How Did I Get Here? My Amazing Genealogy Journey

I took a little walk in woods yesterday at one of my favorite places. I love the Binghamton University Nature Preserve! I've been visiting this place on again and off again for over twenty years. It's a beautiful place especially this time of year. Feeling recharged.  Time to go home. © 2014, copyright Andrea Kelleher. All rights reserved.

If you are not familiar with this wonderful project that was created by Julie Goucher of the Angler's Rest blog, please refer to this link:  http://www.anglers-rest.net/book-of-me-written-by-you.html . This week's prompt is - What do I sound like? Describe your voice Perhaps include an electronic recording of your voice reciting a poem or reading a piece of writing. Maybe even this prompt response Do you have recordings of other family members? My voice is quite similar to my mother's. We both have deep voices. So if you want to hear what I sound like, click on the recordings. I used a website called Chirbit.com to create these recordings. The first is short. It's just me saying my name and the name of my blog. The second one is a quote from a lecture that was given by poet, author, and genealogist Laurence Overmire. If you can not see this chirbit, listen to it here http://chirb.it/4wB1NI Check this out on Chirbit If you can not see this chirbit, ...

I like to envision what the places my ancestors lived and worked in looked like. Postcards from those places help with this a great deal. I have to say I regularly scan ebay for bits and pieces that help to tell my ancestral stories. After I wrote my post on my 2nd great grand uncle, Lemuel T Harris , I took to ebay to see what I could find on a place called Point of Pines, MA. This is where he was employed as a waiter in 1890. I went back to the newspaper article that I featured in my post about Lemuel to this specific sentance. Lemuel Harris, companion of Seales on the night in question, said he worked at the Point of Pines , but has a room at 50 Melrose St. So what did I find on ebay that came yesterday in the mail? That would be two postcards I purchased. Another is on the way, but these were the first to arrive.

Bryant siblings From left to right: Rosa, Ray, Loris, Linwood, Mary, Frank, and Eloise This is one of those photos I hold dear in my collection. It is one of two that I have that has 7 of the Bryant siblings pictured together. My Bryant family line is one of my maternal lines that came from Morehead City, NC. Morehead City is located in Carteret County and is approximately 36 miles southeast of New Bern, NC. Image courtesy of Google Maps. Frank Bryant and Ophelia Jones Bryant My great grandparents These were the parents of the 7 shown above. I love analyzing the faces of family members to see how family traits get passed down from one generation to the next.  My grandmother, Mary Bryant Harrison Horton, is the one standing 3rd from the right. I'd say she favored slightly more her dad than her mother but she really had a mix of their features. Frank, Eloise, and Loris looked more like their mother, while Ray and Lynwood took after their father more. Rosa I ...

I want to send out a huge thank you out to fellow genealogy blogger and friend True A. Lewis of the wondeful blog NoTe's To MySeLf , for nominating my blog for this award. What a lovely surprise! Thank you True for this. True is a passionate story teller and if you haven't had a chance to read about her genealogy journey please do check out her blog.  Here are the rules for the One Lovely Blog Award: 1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to that blog. 2. Share seven things about yourself. 3. Nominate 15 bloggers you admire, or as many as you can think of. 4. Contact your bloggers to let them know you have tagged them for The One Lovely Blog Award. Okay, let's see ...share seven things about myself. 1) I'm a stay at home mom who loves watching her babies growing up and oh man they are growing up way to fast. They are my joy and my heart my boy and girl and I am so very proud of them. 2) Before becoming a mom I worked in retail sales for sev...

Cake can't solve problems. It isn't the answer to world peace. It isn't particularly healthy for you. It is the thing I gravitate towards however, when I am looking for a boost or a special treat. I love me some cake especially super sugary sweet birthday cake. If I want the full effect, even it isn't my birthday I might bust out a couple of birthday cake candles and light them on top of a honking piece of cake. Then I'll blow the candles out and breath in the smell of smoke and candle wax. Then it's on. I'm chowing down on simple sweet sugary goodness. Ahhh. Cake. I think I have to make a trip to the store now, excuse me. :) Here's a piece I chowed down on last week. Heaven!

You could say I have fallen behind a bit on the 52 Ancestors Challenge. Well, life happens sometimes so I've decided to do the best I can with posting. If you aren't familiar with the challenge put forth by Amy Johnson Crow of the blog No Story Too Small, click here . Lemuel T. Harris was one those ancestors who got away. His life for the most part remains a mystery to me because he was one of those ancestors who ventured out away from his birthplace. I have a special love for my ancestors who stayed put because there is so much more information available on them. I am blessed because I have been able to locate many records on my Craven, Hyde, and Carteret County, NC ancestors. Lemuel was a man on a mission though, and you can't stop a man on a mission. Who was he? He was the brother of my 2nd great grandmother Sarah Jane Whitney Harris. He was born around 1867 most likely in New Bern though I don't have any documentation on that. His parents were a Bristow Harr...