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1855 Ballew, Harry Flanagan, Mason F
1853 Blankenship, John & c Blankenship, James atty F
1855 Bryan, George, conv. Meadows, Andrew F
1854 Bryan, George, conv. McFarland, Dweitt F
1855 Bernard, W.W. Bernard, John F F
1855 Bryan, George conv. Webb, John F
1855 Brown, Kenyon Warriner, Lewis T. F
1855 Bryna, Beorge conv. Stephens, Joseph F
1855 Barger, Janiah Grider, Fredrick F
1856 Blankenship, David & c Ballenger John & c F
1856 Bryan, George, conv. Owsley, John E. F
1856 Bryan, George conv. Cravins, John F
1855 Belk, Milton Wooldridge, Jesse & c F
1856 Bibey, Allen Warriner, Lewis T. F
1856 Brown, Benjamin T. Vaughan, Benjamin T. F
1856 Bernard, W.W. Prather, Gideon H. F
1854 Bryan, George conv. Miller, John F
1856 Brown, Kenyon Warriner, L.T. F
1856 Bryan, George conv. Leach, Hubert & c F
1856 Ballenger, Daniel Ballenger, Berryman F
1857 Bradshaw, Fields Litrill, John F
1856 Bradshaw, Albin & c Ruse, James H. F
1857 Beck, John & c McFarland, Madison F
1857 Bradshaw, Seth Bradshaw, Timolin F
1856 Blankenship, Jesse Blankenship, Cornelius F
1856 Barshim, Isham Coffey, Jackson G
1856 Bradshaw, Jonas & c Bradshaw, Elijah G
1854 Bryan, George conv. Long, Samuel G
1856 Bryan, George conv. Long, Samuel & Edward G
1857 Bryan, George conv. Gabhardt, George G
1857 Burchett, John Jackman, Adam G
1857 Bernard, John T. & c George, Henry C. G
1855 Brown, William J. Ruyley, Bryant W. G
1858 Briley, George W. Simpson & Walkup G
1857 Boyd, John & c Boyd, James G
1858 Bradshaw, Elijah & c Gosser, William H. G
1854 Barger, Daniel B. Barger, Josiah G
1858 Bradshaw, William A. Wheat, John R. G
1858 Buster, William L. & c Boyd, James G-103
1858 Boyd, James & c Buster, Lucy G-103

Flu Epidemic

As a high school math teacher, I’m VERY aware of the current flu situation, especially as it relates to younger people.  In one grade level at our school 2/3 of the students were home ill yesterday and today. Each day, I spend time disinfecting desks, passing around the bottle of hand sanitizer and watching students for signs of fever.  

I’ve heard this flu epidemic compared to the flu epidemic of 1918 and it made me think about how my ancestors could have been affected.  It takes alot of extra time to work with students who have missed classes, so my library research time has been limited, but Ancestry is available 24/7!  Tonight, I decided to calculate the number of deaths attributed to flu during 1918 in Russell County. 

On Ancestry, for 1918 there were 128 death certificates for Russell County.  25 of those deaths were due to flu and all of those occurred between September and December.  In 1919, there were 11 deaths out of 117 recorded.  I thought the number would be higher, so I wonder if that means a lower population (hmmm, the math teacher in me wants to figure out the percentage) or if families were more spread out or if the flu in this part of the state wasn’t as bad as I was expecting.  During the same time, there were many still births and a few with unknown causes of death and I wonder if those were flu related.  I made a list of documented flu deaths for Russell County.  I am absolutely CERTAIN that some of these names are incorrect.  The handwriting on some of these certificates was very difficult to read!  I didn’t find anyone from my family in these certificates, but I thought they might be helpful to someone. The list format is image number – cause of death;  name – age – date of death. 

1918

65 – Spanish influenza;   Lanis Biba – age 10 – 9/14
66 – Spanish influenza;    Dortha Grant – age 1 – 9/18
67 – Pneumonia complicated by Spanish influenza;   Robert Grant –age 32 –;   9/16
70 – Haematimesis – caused possibly from influenza;   Avert Andrew Meece – age 6 mos – 10/24
72 – Pneumonia following influenza;   Voda Thomas – age 34 – 10/25
75 –  Influenza;   Lilian Johnson – age 2 – 10/25
76 – Influenza;   Cora Wilson – age 34 – 10/26
77 – Influenza;   Evona Wilson – age 2 – 10/27
78 – Asthma and influenza;   Lola McBeath – age 21 – 10/30
79 – Influenza;   Ollie McGormd – age 22 – 10/27
81 – Influenza;   Rosa Gosser – age 13 – 10/19
82 – Influenza;   Medron Weir – age 2 – 10/19
84 – Influenza;   Lucy Muses – age 21 – 10/17
87 – 5 months child caused from mother having influenza;   Sallie Grider – 10/16
89 – Influenza;   Bertha Downey – no age – 10/22
94 – Influenza;   Estal Popplewell – age 5 – 11/5
96 – Spanish Influenza;   Reltz Morgan – age 35 – 12/3
104 – Influenza;   Doretha Tarter – age 39 – 12/29
106 – Asthma and influenza;   Vinnie Wade – age 21 – 12/29
107 – Influenza;   Maggie McKinley Cook – age 17 – 12/17
110 – Influenza;   Verl G. Jasper – age 26 – 12/31
111 – Influenza;   Wealthy Perkins – age 38 – 11/11
114 – Influenza;   Pauline Ross – age 5 – 12/20
115 – Influenza;   Anibell Johnson – age 38 – 12/11
122 – Spanish Influenza;   Tina Morgan – age 41 – 12/5

1919

4 – Influenza;   Stanley Brown – age 14 – 1/15
5 – Influenza;   James Cecil – age 8 mos – 1/17
6 – Influenza;   Annie Kearns – age 34 – 1/16
7 – Pneumonia following flu;   Rutha Eliza Morrow – age 63 – 1/3
8 – Influenza;   Bennie D Wilson – age 1 – 1/20
10 – Influenza;   Jackson Jasper – age 4 mos – 1/11
24 – Influenza;   ?? J. Gossage – age 26 – 2/23
31 – Flu;   Alta E Wilson – age 2 – 2/16
35 – Bronco Pneumonia resulting from influenza;   Alma Harris – age 23 – 4/3
48 – Epilepsy (contributory Influenza);   John Q Phelps – age 60 – 6/24
53 – Influenza;   Jonathon Blakey – age 82 – 6/11

After making this list, I decided to do a simple count for Adair County as well.   In 1918, there were 76 deaths out of 296 due to the flu.

How long will the current flu epidemic last?  I don’t know, but I hope it isn’t 2 years like the Spanish Flu epidemic was!

FTM Dreamin’

I’ve spent quite a bit of time with my new FTM 2010 software and as I work through my database, I’ve been thinking about things I love about the software and things I’d like to see improved.

I love that I can download my tree from Ancestry and all of the photos I’ve uploaded come along with it.
     I wish that the images of the census records were downloaded as well.  I don’t understand the reasoning behind allowing me to manually download them, but not do it automatically. 

I love that the source citations are automatically downloaded with the tree.
     I hate that I have to click every single census source to tell it not to include the citation text in the footnote.  Not only that, but there were no spaces put in the template when they created the citations, so I have to put those in manually.  (For example: Name:  Susan RumboBirth:  abt 1831KentuckyResidence:  1880White Oak, Adair, Kentucky, United States) For EVERY single census source!  I’m talking hundreds and hundreds of source citations!  I could probably tolerate the lack of spaces if only I could find the option that would allow me to unclick all of the “Include in Ref. Note” boxes at the same time, but if I’m going to be looking at every source to unclick the box, I might as well add the spaces so that when the tree moves into the next upgrade, they’ll be correct.

I love that the Sources screen shows me who the source is linked to.  I’ve found several sources that are linked to no one.  Makes me wonder how they got there in the first place, but they are easy to delete!

I wish there were an easy way to download any changes I’ve made on my Ancestry tree into my FTM software.  Unless I’m missing something, I’ll either have to manually enter the information (and I can’t seem to make my manually entered sources match the way the look coming directly from Ancestry) or I’d have to export a new GEDCOM and then merge it with my current FTM file.  Holding off on this because I’m sure there’s any easier way to do this!

I love the map feature with the Places menu!  In my ultimate dream, these maps would also have historic options so that I could see a map of current day places and then click a button to compare the same area at different time periods.  THAT would be heaven!  Even something simple like a combination of the current map with an overlay of the county boundary changes over time like the ones you can find on familyhistory101.com would be incredible.I’d also love to have a notes panel next to the map so that I could add historical information about the area and also the ability to add links to keep track of web sites about the area or other maps that I’ve found online.

I can’t imagine doing my genealogy research without Family Tree Maker and and I look forward to seeing what the future holds – I just hope that I can learn all of the new features with 2010 before another update comes out!

I’ve been doing a more than average amount of research this week – and I’m loving it!  But I haven’t taken any time to write about it, so I thought I’d jot some quick thoughts.

I’ve been working my way “up” my family tree – double checking sources, updating notes and FTM, spending time in the library – all things that I don’t normally get to do as much as I’d like during the school year.  I reached my Stephens branch and realized that I had never put together any notes for this family, so I’ve been working on those and as I’ve been doing that, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at some sources that I’ve never checked before.  I’ve had Andrew J. Stephens, son of William Stephens in my Russell County line for a long time, but I’ve never taken the research outside of Kentucky.  Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to do that.

I knew that Andrew was born in Mississippi because of census records, but I didn’t know where.  I think I’m getting closer to figuring that out.  I was able to find a marriage record for Andrew Stephens and Lucy Stephens (aha!  That really WAS her maiden name!) in 1858 in Ripley County, Missouri.  I had never considered searching Missouri and I’m still not sure what the connection is to that state.  Because I have no family information for Lucy, I wonder if that’s where her line comes from, but so far, no luck in finding that.  I do not find a Lucy Stephens of the correct age in an 1850 Missouri census, so that train of thought is on hold for now. 

Andrew and Lucy didn’t stay in Missouri for long.  They had 1 daughter there (Nancy E.) and then all 3 of them show up in the 1860 census in Alabama living with Andrew’s family – William Stephens and Nancy Wiggleton/Wiggenton (still haven’t figured out this line either.)  By 1861, Andrew and Lucy show up in Metcalfe Co, Kentucky.  There, I can find the death record for Nancy and the birth of their first son, William Dudley.  I believe a 2nd daughter, Mary Elizabeth, was also born in Metcalfe Co, but so far, I have not found that record.  (Mary Elizabeth is the branch for my direct line, so I’d really like to find this!)

I cannot find Andrew and Lucy in the 1870 census, although William and Nancy appear in the Russell County census.  I suspect that Andrew and Lucy are nearby, but not indexed correctly, so the search continues!

As far as William and Nancy are concerned, I’ve found them in 1850 in Marion County, Alabama and then in 1860 in Franklin County, Alabama.  Franklin County is the county to the north of Marion County.  There are Land Grant records for Marion County for William Stephens from 1839 and 1858, but how can I tell if this is the same William that I am researching?  There is one other William Stephens family also in Marion County and so far, I can find no records to help me sort them out.  I know I could order the original files, but since my husband has been unemployed for a year now, my budget for genealogy is pretty slim!

Most of William’s children are listed in the census records as being born in Mississippi, so I thought that maybe I should search Mississippi counties that are near Marion and Franklin County.  There is a William Stephens in Tishomingo County, Mississippi (one county to the west of Franklin and Marion County).  I have found the 1840 federal census and 1845 state census for Tishomingo County.  Of course, these only list the head of household, but the ages of family members seem to match pretty well.  Somehow, I need to find some type of records to help me confirm or disprove this line – but what???

Any other Stephens researchers out there who’d like to work on this together?

This is a continuation of my transcription of the Russell County Deed Index book.  Working on the B’s.  Some pages were microfilmed in such a way that the page numbers were unclear.  If that was the case, I noted the Book only.

1851 Belk, Logan S. Helm, James E-322
1851 Bernard, William W. Robison, Mathew E-381
1851 Bernard, william W. Judd, Jesse S. atty E-384
1850 Buster, Claudius C. Heurns, Richard H. & c E-391
1852 Blair, William Stone, Witham E-396
1852 Browder, William Browder, James E-415
1852 Belk, Milton Wooldridge, Christian E-418
1852 Bernard, william W. Williams, Susan & c E-433
1851 Blankenship, G.W. Jackman, Thomas & c E-440
1852 Bowlin, John C. Richardson, Richard B. E-446
1852 Beck, John & c Cloghun, J.W. & c by atty E-450
1842 Bowmer, James Bowmer, John E-461
1852 Ballew, Harry Wooldridge, Alexander & c E-465
1852 Bernard, John T. Rexroat, Silas E-467
1852 Beau, Robert Miller, George W.D. Sheriff E-469
1852 Brown, Joel Bernard, Abner E-487
1853 Bradshaw, John Shepherd, Franklin E-505
1852 Bernard, W.W. Satterfield, S.H. E-534
1852 Blankenship, Hudson Helm, Jacob E-555
1853 Bernard, W.W. Bryan, George E-556
1853 Blankenship, Joel Green, Wm M. F-2
1853 Bebu, Allen Hays, David & c F-45
1852 Bowlin, Isham Coffey, Franklin F-69
1853 Ballinger, Joseph Wright, W.R. F-75
1853 Belk, Logan S. Wright, Hiram B. F-76
1853 Brown, William J. Higginbotham, John W. F-84
1853 Blair, Burton Perryman, George W. F-88
1853 Bernard, Slanghter Bernard, John F-91
1852 Bryan, George Caldwell, William F-104
1853 Barger, Daniel B. Bryan, George F-107
1853 Bailey, James Bernard, Allen F-109
1854 Blankenship, Joel Singleton, Moses F-125
1854 Bryan, George atty Weseley, G.W. F-133
1854 Barger, Stephens Worsley, George W. F-140
1850 Bowlin, Ishham Bolin, John C. F-158
1854 Bernard, W.W. Owens, Hestor F-171
1854 Brown, George W. Coffey, Anderson F-191
1854 Barger, Janiah Stephens, Jonah F-201
1854 Bradshaw, William A. George, Henry C. F-206
1854 Barger, John H. Barger, Verlinda F-215

 This is a continuation of my transcription of the Russell County Deed Index book.  Working on the B’s.  Some pages were microfilmed in such a way that the page numbers were unclear.  If that was the case, I noted the Book only.

1848 Buster, Arthur Roy, Joseph E-5
1848 Brown, Rebecca Stone, N.B. & c conv. E-13 
1848 Browder, William Turpin, Salmon E-16 
1848 Bolin, Isham Happer, William E-22
1847 Barnes, Ozias Cain, Smith W. E-29
1848 Bowmer, John Muse, Janas E-71
1848 Bryan, George Smith, George H. E-88
1848 Bryan, George Semple, George D. E-90
1844 Benedict, Harrison Stephens, Robert C. E-99
1849 Barger, Jonah Coffey, Janiah E-140
1849 Bryan, George Lawless, John E-160
1848 Bowlin, John C. & c Brock, John E-166
1849 Bruding, Barnett Shearer, Hiram E-167
1833 Bernard, Hiram Wooldridge, William E-170
1847 Blair, James Brider, E-171
1850 Brock, John  C. Bolin, John C. E-195
1848 Bryan, George conv. Owens, Sarah E-204
1847 Bryan, George conv. smith, Elias E-206
1849 Barger, Daniel B. Haynes, William H. E-209
1850 Beck, Aann Shoul, Martain S. E-241
1847 Bryan, George conv. Stephens, Joseph E-271
1850 Bryan, George conv. Stephens, Joseph E-272
1849 Beldon, James Judd, Daniel T. E-291
1849 Bryan, George conv. Flowers, Berryman H. E-300
1848 Bryan, George conv. buster, Charles R. E
1849 Beldon, James & c Trustee Smith, Ambros E
1851 Brown, Rebecca Cook & Hays E-330
1851 Belk, Cynus W. Nicols, Solomon J. E
1851 Boyd, Isiac B. Coffey, Robert F. E
1851 Bowlin, Benjamin P. Webb, John E-369
1851 Bernard, Elizabeht & c Holt, Berryman E
1851 Belk, Clabourn Chapman, Edward E
1852 Browder, James H. Browder, William E
1852 Ballew, Haney Wooldridge, Alexander E
1852 Bowlin, B.P. Stone, N.B. & c conv. E
1852 Bowmer, John Bowmer, James E
1852 Bernard, William W. George, H.C. E
1852 Bashears, John Grisham, John E
1852 Browder, William McClure, Nathan atty E
1852 Bernard, John Jones, William E

This is a continuation of my transcription of the Russell County Deed Index book.  Working on the B’s.  Some pages were microfilmed in such a way that the page numbers were unclear.  If that was the case, I noted the Book only.

1840 Ballenger, David Owsley, Bryan Y. D-54
1841 Basheers, John Judd, Nathaniel D-59
1841 Bradshaw, Asuri White, John D-82
1841 Blankenship, John Cravens, Virginia B. D-83
1841 Bullock, Edward J. Garrett, Lewis P. D-84
1841 Ballew, George Cook, David D-91
1841 Bullock, Edward J. Shakelfone, Reubin B.  D-93
1842 Boyd, William & c Boyd, John & c D-98
1842 Barger, Josiah Kerns, Silas D-112
1842 Bledsoe, Joseph & c Turner, Smith D-145
1842 Bolin, Istham Bolin, John D-153
1844 Blankenship, John McKinley, Peter D-193
1844 Boleu, E.T. Cheatham, N.B. D-210
1842 Barger, Isiac Haynes, John D-220
1842 Barger, Daniel B. Patterson, Charles D-226
1842 Barger, Daniel B. Rowe, Joseph T. conv. D-237
1844 Blankenship, John Blankenship, Jess Sr. D-264
1842 Brown, Joel Wilson, Moses D-305
1845 Beck, Aann Semple, Charles D. D-337
1844 Ballew, Hustin Akers, Thomas & c D-377
1845 Barnes, Charles C. Patterson, Charles Agt & fam con D-394
1846 Bowmer, James Bowmer, John D-401
1846 Boyd, George Helm, George D-416
1846 Brown, Berry & c Owsley, Bryan Y. D-417
1847 Bradshaw, Seth J. Popplewell, Simca D-467
1847 Beard, Rebecca Perryman, Richard D-518
1847 Boyd, William & c Boyd, George D-532
1847 Boyd, William & c Boyd, James D-533
1847 Brown, Kenyon Flowers, Berryman H. D-545
1848 Bolin, Isham Owsley, Bryon Y. E-47
1848 Buster, John P. Jones, Allen E-68
1847 Bryan, George Lair, William D. E-78
1846 Blair, James Wolford, J.M. E-98
1849 Brown, Berryman Wooldridge, Lewis E-110
1849 Bryan, George Collins, James Sheriff E-138
1848 Brock, John Bowlin, John C. & c E-166
1850 Bolin, John C. Brock, John E-195
1850 Blankenship, Jesse Garner, Quarles E-212
1850 Bradshaw, Seth J. Selby, James E-232
1848 Buster, Charles R. Bryan, George E-302

Frustrated in DEED!

I have looked at very few deeds during the coarse of my genealogy research.  The ones that I have in my records have all been sent to me by other researchers and they were usually sent because they proved clues to family relationships.  So I knew that deeds could be very valuable and I ordered my first microfilms for deeds several weeks ago.

Because the microfilms are only available to me for a short time, I’ve been concentrating on scanning and saving, but I haven’t really read too many of them.  I recently downloaded a great program called Transcript and I have begun to transcribe deeds from my family line.  As I work on these transcriptions, it is not only difficult to read the older handwriting styles, but at times it just feels like a string of unrelated words meant to do nothing but confuse and make the writer seem more knowledgeable than he really was!  I’m sure that’s not the case, but to this newbie, it’s quite frustrating!  I’ve decided to do a little research on reading deeds and thought that I’d gather information that I find helpful into 1 page on this blog.  The post will not be conversational (I don’t think) but just a collection of things that I find so that I’ll be able to refer back to it.  Feel free to read along and let me know if there’s a web site I should be checking out!

I began my attempt to begin a new tree without actually starting from scratch in order to fix my source citations.  (My hat’s off to Amy at WeTree!  I wish I had the determination to do it the way she is!)

My plan was to install my new FTM 2010 software and to download my tree from Ancestry to build onto.  I thought that if I downloaded my online information, a great number of things would have sources automatically entered (all census records and many birth, death and marriage records) and then I could go back and enter sources from on site research, books, articles and correspondance on my own.  I thought that would save me a ton of time in entering names in addition to giving me a great head start on sources.

I was surprised to see that when I installed the new software, it automatically converted my FTM 2009 files into 2010 files, so immediately, I had the exact same tree with the exact same mistakes and jumbled sources.  I’m sure that the objective of the software designers was to do what I would want it to do in the most efficient manner. 

Not only did it automatically convert all of my trees, but somehow, a great number of names were duplicated due to different sources.  For example, I could have John Smith b. approx. 1830 based on an 1850 census and a John M. Smith b. March 1831 based on a death certificate.  So apparently, conflicting sources created multiple people.  Alot of my families now had double the number of children.  I tried to look at my “old” 2009 tree to see if it had been that way before, but since everything was converted to 2010 format, I couldn’t tell.

I thought that I would uninstall 2010 and then delete all of my 2009 trees.  I felt confident that my tree was backed up on my external drive, but not confident enough to empty my recycle bin!  Since I was away from home, I didn’t take that final step.  I re-installed 2010, but there must have been files in other folders on my computer, or 2010 found the files in the recycle bin.  I had the same result as before.

I tried to begin a new tree with a different name by downloading my Ancestry tree, but I was unsuccessful at that.  That may have been because the internet connection at my Mom’s is sporadic and tends to disconnect without notice.  By that time, I was not willing to spend more time on the project, so I concentrated on merging duplicate names – which removed a few hundred names from my database, but got me nowhere on correcting my sources.  I do need to try downloading my tree from Ancestry again – perhaps tomorrow. 

Not quite giving up on my plan yet, but starting to wonder if I’m spending more time than it’s worth to try to make this happen!

This is a continuation of my transcription of the Russell County Deed Index book.  Working on the B’s.  Some pages were microfilmed in such a way that the page numbers were unclear.  If that was the case, I noted the Book only.

1834 Bell, Benjamin Drydin & Bledsoe C
1837 Borslin, Benjamin Hill, Dempsey S. C
1840 Brockman, Thomas Winfrey, Thomas C
1838 Buster, William W. Vaughan, John & c C
1841 Brown, Charly W. Turner, Smith D
1839 Bingham, George Perkins, Richards D
1841 Bullock, Edward J. Twidwell, George W. D
1841 Bullock, E.J. Patterson & Smith D
1841 Bullock, Edward J. Dowell, Garnett cr & c D
1841 Blankenship, John McFalls, John D
1841 Bradshaw, Seth J. Law, Coleman D
1842 Bradshaw, William Twidwell, George W. D
1842 Boyd, John Boyd & Witham D
1842 Bullock, Edward J. Pattenn, James G. D
1842 Borolin, Jackson Owaur, Hamilton D
1842 Bullock, Edward J. Guar, John B. D
1842 Buster, Claudius Sheriff McClure, Nathan D
1842 Bullock, Edward J. McKinnley, James D
1842 Bolin, Istham Owsley, Bryan  Y. D
1842 Brown, Kenyon Flowers, Berryman H. D
1839 Bernard, John Hill, William R. D
1842 Bolin John Bolin, Istham D
1842 Blankenship, David McClure, Nathan D
1839 Bernard, John Hill, Will R. D
1842 Bullock, Edward J. Webb, Franklin D
1842 Bradleyt, Sim Forbes, Joseph R. D
1843 Buster, John P. McBeath, John D
1842 Bolin, Istham Forbes, Joseph R. D
1842 Bryan, George conv. Flowers, Berryman H. D
1844 Blankenship, Jess Sr. Blankenship, John D
1841 Bullock, Edward Herriford, Jacob B. D
1842 Bolin, Prudence Law, Coleman D
1844 Bullock, Edward J. Herriford, George D
1846 Brown, Kenyon Wells, Thomas D
1846 Bowmer, John Bowmer, James D
1846 Belk, James Owsley, Bryan Y. D
1846 Ballenger, Benjamin & c Miller, Wm. J. D
1846 Brown, Kenyon & c Clayton, P.M. D
1847 Boyd, George Boyd, William D
1847 Boyd, James Boyd, William D

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