Friends Are Important

I love this letter dated 31 Oct 1913 and written by Nannie Lee Farson to my great grandmother Esther Lee Richardson.  The young women were best friends and corresponded regularly. I learned from the traditional records that Esther's father Daniel T Richardson died in Nov 1912.  Shortly after his death, Esther's mother Hattie moved the family from Pittsylvania County, VA closer to her Elliott family in Halifax County, VA.  Nannnie and Esther continued their friendship through  letters such as the one above. Esther appears to have saved all of them!

Through their letters I have been able to learn things about my great grandmother and her friends that  no official records would ever  record. First I have learned who Esther's friends were. Knowing who an ancestor's friends and associates were is crucial when researching.

From this letter I learned that Esther enjoyed embroidering - and Nannie did NOT.   I have a feeling Nannie would not be happy if she knew people were reading about her "under ware".  Nannie referred to Lucie who was actually her sister and friend of Esther's, too.  Howard M who is referenced is another friend of theirs.  Later letters tell of the girls' sadness at his early death from the measles.

I think what I love about these letters between Esther and her friend is their chattiness.  Nannie and Esther were not trying to solve big problems.  They were simply young women growing up and recording their daily lives and their thoughts.  They were staying in touch.  They were staying connected.

Esther, Hattie Richardson, Nannie L Farson

Ancestors or Friends?

This is another unidentified photograph from my collection. This photograph was among my great grandmother Esther Lee (Richardson) Talbott's things and likely was taken in the early 1900's in the Pittsylvania County or Halifax County, Va area. (Don't you just love the women's dresses!) The woman on the left has been identified in other photographs as "Nannie".  The only problem is that I have another Nannie in my database.

Is this Nannie Lee Farson, best friend of Esther Lee's or Nannie Womack who becomes the sister-in-law of Esther Lee?  Who are the other two people? The eyes of the young man look so familiar. Could he be one of my Richardson family members?

As you can see, I need your help in identifying these individuals.

Wordless Wednesday - Cute Baby

This is one of my unknown photographs that I believe the cousins can help me identify.  I think I know who the child is, but I am not quite sure.  I also do not want to say quite yet, so I do not bias anyone with the answer.  The writing on the back of the photograph says: This was made at the age of one year and 18 days.  Nov 19, 1909  Further down written in pen (yikes!) and in a different handwriting: Not any of Silas and Winnie children.   That tells me this is a Haley child and not one of my grandmother's siblings.

Any one know the identity of this child?

Oops!  Again, I cannot seem to be "wordless" on Wordless Wednesdays.

I Am So Excited!

I just listened to the newest episode of Genealogy Gems podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke.  I posted here about meeting Lisa recently at the NGS conference in Cincinnati.  Listening to the Genealogy Gems podcast really inspired me to start my blog.

When I met Lisa, she interviewed me about my blogging experience.  Guess what!  That interview is on the latest episode of the podcast.  How exciting is that?! Just in case you are wondering, that is my Haley family line that I was referring to in the interview.

So, click on over to Genealogy Gems and listen to Lisa's podcast.  There is a great interview with Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.  Also, pick up a few gems on using apps for the ipad.

Searching For One Thing Turned Up Another

When I first started researching genealogy, I was the fortunate recipient of boxes of family history material.  The bulk of the items were from my Talbott and Richardson family lines and in these boxes I found photographs, postcards, deeds, WWII ration cards, dried flowers, etc.  These boxes held the genealogical version of a jackpot. I'm still finding things I didn't know I had.

I pulled the boxes out again last week.  I was looking for one thing and found Reuben Richardson's  math assignment for correspondence school.  The  7 page assignment is dated Sep 1916.

Reuben Richardson's Math Assignment

Reuben Richardson was the brother of Esther Lee Richardson Talbott and the oldest son of Daniel and Harriet (Elliott) Richardson of Pittsylvania and Halifax Counties, VA.  He was born in 27 Dec 1827 and died in WWI 19 Apr 1918 at the age of 20 - about a year and a half after he completed this assignment.

Reuben Richardson

Not much is know about Reuben and his short life.  From the address on the envelope, Reuben was living  at 1401 N. Charles in Baltimore, Maryland in 1916. He appears to have been a good student of math.  No answer is marked wrong and on the last page, "very good" is written in red.  Apparently his spelling wasn't so good.  Notice the red correction in his spelling of "Arithmetic"? A bonus find is Reuben's signature at the top of each page. I learned another thin about Reuben.  He had great handwriting!  That is certainly not a trait that got passed down to me.

Enjoy a glimpse into the life of Reuben!

Why I Am Researching William Cardwell

I am very fortunate to have been able to attend three NGS conferences in the past few years.  These have been great opportunities to improve my research skills.  As I have listened to the experts lecture, one theme that repeatedly comes to mind. When you hit a brick wall, research your ancestor's associates.  ALL the associates - neighbors, collateral ancestors, anyone who appears as a witness in a record, etc. Our ancestors did not live in a vacuum.  They worked and lived in a community. They interacted with people other than just their immediate family.

William Cardwell was just such an associate of Jesse Haley (1803-1869).  Remember Jesse - my GGGG grandfather?  His parentage is  one of my "brick walls".  I have exhausted the search of the records for Jesse Haley. (Sometimes I think space aliens just dropped him off.)

William Cardwell is listed as a witness on the marriage registration of Jesse Haley and Temperance Owen in 1826 in Halifax County, VA.  Three other men are listed: Brackett Owen (father of Temperance), Staple Owen (uncle of Temperance), and Armistead Owen (brother of Temperance).  What was William's relationship to the couple. Was William a relative or just a friend of the bride and/or groom?

The initial phase of my research did not turn up the nature of the relationship of William Cardwell to Jesse and/or Temperance.  I do believe this William may be the William Cardwell born about 1800 and lived in Charlotte County, VA for much, if not all, of his life.  There is also evidence that Cardwells lived in Halifax County along Terrible Creek and Difficult Creek.  This is not that far from where the Sterling Haley family lived on Buckskin Creek.  This area is also not far from the Halifax/Charlotte County line where both Haley and Cardwell families lived.

So, it turns out I am researching a community.  I'm learning who interacted with whom and where they lived. Already I know more about the family names and the geography of the area than I knew when I was researching the single name of Haley.

Breaking through Jesse Haley's brick wall will be a long search.  The search into William Cardwell may not provide the answers I want.  But that's okay.  Jesse had other associates.  If William doesn't provide the answers, I will move to the next associate on the list.

NGS Wrap Up

Today I thought I would share some of the things I learned this week at the NGS conference.  I confess the list is a bit random, but after four days of intensive genealogy.... I think you get the picture.

• Pack light.
• Come with a plan and objectives.  
• Attend sessions about geographic areas that are new to you.  I attended a session on Kentucky research.  Many families from VA and NC migrated to Kentucky.  I never know when I might end up tracing a line to Kentucky. (This was one of my favorite sessions.)
• Kentucky had a star on both the confederate flag and the union flag.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Talk to the people sitting next to you.  I met great people and made new genealogy friends this week.
• Practice what you learn while the information is fresh on your mind.
• Don't be afraid to ask questions. Genealogists are very approachable and love to share their knowledge.