Author: Kathleen

Fearless Females: A Journal

Posted on by Kathleen

March 8 — Did one of your female ancestors leave a diary, journal, or collection of letters? Share an entry or excerpt.

Oh boy did my great-grandmother, Llewellyn leave behind all of the above. I am currently in the process of transcribing Llewellyn’s journal here on the blog. For everyday of the journal, there is an entry here. (There was one just this morning!) You can find all of them by using the tag or category section, or the list I’m posting below for easier reading! I might even make a better index for these entries as they pile up.

  1. January 1, 1923
  2. January 19, 1923
  3. January 24, 1923
  4. January 25, 1923
  5. January 26, 1923
  6. January 27, 1923
  7. February 7, 1923
  8. February 8, 1923
  9. February 12, 1923
  10. February 22, 1923
  11. February 23, 1923
  12. February 24, 1923
  13. February 26, 1923
  14. February 27, 1923
  15. February 28, 1923
  16. March 1, 1923
  17. March 2, 1923
  18. March 3, 1923
  19. March 6, 1923
  20. March 7, 1923
  21. March 8, 1923

Fearless Females: Heirlooms

Posted on by Kathleen

March 6 — Describe an heirloom you may have inherited from a female ancestor (wedding ring or other jewelry, china, clothing, etc.) If you don’t have any, then write about a specific object you remember from your mother or grandmother, or aunt (a scarf, a hat, cooking utensil, furniture, etc.)

I took a few days off, and since I don’t have a recipe to share for March 7th, I decided to use the March 6th prompt. The heirloom that comes to my mind is one I’ve talked about before.

Continue reading “Fearless Females: Heirlooms” →

Fearless Females: What’s in a Name?

Posted on by Kathleen

March 3 — Do you share a first name with one of your female ancestors? Perhaps you were named for your great-grandmother, or your name follows a particular naming pattern. If not, then list the most unique or unusual female first name you’ve come across in your family tree.

Have I mentioned yet how much I love writing prompts. I wouldn’t be lying to say I excelled at essay questions in school. Give me a question and a blank piece of paper and I’m ready! Of course, I’m not sure my teachers needed a full page on some of those subjects, but that’s what I gave them none the less.

So to start off, I was not named after anyone in my family. Partly to blame is the fact that I was born before there were “spoilers” in the birthing room. So my Momma was completely positive I was going to be a boy. Thanks for that Mom. ha. Being that she was so sure that I was going to be a boy, she had a name picked out for me. I was going to be Matthew Thorward. Since I’m not Matthew, my Mom and Dad had to scramble for a name. The doctor who delivered me suggested a good irish name of Kathleen and my mom chose my middle name. That my friends is the story of my name and how it came to be.

When I started doing my research, I ran into a lot of Marys, Elizabeths, Jennifers and Janes. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with those names but then I came across names like Llewellyn, Emogene, and Hazel. Once I started researching back further in the Kentucky side of my family tree, some other interesting names came up. These names were interesting to me, but they weren’t unique to the area at the time. These names taught how even back in the 1800s, there were changes in name popularities. Names like Arminda, Clarazene, Dulcena, and Effie were all very popular in the rural Kentucky area that I was researching. Maybe they are all linked to my family in some way, maybe not. These names were all a little different though.  Now if I could only figure out the 100% real name of Zeroah Black-West on my Mom’s side of the tree, I might get somewhere on that side of the family research!

Note: Yes, I added the picture of the unknown baby photo because I backed out of posting my own baby picture. While I was unable to post my own baby picture, I have no conscience when it comes to posting other peoples.

Fearless Females- Picture Time!

Posted on by Kathleen

Here’s the March 2nd prompt for the month of Fearless Females posts!

March 2 — Post a photo of one of your female ancestors. Who is in the photo? When was it taken? Why did you select this photo?

I’m very excited to share this photo. I was contacted by another Love relative this week. His grandmother Belle is the one to the right of my great-great grandma Jennie there in the middle. I love this picture because it’s helped me to identify her in other photos! I’m going to get a batch together to send to him this afternoon. I might have to go through my box and scan some before I send. The other woman in the picture is their other sister Agnes. So if I lost you for a moment there from left to right this photo shows: Agnes Love-Wambough, Jennie Love-Thorward, and Belle Love-Leonard. What a great lineup!

I chose this photo because I love to see new pictures that I’ve never seen before. I just can’t express how grateful and appreciative I am that I have found some great contacts and friends through researching my genealogy. This website has opened doors for me that I never would have been able to open otherwise. So thank you to everyone who has contacted me through here and most especially to Grace Leonard who has put the word out and sent my website to so many of her contacts too! Another special thanks to the sender of this picture Rick Mcgaw!