Category Archives: Genealogy

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Inauguration Day Dawns Over Washington DC, January 21st, 2013. Motivation Monday.

This morning when I checked my facebook page, I found this, taken by my very talented cousin-in-law, Harrison Moore.

Harrison Moore's photo taken the morning of January 21, 2013

Harrison Moore’s photo taken the morning of January 21, 2013

This was his view of the Washington DC as inauguration day dawned January 21, 2013.

Regardless of how you feel about this particular election or any other, there is something uniquely American in the way our democracy works and how power is transferred or continued.

I wonder how our ancestors felt on various election days and inauguration days.

But mostly I just wanted a chance to share this awesome picture from one of my relatives. :-)   Thanks Harrison!

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What I learned at SLIG 2013: Ponder and Mull. Sorting Saturday.

Salt Lake City January 2013

Salt Lake City January 2013

So this past week I have been at SLIG 2013 taking the Advanced Practicum class.  What a great experience it was!

The Advanced Practicum is not your usual week long course where you sit in class.  Every afternoon, we were given a genealogy problem that our instructor had already solved and we then tried our hand at it.  My instructors were Tom Jones, Stefani Evans, William Litchman, Mark Lowe and Jay Fonkert and the coordinators were Angela McGhie and Kimberly Powell

I’m not allowed to discuss the individual cases as they may publish their research or use the cases again.  Fair enough, but I did learn some stuff that is worth remembering:

  1. Start with a written question. What problem are you trying to solve.  Don’t randomly collect records.  Think about what are you trying to do?
  2. Plan!  What do you need to look at to answer the question?  What are the resources that you need; what is available?
  3. Analyze, think, write and repeat as necessary.

You here this all the time, I know.  You read it in blogs.  In classes and conferences.  But boy, when you work through some challenging projects in 24 hours it really makes a difference.

Also:

  1. People must be studied in context.  Don’t just search for names, search in context based on who they are and where they are.  If you don’t understand what they did, where and when they lived it is way to easy to pick  the wrong person or miss something.
  2. Location, location, location.  When you find a person in a location, you must explore that location for records and other people.
  3. Examine all resources.  Sure Ancestry Member Trees and Find A Grave have errors.  But you never know where the next clue will be found.  Make a list of sources.
  4. Keep a research log.  It doesn’t have to be brilliant or well written, but leave notes to yourself so you can pick up where you left off.

And finally, to paraphrase the ever wonderful Mark Lowe, genealogy is all about pondering and mulling.  Back away and think.  :-)

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Never Assume Anything. Sixty and Serving. Sorting Saturday.

A couple of days ago I wrote a post The Legal Genealogist Inspires Me to Take Another Look at the Puzzle of Jeremiah which discusses why can I find no record of my 2nd great grandfather Jeremiah Gillespie fighting for the Confederacy?  Or the Union for that matter.

Marian Regan mentioned in a comment that maybe she should go back and look for her ancestor who seemed to old being born in 1817, but who knew?  Maybe he did fight.  It is not out of the realm of possibility.

Robert Bryant discharge

Robert Bryant discharge. Reasons include “old age” and “he is just worn out.

In 2011 I wrote a series of 6 posts for Ancestry.com on the Civil War.  The last 4 were about Robert Bryant, who was born about 1802.  Yep, 1802.  He fought for the 7th Kentucky Calvary (Union) and died from complications from a skin infection in a military hospital.  Don’t assume anything! :-)

My two introductory posts:

Four posts about Robert Bryant:

I sometimes regret publishing these — they would have been an awesome case study for conflicting evidence for my CG.  It is what it is.

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Pig Farmers, Copywrongs and other Genealogical Musings. Follow Friday.

Here are blog posts from this week you might have missed.  Lots of good reading in here!

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The Legal Genealogist Inspires Me to Take Another Look at the Puzzle of Jeremiah. Treasure Chest Thursday

I just read Judy Russell’s blog post The drafty Ohioan in her blog The Legal Genealogist where she discusses why Ignatius or Ignatz Fleitz didn’t fight for the Union during the Civil War.  Her discussion focuses  on laws at that time and what the possibilities were for not fighting.

And of course my 2nd great grandfather, Jeremiah Gillespie, pops into my head.  His older brother Everett Milton enlisted.  His younger brothers Varlan, William and John all have enlistment paper trails.  But I have never found any record of Jeremiah fighting.  Why not?  He lived in Amherst County, Virginia in 1860 and in 1870.  The Confederacy by the end of the war had almost every male between the ages of 17 and 50 fighting.1

So how old was Jeremiah during the Civil War?  His birth year has always been a bit fuzzy, but here is what we know.  I have a record of a bible page, that lists his birth date as March 4, 1826.2

Jeremiah Gillespie's birth date in the Gillespie Family Bible

Jeremiah Gillespie’s birth in the Gillespie Family Bible: March 4th 1826

His marriage as it is recorded in the Amherst marriage register suggests that he is was born in 1828 or later.  He is married November 21, 1848 and as listed as underage (under 21).  If he were born March 4th, 1828, he would have been twenty.  For the sake of argument, let’s assume he was born either March 4, 1826 or 1828.

Register entry for Jeremiah and Mary Gillespie

Register entry for Jeremiah and Mary Gillespie

I build a table to see how old Jeremiah was on the dates of various Conscription Acts:3

Dates and Age of Jeremiah for 3 Confederate Conscription Acts

Dates and Age of Jeremiah for 3 Confederate Conscription Acts

From this table, we see that at least by July 15, 1863 he should have enlisted in the war.  Why didn’t he?  What exemptions were there?

On October 11, 1862, the Confederate Congress passed what was known as the Twenty Slave Law allowing men who owned over 20 slaves exemption from service.4 But the 1860 slave schedule shows us that Jeremiah owned no slaves. The only Gillespie in Amherst County who is listed as owning slaves in 1860 is Wyatt Gillespie, whom I believe to be Jeremiah’s brother-in-law.5 I don’t think it was the Twenty Slave exemption.

I do notice something interesting on the Encyclopedia page. It’s a picture of document used for Applying for a Military Exemption. Can anyone say “To Do List!”

It was possible for a man to purchase a substitute for $300.  But I don’t believe that Jeremiah was a man of much means. In 1860, he declares he has real estate worth $300 and a personal estate of $50; his occupation as a farmer.6  Sure, anything is possible, but I don’t think this is it.

The Confederacy did exempt men who worked in occupations “such as railroad and river workers, civil officials, telegraph operators, miners, druggists and teachers.”7

So I have two possibilities:

  1. He enlisted and I just haven’t found the right record yet or
  2. He has an exemption, and I should try searching for that paper work.

And I always wanted to believe he was a spy! But for now, I’m going to try and track down exemption records.  The answers are out there.

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org), “Confederate States Army,” rev 4:16, 31 Dec 2012.
2. The Holy Bible, (New York, American Bible Society, 1857), “Family Records, Births”, p840; privately held by Anne Gillespie Mitchell, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] California, 2012. The sons of Tarlton and Mahala Gillespie are listed with their birth dates; it appears that they were all written at one time and are dated April 20 1860.
3. Wikipedia, “Confederate States Army,” rev 4:16, 31 Dec 2012.
4. Lee, Susanna Michele, “Twenty-Slave Law,” Encyclopedia Virginia (http://http://encyclopediavirginia.org/ accessed : 10 Jan 2013); Foundation for the Humanities, 31 May 2012
5. 1860 U.S. census, Amherst County, Virginia, slave schedule, Gill?spie; NARA microfilm publication M653.
6. 1860 U.S. Federal Census, Amherst County, Virginia, population schedule,, p. 132 (penned), dwelling 979, family 977, Jaremiah Gillispie; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com accessed : 18 Jul 2012); citing NARA microfilm publication, M653, roll 1332.

7. CJ’s Civil War Home Page (http://www.wtv-zone.com accessed : Jan 10 2013 ), “Confederate Draft.”

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What is that one best piece of evidence that you have? Wisdom Wednesday

So why would you need to write a summary of the basic vital facts about a person?

Case in point, Laura Cecile Donald Gillespie:

Wyatt Paul Gillespie and Laura Cecile Donald ca. 1894. I suspect that this is their wedding photo.

Wyatt Paul Gillespie and Laura Cecile Donald ca. 1894. I suspect that this is their wedding photo.

Laura Cecile Donald was born on 13 February 1877 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, and died 23 August 1864 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.1 On 24 January, 1894 in Rockbridge County, Virginia, Laura married Wyatt Paul Gillespie.2 He was born 15 July 1865 in Amherst County, Virginia, the son of Jeremiah and Mary (Gillespie) Gillespie,3 and died on 19 February 1941 in Rockbridge County, Virginia.4   Laura and Wyatt are buried in Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery. 5

Footnotes
[1] Stonewall Jackson Memorial Cemetery (Rockbridge County, Virginia), Wyatt Paul and Laura Donald Gillespie Tombstone; photographed by Anne Gillespie Mitchell, 1 August 2010.
[2] Virginia, Virginia Department of Health, Certification of Vital Records, Marriage Certificate, Wyatt Paul Gillespie, Laura Cecil Donald, 24 Jan 1894, Rockbridge, Virginia; Department of Health – Division of Vital Records, Richmond, Virginia. (Is this citation right?)
[3] Virginia, Virginia Department of Health, Certification of Vital Records, Marriage Certificate, Wyatt Paul Gillespie, Laura Cecil Donald, 24 Jan 1894, Rockbridge, Virginia; Department of Health – Division of Vital Records, Richmond, Virginia. (What is the short version of this?)
[4] Stonewall Jackson Cemetery (Rockbridge Co., Virginia), Wyatt Paul tombstone.
[5] Stonewall Jackson Cemetery (Rockbridge Co., Virginia), Wyatt Paul tombstone.
Genealogy is about defining kinship and identity. Birth, marriage, death all are critical in defining both.  Getting the evidence correct is critical.  So let’s look at what I have:
Birth
I have a tombstone.  Now that may be all you ever have, but for someone who was born in 1877 in Virginia, you should have a birth record or a line in a birth register. This will also most likely tell me who her parents are.  So more work to be done.
Marriage
I have a certificate from Virginia that has the information recorded on Wyatt and Laura’s marriage record.  This is probably sufficient, but it is a not the original.  I do believe that I have a digital copy of the record somewhere.  This is one of those times where horrible organization comes to bite you big.  The marriage record documents Wyatt’s parents as well and his birth date.

Death

I have a tombstone.  This is not bad.  But a will (or wills), or obituaries might really be a better source.  The date originially on Wyatt’s tombstone for his death was wrong.  My uncle had it fixed.
Gravestone of Wyatt Paul Gillespie and Laura Donald Gillespie; Stonewall Jackson Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia

Gravestone of Wyatt Paul Gillespie and Laura Donald Gillespie; Stonewall Jackson Cemetery, Lexington, Virginia

All this is in my tree. But this is actually a great tool, for examining what you have and determining what you need.  And for anyone reading it, it lets them know how deep you have gone.  I have some work to do. :-)
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Ok, I promise, the last resolutions of 2013.

I know, I know. Enough with the resolutions.

But these are from my buddies over at Archives.com.  Fun visual eye candy  and I think they are useful!

Family History Resolutions - Archives.com

The last one especially. Share what you’ve learned.  If you die and it’s in boxes and no one has seen it, no one is going to publish it.  Share often and freely.

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Motivation. Inspiration. It’s Follow Friday!

A variety of articles to get you motivated and inspired for the new year.

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Knowing when to tip over or How I plan to write more this year. Tuesday’s Tip

We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.

– RAY BRADBURY, Zen in the Art of Writing

entering the overflow

Hilary Dotson “entering the overflow” (http://www.flickr.com/photos/naiadsspring/172927427/, accessed : 2 Jan 2013), Creative Commons Attribution

I do a lot of research and find a lot of cool documents and stories. I’ve put them together in some sort of random order or even some deliberate order.

I’ve found mistakes in others work and “ah ha”‘ed when I’ve discovered the truth.

I’ve rejoiced when I’ve put pieces together on my own that have proved some conclusion that I dared hoped was right.

But you know what I don’t do? I don’t write it all up and publish it anywhere for anyone to learn, question or comment on it. Well at least not often enough.  (Go ahead.  Raise your hand if you too are guilty.  I can’t believe I am the only one.)

Resolved for 2013: Do a bit more tipping. Do a bit more overflowing.  Let the beautiful stuff out.

What I find, I write up.

It doesn’t have to be brilliant. Or even right.

But if I don’t write it down, and don’t let others review, poke and prod, then I’m going to miss a lot. And a whole lot of my ancestor’s stories aren’t going to be told.

And that is the point.  Not to let the people who came before me be forgotten.