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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

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South Carolina's Freedmen's Bureau Contract Provides Post Civil War Snapshot of Ancestors

FamilySearch recently made South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872, accessible online.  Because I have researched each of my ancestral lines back prior to 1870, it was not too difficult for me to know where to start researching.  I will share the records of my family as I find them in this collection, and hopefully it will help others researching in the same area.

First, I clicked on the link under "View Images in this Collection."  The images in this collection are not indexed at this time.  My 3rd great grandparents, Henry and Sciller (Druscilla) Sims, were listed on the 1870 Census living next door to James A. Tucker in Union County, South Carolina. 

Because I had documented them living in Union, I knew it was very likely I would find documentation among the records for Union District.
FamilySearch Historical Record Collection: South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872 
Freedmen's Bureau Office or Subordinate Field Office Location
After selecting Union District, I chose to browse through the images on Roll 106, Labor contracts, series II, S-Y, 1866 since the surname of the last owner would be among records S-Y (Tucker).  There are 62 images in this set, and the labor contract between James A. Tucker and his former servants covers images 21-22.

"South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-36714-25122-35?cc=2127881&wc=M9HH-DRD:1944265844 : accessed 01 Jan 2014), Union district > Roll 106, Labor contracts, series II, S-Y, 1866 > image 21 of 62.
When you find a record on FamilySearch, you can click on Sources and save the record in your source box, or you can attach it to your ancestor on Family Tree.

My 3rd great grandparent's names were listed on the 1866-1867 contract among the freedmen laborers on the plantation of James A. Tucker.  I expected to find Henry Sims. I am still trying to determine if Sims was the surname of a previous owner.  Tuckers and Sims were among several different families who moved from Virginia to Union before 1810.

It was interesting to see that Sciller (Druscilla) used Tucker for a surname.  One of her children later changed from using Sims to using Tucker later in life.  I plan to trace each of the Tucker freedmen to see if any of them may be related to Henry or Sciller.
"South Carolina, Freedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872," images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-36714-23533-29?cc=2127881&wc=M9HH-DRD:1944265844 : accessed 01 Jan 2014), Union district > Roll 106, Labor contracts, series II, S-Y, 1866 > image 22 of 62.

This is the first evidence that I have found that Henry and Sciller lived on the Tucker plantation aside from the fact that their daughter Martha (my 2nd great grandmother) and the grandson of James A. Tucker, (George Epps Tucker) had a son after 1880.

The story as told to me by my grandmother, was that Martha was freed when she was a small child.  She grew up in the household of the former slave owner where her mother was a cook.  This put her in close proximity to George who was adopted by his grandfather, James, after the death of his parents.

I added this record to my source box as I mentioned earlier.  I can attach this record as a source for either Henry Sims, Sciller, or James A. Tucker:

  Choose "Attach from Source Box" on person view to attach records that you saved in the Source Box to your ancestor's record.

The contract gives details about
  • daily tasks required
  • consequences for absence from work or damaging equipment
  • how crops would be divided
  • furnishings provided by employer 
Part of the first article of the contract reads:
"They are not to keep fire arms or deadly weapons or ardent spirits, no invite visitors nor leave the premises during working hours without written consent of the proprietor or his agent."
It seems they still had restrictions during this period just after the Civil War.  That makes me question just how free they were really.  They could not have weapons to protect themselves, and they had to have permission to come and go or have visitors.  I am wondering just how they felt about these restrictions and if it really felt like they had more freedom compared to what it was like being enslaved.

I realize how fortunate I am to have this documentation given the scarcity of records for African Americans during this time period.  I am just elated to have found this.  To learn more about this collection see South Carolina, Freedmen Bureau Field Office Records (FamilySearch Historical Records) and South CarolinaFreedmen's Bureau Records, 1865-1872.  I will keep you up to date on my next discoveries.  Please subscribe above so that you do not miss out. 
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Twelve Principles for Binding Broken Family Ties

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Many family historians happen upon situations in genealogy research where we face strained family relationships that were either brought about before our time or that we witnessed personally. I truly believe through our labors of love we have the power to mend broken fences and bind our loved ones to us.  This post includes 12 principles that help to mend family ties, but I want to set the stage which inspired me to share what I have learned.

Faith

The more our desires and words we speak in faith are in line with what is truly best for us the sooner we see them made manifest in our lives.  The night before Thanksgiving, I was so tired and stressed as I worked unto the early morning preparing Thanksgiving dinner.  I had been sick several days and was still trying to recover.  At 3 AM I remember saying to myself, "I am NOT doing this for Christmas."

I did not mention this to anyone, but Someone was listening.  Everything fell into place like clockwork the next day after my brother asked us to come up.  My daughter was able to take the week of Christmas off from two jobs. That in itself was a miracle.

We used to all get together at Christmas at my house up to the time we moved away to South Carolina in 2005.  Our whole family had not been together on Christmas since 2004.  It was hard to miss out on visiting my close friends this time, but I knew it was more important to spend time with my family.  I love them all so much.

I was inspired after listening to our Christmas Devotional about giving a gifts of eternal value.  It was hard to resist the desire to purchase and wrap gifts to give, but I found my brother wanting to teach the same lesson.  As it turned out, none of us focused on purchasing gifts.  We all gave away our time to each other for almost a full week.  My brother did this even though he had to get up to leave his house at 4:30 AM on some days, and  he and my sister cooked all the meals that we ate at his house.

Gifts Eternal in Nature

My heart was overwhelmed as I watched a Christmas miracle unfold.  My brother inviting us up to spend Christmas with him in Chicago opened the door to something that I wanted to see happen in my lifetime.  I grew up in a household with a father and mother, and my heart goes out to children who grow up without that. I feel their pain.  That is why life has not seemed complete for me knowing that my husband had children that grew up without him.

My job has not been to be the judge and jury but to do my part to make sure I was not standing in the way of a reconciliation that needed to take place.  We are all imperfect people, and we need people in our lives to help us progress.  My husband has never neglected to point out ways that I can improve, and I have appreciated that.

What Grace


What can I give Him,
  Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,
Yet what can I give Him?
Give my heart.
By Christina Rossetti
 from The Real Joy of Christmas

I know there are people in this world that never seize the opportunity to forgive or repent leaving and even dying and never mending the rifts in the family.  I have watched television shows where a mediator reintroduces family members and they reconnect, but I can tell you that even though much work probably still lies ahead, the reunion of my husband and the children who were able to make it to see him last week after more than 20 years could not have been more loving and gracious.

They needed no outside help.  They brought some of my extended family to tears.  They literally wept as we witnessed my daughter forcefully embrace her older siblings for the first time.  This was one of the most sacred events I have witnessed.  I could not help but think that they were together long ago in their pre-earth life and somehow could not come down to the same parents in this life. I had watched my daughter for years as she searched them out and connected with them online as if her life depended on it. Words cannot describe the moment her efforts to meet them in person finally paid off.  I know she has fulfilled one of the great purposes of her life. I cannot help but to be proud that she has applied great skill and has had the greatest genealogical find.

This story of reconnecting will be told, but it will not be told by me.  If you want to learn the details and see video footage, you will need to subscribe to the Kathy McClure Show on YouTube.

I know many of us have erased the terms, "step," and "in law" from our vocabulary. I for one love each of the children whose DNA courses through the veins of my daughter and husband.   They are only an extension of those whom I hold dear.  These are the emotions inspired by my genealogy journey.  After all, what worth would all my efforts be if I did not apply the true purpose:  To identify family and bind them to us?

Twelve Principles for Binding Broken Family Ties


"Amazing grace!
How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see."

"Amazing Grace is one of the most recognizable Christian hymns in the English-speaking world. The text by English poet and Anglican clergyman John Newton (1725–1807) was first published in 1779. The words describe in first person the move of a "wretch" from a "lost" to a "found" state by a merciful act of God." See Amazing Grace.

I am hoping anyone who has a rift or division in their family will be inspired to move further down the path toward unity and love above all else.  For African American families, we spent centuries being separated by forces beyond our control.  Will we now not do all within our power to seek out and reconnect to the living?  I myself have been inspired to share some of the principles that brought our family together:

Twelve Principles for Binding Broken Family Ties

  1. Work to feel forgiveness always.  Do not take offense.  Do not hold a grudge.  
  2. No one in your family is perfect, not even you.  Search for the good in them. Treat them according to the potential they have for good; Then, they may surprise you.
  3. Follow true principles. Be positive.  Do not expose your family to things that will harm them spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Do not encourage wrongdoing. Lovingly take a stand.
  4. If you have family members that you do not communicate with, bury your hatchet and decide that you will find a way to reach out to them consistently in a loving and sincere way. Never give up on them.
  5. Spending time is more valuable than spending money. Always put your family before friends or outside activities. 
  6. Block out more than one evening for family gatherings allowing family members who work to have a chance to see everyone.  Make sure no one is left out. Provide ample time for family members to sit and visit, but be mindful of the younger ones who may want a recreational activity. Wherever possible, plan to include each side of the family.
  7. Do not participate in gossip about any family member, direct your conversation toward ways you can help them.  Never take sides. 
  8. Do not show favoritism among family members. 
  9. Find out the best way to communicate and keep in touch (post mail, e-mail, telephone, social media).
  10. Give family members even time to talk about themselves, what they are up to, and the things they like to do.
  11. Say you are sorry, and really mean it. Work hard to make amends if possible.  Remember forgiveness might take time. Be prayerful.
  12.  Search for meaningful ways that you can help a family member realize a goal or personal pursuit.  Support and encourage them by listening attentively.
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Tuesday, December 17, 2013

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Born prior to 1915 in SC? Try Delayed Birth Records

1900 Census showing Lewis and Arie Anna Vance and family1

Two sets of my 2nd great grandparents lived near each other in Abbeville County, South Carolina between 1870 and 1880, and their children intermarried leaving me with several double cousins.  Lewis, the son of Andrew and Jane Smith Johnson married Arie Anna Vance, the daughter of Beverley and Matilda Dunlap Vance. Most of their children were born before 1900. Lewis Johnson died young, and Arie Anna moved her family to Asheville, North Carolina.

Birth and death certificates can be used to learn where the parents were living when the children were born.  I try to determine the place of birth for each child knowing that there may exist the possibility of finding other types of documentation on ancestors among local records. The Johnson children were all born before birth certificates were recorded in South Carolina, so I was happy to have the option of searching delayed birth certificates.

Delayed birth certificate of Walter Reed Johnson2

I actually found one of their children, Walter Reed Johnson, whose delayed birth certificate was filed 21 February 1944.  He was living in Piedmont, West Virginia.  This is the first family member I have documented in West Virginia. So this opens up a new area to research.

The information on a delayed birth record is only as accurate as the memory of the person providing the information.  It does help that there are other sworn witnesses.  According to this record, Walter was born in Cokesbury, Abbeville, South Carolina in 1893.  Four years later, Cokesbury became part of Greenwood County.  I have several branches of the family who would actually have lived in both counties, so there is no way around me having to research both counties. Timelines help me to know which county to research during any particular event.

An extensive study of census records has helped me to be able to recognize people on records that I would otherwise overlook.  The sworn witnesses on this record were Mason and George Goggins, and while it says they were friends of the family, a Samuel Goggins married into the Johnson family.  These witnesses were actually extended family adding credibility to the details given.

Another great discovery from this record is the age at death for both Lewis and Arie Anna.  I have never been able to find death records or cemetery information for them. Assuming the age at death is accurate, I can add the year of birth given on the 1900 US Census to approximate the year of death for both. Perhaps this will help me determine the location where they are buried.

Lewis and Arie Anna Johnson
NameBirth (1900 Census)Age at DeathApprox. Year of Death
Lewis Johnson1865431908
Arie Anna Vance Johnson1865651930
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1.                  "United States Census, 1900," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-13033-113188-96?cc=1325221&wc=M94B-388:1274890914 : accessed 17 Dec 2013), South Carolina > Greenwood > ED 72 Cokesbury Township Cokesbury town; citing NARA microfilm publication T623.

2.                  "South Carolina Delayed Births, 1766-1900 and City of Charleston, South Carolina Births, 1877-1901," images, Ancestry.com  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina. (https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=SCbirths&h=2443 : accessed 11 Dec 2013).


Thursday, December 12, 2013

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Piecing Together the Past with Delayed Birth Certificates



In one sitting today, I was able to clear up several research challenges that I have struggled with for several years.  I had a few minutes after helping a patron during my shift at the Greenwood County Library, Lawrence Room, so I searched the Ancestry.com collection, South Carolina Delayed Births, 1766-1900 and City of Charleston, South Carolina Births, 1877-1901 to glean what I could to help me resolve the following challenges:

1.  I have been unable to locate some of the children of my 2nd great grandparents, Andrew Johnson and Jane Smith Johnson of Abbeville County, South Carolina.  I supposed they had moved away since they never turned up on any censuses that I searched after 1900.  One of the children I have searched for was Robert Johnson.

2.  The couple, Lewis Johnson and Arianna Vance Johnson, are both related to me.  Being my great uncle and great aunt, their parents were my 2nd great grandparents, Andrew and Jane (above) and Beverley Vance and Matilda Dunlap Vance.  In order for me to be learn more about my ancestors, I must research their children.  The problem is that most were born between 1880 and 1900 leaving no available census to access.  

3.  Julius L. Talley of Union County, South Carolina was the son of my 2nd great grandmother, Martha Talley.  He was married to  Frances Elizabeth Chick, and they moved away sometime after the 1920 or 1930 US Census was taken.  Consequently, I could not find a record of death for Frances or Julius.

Delayed birth records helped to resolve these challenges for me. Over the next couple of posts I will proceed to explain how.

Robert E. Johnson

You can imagine how difficult it must be to locate someone with such a common name as Robert Johnson. I had pretty much lost all hope of doing so because I did not have any idea where he settled down.  I never found him on the census along with other family members living in South Carolina in either Abbeville or Greenwood County. This also made finding a death certificate impossible as well.

Since I knew he was born before 1900, I hoped I would find a delayed birth record for him.  I decided not even to attempt to search for him using his name.  I only used the first and last names of his parents and the locality, South Carolina.



Delayed Birth Certificate of Robert E. Johnson1

I never expected to find him documented in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  That seems like a far trek away from family for a man born in the South in 1879.  The birth certificate gives his exact birth, August, 19, 1879.  It says that his parents, Andrew and Jane were born in Lawrence County (actually Laurens County).  Since they would have been born in the 1820's or 1830's, this is a helpful clue in researching their origins.

I discovered Robert must have kept the family bible from South Carolina.  He still had it when he applied for a delayed birth certificate from South Carolina. The Warren County Michigan Deputy County Clerk says he personally examined it and that it looked like an original record.

Perhaps this record is still attached to the original certificate held locally in Columbia, or perhaps there is a copy in Warren County.  I can hardly wait  to see if it gives information about the births of any of his other siblings.  Robert was up in age. Maybe he needed this certificate to apply for Social Security.  

Now, since I know the whereabouts of Robert from this record taken in 1941, I can search for this family on the 1940 Census.  Who knows what I will discover from there.

In the next post, I will share what I learned from a search on parents, Lewis Johnson and Arianna Vance Johnson. Put your e-mail in the box above (top left) to connect so that you can be among the first to receive my next article. 
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1.        "South Carolina Delayed Births, 1766-1900 and City of Charleston, South Carolina Births, 1877-1901," images, Ancestry.com  [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina. (https://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&db=SCbirths&h=2443 : accessed 11 Dec 2013).

    See also:

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Ten Things Oral History Can Teach You

Congaree National Park, Robin Foster 2013
Oral history can include written or spoken accounts that were passed down to us for generations.  You probably have a few stories that you heard while growing up, or there may be stories that your family rehearsed during family gatherings.   To illustrate the importance of documenting these stories, here are  ten things you can learn from oral history:

1.  You can discover the names of people that you did not know that were related to you

2.  Personal accounts of historical events (local or far away) can help us understand how people may have interpreted what happened.  Additional insights can be gained that were not obvious from a newspaper.

3.  It is impossible with your own memory to reconstruct the past.  Gathering the recollections of those who were born before you extends your own memory back beyond your birth date.

4.  Perhaps there are talents or characteristics that you have that were inherited from a particular ancestor.  Discovering the ancestors you are most like can teach you a lot about yourself.

5.  Are you curious as why certain family members seem hesitant to talk about branches of the family or periods in history?  If you are fortunate, someone in the family can help you understand why, or you may find clues in things that were recorded in journals, family letters, or newspapers.  Sometimes there is a lot hiding behind the thick silence.

6.  Stories reveal a lot about the decisions our ancestors had to make.  You may wonder what you would have done in the same circumstances.

7.  Learning about the strengths and weakness and hardships and triumphs our ancestors can tell us something about our own potential and can equip us to to do as well or better than they were able to.  We can learn from their mistakes.

8.  The oral history that is passed down to us illustrates the values important to our family.  Your own identity is dependent upon these values and whether or not you feel obligated to embrace them.  Have you discovered values that you have lived by that an ancestor also embraced?

9.  The life lessons gleaned from stories told can be called upon and shared in the form of a non-threatening story for a wayward youth or during times family members are facing hardships.

10.  Often, descendants feel hard pressed to ambitiously follow a course in life only to learn that they had an ancestor who had a similar desire that went unfulfilled.  We are an extension of our ancestors.  Our children are an extension of us.  What aspirations are we unknowingly embedding in future generations?  What are others we want to purposefully plant into their hearts?

I hope this article has caused you to ponder our family stories and that if there is a story waiting to be saved, that you will take a moment to do so:  FamilySearch - Add A New Story.

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