Roots Digging

Life Changing Event

2011-12-31T13:04:00.001-05:00

Well, another life changing event for me to add to my tree, but have not quite been able to bring myself to do it just yet. Unlike the death of my Nephew, which was a very sad and very heartbreaking experience to add to my tree, this one is a happy addition to my tree and will hopefully branch out and expand. I just haven't quite been able to do it yet, it makes me a little sad because my little girl has gone and grown up and gotten married. It is a happy time and I will do it, but I'm a little melancholy about having to change her name (add her additional name I should say). She will always be a Whitt, but she is now a Tishy. So, it is time.

I am extremely happy for her, and now that I have had some time to adjust to her being married I will be able to go to my tree and add my new son-in-law to her branch, and will watch it expand over time. I think the last day of 2011 is a good time to add this event before the new year starts. They were married in 2011 so I will make sure they are added to my tree this year also.

Until next time....

2011-12-25T09:21:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all! Hope everyone has a great day :)

A Genealogy Mystery

2011-12-10T15:06:00.001-05:00

http://www.whiotv.com/news/news/local/crew-searching-family-firefighter-killed-1932/nFyT7/

When I read this story, I had to get on Ancestry.com and start looking up information on this persons name. I love these types of mysteries. I hope the family can be found. :)

Edit: Death information and a copy of the Death certificate I found at www.familysearch.org

https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X6SL-BL7
Name: Frank Smith
Titles & Terms:
Event: Death
Event Date: 15 Sep 1932
Event Place: Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio
Residence: Dayton, O.
Street Address: R.R. 8
Gender: Male
Death Age: 43y 1m 9d
Marital Status: Divorced
Race: White
Occupation: Fireman
Birth Date: 07 Aug 1889
Birthplace: Ohio
Estimated Birth Year: 1889
Burial Date: 19 Sep 1932
Burial Place:
Cemetery: Woodland
Father: Robert Smith
Father's Titles & Terms:
Father's Birthplace: New York
Mother: Ella Lorain
Mother's Titles & Terms:
Mother's Birthplace: New York
Spouse:
Spouse's Titles & Terms:
Reference Number: fn 54859
Film Number: 1992668
Digital Folder Number: 4001624
Image Number: 1045

Collection: Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953

2011-12-05T15:35:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving brings back memories of going to my Great Grandparents farm in Jamestown, Oh. I remember the pies Grandma Nora made. Recently a relative asked me if I knew of anyone in the family that may have her pie recipes. Unfortunately I do not know of anyone that has them, but I am going to work on finding out if anyone may know. I would love to have them and be able to make them for Thanksgiving myself. Especially since this past Thanksgiving we had no pies to eat, not even store bought ones. I will make sure that future Thanksgivings will not be pie-less. M

2011-11-24T21:44:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! From my blog to yours.. :)

2011-11-13T12:29:00.001-05:00

Photo project in mind relating to Genealogy. Just in planning stages, but hopefully will not have to plan for long. I am going to enjoy it immensely!

Happy Birthday Marilyn Jean Jameson Mussetter

2011-07-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

You are 85 years young today my lovely grandmother.
I love you and miss seeing you at Indian Lake. Those fish are not the same without you there.

Brakeall/Breakall Delimma

2011-07-01T08:05:00.000-04:00

So a year and a half later I am ready to go back to the Clinton County Courthouse and look more into the Frank Brakeall birth discrepancy. I've looked at the census records again...more than once. The 1870 census shows a Frank Brakeall who at the time was 1/12 years old. ( 1 mo. old) in the Martin B and Rebecca A Brakeall household. The 1880 census shows no Frank Brakeall in the household, who would be at least age 9-10 years old. The 1890 census, most of us know it's very limited and in this case, there is nothing to search. Then we have the 1900 census that show Frank Brakeall son of Martin and Ann R. born June 1886, which would make him 13 years old.

So the dilemma is what happened to the Frank Brakeall in the 1870 census (will have to search death records in Clinton County). I have a copy of the birth record of Frank Brakeall for June 20 1886.

There are many who put in their tree that 1870 is his year of birth and not verifying this information is incorrect and should be looked at.

My plan is to go research in Clinton County on Tuesday, July 5th. PTO time is great. I have a four day weekend coming and will get out the research and notes.

Breakall/Brakeall research trip

2010-03-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

Finally have a free day next week on March 17 to plan my trip to Clinton County that I had to postpone. I will make some notes and see who else I need to research in that area. I want to make it as productive of a day as I can since I have started Medical Assisting classes and will most likely not have another free day for months to come.

I just received my new 2010 Family Tree Maker upgrade in the mail and look forward to playing with it.

See ya 'round the bend!

More on Breakall/Brakeall

2010-02-02T12:04:00.000-05:00

I decided to try to research more on the Breakall/Brakeall family. I have no records for them for the 1910 census. I have been looking high and low for them and can't find them anywhere for that year. It's frustrating and I do not know where else to look.

I will keep at it for awhile longer then I will take a break from this family and work on another line.

Hope everyone else is having better luck than me right now.

Trip to the Clinton County Courthouse

2010-01-26T09:52:00.001-05:00

I am planning my Courthouse trip to Clinton County tomorrow. I get the whole day off and will try to make the most of it!

Update soon.

Unfortunately I have to postpone the trip today. I woke sick and have the makings of strep throat. I will spend most of my in bed and having chicken broth to eat.

Charles Alfred Jameson

2010-01-14T14:03:00.005-05:00

I've changed the look of my Blog to include a picture in the header of my Great Grandfather Charles Alfred Jameson.

It is one of my favorite pictures.

Charles Alfred Jameson:

born 29 July 1897

died 28 Sep 1974

Parents are Samuel M. Jameson and Emma Almeda Tharr

Charles married Clara Rachel Carnes 25 Jan 1919

their children are:

Arthur Elwood Jameson

Marilyn Jean Jameson Mussetter

Patricia Agnes Jameson Allamon

Robert Alfred Jameson

Ivan Lee Jameson

Breakall / Brakeall Surname

2010-01-12T10:17:00.012-05:00

I have finally started organizing my Breakall/Brakeall family notebook.

I have a GG Grandfather that I need to get some clarification on the correct date of birth. I can see how this has become an issue after collecting all the documents that I currently have and organizing it into chronological order.

The problem family member is my gg grandfather Frank Brakeall:

Frank F. Brakeall

(someplace I had seen his middle initial as B but have not come across where I've seen it.)

Death - listed as Frank F. Brakeall dd. Sept. 24th 1948 (11:30 am)

states his bd. as June 20, 1882 and age as 66 years 3 mo. and 44 days

cause of death: Suffered gunshot wound to the chest (Suicidal)

Newspaper article - Frank F. Brakeall age 66

I found the news article at NewpaperArchives.com

U.S. WW II Draft Reg. Card - Frank F. Brakeall bd. June 20, 1883

U.S. WW I Draft Reg. Card - Frank F. Brakeall bd. June 20, 1884

1930 Census - Frank F. Breakall age 45 approx. b. 1885

1920 Census - Frank F. Brakeall age 36 approx. b. 1884

1910 Census - still need

1900 Census - Frank Brakeall age 13 listed birth date as June 1886

1890 Census - no 1890 to help compare

Birth Certificate - The copy I found from Clinton Co. Courthouse has two dates listed

beside his name. Breakall, Frank

First date is May 18th (not sure if the year is 1886)

Second date is June 20th 1886

parents are Martin V. and Anna R. Breakall. At the time I made this copy I did not think to copy the header at the top for each entry to know what the corresponding column would mean. So I will try to remember this in the future.

Ok. This is all the information I have at this time. I do not have a copy of his marriage record yet. I will add it to my check list.

The problem comes in when I do searches for Frank Brakeall/Breakall there is an 1870 census record for his parents Martin B and Rebecca A Brakeall

1870 Census Record includes:

Brakeall, Martin B. age 28

Rebecca A. age 25

William age 7

Martha age 5

John age 2

Frank age 1/12 (1 mos.)

1880 Census Record includes:

Brakeall, Martin age 39

Anna R. age 36

William age 17

Martha S. age 15

John A. age 13

Harry age 10 (born in 1870?)

Harvy age 8

Ida M. age 6

Florence age 3

Marla age 8/12

So far from what I can tell is that in 1870 there was a Frank Brakeall born in May of 1870. Which could explain why there are two dates listed on the copy of the birth certificate I have. But what about 1880? No Frank listed but Harry? who was 10 and would have been born in 1870. Did the name change for some reason? The fact the Frank was only 1 mo. old in Jun of 1870 he would have been born in May. So the likelihood that there were two Franks seems impossible and still have borne a child in 1870 named Harry? unless Harry was born in 1871 or 1869 and just happened to be listed as 10 yo in June of 1880 census? I don't believe that is the case, but I guess anything is possible, it is Genealogy. It just seems more likely they changed his name or possibly his name is Harry Frank?

At the time I got the Birth Certificate I did not know about the Census record showing a Frank born in 1870 and 1880 listed a 10 year old Harry, or I would have tried researching a birth certificate for Harry also.

The other problem is when I research my Frank at Ancestry, most people have the birth date of May 18th 1870 listed for my Frank who is married to Rita Robinson. It just makes me wonder if they really did the research on Frank or are they just going by what everyone else has entered based off the Census. All other documents for Frank F. Brakeall who is married to Rita Robinson lists his birth date as Jun 20th 1882/1886. The most convincing for me would be the birth certificate since it is written up pretty close to time of the birth event, so this would be 1886. (I'm wondering now about the other date of May 18th, just wish I had the book from the courthouse in front of me to answer that question.)

So this is a mystery. I think the most obvious answer would be to find a birth certificate for Harry, but I have not been able to go back to Clinton County to do anymore record searching. So this is a trip I need to plan to do again, and I can look at the book again that I originally found Frank's birth in. Needed records for all Frank's sibling would be helpful. That is a project I have been putting off for awhile.

I hope family members can help out too. I have not contacted many Brakeall/Breakall researchers yet, but will have to start searching for them now. I'm ready for another brick wall to come down!

See ya 'round the bend!

I have a Blog Award!

2009-12-13T21:30:00.000-05:00

I need to thank Judy at Tennesse Memories for giving me this wonderful award. I am thankful and honored by this.

Now it's my turn to pick seven bloggers to pass this on to and to list seven things about myself.

Seven things about me:

1. I've just recently found a long lost cousin through Facebook that I have not seen for at least 30 or so years and I'm so happy to have her in our family again even though she is several states away. It is amazing what Facebook had done for getting families together.

2. I play World of Warcraft to escape everyday life stress. It's nice to go to a make believe land for a few hours. :)

3. I love Photography, even though I am an amatuer at it, it is fun! I love to Photoshop pictures I take.

4. I hate Scrapbooking! But I may have to take it up since I have an ever mounting stack of pictures. Thank goodness for digital cameras! and scanners! I do not necessarily have to print them all out. Maybe digital Scrapbooking is more my speed.

5. There are times when I think I'm boring! LOL

6. I love sushi!

7. I love fruitcake!

My 7 Blog picks: (this was hard, there are way to many to chose from!)

1. What the Paper Won't Print (my wonderful Uncle Jim!)

2. Elyse's Genealogy Blog (she remindes me of me when I was her age as a young genealogist.)

3. Life's Journey

4. Talking Roots

5. Amy's Genealogy, etc. Blog

6. The Professional Descendant

7. Before My Time

That is my list, but it is not in the least a complete one but one's I wanted to give an award to.

See ya 'round the bend!

Scrap Paper Sunday for 12/13/09

2009-12-13T19:12:00.005-05:00

I just love this piece of Scrap Paper! The shopping list is awesome!

Emma LeValley and Christopher Carnes are my maternal Grandmother's (maternal) grandparents.

Successful Research

2009-12-12T15:49:00.021-05:00

Well, I was definately successful in my research! I even did the research and found the information the very same day I posted last, just didn't take the time to update til now. I was too excited and had to share with my Aunt Tanya. But here I am to relate what I found.

My father has an Aunt Marguerite Blair who died young. I've been told she never married and there was not much information regarding her. I could never find a Marguerite listed in the census records with the family, the only name that could have possibly been her would have been Sarah M. listed in the Census for 1920 as 6 years old and being born approximately 1914. I checked the 1920 census and it had been taken Jan. 1920, so Sarah would have turned 7 a month later. I believe she is the eldest of the 9 children. Her parents Robert and Bessie (Fowler) Blair were married May 25th 1912 and she was born almost nine months to the day later on February 27th 1913.

I had checked Ohio for death records to no avail. On a hunch I decided to check the Kentucky death records at Ancestry.com. To my surprise there was a Marguerite Blair Herrington listed as death date of Oct. 4 1932, parents were listed as Robert and Bessie Blair and married to a Frank Herrington! I was so excited I couldn't believe what I had found. All this time we thought she never married. I made a copy and sent it off to my Aunt Tanya. She was excited and could not believe the fact that she was married also. Which makes me wonder now if the siblings were told this or if they were just to young to remember. I also wonder now about the marriage and if there were any children of the marriage. Somehow I think not, but it is a matter that will have to be researched. I need a marriage license now. So off to do some more research regarding Sarah Marguerite Blair Herrington!

See ya 'round the bend! :)

Long Delay ...

2009-11-27T16:08:00.003-05:00

Well, I was not expecting to be sidetracked for so long from getting back to writing on the Rootsdigging Blog again. But some bug decided to attack me. For three weeks I suffered an upper respiratory infection that would not go away. I was tired for so long. I believe the tiredness stemmed from another health issue I am now dealing with. About a week after getting over my sickness, I had to have some blood work done on my thyroid levels...well, they were normal, to my surprise. I have a lump in my throat and thought the reason for the exhaustion was related to my levels being out of whack. They were not so they ordered an ultrasound which revealed a complex cyst on the right thyroid and they found a nodule on the left. Now I have to have a biopsy to determine if cancer is present. I will update as soon as I know more.

In the mean time...Happy Holidays!!!

I will try to write more this weekend if I can get some papers out and organized some. I have a Great Aunt that I would like to find more information out on and I'm not sure exactly where to start yet with her...so I will dig out what I have and research a little bit and see what I come up with. She is a mystery at the moment.

As my grandmother says (I hope she doesn't mind)...

See ya 'round the bend!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-09-30T07:11:00.005-04:00

Scrap Paper Sunday for 9/27/09

2009-09-27T14:18:00.036-04:00

Many a genealogist has scrap paper with little genealogical notes written on them. I have a collection of notebooks and planners that I have gotten over the years thinking I would rewrite all my little bits of scrap notes into the newest one and then I would just stay more organized from that point forward.
Well, it just never happens. If I'm unlucky enough to be out somewhere without one of my handy dandy genealogy notebooks for note taking then I find whatever is handy at the moment, like the example below:

The first bits of information I can understand; the last bits about Ky George & Elizabeth, not so sure why I was writing the information down. That's what I get for not adding a Surname next to them :(.

So my goal now is to take all these scrap notes and scan them. It will help me clean out my folders and de-clutter them and I can throw out some that I really do not need since I will have a copy saved to my hard drive. There will be those few pieces that I will keep hard copies of but I hope not to have to keep many.

Genealogy Blogging on a Saturday Night!!

2009-09-26T22:34:00.004-04:00

When I came across Randy Seavers' Saturday Night Genealogy Fun I got really excited. I found an earlier post he had done regarding 3 Genealogical Responses which I will post soon even though it was forever ago.

But this nights SNGF is one I do not think I will be able to complete. I can't for the life of me think of an absolute favorite #1 all time favorite song. It is impossible for me, my genre range is so wide there is no way to chose. So I will go ahead and post the 3 Genealogical Responses for tonights fun instead.

Tell us your three responses to the questions:

* Three genealogical libraries I frequent

The Genealogy Library Room at the Xenia Public Library
*wish I could add more

* Three places I've visited on genealogy trips

Fredrick, Maryland
Delaware, Ohio
Cynthiana, Kentucky

* Three genealogy societies I belong to (or want to)

Ohio Historical Society (belong)
NGS (use to belong, need to renew)
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (want to)

* Three websites that help my research

http://www.ancestry.com/
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://www.usgenweb.org/

* Three ancestral graves that I've visited

Blair family in Delaware, Ohio (Robert and Bessie Blair)
Mussetters in Woodland Cemetery in Xenia, Ohio
Michael Lorenzo in Locust Grove Cemetery in Peebles, Ohio (couldn't find grave)

* Three ancestral places I want to visit

Lorenzo's from Italy
Jameson's from Scotland
Blair's from England

* Three brickwall ancestors I want to research more

Michael Lorenzo b. in Italy
Keziah "Kitty" Creswell, Ohio
Frank Brakeall, issue with two different birth dates for him 16 years difference.

Well I had fun with that and look forward to next Saturdays fun.

A Trip Down Memory Lane

2009-09-26T09:11:00.009-04:00

The snow started falling lightly as we sat down to eat lunch at the Old Clifton Mill. Looking out the window we could see the water wheel churning water along the banks of the Little Miami River. My Mom was telling me about her and her three sisters and her brother playing along these banks when they were growing up. Now you can see some of the two and half million light strands lining the banks of the river, part of the "Legendary Christmas Light Display at Clifton Mill." We read the menu printed on the back of the Clifton Mill, a newspaper printed up telling the history of the Clifton Mill, "the largest remaining water powered grist mill in the United States", and the Village of Clifton, birthplace of Woody Hayes.
The trip my Mom and I had planned today was to visit the area they grew up and to get a feel for the area they used to know as home before they finally moved to Xenia, Ohio. I had known my Mom and her siblings had lived here for a few years growing up. My grandfather and his two brothers had also lived here for a few years when they were younger. They were about seven, five and three years old. My grandfather, Larry, was the eldest Bud was the second, and Frank was the youngest. At some point their parents had divorced and the three boys went to live with relatives. Their father worked hard to save money so he could take them and raise them. After some time their father took them and moved to a place on Larkin Road with some other relatives. They slept in the barn there. Their father would go out and pick up scraps and dump trash from the workers of the Three C Highway being built at the time. There was not much money to be made, but the workers knew about the boys living in the barn so they would take food and cardboard and hide them inside the barrels for them when their father would come and make pick ups. The cardboard they used to cover the cracks in between the wood walls of the barn to keep the snow from coming in on top of them while they slept. There were times when they would wake up with snow on the blankets and they would have to get up and shake it off. Eventually their father found a job working on the railroad, and he was able to move with the boys to Xenia, Ohio. Many years later after the boys were grown and gone he remarried a sister of his first wife and they lived out on a farm in Jamestown on Jamestown-Gunnersville Road.
We drove along Wilberforce-Clifton Road looking for Larkin Road. The barn was no longer there, but the little house that their relatives lived in was still on the corner lot next to a gully full of trees with snow covering them. You could see both roads right now, but in the spring and summer when the leaves cover the trees you wouldn't be able to see the main road. I tried to picture the barn standing behind the little house with no step under the front door. Today was the perfect day to get that feeling of trying to put myself in my grandfather's place. The snow was falling harder now, and I was trying to keep warm as I pictured them sleeping in the barn with the cardboard covering the walls to keep the snow and wind out so they could be a little warmer.

Written Jan. 26th 2001 by: Michelle Whitt

Genealogy and Dead Relatives...

2008-10-19T19:58:00.013-04:00

I have been researching my family history for a long time...approximately 15 to 20 years there about. I deal with researching birth, marriage and death certificates. I love Graveyards and visiting them. I enjoy learning different things about family members that I have known and have never known. Finding and sharing information with others is a joyous experience. Finding dead relatives is a fun hobby. I am happy to add the information into my FamilyTree Maker program. I will always love my hobby.

However, as much as I love my hobby and will never stop working on my family history; it has changed drastically for me. Never did I ever think about having to put information into my family tree that has affected me so much. The death of a child (young adult) who is so close to you is the most heartwrenching experience to ever have to do. I did not want to do it. It took at least a month or so for me to open up my family tree file and have to enter that information. My heart was breaking and I cried as I was entering it.

My Nephew was just 19 years old, too young to be entered into my family tree yet. I have other family members that were teenagers when they died and I have entered that information. They would have been my age had they lived and I hope we would have kept in touch, but they were in other states at that time and we hadn't seen each other in years. The had passed away years before I started my genealogy hobby, it was just natural to enter their information into my family tree. But to enter my nephew into the tree just didn't seem right or natural, he should not be in there. He should be here spending time with his parents and siblings at the lake every weekend enjoying the time they always shared.

One thing will always be true he lived his life like his favorite motto:

Dream as if you'll live forever, Live as if you'll die today...
RIP C.A.R.
We miss you and we'll always love you...

Those Death Certificate Copies

2008-04-01T10:40:00.005-04:00

So I received them finally and from what I can tell so far they are not directly related to my Michael Lorenzo...they could be distant, but that is hard to tell without any more information concerning Michael's family members.
As I was searching through my Ancestry.com site, I found someone who has listed his birth place as Matrice, Campobasso, Italy...how accurate that is I do not know...I sent an email to this person but have not received a reply... :(
I'm still hoping for one, but it's been about a week and half now...this person had no parents listed for him though...I do have his death certificate with that information and would gladly give a copy to anyone that would like to have it.
Where they received the birth place information is what I would like to know...his death certificate just states Rome. Obviously this information was given by his wife at the time, but someone who lists Matrice, Italy I would like to know where that information came from...my best option at this point is to figure out how to research the records for that area of Italy without having to go there...
I think the Family History center would be the first place to start and I will be going there on Friday, since I will be off and will have some free time to spare. I would love to go back to the Records and Archive center in Xenia, but I need to get the Family History center done as a top priority.

Well, until then....!

Death Certificate Copies

2008-01-31T12:10:00.007-05:00

and by the way...you can now buy copies of Death Certificates for Ohio at http://www.ohiohistory.org/ for 7.00 a copy...

Search over 500 million names at Genes Reunited.co.uk

Lorenzo

2008-01-31T12:05:00.007-05:00

Michael
Lorenzo...if not then I have 3 copies of death certs that only cost me several bucks, but well worth the money spent since it would cost me more in gas money and time off work to go searching at records and archives center....when I get them, and if they don't match I will post and see if anyone else is looking for these particular people.

Until then...

Keziah (Kitty) Creswell

2008-01-07T13:34:00.006-05:00

Looking for more information about Kitty Creswell parents. Kitty was married and divorced from William Eli Mussetter. (have copies of divorce records). The copy of the death certificate lists John Creswell and Cynthia Ann Osborn...I cannot find any information regarding this family.

Hitting the inevitable Brickwall

2007-12-08T22:37:00.007-05:00

It is inevitable that during Genealogical Research you WILL hit this legendary "wall" known as the Brickwall.

I have many in my research...

Michael David Lorenzo is probably the hardest for me right now...
he came from Italy and married Rachel Agnes Gardner from Ohio.

They married in 1893, and for the life of me I cannot find a record
of marriage for them. I cannot find a naturalization record for Michael
either. It is told that he hid away on a boat from Italy to America, so
there is probably no record of him on a ships list...

Census records indicate that he was Naturalized in 1895, but I cannot
find this particular record.

Ancestry has been a great help for me in my research and I keep checking
this site almost daily for anything that might be new or that I have possibly
overlooked in my researches.

But I trod along and will one day find what I am looking for.

Until next time...Livin life in the past lane!