Thank You, Aunt Florence

My aunt spent countless hours researching our family lines beginning back in the 1970s.  She proved our first NSDAR line back to Henry Hatevil Fall.  I didn't have much interest in genealogy back then, but when I did show interest she shared everything with me.  I received the Holly Bible and my great grandfather's scrapbook from her.  Both are tucked into archival safe boxes.  She keeps all of her paperwork in an old deep freeze, out in the bunk house, that doesn't work anymore.  She doesn't use the computer, she is 87, so it is up to me to preserve what she has shared. The Holly Bible family pages have been copied for the LDS library in Salt Lake City. You can find them online! I will always be eternally grateful for her efforts!

Family Tree Quilt

Great Grandpa Hedrick Made Fiddles

James Franklin Hedrick was born 20 March 1887 in Stafford County, Kansas.  He went with his parents, William Cowdry Hedrick and Nancy Mehitable Hazelton, to Oklahoma in 1895.  I remember my great grandfather very well.  He had a little shop by his house where he made fiddles.  My mother has the last one he made before he died.  Frank died in 1965 in Chester, Major County, OK.  My mother has a photo of him with one of his fiddles.  I need to get a copy of the photo!

Lester and Leota Louthan Funeral Cards

My paternal grandparents, miss them terribly.  They both succumbed to cancer.  They were both born in Major County, Oklahoma and resided in this place their entire lives.  They were married 12 August 1936 by J. F. Quisenberry, minister at the Christian Church in Woodward, Woodward County, OK.  They reared three children on a farmstead in Major County, OK.   Grandma died at the home of her eldest daughter in Enid, Garfield County, OK under Hospice care.  Grandpa died at home in Chester, Major County, OK.

Cousin Connect Yields Old Photograph

I recently asked my mother who to contact for more information on my Graves line.  She put me in touch with a cousin in Texas whom I never met.  She is a member of National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, as am I.   This week I received a photocopy of an original photo in the possession of this cousin in Texas.  I have posted it at the bottom of my blog page.  Her name is Elizabeth Fall Holly.  Her father, Henry Hatevil Fall, fought in the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution. She was a member of Le Ray de Chaumont Chapter, New York Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  In this photo you see another photo on the table.  That photo is of her father, Henry.  My cousin is looking through the other old albums she inherited to see if she has that original photo as well.  I have a photocopy of a newspaper article featuring a cropped version of this photo that my aunt gave to me many years ago.  It doesn't have the name of the newspaper nor does it have the date it was published. I discovered two websites for historical newspapers from New York; nnyln.org and fultonhistory.com.  I searched on both sites using the title of the newspaper article I am seeking, A Real Daughter.  I found two articles printed in 1896 featuring Elizabeth and her NSDAR chapter.  Elizabeth died in 1897 and the article I seek may have been printed after her death.  Always digging further, I went to books.familysearch.org and searched for Daughters American Revolution Minutes.  NSDAR publishes a magazine and newsletter with the minutes from the board of management meetings.  I found the magazine published in July 1897 and in it I found the minutes with the resolution to express sympathy to the family of Elizabeth  and approval for the LeRay de Chaumont Chapter to publish an article in the newspaper regarding her death.  I am still seeking the allusive article published after approval of NSDAR.  As always, I love the hunt!

Jefferson County, NY Tombstones Holley/Holly

She was called Aunt Nabbie her whole life so that's what they put on her tombstone.  Her names was Abigail Holley.  She was a spinster, the sister of Numon Holley, my 3rd great grandfather.  She lived with Numon in Ellisburg until her death on 1 April 1866.  She is buried in Giddingsville Cemetery, Jefferson County, New York.

Which Simon Graves, Sr or Jr

I searched the GRC database on www.dar.org and found my patriot, Simon Graves.  I am a stickler for documentation so I decided to conduct my own research to back up what I found.  www.archive.org is where I went to find published books. I found a gold mine!  Simon's ancestors are included in the book, "1673 1899 History of the Town of Sunderland, Massachusetts..by John Montague Smith With Genealogies  Prepared By Henry W Taft and Abbie T Montague..1899". I downloaded the pdf file to a Graves folder on my hard drive.  I find that keeping my families in their own folder assists me in staying organized.  I confirmed the information by going to the Graves Family Association website.  So far so good.  Simon Sr's wife was name Persis.  I would like to find the marriage record in Massachusetts, but so far it still eludes me.  Ira Graves, my 3rd great grandfather, was born in Rupert, VT and moved to Jefferson County, NY where he married Mary E Decker.  Simon Jr also moved to this area and is buried there.  I found an estate file in the Surrogate's Court that I am waiting on so I can determine if this is Simon Sr. or Simon Jr.'s file.  I have found neither the burial place for Simon Sr nor for his wife Persis.  I checked the book, "The Gravestone Inscriptions of Rupert, Bennington County, Vermont; by Levi Henry Elwell; 1913", but didn't find them listed there.  The Graves surname is plentiful in Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New York.  With numerous boundary changes in the late 18th century, research cannot be limited to one locality but must include all previous counties/states that were within those boundaries.  Nothing like the hunt!