I’m feeling all inspired again with my genealogy blogging! I’ve gotten some great thoughts from reading others’ blogs. For this post, I’m taking Randy up on his last Saturday Night Fun quest, Where Were They in 1909?
The task was as follows:
1) Which of your ancestors were alive in 1909?
2) Tell us where your ancestral families were living in 1909. What country, state, county, city/town, etc. Who was in the family at the time? Use the 1910 census as “close enough.”
3) Have you found each of these families in the 1910 census?
Here is a brief synopsis of my ancesestral families and what they were up to in1909. To keep it simple, I’m going to go three generations back to my great-grandparents.
Barfield & Josephine (Holloway) Koonce – my father’s paternal grandparents were both alive and living in Craven County, North Carolina. The family was from this area. In 1909 they had been married for about six years and had two children, son Hampton and daughter Minnie. The third child that appears in their 1910 census record would not be born until early in 1910.
William Lawhorn Jr. – In 1909, my father’s maternal grandfather was not yet born! He was born August of 1910, so his parents, Sam & Cora (Cox) Lawhorn were close to his arrival as their 3rd child. His parents were also living in Craven County, NC and I have located them in the 1910 census. His future wife, Pearlie Kilpatrick, was not born until 1912. I’ve found her too in 1910.
Lewis “Christopher Columbus” Robinson & Lucinda (Lennon) Robinson – my mother’s paternal grandparents have thus far eluded me in the 1910 census. I periodically search for them, but I’m not sure where to look for them! They were both from the Columbus County area of North Carolina, but by 1920 they’d moved to New York. I do not know for certain when they were married, but their oldest child, Ethel, was born in 1908 in Wilmington, New Hanover County, North Carolina. Their next child was not born for another 5 years. I have located a man that fits his description (age, race, state of birth) in the 1910 census living in Trenton, NY as a hired man, but I’m not sure if this is really him or not. If it is him, I suspect perhaps Lucinda may have been living with family with their young daughter? In any case, I’ve still got some searching to do.
Abraham Lincoln McNair– In 1909, my mother’s maternal grandfather was a 13 year-old boy living in Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina with his father and five siblings. His mom, Gracy (Bullock) McNair seems to have passed by 1909 and soon after, his father would remarry. His future wife, Martha Jane Walker, was 12 years old, living in the same town, with her own parents, Anthony Walker and Martha Jane Baker and 4 other siblings. I have located both of them in the 1910 census.
So, of my 8 great-grandparents, only two were not yet born in 1909. I obviously have work to do tracking Lewis & Lucinda down in 1910. Very interesting to reflect on this. Thanks Randy!