1889 - 1974
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
James HARGROVE's Slaves' & Family Members' Names
Back in January, I posted one page of three pages that comprise the will of James HARGROVE. Not specified there is that this is James HARGROVE Jr. James Sr was born 1757/8 and died 1817.
For reasons to not violate copyright, I am not publishing the entire content of the will transcription, but I am publishing the names listed in that will in it's entirety. I am also providing the title of the book, maybe you would be able to access via ILL or could order the microfilm from the Family History Library for 75 cents (5 microfiche at .15 per sheet).
Transcribed will of James HARGROVE
FHL book 975.8145 P28 and microfiche 6038344, fiche 3/5
Scanned microfiche and saved by Darlene on 15 May 2009.
Transcribed from scanned copy on 16 May 2009.
Jackson County Georgia
Will Abstracts, Books A & B 1803 - 1888
Transcribed by Faye Stone Poss
Will Book A 1803 - 1860
Faye Stone Poss
Pages 179-181
Will of James HARGROVE dated 14 February 1857 and probated 2 March 1857
SLAVES' names
negro man HARRY
negro man LEWIS
negro man AMIS
negro woman ANNY
negro woman WATTON
a boy JACKSON
a girl NANCY
one negro girl CLEMENTINE
one negro girl AMANDA
one negro girl ARMINDA
(I believe AMANDA & ARMINDA are twins)
a negro girl ADALINE
one negro boy by the name of McNEESE
one man ALEXANDER
a man SIMON (My SIMON!)
a girl ISABELLAR
Family members' names of James HARGROVE
JAMES HARGROVE Jr.
ELISABETH HARGROVE my wife
POLLY PRICKETT
WILLIAM F. HARGROVE my Son
HESTER ANN BUTLER my Dau.
JOHN W. HARGROVE my son
SEABORN Y. HARGROVE my son
HENRY S. HARGROVE my Son
MARTHA R. HUDSON my step Dau.
Executors: Sons, Asbury Hargrove, John W. Hargrove & Seaborn Y. Hargrove.
Witnesses: WBJ Hardman, John N. Prickett & Seaborn M. Shankle
Stay on the lookout. I have another surprise for you. This one is a teaser. Just wait until you see the next one.
I sincerely hope that this and the next post will be of use to someone; geneablogger or not, African American or not.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
It's Saturday Night
From Randy Seaver's Geneamusings:
Hey genealogy connoisseurs, it's Saturday Night, time for more Genealogy Fun!!
Your mission, if you decide to accept it, is:
1. Go to the Wayback Machine at http://www.archive.org/ (it's right in the middle of the web page)
2. Enter the URL (web address) of your first genealogy blog or website into the search field. [If you don't have a blog or website, then enter your favorite blog or website.]
3. Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook. Show us the image of your web page if you can.
I checked back in March to see if my blog was on the Internet Archives yet. It wasn't then and isn't there yet. I am not anxious on this one because I guess it will eventually get there.
And if you look at my next most recent article, maybe you'll see some more to consider when you visit the Wayback.
Internet Archives
16 Mar 2010
I have seen several instances of Dick Eastman's mention of the Wayback Machine or Internet Archives. WOW! Ancestry.com's website sure was plain back in 1997. But then, so were most websites during that time. I didn't know until I reviewed one of Dick's posts again that The Internet Archive Wayback was named after the Mr Peabody and Sherman cartoon WABAC (time) Machine. Besides being an Internet Archive of web pages, the Internet Archives also is a search engine for documents, books and images.
Do you use the Internet Archives for your genealogy research? You should at least try it. I have seen on so many blogs and forums, that people have brick walls in places like New York during certain time periods. Today I saw a NY City Directory for 1786. My point is that you will never know what you find in the Internet Archives until you look. And since it is one of those sites that are frequently being updated, you will want to check back often. For example, using city directories and phone directories, I will soon be able to determine within one to three years when did my uncles move to Pittsburgh and to Cleveland.
Other directories I saw today are Manhattan 1906, Wooster and Wayne County, Ohio directory for 1900.
As I mentioned before, you do want to check back. Today while I was browsing around the Wayback, I saw a 1946 Pittsburgh phone directory. That is no big event, except that I was there in December searching for Pittsburgh city and phone directories and missed the 1946 even though I found the 1951. So in addition to checking often, you want to try various sort strategies. That's probably why I missed 1946 in December. See for yourself. Search for text between [ ]. [pittsburgh phone directory] shows results with only the 1946 directory but [pittsburgh telephone directory] shows you 1936, 1946 and 1951 telephone directories for Pittsburgh.
You can reach the Internet Archive Wayback machine by going to http://www.archive.org or to http://www.waybackmachine.org
Something I noticed while browsing around the Internet Archives to write this post is that they have kindle output for some of the content. If you have a kindle or thinking to get one, you may keep an eye on this site.
Note: I actually wrote this article in March to go with the Wordless Wednesday for 17 March 2010.
I have seen several instances of Dick Eastman's mention of the Wayback Machine or Internet Archives. WOW! Ancestry.com's website sure was plain back in 1997. But then, so were most websites during that time. I didn't know until I reviewed one of Dick's posts again that The Internet Archive Wayback was named after the Mr Peabody and Sherman cartoon WABAC (time) Machine. Besides being an Internet Archive of web pages, the Internet Archives also is a search engine for documents, books and images.
Do you use the Internet Archives for your genealogy research? You should at least try it. I have seen on so many blogs and forums, that people have brick walls in places like New York during certain time periods. Today I saw a NY City Directory for 1786. My point is that you will never know what you find in the Internet Archives until you look. And since it is one of those sites that are frequently being updated, you will want to check back often. For example, using city directories and phone directories, I will soon be able to determine within one to three years when did my uncles move to Pittsburgh and to Cleveland.
Other directories I saw today are Manhattan 1906, Wooster and Wayne County, Ohio directory for 1900.
As I mentioned before, you do want to check back. Today while I was browsing around the Wayback, I saw a 1946 Pittsburgh phone directory. That is no big event, except that I was there in December searching for Pittsburgh city and phone directories and missed the 1946 even though I found the 1951. So in addition to checking often, you want to try various sort strategies. That's probably why I missed 1946 in December. See for yourself. Search for text between [ ]. [pittsburgh phone directory] shows results with only the 1946 directory but [pittsburgh telephone directory] shows you 1936, 1946 and 1951 telephone directories for Pittsburgh.
You can reach the Internet Archive Wayback machine by going to http://www.archive.org or to http://www.waybackmachine.org
Something I noticed while browsing around the Internet Archives to write this post is that they have kindle output for some of the content. If you have a kindle or thinking to get one, you may keep an eye on this site.
Note: I actually wrote this article in March to go with the Wordless Wednesday for 17 March 2010.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Pinkie and PeeWee's Photo
And here they are. I understand that this was their engagement pic.
I did that backwards didn't I? I should have put the pic up as a Wordless Wednesday post and then the text. I guess it's OK anyway cause this post is not wordless.
What do their expressions say to you?
Hers: I got me a Man!
His: How in the heck do I get out of this?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Pinkie and PeeWee's Anniversary
About two years ago, Karen, the director of my local Family History Center was helping me with some research. The question came up of my parents' marriage date and I didn't specifically know what the date was. My mother's older sister, who provided the information for Mom's death certificate, provided that their marriage was April and two years ago, I didn't remember if it were 1951 or 1952. So up until now, I had used only Apr 1951/52 as documentation of their marriage. I had looked when Karen was helping me and last week I looked again at the Mahoning County Ohio Probate Court site looking for information to send for their marriage license. In the meantime, on one of my research trips to OHS where they have a lot of Ohio newspapers, I found their license application date was 5 April 1951. I finally emailed the Probate Court last week and got their marriage date and the citation info. Their wedding was 28 April 51, Volume 88 – Page 302. The great news is that Mahoning County Probate will send me a genealogy copy for ten ¢ (that is 10 cents) plus a SASE or a certified copy for $2 plus SASE. Isn't that Awesome? I expected around $10 and no genealogy copy.
So, while celebrating this couple of folks, let's take a look at some parts of their lives.
PeeWee was born 27 September 1926 in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill, Georgia. He was the son of a sharecropper, John Pink DRAPER and Ella Lee BRIMMER. His name at birth was Clovis Lee DRAPER. He was the fifth son born of this union, also having several sisters and a brother from John P's first marriage to Minnie Lampkin. John was quite a bit older than his second wife, so his father was 52 when PeeWee was born. PeeWee went to public school up until the sixth grade. I often heard of that story. I think his intent to relay that was not that he was bragging but quite proud of what he accomplished in life with only a sixth grade eduacation. I also often heard the story of how he got his nickname, that we was twelve years old and weighed 90 pounds. Not included in the story but was also true is that he was relatively short as most men go, about 5' 6" or 7". He was a veteran of WWII, serving as a cook in Germany and at Fort Benning Georgia. I have attempted to send for his service record but have to take another shot at that because of the fire at the National Military Records Center. Without sending for those records, I have a suspicion that he lied about his age and somehow got into the US Army as maybe a 16 or 17 year old.
That suspicion is based on that he was in the army and back out again, serving a full enlistment (two years?) before his father died in 1948. OK, I know it's not necessarily so bc in 1948 PeeWee turned 21, but his father died in February, PeeWee was 20 1/2. Regardless how old he was, it's a genealogical question that I didn't bother to ask, nor cared to know until I started researching. I will most likely find the answer when we eventually meet again. After John Pink died, the family moved to Youngstown Ohio in the vicinity of one of Ella's sisters and brothers. I have traced the DRAPER and BRIMMER Families from the 1920s through the 1950s around Youngstown using city directories. At one point, for maybe three or four years, PeeWee disappeared. That will have to be another blog someday. PeeWee was a construction worker employed by the Torrello Construction Company for over twenty years. Chester Torrello owned a small company, and PeeWee was one of his cement finishers and laborers.
Pinkie Ann HARGROVE, was the second daughter, fifth living and youngest child of Oliver HARGROVE and Clara DUNCAN. Pinkie Ann renamed herself to Anna Mae at some time after the age of maturity, so at that point Pinkie became more like a nickname. In actuality, I thought it was her nickname until she died. That's one of the many things I am looking into. I may never know specifically why until we meet again. I am trying anyway to decipher when was that occurrence. If you are one of my faithful blog readers, please do not confuse Pinkie Ann with Pinkie Ann HOPE HARGROVE, that's her grandmother after whom she was named. So for clarity of the two, I will call mom Anna Mae. Anna Mae was unique among her brothers and sister, the only one not born in Jackson County Georgia. Sometime after the birth of her next older brother in 1923, the family moved to Pricedale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Anna Mae was born there, 20 September 1927. In 1929, the family moved again to Youngstown. I have also tracked the HARGROVEs around Youngstown from 1929 through to the 1960s. LOL My memory can pick a lot of it up from there.
Besides when did Anna Mae change her name, something else I was curious about for this couple is 'how did they meet?'. Only because I have been researching have I come up with a few conclusions. One is that one of his aunts lived on Park Ave at the same time as one of her sister in law's family. Another is that one of his cousins lived on Oak Hill Ave at the same time as somebody else that she knew. I have to look again to see who that person was. A third conclusion is that they were both out, maybe at some weekend event or maybe that they both happened to be celebrating their birthdays in the same establishment. You notice that their birthdays are a week apart, or actually a week short of one year apart. My most plausible guess is that they met at some combination of the three; birthday celebration, aunt's neighborhood and cousin's neighborhood. In other words, I remember meeting my husband through a mutual friend, then ran into him somewhere else and remembered from where we were introduced previously. Then once more, I 'ran into him' again, with all three of these events being within about thirty days. I should have known by that time that I was being stalked.
PeeWee and Anna Mae's marriage did not last very long, but long enough to have bore one live birth. According to my birth certificate, there were two miscarriages before me. That's enough for now. Happy Anniversary Pinkie and PeeWee.
So, while celebrating this couple of folks, let's take a look at some parts of their lives.
PeeWee was born 27 September 1926 in Fitzgerald, Ben Hill, Georgia. He was the son of a sharecropper, John Pink DRAPER and Ella Lee BRIMMER. His name at birth was Clovis Lee DRAPER. He was the fifth son born of this union, also having several sisters and a brother from John P's first marriage to Minnie Lampkin. John was quite a bit older than his second wife, so his father was 52 when PeeWee was born. PeeWee went to public school up until the sixth grade. I often heard of that story. I think his intent to relay that was not that he was bragging but quite proud of what he accomplished in life with only a sixth grade eduacation. I also often heard the story of how he got his nickname, that we was twelve years old and weighed 90 pounds. Not included in the story but was also true is that he was relatively short as most men go, about 5' 6" or 7". He was a veteran of WWII, serving as a cook in Germany and at Fort Benning Georgia. I have attempted to send for his service record but have to take another shot at that because of the fire at the National Military Records Center. Without sending for those records, I have a suspicion that he lied about his age and somehow got into the US Army as maybe a 16 or 17 year old.
That suspicion is based on that he was in the army and back out again, serving a full enlistment (two years?) before his father died in 1948. OK, I know it's not necessarily so bc in 1948 PeeWee turned 21, but his father died in February, PeeWee was 20 1/2. Regardless how old he was, it's a genealogical question that I didn't bother to ask, nor cared to know until I started researching. I will most likely find the answer when we eventually meet again. After John Pink died, the family moved to Youngstown Ohio in the vicinity of one of Ella's sisters and brothers. I have traced the DRAPER and BRIMMER Families from the 1920s through the 1950s around Youngstown using city directories. At one point, for maybe three or four years, PeeWee disappeared. That will have to be another blog someday. PeeWee was a construction worker employed by the Torrello Construction Company for over twenty years. Chester Torrello owned a small company, and PeeWee was one of his cement finishers and laborers.
Pinkie Ann HARGROVE, was the second daughter, fifth living and youngest child of Oliver HARGROVE and Clara DUNCAN. Pinkie Ann renamed herself to Anna Mae at some time after the age of maturity, so at that point Pinkie became more like a nickname. In actuality, I thought it was her nickname until she died. That's one of the many things I am looking into. I may never know specifically why until we meet again. I am trying anyway to decipher when was that occurrence. If you are one of my faithful blog readers, please do not confuse Pinkie Ann with Pinkie Ann HOPE HARGROVE, that's her grandmother after whom she was named. So for clarity of the two, I will call mom Anna Mae. Anna Mae was unique among her brothers and sister, the only one not born in Jackson County Georgia. Sometime after the birth of her next older brother in 1923, the family moved to Pricedale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Anna Mae was born there, 20 September 1927. In 1929, the family moved again to Youngstown. I have also tracked the HARGROVEs around Youngstown from 1929 through to the 1960s. LOL My memory can pick a lot of it up from there.
Besides when did Anna Mae change her name, something else I was curious about for this couple is 'how did they meet?'. Only because I have been researching have I come up with a few conclusions. One is that one of his aunts lived on Park Ave at the same time as one of her sister in law's family. Another is that one of his cousins lived on Oak Hill Ave at the same time as somebody else that she knew. I have to look again to see who that person was. A third conclusion is that they were both out, maybe at some weekend event or maybe that they both happened to be celebrating their birthdays in the same establishment. You notice that their birthdays are a week apart, or actually a week short of one year apart. My most plausible guess is that they met at some combination of the three; birthday celebration, aunt's neighborhood and cousin's neighborhood. In other words, I remember meeting my husband through a mutual friend, then ran into him somewhere else and remembered from where we were introduced previously. Then once more, I 'ran into him' again, with all three of these events being within about thirty days. I should have known by that time that I was being stalked.
PeeWee and Anna Mae's marriage did not last very long, but long enough to have bore one live birth. According to my birth certificate, there were two miscarriages before me. That's enough for now. Happy Anniversary Pinkie and PeeWee.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
A Model Grandma
The first memory I have of Grandma Clara was that we that 'we' called her Nanny. That applied to one of my first cousins and I. She had five other grandchildren who called her Grandmother or Grandma. The other first cousin and I caught on and we started calling her Grandma also. Now that I am a grandmother myself, I can see that the Nanny thing was most likely to distinguish this grandmother from that one. I didn't see my other grandmother as often and when I did, they were never both together, so the part about distinguishing one from the other became a non issue.
Grandma Clara was a model for all grandmothers to follow. She made every one of us feel that 'we were the special one'. Although, now as an adult, I know it isn't so. When I was let's say ten and younger, you would not have been able to convince me or my other six cousins that it wasn't the absolute truth. Certainly could not convince me because I was her baby's baby; regardless of any other factor, you can't change that.
Something else about Grandma is that she had glaucoma. For those who don't know, it is a blinding disease where seeing shadows eventually become total darkness. Her oldest child, Agnes was her caregiver. Aunt Agnes' her husband, son, three others of my cousins and myself all lived at Grandma Clara's house on Myrtle Ave. Now and then I think about that and it makes me snicker. Eight people and one bathroom! I tell you what, we had it down to a science. The five of us kids were six years apart from the oldest to youngest. School mornings we had a routine that was strictly followed by all five of us. You better be waiting outside the bathroom door when your turn came or you got skipped and even went to the end of the line.
Back to grandma. When she got her social security check, she would often slip all of us a 'piece of change'. It's no wonder she didn't always give us a little every month and I don't blame her. I have observed occasions where one, maybe two of my cousins stood there waiting for their money and grandma would ask for confirmation "Is that a five?". "No, Grandma, that's a one". I tell you what, Grandma couldn't see but she knew exactly how much money she had.
You see this photo of her standing in front of her church? I'm positive it was Mother's Day. See the white carnation? I had one of my cousins help me to decide when was this pic taken and we figure it was about 1965 and she would have been about 76 years old. Well, eventually she got to where she didn't want to 'bother anybody' to drive her across town to go to her church on Wilson Ave, so she started attending the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was coincidentally down the street about a 10 minute walk. Even though it wasn't very far, she still needed assistance getting there and back. Any one of my other cousins could have taken her (an they may have now and then) but I think I remember taking her most often. I said it was a ten minute walk, any one of us kids could have gotten there and back in five minutes but you had to walk a little slower if you were walking with Grandma. You had to alert her to the cracks and the uneven sidewalk slabs.
I hope I don't sound like I was her little angel. I must admit, that I did her wrong once. She told me not to go anywhere and I did anyway. I made the mistake of taking her blindness for granted once and I paid for it when I got back. I have asked forgiveness for that dirty deed. She assured me I am forgiven but don't do it no mo. I also remember when there was a thunderstorm, we had to turn out the lights and sit there quietly while the Lord was doing his work.
One of my cousins and I shared her bedroom. Hers was the largest bedroom in the house and fit three twin beds, dressers and a desk very comfortably. The one thing I remember best about Grandma is that when she went to bed at night, she got down on her knees to pray most nights before she went to sleep. Now and then, she'd get in bed then pray but she did pray every night.
At the end of her prayers she would say the first verse of The Serenity Prayer:
Added inspired note after reading Sandra's article My Grandmother Always Said…… :
My Grandma used to always say, "Keep on living, you'll be old someday." I do get it.
Grandma Clara was a model for all grandmothers to follow. She made every one of us feel that 'we were the special one'. Although, now as an adult, I know it isn't so. When I was let's say ten and younger, you would not have been able to convince me or my other six cousins that it wasn't the absolute truth. Certainly could not convince me because I was her baby's baby; regardless of any other factor, you can't change that.
Something else about Grandma is that she had glaucoma. For those who don't know, it is a blinding disease where seeing shadows eventually become total darkness. Her oldest child, Agnes was her caregiver. Aunt Agnes' her husband, son, three others of my cousins and myself all lived at Grandma Clara's house on Myrtle Ave. Now and then I think about that and it makes me snicker. Eight people and one bathroom! I tell you what, we had it down to a science. The five of us kids were six years apart from the oldest to youngest. School mornings we had a routine that was strictly followed by all five of us. You better be waiting outside the bathroom door when your turn came or you got skipped and even went to the end of the line.
Back to grandma. When she got her social security check, she would often slip all of us a 'piece of change'. It's no wonder she didn't always give us a little every month and I don't blame her. I have observed occasions where one, maybe two of my cousins stood there waiting for their money and grandma would ask for confirmation "Is that a five?". "No, Grandma, that's a one". I tell you what, Grandma couldn't see but she knew exactly how much money she had.
You see this photo of her standing in front of her church? I'm positive it was Mother's Day. See the white carnation? I had one of my cousins help me to decide when was this pic taken and we figure it was about 1965 and she would have been about 76 years old. Well, eventually she got to where she didn't want to 'bother anybody' to drive her across town to go to her church on Wilson Ave, so she started attending the Seventh Day Adventist Church. It was coincidentally down the street about a 10 minute walk. Even though it wasn't very far, she still needed assistance getting there and back. Any one of my other cousins could have taken her (an they may have now and then) but I think I remember taking her most often. I said it was a ten minute walk, any one of us kids could have gotten there and back in five minutes but you had to walk a little slower if you were walking with Grandma. You had to alert her to the cracks and the uneven sidewalk slabs.
I hope I don't sound like I was her little angel. I must admit, that I did her wrong once. She told me not to go anywhere and I did anyway. I made the mistake of taking her blindness for granted once and I paid for it when I got back. I have asked forgiveness for that dirty deed. She assured me I am forgiven but don't do it no mo. I also remember when there was a thunderstorm, we had to turn out the lights and sit there quietly while the Lord was doing his work.
One of my cousins and I shared her bedroom. Hers was the largest bedroom in the house and fit three twin beds, dressers and a desk very comfortably. The one thing I remember best about Grandma is that when she went to bed at night, she got down on her knees to pray most nights before she went to sleep. Now and then, she'd get in bed then pray but she did pray every night.
At the end of her prayers she would say the first verse of The Serenity Prayer:
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Amen
Added inspired note after reading Sandra's article My Grandmother Always Said…… :
My Grandma used to always say, "Keep on living, you'll be old someday." I do get it.
You Must see The Generations Project
Durrell's episode is on The Generations Project this week. IMHO it is one of the most fascinating of all the Generations Project episodes I have seen. You have to watch this. Just to pique your interest without giving away the story, I was captivated by the mention of his ancestor's involvement with the mayor and chief of police. I find The Generations Project even more fascinating than the Who Do You Think You Are series. For one, there are no commercials! You get a full hour of entertainment for your genealogy fix. Another, as stated before, these are 'regular people'! I got the expression regular people from someone who commented on Dr Henry Louis Gates, Jr original episode, African American Lives that it was a great show. But how about featuring us regular people?
Maybe noncelebrity would be a better expression of who they are. I missed one or two of these episodes but I now look forward to every Monday when I can watch to see what's coming next. Another episode is Deanna, whose great grandparents died in a house fire. I have figured out that 'coming soon' might really mean already broadcast. There was at least one episode where it showed the nugget of an upcoming show I had already seen. So it seems that all these shows have already been taped and are not necessarily shown in order. I'm glad that I was able to actually view Durrell's episode since I was really pumped and have been waiting anxiously, since March 2 to see it. One point you might note is that even though The Generations Project is online, it looks like viewing missed episodes is not possible unless you have satellite service and have saved it via dvr.
I think I may apply. Maybe I can get some help identifying Smith's parents and siblings. Or maybe to confirm my newest conclusion is that Smith's wife, Pinkey Ann HOPE, is the half sister of John HOPE. John HOPE was an educator and first black president of Atlanta Baptist College, now known as Morehouse College.
Maybe noncelebrity would be a better expression of who they are. I missed one or two of these episodes but I now look forward to every Monday when I can watch to see what's coming next. Another episode is Deanna, whose great grandparents died in a house fire. I have figured out that 'coming soon' might really mean already broadcast. There was at least one episode where it showed the nugget of an upcoming show I had already seen. So it seems that all these shows have already been taped and are not necessarily shown in order. I'm glad that I was able to actually view Durrell's episode since I was really pumped and have been waiting anxiously, since March 2 to see it. One point you might note is that even though The Generations Project is online, it looks like viewing missed episodes is not possible unless you have satellite service and have saved it via dvr.
I think I may apply. Maybe I can get some help identifying Smith's parents and siblings. Or maybe to confirm my newest conclusion is that Smith's wife, Pinkey Ann HOPE, is the half sister of John HOPE. John HOPE was an educator and first black president of Atlanta Baptist College, now known as Morehouse College.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
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