Memory Tree Genealogy Journal

Smyrna Baptist Cemetery, Dothan, Houston County, Alabama Nancy Ann (Barber) Thompson (1822-1887) is one of my 32 (yes, 32!) 3rd great-grandparents.  Does that number seem high?  Never thought about it before?  Folks, make sure to look at THIS WEBSITE and let the math blow your mind. Back to Mrs. Thompson.  I realize that I have members of both my immediate family and my husband's family (maybe?) reading this blog...and the many family lines can get a little crazy.  Nancy Ann (Barber) Thompson is related to my HUGHES family through my grandfather (Alto) and his mother (Hattie Bruner - 1881-1966) and then Hattie's mother, Mary Thompson (1848-1892).  Nancy Ann (Barber) Thompson is Mary Ann (Barber) Thompson's mother.  Nancy married Theophilus Thompson (1820-1877), and they lived first in Gadsden County, Florida (this is where Nancy's father, William Barber (1792-?) owned a considerably large farm.  Both Barber and Thompson families lived in c...

Have you browsed through census documents, vital records, or city directories and wondered exactly what your relatives' hometown looked like?  Where did your loved ones live, work, and play?  For today's "Those Places" topic, I chose a very broad one...Houston County, Alabama.  The majority (possibly all?  will have to check) of my father's family lived in this area of Southeastern Alabama at some point.  I have visited before, but only a few times...and on at least one of those trips I spent an hour or so walking, bent over at the waist, scouring a freshly plowed field for Native American artifacts.  During high school, I participated in a summer archaeology program through Fernbank Natural History Museum in Atlanta...working alongside their resident anthropologist and his team.  Identifying pottery shards and points became second nature to me.  My dream was to become an archaeologist.  Deep down, that dream never died :).  Just ask...

Pictured: Maude Ella (MaMa) Parrish, Houston County, Alabama.  Photo scanned from original in family collection.

"Love is many things...none of them logical" - William Goldman, The Princess Bride . Marriage has been on my mind lately.  As I write this, I'm taking a quick break from penciling-in names on a beautiful fan tree print that I ordered from Etsy a few months back .  Actually putting names and dates on paper is somewhat intimidating!  After months of research and fact-checking, I'm still nervous writing the information on a print that most certainly will go in a frame on my wall.  Years from now, I hope it will be passed from our meager estate to our sons to share and treasure.  May the facts be correct, so help me gosh. Just double-checking a few marriage dates for my great-grandparents Willis Lester Parrish and Maude Ella (Mercer) Parrish, I noticed that they were 18 and 16 years of age, respectively, on their marriage day.  They lived with Maude's father, George Mercer, until at least 1930...along with their daughter (my paternal grandmother) Margie ...

This week, my brain has been on overdrive.  As in, mind-exhausting working.  Twisting, turning, stretching, crunching, typing, wondering, connecting, wondering, searching, finding, giving up kind of work. Can you relate? Here's my genealogical topic of choice for the week.  You know, the one that's driving me crazy?!? Here's where it all starting.  Going to just blame this one on my dear ol' Dad  (he's the Hughes, after all!).  He blessed me with a surprise bundle of historical digital photos of our Parrish, McMath, and Mercer families.  One such piece of info he shared was an obituary for his mother's late sister, Christine Parrish (1927-1941).  In the article was a mention of a "Betty Hughes" (she and Christine both died in a tragic car accident) and "Otis Hughes", Betty's brother (a passenger in the car).  This got me thinking about, well, one of my biggest brick walls at the moment - my HUGHES family line beyond my great-gra...

1896 Map of Henry County, Alabama.  IMAGE SOURCE Have you discovered interesting connections among ancestors in your family tree? Several years ago, I remember hearing my father speak about " two sisters marrying two brothers " somewhere in his family line...but I can't remember specifics.  Kept that tidbit in the back of my mind while setting out on this grand adventure of exploring our family history!  What do you know...I found one such set of siblings.  It's possible this isn't even the one to which was referring.  Maybe there are more to discover! Only a couple of generations back, I located sisters Minnie Cora McMath and "Dutch" Isabelle McMath.  I added the quotes to "Dutch", because it seems like a nickname; I'm not positive of its origins (maybe Dad can enlighten me?) or whether or not it was in fact a nickname.  All census reports list her name as Dutch.  Interesting! I also located brothers Johnnie Levey (I think this...

(Photo passed along to me from my father.  Photocopy of an original held by his cousin, Vivian Jordan) Instead, should I entitle this post, "Fishing Friday" - since I'm really and truly fishing for more information?  A few long lost cousins with information to share? One of my current puzzles at the moment is my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Woodcock Hughes.  Mary is the mother of my father's grandfather, Dallas Jackson Hughes.  At this point...I'm fairly "puzzled" about both Mary and her husband William J. Hughes (spelled 'Hughs' in a handful of places).  Not much that I've been able to definitively trace beyond their immediate family.  Some guesses, but nothing concrete.  I've been sidetracked with other projects, and now I have a bit of time to devote to examining what I've heard referred to as the "FAN Club" - Friends and Neighbors.  Taking time to examine each census telling, making note of each of the surrounding ...

Dallas Jackson Hughes was my father's grandfather.  Born in 1880 in Henry County, Alabama, Dallas later married Hattie Bruner and had several children - among them, my grandfather Alto Hughes.  Below is an image of Dallas' WWI draft registration card from September 1918, almost a year after congress passed the Selective Service Act ( Wikipedia ).  WWI draft registration cards have been very helpful for me personally, because they include such detailed information.  Place of birth, next of kin, occupation, citizenship, physical description.  According to his card, Dallas was of medium height, medium build, had gray eyes and dark brown hair.  This definitely helps me form a mental picture. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005.  Accessed 24 January 2013. Dallas is at the heart of one of my currently genealogical mysteries - a "brick wall" in resear...