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.