Travel in South Texas I

From the Olive Farm, Elmendorf, Texas

Random Texas Pics

One of the last of the old wooden windmills.

Brick Wall of the Month: William Whitehead

My brick wall for the month of May is William Whitehead.

We know quite a lot about Travel Buddy’s ancestor William Whitehead, Jr. But we know very little about William, Sr.

From family lore, the legend is that William was born in Kentucky, 1811. He apparently married Marion/Meren Moberly, either in Georgia or Missouri, then moved at some point to Arkansas, where their five children were born.

We have found William, Sr. on the 1840 and 1850 census in Arkansas, but no where else. Family notes state that William and Marion both died in 1877 and 1878 in Denton County, Texas, but there is no evidence to support either their arrival in Texas at all, let alone their subsequent deaths, or their eventual death staying in Arkansas.

Our hope is to first learn where William and Marion ended up. But secondly, we would like to learn more about where these two came from. Who were their parents? Where exactly were they from?

If you have any comments or suggestions, let us know.

Dashiell Family Genealogy II

This is an update to the post Dashiell Family Genealogy I, published on January 2, 2013. When I figure out how to link to the first post, I will do so here.

This is information I was able to gather from visiting the Davidson County, Tennessee area during the summer of 2013.

I have known about the marriage between John Snyder Dashiell and Barbara Shaw Graham for some time. What I lacked was proof.

Two years prior to this trip, in 2011, I visited the Tennessee Heritage room in the Nashville Library. There are several branches of the library, but only one Tennessee Heritage room. The dearth of genealogy materials there was startling, but even more so was the complete lack of interest in helping us by the librarian on duty in that room. She appeared far more interested in her book she was reading than in us annoying her with questions. When we did finally get her attention she demanded to know if my ancestor was famous. I answered that no, he wasn’t famous, but he might well be regarded as needed by the Nashvillians of the time as he was a steamboat captain. Once she understood he wasn’t famous, however, she completely abandoned us. Interesting.

So two years later, I was still looking for my ancestors.

I only found two pieces of information, but they are significant. On a website describing the grave markers found in the Nashville City Cemetary, there is a description of two graves: one with the initials J.S.D., and the other next to it with the initials B.S. Apparently, these markers, along with many others, have disappeared. But perhaps John and Barbara did end up there.

The second piece of information comes from the book, “Marriages of Davidson County, Tennessee, 1789-1847.” Listed therein are Dashields, Jno. to Barbara Graham, Aug. 25, 1830. Sol. Aug. 25, 1830, Will Lytle, J.P. So the marriage date appears solid, at least.

While I am grateful for what I have found so far, I am hoping to learn more about John’s Masonic Lodge connections, and more about Barbara’s parents, who apparently did not come with their children to America.

1st World Problems

I must live in a protected version of the real world. Although I have owned a cell phone since 2000, I have almost entirely avoided any technical issues. I say almost, because fully avoiding technical issues lasted right up until April 18 of this year, when without any warning, my cell phone totally died. And when I say died, I mean beyond reviving by me, by the nice Verizon folks at the store, or by the Verizon tech gurus on the phone. So, I sent it in for a replacement, since the insurance policy purchased many moons ago fully covered the phone. At least in theory.

The physical phone itself was definitely covered, but the information saved thereon was not. I did, by some small miracle, retrieve my contacts. But all my calendar data, most of my pictures, all my apps (including those with details to be found nowhere else) were gone forever. I am still suffering for this as I forget a family member or dear friend’s birthday an average of twice a month. I am still missing appointments, a few passwords, important pictures of events that can never be reenacted, and other crazy tidbits of information I would never have guessed might abruptly disappear forever, or I would likely have had them tattooed someplace. Well, maybe not tattooed. But definitely permanent markered somewhere prominent and safe from natural disaster and human error effected-ruin.

But I got the new phone in the mail very quickly, reloaded the bits of information I could, and replaced all my familiar apps I was missing as I went to go use them and they were gone. Within a few days I was running along fairly smoothly with the replacement, and within a few weeks, I felt reasonably back to normal, apart from the gaping holes of information that kept turning up, like deep potholes on an otherwise easily traversed road.

Then, precisely 30 days later, it happened again.

I could not even believe it. I skipped the store this time, opting for a straight-out conversation with the tech folks. They couldn’t do anything this time, either. I was dumbstruck. As the new phone was, naturally, still under warranty, I was, once again, sent a new phone. I was, once again, able to reassemble my phone to where it faintly resembled the one before. But I was, once again, without all my calendar details. Luckily, this time the tech gal was able to explain how to correct how I was entering the information so that it too, along with my contacts, could be reloaded should this occur again, but I don’t even know quite how to explain how I felt after this had happened twice, so close together.

Numb, from the loss of important data. Frustrated, due to my inability to gain it back. Sad, that I had allowed myself to become so dependent on the idea that nothing bad could happen to my phone.

But there you have it: one more lesson learned at huge expense…but at least all I lost were memories and information.

San Diego – Maritime Museum III

Damewood Family Genealogy II

This is an update to the post Damewood Family Genealogy I, published on December 12, 2012. When I figure out how to link to the first post, I will do so here.

This is information I was able to gather from visiting the Botetourt County, Virginia and Topeka, Kansas area during the summer of 2013.

Malachi/Melchior (Melkeah) Damewood was a witness to a land transaction in Botetourt County, Virginia, 1799. He served as a witness in many capacities during this time in Botetourt County. Because of his unusual name, many different spellings have turned up when researching.

Malachi’s parents were apparently of Swiss heritage. They moved to Pennsylvania either right before the children were born, or soon after. Either way, their children (4 sons: John, Heinrich, Malachi, and Sebastian) may have had accents that made determining their names that much harder.

I found John Damewood, from several generations later, in the Topeka, Kansas area. John married Nancy Jane Cave in Indiana, and they moved to Kansas about 1857. In 1857, John and his brother Brazil B. Damewood are on the Calhoun County, Kansas State Census. In 1859, John is listed on the Jackson County, Kansas State Census.

I just wanted evidence that the Damewoods were there: they moved on to Oregon in 1861, so lived there only a few years. I knew my great-great grandmother, Mary Eldora Damewood was born there, but I had not found solid proof, before. Now I have.

Random Pic of the Month

Random pics from Spring 2014.