Eva Jeffery homesteads in South Dakota!

Made a discovery while I was searching for Dad's Jeffery relatives [we're looking in Ohio, Wisconsin and Nebraska].  His great-great-grandfather John Jeffery had a couple of half sisters that decided to homestead in south Dakota late in the 1800's!
Turns out that Eva's sister Mary Ann married Francis DeVoe and that may have been the reason Eva went up to Dakota Territory.  Because her sister and brother-in-law went.  Turns out that Francis DeVoe's brother George homesteaded land right next door to Francis and Mary Ann.  Eva was just a little bit aways in the same section.
So, how did I find all this out?
Well, a great aunt left her genealogy notes from when they where searching out family facts in the 1960's.  And one of these notes mentioned that the Jeffery girls came out to Nebraska and then went to South Dakota to homestead near Yankton.  That was all it said though!
Here these two women went off and did something women wern't supposed to be capable of doing.  Survived on a claim up in the Dakota Territory.  That would mean living ruder than folks down in the States.  The weather up there could be harsh.  Droughts, freezing winters, blizzards - all kinds of fun stuff!  And Eva went up and stayed on her own claim, no man around [she never did marry].
So, it was time to hit the Dakota Territory census and the BLM GLO records.
http://www.glorecords.blm.gov
the BLM patent search has a new setup now, with a few more fun tools.  And even though Eva Jeffery's homestead patent hasn't been indexed yet [therefore no image of the paperwork available yet], it does have this neat interface to look on a map and find just where our ancesters homestead was!

So, there's all the BLM info for Eva's homestead and a little map of the section and where it sits in today's world.  From this info a person can write to the National Archives to get the land patent info or to the local historical / genealogical society to find out more about and ancestor that made such a brave move [I chose the latter - I hope to get a little more info about Eva's life on the homestead, and if I'm lucky, they might be able to lead me to some photos!]

From the 1880 Yankton Dakota Territory census, it looks like Eva [called Rachel in some census] supported herself as a school teacher and lived with her sister's family until she could get her own claim [which is about right because the BLM records say she filed on her claim in October of 1882].
So there's more to look for.
In this same census we can see that their mother, Sarah Jeffery was living with the family also. It seems from the records that Eva Jeffery and her sister's family stayed in South Dakota for about twenty years and then moved to Deer Park, Washington.  Well, what was in Washington that brought on such a change in living places?
Sarah Burney Jeffery is buried next to her husband William Jeffery in the Rose Hill Cemetery in Waverly, Lancaster County, Neb.  I surmise that she died in Yankton and that not long after, her girls moved to Washington State.
Now to find out what was out west!

The Family History Researchers Lament

The Family History Researchers Lament
by C.Garner
Those family books where in boxes, under tables, and in files with papers flopping about.
They sat on the kitchen table and covered all the counters, forcing me to eat out.
There's census copies in my car and little note books here and there.
There's even papers I have to move,
when I want to sit in a chair.
I've got files and folders and folios,
and I've gone and filled them too.
And there's still so many relatives out there,
What's a researcher to do?
Why, make friends at the local copy shop!
Get an office supply discount card.
And buy a big ol' bookshelf.
Because quitting's awful hard.

Carla

Tell us why this is so important

There's the little things we miss if we don't pay attention.  What did Grandma say about that piece of silverware or the old clock on the mantle.  What was Dad telling you about the postcard that Grandpa sent back to Sweden.  If we really listened to those stories we've heard in family gatherings or at the dinner table, what clues would we find?
How about letters saved and sitting in a box somewhere?  Are there clues to a family member's life adventures?

I find and record these genealogical facts and dates and locations so I can tell the stories of those who have gone before.  Ordinary lives that have become extraordinary - and important.  How did Great-grandma survive the Depression.  How did Great-greatgrandpa make that trip across the prairie?  How did great Aunt survive the relocation and boarding school life she was forced into?  Does Uncle remember what he thought when Rosa Parks wouldn't sit in the back of the bus? What did Dad do to get past the time in the military?  How did Mom help you through the effects of The Big One?

Did someone tell you a story?  Did someone show you a tool or an article and describe what it was for and who used it?  Do you remember?  Have you written it down?

It's all part of a larger story.  One that you will want to leave for your grandkids or greatgrandchildren, or even the children of others, who will very soon be running this world.  What kind of values and ideas do you want to leave for them?
How will they know unless you record it?
Write it down. Record it.  Take a picture.

Tell us why the things Grandma did back in the Old Days is important to us today. 

The McNutt Mystery

A new little part to the Levi James McNutt mystery came to me the other day.
A person named Gardner is a Find A Grave volunteer over in Mississippi.  She found Sarah Frances Hopkins grave stone!
Sarah Frances Hopkins is the daughter if Elisha and Elizabeth Smithwick Hopkins.  She is also the only Sarah Hopkins that was the daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth Hopkins, the Grandparents of Levi James McNutt. This makes it possible that this is the grave of LJ McNutt's mother.

This graveyard is in Guntown, Lee County, Mississippi. It's an old graveyard and apparently abandoned even though it is right in town.  An interesting thing was the good condition of the gravestone.  I said that someone must have put a new stone there since the one placed there in 1874 would have been well worn by now.  I was hoping there might be living relatives still in the area. Gardner wrote back and mentioned that the gravestone was an example of pottery markers.  Apparently these where found in northeastern Mississippi and northwestern Alabama. Pottery markers are glazed and weather well compared to marble markers.
http://hillcountryhogsblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/loyd-style-stoneware-or-pottery-grave.html
I will be writing to Guntown city hall to find out if they know anything about the folks buried in the field across from them...

Did the Snare family go to Nebraska?

The whole herd move from Illinois to Nebraska!
Mary Ann Snare [b:1832 in Licking County, Ohio] married William Maxwell Reed [b: 1827 in Newark, Licking County, Ohio] over in Licking County, Ohio.  They moved over to Knox County Illinois about 1855 where children, Mahala, Nora, William, Otis, Effie and Hulda where born. 

Then as a family, the Reeds moved to Nebraska about the same time as the Jeffery's, whom they had married into, came from Grant County, Wisconsin.  I was wondering if the Snare's moved to Nebraska along with the other families.  It looks like John Jeffery even took his father-in-law Jacob Hall to settle in Nebraska territory. So there must have been a number of ox drawn wagons going west to Lancaster County, Nebraska a little before 1867.

Daniel and Mary Ann "Polly" Crowell Snare moved with the family from Licking County, Ohio to Knox County, Illinois about 1855.  Daniel and Mary Ann didn't go to Nebraska though.  They both died in Harmon, Knox County, Ill. 
So the next question is, did any of the Snare kids go to Nebraska [besides Mary Ann].


Hummm.  No, Melissa Snare got married to William C. McElrea and they lived out their lives in Harmon, Knox County, Ill.
Sidney Whipple Snare ended up in Grand Junction, Mesa County, Colorado. He married Sarah Ellen Babbitt.
Sarah Ellen Snare married Martin Milam and ended up in San Bernardino, San Bernardino County, California.
So what happened to Laura, Lyman and Reevis?
Did they stay in Ohio?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Time to do some census review and a little looking in the Licking County OH and Lancaster County, Neb archives on
www.usgenweb.com
Guess I'd better go find out!

Genealogy fun while unpacking, Brown and Palmer

I couldn't help it. Even while I am still unpacking and trying to get the house in order I had to look around on the internet. In an Ancestry.com newsletter someone mentioned state census.' I have had a good time looking at the state census related to the places our folks have lived because you never know what kind of information you will find. Some are as plain as the early Nebraska state census, where people where named and the places they lived where listed, and that was it. But the early Iowa census was another matter. I found my many time great grandparents Fred and Susan T. Knowles Brown with all their kids. Not only that, but the 1885 Iowa State Census had as much info as the Federal Census. Profession, where born, what county if they where born in Iowa, whether their parents where native or immigrant and if they could vote [males only]. It also showed that males where subject to military duty. And while perusing this document I happened to glance down the page and see Claude and Mary Palmer where living nearby. Mary is the daughter of Susan T and Fred Brown. Nice bit of extra information there, because I didn't know that Claude and Mary had a daughter named Carrie.

Moving genealogy stuff

Ok, Moving isn't the greatest fun I've ever had. But this time it went a little better. I had family papers in files if they weren't in the books yet. There's plastic hanging file boxes that a few hanging files slip right into. They're nice because you can use the carry handle to tote them right off to the latest place of research or pack into the right size box just as they are.
This time, photos where in the proper photobook or in a central repository [a large plastic file] so they could be safely transported. I even got everything into the boxes in some sort of order so that when I got the chance to work with the information over here at the new place, I would know what it was! [Where not talking the most tidy mind here - I'm the "pile it, don't file it" kind].
Now if I could only find my camera and memory sticks and such...