How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

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...

The folks in the genealogy community are some of the kindest most curious people you'll ever meet. They are problem solvers. They think outside of the box and they like to share what they know. People who carry these traits want you to be able to find your people. They find joy in it.  I would like to thank two members of genealogy community who helped me recently. As a result, I think I found my 3rd great grandfather Cesar Jones listed in a probate record for a William Jones (born about 1764 -- died July 9, 1838) of Onslow County NC. This William Jones just so happened to be the father of Allen B Jones who I wrote about in my post,  Digging in The Dirt --Part Three: Did Allen B. Jones Own My 3rd Great Grandfather, Cesar Jones? My first thank you goes out to David French of the Family History Society of Eastern North Carolina . Part Three of this series I published on August 2nd and David read my post on August 4th. He sent me an email that night, mentioning he had jus...

Me and Mr. Allen B. Jones might have a thing going on. Well at least that's what I'm speculating here. Sorry it's been a while folks. I hated leaving off in the middle of a series but I was in need of a break. I'm feeling refreshed now so it's time to dive back into things.  If you missed the first two parts of this series here are the links:; Digging in the Dirt -- Part One: Names And A Place Digging In the Dirt -- Part Two: Who Was Jonathan Hawkins? For those of you who are new to my blog, here's a quick summary of my Jones family line. My Joneses were originally from Swansboro, Onslow County, NC and then later settled in Morehead City, NC sometime around the Civil War. My 3rd great grandparents Cesar Jones and Mary Hawkins Mitchel Jones and their children were slaves prior to the start of the war. Based on information found in their son Carolina Hawkins's Civil Pension file , it appears that Carolina was owned by someone with the surnam...

Image courtesy of Find A Grave:  Created by: Robert Holland Record added: Feb 19, 2012   Find A Grave Memorial# 85208945 Grave of Jonathan Hawkins I see you Jonathan Hawkins. What I have right now is just circumstantial, but I believe there is a link between this man and my Jones family line who originated from Onslow County, NC. If you missed Part One to this series, click here . According to the stone at his grave, Jonathan Hawkins was born on January 25, 1786 in Onslow County, NC. He was a wealthy farmer who also owned and ran a salt works. He had at least 3 children, 2 sons John D Hawkins and William H Hawkins who also resided in Onslow County, and a daughter, Julia Ann Hawkins Eason. I reviewed through the Federal Censuses for 1820--1860 and was able to learn a little bit about the man. He owned 3 slaves as early as 1820, one female who's age was listed as 45 and over and 2 girls under the age of 14. By 1830, he had 0 slaves but there were 2 free women of c...

Digging in the dirt, stay with me, I need support I'm digging in the dirt to find the places I got hurt Open up the places I got hurt Lyrics from "Digging in The Dirt" by Peter Gabriel I decided to take a break from Carolina Hauckins my 2nd great grand uncle, just for a little bit. I have more to share about him but I will come back to that at a later time.  As a result of researching Carolina, my interest in his parents Cesar Jones and Mary Hawkins Mitchel Jones has become reignited. I want to know more about their lives when they were enslaved. So you know what that means. Yes, I've been doing some digging.  While doing this digging, I also had the opportunity to watch the Roots reboot on The History Channel. If you missed the initial airing, find the time at some point to watch it. Seeing it reminded me that with every generation of my family that I research, there's a layer of mental and physical suffering just waiting to be uncovered. I ...

My last post was one that I had started a few weeks ago, but just got around to finishing last week. In it I mentioned how I came across a man named Carline Hauckins when I did a review on what I knew about my 3rd great grandfather Cesar Jones. If you missed that post click here .   I ordered Carline's Civil War Pension file to see if in fact we were related.  I wasn't going to rely on just what was on Carline's  death certificate. Yes, it did list a Cesar Jones and Mary Jones of Morehead City, NC as his parents. Were these my Cesar and Mary? Well, Christmas came early this year because guess what came in the mail. You guessed it, the pension file. Did I get answers? Yes. Will I share them? Yes. First, I have to clear one thing up in particular. His name was Carolina Hauckins. Previously, I referred to him as Carline and that was incorrect. So from this point on, Carolina is how I will refer to him. Here's a look at how Carolina's potentially connected to ...