How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

I've featured pictures of my paternal grandfather Harold Murrell Sr. in his National Guard uniform, here on this blog before. If you missed that post, here's the link:  Military and Mappy Monday: Harold Murrell's National Guard Enlistment Card Harold Murrell Sr was a Private First Class for Co. I of the 369th Infantry. I am guessing this is a picture of his company.  Harold Murrell Senior is pictured in the center.

Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.  Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Today was a gem of a day! I did some more digging for information on my step-grandmother's first husband, Harry E. Sutton. If you missed my earlier posts regarding him, here are the links: And Then...That Was When I Felt It More About Harry E Sutton, My Step Grandmother's First Husband I found an account of what happened during the evacuation of Hungnam beachhead during December 1950 and the role that the platoon led by Lt. Harry E Sutton played in it. An excerpt from Rhinelander Daily News, December 21, 1950 : The Red assault disentegrated when each American was down to his last ammunition clip of eight bullets. That's how close the Reds came to penetrating at least the outer U. N. defense ring. The savage battle of "Sutton's Ridge" began before dawn Monday. The American counterattack ended Tuesd...

World War I and II Draft Registration Cards I have found to be extremely helpful when trying to locate male ancestors who moved and settled away from their birthplace. Henry C Jones, my 1st cousin 3x removed, was a prime example of this. He was another child of William Henry Jones and Emma Shepard Jones of Morehead City, NC. William Henry Jones and my 2nd great grandfather, Alexander Hamilton Jones, were brothers.  In this particular case, the last census I could find Henry listed living in Morehead City, NC was for the year 1910. Here he is at 18 years of age shown living with his parents and several of his brothers and sisters. Image courtesy of Ancestry.com:  Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. When I first started researching my Jones line, I was quick to go searching those individuals that stayed close to home. Why? Because it was easy. It was known. I kne...

In my last post, Sunday's Obituary: Another Obituary Reveals Clues , I presented how I had discovered another child of my 2nd great grand uncle, William Henry Jones. This child was also a brother to Oscar Dunn Jones. I didn't know of James Edward Jones's existence until I saw his name mentioned in his brother Oscar's obituary. Happily, I found on Ancestry.com his World War I and II draft registration cards. Source Citation: Registration State: North Carolina; Registration County: Carteret; Roll: 1765626. Source Information:  Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005 Now I have a date of birth for James Jones, Jan. 8th, 1895.  I like draft registration cards because they give you a little snap shot in time of the lives our ancestors. In 1917, he was doing hotel work at a place called Gray's Armory in Richmond, VA. He was single and was claiming exemption becau...

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–...

William Bryant's WW I Draft Registration Card Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. William Bryant's was my 1st cousin 3x removed. Specifically he was the son of Rose Bryant, my 2nd great grandmother's sister. Rose Bryant I have found on only one census record and that is for the year 1880. I believe she may have passed away sometime before 1900 because I have only found her name listed only on one other document and that was on her son's death certificate.  Here's the 1900 census for Morehead City featuring the Bryant household: Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004. The household consisted of Caroline, Jonas (referred to as Jane here),John, William and Frank. Jonas and John were Caroline's children, Frank was Jonas's son which leaves William but again ...

WWII Draft Registration Card for John Thomas Harrsion Jr. Source Citation: The National Archives Southeast Region; Atlanta, GA; Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group: RG 147; Class: RG147, North Carolina World War II Draft Registration Cards; Box Number: 155. WWII Draft Registration Card for George Augustus Harrison Source Citation: The National Archives Southeast Region; Atlanta, GA; Records of the Selective Service System, 1926-1975; Record Group: RG 147; Class: RG147, North Carolina World War II Draft Registration Cards; Box Number: 155. John Thomas Harrison Jr. and George Augustus Harrison were my grand uncles. They were siblings of my maternal grandfather, Lemuel Richard Harrison. I like draft cards because they help to give a quick snapshot into the lives of people. From these cards, I know places of employment for both men and that George still resided in his childhood home. John Thomas Harrison Jr, the eldest of thirteen, had e...

My great grandfather, Frank L. Bryant October 6, 1890--December 20, 1953 My great grandfather's father has remained one of those great mysteries as I have been researching my family tree. No one in the family knows who he was and I have yet to dig up anything conclusive. There was a record that I had been meaning to get a copy of for the longest time and finally last month I did. It was Frank Bryant's World War I Draft Registration Card. Unfortunately, there's an error on the Ancestry.com website for this database for Carteret County cards where it links to Lenoir County cards so I wasn't able to view the original. I knew it would be a long shot, but I thought maybe there would be a reference to Frank's father on this card.  I emailed the National Archives at Atlanta and within a day a nice lady emailed me back and wrote that they were able to locate the card and that it would be a $5 charge. I quickly called in a credit card payment over the phone to the...

Augustus Whitney (born about 1840--death before 1910) was my 2nd Great Grand Uncle. His younger brother Samuel Whitney(b.1856--d.1916) was my 2nd Great Grandfather. The Whitney line as I have discussed in earlier posts was of mixed ancestry, specifically, Portuguese and African. Samuel and Augustus's father, Thomas, I believe was of Portuguese Ancestry from the Azores while their mother, Margaret, was of African Ancestry. It turns out that Augustus was a Civil War Veteran who served with 35th United States Colored Infantry, Company D. Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S., Colored Troops Military Service Records, 1861-1865 What I find interesting about this is that I think one of the reasons Augustus's father and grandfather left the Azores was to avoid military service back in the Azores. The Azorian government in around 1800 put into law that any 14 year old male would have to enlist in the Portuguese Army for a period of time.  Life in the military there would ha...