Exhuming things thats better left alone
I'm resurrecting memories of a love that's dead and gone
Yeah tonight i'm sittin' alone diggin' up bones. -- Randy Travis
One of my lesser addictions, when I can find the time, is discovering more leaves to add to my family tree cultivation. I visit a couple of sites, but the one I have had the most luck with is GenForum.
Recently, I have two distant relatives contact me with the most wonderful photos, family stories, and additions to my research. Without the gracious out-of-the-blue offerings from these folks, I would never have learned as much about my long ago blood relations. Thank you, William and Susan.
And the photographs! Do you know how it feels to suddenly look into the face of a great great grandfather, whose name was all you had? Both strange and wonderful.
The stories are the best part; while doing a little bit more research armed with the new information, I stumbled upon this at another site regarding a very long ago grandfather, Michael Whitmire and his brother, George Frederick Whitmire:
Arrived America at age 18, October 29, 1767 in the ship "Sally" which carried 62 passengers from Rotterdam, Netherlands via Cowes, Isle of Wight. It is believed he made the decision to emigrate partly at the insistence of his mother who requested that he find his brothers and advise Michael Whitmire that their stepfather had recovered and that he was not a murderer. He landed at Philadelphia and spent some time in the German community there. Later he spent a short period of time in Baltimore, Maryland, according to the research of Mary Alnora Nora Cox Drennan C2 10.4 . George Frederick Whitmire settled in Newberry District, South Carolina and bought a plantation there between Enoree River and Duncan s Creek in present day Union County, South Carolina. He received 960 acres of land as a gift from his father in law William Hagood . Their first residence was a primitive log cabin which he built. Later he constructed a large, commodious home which served as a residence and a tavern. The building was still standing after almost 200 years of continual use by the family. He was enumerated there in the 1790 census as Fred k. Whitmire living on his plantation. His family consisted of six males under 16, one male over 16 and two females. Source Source The Whitmire Manuscript http freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com gowenrf whitms030.htm
Oh gosh, now I am just itchin' to see if I can find the whole story about the presumably murdered stepfather and my own long ago grandfather who obviously did the damage, skipped out of town clear across the Atlantic to America from Germany
Upon a bit more diggin', I discovered that I am related to William Randolph Hearst - through the Whitmire branch.
How cool is that?
Now, you know the secret of my name...Pattie.
...
Nah, just seeing if you are paying attention.
2 comments:
I would love pushing the frontiers back a bit on my own family. All of my great great grandfathers died before I was born, but I well remember my matrilineal (you spell it!) great great grandmother. To the extent of my memory, she lived with her daughter & daughter's husband, both of whom lived until I was in college, and with whom I spent much time in my first 15 years.
BTW: The daughter's husband to whom I refer above, my great great grandfather, was named George Frederick, too--also of German extraction.
Cop Car
Amazing! Cowtown Pattie Hearst! Heh.
The Missus found a picture of her paternal great-grandmother as a young woman... it was eerie, like looking into a mirror. You never know what you'll find when you go on an Ancestor-Hunt!
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