How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

If you are not familiar with the Genealogy Blog Party hosted by Elizabeth O'Neal on her blog My Descendant's Ancestors, be sure to check it here . This month's theme: TELL A STORY OF LOVE I believe this picture fits the bill. Here's a picture of my paternal grandfather Harold Murrell Sr. looking particularly dapper. It's from a collection of photos I recently inherited from my father.  I think the the story of love you will find on the back. Gee,  It's grand to be loved by a person like Harold. He's my weakness and I  am not ashamed to confess  that I am madly in love with  him. My grandmother Ethel Smith Murrell was the author of these words. I believe this picture was taken when my grandparents were courting.   Now, how sweet is that!  You can read more about my paternal grandparents Harold and Ethel Murrell  here .

Wow! Has it been a year already since the last Genealogy Blog Potluck Picnic?! Time flies. Last year, Elizabeth O'Neal of My Descendants Ancestors blog hosted the first potluck picnic on her blog. If you missed it, click here .  This year she is back again as our wonderful host to the festivities. It's not too late to join in. You can check out the details for this year's event here .  When you are invited to a potluck event, you are asked to bring a dish. A Genealogy Blog Potluck Picnic is no different. The theme put forth by Elizabeth O'Neal is this: Q: TELL US HOW YOU DID IT. This is a broad topic that can cover just about anything genealogy-related. The only requirement is that you explain how you did it. Well what I'm bringing to this year's potluck is this. How I created an on-line tree to test a theory I had.  My theory involved a man by the name of Carolina Jones. He's someone who I stumbled across while doing research on my 2nd gre...

It's genealogy blog party time again! Elizabeth O'Neal of the My Descendants Ancestors   blog is back hosting and has provided this month's theme. If you aren't familiar with the blog party, please take time out to visit Elizabeth's blog for more information.  This month's question is: How Will You Preserve Your Family History Research For Your Descendants? There's been a few things that I've been doing to preserve my research. I realized early on that I would have to turn all these bits of birth records, censuses, and various other records into something my descendants could relate to. Also, I had the oral history that was passed down to me from various relatives. Lastly, I wanted to record the excitement of discovery. You know that moment when you catch yourself gasping out loud because you found something out for the first time. All this had to be transformed into stories. The point of view of course was mine.  So with all that in mind I s...

If you are not familiar with the Genealogy Blog Party, be sure to stop over to host Elizabeth O'Neal's blog Little Bytes of Life to learn more. For the December Genealogy Blog Party, the theme is to share your Christmas wish list. What will you ask Genea-Santa for this year? Dear Genea Santa, What I'd Like Most For Christmas would be able to break down a brick wall regarding one of my Sampson County, NC ancestors. Specifically, I'd like to figure out who were the parents of my paternal 2nd great grandmother Tina Jane Murphy Kerr? Do I have any theories, ideas or notions? Sure I do. What I'm working on now is ...Proof! I should however share with you a little bit of what I know thus far regarding Tina. In my post,  Great Grandma's Name Was Ella. After That It Gets Complicated , I shared that I finally had discovered the name of my 2nd great grandmother despite not having much information regarding the life of her daughter Ellen "Ella" K...

If you are not familiar with the Genealogy Blog Party, be sure to stop over to host Elizabeth O'Neal's blog Little Bytes of Life   to learn more. November Theme:  Celebrating Tradition Share a favorite holiday tradition. Examples:   A favorite family recipe or complete meal; A display of treasured ornaments and decorations; Watching special movies or TV shows together; Attending parties and other gatherings. One day, I will be able to recreate them. At least that is my hope. What am I talking about? I'm talking about being able to make my Grandma Murrell's rolls. Those rolls were only one of many culinary feats my grandmother was able to accomplish in her tiny kitchen. It's the smell and taste of those rolls I long for when the holiday season comes around. Here's me with my grandma back when I was in high school, posing in her kitchen.  You know anyone who owns an apron like that one means business in the kitchen. When I was a kid, the aro...

My bad! I almost completely forgot about the Genealogy Blog Party going on over at Elizabeth O'Neal's blog Little Bytes of Life . Elizabeth put forth the theme of sharing the strangest thing you've come across while doing genealogy research. Well, this was mine. A cousin of mine was kind enough a few years back to share several pictures of folks from my Jones family line, including this one. This picture isn't in the best condition but you can still make out that it is a medical student performing an autopsy of some sort. It is a picture of my 1st cousin 3x removed William Thomas Jones.  He was born in 1886 in Morehead City, NC to William Henry Jones and Emma Shepard Jones. He was a promising young medical student in this photo. His life was tragically cut short by influenza in 1918.   Even though the subject matter is a bit strange, I am still glad that I have this picture. Pictures help to strengthen our connection to those who lived before us. 

If you are not familiar with the Genealogy Blog Party, be sure to stop over to host Elizabeth O'Neal's blog   Little Bytes of Life for more information.  August theme: Elizabeth O'Neal is hosting a Genealogy Blog Potluck Picnic!  All are invited to bring a dish, and by dish she means a favorite genealogy resource. One of my favorite things to do is to check the register of deeds for whatever county I am currently researching. Many have online portals where you can look up deeds and sometimes vital records of your ancestors. I have to give a special shout out of appreciation to two offices in particular both of which are located in North Carolina. The Sampson County Register Deeds and New Hanover County Register of Deeds online portals each provided with me with the means to make some amazing discoveries about my ancestors.  In my post  52 Ancestors 2015 Edition: #17 Gabriel Kerr --Putting Together The Pieces Of His Story , I was able to extend o...

Can I tell you I was so relieved to learn that Elizabeth O'Neal of the blog Little Bytes of Life had extended the deadline on the July 2016 Genealogy Blog Pool Party! I thought I had missed out on all the fun. If you aren't familiar with the Genealogy Blog Pool  Party and this month's theme, please click here . This month's theme:  Do you have an ancestor who makes your research absolutely miserable? Ah yes, yes I do. His name is John Edward Smith or as I like to refer to him, Mr. Smith.  Mr Smith, why oh why did my paternal great grandfather have to be named of all things --John Smith? Really, I mean REALLY :( Yes. Really. (sigh) Oh well. What'cha going do? Here's how Mr. Smith is connected to me. What do I know of his life? Not much. According to the information that was listed on my grandmother Ethel Smith Murrell's birth certificate, his occupation was a carpenter and he was 35 years old when his daughter was born. My grandmother Ethel ...

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons  Author  Jbolden030170 If you are not familiar with the Genealogy Blog Party, be sure to stop over to host Elizabeth O'Neal's blog Little Bytes of Life for more information.  For the June Genealogy Blog Party, tell us about your strongest ancestor.  What situation did s/he endure?  How did s/he survive? What sort of strength did s/he display? BONUS for GoT Fans: How does this experience qualify him/her to sit on the Iron Throne? Not a Game of Thrones fan? No worries. Just tell us about your strongest ancestor.  Game of Thrones is one of those series I've been meaning to get to but there seems to be so many good shows on TV and simply not enough leisure time to catch them all. One day soon though I'll get to it hopefully. I take it that whoever is deserving of the Iron Throne must be someone who is is extremely strong both physically and mentally. Well, I would say that honor I would bestow upon my...