A Tale of Two Cousins

In the past month I have met via email and Skype two new second cousins, one on my father's side of the family and one on my mother's side. One lives in North Carolina and one lives in England. I am very happy to meet both because we have mutual genealogy interests.

Just before Christmas I met  Lisa via email. She responded to a post on this blog about her grandfather's  World War I Draft Registration Card. Her grandfather, Green Gilley was the brother of my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers. Her grandmother's name (transcribed from the card) was  incorrectly spelled and I had given her the wrong last name (Jowers instead of Gilley). (See previous October post: World War I Draft Registration Cards.) Along with the correct spelling of the first name she gave me her grandmother's middle and maiden name. Great information!

In the next email I received from Lisa, she sent me a photo of Green Gilley! I was soooo excited because I have so few early photographs of my daddy's family (four identified photos and two tintypes of unidentified men, probably of Gilley men). Green Gilley was her great grandfather. Lisa's cousin said that Green died in a logging accident. According to the Gilley Family Bible that accident happened in 1923. He died on June 9th, 1923. (See previous September post: Additional Pages of Thomas Gilley, Jr.'s Family Bible.)

Green Gilley

I hope to meet Lisa soon in person to share genealogy information. She lives a little over an hour from me in North Carolina. According to the Cousin Calculator (a great tool: http://www.searchforancestors.com/utility/cousincalculator.html) we are 2nd cousins once removed.

Through my Canadian cousin, Gill, I met Wendy, my 2nd cousin. Her grandfather, Syd Kirkpatrick and my grandmother, Maud Kirkpatrick Langdale, were siblings.
(I wrote about Sydney Kirkpatrick, my great uncle Syd, in two earlier September posts: Uncle Syd and More About Uncle Syd.)

Wendy and I met when we Skyped on New Year's Day. We had a really good conversation about our Kirkpatrick side of the family and just getting to know a little about each other. We have already started sharing pictures and documents via email. She told me that Uncle Syd and his brother, John, known as Jack, were sent to live in an orphanage when they were young children. They were the youngest of seven children. She sent me a photograph of them standing in front of the orphanage. Syd and Jack were born in the late 1890's in London. I'm guessing the photo was taken around 1900. Wendy sent another photo of Uncle Syd and his sister Emma (aka May), whose married name is unknown to me at this time). It's the first time I'd ever seen any of my grandmother's sisters. (She had three.)

L to R, Sydney and John (Jack) Kirkpatrick standing in front of their orphanage, about 1900

Front L to R, Emma (May) and Sydney (Syd)

I can't tell you how excited I am to have two new cousins with an interest in genealogy AND to receive three great photos. When I started getting serious about researching my family, I never dreamed I would learn as much as I have. The only regrets I have are the questions I wish I had asked of Mama, Daddy, my grandmothers and other relatives while they were still alive. Thanks to the abundance of records and information on the internet, I've discovered some things about those family members who came before me..

World War I Draft Registration Cards

Ancestry dot com has been celebrating 15 years of being in business and has offered free access to some of its records. Today it is World War I Draft Registration Cards. I was looking to see if I could find something new in that department, but I didn't.  I would like to share a few records I had previously downloaded for the Jowers and Gilley families from the aforementioned website.

The first card belongs to my grandfather, Hilliard Edgar Jowers. He registered for the draft on September 12, 1918. He was 36 years old at the time, married about 11 years, had 3 living children: Sammy (who died almost 3 months after the date of this registration), Hubert and Mozelle, and one child on the way who was born 4 months after the draft registration date, Thomas Henry.

Hilliard Jowers lived in the country, RFD #5, near Hartford, Geneva County, Alabama. He was a farmer. He didn't list an employer's name, so he may have been an independent farmer. His birthday was written as July 27 1880, when in fact he was born on that date in 1882. I don't know why there is a discrepancy in the year. He was of medium height with a medium build, had dark brown (D. B.) eyes and black hair.

The interesting thing about this registration card escaped me the first few times I looked at it after I initially downloaded it. My grandfather probably couldn't read or write as evidenced by the "signature" at the bottom of the left page. Sandwiched between his middle and last names is this:  X and the words "his mark." I never knew about that until I saw this card. It made me a little sad to know about it. I was 10 years old when he died and he was 75 years old. That he couldn't read or write was never discussed in my family.

He was a farmer all his life, having grown up in a farming family and farmed as an adult. He and my grandmother, a farmer's wife, raised nine children to adulthood. Today we would probably view it as a hardscrabble life, but in his later years, my grandfather was able to buy a house and land in Holmes County, Florida, near the spot in the road named Leonia. I'm not sure the exact year that happened, but most of the nine children had "left home."

The remaining World War I draft registration cards were for my grandmother, Annie Gilley Jowers' five brothers. Except for Green Gilley, I have seen my grandmother's brothers at family reunions at her home near Leonia, Florida.

Marvin Gilley, born November 28, 1879, was 39 years old when he registered for the draft. His permanent address was RFD Black, Geneva County, Alabama. That's where his wife, Lula Gilley, lived. (Lula Bell Jowers Gilley was the sister of my grandfather, Hilliard Edgar Jowers.) Marvin Gilley worked as a logger for Alabama and Florida Lumber Company in Holmes County, Florida, just over the state line. At the time of his registration, September 19, 1918, he had two sons. He was tall, of slender build, with brown eyes and dark hair.
 

Ernest Gilley lived in Holmes County, Florida when he registered on September 12, 1918. His address was RFD #1, Noma, Holmes County, Florida. He was 34 years old, married and a farmer. He was tall,  had a slender build, brown eyes and dark hair. His wife was listed as Mrs. Ernest Gilley. (My research notes show her first name was May, but I don't know her maiden surname.) He had four children at the time.

Lee Gilley was 28 years old when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. His date of birth was May 20, 1889 and he was born in Newlon, Alabama. (I haven't been able to locate Newlon, Alabama on a map.) He was a farmer who worked for Leon D .... (can't figure out the last name) in Hartford, Geneva County, Alabama. He had a wife and one child. According the my research his wife was named Fannie and the daughter was Ruby Lee Gilley.  He was tall, had a slender build, had brown eyes and black hair.

Warren Isaiah Gilley, born January 18, 1894, registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. He was 23 years old. He was born in Wicksburg, Geneva County, Alabama and lived in Bonifay, Holmes County, Florida at the time of the draft. He was a logger who worked for Babois Lumber Company in Bonifay, Florida. He had a wife at the time. His wife's name was Essie, according to my research. Like his other brothers he was tall with a slender build, brown eyes, black hair.

Green Gilley was the youngest of the Gilley brothers. He was born November 27, 1897 (year is unreadable on the draft and I wrote the date from my research notes).
 He was 20 years old when he registered for the draft on September 12, 1918. He was a self-employed farmer and married to Lela M. Gilley (no maiden surname listed, but I have now learned her full maiden name was Leila Maude Steverson). They lived in Hartford, Geneva County, Alabama. He was tall and slender with BLUE eyes and LIGHT hair.

While he was the youngest Gilley brother, he was the first brother who survived to adulthood to die. He was 25 years old when he died in 1923, leaving a widow and three very young children.

So . . . there you have it for the World War I draft registration cards for the Jowers and Gilley families. To my knowledge none of them participated in the war.

Additional Pages of Thomas Gilley, Jr.'s Family Bible.

Family History transcription:

A Record of Important Events

My Mother Winnie Ann Gilley Died June the 11th 1891 66 1/4 years old
My Father Thomas Gilley Died Mch 2nd 1898 75 years 6 months 2 days old

My Father-in Law William Franklin Pritchett was born
Feb. 10th 1820 and Died Aug. the 5th 1912.
(Note: William looks more like Hilliam but William is the correct name.)

Marriages transcription:

Marriages

Thomas and Margrett E. Gilley Was Married July The 5 AD 1877
(In pencil) Marvin and Lula B. Gilley was married July the 27 AD 1902
Note: Lula B was Lula Bell Jowers, my grandfather, Hilliard Edgar Jowers' sister.

Deaths transcription:

 Deaths

William H. Gilley Died Oct The 31 AD 1878 (in pencil - Thursday)
Addie Gilley Died February the 23 AD 1883 (I think) (in pencil - Friday)
Isum (?) Gilley Died Oct the 8th 1886 (in pencil - Friday)
Thos. Green Gilley Died Oct the 18th 1906
Green Gilley Died June the 9th 1923
Margarette Emmaline Gilley Died Aug. 15th 1926 2.30 AM
(In pencil) Thomas Gilley Died Nov. 3, 1938 8:45 PM

Note: My great grandmother's name was written as Margrett on the Marriages page above.

I'm not sure who these people are: William H. Gilley, Addie Gilley, Isum Gilley, Thomas Green Gilley. They will be added to my To Do list to find out who they are.

Green Gilley is my grandmother Annie Gilley Jowers' brother who is thought to have died in a sawmill accident.

I believe my great grandfather, Thomas Gilley, Jr., wrote most of the entries in these pages. He had beautiful penmanship.