Gathering Rosebuds

This week I took to social media in order to learn more about my great-grandmother June and her sister Pansy.  I've been on Facebook, for some time and am a members of several genealogy groups but had not fully utilized the power of social media.

I located the Facebook page for the Monticello Public Library in Monticello, Indiana and posted a request to locate any family members of my great-aunt Pansy (Davis) Decker Timm and her husband, Raymond.  Within an hour, I had a response asking me to email one of the staff members, which I did.  She quickly replied and gave me a phone number to Raymond's son.

Making the call to the stepson of my great-grandmother's sister, who died in 1968, might seem odd to some people, but not to this genealogist.  I was pleasantly surprised that he was very helpful in providing some information about Pansy and his dad, including how they met,  but also directed me to contact Pansy's daughter-in-law, who was still living in Crawfordsville at the age of 98.

Wednesday was a snowy day here in Indiana, and fortunately for me, I was able to catch Mary at home and speak with her about Pansy as well as my great-grandmother, June (Davis) Lambertson. She was sharp as a tack! Again, here I was talking to her about someone who had died in 1951.  We had a pleasant talk, she was able to give me some details on the family, and I was encouraged to call again with more specific questions.

I was glad most to hear that June and Pansy's families were in contact with each other, at least while June was living, and that they would visit each other.  Mary was able to fill me in on where Pansy's grandchildren are living.  On a future call, I will attempt to get all of the names and contact details if she has them.

The old maxim of "gathering your rosebuds while you can", has certainly applied in this case.

Death Notice : Ida (Davis) Morris, 1900

Ellettsville Farm, Ellettsville, Indiana
August 4, 1900, page 2

Mrs. Ida Davis Morris, daughter of Mrs. Bob Gilland, died at the home of the latter near this place on Wednesday.

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This is the death notice of my maternal 2nd-great grandmother, Ida (Davis) Morris.  She died August 2, 1900 in Clay Township, Owen County, Indiana of tuberculosis.  The Mrs. Bob Gilland (actually Gilliland) was Mary Ellen (Swafford) Davis Gilliland.

Ida was only 26 years old when she died of tuberculosis, leaving two small children, Pansy and June, to be raised by Ida's mother and step-father.

I've been able to find a bit of good information lately through my NewspaperArchive subscription.  Newspaper columns like this were the Facebook of the early 20th century.

Casting A Wider Net

Spent most of the weekend genealogy work by adding to my family tree at Ancestry.com .  I’d kept a very small tree with only a few generations previously.  My hope was to slowly work backwards, making sure that it was as documented as possible.

My tree is available at Ancestry at http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/25951333/family

I decided that since I’m doing the DNA research and directing distant cousins to my family tree, I figured I’d better update it to include as many generations as possible.  So I added branches in the direct lines up to at least the immigrant ancestor.  I’ll go back later and add the children, etc. and flesh it out a bit.

Noticed that several invites to view the family tree for my immediate family have gone unaccepted.  So sad, they’re not as interested in genealogy as I am.