How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

These photos were taken at the Conservatory and Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas.

William O. Jones Born Dec. 5, 1888 Died Mar. 30, 1952 Bayview Cemetery, Morehead City, NC Picture taken by Mojo Warren Image courtesy of Find A Grave. William Oliver Jones was my maternal 1st cousin 3x removed. He was a son of Louis Oliver Jones and Esther Lincoln Jones and the nephew of my 2nd great grandfather, Alexander Hamilton Jones. He was a lifelong resident of Morehead City, NC.

Wow last week was a complete blur! I've just returned to my quiet little corner of the world after a week in Vegas. My husband and I took the kids and had a working vacation. Husband worked and shopped MAGIC Market Week while the kids and I hung out poolside at the Rio All Suites Hotel and rode roller coasters in the Astrodome at Circus Circus. On my last post I showed a picture of me and my kids holding on for dear life while on EL LOCO. If you missed it, here's the link, Wordless Wednesday: Three Faces Of Fear . At the end of each fun filled day, I would retreat to the comfort of my hotel bed with headphones in place and enjoyed listening to the wonderful voice of Mary Carter Stone. Now you may ask, who the heck is Mary Carter Stone? She's a woman who was born in Riverdale, NC, one of the places where some of my ancestors came from. Before leaving for our trip to Las Vegas, I was doing some random Google searches using the search term "Riverdale, NC" an...

For some strange reason,  I thought it would be a good idea to ride a roller coaster on Tuesday.  Actually, it turned out to be a couple of roller coasters. I mean really I should know better. I am not 19 or even 29 anymore. I am 41...almost 42 and my body doesn't respond as well to certain things as it once did. Well with all that being said, I survived and had a wonderfully exhausting time at the Astrodome at Circus Circus in Las Vegas.

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net   The Daily Journal , April 6, 1889, Page 4 If anything, I know that my maternal 3rd great grandmother, Amy Brown Harris, paid her taxes. The newspaper article highlighted above has her name misspelled, but nonetheless it is her. She paid them again in 1891. New Berne Weekly Journal , April 9, 1891, Page 2 Amy/Amey Brown was born around 1830 in Jones County, NC based on information found on the U. S. Census and her daughter, Sarah Jane Harris Whitney 's death certificate.  I wish I could say I knew more about the circumstances of her birth, but sadly I do not. She died before 1900, so there's no death certificate I can refer to to determine who her parents were. I was hoping that I might be able to find an obituary for her in one of the New Bern newspapers of the time, but so far no such luck. Besides these newspaper clippings, I have found her noted on the 1870 and 1880 census. Source Informa...

Like a lot of you out there, I am still in a bit of daze over hearing about the death of Robin Williams. Once I heard that it was a suicide, I thought of a poem that I wrote back when I was in high school.  No one can know the depths of the pain he felt except for him. If there is anyone out there on the verge of the darkness, please step back from the edge and listen. Listen to the love, not the lies. Listen to the words of encouragement from friends and family. Listen to the voices of your children, especially their laughter. Listen to the strength of your own heart beating.  Just stop and listen and wait.  Pick up the phone, go visit someone. Don't be afraid to ask for help.  Don't listen to the lies. Don't listen to the voices in your head that tell you that you're not good enough. That you are not worthy. That you are alone. You're never alone.  Pray, ask for guidance. Listen to the love, not the lies. Rest in peace Robin Williams.

If you are not familiar with this wonderful project that was created by Julie Goucher of the Angler's Rest blog, please refer to this link: http://www.anglers-rest.net/book-of-me-written-by-you.html . This week's prompt is - Comics and Annuals Like many children I whiled away hours reading comics and looking forward to the Christmas annuals that "Santa" bought with a degree of regularity. So this week a trip down memory lane. Share the names of the comics and annuals - your favorites, special characters, memories Pop along to a popular on-line auction site and see what the annuals and comics of yesteryear sell for! I would say that fairly early on I fell in love with reading the Peanuts comic strip. When I was little, it would be the first thing I would read when the Sunday paper arrived. I think I imprinted early on Snoopy because one of the first stuffed animals I ever received was a Snoopy doll. See the Snoopy doll? Yeah I was brainwashed. :) I t...