It's Back! Who Do You Think You Are?

Photo: TLC.com

Are you as excited as I am?  Is your DVR set?  Our favorite show is back.  The season premiere of Who Do You Think You Are? is tonight at 8/9 central on TLC.com. 

It is hard to believe the last time I saw the show was May, 2012.  It feels like forever.

My kids like to watch the show too.  My son always says, "let's find out who her mama is".  It is great that they are starting with Kelly Clarkson!  I can't tell how many times we have watched her episode on the Reba show.

It appears from clip of the show that Clarkson has a Civil War connection.  I've hit many roadblocks in my family history due to this war. 

After the show I always check my Ancestry.com account.  The show always sparks a new interest in family history research.  I'm part of the Ancestry.com DNA project and I have been surprised by the connections.  I'll let you know and begin another Territory Mom's Who Do You Think You Are?

Talk to you soon.

 

Love,

Territory Mom

To help you on your ancestry journey check out The Raw Feed 




The Joseph In My Family Was Named "Sarah"

Scenic route Pope County, AR

ARVtripeaks.com

Everyone knows I'm addicted to genealogy.  I love to discover stories about my family and hopefully discover some old family photos.  I was talking to a friend not long ago and she told me that she didn't want to research her family tree because of what she might discover.

It is not always easy to find out the truth about your family, but with genealogy it is about the good, the bad and the ugly.

For me it is about breaking generational curses.  Do not be afraid to seek the truth.  Believe me once the family secrets come to light you will begin to understand why this relative or that relative acted the way they did or why there were so many whispers during family gatherings.  Hopefully if there is anything bad in your family history you can come to understand it and prevent it from happening to your children and future generations.  We do not have to keep paying for something someone did 50 or 100 years ago just because we share the same name.

Now there are good things that have been carried down generation to generation.

When God decided to come to earth he chose his human parents, Mary and Joseph.  It was Joseph who had to be convinced that everything was going to be all right with being the adopted parent of Jesus.  He had to understand that he was chosen by God to do God's will.

We all have a "Joseph" in our family.  Someone who was chosen by God to claim and raise someone else's child.  It may to you.

In my family it was Sarah Vaughan Brashear.  She was born in 1817 in Tennesse, married in Arkansas in 1837 and died in Pope County, Arkansas in 1891.  In 1845 she gave birth to her 4th and 5th children, twins.  A boy and a girl.  The little girl, Abay, did not survive. 

While Sarah was raising her children her husband was busy doing other things.  Sarah's maid and friend, Polly also gave birth in 1845 to a son whose father was Sarah's husband.  I don't know if Polly gave the child to Sarah or if Polly died.  Sarah raised Polly's son "A" as her own.  Sarah had six more children with her husband.  On census records "A" is listed as Sarah's son.

Sarah did what she could to raise "A" as her own, but it was a small town and people knew the truth.  Unfortunately "A" could not escape his generational curses and he was murdered in 1905.

However, the good in Sarah continued to her daughter-in-law, Nancy Brewer Brashear who raised some of her grandchildren.  Sarah's granddaugther, Maggie did not live long enough to raise her own children, but Maggie's daughters continued the tradition of raising their grandchildren, nieces and nephews. 

Sarah had to be fearless to walk through town hearing the whispers of the town folks.  I can see her holding "A" hand, his skin a different color than hers, holding her head high and calling him, son.

Joseph did the same thing.  He held his head high and took care of Mary and Jesus.  God gave Joseph the strength to be fearless.

Who is the Joseph in your family?

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”   

Matthew 18:20-21 (NIV)

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Territory Mom

The Abduction of Maggie Brashear

Susan Margaret "Maggie" Brashear was bethrothed to Charles Henry "Charlie" Dunn.  The wedding was to take place on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Sept. 26, 1886.  Maggie's father, W.W. Brashear, Esq. was not going to let anything keep this wedding from taking place.  Afterall, Charlie Dunn was Emily Singleton Dunn Kinder's son.  Emily's brother, John Abel Singleton was married to W.W.'s sister, Mary and Emily's other brother, William Meredith Singleton was married to W.W.'s other sister, Missouri Margaret.  This was the family plan.  A few days before the wedding Maggie went missing.  Her father had an idea so he didn't wait for the law, actual he was the law.  W.W. had been the Justice of the Peace for 18 years.  He knew his farmhand had something to do with Maggie's disappearance.  This former POW and Assemblyman was not going to let anyone take his daughter.  He hitched up his team of horses and took off after the kidnappers.  He followed them to Marion County and brought Maggie home and her kidnappers to jail.  It is unclear if Maggie actually ran away with them, if it was prank or an abduction.  Based on Maggie's testimony during the trial the kidnappers were released Sept. 22, 1886 and she was married to Charlie Dunn four days later on September 26, 1886.

From the Russelleville Democrat:

 Sept. 22, 1886: The sensation in Moreland township over the abduction of Maggie Brashear by James K. Biffle and Ed Bowden continues to excite wonderment in that usually quiet community.  The runaways were followed to Marion County by the father of the young lady and returned home.  Today, the young men will be tried before Esq. Peck on the serious charge of abduction.

 Oct., 1886:  The trial of J.K. Biffle for the abduction of Maggie Brashear came off last week and we understand that Biffle was discharged from custody on the testimony of the youny lady.  Mr. Ed Bowden whose name has been connected with the case, was only a witness, and not an accomplice as stated last week.

Maggie only lived 19 more years after her marriage to Charlie Dunn.  She died at the age of 35 of pnenomia two weeks after her ninth child was born.  Her oldest child and daugther, Maudie married five months later and left Arkansas, each child soon followed.  Charlie died in 1923 in Ryan, OK.

No one returned to Arkansas.

The family living in a logging camp, cir. 1902

Maggie died in 1905

I am the 5th generation from the union of Maggie and Charlie.  It is going into it's 7th generation.

So this is the story of the abduction of Maggie Brashear at least the part we know.  The real story lives in the mountains of Arkansas.

Love,

Territory Mom

P.S.  I'm taking a break from blogging for awhile.  You can go here for my explanation.  I'll be back soon. 

125 Years Ago Today

125 years ago today, September 26, 1886, Charles "Charlie" Henry Dunn and Susan Margaret "Maggie" Brashear were married on Crow Mountain near the town of Atkins, Arkansas.  Charlie was 19 years old and Maggie was 16.  They were my great great grandparents.  Both of their families lived on Crow Mountain, which is absolutely beautiful.

  You can go here to view the flickr photostream of zormsk.  You can search "Crow Mountain" on his photostream to fall in love with the area.

This union almost didn't happen.

Maggie had spent the summer of 1886 in love and planning her wedding, but three days prior to her wedding Maggie was kidnapped and taken far into the Arkansas mountains.

To be continued on Wednesday.

Love,

Territory Mom

Who's Your Mama Update - Step #1 Complete

This is the first follow-up to the Who's Your Mama? post I did in April.  I have been trying to find out who my great grandfather's(William Thomas Spradling) mother was.  It could have been Cynthia or her sister Amanda (we have always thought it was Amanda).  The problem I had was that Will's birthday did not match up to his father's (William Alexander Spradling) and Amanda's wedding date.  You will have to click on the above link for the full story.

There are several steps involved to help solve this mystery.  The first one I have completed which was to order Will's death certificate.

I like it when I receive a death certificate in the mail.  It contains so much information.  This sounds morbid, but to a family historian it is like getting a birthday present in the mail.  I'm such a nerd.

Anyway, I checked the date of birth first.  Will's date of birth is listed as Sept. 15, 1878, which is one year later than I had in my notes or what is on his tombstone according to findagrave.com and to the Oklahoma cemetery records online.  So if his death certificate is correct then Amanda, not Cynthia, was his mother.  Keep in mind that the information on a death certificate is only as good as the person providing it.  So if the mortician is asking questions to someone who is distraught then most likely the information will not be accurate.  I will discuss this later because it can interfere with your research.

This is Will's death certificate.  He was born in Dexter, Texas and his parents were William A. Spradling and Amanda (unknown).  This was common for the mother's last name to be listed as "unknown".  His wife's name is listed as, Mrs. W.T. Spradling, so funny, and she provided the information for his death certificate.  Mrs. W.T. 's real name was Effie Gideon Carter.  Will died of a heart attack at the age of 83.  He had lived at his residence 54 years.  He was retired and had been an engineer which I understand meant that he worked for the railroad.  Now this is what I like.  He  lived at 1416 Pecan Street in Duncan.

from Google maps

The house he lived would have been to the right, but it is an empty lot now.  The building at the end of the block is the old Bethel Assembly of God Church.  Will walked to this church for services.

With Google maps you can see where your ancestors actually lived.

Brothers:  l: John Edgar and r: William Thomas

Anyway, now that step 1 is complete my question is still not answered.  Was Amanda Will's mother?

I need to find out what happened to the first wife, Cynthia (also Amanda's sister).

I'll keep you posted.

Happy Grandma's Day.

Love,

Territory Mom 

Who's Your Mama?

Did you watch Who Do You Think You Are?  The season is over but you can click on the link and view the episodes.  I love it when networks let you watch the entire episode not just a clip.

Anyway, I have my own who do you think you are? mystery.  I thought it would be fun to share it with you.  We can solve this family puzzle together. Here's the background:

This is William Thomas Spradling, my great grandfather.  He was born on September 15, 1877 in Dexter, Cooke County, Texas.  By 1900 he was living in Oklahoma alone working on a farm.  He died on April 20, 1962 in Duncan, Stephens County, OK.  There are a few mysteries surrounding him.  We will try to solve one at a time.  The first mystery is, who was his mama?

His father, William Alexander Spradling born in 1842 in Illinois.  I'm not sure when he moved to Texas but he was in the 22nd Calvary Regiment Texas during the Civil War.  After the war on March 4, 1868 he married his first wife, Cynthia.  He was 26 and Cynthia was 24.  By 1870 Cynthia's parents had died and her brother, James and her sister Amanda were living with her and Will.  

Cynthia does not appear on any other records after 1870.

Amanda, I think.

Now, William Alexander marries Amanda (Cynthia's sister) on December 2, 1877.  She was 21 years old  and William A. was 35 years old.  Have you figured out the mystery yet?

William Thomas Spradling was born Sept 5, 1877, three months before Amanda is married to William A.

Other family historians have Amanda and Will's wedding date as 1875 or 1876.

I have researched it and found my above date on familysearch.org and the Texas marriages records on ancestry.com.  If you are not familiar with Familysearch.org it is a free site powered by the Church of The Latter Day Saints.  I'm pretty sure the Mormons would have the correct information.

So, did Cynthia give birth to William Thomas then die?

Did her sister Amanda promise her that she would take care of her child?

Here is what I need to help solve the mystery:

1.  Order William Thomas Spradling's death certificate from Oklahoma.

  (I have a feeling it will state his mother as "Amanda" or "unknown")

2.  Try and find a birth notice for William T. 

 This will be difficult because Texas did not officiallly record birth and death records until 1903.

3.  Find out what happened to Cynthia.

  I've searched and searched and have not found anything about her death or burial.  Thankfully, I have found members of Cynthia's family that what to know what happened to her too.  Recruit as much help as possible.

4.  Order the marriage license for Amanda and William A.

This may take awhile but I will keep you informed.

Have a great day.

Love,

Territory Mom