short.  I lost family and co-workers in 2022 to both the expected and the unexpected.

Here's hoping that 2023 will be better.