How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

This post is part of the Genealogy Blog Party hosted by Elizabeth O'Neal of the My Ancestors Descendants Blog . If you aren't familiar with the Genealogy Blog Party, be sure to visit her blog so you can learn more about it.  This month Elizabeth O'Neal has two theme ideas for posting. The second is a Cookie Exchange where you can share your favorite holiday cookie recipes.I have to admit my family wasn't much into baking cookies during the holidays when I was kid. My family made pies. Perhaps, it's time to start a new tradition though. I am eager to see what recipes bloggers share as part of the blog party.  Theme idea number one is to share what I consider to be my best genealogy find of the year. I would have to say my best genealogy find of the year has been connecting with DNA cousins. DNA testing made it possible for me to confirm my Sampson County, NC roots through my great grandmother Ella Kerr Smith Dixon. You can learn more about my great grandmother ...

It's been a while...blah blah blah. Life has been busy, blah blah blah. Sorry I've been away blah blah blah. I'm a taxi mom blah blah blah. Okay good. So we've got that all out the way now so I can get down to what's on my mind. Last night, I had time to think. Who knew that would be a luxury item. Time to think. Well these days it is. So back to it. I had time to think and I had a potential Aha moment. Of course we'll have to see if this does eventually pan out but I am happy to say that there are still brain cells in my head that are functioning and that are excited to be doing just that. This is what I was thinking about.  Yes that darn nemesis of mine. Ella!!! (Said like Stella a la Streetcar Named Desire.) If you are new to my blog then I will mention that Ella Kerr Smith Dixon, my paternal great grandmother has a tendency to keep me up late at night. What if Ella's mom was a Henry and not a Murphy? Or what if she was both? Right n...

I have to start somewhere with this Murphy line, so here goes nothing. I wrote about wanting to break through the brick wall of figuring out who the parents of my 2nd great grandmother Tina Jane Murphy Kerr were in my post  Dear Genea Santa, What I'd Like Most For Christmas... . I have a couple of Murphy DNA cousins among my matches list on Ancestry.com, one in particular looks really interesting and has my crazy genealogy brain all jazzed up.  I began by looking at the 1880 census to see what white Murphy families resided near my 2nd great grandmother in Franklin Township, Sampson County, NC. If my 2nd great grandmother's chosen surname was Murphy then there's the strong possibility that name was taken from the family who owned her prior to emancipation. Source Information:  Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 1880 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.  Source ...

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 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 ...

Elizabeth O'Neal of the blog Little Bytes Of Life  is hosting a Genealogy Blog Party and I have decided to take part in it because it looks like a lot of fun. The theme for this month has a sci-fi spin to it. What if you could time travel to an ancestor!  Theme: You and The Doctor (of Doctor Who fame) have just finished saving the Earth from nasty, alien monsters. As your reward, The Doctor has offered to take you for a ride in his TARDIS to meet one of your ancestors! Who is the ancestor you will meet? What question(s) do you need him/her to answer? Is there a problem you can help your ancestor solve? Will you reveal your true identity to your ancestor? If so, how will your visit impact the future? (Remember what happened to Rose when she went back to meet her father.) Will you bring your ancestor to the future to meet his/her descendants? What will be the outcome, if you do? Oh how I wish I could do this for real. There's nothing that I wouldn't like...

Well, all theories start somewhere. This one starts with the question, What if Jacob Kerr's father was also named Jacob? If you've been following my recent posts then you know I have found what I believe is the bill of sale for my 3rd great grandfather Jacob Kerr of Sampson County, NC. From the records, I've found associated with him, his date of birth would have been around 1820. I've noticed that within the Kerr family line the tradition of passing down names to the next generation was a common practice. Jacob Kerr Sr. named one of his own sons Jacob. My goal here is to hopefully be able to go back another generation and find out the names of my 3rd great grandfather's parents. Looking at this hypothetical situation seems like a good starting point.  I believe that Jacob Kerr was purchased from a John Herring in 1823. He was a child probably no more than 2 or 3 years old at the time.  I've noticed among the descendants of Jacob Kerr certain naming p...

If you missed my last post, here's the link:   What A Great Resource! Slave Deeds Index At The New Hanover County Register Of Deeds . Reading that post will help with understanding this one. As a parent, you spend so much time holding the hands of your children. I remember when my kids were babies I used to stare at their little hands and feet in amazement. Everything worked the same as mine, their parts were just smaller of course. I saw this picture of a child's hand and it made me think of the anguishing moments before my 3rd great grandfather Jacob Kerr's mother had her son taken from her to be sold off. Perhaps the other child documented on this bill of sale was hers as well. If she knew what was coming, she'd pore over every last detail of their faces and bodies. She would remember them. The memory of them is all she would be left with. She'd absorb all she could in those last moments and then they'd be taken.  Image courtesy of the New Hano...