Trying again

Here I am again.  I can't believe its been two years since I posted on this blog. So many things have happened, wonderful things. We moved from WA back to CA, which was a sad day for us.  We loved WA and absolutely hated CA.  Last summer, we decided a year of CA was enough and decided to buy our retirement home, a small farm in MN and the kids and I would move there while hubby stayed in CA.

We've been here almost a year now and absolutely love it.  I enjoy  the open spaces and extremely large yard....so different from living on a military base.

The school year is winding down for the kids this week and I plan on getting all of my genealogy stuff reorganized and start working on my research once again.  I let my membership at ancestry drop and going to just work on Family Search and check out their library nearby to see if I can get records sent from Utah.  I'm excited!!

Wordless Wednesday

Tennie Moore

Tennie Moore is my g-g-grandmother.  I didn't have alot of information on her, so I decided to grab a copy of her social security application to find her parents' names. 

According to her application, filled out in 1965, her maiden name is Tennie Francis Moore.  Born August 10, 1886 to William Nicholas Moore and Mary Katherine Slatten in Sparta, White County, Tennessee.

So, explain to me why I can't find her or her parents on any census records.  The first one I find her on she's already married to my g-g-grandfather.  I cannot locate her or her parents anywhere.  Ugh

I've tried all kinds of combinations of the names, nicknames, middle names, Tennessee, Mary Francis (which is the name my great-aunt said is her real name).  No such luck.......

Apparently all of my Tennessee kin believes that they are in the witness protection program......

Don't get me started on g-grandma Polly, whose name is really Violet Anora, which I didn't know.   To try to find her I asked my dad for her siblings, only to find out that they were Uncle Fuzzy and Uncle Tater.......

They made moonshine up in the hills on their still......

why does this not surprise me at all?

Updated

I just updated my bar to include the Tribal Pages websites I made for two of my family lines.  I need to go into those websites and do some updating.  I have pictures and files to upload but I've been too busy with college to get it done.  Since I"m off for a while until we get settled after our move, I'll be working on updating these pages.  I made them so that my family can check out our information easily.

Have a wonderful day!

52 weeks

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2011) that invite genealogists and others to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants. You do not have to be a blogger to participate. If you do not have a genealogy blog, write down your memories on your computer, or simply record them on paper and keep them with your files.



•Week 23. Books. What was your favorite book, or who was your favorite author from your childhood? What do you like to read now? Books or other formats?

I was an avid reader when I was young, that much hasn't changed.  I loved mysteries and historical fiction.  Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden were my favorites.  Stories of teenage girls and their friends solving mysteries-it was a huge adventure for me.

I also loved the Little House on the Prairie series.  I read each book again and again and again.  I ached to live like Laura did-although I do have to mention that I finally read Farmer Boy last year.  I didn't have any interest in Almanzo's life when he was a boy.  Last year, my son and I read through it and I really enjoyed it.  I also really enjoyed comparing Laura's hard poor life to Almanzo's-his family was definitely not easier but they certainly were better off financially.

Another favorite was Caddie Woodlawn.  Again, another girl living in the 19th century.  I really love that era.

My love of mysteries and historical fiction hasn't wavered as an adult.  I love mysteries, although now I generally read genealogical mysteries.  And I absolutely love historical fiction.  That's my favorite genre to read from.  My favorite time is 19th century American, although I do love British and Scottish fiction.  One of my favorites is the Outlander series. 

I'm also starting to read more classics.  I homeschool my children and realize how many classics I missed out on when I was little.  My kids read classics, lots of them.  I read all of their reading list and then I work on adult classics.  I have Lord of the Rings, Last of the Mohicans, and Sense and Sensibility as some of my must reads this year. 

I look forward to seeing everyone else's reads!

Alexander Collins

Alexander Collins was born in Scotland June 7 1867.  He was the son of John and ? Collins.  According to census records, Alexander was born in Scotland and both of his parents were born in Ireland.  I believe they probably immigrated to Scotland sometime between 1845 and 1852 during the Great Potato Famine.  This is speculation at this point.

Alexander had two brothers and a sister, Annie.  The family story is that he immigrated to the United States with his brother, Thomas.

Alexander married Emma Margaruite Wootten and had four children.  One of which was my great grandfather, William Richard Collins.  Emma was born in Newfoundland.  I'm looking to see if Alexander first went to Canada and then married and came to the United States or if Emma immigrated here and they married in NY. 

I'm trying to upload the copies of the graveyard marker and his naturalization papers, but they are pdf files and I have to figure out how to save them to load up here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

My introduction

I'm new to blogging about genealogy, although not new to blogging.  I have a homeschooling and quilting blog.  I've been doing genealogy research for about ten years, on and off.  I'm a computer researcher right now.  My hubby is active duty and living in Japan and the west coast while your family line runs on the east coast makes it difficult to do research.

Next year, I'm making a big trip to the east coast.  My dad's going to meet me and take the kids so I can research the Dixon and Rhea lines in TN, the Hurst line in AL, and hopefully, with the research done in TN, I hope to follow the Dixon line into NC.  I know that they come from NC in 1803, but not sure where yet.

As I said, I homeschool my kids, five of them.  Well, okay the youngest two just run around coloring on the walls and throwing rolls of toilet paper in the toilet, but its an adventure.  Right now, we live in WA state, but will be moving to CA in the next few months.  Before here, we lived in Japan for three years.  We generally move around every three years.  I haven't been on the east coast in a while and can't wait for my trip this next year.

So why  blog?  Well, I thought it would be interesting to blog what I learn about my family history.  My hubby is great, but after a while he gets a deer in the head light look when it comes to genealogy.  I also want to blog my learning adventure.  Although, I've been researching for about ten years, I am going to start improving my education in the hopes of becoming certified and finally realizing my dream!!

Have a wonderful week everyone!