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Showing posts from April, 2013

Tombstone Tuesday: The Grave Of Mary Mitchel Jones

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Mary Mitchel Jones My 3rd great grandmother Stone reads:  Mary M. wife of Cesar Jones, Born Jan. 21, 1823, died Feb. 22, 1900. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Bayview Cemetery, Morehead City, NC Psst! Guess who's will I found recently. Look for it in an upcoming post.

The Atlantic Hotel In Morehead City

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Postcard of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City, N.C., sitting right on the water. Date 1909. Image courtesy of the Digital Collections, Eastern North Carolina Postcard Collection "Atlantic Hotel, Morehead City, NC." Photograph taken by Bayard Wooten, ca. 1905-1915 Image courtesy of  Durwood Barbour Collection of North Carolina Postcards (P077), North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hil The building of the Atlantic Hotel in Morehead City in 1880 had an incredible impact on the city's economy.  The area became known as the "The Summer Capital by the Sea." and created many jobs and opportunities for those who lived nearby. One of my Jones ancestors may have worked at the Atlantic Hotel. For certain, I know that the husband of my 2nd great grand aunt was affiliated with the establishment.  Here are my Jones ancestors listed in the 1880 census for Morehead City.  Image courtesy of Ancestry.com: Source Infor

Something About Me Saturday: When We Were Young

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Tom and I --September 1995      Now don't get me wrong, I know that I am not that old so maybe excuse the title just a bit.   It's just interesting to look at this picture now. It was taken on the back deck of the apartment my then boyfriend, now husband was living at. We were celebrating his 40th birthday. Now, I am the age he was in this picture. It's interesting to be in these shoes now. I realize how much of a baby I was then and I still wonder what on earth was he thinking, picking up this fresh out college girl. This leads me to the story of how we met.       My first job out of school was selling advertising for a local radio station.  I was very excited to get the job. I even had my own business cards. (In my mind, having business cards of my own, meant I was grown. Ha!) Anyway one day I walked into a certain shop and guess who I tried to sell air time to?  You guessed it. Tom. He listened intently to my sales pitch and then politely declined. He walked

Morehead City...The Beginning --part two

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Image courtesy of North Carolina Civil War Image Portfolio from the UNC Library.  "Beaufort, Fort Macon and Morehead City, from the balcony of the Macon House, Morehead City." 1862.  Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, April 26, 1862, p. 388. If you missed part one to this series here's the link:   Morehead City...The Beginning . One piece of information that was mentioned in "Morehead City Centennial Jubilee Book," I want to highlight here again. Only about one-half of the 600 acres of the Arendell property was surveyed and laid off into streets and building lots in readiness for the first auction sale.   This section of land ran from the terminus of the railroad at the wharf to 15th street in the city. I will go over a theory I have regarding the family land in an upcoming post and how this last statement plays a role in that. There's also lots of  information about the founding of the town in another book I own called, "A Pictor

Morehead City...The Beginning

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Image taken from "Plan of the city of Morehead: at the termination of the Atlantic & North Carolina Rail Road, Beaufort Harbor" Created by Charles L. Ludwig for the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company. Date depicted circa 1857.  From the North Carolina Maps Digital Collection, hosted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The last couple of days I have been pouring over books I have in my collection regarding Morehead City, NC.  This town holds a special place in my heart because it was the home place of many of my maternal ancestors. In fact, my roots have ties to this town going back almost to it's beginnings. I will go into further detail about that in an upcoming post. For now, I thought it would be good to share some history about this special place. John Motley Morehead, who was the 29th governor of North Carolina, had the idea to develop this area, to take full advantage of it's great natural harbor. The following is an ex

Something About Me Saturday: My First Baby Picture

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On the outside of the card that holds my first baby picture. And here's me.

Some Answers...More Questions

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After I celebrated finding out Frank Bryant Jr.'s middle name was Mitchell on my post  Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Rosa Mitchell Jones , I reviewed what other information was on the will. a)Frank Mitchell Bryant received his grandmother's house and land that the home resided on.   1400 Fisher St, Morehead City, NC Frank Sr. and Ophelia Bryant's home. Lot where 1404 Fisher St once stood. Part of 1400 Fisher St can be seen on the right. The house that once stood here was very similar in design to 1400 Fisher St       My 2nd great grandmother, Rosa Jones, lived at 1404 Fisher St in Morehead City, NC, next door to her daughter Ophelia Bryant.  Frank Jr. was the oldest of Ophelia's seven children, so perhaps it makes sense that he inherited his grandmother's home. According to my mother, Frank always lived with his grandmother and referred to her as "mother." Upon learning this, I questioned why?  Then I thought about the circumstances.

Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs In 2013

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I was so surprised to find my blog listed on Family Tree Magazine's 40 Best Genealogy Blogs list for 2013. I found out when my friend and fellow genealogy blogger Yvette Porter Moore of The Ancestors Have Spoken  sent me a message on my Facebook wall. Her message read, "Girl!! Your blog made the Top 40 Genealogy Blogs!!! Congrats to you!!!" I would like to send a huge thank you out to Family Tree Magazine for this recognition and to all my readers for following me on my genealogy journey. Here's the link to the article at Family Tree Magazine:  http://familytreemagazine.com/article/Top-40-Genealogy-Blogs-2013

Sometimes It's The Little Things That Make Me So Happy

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Microsoft Office Downloaded Images On my last post,  Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Rosa Mitchell Jones , I got the biggest kick out of one the little things revealed by the will. I bet many of you can relate to this next topic. I have discovered ancestors with middle initials that I have no idea what they stand for.  You'll go around asking different family members, "Hey, Do you know what such and such's middle name was?" You ask maybe in just a little too excited tone of voice and your family looks at you like, "Okay is that middle initial really all that important?"  Well, for me it is. I don't know. I just like to know as much as possible about my ancestors and yes even those teeny weeny little details, I get excited about.  The relative with the mystery middle initial this time was Frank M. Bryant, the grandson of Rosa Mitchell Jones. Frank was the eldest child to my great grandparents Frank and Ophelia Bryant of Morehead City, NC. No one i

Amanuensis Monday: The Will of Rosa Mitchell Jones

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Rosa Mitchell Jones My 2nd great grandmother Sometimes I feel like a bit of a fraud when it comes to this whole genealogy thing. The reason is that I have been blessed to have access to so much information on-line. My ancestors managed to reside in places where good records were kept and those records have made their way into cyberspace. I shake my head and say to myself, "Why should I be so lucky?" Then I say, it has to be for a reason. These folks want their voices to be heard.  So with that being said, here's another thing I came across recently, the will of Rosa Mitchell Jones.  I wrote about my 2nd great grandmother on other posts. In case you missed those, here are the links. So our people owned land... The audacity to own land. , Fearless Females --Six Word Memoir Tribute Image courtesy of FamilySearch.org :  North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735-1970  Carteret Wills, 1925-1948, Vol. G  Image 124 North Carolina, Carteret County,      I, Rosa

Something About Me Saturday: My Kindergarten Class Picture

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When I look back on my life, I group the events that have taken place in three categories. A) My years living in Cambria Heights, Queens, NY. B) My years living on Long Island (specifically, Lake Ronkonkoma) C) And then my Upstate New York years. This picture is from category A. This is a photo of my Kindergarten Class, taken in 1978. I attended St Pascal's Baylon Catholic School in St Albans, NY, until I entered the fifth grade. That's when my family moved to Long Island.  My mother was very happy that both of her children had Mrs. Carroll as their first teacher. I loved her. She was an incredibly sweet lady who knew just how to talk to children. I remember some years after she left teaching that she sold encyclopedias door-to-door. I found it so odd seeing her sitting in my living room one day chatting and catching up with my mother. My little mind just couldn't wrap itself around the concept that she was doing something other than teaching. My mother purchased a

The Earrings

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Talk about interesting discoveries this week...Woohoo! Here's another one.  I have to say I have been very impressed with the updates to records on FamilySearch.org. If you have North Carolina roots people, get thee to FamilySearch because there is a ton of good information available online. Keep in mind some of these records are indexed and some are not. If you have time and patience though you may be able to uncover some really cool things. The most recent thing I found was in the North Carolina, Probate Records, 1735--1970 collection under Carteret County Wills for 1925--1948, Vol. G.  It was the probate record and will for my 2nd great grandmother, Jonas Bryant.  Jonas Bryant was the mother of my great grandfather Frank Bryant of Morehead City, NC.  I know very little about my 2nd great grandmother. From information found in census records, I know she worked at one point as a clammer but more often she worked as a maid. Anyway, when I came across this record, I was especial

Wordless Wednesday: Two Little Girls

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Me at 4 years old My daughter at 4 years old

Amanuensis Monday: Irvin Ellison's Will

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Image courtesy of Familysearch.org: North Carolina, County Records, 1833-1970 Beaufort Wills, 1808-1968 Page 2880 Here's a refresher on who Irvin Ellison was. He was my 3rd great grand uncle and he lived in Washington, Beaufort County, NC. His sister Caroline Ellison Bryant was my maternal 3rd great grandmother. Before I get into Irvin's will, I wanted to give a shout out to Bernice Bennett's Blog Talk Radio show,  Research at the National Archives&Beyond. If you missed her show on April 4th,  Dower Slaves & Administrative Court Action -J Mark Lowe, CG , click on the link. Bernice Bennett's show runs every Thursday at 9pm and if you have the time and love genealogy, you should definitely tune in.  J Mark Lowe was the featured guest this week and he presented tons of great information. One of the things I took away from listening to the show was the importance of reviewing court minutes and county records.  This inspired me to go take a look again on

New! Something About Me Saturday

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I think I am going to start a new tradition on Saturdays and write something about me. At some point, I am going to cross over and become one with the ancestors. I need to make sure my kids and future descendants know a little something about Andrea Kelleher. So here goes. I have dabbled in quite a few things in life. In high school, it was creative writing. I wrote a few short stories and some poems too. A couple of those poems were published in my high school's creative writing and art magazine called Dimensions. Here's two of them. (Warning! These were written when I was seventeen. You may detect a bit of teen angst.) "A Loss of Innocence" by Andrea Kelleher "Drowning" by Andrea Kelleher

My Husband's 23andMe Results!

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So what's in my husband's DNA closet? Image courtesy of  Idea go/ Free Digital Photos.net Let's just say his results were a bit more homogeneous. My husband's mother was of English and Irish descent while his father's family was just Irish. I thought perhaps that there was something in there that he didn't know about. Perhaps just a little something, something? Here are his results: Image courtesy of 23andMe. That's right folk, I am married to the whitest man in America! Okay maybe not the whitest. I think that title went to Stephen Colbert when he was featured on Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Faces of America  series. If you missed Stephen Colbert's DNA reveal, here's a link to an episode of him on his own show The Colbert Report with Gates as his guest. I think my husband may be able to give Stephen a run for his money. Ha! Taking a closer look at his European roots, 23andMe was able to provide a little more detail about

What's In My Husband's DNA Closet?

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Last week I revealed the results of my 23andme DNA test. Those test results weren't the only ones my family had been anxiously awaiting for. I bought two tests when the company dropped their prices to $99 --one for me and one for my husband.  His results came back a week after mine. What was lurking in his DNA closet? Microsoft Office Downloaded Images To be continued...