Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Pick a Day in the Life of an Ancestor**

 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)  Michael John Neill wrote "Pick a Day" on Thursday, February 3, in his Genealogy Tip of the Day blog.  

(2)  Read Michael's post, and then write your own post.  Tell us your day, your person, and then answer the ten questions.

(3)  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:

The person I chose for this exercise is my paternal grandfather, Lusion Keman 'L.K.' Tapley (1870-1935).  The date chosen was April 14, 1930.

* Where was my ancestor living?

    Papa was living in Kite (District 55), Johnson County, Georgia.  His farm was located between Highway 57 (going toward Wrightsville) and Fortner Pond Road, which runs into Highway 221 North (heading toward Bartow).  

* Who was in his household?

    In his household were his wife of 16 years, Nealie Drake Tapley (1895-1970), age 35; their sons, William Lamar (1915-1985), age 14; John Russell "Russ" (1917-1967), age 12; Dorsey Franklin "Dorse" (1919-2007), age 10; Jack Dempsey "Demp" (1921-1994), age 8; Gilbert (1928-2008), age 1; and their daughter, Irene (1925-2004), age 4.  

* What was the ancestor's occupation?

    Papa was always a farmer.  The 1930 census states that he was "working on his own account."  So I take that to mean he was farming his own land.  Lusion's parents gave each of their children some land, but I do not know the acreage of Papa's portion. This date is two years before Papa and Grandma lost their land to foreclosure.

*  What was the ancestor's age?

    On this date, he was actually 60 years old, though the census states he was 57.  

*  What was going on nationally on this date (at this point in time)?

    More than 4 million people are unemployed as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

    Arizona scientists discover a ninth planet - Pluto. 

    For the first time, the 30th U.S. Census asks whether the respondents owned a radio, reflecting an increased interest in communication technology and consumer goods.

    The Nazi party becomes the second largest political party in Germany.

    Construction on the Hoover Dam started later in the year 1930.  The Hoover Dam was part of a larger public works relief program to create jobs for those struggling during the first years of the Great Depression.

    CBS broadcasts the New York Philharmonic live over the radio for the first time.

*  What was going on locally/regionally?

    The closest newspaper I could find was "The Atlanta Constitution."  Some of the Georgia news article titles on April 14, 1930 include:

    "State Education Convention Will Open in Macon Today"

    "Convicted Forger Escapes at Macon"

    "Wesleyan is Host to University Women" (American Association of University Women)

    "Thermometer Reaches 84.3 Degrees in Macon"

    "South Carolinian Shot to Death" (in Augusta)

    "Driver Dies as Auto Plunges Off Bridge" (Augusta)

    "Byrd Murder Case Will Reopen Today - Dan Tyre to Face Trial for Ax Slaying at Blackshear"

    "Aged Georgian Robbed, Beaten" (Savannah)

  

*  Were my ancestor's parents alive?

    No, his father had passed in 1912, and his mother died in 1924.

*  Were my ancestor's siblings alive?    

    Other than two sisters who died as children, all nine of Papa's other siblings were alive on this date.  These included Franklin Morgan "Frank" (1867-1938), James "Jim" (1868-1941), Elizabeth Virginia "Lizzie" (1873-1959), Tabitha "Bosh" (1875-1956), George Washington Sentell "Tell" (1876-1944), Bennett Olin "Ol" (1878-1955), Solomon (1881-1971), Vianna Bell (1886-1965), and Bascom Biship (1889-1967).  

*  Where would he have gone to church the previous Sunday?

    I'm not sure that Papa attended church.  But I can guarantee that Grandma Nealie was at Powell's Chapel every Sunday!

*  Who were my ancestor's neighbors?

    His immediate neighbors were Frank Rodgers and family on one side and C.L. Stephens and his son, Elmo, on the other side.  A couple of houses up the street was his son, Champ Lusion (1909-1974) and his wife, Pauline Horton Tapley (1912-2003).  Pauline's family lived next to them.  Next to Champ were the Pooles... their daughter, Reida Mae (1905-1979), ended up marrying Lusion's oldest son, James Tillman "Fella" (1904-1974).  

** Please note that this is the Saturday Night Fun prompt from last Saturday, February 5. I missed it last week, and since I am not any kind of sports fan, I chose to go ahead and do last week's prompt.  

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My "7 Generations in 1" Chart

  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)  Please see the Genea-Musings post for this challenge to get the template, etc. used.  I'm going to just cut to my result tonight.  

My challenge tonight was to fill out my 7-in-1 Ancestor chart and show it off.  The chart covers ancestors #1 through #127 in an ahnentafel list.  I used the spreadsheet, added the ancestor numbers while adding the names (starting with 1 = me, 2 = my father, 3 = my mother, etc.).  I added the names and birth and death years (if known) for the first 7 generations.  I colored the boxes for the two ancestors who were born in other countries.  As you can see, my families are deeply rooted in the United States.  I saved my chart in Excel, copied it to Paint 3D and then saved it as a JPG image file.  This task has taken more than an hour!  So if you choose to do it, plan ahead!

(2)  Show me your 7-in-1 chart in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a post on Facebook.  

Here's mine:

My columns are wider than the ones you'll view from Genea-Musings because, like Randy, I added their birth and death years.  This helps me a lot since several of my ancestors share the same name.  

There is other color coding I would like to do, such as by states, military service, blanks that need to be filled in, etc.  I'm open to other ideas for coloring coding!

Thank you to Ann Raymont (DNAsleuth) for the original idea of doing this; Linda and Dave Shufflebean (Empty Branches on the Family Tree) (Also, thank you Linda for always commenting on my Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts.  I love the feedback!) for creating and sharing the spreadsheet version of the chart, and of course Randy Seaver for sharing this idea.  I think I am going to suggest to my mother, BFF, cousins, etc. to refer back to this chart when I am going on and on about an ancestor - it may help to keep them all straight!  

Military Monday: Memorial Day Roll Call

On this Memorial Day, 2013, I would like to start an annual tradition of recognizing and thanking those from my family lines who gave the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country in the military:

French-Indian War

- Samuel Ranny, 7th Co., Capt Herlihy, 1st Regiment (1st cousin, 9x removed)

Civil War

- Edward George Ranney, Unit Unknown, Killed at Gettysburg (1st cousin, 4x removed)
- Warren Kea, Unit Unknown, Killed at Antietam/Sharpsburg (husband of 2nd great grand aunt)
- Elias Price, Private, Co. F, 48th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Died at Richmond (2nd cousin, 6x removed)
- Harrell Solomon Horton, Private, Co. F, 48th Regiment, Georgia (1st cousin, 2x removed)
- Elisha Pullen, Unit Unknown (2nd cousin, 3x removed)
- Ezra Carter, 12th U.S. Infantry, Killed at Groveton, Virginia (2nd great grand uncle)
- Francis M. Tapley, 1st Corporal, Company F, 48th Georgia Infantry,  "Johnson County Battleground Guards", Killed at The Crater, Petersburg, Virginia (great grand uncle)
- John Nelson Key, Sgt., Co. G, 32nd Regiment, Georgia Infantry.  Died at Confederate Military Hospital, Savannah, Georgia.  (husband of 2nd great grand aunt)
- Lawson Y. Riner, Private, Co. F, Georgia 48th Infantry Division, Died in Hospital, Richmond Virginia (1st husband of 2nd great-grandmother)

 World War I

- Vertie L. Tapley, Unit Unknown, Died in Atlanta of influenza while on his way overseas (3rd cousin, 2x removed)

World War II

- James Cullen "J.C." Tapley, PFC, U.S. Army, 168th Infantry, 34th Division, Killed in Italy (1st cousin, 1x removed)
- Edward Tapley, Private, U.S. Army Infantry (4th cousin, 1x removed)
- James Elbert Tapley, Sgt., U.S. Army, 30th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, Killed in France (4th cousin, 1x removed)
- Willis Washington Wade, Jr., Ensign, U.S. Navy (4th cousin, 1x removed)

I am grateful.

If you are reading this and are related to or descended from one of these heroes, I would love to hear from you.  If you have a photo, I would like to include it next year.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Ancestor Roulette!

From Randy over at Genea-Musings: 

Dear genealogists everywhere, it's Saturday Night!  Time for some Genealogy FUN.  

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:

 1) What year was one of your great-grandfathers born?  Divide this number by 100 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."

2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ancestral name list (some people call it an "ahnentafel" - your software will create this - use the "Ahnentafel List" option, or similar). Who is that person, and what are his/her vital information?

3) Tell us three facts about that person in your ancestral name list with the "roulette number."

4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook status or a Google Stream post, or as a comment on this blog post.

5) NOTE:  If you do not have a person's name for your "roulette number" then "spin" the wheel again - pick a great-grandmother, a grandfather, a parent, a favorite aunt or cousin, yourself, or even your children! 

Here's mine:

 1)  My great-grandfather, James Madison "Jim" Tapley was born in 1847.  Dividing by 100 gives me a roulette number of 18.47, rounded up to 19.

2)  The person in my FTM2012 with Person ID #19 is my uncle, Champ Lusion Tapley.  

3)  Three+ facts about Uncle Champ:

  *  Champ Lusion Tapley was born November 11, 1909 near Bartow, in Johnson County, Georgia.  He lived his entire life in Johnson County.

  * On January 31, 1930, he married Pauline Horton.  Together they raised six children.

  * He died June 17, 1974 in Emanuel County, Georgia. He and two of his brothers all died within one nine month period in 1973-74.

  * Champ is buried at Rehobeth Baptist Church Cemetery near Kite in Johnson County.

  * This doesn't qualify as a "fact," but my father always said that Uncle Champ was the one who looked the most like their father, Lusion Keman Tapley.   

  * In writing this post, I realized that I do not have one single picture of Uncle Champ!  Cousins... care to help me out with that?

4)  Done!
 

Tombstone Tuesday: Elizabeth Rebecca Page Tapley

Elizabeth Rebecca (Becky) Page Tapley

Date of birth September 8, 1844

Date of death May 18, 1924

buried at Oaky Grove Church Cemetery,

Johnson County, Georgia

near her husband, James Madison Tapley

my paternal great grandmother

Becky was married once before my great grandfather, to 

Harrell Solomon Horton

who was killed or died during his service in the Civil War.

I do not know why the last name Tapley was not put

on her headstone.