A little service work

On Saturday  several members of the Capt. James Madison Sparkman chapter of the UDC spent a few hours  sprucing up some of the iron crosses of the Confederate soldiers buried in the Rosehill Cemetery as well as cleaning the headstones in the Confederate section of the cemetery. Over ninety crosses are scattered across the cemetery.

    There were ten crosses in the section we were assigned. A hand grinder was used on each cross to remove old paint and rust-not an easy job.  Several of us attempted to use a steel brush, but soon learned the brush wasn't working. After the grinding and a quick dusting, a coat of gray paint was applied. As the morning progressed, more grinders appeared which enabled us to move to another section. Probably, close to twenty were done! More work days are planned.
   

   

Reorganizing?

   At work I live by my "things to do" list.  It is always on  my desk or in my calendar book.  Without  the list, deadlines would not be met!  So, tonight I decided I needed to make a genealogy "to do" list.

1. Stella, Jim's mother- continue the search for more information concerning her birth and early years before and during her stay at the vocational school.
2. George, my ggg-grandfather- to uncover more about his immigration to the United States and his time as an indentured servant.
3. Sesquicentennial Civil War- to research my family's soldiers' role in the Civil War.
4.Family history books- get all loose papers together in the correct book.

   I love to work from lists and I hope this list will keep me motivated!

George is back in the ground!

I didn't accompany my cousin, Windie, and her husband Saturday to the Cross Bridges Cemetery, and I really hate it.  They re-erected our great, great grandfather's headstone in a new concrete base. The original headstone was broken and Windie's husband had reattached the pieces with adhesive and added a metal band around the outer edge.
Hopefully, I will get to the cemetery by Easter weekend and post the new photos.

Got to love those old photographs

  I just love it when things come together.  Recently, Jim and I visited his sister in Fairview to pick up  turn of the century photographs of his grandmother and his great aunt.  The aunt's photo is in the original frame and in good shape, but his grandmother's picture has a slight tear and a little faded. Nonetheless, we are tickled to have him.

  Besides the two photographs, we were given a slew of old photos with names written on the back!  Woohoo! Unfortunately, most of the names meant little to us. There were several photograph postcards in the mix.  The cards did not have any names listed on the back and apparently were not mailed as a postcard..The baby pictures are my favorite.

 In addition to the photos, a single typewritten sheet of paper labeled  “Anderson Family” was in the bag.  It was very confusing to follow, but it gave a clearer picture of the members of the Anderson family.

Stella's Roots, Part 5

   Just yesterday we were throwing our hands up in the air ready to quit and then today Jim remembered we were housing several tubs of his mother's things in his shop.  After  a quick sling fest, we found six letters from two different women.  The writers were Berlie, and  Annie. Immediately, Jim knew Annie was the half sister, and Berlie was the sister-in-law. He  recalled Allie Mae telling his mother she had a sister in Michigan and two brothers in Chattanooga.

    Are you confused yet?  Keep in my mind Allie Mae Machen Nowlin told Stella they shared the same father but not the same mother.  The above mentioned sister and brothers were Goins, the children by her mother. Both my husband and I feel strongly after reviewing the census information and snippets he recalled as a child, Stella's mother was Fanny Goins. Well, one of the letters we found today supported our theory.

   In a 1971 letter from Berlie, the sister-in-law, it was stated Fannie was Stella's mother. Berlie's source was someone named Bruce.  We haven't confirmed the names of the Goins brothers, but assumed Bruce was Berlie's husband.  To add to the confusion, in one letter Berlie made reference to Bruce going to school as if he was a son.  We hope there were two Bruces-the father and the son.

   On the 1920 census William, Paul, Nellie A. and Bee M. were listed as the children of Fannie Goins. We have requested a copy of Berlie's obituary.  Hopefully, it  will shed light on which Goin brother Berlie married as well as the names of their children.