A Wonderful Accidental Find

Sometimes I get so excited on this genealogy journey of mine that I can hardly keep from whooping and hollering from the roof top. Let me tell you about what has me so excited this time.

On August 9 I was reading my email from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter mailing list that I subscribe to. I saw a link to an article that sounded interesting to me, so I clicked on it. http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2012/08/lost-photograph-connects-to-familys-long-history.html     This is what I read:

August 09, 2012

Lost Photograph Connects to Family’s Long History

The DailyAdvance web site has an interesting article about an old photograph apparently dropped in a Shawboro, Currituck County, North Carolina parking lot. Using great genealogical and historical detective work, two women were able to identify the photograph as that of Molly Fulford. (Molly is a nickname for Mary.) The photo was taken some time prior to 1880.

Now the two detectives are looking for the person who dropped the photograph so that it may be returned to the family.

You can read the full story at http://goo.gl/0xtMp.

My thanks to newsletter reader Wendy Stevens for telling me about this interesting story. 

I clicked on the link to the full story. (You can use the link above to read the newspaper article.) The writer mentioned that the photo ended up with Linda Jordan who lives just over the state line from North Carolina in Virginia, a little south of Virginia Beach. At the end I read, "Jordan says that if the photograph of the young Molly Fulford looks familiar and someone is searching for a lost antique photograph, they can contact her through her website, www.genthreads.com."

Being the curious person I tend to be and one who enjoys looking at genealogy websites and blogs, I went to her website, GenThreads, to see what kinds of things she had on her site. First, I went to look at photographs. I drooled over her wonderful family heirlooms photos and was (I hate to admit) envious of all the old family photographs found under the Photos tab. Next I looked at the contents of the other tabs at the top, and lastly, I looked at the Bibles tab.

I clicked on the first family Bible that belonged to James Edward Cartwright. When I looked at the photo of the first page, I just about fell out of my chair. I thought to myself, "That looks familiar." Then I looked at the second page and that sent me searching for my Gilley Family Bible photographs on the computer. The Gilley Bible had the same kind of pages for family information as the Cartwright Bible. There was a huge difference, though. Linda's family pages were actually in the Bible and in very good condition. The Gilley Bible pages had been torn out of the Bible and were torn themselves and some were taped. They weren't in good condition at all.  (Click on the right side under 2011 and then September to see three posts about the Gilley Family Bible.)

At the bottom of the of GenThreads home page was the email link, Contact Me, with a message underneath that read, I will always get back to you sooner or later. So I sent an email, and let me say, Linda got back to me sooner than later. She not only answered the email within a few hours but also took more photographs of the Bible! She also sent a link to Dropbox where I could see the photos and download them. Then the next day (August 10) I got another email to tell me she'd uploaded three more photos. Can you see why I've been whooping and hollering?!!?

Now I know what my great grandparents' (Thomas Gilley, Jr. and Margarett Emma Pritchett Gilley) family Bible looked like originally. I do wonder what happened to the Bible. Why were the pages were torn out? How did they end up with my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers? I know that after my grandmother died in 1985, her son Hubert gave the pages to his brother, Henry. Uncle Henry and his wife were the family genealogists at that time. I happened upon the pages when Cousin Jane loaned me a box that held the genealogy work of her parents, my Uncle Henry and Aunt Nita. Until that day, I never knew they existed. In fact, the contents of that box broke open the female line of my American family as well as other discoveries.

Another question rattling around in my mind is how did this Bible, published by Bradley, Garretson & Co., sold by subscription only, end up in rural southeastern Alabama in the latter part of the 1800's? I suspect a traveling salesman. I did find out something about the company, but that's a post for another day.

Linda wrote something in her first email that sums up how I feel about my tattered and torn and taped family Bible pages. She wrote  "Oh my - it broke my heart to see how your Bible pages are. But we cherish what we can get, don't we?" The answer is a resounding YES! Even though may never know the answers to my questions, I do cherish the fact that more than one person took enough care of these pages, as fragile as they are, and that they're still in our family today.

Now for the fun part . . . photos!

The James Edward Cartwright Bible, Front cover and spine

Spine

Personalized Front Cover

Back Cover

End Page

Rubbing of the Cover Corner 1

Rubbing of the Cover Corner 2

Rubbing of the Cover Corner 3

Rubbing of the Cover Corner 4

Title Page

First Background Information Page

Illustrations

Close-up Illustration

Beautiful Color Page

Cartwright Bible

Gilley Bible

Cartwright Bible

Gilley Bible

New Genealogy Friend

In my genealogy class this semester we are learning about more advanced ways to research our American families and how to evaluate the information we find. One of our recent topics was researching the females in our various lines, which is often a difficult thing to do when you get into the 1800's, especially the early part of the 1800's and pre-1800's.

In late February I got a phone call one afternoon from Donna, who lives in Ozark, AL. She called to say she could help me with the Pritchetts, my great grandmother's side of the family (Margarett Emma Pritchett Gilley). Donna contacted me after reading this geneanolgy blog, and am I glad she did! Since then we've emailed back and forth sharing information. Donna has given me more people to add to my grandmother's side and great grandmother's side of the family, including many female first and last names! It's much easier to look for records of a woman ancestor when you find out her maiden name and her father's name. The 1850 US Population census is the first census that names family members living in the household. Before that, only the head of households are named and family members are grouped into age categories. It can be a bit tricky to match families correctly in those early census records. Donna also gave me a link to a website that has more about the Pritchetts.

This genealogy adventure  gets so exciting when I meet people like Donna from Alabama and Lisa from North Carolina and Wendy from England (see an earlier post A Tale of Two Cousins). I find out new things about my family and/or get photos that are new to me. I also love getting stories and other things from my own cousins. I'm also glad to share anything I have as well. One thing is certain, I never dreamed I'd learn as much as I have about both sides of my family, here in the USA and in England.

Soooooo, if anyone who reads this blog has any information on my family, please contact me at howardka at earthlink.net. The family names I'm researching are: Jowers (mostly Alabama, Florida, South Carolina), Gilley (mostly Alabama, Florida), Pritchett (mostly Alabama, Georgia), Lindsay (Alabama), Langdale (England - Hertfordshire, London), Kirkpatrick (England - London), Rampton (England - London), Lenny (England - London), Denny (England - London). There are more, but this is enough for now.

Annie Gilley Jowers, about 1910, about 18 years old

Sisters Annie Gilley Jowers, Ada Gilley Elmore , May Gilley Peterson

Margarett Pritchett Gilley, mother of the sisters above

Gilley Family Loving Remembrance Card

Here is another treasure from Cousin Jane and the collection of her parents. When used in connection to the transcribed Gilley Family Bible Births page, it gives more information on the children of Thomas Gilley, Jr. and Margrett Pritchett Gilley.

Three of Thomas and Margrett Gilley's children died as infants or a toddler: William, Addia (Addie on the Births Family Bible page), and Isom. Their other children grew to adulthood, although Green Gilley died in his 20's in the early 1920's.

Thomas Gilley, Sr. is first on the remembrance card, so this card was probably made following his death in 1898.

This is some information I found on the internet about remembrance cards:

With a long tradition both in the United States and Europe dating back to the 1800's, funeral cards (also sometimes called mass, mourning or remembrance cards) are an excellent source of information for genealogists. While not a traditional "vital record", they often provide great clues like death and birth dates, name of the cemetery where the deceased was interred, name of the funeral home, and sometimes even a photo of the ancestor.

Transcribed Births - Gilley Family Bible

I decided to transcribe the Births page from the Gilley Family Bible I wrote a post on previously. It starts at the top.

Thomas Gilley Was Borned Oct 29 AD 1858 (Friday in pencil)
Margrett E. Gilley Was Borned November (or maybe Oct - it looks like a combination) 21 AD 1860 (Wednesday in pencil)
William H. Gilley Was Borned June the 11 AD 1878 (Tuesday in pencil)
Marvin Gilley Was Borned November 28 AD 1879 (Friday in ink)
Addie Gilley Was Borned December The 11 AD 1882 (Monday in ink)
Ernest Gilley was Born May 13th 1884 Thursday Evining
Isom Gilley was Borned Oct the 3rd (?) AD 1886 Sunday evening
Ader Gilley was Borned February the 23rd 1888 thursday at Sun Rise
Lee Gilley was Borned May the 20 1889 (Thursday)
Ann Gilley was Borned March the 31st 1892 Thursday at 4 PM
Warren Isaiah Gilley was Borned Jan the 18th 1894 Thursday 1-30 PM
Green Gilley was Borned Nov 27th 1897 Sat. at dusk
May Gilley was Borned Sept 13th 1902  Sat night 8 oclock
Luler B Gilley was Borned June the 22 18?4 (1874?)
Thomas Green Gilley was Borned Oct 9 1906
G (?) M Gilley was Born April 15 1879 or 1889 (written in pencil)
Lizzie Adell Gilley was Born mch. 3. 1909 (written in pencil)

A few thoughts . . . I think Luler B Gilley is Lula Bell Jowers Gilley who married Marvin Gilley. The the two Gilleys on the list born in 1906 and 1909 may be grandchildren of Thomas and Margrett Gilley. I don't know who G? M Gilley is (yet). I also think Ader is Ada and that the name was pronounced as Ader. I remember seeing Aunt Ada and Aunt May at Grandmama Jowers' birthday dinners from time to time. Here is a photo of them, date unknown.

 L to R Annie Gilley Jowers, Ada Gilley and May Gilley. (I don't know their married names.)