I haven't updated in forever....

Hello cousins,

I'm still here! I just haven't updated this blog in forever. I started this blog when I first started working on genealogy as a way to help me work through some questions I had. I then took a very long break from genealogy. I am back into it now, but I don't know if I'll have time to update this blog anymore.  I won't rule it out but I just don't have time for it now.

If you need to contact me for anything genealogy related, feel free to post a comment. Or, I'm over at ancestry.com as melody27888. You can find me there. I have since done a lot of work on the tree! It's so fun to read my past posts when I was a genealogy newbie. :) In addition to the ongoing hunt for more ancestors, I'm now in the process of trying to verify my info, as when I first started, I copied a lot of info from other trees I found. Sometimes I do find errors. I'm also trying to compile all of my genealogy info together so I'll have a nicer presentation when I go to family reunions.

Oh, and I've also done my ancestry dna, so if anyone is interested in that or has questions about it, let me know! My mother did the test as well, and she is 100% Nash County (Her parents are both from there. My dad was from NY so I had some additional results). But if you're interested in Nash County and especially the surnames mentioned in this blog, you'll probably mostly have Great Britain and Europe West in your results. Perhaps even a little bit of Scandinavia and Ireland too. Or maybe even a trace of Native American as well. :)

Happy ancestor hunting, everyone!

-Melody

Back to researching...

So I was going to take a short break from my genealogy research, but it turned out to be a much longer break than I had planned! I sort of lost interest in it for a while or didn't really have time to devote to it, but recently I've been wanting to get back into my research and over this past weekend, I made a few more discoveries that sucked me back in! I think some time away actually did me some good. I had hit several brick walls which prompted me to take a break in the first place, but once I came back, there seemed to be a lot more information out there than before.

Here are the highlights of what I have discovered:

1) Eason - I have finally found out who Annice/Annis Eason's parents are thanks to someone over at ancestry.com. Their names are William Eason and Dinah Deans! I've been searching for a while for information on Annice but hit a brick wall. Glad to finally go back another generation! Also, I had speculated in the past about Elizar Tryan being Phoebe Eason's father. I believe that this is indeed true because I know Phoebe was born in 1831 and according to those Nash County records, Elizar was to pay Annice to support her child in 1831...so really, who else could it be?

2) Barnes - I have finally found out the names of Elizabeth Barnes' parents! (thanks to another member at ancestry.com) Jacob Barnes and Mourning Joiner. I have been trying it seems like ever since I started my research to find out who her parents were!

3) Land - I had speculated about the Land family going back, Charles Land, Curtis Land, etc. and I do believe this to be true now. In fact, I have traced the Land family all the way back to England! This is very exciting! Now I have at least two members in my tree who I can trace back to England but the Land family is a lot closer in my line than the Batchelor line. So yes, all very exciting.

3) Daughtridge/Wells - Thanks to another member at ancestry.com, I now have identified John Daughtridge's father as being, in fact, James Daughtridge! I have also found out his father is William Daughtridge! Also, speaking of Daughtridge, I have identified James Daughtridge's wife as Martha Wells and have made some progress in that line as well.

4) Joyner/Fairless - Made progress on Harriet Fairless, Weaks Parker's wife. Couldn't find her parents for a long time and then I realized that Fairless is NOT her maiden name. It's actually Joyner. She was married once before Weaks. I have now been able to trace her line back a little more!

All in all, it was a very productive weekend in regards to my genealogy research. Sophia Braswell Daughtridge's father is still somewhat of a mystery, although all of my research does point to an Issac Braswell being her father so I'm going to go with that and see where it leads next. I also believe that her mother was named Susan Land (would make sense...her daughter is named Susan as well...) and that perhaps Sally could possibly be a nickname or maybe even a middle name.

That's it for now, but hopefully I'll have more updates soon! Feel free to leave me a comment if you're researching some of these same families and maybe we can help each other out.

taking a short break...

I haven't updated my blog in a while. Between the holidays and being sick with a nasty cold, I just haven't had the time or the energy. I'm going to take a short break with genealogy for a while, but if you've stumbled across my journal and are researching the same surnames or ancestors, feel free to leave me a comment.

be back soon :)

Daughtridge and Bone: new information

I have some new info on Daughtridge and Bone...not much but it helps.

One question I have partially answered is when Sophia died. I figured it had to be before 1893 because her son Columbus named his daughter Sophia, so I figure he named her after his mother. His daughter was born in 1893. Well I just found out today that Sophia's land was divided up between her heirs on 19 Aug 1885, so that tells me that she probably died a few months before then. I got that information from a copy in the Nash County deed book.

I also got some cemetery information from a book at the library. It has a list of everyone in the Haywood Bone cemetery. I didn't take notes the last time I was up there so I didn't remember everyone who was buried there or what the dates were. It says Susan Bone died in 1895, which answers another question. I knew it had to be after 1893 but before 1900. But it also says that she was born in 1853, but I don't think that's right. I have Susan in the 1850 census and she's a year old, which puts her birth at 1849. So just goes to show you that the grave markers are not always correct. (Like della's) She wouldn't have been in the 1850 census if she was born in 1853.

I also have some information on Willie Daughtridge. My sister printed off a list of battles that his regiment (32nd infantry) fought in. I've also been doing some research on Elmira Prison in NY, which is the prison Willie died in during the civil war. Apparently from what I have read, Elmira was one of the WORST prisons during the war. And it was especially hard for the boys from the south b/c they were not used to harsh winters and they often had little clothing. Disease was widespread and they were also malnourished as the prison didn't give them much to eat. That's so horrible! What a horrible way to die. I read that the prisoners who died there were buried in Woodlawn Cemetery (I think that's the name, I'll have to go back and check that) but I did a search and I couldn't find Willie's name. Maybe they misspelled it.

Pridgen Family

This weekend, I think I'll be working on my Pridgen line. So far, I've done my best to identify all of the children and wives of John Hardy, and I've identified several children of Alexander and Phoebe.

Next up is Patrick Henry, Jesse, Drewery, and William Pridgen.

I was lucky enough to find a copy of Jesse, Drew, and Wm's wills on the genweb site. This will help me verify who their children were. I've also printed off some info from the internet that I'll use.

I think after I work on the Pridgen line, I'll go back to the Bone line and work some more. There's a really great book online that I found about the Bone family, and I think if I search it some more, I can find some very useful information about who the rest of the Bone children were.

Daughtridge children cont.

Okay, here's what I think is true:

1830:

• Willie
• William
• Alfred

1840:

• Willie
• William
• Alfred
• Redmond
• Romandy
• Penny

1850:

*Willie, William, Alfred, and Romandy are not in the household. Willie married in 1847. Romandy married in 1849.

• Penny
• Redmond
• Hillard
• Hyman
• Zilla

1860:

*Redmond is not in household...probably married

• Penny
• Hyman
• Joseph H. (must be Hilliard)
• Mahalia (Probably Zilla's middle name)
• John Burt

1870:

*I thought before there were no children living in the house in 1870, but I checked again and I was wrong. Apparently, Lindsay Boone, who I think is the husband of Zilla Mahalia, is also living here with John and Zilla.

• Zilla Mahalia - 23
• John Burt - 18

**There is also a 16 yr old "Mary Daughtridge" living in the house. I do not know who this is at this time.

In conclusion:

I believe children of John and Zilla are:

• Willie
• William
• Alfred
• Romandy
• Redmond
• Penny
• Hyman
• Joseph Hilliard
• Zilla Mahalia
• John Burt

Daughtridge children

I'm working on the Daughtridge children right now, that is, the children of John Daughtridge, Willie's brothers and sisters. But even with the census records, this hasn't been an easy task.


I found on the internet a list of the children of John and Zilla:



1. Willie - my ggg grandfather - 1826
2. William M. - 1828
3. Alfred - 1830
4. Amandy E. - 1832
5. Redmond - 1834
6. Penny Jane - 1836
7. John - 1842
8. Richard M. - 1843
9. J.E. - 1845
10. Zilla Elizabeth - 1848



Okay, so we've got 10 children. Then, while studying the census records, here's what I found:

1830 census:

1. Male child, age 1-5 - 1825-1830 (Willie)
2. Male child, age 1-5 - 1825-1830 William)
3. Male child, age 1-5 - 1825-1830 (Alfred)


1840 census:

1. Male child, age 10-15 - 1825-1830 (Willie)
2. Male child, age 10-15 - 1825-1830 (William)
3. Male child, age 5-10 - 1830-1835 (Alfred)
4. Male child, age 5-10 - 1830-1835 (Redmond)
5. Female child, age 5-10 - 1830-1835 (Romandy)
6. Female child, age 1-5 - 1825-1840 (Penny)

*Unknown male age 20-30 - farm labor? servant?



1850 census:


1. Penninah - 1839
2. Redmond - 1840
3. Hilliard - 1843
4. Hyman - 1844
5. Zilla - 1849



1860 census:



1. Penny - age 25 -1835

2. Hyman - age 18 -1842

3. Joseph H. - 15 -1845

4. Mahalia - age 13 -1847

5. John Burt - age 9 - 1851



1870 census:

No children living with John or Zilla.


So, what I seem to be having is a bit of conflict between names or dates. What I need to do is go through the list and figure out who is who and when they were born. I already know that Willie will NOT be in the 1850 census b/c he married Sophia in 1847. Same could be true for the other older siblings...perhaps they married out. I also need to be careful b/c not all children may be accounted for. Some could have perhaps died young, and some children may even be grandchildren.

1830

The three children in 1830 are all male. They are most likely Willie, William, and Alfred, in that order.

1840

There were 4 males and 2 females in 1840.

1. Willie age 14 (10-15)
2. William age 12 (10-15)
3. Alfred age 10 (5-10)
4. Amandy - age 8 (5-10)
5. Redmond - age 6 (5-10)
6. Penny Jane - age 4 (1-5)

1850

*Willie - married, age 24, not in household,
*William, age 22, not in household. Is he married?
*Alfred, age 20, not in household. Is he married?


Children in household:

1. Penninah must be Penny, but which year of birth is correct, 1836 or 1839?
2. Redmond - born 1834 or 1840?!
3. Who is Hilliard?
4. Who is Hyman?
5. Zilla - 1848-49

1860

1. Penny still lives in the household. I read that she never married.
2. Hyman
3. Joseph H. - could he be Hilliard? Joseph Hillard? J.H (and not J.E.?)
4. Who is Mahalia?
5. John Burt - born 1842 or 1851? Is this the same John from the 10 children??


**In conclusion...I'm still confused! :) I think I'm going to have to look into who Willie's brothers married and find out if any of these children that are living in the household are grandchildren, because having a child in 1826 and then one in 1851 is a big jump, but not impossible. Zilla would have been about 44 in 1851. I also need to find out for sure if John and Zilla had 10 children. The numbers aren't quite matching up unless one of them died or something.


UPDATE:

Okay, just to add to the confusion, here's another list I found on rootsweb:


Wiley DAUGHTRIDGE b: 4 OCT 1826 in Of Nash County, North Carolina
William Maurice DAUGHTRIDGE b: 6 JAN 1828 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina
M. Alfred DAUGHTRIDGE b: 2 NOV 1830
Romandy E. DAUGHTRIDGE b: 4 JAN 1832 in Nash County, North Carolina
Redmond DAUGHTRIDGE b: 2 JAN 1834 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina
Peninah Jane DAUGHTRIDGE b: 18 MAY 1836
Richard Hyman DAUGHTRIDGE b: 3 JAN 1843 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina
Joseph Henry DAUGHTRIDGE b: 3 APR 1845 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina
Zillie Elizabeth Mahalia DAUGHTRIDGE b: 18 SEP 1848 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina
John Burton DAUGHTRIDGE b: 22 DEC 1852 in Edgecombe County, North Carolina

Okay...so this answers some of my questions. Richard's middle name was probably Hyman, and Amandy is Romandy. And apparently, Zilla is also Mahalia. But if Joseph's middle name is Henry, then who the heck is Hilliard??

Well, I'm too tired to study this anymore tonight. I'll review all of this later.

**2nd UPDATE - see above post

Where is the Bone family in 1870?

This is strange. I can't seem to find Neverson Bone or his father, Philemon Bone, in the 1870 census. I've been searching for a while now but I tried again last night. Nothing comes up.

I tried spelling the last name wrong, I tried doing a search by just the first name, just the middle name, nickname, initials, and still, nothing.

I'd really like to find this family because Neverson didn't marry Susan until 1872, so I assume he was still living at home. And where are the other Bone children? Can't find them either (except I did find Richard Bone but he was not living at home) Of course, there was a Philemon BOON, and i thought that could be him but turns out, it's not.

So then I figure...well maybe this is going to be like it was with the Parkers. I couldn't find them in the 1930 census because somebody forgot to index them. So I thought maybe I had to do a manual search. Their last residence was in Coopers, so naturally, I tried to find that part of the census to look at. But apparently, Coopers township isn't even listed! It's as if the part of the census was completely missed. Which could explain why I've had such a hard time finding anybody in 1870. And it's too bad too because I really wanted to find out who all was living in their household.

Another strange thing about Philemon...found him in 1880 census but according to some other record i found someplace else, he died in 1879. Hmm...but I'm sure it has to be him. I think it was listed as P B Bone and Ada Bone.

Well, guess i'll have to look into this at another time.

changes to the blog

Made some minor changes to the blog. I decided to delete the ahnentafel I had on the side. I don't really use it that much anymore but it was very helpful in the beginning when I was trying to familiarize myself with all of the names. But the lists were just getting sooo long and the gaps were so wide. I might put it back up though once I get some more names to put on it.

I've decided instead to focus on the families. Before I just wanted to search and search until I got as far back as I could, but now I want to stop and figure out who are all of the children. I've added the families on the side so I can keep track with who I need to research :)

Could Sally = Sarah (or even Susan)?

Last night, I once again tried to do some research on finding Sophia's father. I tried to do a process of elimination, using census records and sophia's age at the time plus # of females in the household in that year, and i was able to rule out some individuals. But still no luck. I think this may be something I'm going to have to go to the library to research.

But as it always happens, everytime I search for Sophia's father, I end up searching for her mother as well. I know the name of her mother (at least i think I do!) but the search has not been made any easier b/c i have not found any marriage records.

Here's what i know:

When first searching for Sophia, i found a family tree on rootsweb that listed Sophia and Wille Daughtridge (but I think they spell it Doughterage or something like that) but i know it's them. Sophia's mother and father are listed as "Susan Land" and "Isaac Braswell".

I figure this must be true because Sophia's first born daughter was named Susan, and maybe she named her daughter after her mother?

So I go to prove this relationship, but all i find on ancestry.com is a record of Sophia's mother listed as "the daughter of Charles Land, Sr." So all that tells me is who her maternal grandpa is. No proof of her father yet except i know he's a Braswell.

Then I go search for Charles Land. All i find on ancestry.com of him is a list of his children plus "another daughter". Well as it often goes, this "another daughter" is who i need!

Then I find Charles Land's will on the genweb site. He lists his daughter as "Sally Braswell".

So is it Sally or Susan? Well, for now, I assume Sally.

And then, last night as I was researching, I found out something. Back then, Sally was often just a nickname for Sarah. As Polly often was a nickname for Mary. (I have no idea who made up these rules, must be the same person that said Bill was a nickname for William!)

So anyway, now I wonder...is my gggg grandmother "Sarah Braswell"?? And is Isaac Braswell really Sophia's father? I want to believe that but I don't want to get myself in trouble by just assuming everything I read. I've learned from mistakes and realize when you assume and don't check sources, you start climbing up the wrong tree. I just want to make sure i'm researching the correct branch.

my research notebook

I took my genealogy notebook over to mom's this weekend and showed my work to her. She was very impressed. She just couldn't believe I was able to find so much information, and where in the world did I find it out from?

I've put more than just the pedigree charts and family record sheets in there. I've also got any pages I printed out from online, copies of wills, message board posts, etc. I went through and highlighted what's important. It's like a history project only FUNNER! :)

Oh, found out a little info on my grandparents' marriage that I will have to change. I had them listed as being married in Nash County, but mom says this isn't correct. They actually got married in Virginia, I think Emporia or some city like that. I asked her why and I guess it was an age thing, like maybe my grandmother was a little too young to get married then? I'm not sure. She was 19, but this was 1930 so who knows what the laws were like then. Anyway, I've got to change that. She did say that her brother was the one who drove them up there to get married. They eloped. How romantic! <3

Looking over my research, I've realized how far I've come along. I've got 6 generations of Parker families, 7 if you count me i suppose. I've also come quite far in my Pridgen line but I have not made up records of all of those families yet. There's still more research to do and I want to be able to list all of the Pridgen families, who they married, their kids, etc. It will take a while. Plus for all of the other families too! I'm trying to go backwards though, just working on the ones closest to me, like Parker, Pridgen, Daughtridge, and Bone. Then work my way to the other lines, like the Lands, Batchelors, and Winsteads.

I also had an idea this morning of a section I could add to my notebook. I have several ancestors that fought in the civil and revolutionary wars. I was thinking of adding a military section since you can find a lot of info through military records.

I plan to work on it some today so I can't wait to get started :)

Starting my notebook =)

Well I've started my genealogy notebook. I bought some of those sticky label tabs from cvs yesterday and I've labeled the pages by surname. I also bought some dividers to separate the different sections, like charts, surnames, locations, etc.

I've also started on family record sheets. I tried to find some kind of chart on the internet that I could use to list the children, but I couldn't find any that I liked so i made my own. I made up a form in microsoft word that I think is perfect.

At the top of the sheet, i have the name of the married couple. Below it I made a little table box that lists their marriage date and place of marriage. Then below that, I have two table boxes, one for husband, one for wife. There, I list their name, date of birth and death, place of birth and death, a space for notes where I write a little something about them (like names of parents, interesting details, burial info, etc), then at the bottom of that table, i have a space for names of additional wives or husbands if applicable.

Below these two tables, I made a table for the children. This just lists the names of the children, birth and death date, and I numbered it so it's easy to see how many children the couple have and the order in which they were born.

I've also made sure to list at the bottom my sources and the current date for future reference, and that the information was compiled by me. I can just imagine years and years from now, someone in the family will look at my research and be like, "Wow, great aunt Melody really did a lot to help us!" I'm such a geek lol :)

The best part is that I can type in it, unlike the pdf forms. I don't know if there's a way to type into a pdf form or not, but I like the microsoft word forms. That way I don't have to write everything. Also, it's easier to make changes b/c i saved them.

I also added pictures to the ones that I could, just a little picture at top and below the picture, a little description of who is in the photo and the approx. year the photo was taken.

When I get enough of these family records typed up (So far i have like 8 or so done), then I'm going to put them in my notebook with protected sleeves and then i'll have something nice to show off at thanksgiving :) We might even be going to a family reunion soon so if we do, i plan to bring my notebook with me and maybe get some more dates for people. I also better remember to bring my camera this time. I'm kicking myself for not bringing it the last time we went to the cemetery, but I just didn't know at the time that I'd be so into genealogy like I am now.

Organizing my research

I'm trying to figure out the best way to organize all of my genealogy research. For a while now, I've been using the hanging file folder system. It actually works pretty well because I know where to find something when i'm looking for it, and I know just where to put it whenever I get something new. I organize by surname.

Problem is that this method of organization isn't mobile. So I've started a notebook. I'd really like to take my research with me in case I go to the library or if i'm meeting with family. And I need a way to show off my research.

I just now need some kind of labels. I want to organize the same way i organize with the hanging file folders, by surname. I just need those colored tabs or something. I also put everything in plastic sleeves (I had a TON from old school projects laying around the apartment). I think it makes for better page turning if they are in something protected.

But now...how do i organize so that i can find all family members easily? I've got pedigree charts printed out, but what about the children? It's like there are so many people in my family tree that I don't have room for them all. I want a way to be able to identify all children/siblings easily. I might have to work on family charts, or write down names in the charts.

Well, i'll keep working on it!

Della Bone's tombstone

Last year, my mom took my sister and I to visit the family cemeteries in Nash County. When we came upon my great grandmother Della's gravestone, mom told us that the year of death on it was wrong. It says she died in 1901 but this is NOT true. She died in 1911, within a week of her father's death.

Mom expressed an interest in getting this error fixed, and I share this. I really would like Grandma Della to have a proper headstone. I mean...it's just out of respect, you know? And no one in the family has ever had it corrected. And now that it's gone for so many years with her year of death being 1901, I've even started to see it on the internet. People make their family trees and do their research, but they put down that she died in 1901 and this is just not right. If they would look into the issue a little bit, they would realize that Della had two children, john hardy jr in 1909 and my grandmother, mary elsie, in 1911. She couldn't have had them if she had died in 1901. So obviously its not right.

So anyway, the point is...we're planning on fixing it. But the problem is that we can't just get one number corrected. We have to get the whole thing replaced, and that's going to cost at least $265. A bit pricey. I think i'm starting to understand why it was never corrected before.

But we still want to do it. Next time we go to Nash we're going to take a picture of it and get some measurements. We owe it to grandma Della. I wouldn't want my tombstone to be incorrect either.

More info on Annice

So found out Annice is Phoebe's mother, and also, she's never been married.

The bastardy bonds state that Phoebe and a William Strickland had a child around 1824, which would be daughter Willy from the 1850 census. Still wondering if "Annica Eason" is really Annice Eason. She's listed on the bastardy bonds for Feb Court 1831 with Elizar Tryan. I can't find any information on this guy. I wonder if he's Phoebe's father.

Then I wonder...well who is Annice's father? I think his name is William Eason b/c I read somewhere on a board posting that Annice petitioned for his estate in like 1820. I've not been able to find this record anywhere online though.

still no luck on Sophia :(

I posted a message on the Braswell board about Sophia. And looks like I posted just in time b/c i think the boards are down now. (Which is too bad b/c i really wanted to post something about Annice too but I guess that will have to wait)

If there's one goal I'd really like to cross off my list, it's finding out for sure who Sophia's father is. I guess since I've started reseaching, this ggg grandmother of mine is who I've been most interested in. She was the first one that I really got some info about. I remember I went from knowing that Susan's mother was named "Sophia" and from that, I found out that she married Willie, but I still didn't know her maiden name until one day I stumbled on it. I just want to know more and it's killing me that I keep hitting this brick wall.

I think if I could meet one of my ancestors, I'd like to meet her. She must have been a strong lady. Had a ton of kids, lost her husband in the war, took over the farm...what a life.

I think I'd also like to meet my great grandmother Ada. She's one of the few ancestors that I actually have pictures of. I love being able to put a face to a name and I wish I could do that for all of them. Although I do in my mind, I have this picture in my mind of what I think they could look like. But yeah, I'd like to meet Grandma Ada too. She's the only grandparent that my mother ever knew. She lived quite a long life too.

Well anyway, I guess I'll just have to wait and see if I can find out this mystery. I'd really like to find out where this line of Braswells come from.

Phoebe Eason's mother

Tonight I literally stumbled on a little discovery. I was searching through the 1850 census records for Alexander E. Pridgen because I found him in 1860, but wasn't sure where he was in 1850. Well I did a search for Pridgen and was viewing the records that came up. And as I did, I found her name.

Annis Eason.

Annis Eason! This is Phoebe's mother! Well, maybe. I'll say i'm like 95% sure. Of course, Phoebe was listed as well since she was living in the household, and this is how I knew she had to be her mother. The age for Phoebe matched what I had. Born about 1831 which would make her 19 yrs old at the time.

I know why I couldn't find Phoebe before when I searched. They spelled Eason wrong, and Phoebe as well. They spelled it "Phebe Earon". Just like the other day when they spelled Pridgen with a B, one letter really does make a difference. But when you look at the record, it clearly says Eason. The transcriber just screwed up.

I'm very glad to have found this information. Just one more piece in the puzzle. And the funny thing is that I've actually suspected Annis before. (sometimes spelled Annice) I've seen her name in the bastardy bonds as having children that are illegitimate. There is one for 1831...could the guy listed beside an Annice Eason be Phoebe's father? I'm not sure. That's a question that will be researched later. But for now, I think I can find out a lot about Annice. She had a few more children, so sometimes if you reseach them, you can find out more info as well.

Now I get to add Annis (I'm not sure how to spell it yet!) to my tree! :)

Found John Hardy and my grandma in 1930

Now I know why I couldn't find my grandmother and great grandfather in the 1930 census. They've got his name down as John BRIDGEN!

One letter off really makes a difference. I managed to find this record the same way I found Ada. Just did a search using first name only. No luck with John but I tried Elsie. Sure enough, Elsie Bridgen appeared. I knew she had to be living in Coopers and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find it. But now i know.

YAY! And now I can figured out the rest of John Hardy's children! :)

I think I found Ada in 1900!

I've been racking my brain and pulling my hair out trying to find my great grandmother in the 1900 census.

Well after repeated search attempts and a lot of frustration, I FOUND HER!!

Okay, not 100% positive but I'll say a good 95%!

I found an "Ada Baker" living in 1900, Coopers Township, Nash County. Her age is listed as 13 (and this would be correct at the time), birthday, Oct 1886.

As to why her last name is Baker...there's a simple explanation. Her relationship to the head of the house, who is Elijah Baker, is STEPDAUGHTER!

AND...her mother? MORNING! And Morning's year of birth matches what I had...1857. Morning was spelled wrong though, it was spelled "Moming" which explains why I couldn't find her before either. I've also found a record for Morning H. being the wife of Elijah. (Note her middle initial is H) It's got to be the same one as Morning H Davis!

The last census we saw Morning in was 1880, but a lot could have changed in 20 years. I figure Joel died and Morning remarried. Simple as that.

YAY! This is GREAT NEWS! And how appropriate I find out this info on Oct. 22, which happens to be Ada's birthday! :) Happy Birthday, Grandma Ada!

Found Parker family in 1930 census!

If you go to ancestry.com's 1930 census search page and do a search for William B Parker and Ada Parker, or any of the other Parker family members, you will not find them. But when i went through the census page by page, like all 40 or so of them, guess what? I found them.

I think for some reason, they didn't get indexed by the site. I mean, an exact search should find them. They're right there! I know they are in the census b/c i saw it with my own eyes. I saved that page. I don't want to lose it again.

But now to the point of this post. I've been having trouble finding other family members in the census. For one, I can't find John Hardy or my grandma in the 1930 census (and she should be living with him since she got married later in the year). Of course, I only searched Coopers so maybe they lived in a different township. I also cannot find Ada and her family in the 1900 census. I searched Coopers last night but turned up no Davis family of mine, so I'll have to search another township.

I'm starting to wonder how many other ancestors I can't find when I do a search are actually there but the person indexing the names forgot them. I was really surprised to see my family there in 1930 and seeing no record of them in the search.