Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How many Autosomal DNA Matches Descend from your Eight 2nd Great-Grandparents?

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

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

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

1)  How many autosomal DNA matches do you have descended from your eight 2nd great-grandparents (they would be your 3rd cousins)? Do you know how they are related to you? Have you corresponded with them? Why are your numbers high or low?

2) Share the number of your autosomal DNA matches for each of your 2nd great-grandparents, and answer the questions above on your own blog, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook or other social media post.  Please leave a link to your post on this blog post so readers can respond.

Here's mine:

The number of autosomal DNA matches I have on AncestryDNA (using the numbers from ThruLines) with a known common 2nd great-grandparent is:

    * George Washington Tapley (1814-1880) & Elizabeth Hicks (1824-1880):  64

    *  Solomon Page (1800-1860) & Elizabeth Caroline Scoggins (1802-1880):  288

    *  James William Drake (1829-1908) & Mary Ann Brantley (1837-1891):  13

    *  William Robert Harrell (1838-1908) & Catherine M Odom (1841-1875):  15

    *  James Madison "Jim" Tapley (1847-1912) & Elizabeth Rebecca 'Becky' Page (1844-1924):  49

    *  George W Schwalls (1837-1908) & Lincelia E "Celia" Claxton (1839-1882):  13

    *  Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) & Mary Margaret Hesser (1842-1920):  1

    *  Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) & Sarah Schoonover (1840-1918):  0

TOTAL = 443 (380 paternal; 63 maternal)

I am sure that there are many duplicates in the Tapley line.  

A1:  I have traced the lines from my 4th cousins (and closer) back to our common ancestor and entered them into my family tree in Family Tree Maker.  However there are many matches that that I have not been able to trace back to a common ancestor.  There are a lot of matches without family trees or I can trace only so far down but some generations are a black hole.  

A2:  I have tried to correspond with many of my matches, but I haven't had much luck.  Most never respond.  I seem to have more luck with finding cousins through my blog. 

A3:  The numbers are high or low for many reasons... some families have larger families than others (Tapley vs. Page for instance); some families have had more members test their DNA; my great-grandmother Carter was adopted so there are no matches on that line; and like I mentioned, a lot of DNA matches do not have a family tree or a very small family tree.  

I did not include matches I have at MyHeritageDNA because I could not figure out how to find matches per generation in an easy way like ThruLines.  

Sympathy Sunday

  Sympathy Days will be where I share the obituaries and my condolences for members of my family tree who passed recently.  When you get to be a certain age, you begin to read the obituaries every day.  As the days go by, you read about more and more of your friends and family members who have died.  You compare their age to your own and get a jolt. "That could have been me." 

  For genealogists, checking obituaries and visiting cemeteries is as normal as breathing. I learn so much from an obituary, i.e., maiden names, parents' names; children's' and grandchildren's' names, funeral and burial locations, sometimes even a cause of death.  I want to learn these things not for any purpose but to put it on the family tree for future generations to see and learn about the family that went before them. I admit, most of these relatives I have never met, but I think it is important to share that they were here on this Earth, and they were important.

  So I am signed up with at least three funerals homes from Swainsboro, Vidalia, and Wrightsville to get daily notices of obituaries sent to my email.  Every day, I peruse them and with the help of the family tree, figure out who is related to me and add any new information to the tree.    Some weeks there are several, and some weeks there are none.  

         "Mr. Lonnie Hilton Barwick, age 74, of Adrian, passed away peacefully on Tuesday morning, March 18, 2025, at his home. Funeral services were conducted Sunday, March 23, at 2 p.m. from the graveside in Watson – Odomville Cemetery with Karen Breedlove officiating. Family received friends Sunday, March 23, at the gravesite. Mr. Barwick was laid to rest beside his wife.

        Born in Dublin, Lonnie was the youngest of two sons and one of three children born to the late John T. Barwick and Tasia Petrova Barwick. He grew up in Adrian, and in 1968, moved to Atlanta and launched a forty-year career as a Master Carpenter and Independent Contractor in the North Atlanta area. Lonnie retired in 2008 and returned to Adrian. In 2011, he married Cynthia Louise Cronic of Madison who passed away in 2023. Mr. Barwick is preceded in death by his parents; wife; infant brother, Maurice; sister, Gloria Hun; and grandson, Donnie Davis.

        Mr. Lonnie leaves behind his daughter, Tracy Barwick MacDonald, Griffin; granddaughter, Lauren Davis; and great-grandson, Zane Costello.

        Sammons Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements."

            - Obituary courtesy of Emanuel County Live (online news source), Swainsboro, Emanuel, Georgia, USA, posted Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

  Lonnie was my 3rd cousin.  Our common ancestors are William Robert Harrell and Catherine M. Odom Harrell.

  Please join me in offering condolences to Lonnie's family and friends and holding them in the light.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - The Occupations of Your 2nd Great-Grandfathers

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

it's Saturday Night - 

time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

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

1)  Our ancestors had to work to support themselves and their families. Do you know what occupations your 2nd great-grandfathers had?  Tell us about them. If one intrigues or mystifies you, ask a free Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool to tell you more about the occupation in that place and time.

2) Tell us about the occupations of your 2nd great-grandfathers (and any AI created description of those occupations) in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link on this post if you write your own post.

Here's mine:

I went about answering this question by hand-drawing a spreadsheet with census years down the left side, and the names of my 2nd great-grandfathers across the top.  Then I checked every census each one would have been enumerated in after becoming an adult to the end of their life.  I filled in the squares with what the census listed as their occupation for each year.  So the census years ranged from 1850 - 1910.   

My eight 2nd great-grandfathers and their occupations are as follows:

    *  George Washington Tapley (1814-abt 1880), Georgia, occupations included blacksmith, carpenter, and farmer.

    *  Solomon Page Jr (1800-1860) was a farmer in Georgia.

    * James William Drake (1829-1908) from Georgia was a farmer most of his life until 1900 when he is listed as a Preacher. (Of course, he could have been doing both the whole time.)

    * William Robert Harrell (1838-1908), Georgia, was a farm hand, farmer, and a merchant.

*  James Madison "Jim" Tapley (1847-1912), Georgia, was a farmer most of his life. In his later years, he was a laborer on a farm.

    

* George W. Schwalls, Sr. (1837-1908), also from Georgia, was a farmer and then a day laborer in his later years.  Of course, he is missing on two censuses!

   

 * Comfort Ranney (1838-1920) was a farm laborer before he became a lumberman and ran a mill with his brother-in-law in Ohio.  Then during the last 30 years of his life, he was a farmer, first in Ohio and then in Michigan.

    *  Charles Kelso Carter (1843-1916) was a farm laborer and machinist in Ohio. Then he moved to Iowa and became a jeweler.  

Perhaps you have the same question that I did:  "What is the difference between a farmer, farm hand, and farm laborer?"  They sounded about the same to me.  However, ChatGPT educated me and explained why they are all very different.

My query:  "In the 19th century in south and middle Georgia, what was the difference between a farm laborer, a farm hand, and a farmer?"

ChatGPT replied:

In 19th-century South and Middle Georgia, the terms "farm laborer," "farm hand," and "farmer" had distinct meanings, reflecting social and economic differences:

1. Farmer:

• A farmer was typically the owner or manager of a farm.

• They usually owned the land and resources and made decisions about planting, harvesting, and managing livestock.

• Farmers could range from small subsistence farmers to large plantation owners.

• They often had a higher social standing compared to laborers and hands, especially if they were successful landowners.

2. Farm Hand:

• A farm hand was an employee who worked on a farm.

• They were typically hired laborers who lived either on the farm or nearby.

• Farm hands were usually paid wages or received room and board in exchange for their work.

• Their tasks were diverse, from plowing and planting to feeding livestock and performing general maintenance.

• Unlike laborers, farm hands were often semi-permanent workers and might work on the same farm for many years.

3. Farm Laborer:

• A farm laborer was generally a temporary or seasonal worker.

• They often performed manual, unskilled labor, such as picking cotton, harvesting crops, or clearing fields.

• Farm laborers could be tenant farmers, sharecroppers, freedmen, or migratory workers (especially after the Civil War).

• Laborers were typically paid by the day or task, and their employment was more unstable compared to farm hands.

• Socially, farm laborers were considered at the bottom of the rural economic ladder.

Key Differences:

• Ownership and Control: Farmers owned or managed the farm; farm hands were hired workers; laborers were often temporary or hired by the day.

• Stability: Farm hands had more stable and possibly longer-term employment than laborers.

• Social Status: Farmers held the highest status, followed by farm hands, then farm laborers.

• Economic Relationship: Farmers profited from production; farm hands earned steady wages; laborers were often paid per job or task.

In summary, the distinctions reflected both employment stability and social hierarchy, shaped by economic realities of the region, especially in the context of agricultural practices and labor systems of the time."

So I definitely learned some things about the social hierarchy of farming and my 2nd great-grandfathers doing this exercise!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Find a Grave Entries?

 From Randy (a 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)  How many entries are there on Find a Grave for your exact current surname and the birth surnames of your grandparents?  What about your spouse's grandparents' birth surnames?

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

Here's mine:

I used the Memorial search feature on Find a Grave.  There I entered only the surname I was looking for in the search parameters and clicked "Search."

Here is what I discovered:

Tapley:  3,491

Drake:  65,255

Ranney:  3,597

Page:  99,539

Harrell:  32,932

Schwalls: 54

Carter:  284,185

Since I do not have a spouse, I went back to my great-grandparents' original surnames.  

A Time Line for Emma Vermell Harrell Drake (1867-1935)

 Hello, genealogy friends.  I have been away for quite awhile.  It's been a tough year.  Right now, I am recovering from COVID.  I have been sick for 3 weeks and just realized yesterday that I am finally getting better!  So I have been able to spend some time on a favorite activity that had fallen by the wayside - genealogy!  I have been following Ancestry.com hints like crazy for a couple of days, while trying to catch up on my emails and messages.  I also peeked in at what Family Search sends me about my family tree, and I love their Time Lines!  I like being able to see the main events in an ancestor's life all in a line.  It makes it seem more real somehow.  

Now my last post from April was about my great-grandmother, Emma Vermell Harrell Drake (1867-1935).  I basically told what I know about her in a running commentary or story.  However, now Family Search has sent me a time line for her life, and I think seeing it in this format helps my story - makes it easier to take in.  So I'm going to share it here (with many corrections and tweaks!).  

Our connection:

Liz (that's me!)

↓↓↓

Gilbert Earl Tapley, 1928-2008 (my father)

↓↓↓

Nealie Vermell Drake Tapley, 1895-1970 (my grandmother)

↓↓↓ 

Emma Vermell Harrell Drake, 1867-1935 (my great-grandmother)

Time Line for the life of Emma Vermell Harrell Drake: 

1867 Age 0	Birth	September 4 Emanuel County, Georgia, USA
1875 Age 8	Death of a Parent	September 11 Her mother, Catharine M Odom Harrell (1841-1875) passed away at age 34, leaving 4 children, ages 15, 8, 5, and 3.
1878 Age 10	Remarriage of a Parent	January 1 Her father, William Robert Harrell (1838-1908) remarried in Emanuel County to Winford Barwick (1853-1939).  They went on to have 2 children (sons) together.
1883 Age 15	Marriage	July 30 Emma married William John Drake (1857-1927).  He was 25 years old with a 2-year-old daughter.
1884 Age 17	Birth of 1st Child	A girl, Hattie Lay Drake, was born September 10.
1886 Age 18	Birth of Child	Another girl, Kenneth Catherine Drake, was born April 3.
1890 Age 22	Historical Event	Woman’s Suffrage.  An organization formed in favor of women’s suffrages. By combining two organizations, membership eventually increased to 2 million people.  This voluntary organization held a major role in passing the Nineteenth Amendment.
1892 Age 24	Birth of Child	A boy!  William Lovick Drake was born October 2nd.
1893 Age 25	Historical Event	The Last Public Hanging in Georgia. The last public hanging in Georgia was on September 28, 1893. The General Assembly prohibited public executions in December 1893. Prior to this law, Georgians commonly traveled to witness scheduled public executions.
1895 Age 27	Birth of Child	Nealie Vermell Drake was born on January 29.
1897 Age 29	Birth of Child	William Robert Drake was born on January 22.
1900 Age 32	Historical Event	Trading Wildlife.  This law prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been taken, possessed, transported, or sold illegally.
1900 Age 32	Birth of Child	James Weldon Drake was born February 17.
1903 Age 35	Birth of Child	Keland Lawton Drake was born July 12.
1906 Age 38	Birth of Child	On March 20, Nancy Mary Ann Drake was born.
1906 Age 39	Historical Event	The Atlanta Race Riot.  The Atlanta Race Riot of 1906 occurred on the evening of September 22-24. A newspaper reported the rapes of four white women by African American men. Fueled by preexisting racial tensions, these reports enraged white men who then arranged gangs to attack African American men. Over the next several days, several thousand white men joined in and in the end, 26 people were killed and many were injured.
1908 Age 40	Birth of last child	On March 11, Martha Lou Drake was born.
1908 Age 40	Death of a Parent	Emma’s father, William Robert Harrell, passed away on April 10 in Emanuel County, Georgia.
1910 Age 42	Historical Event	The Mann Act.  This Act makes engaging in transport of any woman for any immoral purpose, prostitution, illegal.  Its primary intent was to address prostitution, immorality, and human trafficking, particularly where trafficking was for the purposes of prostitution.
1910 Age 42	Residence	Emanuel County, Georgia, USA
1912 Age 44	Death of a Child	Emma’s oldest child, Hattie Lay Drake, died of typhoid fever on July 25.
1912 Age 45	Death of a Child	Emma’s first born son, William Lovick Drake, died on December 17 at age 20 of typhoid fever.
1920 Age 52	Residence	Emanuel County, Georgia, USA
1922 Age 54	Historical Event	Women Granted the Right to Vote. The 19th Amendment, which allowed women the right to vote, was passed and became federal law on August 26, 1920. Georgia law prevented women from voting until 1922. The amendment wasn’t officially ratified until 1970.
1927 Age 59	Death of a Child	William Robert Drake was murdered on June 19, 1927.
1927 Age 59	Death of Spouse	William John Drake, Emma’s husband, was accidentally shot and killed by their son, James Weldon Drake, on August 9.
1932 Age 65	Death of a Child	Nancy Mary Ann Drake passed away on December 10 in Montgomery, Alabama.  She was 25 years old.
1935 Age 67	Historical Event	The Social Security Act created a basic right to a pension in old age and insurance against unemployment.
1935 Age 68	Death	Emma passed away on October 19 in Sandersville, Washington County, Georgia, USA. She was buried at Poplar Springs Methodist Church in Adrian, Johnson County, Georgia, USA like most of the Drakes.

 Unfortunately, I do not have any images of my 2nd great-grandmother.  I will share a picture of her headstone, which I believe says all it needs about her faith and where she got her strength.