Hello world, I am back again. Today I was watching a webinar given by Amy Johnson Crow on FamilyTreeWebinars.com. The webinar was very informative and a great refresher of somethings that I was already doing. While I was watching, it reminded me of something that happened about a year and a half ago. I was talking with my Aunt Lori over Thanksgiving, and it always turns to genealogy with us. My favorite thing to do is hand her records and let her look at them. About 90% of the time she notices something that I didn’t.
This particular Thanksgiving, we were talking about the progress I was making on the Redford/Travis section of the family tree. It had been a long time since I had anything new to report for them, so I was excited to share, even though it was more Travis than Redford.
We were discussing all the different Redfords that migrated to Los Angeles, and when they were there. I had mentioned that there was one Redford girl that had just plain disappeared on me and I couldn’t find information for her anywhere. I assumed that I would eventually find a death record for her in New Jersey from before the bulk of the family left for California.
I’m starting to think I blog to name things and give them cool title graphics. Either way, I decided to spend my first day back from being a little sick (a lot sick) by analyzing my Agnes again. After my last post, David was gracious enough to send me the scans. It was so fun to look at them. One of my favorite things to do is to decipher handwriting. In fact, I’m pretty obsessed with handwriting and naming patterns. I actually use to “change” my handwriting all the time in school. Just for fun. It’s crazy to look back and see how different I made each change. My signature loops were always a standout. You can change a lot about your handwriting, but some things always stay the same.
Anyway, David was also nice enough to say that I could share the Agnes passage with everyone here on the blog. His only request is that it stay here. I hope everyone respects that. I’ve added a watermark also, showing that the image is David’s property. I would hope everyone would honor his wishes and not post this scan anywhere else on the internet.
Man, that Agnes Hamilton is sure becoming a hot topic here on the blog. Unfortunately for me the latest was unfolding in the middle of my road trip to Minnesota and then the Hurricane known as Sandy. Now that the dust has settled and the laundry is kinda caught up, I can really sink my teeth into this new Agnes development and it’s a doozy.
I was probably wrong in this post I made back in August. While on the road to Minnesota, I received notification of new comments on my blog. So naturally, I read them right away. Then I panicked, because I had no way of digging in right away. Note to self, just leave email alone until you get home next time.
I’ve been feeling really guilty lately. I have been so involved in my Love success, that I feel like I’ve left Agnes Hamilton in the lurch. So today I’m going to spend a little quality time with her.
My family file
Trying to find Agnes’ birth record might get a little tricky. I have her records all the way from her marriage through her death, but nothing before. So the birth record and her parents names would be a huge stepping stone for me.
After looking over my timeline of William H Moore, I became determined to check Brooklyn in the 1875 New York State Census. For me, finding William in 1875 would be a big help. This way I would be able to tell whether he had made it back from Chicago yet. I didn’t like having that huge gap between 1871 and 1880.
The first thing I did was check the Brooklyn city directory for 1875. I figured if I could find William at one of his usual addresses, then my job would be that much easier!
Analysis:
There are two William H Moores in the directory. One is a basketmaker and the other a carpenter. The carpenter makes me happy, but I don’t recognize the address, so it’s going down as my first possibility.
There are 3 other carpenters that are just listed as William Moore. I’ve added them to the list under the other William H Moores. If I find the other two, and still haven’t found my William, then I’ll check them.
It’s been awhile since I’ve made a surprising brick wall breakthrough. One of the biggest ones was Lillian Redford. It was a little bit harder because her brother named one of his daughters after her. So things always got a little confusing. Until 30 minutes ago. I was just going through some California City Directories, clicking the green leaf reluctantly in Family Tree Maker.
California Death Index, 1940-1997 via Ancestry.com
My only question is, “Why now?” I have searched for Lillian a million times over the years and it’s never yielded a result. They must have done an update of some kind that added new records or maybe a refined search algorithm. I don’t quite care though, because I finally have something on Lillian after 1920!
If you’ve been following The Diary of Llewellyn, you’ve probably become aware that Llewellyn had a very good friend named La Moss. I’m not positive, but I’m pretty sure that’s not her proper name but a nickname. However, this gives me no clue as to who La Moss was. It wasn’t until I was emailing with Grace, and she mentioned it, that I realized I hadn’t done an in depth search for La Moss. She was so involved in Llewellyn’s life that I feel I must figure out who she was!
I do have one clue:
La Moss’s birthday
Maybe if I were in New Jersey at the church that Llewellyn attended, I’d be pouring over the February baptism books. I know they attended that same church groups from what Llewellyn writes in her diary. However, I’m in Maryland, with only my laptop to aid me at the moment.
Using my very well developed handwriting analysis skills. (If that’s what you could call them.) La Moss has a surname of Meuner! That’s definitely a good starting off point. However, my Ancestry membership ran out and I’m not renewing it right away. So we’ll see how things go over the next few weeks and hopefully I can try out the Library Edition of Ancestry sometime soon.
I have a feeling this isn’t going to be an easy find!
Today is a great day. My sister is happy in her new car and my Grandpa Moore might be released from the hospital for a few days before his surgery. I’m hoping I can get the pictures for this entry scanned without many problems. My printer/scanner has been acting a little funny and I haven’t had a chance to troubleshoot it yet.
I received a few comments on my older entries this week, one was from Dana who writes the Just Folks blog. I jokingly told her in a followup comment that I may not know their names but I can pick my relatives out of a lineup! At first I meant that jokingly, then I realized how real that analogy was.
You heard it hear first. Three of my Aunts are planning to road trip from Ohio to Maryland this week. They’re leaving Ohio on Wednesday, so hopefully all goes well and they get here Wednesday too. We have plans to show them around town a little better this time, since it’s not July 4th “Crazy” around here. I don’t like to go around our town on Thursdays, let alone on a holiday weekend. It’s better to just stay indoors and hide under the sofa… Okay, I’m exaggerating again.
I’m very excited though, and hopefully I can update some of their grandchildren’s information while they’re here. I’m not above grilling them! It’s always fun when I see my Aunts. This time is already showing great promise. My Aunt Melinda is going to help me with a quilt or two. I’m going to make a birthday cake for my Aunt Cindy since her birthday is on Thursday. I’m even going to tone down the powdered sugar in my icing so she can really enjoy it. My icing is usually a little too sweet for her. It should be great fun! My Aunt Molly is coming this time too, and it’s been so long since I’ve seen her. I can’t wait to catch up.
Now I just need to think of some things I can ask them in conversation about genealogy. They usually talk a lot about when they were growing up anyway. I just need to write down some of the things I’m fuzzy on so I can ask about them. Like where in Kentucky did their parents get married? I have conflicting reports. Who lived around them that were treated like family members? Maybe they were!
I have two posts coming up this week because I’ve actually been much more organized. I have them planned already, just got to write them up and illustrate with pictures now! One will be an update to my Yearly Goals. How am I coming along? I’m a little shamed and surprised at the results of that one. The other will be a breakthrough I had on my Webb line that I tweeted about late last night. Technically I shouldn’t have made that one yet because I haven’t gotten to the Webbs yet, but as a twitter friend said, “A breakthrough is a breakthrough!”
On today’s agenda… scanning!
Before the crazy fun starts though, I’m going to scan in these tintypes and get them sent out in email. I only wish I knew who they were. Since most of my photos are Thorward photos, is it them? Or is it rare photos of the Moore family? I can see further analysis is needed on my part!
Wow guys! This Sunday will be my 1 year anniversary of doing this blog. I really am proud of myself for sticking with it and having fun! To be quite honest with you, those first month blogs are still my favorite ones. I’m trying to find my writing niche and I think those were closer to it then I ever thought they were. Reminiscing about the Beginning is a particular favorite of mine. Back when I was still posting about my Mom’s side of the family! ha. I also can’t forget From Grandma’s Kitchen and the story about the infamous Fudge recipe. To this day when Mom starts talking about her mother’s awesome roll recipe, I can’t help but wonder if she’s tried Pillsbury. Then there was the one that started my favorite feature, my very first Google Earth Adventure! In fact, I need to do another one, just as soon as I figure out where I’m “going”.
I’ll leave you with this random picture. I have no idea who she is, but if you have any clue. Shoot me an email: leeny.moore [@] gmail.com (Remove the brackets and spaces!)
