My Trails into the Past

Which lines of my ancestors had the most descendants? I would first guess that it would be the Roman Catholic side since they tended to have large families. But, it turns out that my mother’s southern side had just as many children, who had many children, etc. I have many distant cousin DNA matches from descendants of the Loveless and Lancaster families. Lancaster Robert Lancaster (1784-1840) had seven children. He had at least twenty-three grandchildren. He had at least forty-four great-grandchildren. He had at least thirty-six 2x-great-grandchildren. However, as I was counting from a list of descendants, I don’t think I have researched forward on all the lines. There are likely many more in the fifth generation (and thus more in each of their further generations). He had at least sixty-four 3x-great-grandchildren. He had at least thirty-seven 4x-great-grandchildren. He had at least twenty-four 5x-great-grandchildren. I am in this eighth generation. I have only researc...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. In the spring of 2015, my husband and I made our first trip to Arkansas to visit his cousin’s husband, who lived in Hot Springs. Since Hot Springs was so close to Conway in Faulkner County, I planned a three day trip to Conway and Little Rock where I would conduct research in the local museum, courthouse, recorder’s office, university library, and the state archives. The highlight of the trip was visiting the eight cemeteries located in Conway and the outskirts. I thank my husband for being so patient, first for trying to find the very small, old cemeteries on narrow country roads, and second for helping me find the various tombstones to photograph. We had no maps and only names and dates to search for. ...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. We often learn about the cause of someone’s death from a death certificate. The doctor fills out this portion, often using cursive handwriting and using medical terms that are hard to discern. I’m always happy to find a death certificate that has been typed! Following the causes of death throughout our ancestral line can be helpful in tracing our health history. My parents: Father : Myocardial Infarction (10 min) and Coronary Artery Disease (30 mos). Actually he had that for 30 years. What the death certificate doesn’t say is he was found dead in his home and may have been dead a couple of days. He was found on Saturday and last seen on Wednesday evening. He was 77. Mother : Cardiac Arrhythmia (min) due...

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016), where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. L is for Lela Ann Loveless Lela Nell, Lela Ann, & Pansy Louise Lela Ann Loveless was my maternal great grandmother. My mother, Lela Nell, was named after her two grandmothers, Lela Ann Loveless and Nell Hutson. I have written previously about Lela Ann Loveless Lancaster on my other blog, “Mam-ma’s Southern Family” here and here , where you can see a photo of Lela as a young girl. Lela Ann married George Warren Lancaster on 15 December 1912 in Erath County, Texas. [1] Her older brother, William “Hutts” Loveless married Warren’s sister, Josephine Lancaster on 14 December 1915. [2] That made their children all double-cousins! Four children were born to Warren and Lela Ann. My grandmother, Pansy, was the oldest. Seven years later, Rayburn Dinion “R.D.” was born. A son, Carl, Jr., was born in 1924 but he lived only six day...

Thomas MacEntee asked bloggers to list their surnames and ancestor they most wanted to find. So I decided to write about my mother's side of the family. I have several roadblocks that I'd love to get past and maybe someone will find my blog post and help me. How The Meme Works To participate, do the following at your own blog and post a link back here in the comments: 1. List your surnames in alphabetical order as follows: [SURNAME]: State/Province (county/subdivision), date range 2. At the end, list your Most Wanted Ancestor with details! 1. My Entries COOR; Texas (Erath Co) 1880-present, Mississippi (Lawrence Co, Copiah Co) 1820-1880, North Carolina (Wayne Co, Sampson Co) pre-1800  HALEY; Mississippi (Rankin Co), 1820-1870, North Carolina 1770’s-1820.  HUTSON; Texas (Comanche Co, Hood Co) 1880 to present, Georgia (Cherokee Co, Chattooga Co) 1800-1880, Virginia prior to 1800.  JOHNSTON; Texas (Titus Co, Comanche Co), 1870-present; Mississippi (Yalob...