Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Which Ancestor Am I Most Thankful For?

  From Randy (my newest cousin discovery!!) over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  We celebrated Thanksgiving in the United States this week, and my thoughts turn to my ancestors.  I pondered, "Which ancestor am I most thankful for?"  

(2)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook.  

Here's mine:

Which ancestor am I the most thankful for? Wow!  I had to do some hard thinking on this one.  I thought about my mother, of course.  But I don't think of her as an ancestor yet.  Could it be her father, my Pop Pop, who left behind the steno pad of family names and connections that led me to this wonderful obsession? Could it be my newest ancestor discovery - Stephen Hopkins who came over on the Mayflower?  It could be any one of the Tapleys, Ranneys, or Drakes who came to this unknown frontier of a country in the 16th, 17th or 18th centuries and began a new life.  Or someone else entirely...

So after some careful deliberation, I decided that my pick for this challenge is Ethel Irene Ranney Tapley, my maternal grandmother.  

Why did I choose Grandma?  Well, she kept a diary.  I loved getting a glimpse into her life in 1933 and 1934.  (I shared her diary on this blog.  The first post is here.) She also kept a scrapbook with pictures of family members and friends with all of them labeled!  That is amazing right there!  The diary and scrapbook have given me information about her life that I would not have otherwise.  Also information about the times... Grandma was good at mentioning national disasters and other news in her diary.  

In addition, my grandmother demonstrated great strength and courage in her life.  When she was a child, she was uprooted and moved across the country (from Michigan to California) due to her sister's health. She married Hazel, who she had dated for years, only to have him cheat on her with one of her own friends.  That left her a single mother to her son, Bobby.  Just when she found love again with my grandfather, Charles, and had their daughter, Linda (my mom), Grandma became ill. While I do not know all of the symptoms she suffered with, I do know her coordination worsened until she could no longer walk and had to use a wheelchair the rest of her life.  (While she was never officially diagnosed, we believe she had multiple sclerosis or something similar.)  She lost her wonderful mother in 1960 and shortly thereafter was uprooted again and moved across the country (California to Florida to Georgia) because my grandfather, her husband, wanted to go back home, I guess.  

Grandma's sister, Alice, made the move with them.  She helped Pop Pop care for Grandma.  I cannot imagine how that felt for Grandma, to have to depend on others for absolutely everything.  To move across the room, to get in bed, to get out of bed, to go to the bathroom, to take a bath, to eat... everything.  When Pop Pop got sick and went in the hospital, she had to be put in a nursing home because without him, Alice couldn't care for Grandma by herself.  Then came the day we all had to walk in the nursing home and tell her that Pop Pop had passed away.  I believe at that moment Grandma made a decision.  She had the strength and courage to just "give up" and go be with Pop Pop.  She passed gracefully and gently in my father's arms.  On her own terms.

I am very thankful for my grandmother, Ethel Ranney Tapley and the legacy she left behind.

On Board the Mayflower

 Happy  Thanksgiving!  

The Pilgrims celebrated the very first Thanksgiving 399 years ago in 1621.  After a very hard first year in the colony, the people had much to be thankful for.  Those that had survived the first winter in cold, snowy Massachusetts, a first harvest, and their new friends, the Native Americans who shared the celebration with them.  

2020 has been a very hard year.  A pandemic that has killed about 200,000 Americans; a very contentious presidential campaign; more racial division and violence that we could have thought possible; and for a lot of us, being unable to share Thanksgiving with our loved ones due to the fear of getting our elderly parents and grandparents or other health compromised family and friends sick.  Yet, each and every one has something to be thankful for this year.  Zoom.  Without it, we wouldn't even be able to see our family members' faces.  Food and a home.  At least we still have foot to eat and a roof over our heads.  Pets.  Miniature, fur-covered, full of personality someones who are here with us day in and day out to keep the loneliness at bay.    

I am also grateful for connections.  Connections to the past and where and who I come from.  Connections with "new" cousins around the country.  Connections with historical events and times.  It helps history come alive for me.  

Last weekend, I made an exciting discovery that has really made me realize the roots my family and I have put down in the United States.   I discovered that I am a direct descendent of someone who came over on the Mayflower in 1620.  

Let me just say that the possibility of being a Mayflower descendent never occurred to me.  Most of my family lines are from the southern U.S. and came into the country through Virginia.  But this is where it is handy to have "Yankee" ancestors!  The possibility was there.  Plus the New England colonies kept better records.  

I use a lot of Ancestry hints to help me with my research.  So while I was going through some hints last weekend, one came up that mentioned the Mayflower.  I was like, "What?!"  The last name was Snow, and that did sound familiar.  So I looked up the surname Snow in my Family Tree Maker 2019 database and there was Hannah Snow.  And I could trace her ancestors back to the Mayflower.  Then I searched for a list of passengers on the Mayflower on MayflowerHistory.com - still not believing it was possible.  Oh but it was.  My 10th great-grandfather and his daughter, my 9th great-grandmother, came over on the Mayflower.  

Here's the line from me all the way back:

Mary Elizabeth Tapley (me!)

Linda Irene Tapley (my mother)

Ethel Irene Ranney (1913-1973) (my grandmother)

Luther Boardman Ranney (1870-1943) (great-grandfather)

Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) (2nd great-grandfather)

Luther Boardman Ranney (1809-1890) (3rd great-grandfather)

Elizabeth Hubbard (1790-1868) (4th great-grandmother)

Thomas Hubbard II (1750-1803) (5th great-grandfather)

Hannah Snow (1720-1756) (6th great-grandmother)

Ebenezer Snow (unknown-1725) (7th great-grandfather)

Stephen Snow (bef. 1648-1705) (8th great-grandfather)

Constance Hopkins (abt. 1606-1677) (9th great-grandmother) came over on the Mayflower with her father, step-mother, and two siblings.

Stephen Hopkins (abt. 1581-1644) (10th great-grandfather) came over on the Mayflower with his wife and 3 children.  A 4th child was born during the voyage.  

Wow.  That's all I know to say.  Wow.

That's not all.  It turns out that Stephen Hopkins lived quite the life.  There is even a book written about him that I immediately ordered.  The book, Here Shall I Die Ashore - Stephen Hopkins: Bermuda Castaway, Jamestown Survivor, and Mayflower Pilgrim, was written by Caleb Johnson.  I haven't read it yet, but it teases even more on the back cover:

"By the time he {Stephen} turned forty, he had already survived a hurricane, been shipwrecked in the Bermuda Triangle, been written into a Shakespearean play, witnessed the famine and abandonment of Jamestown Colony, and participated in the marriage of Pocahontas.  He was once even sentenced to death! He got himself and his family onto the Pilgrims' Mayflower, and helped found Plymouth Colony. He signed the Mayflower Compact, lodged the famous Squanto in his house, participated in the legendary Thanksgiving, and helped guide and govern the early colonists."

Again, wow!  Can't wait to read the book!  

I will be writing and sharing more once I read the book and other information about the voyage and the Plymouth Colony.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Children Did Your Ancestors Have?

 From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  Thinking about your direct ancestors back through 2nd great-grandparents - in other words, ancestors #2 to #31 on your ahnentafel chart - how many children did they have?  How many of those children lived long enough to marry?  How many died before age 10?

(2)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook.  

Here's mine:

#2 and 3:  My parents Gilbert Earl Tapley (1928-2008) and Linda Irene Tapley (1942-) had 2 children - a boy and a girl.  One of them married.  One of them died before age 10.

#4 and 5:  My paternal grandparents Lusion Keman Tapley (1870-1935) and Nealie Vermell Drake (1895-1970) had 6 children - 5 boys and 1 girl.  All of them grew up and married.

#6 and 7:  My maternal grandparents Charles Morgan Tapley (1907-1973) and Ethel Irene Ranney (1913-1973) had one child - a girl.  She grew up and married.

#8 and 9:  Great-grandparents James "Jim" Madison Tapley (1847-1912) and Elizabeth Rebecca "Becky" Page (1844-1924) had 12 children - 7 sons and 5 daughters.  Nine of the children grew up and married.  One never married.  Two children died before age 10.

#10 and 11: Great-grandparents William John Drake (1857-1927) and Emma Vermell Harrell (1867-1935) had 9 children - 4 sons and 5 daughters.  Eight of their children grew up and got married.  One died before he had that chance, but not before age 10.

#12 and 13: Great-grandparents Lusion Keman Tapley (1870-1935) and Mattie Schwalls (1877-1912) had 4 children - all sons.  Three grew up and married. One died before age 10.

#14 and 15: Great-grandparents Luther Boardman Ranney (1870-1943) and Bessie Alice Carter (1883-1960) had 3 children - one boy and two girls.  They all three grew up and were married.

#16 and 17: 2nd Great-grandparents George Washington Tapley (1814-aft 1880) and Elizabeth MNU (1824-aft 1880) had 7 children - 3 boys and 4 girls.  Three children grew up and got married. One never got the opportunity to marry because he was killed in the Civil War, and three children possibly died before age  10.

#18 and 19: 2nd Great-grandparents Solomon Page (1800-1860) and Elizabeth Caroline Scoggins (1802-1880) had 4 children (that I know of).  Of those, all 4 were girls and three grew up and married.  One I am not sure.

#20 and 21: 2nd Great-grandparents James William Drake (1829-1908) and Mary Ann R Brantley (1837-1891) had 9 children - 5 boys and 4 girls.  Four of the children grew up and got married.  One child died before age 10.  The others grew up, but never married.  

#22 and 23: 2nd Great-grandparents William Robert Harrell (1838-1908) and Catherine M Odom (1841-1875) had 3 children - 2 girls and a boy.  All off them grew to adulthood, but only two of them married.

#24 and 25: same as #8 and 9.

#26 and 27: 2nd Great-grandparents George W Schwalls Sr (1837-1908) and Lincelia E Claxton (1839-1882) had 7 children - 3 boys and 4 girls.  Six children grew up and got married.  One child died before age 10.

#28 and 29: 2nd Great-grandparents Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) and Mary Margaret Hesser (1842-1920) had 4 children - 2 boys and 2 girls.  They all grew up and married.

#30 and 31: 2nd Great-grandparents Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) and Sarah Schoonover (1840-1918) had one adopted daughter.  She grew up and married.

There were 36 male children and 30 of them married.  There were also 36 female children and 25 of them married.  (Does this indicate that men marry more often or that there were not enough men to go around?)

Two families had only one child; one family had two children; two families had 3 children; two families had 4 children; one family had 6 children; two families had 7 children; two families had 9 children; and 1 family had 12 children.  

That's a lot of family in four generations!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - In Childhood, What Did You Save or Collect?

 From Randy over at Genea-Musings:

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

(1)  In your childhood (and into the teenage years), what did you save or collect as a hobby or interest?  Do you still have them?

(2)  Tell us all about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook.  

Here's mine:

My mother and I really had to dig deep to remember me collecting anything as a child.  But a few things finally floated to the top...

* Little Golden Books.  I have always loved to read.  I remember having the Little Golden Books, but I can't think of any specific titles.  However, I do know they were the truly classic ones (not the ones they are calling classic now like The Lion King.  We didn't know what a Lion King was back in the 1960s and 1970s!).  No, I probably had Bambi, Snow White, Cinderella, maybe even The Three Little Pigs.  I no longer have them.  I probably gave them to my great niece at some point.

*  Stamps.  I do not remember who got me started in stamp collecting, but it never went very far.  I wasn't that into it, and it cost money to buy the stamps for my collection, and I didn't have much of that.  I have a couple of small albums in storage.  

* Genealogy.  Yes, I started collecting family connections and dead people while I was a pre-teen.  I found my Pop Pop's steno pad of family history, and I took it and ran with it!  I was so into it that Ray Tapley, the cousin who wrote THE book on the Southern Tapleys, TAPLEY, A Family of Georgia and the South,  gave me a signed copy of the book when it came out as a thank you for my contributions!  And yes, I still have Pop Pop's steno pad, along with tons of other genealogy materials!

* 45 records.  I had a stack of them in a holder.  I had a stereo in my room (one of those old box ones that looked like a piece of furniture) that I played them on.  I had Alabama, Rupert Holmes (Escape), Sad Eyes by Robert John, Dr Hook, Andy Gibb, Donna Fargo, and many more.  I eventually got rid of them when I no longer had a record player and they became hard to find.

* Postcards.  I buy them wherever I go, and I keep every one I receive.  I still have some from my childhood.  The ones I get now, I use in my scrapbooking.

Time Capsule Tuesday

 

My first cousin, Betty Jean Weaver (1946-2015) was born November 3, 1946.  Let's see what was going on in the United States on this date 74 years ago.

                         

It was a Sunday.  The generation was the Baby Boomers.  This day was 27,029 days ago.

In the United States, the most popular baby name is Mary.  This name was given to 67,468 baby girls. For the boys, it's James.  This name was recorded 87,431 times in 1946.  

The President of the United States was Harry S. Truman.  There was no Vice President.  

1946 Prices

Bread:  $.10/loaf

Milk: $.70/gal

Eggs:  $.65/dozen

Car: $1,400

Gas: $.21/gal

House: $12,638

Stamp: $.03/each

Average Income: $3,118/year

Minimum Wage:  $.40/hour

Top Songs for the week of November 3, 1946:

Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It by Sam Donahue & His Orchestra 

The Old Lamp-Lighter by Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra

This is Always by Harry James & His Orchestra

Ole Buttermilk Sky by Paul Weston & His Orchestra

Top Books in 1946:

Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski

Animal Farm by George Orwell

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

Academy Award Winners of 1946:

Best Picture:  The Best Years of our Lives, Directed by William Wyler

Best Actor:  Fredric March in The Best Years of our Lives

Best Actress: Olivia De Havilland in To Each His Own

People born on November 3:

1470 - Edward V, King of England (ruled April 9-June 25, 1483)

1922 - Charles Bronson, Pennsylvania, Actor (Death Wish, Dirty Dozen)

1924 - Shirley Chisholm (D-Rep-NY), 1st black congresswoman/presidential candidate

1946 - Tommy Dee, Rocker

Happenings on November 3, 1946:

It was a slow news day in the United States.