Family history for the 21st century
I’ve blogged that one of my ancestors living in the (later notorious) Forsyth County, Georgia had a 14-year-old Black child named Isaac Suthard living on his farm in 1880. I wrote that blog post 10 years ago, and at the time I just assumed that Isaac was a hired hand, in the same way that … Continue reading Find Post-Civil War Black Ancestors Through Apprenticeship Indentures
Last Thursday night, this happened less than a mile from my house: That's the EF1 tornado that hit Canton, Georgia on June 13, 2013. There's even a very unsettling video on Facebook of the tornado FORMING OVER MY HOUSE AAAHHHHHHH! (In other news, don't you love how just about every tornado video includes some form … Continue reading The Tornado of 1928: “The Most Appalling Disaster Ever Visited Upon Cherokee County, Georgia”
My ancestor George W. West and his wife Jennet Cowen often had people outside their nuclear family living with them in census years. I've already written about Isaac Suthard, the 14-year-old black farmhand. And there was also their grandson, Lightner West (who left his biological mom and step-father to live with his grandfather) and their … Continue reading Who was Elizabeth Harmond? (Union County, SC b. abt. 1830)
And I mean, literally, how to go there and research the Forsyth County, Georgia Probate and Land Records. I've been to each office one time so I'm by no means an expert on these records but I thought I would try and help any researcher who comes behind me. So here's my little, not guaranteed … Continue reading How to Research Forsyth County, Georgia Probate and Land Records
When it comes to the Civil War, I'm not that interested in the generals and battles. The thing that interests me is the depravation, the hunger, the neighbors turning on one another, and the way that - like wars now - poor men end up paying the price for rich men's (misguided) dreams. Mary Ann West was … Continue reading Tombstone Tuesday: Mary Ann West Haunts Concord Baptist Church Cemetery?
Dang it. Last night I found another missing West grave. Rawr. First, a little back story. The graves of my infuriating brick wall ancestor George W. West (b. about 1819 in Spartanburg, SC - d. 1895 in Forsyth County, GA) and his wife Jennett Cowan West have eluded me for a long while. They both … Continue reading I’m going to have to look for these graves in the woods, aren’t I?
As I mentioned in a previous post, 1928 was rough for my West family. Their patriarch had died the year before, and their matriarch and two sons - including my Papa Ed's father - all died in 1928. We've had years like that in my lifetime, so I know they were not happy campers back … Continue reading Genealogy Resources: 1928, 1929 & 1930 Georgia Death Certificates Online
I have a family mystery. (Unlike every other genealogist out there, right?) I'm looking for the record that proves the parentage of George W. West. Read on for more about my West Connection or click here to get straight to the Mystery of George W. West's Parentage. Who was George W. West? GEORGE W. WEST … Continue reading George W. West, b. abt. 1818 in Spartanburg, SC – Who’s Your Daddy?
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