AAHGS 2015 - Day 1 - James River Plantation Tours

Well, as promised, I'm hoping to get back on track with my blogging during the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Conference (AAHGS) in Richmond, VA.

Mom and I left in the wee hours of the morning. And yes I was working off of about 2 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. We arrived in Richmond and at the hotel in the nick of time to to catch the tour that we had signed up for.

Shirley Plantation

Our first stop was the Shirley Plantation located in Charles City, VA. The Shirley Plantation is Virginia's first plantation. Shirley Plantation is the story of 11 generations of one family. The family continues to own and operate the plantation.

This building is the kitchen.

The laundry house.

The main house

The Pump House

The Root Cellar

Berkeley Plantation

The second stop on the tour was the Berkeley Plantation, which is also located in Charles City, VA. The Berkely Plantation. The first official Thanksgiving was held at Berkley Plantation in 1619.

The tour guides wore period costumes.

2015 AAHGS Conference

This week the 36^th National Conference of the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) will convene in Richmond, VA.

This will be my second time attending the National Conference and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with some of my genealogy buds.

And although my trusty side kick, that would be mom, has been having some issues of late, I’m bring her along, because I think it would do her a world of good to get  away for a few days. Plus, she seems to enjoy these activities as much as I do, especially when she becomes engaged in a conversation with someone and can reminisce about her childhood days.

While at the Conference, I hope to do a bit of blogging and post some pictures, so be on the lookout for those.

Hopefully, by the end of the week, provided life settles down, I’ll get re-energized to return to the hunt.

Obituary Sunday - Frances Hosch Parker Grier (1919 - 2015)

This year, our family lost one of the elder members of our family, my Aunt Frances, my mother's oldest remaining sibling. Aunt Frances lived a long and fruitful life. Still doesn't seem like she's gone. With Aunt Frances' passing, only 2 of my grandparents children now remain, my mother and her older sister, Lucille (momma was the next to the youngest).


FRANCES GRIER

On Dec. 3, 1919, in Monroe, Georgia, Mrs. Frances Hosch Parker Grier was born to the late Oscar Lucillous Hosch and Mary Magdeline Pierce Hosch. She peacefully transitioned from her temporary earthly home of ninety-five years to her everlasting heavenly home on Feb. 18, 2015, while at Kings Mountain Hospice House. 

Mrs. Grier graduated high school and furthered her studies at the Tidewater Community College. During her time here on earth, Mrs. Grier held several jobs throughout her life, including working at the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Before retiring, Mrs. Grier worked for the Virginia Beach Police Department as a Criminal Records Clerk for twenty-four years. As the wife of a minister, she served faithfully as the first lady of the following churches: St. John AME Zion Church, Rocky Mount, NC; Light Oak Baptist Church, Shelby, NC; Piney Grove Baptist Church, Virginia Beach, VA; St. Paul AME Zion, Hereford, NC and St. Peter AME Zion, New Bern, NC. 

In addition to being one of the founders of Light Oak Baptist Church, her ministry service over the years included serving as the church clerk, teaching Sunday school, singing in the senior choir, leading the missionary ministry, and volunteering with the CARE Ministry. Mrs. Grier was also a member of the NAACP. 

In addition to her parents, Mrs. Grier was preceded in death by her first husband and the father of her children, James Bruce Parker; her second husband, Reverend Howard H. Grier; two daughters Vera Parker and Elizabeth Ann Parker Reid; her grandparents Cornelius and Fannie Pierce; three brothers, Willie Felton Hosch, John Robert Hosch , Melvin Hosch, Sr. (Dorothy Anderson); two sisters, Geneva Clayton Hosch Jackson(Cleveland Jackson) and Elmira Hosch Knox(Randolph Knox); one son-in-law, Max Oates; two brothers-in-law Reverend Eddie Evans and Earl W. Jones.

She leaves to cherish her memories one daughter, Ossie Mae Parker Oates of Shelby, NC; two sons, James Parker(Ann Maddox Parker) of Shelby, NC and Rufus Douglas Parker(Ruth J. McDowell Parker) of Grover, NC; two sisters, Mrs. Lucille Evans and Mrs. Ovella Jones both of Shelby; one godson, Reverend Charlie Benson of Chesapeake, VA; one son-in- law, Robert Reid of Camden, Delaware; two sisters- in-laws, Patty Mae Watson Hosch and Catherine Sims Hosch both of Shelby, NC; 19 grandchildren; 35 great- grandchildren, 8 great-great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

The family will receive friends from 1:30 until 2 p.m., on Monday, at the church and at other times at the home of her son, Rufus Parker, 247 Roseborough Road, Grover. 

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015, at Light Oak Missionary Baptist Church, with the Rev. Willie Dean Wray officiating and Rev. Jonathan Boyd delivering the eulogy. 

Burial will take place at Webb Memorial Lawns. 

Arrangements by Enloe Mortuary.

Source:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shelbystar/obituary.aspx?pid=174203925

Motivation Monday - June 29, 2015

The 6th month of 2015 is drawing to a close and even though I completely missed the mark on most of my goals (yes it means you'll see the same ones again next month), I am proud of myself for the dent I've made into the overall organization of my office.  You know if I didn't have to have a day job, I'm thinking this project would have been finished by now but knowing me, it probably still would not be done.

I think that is one of the reasons I'm contemplating an early retirement in say 5 1/2 years is that I want to have more time to focus on other things like my genealogy research, crafts, etc.

Anyway, back to the subject at hand.

While doing the office clean-up, I came across something that I know I didn't talk about last year. I guess I was a little disappointed when I received it. You see, last year, I had to give another presentation during the Hosch-Pierce family reunion, so I decided to splurge and do the PatriClan Analysis from African Ancestry for my maternal grandfather's line.

Several years ago, my first cousin, Larry Hosch, had done the yDNA test for me through Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). So, when I decided to splurge on the PatriClan Analysis, I ordered African Ancestry's Paternal Analysis Only, then emailed them the results from FTDNA.

I waited ever so patiently for the results to arrive. Checked with several online genealogy buds who I knew had already used African Ancestry, who all stated that the receipt of their results didn't take the amount of time that mine were taken. They all suggested that I contact the company, which I did. At this point in time I forget the reason why they were running behind schedule but they were behind schedule. So, I waited, and waited some more. Finally, the long awaited results arrived during the last week of August.

I vaguely remember being interested when they arrived but not jump up and down excited as I've been in the past when I received ancestral DNA results but I'm making up for that now.

So, I'm proud to announce that my maternal grandfather's paternal line descends from the Ibo people in present day Nigeria and the Ewondo people in present day Cameroon.

The letter that was received with the certificate states that the Sequence Similarity Score is 100%, which means that they are 100% confident in the result.

Obviously, I now have much research to do on these two groups of people, since we don't know anything past my great grandfather, Barto Hosch, for my grandfather's direct male ancestors.

I'm sure you are wondering why initially I was disappointed when I received the results. Trust me when I say it had nothing to to do with the actual results. The disappointment was the time frame in which I received the results. Based on the time frame given at the time of ordering when I would receive the results, I thought I would have the results in plenty of time to use in my presentation at the family reunion. Sadly, I didn't receive the results until several weeks (nearly two months) past the scheduled date of receipt, which was one month past the family reunion, hence, the major disappointment. However, I do have to give kudos to African Ancestry in that they provided me with two additional certificates, for free, to make up for the extended time in getting the results.

So, I had a certificate made up for one of my 2nd cousins, who's probably the better historian / researcher on this branch of my family tree, and also had one made up for my mother. And because I was initially disappointed, I've yet to forward any of the certificates to my family members and that includes my mother. But since I'm trying to get back on the genealogical research bandwagon, my goal is to rectify that this week. My mother will be receiving hers on Friday. I contacted my second cousin today via e-mail, so that I could get his address to mail him his. And hopefully, I'll see my first cousin sometime this week and present his copy to him.

Even with the delay, I'm hoping to do another splurge this year with African Ancestry, but on the paternal side of the family this time. If I can make it happen (I'm having some unexpected expenses this summer), you'll be able to read all about it over at Conversations With My Ancestors.

So once again, until the next post, whenever that may be.

Wordless Wednesday

From 1998 - 2014 we communicated off and on and lived one county over from each other. This past December, we finally met each other. She, is Pat Freeman, 2nd great granddaughter of Matthew Hosch, the last owner of my 2nd great grandmother, Matilda Hosch, and my great grandfather, Barto Hosch.

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This picture is from the the personal collection of the owner of this blog.

Motivation Monday - Last week of June 2015

Another year is flying by. It's hard to believe there are only seven more days left in the month of June.

And with that comes the realization, I'm no where close to completing the bulk of my goals for the month of June.

I've not done any blogging like I had planned to do. For the most part, the only thing I've been working on is getting the office organized. I've made a big dent in this project but I've got a long way to go, still. What do you expect, I'm finding junk mail as well as other papers, some important and some not, dating back to 2005. So, it's doubtful that I will get this project completed by the end of the month as I had planned. But I can say I've made a lot of progress.

Although these items weren't among my goals. I am proud to say that

1. I registered my trusty assistant, that would be mom, and I for the 2015 Afro American Historical and Genealogical Conference in Richmond. I'm looking forward to attending and looking forward to reconnecting with some of my genealogy buds.
2. I'm gotten back involved with the African American History Ministry at the church that I attend.

So as you see, not a whole lot but I do feel that I'm finally heading in the direction to get back to the research.

So, until my next post, whenever that may be.

Motivation Monday, June 2015 Goals

It's hard to believe today is June 1st. I had promised myself to get back to my genealogy this year, and so far, it's been like every year since my father died. No activity on the research front, busy with tons of other things, and plenty of excuses.

But once again, I'm going to try to put forth some effort, starting today to get back to it. Time is running out. My connections to the past are dwindling, rapidly. The saga of my ancestors needs to be ferreted out and brought to light.

So what do I hope to get accomplished during the month of June as I try to get back to my research.

Organization

Organization or the lack thereof is probably one of the main reasons, I've struggled to get back to the research. And actually, I've finally started working on this this past week. This goal has been fairly consistent over the past, however many months years.

1. About 2 years ago, I began a redo of my office / craft room. I never completed it and things just kept piling up around me. So, this past week, I pulled most everything out of the room in hopes of completing this project. (Goal Date: 06/30/15)
2. Ensure the folders I created for individuals and families are accounted for and organized. During the past few years, I've taken folders out but not necessarily always put them back in the file cabinet or taken material out of a particular folder but not always put the material back in the folder (Goal Date: 06/20/15)

Blogging

1. Not including this post, my goal is to do at least one post per week, which means a minimum of four posts.

Research

1. I have no clue where to begin on this one. When everything came to a screeching halt, I had several irons in the fire. So the first thing will be to actually figure out where I was with the research or at least what topics I was working on. (Goal Date: 06/06/15)
2. Once I determine what I was actually doing the last time I actually worked on my research, determine a plan of attack to try to break down some of those brick walls.(Goal Date: 06/10/15)

So, once again, I'm trying to go with baby steps to get back into the flow of things. And hopefully, I pray, this will be the year that I return to my research in full force.

Until Next Time!

Sentimental Sunday

On October 28th, 2014, I had to say goodbye to my faithful companion of the past 14 years. Unlike when her big brother passed in 2000, her death hit me hard because I didn't see it coming. Seemed like one day she was fine and the next she wasn't. By the time I realized something was seriously wrong, she was already in the last stages of kidney failure.

So, today, I thought I would remember my sweet Shelby on this Sentimental Sunday.

Until We Meet Again at Rainbow Bridge

All the pictures of Shelby are from my personal collection. The Rainbow Bridge video is from You Tube.

Goals for 2015

It's so hard to believe that another year has ended and new one has begun and I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing next year at this time. The older you get, the more time just seems to fly by.

Except for a few blog posts, I can honestly say I don't feel like I got much accomplished genealogically on the maternal side of my family.

So, I've got a few general goals to start out the new year. Later today or tomorrow, I'll list some specific goals for the remainder of the month.

So, here are a few goals for 2015. Many of these are similar to the ones posted on Conversations with my Ancestors.

• Get back to blogging and researching
• Get the nearly 30 years of research I've done organized. One of these days I hope to hand all this off to  someone and I would like for them to be able to figure out what I've done.
• Plan a research trip to Greene County, GA to try to find more information on my Pierce line.
• If time and funds allow, attend a genealogical conference, seminar, or class.
• And most importantly, because life is so fragile and so short, do a better job of staying in touch with my family. 

I'm looking forward to 2015 and hope that you are too.