Research Updates

I thought I would update my cousins and fellow researchers where I am in my research.  I have been a little quiet in posting my research mostly because I am involved in "community" research.  In some cases I have "lost" my ancestor's trail and am currently researching all those associated with my ancestor.  It is time consuming and tedious at times, but I really like this type of research.  I feel like I truly learn how those in a community interacted with each other.  Of course, I find a lot of collateral ancestors this way as well.  Keep reading.  Things should become clearer (I hope.).

Howard Family Line (Wake, Moore, Lee NC Counties):  This family line is solid back to James Harward of Wake County and King and Queen County, VA before that.  Since K and Q County is a burned county, no records exist from the time that James lived there as as young child in the 1760's.  I'm still hoping that records from areas of the country that the family and neighbors migrated to will surface and shed light on the earlier generations in this line. This line will likely need to join a DNA project to determine which Howard/Harward line is ours.


Haley (Halifax and Charlotte Counties, VA):  My Haley family research certainly challenges me to find new ways over, around and/or through this genealogical brick wall!  My current research takes this family line back to Jesse Haley who was born ~1803 in Virginia - likely in Halifax or Charlotte County.  Honestly,  I'm stuck when it comes to Jesse.  I have turned to researching all those with whom he associated.  Interestingly, he did not seem to associate with many other Haleys - at least not in the records.  To learn more about Jesse and hopefully his parentage, I am researching William Cardwell (Jesse's friend) and the Brackett Owen family (Jesse's in-laws and possible blood relations.)

There is another aspect to my Haley family research that I am enjoying immensely.  Sharing stories and identifying photographs with my Haley cousins gives depth to the stories of our generations past. I never even knew most of these cousins before I started my research.

Isn't that what genealogy is about?

White (Surry, Rockingham, Caswell, Granville Counties):  Ahh.....another "brick wall" family.  Let's just say that researching a man by the name of John White in North Carolina (or any other state) is not an easy task.  Now that that's been said, another White family researcher and I have made and continue to make great strides in tracing this line back.  We are confident of this line back to John White who arrived in Surry County, NC sometime in the 1810's or 1820's.  We are fairly certain John White is the son of Cagebeth [Cadbreth, Cajabeth] White Rockingham and Granville Counties, NC. Like the Haley family line, the White family line requires researching the associates, neighbors, and even in-laws to get to the next generation back.  This is a line of research I will definitely be posting more about this summer.

A Prom Dress, Sewing Machines and Family History

I found myself last week needing to alter a prom dress.  I do know how to sew, but it is not something I do very often.  When I do sew, I tend to stick to simple projects with straight seams.  I actually feel more comfortable with hand sewing, but this project required taking in the bodice of dress.  For that I needed the sewing machine.

This was my mother's sewing machine acquired in the early 1960's. No programmable stitching features here. It usually sits in a very nice cabinet.  I needed more space and better lighting for this project, so I took it out of the cabinet for this project.  Fixing the bodice of the dress was a breeze (much to my relief!)  To fix the hem of the dress I went looking for the instruction book since I needed to use a special foot. 

Look what I found in the drawer: 

It was published in 1958-that's before I was born!

Below is my grandmother's (Cecile White Howard) sewing machine.  It is a White rotary sewing machine and still works, though it definitely needs servicing. It sits in a beautiful cabinet.

Sewing was definitely a large part of my female ancestors' lives.  Mostly out of necessity, I am sure. Sewing skills were also a source of pride. Though my great grandmothers Esther Richardson Talbott and Mattie Maddox Howard both as young mothers in the 1920's, oral history tells me  they were very talented seamstresses.

While I may not sew with the skills of my great grandmothers, the prom dress alterations turned out great.

The Old NC Education Building

NC Education Building Being Built

My great grandfather Connie M. Howard (1891-1995) worked in construction. He would often need to leave his family to travel to where he could find work.  One area he found work in was Raleigh, NC.  Above is a photograph of the (old) NC Education Building being built.  It is located in downtown Raleigh across from the old Capitol Building. The 1936 Raleigh directory lists my great grandfather as a "hoisting eng". I suspect the crane in the photograph is the one he operated.

Below is how the building looks today.

Old NC Education Building 2012

Research Update

I thought I would update you the reader on my recent research.  I like keeping my cousins updated and blogging about my research helps to keep me focused.

The White Family Line: I have been working with another White family researcher (descendant of Albert White of Surry County, NC) to attempt to trace our White family back. Multiple White lines and re-used given names make this research particularly difficult. We believe (though nothing is set in stone) we can trace our White line back to the Rockingham and Caswell County areas to a Cajabeth White.  There is still much research to be done to be able to support (or disprove) our theory.

The Haley Family Line: You can read about the latest developments here on my research into the 1820's tax records for Halifax County, VA.  I have identified several Haleys I believe were in some way related to Jesse Haley (my GGGG grandfather). These Haleys do not stay in Halifax County for long and fall between the census years of 1820 and 1830.  Another research trip to the Halifax County courthouse is in the making to look at land and court records.

The Howard Line: I was able to provide another researcher with photographs of someone in his Dean family tree.  My great grandfather's (Connie M Howard) 4th wife was Lucille Dean. It is always nice to help another genealogist out.

I have lots of other research projects in mind - more projects than actual research time. Thankfully, the ancestors are patient, if not always forthcoming with answers.

Wordless Wednesday My Grandmother's Scrapbook

Front page of Cecile White Howard's scrapbook. Notice the spelling of her first name.  In 1932 she had not added the "e" to the end of her name.

"Rule Breakers" In The Family?

Violet and Cecile White

I found this photograph of my grandmother Cecile White Howard (1917-1983) and her sister Violet White Hicks (1920-2005).    The sign in the middle says "DANGER  KEEP OFF". I don't know the story behind the picture, but it would appear we have a couple of daring rule breakers in the family!  I wonder of Grandmother White (Stella Holyfield White) knew.

If any White family cousins know the story behind this photograph, I would love to hear  (and share) it.

Happy Birthday, Big Granddaddy!

Connie M. Howard

21 Nov 1891-10 Jan 1995

103 Years Old

Granddaddy and the CCC Part 3

Granddaddy (Lester Howard) was discharged from the Civilian Conservation Corps in June 1937.  I love how the Certificate of Discharge gives a description of his.  Brown Hair. Brown eyes.  Ruddy Complexion.  (Just what is a ruddy complexion?!) Five feet, 6 1/2 inches.  

The service record for my grandfather tells me much I already knew  from just having known him.  He was a good worker and  a great cook!   Granddaddy returned to his family in Sanford, NC.  Two years later he married Cecile White of Surry County, NC.

Granddaddy and the CCC Part 3

CCC Buddies

My grandfather made a number of very good friends while serving in the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's.  This photograph of Lester with his CCC buddies was taken in High Point, NC.  (After serving at the camp in Old Fort, NC, Granddaddy was transferred to a camp in High Point, NC.) I love the hats!  I know that even years later, Granddaddy and Clay McIntosh continued their friendship.  The two men and their families visited back and forth.

When Granddaddy started in the CCC he made $30 a month.  Here is what he did with that money:

We would send 25 dollars to our family and we got five dollars.  I sent mine to Aunt Ammie.  She a widow living on the farm with Grandfather Howard [Suggy Howard] and helping to care for Jewel and Clayton [Lester's siblings]. This I did about three years.  The five dollars took care of my cigarettes, (I smoked at that time.) hair cuts and maybe a date or two.  A movie cost ten maybe five cents and sandwich ten cents hot dog five cents.

Lester eventually transferred to the CCC camp in Yanceyville, NC where he was promoted to first cook and made $45.00 per month.  While there he helped feed two hundred men a day for more than two years.  To supplement his monthly salary he began selling belt buckles and fancy pillow covers. I would like to know the story behind those fancy pillow covers.  Where did he get them and who bought them?  I have to assume a lot of young women received these as gifts.

Granddaddy and the CCC Part 2

Lester Howard recovering from pneumonia

Not long after arriving at the CCC camp in Old Fort, NC, Granddaddy became ill.  Quite ill, actually.  Here are his words:

...I did not get out of bed.  When I did not report the C.O. and the company Dr., a Captain Kerr, came to check.  After examining me I was sent to the hospital with pneumonia for five weeks.  I was very sick.  High fever and packed in ice for several days.  The doctors did not give me much chance.  After the hospital I did not have any duties for some time......

There is more to come.......

CCC Camp and my Grandfather

My grandfather James Lester Howard (Lester) was a good cook.  It was not unusual to wake up and find him in the kitchen making a full breakfast.  I was particularly fond of his cooked apples.  He told us he learned to cook when he served in the CCC camps as a young man.

It was many years later as I pursued my family history that I began to wonder exactly what was the CCC camp that Granddaddy talked about.  He occasionally talked about things he did at the camp.  He talked about being the cook.  He told us stories about how sick he got from pneumonia.  Granddaddy saw his first snowfall while serving in the CCC.  To a kid, it sounded a little like summer camp.

But then that changed.  

I came into possession of my grandfather's journal written in the 1990's.  The journal is fairly short, but much of his writing is about his experience in the CCC. Looking beneath the words the reader finds what Granddaddy did not say in words.  His experience with the CCC had a tremendous impact on his life.  He made life long friends there and for the first time was able to enjoy a little spending money.

I'll let Granddaddy tell most of his story, but first a little background on the CCC.

The CCC camp or Civilian Conservation Corps was a work relief program put in place by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 during the Great Depression.  The program was designed for unmarried men ages 18-25.  Many of the men enrolled were from "relief families". These men worked to develop and restore federal, state and local natural resources.  In return, the men were provided with a small salary.  They were organized into companies and resided in  military type camps.  Examples of the projects they worked on were erecting fire towers, planting of trees in federal forests, building of fire roads and working on soil erosion projects.

(You can learn more about the CCC  here and here.  PBS aired an excellent documentary on the CCC entitled American Experience: Civilian Conservation Corps. ) 

Excerpted from journal of Lester Howard:

July 14-1994

A Mr. Cashier who came Down to fish and hunt told us about The CC Camps.  I had never heard about.  Had first started about six months before. Paying thirty dollars a month.  We would send 25 dollars to our family and we got five dollars.  ........

After signing we were sent to Fort Bragg for physicals about 3 weeks.  This was November 1933 [Granddaddy was 18 years old.] I choose to go to Old Fort from there.  So did Robert [Robert Johnston was the son of Cornie Maddox Johnston and first cousin to Lester.] I had never been to the mountains.  There were icles [icicles] hanging off those cliffs six feet long.  I began to wonder if I was in the right place.

The CCC provided my grandfather not only a way to financially assist his family, but also an opportunity to see a different part of the state.  I remember him talking about those icicles.  For a teenager from the Sandhills of NC, the cold was quite a shock!

Stayed tuned!  There is more to the story to share!

A Good Deed

These two photographs bring back some fun memories.  Not so much of the horse (maybe pony?), but the story behind how my grandfather Lester Howard came to own her.

First, let me introduce you to my grandfather:

He was the true Southern Gentleman.  The caretaker in the family.  He never met a stranger.  So, it was no surprise when he bought a raffle ticket to support the local boy scouts. 

The problem came when he won the raffle.  The prize?  A mare.  Did I mention that the mare was pregnant? You can just make out the baby behind its mother.

I personally was thrilled!  I was just a little girl and had visions of riding the pony through the pastures.  The pony and I would be best friends.  In reality, I was scared of it!

Just where does a man with no farm keep a pony?  On a friend's farm, of course. (I still remember Mr. McKinney and his small farm.  We used to fish in his pond.)

The following year my grandfather graciously donated the mare and her offspring back to the Boy Scouts to be raffled off.  

No, Granddaddy did not buy a raffle ticket!

Advice From The Expert

I was fortunate to spend the day at the North Carolina Genealogical Society's fall workshop today.  Barbara Vines Little spent the day speaking on colonial research.  I have heard Barbara speak on other occasions and was eagerly looking forward to hearing her speak again.  Her specialty is colonial research in Virginia.

Colonial Virginia. 1760's.  King and Queen County.  That's precisely where my Howard (or is it Harward?) line is stuck.

As far as Virginia research goes, King and Queen County is not a good place to be stuck.  It is a burned county.  Twice.  There are no records for the time period I am researching.

At the first break I approached Barbara to inquire if there were possibly any ways to research this time and place in history that I had not thought of.  When I explained the county and time period I was interested, she smiled and said, "You have my sympathy."  (I get that a lot in my colonial VA research!)

But all is not lost.  Barbara went on to give me some ideas and areas for research that could possibly lead to clues about the Howards (Harwards).  These areas of further research may be long shots, but I'll never know until I look.

If this next phase of my research doesn't find any results..... DNA anyone?

I'm Published!

Two years ago I attended a Cousins' Weekend where I presented the Howard (Harward) and the Maddox genealogies. When I had the opportunity to attend Cousins' Weekend again this year, I wanted to share more of our family history.

About who? And how?

The "who" question was obvious - Mattie Maddox Howard.  Mattie is my great grandmother and my cousins' grandmother.  Sadly none of us knew her.

The "how" question proved a little more daunting.  I wanted to write a book.  Never mind I had never done this  and didn't know where to start. I did the only thing I knew to do. I just started writing.

And now I've completed it.
 

My goal has been accomplished.  I am a published author! (My children were impressed at least!)

Excerpt from Mattie's Story:

As a child, I frequently visited my grandfather's attic.  It was always lots of fun to see the Christmas decorations stored away or the knick knacks my grandmother put away for another day.  But always, I studied the portrait of my great grandmother Mattie Howard that was stored up there.  I wondered about her.  Perhaps I thought if I stared at her portrait long enough and concentrated hard enough, she would tell me her secrets.....


Mattie didn't tell me her secrets in that attic, but her portrait did spark a curiosity that years later started my pursuit to discover who my great grandmother really was.


Mattie's Story can be ordered from Lulu.com.

Worship At Moore Union

I had an opportunity this weekend to worship at Moore Union Christian Church in Lee County, NC.

Moore Union is the church where my maternal grandfather Lester Howard attended as a child. Multiple generations of Howards, Letts, and Womacks have worshipped here over the years. Many in the small cemetery beside the church are my ancestors. It was a treat to worship in the same church where four generations before me did the same.

The Moore Union congregation welcomed my cousins and myself warmly and graciously into their midst. We appreciate their hospitality.

(I even met a cousin.)

A Brick Wall Tumbled Down This Week

I heard from a "new" Howard cousin this week. (There seems to be a lot of us out there!) It is always nice to meet new cousins - especially when a genealogical brick wall comes tumbling down.  My new cousin shared information on Bruce Douglas.  Bruce was my great great grandfather Suggy Howard's son born out of wedlock. Until now no one (at least on our side of the family) knew who his mother was.  She has now been identified as Mary Dorcas Bradley who later married William Bradley.

 As the generations progressed there are many in the family who did not know about Bruce until I posted on him here in a post about his father Allen Suggs (Suggy) Howard.  My new cousin shared a letter history Bruce wrote when he was in his late 80's.

"This is a letter history of the ______ Bruce Douglas by any one ever heard of him. He was born 1880 July 11 near Broadway NC. My mother maried a man by the name of Bradley and left me with my Uncle and Aunt by the name of Roe Douglas and Aunt Bug Douglas. I dont remember ever seeing my mother. They my Uncle and Aunt brought me to Georgia in a covered wagon drawn by 2 mules. They went back to NC and I stayed on here. I am now 88 years old and have good health for my age. About 2 years ago I sold my Clynch County land 10150 acres for $1,300 000.00. I married Miss Lula Mizell of Woodbine GA in 1905. We had six children. The 1st boy died as an infant. I have 3 boys and 2 girls living. The youngest is 50 years old. My wife died December 26, 1959. I am in good health. I Hunt and fish. My mother lived and died near a place called Ridgeway SC. She died in 1924. I would have given any thing to of seen her. I never herd of her till after she had passed away. God Mary yes on September 2 - 1968 I placed on her grave tomb stone and slab. All so placed one on her husbands grave." 

Bruce looks amazingly like his half-siblings!

Bruce is buried in the Pine Forest Cemetery in  Homerville, GA.

Scrapbooking is Not a "New" Hobby

Scrapbooking became a very popular hobby a number of years ago.  I admit to making my share of scrapbooks when my children were little. Craft stores began to dedicate whole sections to this new hobby. I collected the craft store coupons to purchase papers, stickers and other embellishments used in the design of my pages.  I got together with friends to socialize and create our scrapbook pages.

Since I began my genealogy journey, I have become the repository of many of our family's photos and mementos.  Among these items are five scrapbooks dating from the 1940's back to the 1920's and various baby books.

My ancestors' scrapbooks have taught me a few things:

Scrapbooking is not a new hobby, and it was not just for women.

This is my Uncle Ernest Carr's scrapbook from the time he was in the navy during WWII. Ernest enlisted in the navy in 1937 and went on to spend his career in the navy. He was primarily in the Pacific arena during the war. It is an absolutely fascinating read.  Ernest included a log of the ships on which he was stationed.  He included photos of the ports he visited and the people he met.  About those people he met....some were females.  (I do not leave this scrapbook out for general viewing.)

Scrapbookers in my family used what they had on hand.

Is this not part of the fun and essence of scrapbooking?  Using what you have to represent the memory?  This is the scrapbook of Elton Carr (Ernest's sister).  She did not have a formal scrapbook, so she used an old book and just pasted over the pages.  I first wrote about Elton's book here.

A Scrapbook is where you learn about what was important to your ancestor.

As genealogists, we rely on the records our ancestors generated as part of life to track them through time and through relationships.  Most of these records such as wills, censuses, and court cases were official and legal documents.  A scrapbook is a personal record of your ancestor where the reader can learn what was important to that person.  Who was important to that person.  Scrapbooks also record your ancestors' feelings. The sense of pride my grandmother had in her basketball skills was evident in the fact she saved newspaper articles of her games.

I encourage you as a researcher to read your ancestors's scrapbooks.  Read the words they wrote.  Read between the lines to the words they did not write.  Pair the scrapbook with oral history and learn who your ancestor was beyond the official records.

Wordless Wednesday - One Grandfather, One Doll, One Bandaid

Here is what happens when you fall asleep with young children (i.e. me) in the house.  Do so at your own risk.

Wordless Wednesday : Grandmom in a Bathing Suit

Cecile White Howard

I really just couldn't resist!  How many people can say they have photos of their grandmothers in a bathing suit?

Happy Birthday, Grandaddy!

James "Lester" Howard

b. 23 Apr 1915

d. 28 Apr 2004