I HEART...Dead People

Everybody loves Wednesday, right?

The week's half over.  The weekend is on the way.

What's not to love?

Each Wednesday, I want to share something with you

that I absolutely love and can't live without! 

 

I'll bet today's title really caught your attention!  Don't worry.  It's not nearly as macabre as it sounds.  Just wanted to get your attention!  Actually, I  HEART...Genealogy.  But all my ancestors are dead.  Thus the term, ancestors.  See how I tied that all together?

 

I have always been interested in history - especially that of my own family!  I love to hear older relatives tell stories.  I have sat for hours and hours with my greatgrandmother looking at old pictures, listening to the names of those who lived long ago, but not so far away.  And I think I've been in every cemetery in Lowndes County, Georgia!  Why?  Because each of those people had a story, and I want to know it.

 

A few years ago, I bought a membership to ancestry.com and I have been hard at work trying to document my family history.  Luckily, I am standing on the shoulders of some wonderful people who have already done a lot of the work for me, but with today's technology, I am able to gather a lot of the documentation that they have so far been unable to get due to location or availability.  It's a fascinating hobby...if you're into it.  Gerald, bless his heart (you Southerners know what I mean when I use this phrase!), has listened patiently (or at least quietly) as I go on for hours about my elusive greatgreatgrandmother, Mollie Moore Wall. 

 

Here is Mollie standing outside the family home in Eclectic, AL (just minutes from where I live) around 1910 with her son, James Alver Wall (my ggf - he's in the hat on the left)

and her soon-to-be ex-husband, William Wall (my 2ggf in the middle).

She's holding the family Bible and they brought a lamp and table outside.

Fascinating!  See what I mean?   

 

As I began entering information about Gerald's family, I found out his 7th greatgrandfather, Godfrey Ragsdale, survived the 1644 Jamestown massacre as an infant.  Somehow, his parents were able to hide him.  They were killed, but he was found by neighbors (John Cookney and his wife) and adopted by this childless couple.  BTW - did you know this raid was perpetrated by Openchancanough, the uncle of Pocahontas?  (Try writing a movie about that, Disney!)  Recently, we passed through Jamestown on our way to Williamsburg.  Gerald "indulged" me as we stopped to pay tribute to his ancestors!

 

 

I decided that during the month of November, the kids and I are going to do a little genealogical research and work our way back to my 12th greatgrandfather, Pilgrim Stephen Hopkins, who came over on the Mayflower.  I am missing a couple of vital pieces of "proof" and I thought it might be fun for me and the kids to do some digging as we study about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving.  Who knows where it'll lead.

 

 

If you ever decide you want to climb your family tree, I honestly recommend ancestry.com.  It's worth every penny!  You never know what you'll find when you trace your roots.  I have found famous relatives and infamous ones.  You take the good, you take the bad, you take 'em both and there you have...your Family Tree!  But beware - it's an addictive hobby.  I'm just saying. 

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I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!

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