Very Late Treasure Chest Thursday Post

It’s hard to believe that I’ve blogged for over a year and this will be my first post for Treasure Chest Thursday, I think, and even it's not actually being posted on Thursday but Friday AM.


My first post for this meme is about one of my mother’s most prized possessions, this simple green lamp. I’m sure you are wondering, what’s so special about this lamp. Well, what makes this lamp special, is the stories it holds and the memories it evokes in my mother.

First, before the days of every household having electricity, when my mother was growing up, it was one of the few sources of light in my grandparent’s house. Back then, the light emitted from this lamp was through kerosene / oil and not electricity. My mother spent many an evening attending to her studies by the light of this lamp. Momma often jokes that it’s a wonder they didn’t go blind straining to see through the smokey glow. Me personally, I’m amazed at the fortitude of mom.

Second and probably what holds the most significance for my mother, the lamp was a wedding present. My maternal grandfather was a tenant farmer all his working days. My grandparents never had a lot of money but what they had they managed well. So, when my parents decided to get married, there were no funds for a small wedding, much less a big lavish wedding, but granddad still wanted to give something to his daughter, so he took the old kerosene / oil lamp and had it wired for electricity. (Aunt Lucille received a similar present on her wedding day. Hers was clear). If you look closely, you can see the remnants of its former life (the fill hole, the mantel, etc.)

Tombstone Tuesday

Effie Irene Pierce Jackson

1893 - 1951

Aunt Effie is my grand aunt, my maternal grandmother's sister, and is interred at Old Fellowship Cemetery in the Social Circle area of Walton County, GA.

Picture obtained via photo request on FindaGrave.com.

Goals for the Month of August (Maternal Ancestors) - Week 2

No, you didn't miss the Week 1 post because there was no Week 1 post. I can't believe we are starting the second week of August. Where did those first seven months, plus one week, of 2010 go?  For the last 1/3 of the year, I've decided to revamp some of my strategies for hopefully attaining some of my genealogical goals for the year.

I've seen some of my geneabuds state their monthly and / or weekly genealogical goals on their blogs. I'm not one to follow the crowd but when I come across a great idea, I do try to run with it.

Earlier in the year, I had been doing monthly and weekly goals, but did not post them on my blogs. Hopefully by stating them here, I will get most accomplished.


There are three full weeks left in the month so I'm hoping to start small and have a head a steam build up by the end of the month to get back into the research and blogging, at least until the next busy season, which should occur some time around Thanksgiving.

So, goals for this week for research, etc. on the maternal side of my family are

Research

1. Follow-up letters and / or calls to the Walton County, GA Coroner, Walton County, GA Sheriff, and the City of Monroe, GA Police Department. If you recall, a few months back, I wrote each of these agencies trying to find more information on the murder of my 3rd cousin twice removed (my grandmother's first cousin), Nunna Pierce Jackson. To date, I've not heard from any of them. Hopefully, writing and / or calling will spur them into action if for nothing else than to state they were not able to locate any additional information.
2. Follow-up with volunteer, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness, whom I had contacted about transcribing / taking a picture of the probate records for my great grandfather, Cornelius Pierce.
3. Request Probate records for Jesse F. Pierce, possible slave owner, of my 2nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce. As with my Ewell Ancestors on the paternal side, Jesse F. Pierce did not die prior to the end slavery. However, I'm still hoping that records are available and that there may be some bit of information that will help in the research.

Blogging / Writing

1. A minimum of two posts to the blog, one of which must be a written post.

Miscellaneous

1. Take first steps in planning Hosch Descendants Family Reunion for 2011, i.e. come up with a date. It's been approximately 11 years since the last reunion of the descendants of my great grandparents, Barto Hosch and Sallie Rome Hosch, gathered together.
2. Declutter and rearrange office
3. Clean and repaint the "new to me" legal-size file cabinet. Purchased from the Habitat ReStore a few weeks ago for my genealogical research files.

Wordless Wednesday + Learning New Tasks

The weekend of July 23 - 25, 2010 was the annual celebration of the descendants of my my maternal great grandparents, Cornelius Pierce and Fannie White Pierce. Yours truly actually did a brief presentation on some unknowns about my great grandfather. As part of my presentation I put together a collage using pictures I had on hand of my ancestors and relatives. This was my first attempt at doing this and it was fairly simple to do using Paint. And today, I finally got around to teaching myself how to add a watermark, which I figured out how to do using PhotoBucket.

And here's the finished product.

I think it turned out rather nice. What do you think?

The pictures used to create this collage are part of the personal collections of L. Hosch Evans, O. Hosch Jones, and the owner of this blog. 

Wordless Wednesday

Some of my first cousins visiting with Aunt Lucille.

Do the hairstyles and attire tell you what time period it was?

From the personal collection of L. Hosch Evans.

Tombstone Tuesday

Grand Uncle Willie Hosch (granddad's brother)

and

Grand Aunt Maudie Johnson Hosch

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

Madness Monday - Grandpa Jasper and Grandma Jane Pierce (Part V)

Continuing the Hunt

A Possible Cousin Plus Another Lead?

I hope my readers didn’t think I had forgotten about my blogs, but June has been one of those months for me.

I started out the month with a sinus infection that began settling in during the Memorial Day weekend. I also learned about a few other health issues I have. (It was one of those doctor’s visits that became I know you didn’t come in here for this but we’ve been trying to get in touch with you to discuss the results of the blood work from your physical.)

The second week of June, Mom and I took a much-needed vacation, cruise, with our almost Martin cousins (we have a set of cousins in common). Yes, I was still dealing with the sinus infection, plus pricking my finger 4 times a day, but it was nice to get away and mom and I made some new friends in the process. We also discovered that “cousin” Louise and “cousin” Sarah know some of our Cousins who are from Walton County, GA.

The R&R from the vacation was short lived. While we were gone, daddy was admitted to the hospital. In addition, the week after our vacation, one of my first cousins, maternal side, lost her battle with cancer.

This past week, things slowly started returning to some semblance of normalcy. Daddy is out of the hospital, although the symptoms that sent him there have not abated. And, while I still haven’t fully caught up on everything, I’m slowly getting back on the Genealogy, which leads me to the upside of this post.

Before going on vacation, I noted that I still had not written Second Baptist Church in White Plains, GA in order to try to see if there was a possibility they had any information on my 2nd Great Grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce. Well, I wrote Second Baptist Church right before I went on vacation. Second Baptist received my contact information and forwarded it on to Mary H., who attends Second Baptist Church but no longer lives in White Plains. Mary had called and left a couple of messages while I was away on vacation.

Well, Mary is a Pierce descendant (her mother was a Pierce) and was born and raised in White Plains. However, we couldn’t determine a connection. She confirmed what I had already determined, that there are no more Pierces residing in White Plains. Mary and I had a good conversation and here are some of the highlights.

1. The first highlight is a bit strange but in a good way. Mary had recently run into some Pierces in Atlanta, GA. Their ancestry also goes back to White Plains, Greene County, GA. The man, George, which she talked to happen to mention that when he was a boy he had come to NC to live with his granddad for a while. Well turns out he lived in my hometown, the area my maternal grandparents settled in after leaving GA. I asked Mary to please pass my contact information along to George the next time she saw him. So, keep your fingers crossed that I’ve perhaps discovered another descendant / cousin.

2. But that’s not all. Mary also gave me the name of another church in White Plains to contact. Are you ready for the name of the church, Pierce Chapel AME. How cool is that?

I realize the name of the church may have no connection whatsoever to my Pierce Ancestors as the church more that likely was named for Rev. Lovick Pierce, a prominent minister from the area who was instrumental in organizing some of the black churches. But I think it’s a sign. I feel the ancestors stirring. I’ve not felt them doing that in awhile and true to form, both maternal and paternal seem to be stirring at the same time. So, I could be in for a very adventurous genealogical summer. I sure hope so!

Well, you know what I’ll be doing this week, contacting Pierce Chapel AME.

Until Next Time!

Madness Monday

Grandpa Jasper and Grandma Jane Pierce (Part IV)

I haven’t talked about the hunt for my 2nd great grandparents, Jasper and Jane Pierce, in awhile. The reason being at this point, there has been nothing to report.

If you will recall, in my last post on Grandpa Jasper and Grandma Jane, I had decided to try knocking on a few doors in White Plains via snail mail. I had planned to contact White Plains Baptist Church, Second Baptist Church, and Mrs. Mamie Hillman (Greene County African –American Cultural Museum and Resource Center).

1. White Plains Baptist Church did check their records for my ancestors and notified me that they did not have any records for Grandpa Jasper or Grandma Jane.
2. I’ve not heard from Mrs. Hillman or the Greene County African-American Cultural Museum and Resource Center. In trying to follow up on my snail mail correspondence, I’ve called and left messages at the telephone number listed on the Greene County African American Cultural Museum and Resource Center website as well as submitting a message via their website but as of yet, no response. I’m beginning to wonder if they are still in existence.
3. I’ve not written Second Baptist Church, yet. I’m still trying to determine a mailing address for them. I’ve tried searching online but all I find listed is Kilpatrick St., not even a street number. Based my initial attempts to write other organizations in Greene County, I would suspect that they have a post office box. Anybody have any tips on determining this? Would one just call the post office there? Do post offices give out that type of information? I’ve tried calling Second Baptist but it’s usually during the week and there is of course no one there. They don’t have an answering system, so I can’t leave a message.

What now?

I will continue with my efforts to try to contact Mrs. Hillman and Second Baptist Church but I’m also using other avenues to try to determine my ancestors’ last slave owner.

A few weeks ago (May 8), I ventured back to the Family History Center and ordered more microfilm and now am waiting for them to come in. Microfilms ordered were:

• White Plains Baptist Church Records, 1806 – 1921
• This was ordered prior to hearing from White Plains Baptist Church. Even though the church stated they had no record of my 2nd great grandparents, I will still check. Perhaps they overlooked them.
• Greene County GA Probate court Index to Records, 1790 – 1942
• This was ordered in hopes of 1) determining if there was any information available for Jesse F. Pierce. In previous posts, I laid the groundwork for why I believe Jesse Pierce was my ancestors last slave owner. I realize that he was still living in 1870 and 1880; however, I’m hoping that a probate record, if available, may still reveal something about his relationship to my ancestors.
• The other reason I ordered this is for the slim possibility that there may have been probate record(s) for Grandpa Jasper.
• Greene County GA Deeds General Index v. A-B 1785 – 1889
• I wasn’t sure whether I should order this one as it was unclear whether there were two volumes, labeled A and B, or whether it was surnames A-B. This was also ordered to try to gain information about Jesse F. Pierce and his property.

I’m also continuing to read up on the history of Greene County and am currently reading Tenants of the Almighty by Arthur F. Raper.

Wordless Wednesday

My first cousin, Vera, had this tote bag made for mom and her remaining siblings (Uncle Melvin, Aunt Lue, and Aunt Frances) for the 2008 Pierce reunion. The names you see under their pictures are their nicknames.


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