Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:    Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 50 (December 10-16) – Naughty. We all have an ancestor who probably received coal in their stocking. It's 11:16pm so I am really getting down to the wire with getting these prompts done.  This picture I posted here on this blog before a couple of years ago but I couldn't help but to re-share it especially since it seems to fit the theme here. Now by no means do I think that my maternal grand uncle Ray Bryant was deserving of receiving coal in his stocking but this picture definitely shows how he could be a bit "naughty" at times. Ray Bryant, Mary Bryant Horton (my grandmother), Annie Marie Bryant Barnes seated on couch.  Eloise Bryant Grigsby seated on the floor. My uncle Napoleon Sanders is kneeli

Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:    Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 49 (December 3-9) – Holidays. What ancestor do the holidays put you in mind of? I did pick my 2nd great grandfather Thomas Duke Harrison for Week 42 of this year's challenge but I don't really see any reason why I can't choose him again especially since his birthday fell on Christmas Day.  Plus I am running short on time in regards to getting caught up on these prompts before the New Year. It's 5:26 pm EST as of this writing so time is a ticking. (Smile) According to Thomas's death certificate he was born on Christmas Day. The year he was born was most likely around 1856 based on what was listed on an early marriage record for him.  I've featured my 2nd great grandfather quite often on this blog.

Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:    Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Oh boy, I am really in for it now. I have 4 weeks worth of prompts to catch up with by the end of tomorrow. Can I do it? We'll see.  Week 48 (November 26-December 2) – Thankful. November 26 is Thanksgiving in the U.S. Interpret the “thankful” theme however you’d like. Now you're probably wondering what this thing is I created. It's a word cloud that I made for free on the website  WordClouds.com . This was my first time making one of these and I think it came out not too shabby.  So what does this have to do with the theme "thankful?"  The places that I've listed here are some of the places my ancestors came from. These were the places they called home. Finding where my ancestors lived and res

Image courtesy of the book, Craven County  by Lynn Salsi and Frances Eubanks Dave Sampson is on the left. Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:   Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 47 (November 19-25) – Sporting. Do you have a relative who was involved in sports? This theme was a bit challenging for me. I had to think outside the box of typical sports to find an ancestor that fit this topic. Then I remembered that hunting is often considered a sport and so I decided to go in that direction with this week's prompt. My 2nd great grand uncle David Sampson was an excellent cook. He was the chef at Camp Bryan a hunting campground found in Craven County, NC.  He was not only a chef but quite the hunter as well.   In my post,  Thankful Thursday: Thankful For Another On-Line Connection ,

Blog Caroling is back everyone for 2015!  This beautiful tradition was originally created by Footnote Maven many years ago. I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Go and enjoy your loved ones company. Share stories and make new memories.  I love me some Patti just like Mr. James Wright Chanel . I've decided to share this recent performance of O' Holy Night she sang with John Legend on TARAJI & TERRENCE'S WHITE HOT HOLIDAYS 2015. Sing along if you wish or just sit back and enjoy. O' Holy Night Composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chretiens"(Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau. Singing version created by John Sullivan Dwight (information courtesy of Wikipedia) O holy night, the stars are brightly shining; It is the night of the dear Savior's birth! Long lay the world in sin and error pining, Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,  Fo

Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:   Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 46 (November 12-18) – Changes. Highlight an ancestor that went through many changes or that you had to change your research strategies to find. I am still behind on this challenge but I'm not giving up. I will finish it. Hopefully, it will be before the start of the new year. Well let's be honest. That's probably not going to happen since I haven't even finished wrapping all my holiday shopping. I will just keep pushing forward knowing that at some point I will cross the finish line :) I've chosen for this week's prompt to highlight the life of my maternal great grand aunt Lillian Harrison Barrow.  During her lifetime she went through a few different name changes because she was married 4 times.

I recently purchased online a book called Sailing the Carolina Sounds:  Historical Places and My Favorite People by James T. Cheatham because it featured a small chapter about one of my ancestors. I found out about the book after doing a search on Google to see if I could learn anything new about any of my Hester relatives and Bingo! I found this. James Arthur Hester is connected to me through my mom's side of the family. He was the nephew of the husband of my 2nd cousin 2x removed. He was also the dockmaster at Morehead City Yacht Basin for 50 years.  I haven't had the opportunity yet to read the book in it's entirety. I look forward to some time after the holidays when I can catch up on my recreational reading. Anyway, I was able to read a portion of the book on-line before I made my purchase. The snippet made mention of why James Arthur Hester was so successful at his job. I couldn't help but smile after reading it. James's success with boat owners and c

Image courtesy of  Freshwater and Marine Image Bank at the University of Washington. Menhaden fishermen lifting a purse-seine net. Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:   Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Willis Harvey Jones Sr. was a menhaden fisherman. He was also my 1st cousin 3x removed on my maternal line. Here's how he's connected to me.  Willis was born on February 6, 1890 in Morehead City, NC. He was one of 9 children born to William Henry Jones and Emma Shepard Jones. Three of his siblings worked in the medical field. Willis and his brother George were the fishermen. You can learn about how important the menhaden fishing industry was to Carteret County, NC in this article that was published in Our State magazine. Here's the link:   The Fish That Built Beaufor

My daughter was home sick today from school so we spent the day hanging out together. She asked if we could play Super Mario Bros. on the Wii, something we hadn't done in a while. Mario was my game back in the day, so of course I said, "Sure!"  As we were playing she said the following: "You know that Princess Peach really should do something more than just say thank you for saving her.  I mean really after all these levels. She should at least make us some sandwiches or something." If I had had a drink in my mouth at the moment she said that, the liquid would have squirted out of my nose from laughter.

Amy Johnson Crow, the author of the blog No Story Too Small, is the host of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Blog Prompt series. If you are not familiar with the project please click on the following link:    Announcing 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: 2015 Edition. Week 44 (October 29 – November 4) – Frightening: Do you have an ancestor who did something frightening or lived through a scary event? Do you have your own ghost story in the family? Now is the perfect time to share! Can you imagine being 4 years old, the eldest of five children and your home and entire neighborhood caught fire. There's nothing left when it is all said and done. Just rubble, ash, chimneys reaching up toward a cold December sky. Feeling lost, lonely, confused and probably heartache for losing all that was familiar to you. That 4 year old happened to be my grand uncle John Thomas Harrison Jr. The Great Fire of New Bern took place on December 1, 1922. To learn more about what occurred that fateful day, you ca