Family History Trip

I have long awaited a trip out west, to finally locate the graves of ancestors.

We first started in Arkansas after leaving Alabama. I was in search of the location for William H Pickens, 3rd great grandfather. Who, ironically, moved from Alabama headed west with family. The circle of life.

We managed to find the cemetery, just an hour or so before sundown. There was a beautiful church across the street. Calvary church. He is buried in Calvary Cemetery, Bradley Arkanas. We looked through the cemetery, so many markers were illegible. I only hoped I could find his, but, did not. Just as we were getting in the car to leave, I snapped this beautiful picture of the cemetery where he was laid to rest in 1860.

He died taking his family to a better life  out west. Leaving his wife to carry onward alone, with seven children. Some I was able to locate on this trip and have recorded photos. Julia must have been an icredibly determined and strong woman to finish this journey. At the age of 37, she had these children in tow. Mary, james , Harvey, Leonidas, Jane , Josephine and William.

After leaving the cemetery , we headed west to visit some beautiful courthouses, and yes, more cemeteries!!

If you ever are in north Texas, yes, I know it is a big state. Please be sure to visit the courthouse of Hopkins County, in Sulphur Springs. I love courthouses and will photograph them in all the county seats I visit. This probably started on a trip I made to Georgia in 2012. Growing up in Florida, our architecture did not have a great deal of history. And knowing many courthouses had burned during the civil war and after, I knew I needed to record these beautiful structures when I could see them for myself. So, thereafter, I was hooked!

Hopkins county courthouse, so far, is the most beautiful. It was built from 1894-1895, comprised of sandstone and pink granite.

After visiting this lovely piece of history, onward a bit more north, to Honey Grove, Fannin County Texas. Here is where Julia A Pickens was buried. I had known the location of the cemetery. Knwoing the family history, I also knew she had children buried in the same location. We pulled up to the cemetery and did not know where to start. Divine intervention told my boyfriend David, to look to the right. I could not believe, we went directly to it.

This smile indicate just how happy I was to locate it so quickly. Leonidas, James and Josie were all buried with thier mother . A family that had true devotion to their mom, who had endured so much. I was truly thrilled to find this treasure.

Next up, another side of the family who married into Pickens. This plays into the story below of Alice LIndell Davidson, who married long lost James Harvey Pickens. Her mother was Mary Lumley Sullivan of the William Dunklin Sullivan family. She married Hiram Isaac Davidson, who was born in, ALABAMA!  Once again, the circle of life. They married n 1875, Leon County Texas, she was just 16. They had ten children together , he died in 1926. I found info, that she later remarried. A widowed Mr Cearley. I have not found a valid record of marriage or a death certificate to authenticate this.

We located the four corners in Sanger, where her address was listed. I could not see but one house that could have belonged to her. I continued to search for information on a death certificate or marriage and still not luck.

She was buried with her first husband with whom she bore ten children.

Story below is long awaited satisfaction of a story untold.

James Harvey Pickens with Alice Lindell Davidosn, my grandfather Harvey Hershel and sister Velma Ruth , taken about 1908

James Harvey Pickens, Harvey Hershel Pickens, Viola Ruth Pickens and Alice Lindell Davidson Pickens

My dad’s grandfather was never mentioned by his father. We only knew he left the family sometime before the trip to Florida. in Florida, my father was born to Harvey Hershel Pickens and Mamie Christine McCall. Harvey’s dad was married to Alice Lindell Davidson. See above picture. They were married in Texas. Years ago, I was able to locate their marriage certificate. It was here in this courthouse, I kind lady mailed me the certificate. It had never been picked up, so now, it is gracefully framed. A memory to them, a mystery to me.

Marriage Certificate of James Harvey Pickens and Alice Lindell Davidson

Below is the visit to Hillside Cemetery in Purcell Oklahoma.

James Harvey is buried with his parents. Harvey H Pickens and Sarah F Smith . Their daughter married the local undertaker and they are all in one location in the cemetery. I had found the records of burial years ago, but, there is nothing as rewarding as the real visit. Tommie, the sister married B H Rackley, local man of Purcell Oklahoma.

We drove around the very small town to see where my great granfather may have lived, I had the last census record. Best we could tell, it was an apartment/ boarding house in town.

Brother in law BH Rackley

We visited several other location on this trip through Texas. Seeing a great deal of beautiful places and history.

Now, on to California!!

MY FATHER’S LIFE A SCRAPBOOK HISTORY

Digital scrapbooking is really the way of the future. No more cutting, pasting, sticking slicing and choosing the right paper. This is all digital, and you can MAKE IT YOUR OWN. I have been working on a scrapbook for my dad the last couple of months. He is having memory issues, and I wanted to make something he could look at and maybe recount some good times throughout his life. I did a chronological story and added photos to go along with them. Different phases from childhood to marriage, military and good friends.

I have begun working as an Independent Publishing Consultant with Heritage Makers. You can make so many wonderful projects. Here are two pics of his album and a link to look a the rest of it. I hope he likes it.

If you are interested in making a similar project, or a story book such as I made my mom, please contact me. I can show you how with Heritage Makers. It is an easy system, no software to download. You simply go to their website, upload photos, store them in albums and ” Drag and Drop” them into a project. Add some embellishments and your own words, and that is it!!

http://www.heritagemakers.com/projectBrowserStandAlone.cfm?projectID=2487406&productId=507&sponsorID=601955

ON A SEARCH FOR DEATH RECORDS

I was happy to have in my mail on Wednesday, the death certificate for my great-grandfather, James Harvey Pickens. Here is a picture of James Harvey and family, about 1907.They were married in Cooke Texas 1900.

JAMES, HARVEY H , VIOLA RUTH AND ALICE LINDELL PICKENS

He was listed as divorced. His wife in Tampa Florida, was listed a s a widow. I do know he left the family somewhere between 1920 and 1930. Wife Alice, my grandfather Harvey H and siblings were in Tampa in 1930. We never knew what happened to James Harvey, except that he is buried with his parents Harvey H and Sarah F Smith Pickens in Hillside cemetery, Purcell Oklahoma. It was reassuring to see I had the right SMith family in the 1860’s in Oglethorpe county Georgia. James’ death certificate verified this.

James Harvey Pickens death certificate

The state of Oklahoma was unable to find the certificates for parents of James Harvey, but, I provided all the information I had , and resent it in hopes of success. James Harvey sister was Tommie Pickens who married undertaker B.H. Rackley. Someone of that family may know something too. I have also posted it to the Pickens and McClain county boards on Ancestry. I hope to put this family back together soon.

© FANNIESYOURAUNT

PICKENS ANCESTRY

My father , who is 77 years old today, was impressed with my recent genealogy trip. He never knew the family came from Alabama, he always thought Texas. I explained the route they took so many years ago. From South Carolina, to Alabama and then to Texas.

My tree of Pickens goes from

                                                                                         Pickens             

                                                                                    Patricia Ann

                                                                                  Hershel Harvey

                                                                                  Harvey Hershel

                                                                                   James Harvey

                                                                                       Harvey H

                                                                                      William H

                                                                                         Samuel

                                                                                        William

                                                                                          Israel

                                                                                 Robert Andrew

                                                                                  Andrew Picon

My dad….

Hershel Pickens Air Force Collage

Daddy and me Christmas 2011

FOLLOW ME FRIDAY….ON A WILD GOOSE CHASE

YOUR INFORMATION COULD BE WRONG

I have death certificates for several ancestors in Texas. I have several from Florida and Pennsylvania. Where do some of the tree makers on Ancestry get their family information? It seems some grab at twigs and branches just to try to make a tree!!!

It gets very frustrating when a leaf appears, and I look at the clue and there is no way this is the same person. Keep in mind, many names were similar. Family names were inherited through male and female. But, you need to look at ages, locations, siblings etc.

I try to compare at least three census records before I attach it. Then, I may also review the entire census in a community to verify other members of the same last name living there. Census records were not used in the same way they are today. Getting a name spelled correctly, well, it was phonetic. And you were lucky if the person had good handwriting at all.

When doing your research

DO

1. Compare census records, from previous years

2. Look at family members in all the census records, siblings, initials, dates of birth ages, on the record itself

3. Look at the marriage status of individuals, M/WD/ S…and many times the persons who married lived near each other, check an earlier census

4. Follow locations…people did move, but, usually was from one state to another or around a county, they kept it local, no cars in the 1800’s. They travelled slowly.

5. Look at family members in the community

6. Use death records and family info to verify

7. Use cemetery details for facts on dates and family members buried locally

8. Use surname message boards and state/county sites as well.

DO NOT

1. Attach a record because the name is the same

2. Record without verification/ cross referencing facts

3. Assume there was only one marriage

4. Get lost in the trees that are posted

5. Copy a tree

For those of us who create a family tree, it is vital information is not taken without communication. It takes years to gather all we have. While we do not mind sharing, it is more fun to connect with the person. Who know, you may find long-lost cousins as I have. If you are an Ancestry.com member, you can easily email for facts, photos or hints.

I have had several mysteries in my family with misspellings of names. Manny, Mamie and Mollie….my hunch of Mamie was correct. I found the obit.

Lumy, Lumley, Lummie and Lumnia….follow the records, Lumley was right.  I have the death record.

Good luck in your search, and I wish you all the answers.

©FANNIESYOURAUNT

MAPPY MONDAY

During the years in Texas, my great-grandfather and his family lived in Valley View, Cooke county where my Papa Harvey H Pickens was born, Sanger Texas in Denton county and then to Purcell, McClain county Oklahoma.

Arkansas to Texas to Oklahoma

It seems they took a straight path to Oklahoma. Previous to this, Harvey H the g-g grandfather lived in Lamar Texas as well. I found them in the 1880 census there with wife and several children. Although, before they came to Texas, they were in Arkansas, a strange route to take. All I can figure is there was family in southern Texas. I have yet to find who that would be. They lived in both Bradley and Columbia counties Arkansas, which are closer to the northeast corner of Texas. Another mystery to solve. Ancestor William Pickens died in Bradley county Arkansas in 1860. No record in a cemetery though, at last I tried. Only the mortality index. Harvey H and Sarah F Smith must have married between the two counties in Arkansas during the years 1862-1865 . Their first child was born in 1865. I can find no marriage record online. Time to ask for some volunteers in Arkansas!!

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING

I just received a death certificate in the mail. I had requested one of my great-grandmother, Alice Lindell Davidson Pickens. She is buried in Myrtle Hill cemetery , Tampa Florida. I had taken a trip to Tampa, several years ago, in hopes of finding her headstone. I knew she was in Myrtle Hill, I had found the record in the Plant City Archives.  It is actually names for an aunt by marriage, Quintilla Geer Bruton. Located in the old Plant City high school, where my grandmother graduated in 1928…….sorry.

Alice Lindell Davidson Pickens

Anyway, when I was in Tampa, back in 2008, I visited the old house in which I grew up. Well, I drove by it, of course, it was not the same. Also, my grandparents old house, which was not a pale pink. I turned on the GPS to find Myrtle Hill cemetery. And I set out to find the headstone of my ancestor. It is a beautiful cemetery, large oaks with draping moss. Old on the left, new on the right. I chose old. I was not a cemetery expert at this time. I did not have a plot to go by, so I was driving, walking and looking around. At the north side of the cemetery is the mausoleum. Fifties design, and it looked very familiar. I got a rather weird deja vu  feeling. The mausoleum did not seem unknown to me. I would later ask both my parents about this. I knew I had been there. The entrance was eerily familiar. A large headstone with the name ” Savage” was what stopped me in my tracks.Both my parents said they never took me there. I was not in attendance at my uncle Jimmy Pickens funeral, who is buried with his mother Alice. And they also told me that Nana would never have taken me there. Sometime later, a nice man volunteered to take a photo of Alice’s headstone, I was very close to it when I had visited. I found a plot of the cemetery later to confirm this.

Myrtle Hill cemetery entrance

So, now, I have another mystery to solve. On Alice’s death certificate, it lists her parents. Thank Goodness, my information was correct. But, it also has a last name of Cearley. I had seen this before. Texas is wonderful about posting death certificates on FamilySearch. I had found one on Alice’s mother, and it listed her name as Mary Lumley ( Davidson ) Cearley. This is a question, because, she is buried with her husband, Hiram Isaac Davidson. Now, I am off to see if there was indeed a marriage to a Cearley. Mary Lumley Sullivan Davidson is buried in Sanger cemetery, Denton county Texas.

Alice Lindell Davidson Pickens

Mary Lumley Sullivan Davidson Cearley

I think this is a mystery that can only be solved in Texas. Most of that side of the Pickens/ Davidson family lived in the northern part of Texas….in Denton, Cooke and Wichita counties.

©FANNIESYOURAUNT

TREE OF ME

This is only the Pickens side up. It shows the family I discussed on Treasure Chest Thursday.

Pickens tree from me

TREASURE CHEST THURSDAY

EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE……YOU FIND A TREASURE

W T Pickens and L C Pickens, brothers

Josephine Pickens

I come across documents and headstones, that tie everything together. This is one such document.. And it led me further into the search for more Pickens. In Texas, they have great records online. Death records I have found on many ancestors.

I have ben able to tie family members to each other. I had suspicions, but, never concrete evidence. These death records gave me what I need to verify branches on the Pickens side. It did not take me as far as I would like, but, it did help a great deal.

Below, you will see the death records of some ancestors that I traced to Alabama. Where I live now in Decatur Alabama, that would be about 3 hours south, near Montgomery in Lowndes county.

Julia A. Brown Pickens

This states her father was M. Brown, she was born in Alabama. She was the wife of William Pickens, they married Lowndes county, Feb 28, 1841. Julia A is my 3rd great-grandmother.

Tom Pickens, listed as witness, was son, W T Pickens. I find it a little funny the cause of death is listed as senility, she was 95 years of age.

Josephine Pickens

Josie Pickens was the daughter of William and Julia Ann Brown Pickens. It looks as if she never married. I have found census records of her living with brothers. In 1900-1920 census, she lived with mother, who was a widow, brothers Tom and Leonidas and a sister Mary Snell. Mary married Simeon Snell and was a widow by 1891. The informant on Josie Pickens death record, was niece, Julie Essie Graves. She was the daughter of Harvey H Pickens. my 2nd great-grandfather.

The Pickens I have found came from North Carolina, to Alabama, through Mississippi all the way to Fannin county Texas.    

WEDDING WEDNESDAY

WHO KNEW THAT TWELVE YEARS LATER THEY WOULD MEET?

My grandmother Mamie McCall and my grandfather Harvey Pickens. Mamie was 6 in this picture, which would make it 1916. My Papa looks to be about 12 or more. He was born in 1901, so these pictures were taken close to the same time. They were married in 1931 and were together 53 years, until my grandfather passed away in 1984. They never made a big deal about their 50th anniversary, nor did we know at that time when it was. THey had two children, my father Hershel Harvey Pickens and Ann Marie Pickens, and six grandchildren.

I regret I do not have a wedding picture or marriage certificate. I am going to request a marriage certificate from the state of Florida.