How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

181-15 N. Conduit Ave, Springfield Gardens, NY Street view --September 2013 Image courtesy of Google Maps. Image courtesy of Google Maps. You know what is funny. I don't even remember why I went to pull up a picture of my maternal grandmother Mary Bryant Horton's house this morning, but whatever the reason was doesn't really matter. Bringing up this image on screen kind of really made my day. This is why. Back in June of last year I wrote a post called,  Mappy Monday: Bits And Pieces Of My Childhood . In that post, I shared how my grandmother was very proud of her home and I featured a few pictures that were taken in her yard.  At the end of the post, I showed an image of her home that was on Google Maps that just about broke my heart. Here's that picture: 181-15 North Conduit Ave --August 2012. Image courtesy of Google Maps. To get a full sense of the evolution the home went through I went and used Google's new tool where you can...

Today was a day I needed a little something to make me smile. Nothing bad happened to cause my ill mood. It was just one of those days. Maybe I woke up with a "case of the Mondays." Well, this newspaper article that I came across helped me get out of my funk and actually crack a smile. My 2nd great grand uncle, Dave Sampson, I have written about previously on this blog. He seems to have a way of popping up in something entertaining from time to time. His wife, Mary Mitchell Sampson and my 2nd great grandmother, Rosa Mitchell Jones, were sisters and that is how he is connected to me. If you are new to my Dave Sampson, here are the links to my posts about him: Dave Sampson a True Riverdale Character --Part one Dave Sampson a True Riverdale Character --Part two My Speculation Regarding Dave Sampson's Parentage Friday Funny: A Tale From David Sampson Article from Page 4, Hope Star (Hope Arkansas)  January 28, 1930 Caption under the pictures ...

My grandfather Harold O. Murrell in his National Guard uniform. Looking sharp! My grandpa is standing in the back row, the second from the left. I came across my paternal grandfather's New York National Guard Enlistment Card recently on Ancestry.com. I knew he had served in the National Guard from what my father had told me. About a year ago he shared these pictures with me of his dad in uniform. Two of these photos were featured on this blog before in the posts, My Grandpa, Harold Murrell--Part three  and  Wordless Wednesday: Pictures of My Grandpa --Harold Murrell . The first picture above I had forgotten I had. I thought it would be good to feature them here together.  (front) (back) Source Information: Ancestry.com. New York, U.S. National Guard Enlistment Cards, 1923-1947 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Original data: New York State National Guard. National Guard Enlistment Cards, 1923–...

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email that said I was invited to try the latest update to Google Maps. I didn't really explore the program, until just this morning and lo and behold I was pleasantly surprised by something. Some street views that were previously unavailable were now miraculously able to be seen. Specifically, I could now see a street view of my childhood home in Queens, NY as well as the houses of my grandparents. These are homes I haven't seen in years, so my curiosity was peaked to see what sort of condition they were in. I am happy to say that three of the four properties I looked at today are still kept up well for the most part. My maternal grandmother Mary Bryant Horton lived in Springfield Gardens, about a fifteen minute drive away from my childhood home. It is a place I visited often through the years. I loved spending the night at grandma's because it meant I could stay up late and watch Fantasy Island. My grandmother helped raise my cousi...

Microsoft Office Downloaded Image If you missed my prior posts that mention Elizabeth Jones, my 2nd great grand aunt, here are the links: On The Hunt For Elizabeth Jones Sunday's Obituary: Dr. Oscar Dunn Jones After figuring out that Elizabeth Jones was alive and living in Philadelphia as of 1943, I decided to see if I could locate her on the census.  Good news! I did. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002. Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls. I found an Elizabeth Jones on the 1930 census living at 2124 Fitzwater Street who I believe was my ancestor. She was listed as  single and owner of her own home. Three roomers resided with her, two of which were an Alexander and Daisy Jones. I bet you a...

Microsoft Office Downloaded Image Okay, I am going to have to save up my pennies and plan another trip to New Bern and Morehead City. The reason why is, now I know where the family land was located in Riverdale, NC. Riverdale is a little town located approximately 9 miles south of New Bern and was where my Mitchell and Sampson family lines once lived. I had plotted out a guesstimate of where I thought the property may have been in a prior post called  Mappy Monday: So where was Mortimer Mitchell's land. It turns out my guesstimate wasn't too bad. I was online a couple weeks ago looking up info on the Craven County Register of Deeds website when I had found the deed regarding the property my grandmother, Mary Horton, and her siblings had sold in 1998. While reviewing the deed, I found a section that mentioned a survey map that had been created by Atlantic Survey & Design. Survey info listed on the 1998 deed I called the Craven County Register of Deeds office ...

 I so love using Google Maps to get an understanding of where family lived. I was able to get a general sense of where the land that Mortimer Mitchell owned by looking for clues in the deed description. Here is a map from Google Maps that looks at the Riverdale, Craven, NC.  If you take West Fisher Road to the end where it meets County Line Road, you will find Mount Olive AME Zion Church. I use this as my starting point since in the deed  says 6 acres were to be excluded for a church and meeting house. Now Mount Olive AME Zion Church I believe is the current church that is as at this sight, but I believe that there was an earlier church for African Americans on this land going back to before Mortimer Mitchell purchased his land. Well back to the deed it says the following:  "lying on the northwest side of the Meeting house branch, Beginning Where the Main Road crosses said branch thence down the branch to the great branch and With the great br...