Treasure Chest Thursday - Gram's Library Cards

In her scrapbook, Gram had saved the three library cards shown below. It appears that wherever she lived, she had a library card. She lived in Houston most of her life, but she also lived with my aunt (Dorothy Belle Spurlock Magee) in Corpus Christi for a period of time. I wonder what kinds of books she enjoyed reading?

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Wordless Wednesday - My Brother Tony

Digital image. Original held by Denise Spurlock.

Archie Anthony Neil "Tony" Sherrell

5 September 1943 - 8 October 2001

Rest in Peace

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Wordless Wednesday - The Happiest Place on Earth

Digital image, original held by Deanna Golden, [ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR
PRIVACY], Portland, Oregon, 2012.

Don't know what that character said to 

make Mom laugh so hard!

August 1967

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Sunday's Obituary - Margaret H. Roberts (1896-1957)

For the last few months, I have been transcribing the obituaries that my paternal grandmother, Mamie Olive (Martindale) Spurlock, had saved in her scrapbook. This last obituary puzzled me. All the other obituaries were for immediate family, but I couldn’t identify this person—Margaret H. (Lashly) Roberts. So off I went to research her and see what I could find.

My first search was for a death certificate on FamilySearch; success! I found that Margaret was born 25 December 1896 in Missouri, the daughter of [—?—] Lashley and Sarah Robinson, and that she died on 26 November 1957 in Houston, Harris County, Texas, where she had lived for 30 years. Her mother’s maiden name of Robinson rang a bell because I knew that A.B. Martindale (my great-grandfather) had been married to Zilla Robinson prior to his marriage to my great-grandmother Sarah Belle Forshee.

I next searched Missouri marriages on FamilySearch to see if I could find her parents’ marriage. I found a Sarah J. Robinson who married James J. Lashley on 2 December 1882 in Iron, Missouri (an area where my Martindale and Forshee ancestors had lived).

I turned next to the federal census. I found Maggie Lashly (born Dec 1896 in Missouri) living with her mother Sarah (widowed, born April 1860 in Missouri) and the siblings named in her obituary in Concord, Washington County, Missouri, on the 1900 census. I then found Sarah Robinson, age 20, in the 1880 census living with her parents Wm. (born about 1838 in Missouri) and Margareth (born about 1840 in Tennessee) in Concord, Washington County, Missouri. Sarah (age 2/12) was listed in the 1860 census in Concord, Washington County, in the household of Thomas W. and Margaret Robinson.

Back to Missouri marriage records! Thomas W. Robinson married Margaret Forshee on 2 April 1857 in Washington County, Missouri. Margaret was the sister of my great-grandmother Sarah Belle Forshee.

Voila! This obituary was for a relative like all the others in the scrapbook. Margaret Lashly Roberts was the first cousin once removed of my grandmother.

“MARGARET H. ROBERTS, 60, of 1127 West 30th Ave died 8:30 AM Tuesday in her home. Survivors: Sons, Lee S. and Louis H. Roberts, both of Houston; brothers, Benton Lashly, Port Arthur, Clyde and Tom Lashly, both of Lufkin; sister, Mrs. Ethel Perry, Lufkin; four grandchildren. Services 4 PM Wednesday Boulevard Funeral Home chapel, the Rev J. Kelly Neal. Burial Forest Park Cemetery. Boulevard Funeral Home.”

Source: Undated obituary for Margaret H. Roberts from unknown newspaper, Spurlock, Mamie Olive (Martindale), Scrapbook, ca 1950-1970; privately held by Cheryl Anne (Chaney) Beaver, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Lone Grove, Oklahoma. 2010. Photocopy in possession of Denise Spurlock.

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ahnentafel Roulette

For yesterday's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings presented the following challenge.

1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born?  Divide this number by 50 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel"). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then spin the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandparent, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even your children!

Ahnentafel Roulette is one of my favorite activites, and I actually wrote a post yesterday. However, after posting, I realized my brain wasn’t functioning properly (blame it on the coming Blue Moon!) and my division skills were severely impaired. So I’m trying again today!

My great-grandfather John F. Spurlock was born in 1850 (at least according to my research); divided by 50 is 37. I don’t currently have a person with the number 37 in my ahnentafel report. So I chose the next person, #38, Hugh Hammontree, one of my paternal 3^rd great-grandfathers.

Hugh Hammontree was born about 1802, probably in Blount County, Tennessee. He died about 1866 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Arcadia Cemetery, in Arcadia, Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Three facts about Hugh:

1.      He married Rachel Caskey, probably in the early 1820s in Tennessee.

2.      Hugh and Rachel are believed to have had nine children, but only seven have been identified by name: Sherreldia Jane (my 2^nd great-grandmother), John A., Sarah Anne, Rachel Elizabeth, Mary Delilah, Lucinda Adeline, and Hugh A.

3.      After Rachel’s death, Hugh married Nancy (Holland) Harrell on 29 November 1864, probably in Bienville Parish.

I can see that I need to devote some time to researching my Hammontrees -- so many ancestors, so little time!

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Surname Saturday - Ancestor #25 - Catherine Sitterly

One of my goals for 2012 is to use the Surname Saturday blogging prompt as a way to assure that I spend some time researching each of my family lines and that I have appropriate source citations for the genealogical facts related to my ancestors. I’ve decided to use my ahnentafel report and work back through the generations starting with my grandparents, writing a summary of each ancestor. If you discovered this post through a search engine and find one of your ancestors listed here, please leave a comment to let me know.

My maternal 2^nd great-grandmother Catherine Sitterly was born 13 May 1813 in Guilderland, Albany County, New York.[1] She was the sixth child of Jurry Hendrick “George” and Deborah (Hogeboom) Sitterly.

On 24 June 1834, Catherine married Andrew Yawman in Schenectady, Albany County, New York.[2] The couple had eight known children: 

• William A. Yawman (1831[3]-1895[4])
• Mary Elizabeth Yawman (1835[5]-1911[6])
• Catherine “Kate” Yawman (1838[7]-1922[8])
• Apalonia “Abbie” Yawman (1840[9]-1919[10])
• Michael H. Yawman (1842[11]-1913[12]) – my great-grandfather
• Deborah Anna Mary Yawman (1845[13]-1927[14])
• George Nicholas Yawman (1847[15]-bef 1860[16])
• Rebecca Mary Yawman (1853[17]-?)

 Catherine died on 3 August 1889 and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Denison, Grayson County, Texas.[18] A transcription and image of her obituary from the Dallas Morning News can be found here.

I don’t have much information about Catherine and what I do have comes from derivative sources so I need to do a lot more research on her:

1. I need to obtain records for Catherine’s birth or baptism and her marriage to Andrew Yawman; likely these will be found in church records.
2. I need to check on whether Texas counties were maintaining death records at the time of her death, and if so, see if one is available for Catherine.
3. Most of what I have on Catherine came from my cousin Gary Yawman; perhaps he has copies or scans of documents or other anecdotal information he can share.

---

[1] Gary A. Yawman, The Yawman Family and Related Families PDF, The Yawman Family Home Page (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/y/a/w/Gary-A-Yawman/index.html).

[2] Find A Grave, online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012), Andrew Yawman, Memorial #21374584, created by Gary Yawman, 5 September 2007.

[3] 1850 U.S. census, population schedule, Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwelling 128, family 160, household of Andrew Yawman; digital images, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Nov 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M432, roll M432_530.

[4] Oakwood Cemetery (Grayson County, Texas), Wm. A. Yauman marker, personally photographed by Denise Spurlock, 2007.

[5] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew  Yawman.

[6] Missouri State Board of Health, death certificate 27756 (1915), Marrie E. Omeley; digital image, Missouri State Archives, Missouri Death Certificates, 1910-1961 (http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/ : accessed 10 Aug 2012).

[7] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[8] Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 28487 (1922), Kate Phillips; digital image, FamilySearch, Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976 (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Aug 2012).

[9] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[10] Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics, death certificate 2397 (1919), Appolonia Y. Lavallee; digital image, FamilySearch, Texas, Deaths, 1890-1976 (http://www.familysearch.org : accessed 10 Aug 2012).

[11] Find A Grave, online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 13 Oct 2011), Michael Heman Yawman, Memorial# 21259594, created by Gary A. Yawman, 30 Aug 2007.

[12] Labette County, Kansas, death certificate no. 13 (1913), Mike Yawman; Kansas Board of Health.

[13] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[14] Find A Grave, online database (www.findagrave.com : accessed 10 Aug 2012), Deborah Ann Yawman Tallinger Clay, Memorial #56885995, created by Gary Yawman, 10 August 2010.

[15] 1850 U.S. census, pop. sch., Rochester, Monroe, New York, p. 11B, dwell. 128, fam. 160, household of Andrew Yawman.

[16] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, population schedule, St. Paul, p. 95, dwelling 871, family 770, household of A. Yawman; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 17 Nov 2009); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm M653, roll M653_573.

[17] 1860 U.S. census, Ramsey, Minnesota, pop. sch., St. Paul, p. 95, dwell. 871, fam. 770, household of A. Yawman.

[18] Oakwood Cemetery (Denison County, Texas), Catherine Yawman, died 3 August 1889, marker, personally read and photographed by Denise Spurlock, 2007.

© 2012 Denise Spurlock

Wordless Wednesday - Summer Fun in Alaska

Digital image; original held by Denise Spurlock, [ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY], Lomita, California, 2012.

My best friend Jill, me, and sister Jennifer

Fairbanks, Alaska

circa 1963

© 2012 Denise Spurlock